RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

People are always asking, "what should I eat?" Here's a simple answer, eat more FOOD & eat less CRAP.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

LADIES, do you know about the SIX essential nutrients you should have daily as a woman, why they're beneficial for you as a woman and what foods contain them?

1) B6. This helps improve mood, appetite, sleep, and helps the nervous system function properly. It can be found in bananas, sweet potatoes, and chicken.

2) B12. Helps improve alertness, fights fatigue, and helps produce more hemoglobin (a protein in red blood cells). It can be found in Greek yogurt, sirloin, and eggs. *Vegans should be a taking a B12 supplement daily.

3) Folate. This crucial during the first few weeks of pregnancy to prevent spinal and brain defects. Has also been shown to reduce risk of breast and colon cancer. It can be found in spinach, lentils, and asparagus.

4) D3. Helps strengthen bones, teeth, and muscles. Has also been shown to reduce risk of autoimmune diseases, breast and ovarian cancer. It can be found in cod liver oil, eggs, and sardines.

5) Calcium. Helps PMS symptoms, strengthens bones which may be weak from osteoporosis/caffeine consumption, and helps maintain blood pressure. It can be found in almond milk, almonds, salmon, and tofu.

6) Iron. Crucial for proper brain function, boosts energy levels, and prevents anemia. It can be found in lean steak, chickpeas, shrimp. *Vegetarians should be taking an iron supplement daily.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

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: Laughing 10-15mins/day burns up to 50cal. Laughter has also been shown to reduce stress hormones cortisol & epinephrine, release endorphins that can relieve some physical pain, and boost the number of antibody-producing cells & effectiveness of T-cells which strengthens the immune system. Here's three minutes of HILARIOUS!

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: Lower body (quads/glutes/hamstrings/calves)
Day 2: 30mins of Upper Body (shoulders/triceps/chest/biceps/back) then 30mins of cardio
Day 3: 30mins core (side/lower/upper abdominals & lower back) then 30mins cardio
Day 4 Lower body (quads/glutes/hamstrings/calves)
Day 5 30mins of Upper Body (shoulders/triceps/chest/biceps/back) then 30mins of cardio
Day 6 30mins core (side/lower/upper abdominals & lower back) then 30mins cardio
Day 7: Rest

There should be 48hrs 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. YouTube HIIT to see more.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Want to make exercising easier? Here's a couple tips.

Pushing through the heels: Whether walking, running, going up stairs, doing lunges/squats pushing through the heels activates the glutes & hamstrings and prevents overloading the quadriceps.

Tightening the abodominals: Keeping your abs by your spine (while continuously breathing) during exercises, especially strength exercises, prevents unnecessary pressure to the lower back/lumbar spine.

Breathing: Proper breathing helps prevent the heart rate from getting up too quickly. Try breathing in thru the mouth and out thru the nose so your mouth doesn't get too dry.

Tightening the glutes & abodominals: Tightening these two on every exercise makes every exercise a core exercise. Having a strong core protects your neck, back, spine, and knees.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

We all know that consuming too many calories is bad & causes body fat gain; but did you know eating too few cal does the same? Doesn't matter young or old, male or female, if we consistently consume under 1200cal/day we send our body into STARVATION MODE= 1) The body holds onto the body fat (stored energy) we already have for future energy. 2) When we finally do eat it's auto-stored as body fat because the body doesn't know when it's getting another meal. 3) The body will begin catabolizing our muscle tissue to use as fuel to keep us going. Less muscle tissue we have = the less cal we burn all day long = the faster we gain body fat. Avoid this by, eating something SMALL every 3hrs to keep your metabolism fast & by having a qualified health professional calculate your specific daily calorie limit and start staying within it.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you're a woman, there's some serious long term effects more than one drink a day/more than seven drinks a week can cause other than the immediate body fat gain. Remember, being healthy is not an 8-12wk program that we stop, it's a daily lifestyle of being active & eating right.

The real problem with drinking, even just two drinks a day for women, is the toll it takes on the inside of your body, not the outside. If you have more than seven drinks per week, it actually reduces bone mass. Since women are already at a higher risk of osteoporosis than men, reducing bone mass even more makes a woman more prone to falls and at higher risk for fracture/injury.

Studies clearly show, too, that more than one drink a day makes you more prone to breast cancer. The European Cancer Conference recently reported that the risk rises 10 percent for women who have between one and two drinks a day, compared with women who have less than one, and the risk increases by 30 percent at more than three drinks per day. And don't think you lower the risk by drinking wine instead of beer or something harder. The same research says any kind of alcohol ups the risk. Uterine-cancer risks go up at two or more drinks per day, as well.

Alcohol lowers testosterone levels in the body. When testosterone is lowered, estrogen levels increase, which in some cases cranks up cancer risks.

Alcohol does have some health benefits, such as wine lowering risk for dementia, heart disease, and certain cancers. Moderate drinking also seems to raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, while decreasing blood pressure. It may even cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by improving the body's sensitivity to insulin.

BUT, if you're worried about the risk of diabetes and you're eating right, for example, adding alcohol won't do much more for you. The same goes for cancer: Ditching cigarettes, eating more fruits and veggies, avoiding too much sun exposure, keeping your weight under control, and getting regular exercise pack a lot more prevention than a bottle of wine.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Not getting enough sleep each night not only leaves you exhausted the next day, but is a factor in preventing you from losing body fat and seeing any results. When we don't get at least the recommended eight hours a night, the body raises the levels of the body fat producing hormone cortisol, it does not send out growth hormones that help us recover from our day/exercise, increases the cravings/appetite hormone ghrelin, and decreases levels of leptin which suppresses appetite.

Tips to get better sleep:

1) Exercise daily. Even just 30mins/day.

2) No caffeine after 700pm.

3) Avoid using the computer/watching TV directly before bed. This will keep your brain stimulated and not allow your body to drift off.

4) Take a shower just before bed. This will raise your internal core temperature, so that as you lay there your body will naturally bring it down; thus allowing you to relax and fall asleep.

5) Keep your bedroom dark. Even the tiny light from a digital alarm clock can disrupt a sleep cycle.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip: Nature's Best Perfect Isopure is the BEST body fat burner out right now. Taking a whey isolate protein AFTER every time you exercise, helps to build LEAN muscle tissue. 1lb of lean muscle burns 50cal/day at rest, s

o the more lean muscle we have the more calories we'll burn all day along + what we burn during exercise = seeing quicker results. Mix ONE scoop with 8oz of cold water or unsweetened almond milk and consume after any type of exercise. One scoop = 110cal, ZERO fat/sugar/carbs, and 26g of the highest quality of protein that exists. Nothing artificial, the only ingredient should be protein.

(http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/nb/perfectisopure.html)