RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

A great place to go if you're in a hurry & want some healthy choices is 7-11. That's right, 7-11! There is a lot of garbage there, but in their "Fresh-to-Go" section, they have such items as fresh already sliced fruit, plain pastas with sun dried tomatoes & grilled chicken (perfect post-exercise meal!), still in the shell hard boiled eggs, low-cal yogurt, and healthy salads (skip the dressing), etc. Skip the sandwiches which are processed meat & full of mayo. Everything is sealed to preserve freshness. Eating healthier doesn't have to be complicated, it's about making smarter choices, so check out the "Fresh-to-Go" section at 7-11.

http://www.7-eleven.com/Category.aspx?CategoryId=3001000

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Latest statistics show that high profile athletes make up only about 15% of Americans who take steroids. The other 85% is your average person who goes to the gym and takes steroids strictly for a cosmetic purpose; which is dangerous because many are uneducated. This could be your family members, friends, co-workers, anyone, and you may not even know it.

What are steroids?

Steroids are synthetic versions of the hormones our bodies produce naturally. Cortisone is a steroid. It signals the body to break down inflammation. Birth control is a steroid. It’s made from the female sex hormones estrogen & progesterone. Then there are the most known steroids, anabolic steroids. They are made from the male sex hormone testosterone. Anabolic steroids tell the body to increase in muscle size and strength; it also helps the body to recover from workouts faster and helps lower body fat % rapidly.

Can steroids harm you?

Doctors have been using steroids to treat patients since the 1930s. They’ve been used to treat cancer patients, burn victims, and most recently HIV/AIDS patients. Under medical supervision they can be taken safely. Although there are NO studies that have been done to show the long term effects of steroid use. Yes, NONE. There’s NO proof to show that it causes cancer or kidney damage. Only in cases with the abuse of oral steroids has it been shown to cause liver damage.

Side Effects?

Men may experience acne, hair growth/loss, increase in the bad cholesterol LDL, joint stress, testicle shrinkage, decreased sperm count (abuse can make you sterile), and gynecomastia (the increase of fatty breast tissue, aka “bitch tits”). “Roid rage,” occurs in 5% of the population. Only if you’re already an angry person, steroids may make you even angrier. *Acne (back, neck), mood swings, and sudden development of fat tissue in the chest are the main signs of steroid use.* Fortunately, once you are off the drugs most of these symptoms in men are reversible.

Women who take anabolic steroids may suffer acne, abnormal hair growth, deepened voice, joint stress, menstrual problems, and an enlargened clitoris. Unfortunately for women, most of these side effects are irreversible.

***RIO Fitness Chicago® DOES NOT endorse nor promote the use of steroids unless prescribed and supervised by a licensed medical professional!***

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Getting into or out of shape, is about calories burned vs calories consumed daily. Do you know how many calories you eat/drink daily? How many in an apple? A yogurt? That Panera salad you had for lunch? That late night Portillos chocolate cake shake? To see quick results, we need to learn what we're putting in our body. The best way is with FREE sites like LIVESTRONG.COM that help us track every nutrient we consume.

http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

What's the best exercise for abs/arms/butt/etc? The answer: there is no "best" exercise. If we have jiggly arms, or a booty that needs firming, just focusing on those areas is not going to work. There is no such thing as spot reduction, other than liposuction surgery. We need to strength train from head to toe, and do cardio properly to be burning majority calories from fat and not energy calories.

Start strength training three to four days per week. Strength training burns four times more calories than cardio, and keeps your metabolism high twenty-four to thirty-six hours. The most effective way to strength train to get lean & tone quickly is HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING.

HIIT Examples:

Do 60sec of walking lunges while doing dumbbell bicep curls, then with no rest in between do 60sec of side to side pushups. Then rest 60sec and repeat for three sets.

Do 60sec sit/stand on a chair/bench while doing dumbbell shoulder presses, then with no rest in between get in a pushup position and for 60sec do a jumping jack. Then rest 60sec and repeat for three sets.

Google/YouTube High Intensity Interval Training for more.


Four to five times per week start doing cardio properly to be burning majority calories from fat, not energy. Doing more than 30 minutes of cardio is going to be majority energy calories; more than an hour is going to burn muscle. To do cardio properly to burn majority fat calories do just 25 minutes of 60 second high then low intensity intervals of cardio.

Cardio example (treadmill):

Warm-up 60sec @ 3.0 speed
Minute 1 - Speed 5.0
Min 3 - Speed 5.0
Min 5 - Speed 5.0
Min 7 - Speed 5.0
Min 9 - Speed 5.0
Min 11 - Speed 7.0
Min 13 - Speed 7.0
Min 15 - Speed 7.0
Min 17 - Speed 7.0
Min 19 - Speed 7.0
Min 21 - Speed 9.0
Min 23 - Speed 9.0
Cool-down 60sec @ Speed 3.0

That's it just 25mins of cardio to burn body fat! All the even numbered mins (2,4,6, etc) you come down to Speed 3.0. This is just an example, adjust it to your fitness level.

There's no wrong time to do cardio, but the two best times are: as soon as you wake up before consuming calories, and after strength training.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Isolating muscle groups like Day 1 (chest/biceps), Day 2 (legs/triceps), etc, is a body building schedule and NOT to be lean & toned which is what most women want.

To be lean & tone quickly your weekly exercise schedule should look like this:

Day 1: 60mins of Lower body (quads/glutes/hamstrings/calves) & Upper Body (shoulders/triceps/chest/biceps/back)
Day 2: 30mins core (side/lower/upper abdominals & lower back) then 30mins cardio
Day 3: 30mins cardio as soon as you wake up before having any calories & 30mins of cardio in the evening.
Day 4: 60mins of Lower body (quads/glutes/hamstrings/calves) & Upper Body (shoulders/triceps/chest/biceps/back)
Day 5: 30mins core (side/lower/upper abdominals & lower back) then 30mins cardio
Day 6: 30mins cardio as soon as you wake up before having any calories & 30mins of cardio in the evening.
Day 7: Rest

There should be 72hrs rest in between each muscle group. Also, in case you're not doing it already, weight training for lean & toned is not doing one set then resting. For your goal, you need to weight training using High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT means doing one set of an exercise then following it up with a completely different exercise no rest in between, then resting 30-60sec and repeating for 3sets.

For example, doing one set of 15 lunges, followed by pushups for 30sec no rest in between, then resting 30-60sec and repeating for 3sets. Or one set of 15 bicep curls followed by 30sec of jumping jacks no rest in between, then resting 30-60sec and repeating for 3sets. Google/YouTube HIIT to see more.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

"I exercise, so I can eat what I want." This mentality is proof of an unhealthy relationship with food/drink. Food/drink should NOT be rewards for exercising/eating healthy. If we need external motivation to reach fitness goals, rewards should be getting a massage, a new outfit, a mini weekend getaway. Remember, being active & eating healthy is NOT a 8-12wk program that we stop, it's a daily lifestyle.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Looking for something new & fun to do for cardio? Try trampolines! Many places in Chicago & the suburbs offer trampoline exercise (Ex: Xtreme Trampoline in Carol Stream). It's inexpensive, FUN (especially trampoline dodgeball), and can burn almost 200cal in just 30mins! We do not recommended it for people with knee/ankle issues tho. Changing up your routine daily is the key to seeing quick results!

http://www.xtremetrampolines.com/

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Machine cal counters are inaccurate. Cal burned is determined by age, gender & body fat %. Machines ask just for age/weight. It doesn't know if you're a 5'2" 160lb female or a 6'3" 180lb male. Math formulas & how fast the machine is going are also factors. Plus once a machine is put in a gym, it's almost never recalibrated. Most accurate way to know your heart rate/cal burned is with an HR monitor.

Polar is an excellent, quality brand, but you can also find quality, inexpensive ($20-$50) ones at Walmart.

www.polarusa.com/us-en

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Looking for a new way to stay active while also helping a charity? Every Friday night LTS Chicago from 530-9pm hosts volleyball games at the courts just South of Castaways at North Ave Beach. No registration is required, just a $9 donation for the charity. Each Friday night a different charity is honored.

http://www.livetosupport.com/leagues-events/beachvolleyball/

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

What's your inspiration to exercise? Ours is videos like this, of athletes who are at the highest levels of fitness & how hard they train to get there. What's your motivation for being healthier? Fitting in your old clothes? Being around longer for your kids/grandkids/family? Having a nice beach body? Having more energy? Lowering your health risks for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke?

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Seems trivial, but stretching AFTER exercise does help us see faster results. Stretching elongates the muscle = better blood flow. Better blood flow means that when we have protein after exercise it will absorb faster into the muscle = faster muscle recovery/rebuilding/growth = burning more cal all day long. Stretching also prevents lactic acid buildup that makes us sore/slows muscle growth. Always take 5-10mins to stretch.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Quickest ways to GAIN body fat are over-consuming cal, drinking alcohol, and stress. We can only take in so many cal = energy, before we start storing the extra energy = fat. Alcohol has cal, raises body fat producing hormone cortisol, and lowers body fat burning hormone testosterone. Being stressed also raises cortisol & can cause over-consuming cal. By eliminating these three, we'll change how we look & feel.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you've gained weight, DON'T buy bigger sizes. Buy a size or two smaller & hang them up in a place in your home where you frequently are. Hanging up clothes that no longer fit too, will be a constant visual reminder to stop overeating & get active. If out of sight out of mind works, then in sight in mind applies too as a constant source of motivation.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

In most gyms week after week people will pack the gym Monday-Thursday, and then Friday-Sunday it's a ghost town. Just because it's the end of the week, doesn't mean we should end being active. If you're going to Lolla, a Cubs game or the beach this weekend, walk, bike, or rollerblade there. If going to the mall or other shopping, park further away from the entrance & take the stairs instead of elevators/escalators.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Don't exercise the same muscle group every day. Muscle tissue needs at least 72hrs to fully recover. So if you do abs on a Monday, next time you should do them is Thursday. Lower body on Tuesday, next day should be Friday. Cardio can be done daily, but after a sixth day in a row, take a day off. Also, if you do cardio after weights, don't do it after lower body.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

"I'm a woman, if I do weights I'll get bulky." FALSE. The only ways to get bulky are, 1) To strength train for bodybuilding, 2) Consume 100s of grams of protein, 3) Increase your testosterone levels, 4) Do little to no cardio. Strength training burns 4x more cal than cardio & keeps metabolism (how fast we burn cal) high for 24-36hrs (cardio only 2hrs) = getting lean & tone faster.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

One of the two best "fat burners" is healthy fat that has EFAs, Omega 3 & 6, CLAs, flaxseed oil, etc. LIPIDEX by San has all of that. Artificial stimulant "fat burners" like Hydroxycut aren't effective because there's a barrier tissue called adipose that blocks them from attacking fat tissue. LIPIDEX is fat so it breaks passed that barrier.

The bottle will say take 6 pills twice daily after meals = 6g of fat. Women don't need that much, so I recommend women take two pills after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

BUT, it's not a miracle pill or by any means a sub for daily exercise & healthy eating; just a supplement to those two.

For more info on the benefits of healthy fat click the link.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Exercise should be challenging, fun & something you enjoy. If it's nothing but cardio & weight machines day after day, then that is boring & like a chore. Whether it's kickboxing, a dodgeball league, rock climbing, pole dancing classes, Wii, whatever. As long as you like it, and it challenges you to get that heart rate up & sweat, DO IT! Constantly changing it up is the key to staying interested.