RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Doing more than thirty minutes of cardio is a waste of time. After thirty mins, the body is just burning energy calories (glycogen), not body fat calories. After hour, energy cal runs out, and now we're burning lean muscle tissue, which will make us gain body fat because the more muscle tissue we have the faster & more cal we'll burn all day long.

Here's how to do cardio properly (http://riofitnesschicago.blogspot.com/2013/01/try-this-intense-30min-fat-calorie.html?m=0).

If gaining muscle mass (i.e. bodybuilding) is your goal, after 30mins, testosterone levels which help us gain muscle tissue faster, begin to plummet. Bodybuilders, keep your daily routines to no more than 60mins (including stretching). More than 60mins, evaluate how much time you're wasting by either resting too long, or talking to people at the gym, etc. Exercise smarter! We can get more accomplished in less time!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Do you have "Love Chub?" "Love Chub" is when you gain body fat because your relationship/friendships are centered around food and/or alcohol. Break the cycle! Get more fit & healthy together by being more active with your significant other & family/friends.
•If you have a meal together, go outside to get some fresh air & talk to each-other on a long walk.
•Do some actual exercise together like hiking, yoga, rock climbing, biking, anything cardio, or for some real sweat pouring heart beating fun put on some boxing gloves and have the other person put on hand pads and box with each-other.
•Get a Nintendo Wii, and put on some fun, active games like Michael Jackson Dance Experience, any Just Dance title, any Wii Sports title, PunchOut, etc.
•Help each-other have healthy meals by sending each-other healthy recipes, shopping together for organic/non-GMO/non-pesticide/non-antibiotic foods, and most fun of all cooking healthy together.
Our loved ones are our most prized possessions, so let's keep them & ourselves as healthy as possible!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Avoid everything that says "DIET," "Fat-Free," etc. If fat or sugars are chemically removed from a food/drink, don't be fooled, it was replaced by something worse like artificial fillers/sweeteners. See the picture for just a few of the harmful side effects of just one of those artificial sweeteners, aspartame. You're better off having REAL sugar, BUT limiting your daily consumption.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Who didn't love coloring as a kid. Look at this picture to see some colors that should be on your plate EVERY time you eat. Just make sure they're ORGANIC NON-GMO veggies/fruits when you buy them & you'll be good to go!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Check the labels of every product you use to look beautiful for the 12 disease causing chemicals in the picture. They're in everything from makeup, toothpaste, shampoo & conditioners, body & facial cleansers, lotions, sunscreens, hand soaps, detergents, etc. Fortunately, there are NATURAL solutions to ALL of these products. www.iherb.com is one of many great websites to find healthy, natural alternatives to any product you use on yourself/home.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

A lot of people (including personal trainers) post BAD/inaccurate info on health & fitness online. Be careful where you get your info on how to be healthy & fit, because there's a HUGE difference between people who spend countless thousands of dollars on their education in the field (i.e. RIO Fitness Chicago trainers) & those who just regurgitate bad info they heard from someone else like a parrot does.

One example we keep seeing lately is that "non-fat cooking spray is healthy." There are SO MANY disease causing chemicals in cooking spray! See the pic for just a few of those chemicals. Instead use olive oil (*LOW heat cooking only*), avocado oil, safflower oil, or flaxseed oil.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Still eating Portillos, Taco Burrito King, Wendy's, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, Jimmy Johns, etc., daily? Here's just six of the many harmful chemicals in fast food/junk food that are the same harmful, disease causing chemicals used in household cleaning, hygiene, and beauty products. Fast food/junk food not only kills us by increasing our fat body fat %, but all of the chemicals in that food rapidly increase our chances for cancer, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Our society has become so dependent on medications to relieve/improve everything. Let healthy, organic FOODS be your NATURAL medicine. Need to improve your mood & get better sleep? Get some B6 naturally with bananas, sweet potatoes, and chicken. Need to improve your alertness because you're always feeling tired? Get some B12 naturally with Greek yogurt, sirloin, and eggs. Pregnant and want to prevent birth defects? Get some folate naturally with spinach, lentils, and asparagus. Want to strengthen your bones, teeth, and muscles? Get some D3 naturally with cod liver oil, eggs, and sardines. Want to relieve bad PMS symptoms? Get some calcium naturally with almond milk, collard greens, spinach, salmon, and tofu. Want to improve brain function & have more energy? Get some iron naturally with lean steak, chickpeas, shrimp.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Want cancer? Here's FIVE easy ways to get it.

1) Eat everything with SODIUM NITRATE in it. It's in all packaged meat products including hot dogs, pepperoni, ham, lunchmeat, bacon, sausages and most breakfast meats. To find it all you have to do is walk around the grocery store reading labels, or eat frequently at Subway, Jimmy Johns, Quiznos, etc.

2) Other ingredients that cause cancer are hydrogenated oils, aspartame, saccharin, artificial colors, and refined carbohydrates. Refined carbs includes chowing down on white bread, sweetened breakfast cereals, white fluffy pancakes, candy bars, granola bars, cookies, crackers and sweets of all kinds.

3) Start smoking. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to get cancer, especially if you're eating cancer-causing foods and ingredients as discussed above. By smoking, you will multiply the carcinogenic effect of everything else in your life. Before long, you will succeed in
your goal at being diagnosed with cancer.

4) Avoid all natural sunlight. How will this give you cancer? It turns out that natural sunlight is powerful prevention for cancer. People who get plenty of natural sunlight have a greatly reduced risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, breast cancer and many other disorders that aren't cancer-related such as osteoporosis and mental depression. *Just don't abuse your body with excessive outdoor tanning.* If you find it difficult to avoid the sun, just get a night shift job where you work all night and sleep all day. That's a hugely successful pro-cancer strategy.

5) Avoid exercise/physical activity. Moving your body helps prevent cancer because body movement moves lymph fluid around, and this is an important function of your immune system that fights cancerous cells.

***Keep in mind that everybody has cancer right now. There are cancerous cells in the human body of every person who is living and breathing right now, at this very moment. All you have to do to get diagnosed with cancer is make sure your immune system is sufficiently suppressed so that your body can't take care of the cancerous cells on a regular basis. In other words, if you destroy your immune system function through poor nutrition, nutrient depletion, smoking, lack of sunlight and lack of physical exercise, then it won't be able to do its job of cleaning up cancerous cells around the body and as a result, cancer will become a full-blown disease in no time.***

Try this INTENSE 30min FAT CALORIE BURNING RIO Fitness Chicago® CARDIO Routine:

•Find stairs in or around your home.
•Do 3 60sec Mountain Climber Warmup Sets
•Begin Minute 1 Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 2 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 3 Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 4 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 5 Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 6 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 7 Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 8 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 9 Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 10 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 11 Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step
•MInute 12 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 13 Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step
•MInute 14 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 15 Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step
•MInute 16 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 17 Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step
•MInute 18 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 19 Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step
•MInute 20 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 21 Do 30sec Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step then 30sec Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 22 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Minute 23 Do 30sec Jumping Up & Down on Bottom Step then 30sec Running Up & Down Stairs
•MInute 24 Walking Up & Down Stairs
•Conclude with 5mins of lower body static stretching.

That's it! Just 25mins is all you need to burn majority calories from body fat! ***Sidenote, when you're going up each step push through your heels to get to the next one. This activates your glutes/hamstrings, thus allowing you to use your entire leg instead of just quads/calves.***

****WARNING!! THIS ROUTINE IS ONLY FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE LONG-LASTING RESULTS QUICKLY WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEND A MILLION HOURS A DAY EXERCISING!!***

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

The increase in diseases like cancer (especially in young people) is due to all the chemicals in our foods. When you grocery shop start looking for signs/labels that say ORGANIC, GMO-FREE, PESTICIDE-FREE, HORMONE-FREE, ANTIBIOTIC-FREE, etc. Better to start spending a little more money now to eat better, than to spend money later on doctor visit co-pays, insurance premiums, hospitalization bills, prescription meds, etc.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Happy YOU Year! To see the happier & healthier you in 2013, we must eliminate things from your life. Today's elimination is DRINKING CALORIES.

The average American drinks 30% of their daily calories. All of those cal from coffee (unless black), energy drinks, juice, sports drinks, soda, etc., adds up daily to gaining body fat. The nutrition facts on these drinks are usually only for 8oz of the drink, but when we consume the entire drink, we're consuming anywhere from 16-32oz. Don't think that if it says "DIET" that it's any healthier either. "Diet" means there's artificial sweeteners inside and those don't get properly metabolized by the body = more body fat gain.

Start increasing your WATER intake to at least 80-120oz daily. Not only does water prevent overeating by preventing dehydration, it has ZERO cal/fat/carbs/sugars/sodium, it cleanses the kindeys, and keeps our skin healthy & beautiful.

See the picture to see the seven harmful side effects of drinking of soda.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Look at this picture from this week's episode of NBC's Biggest Loser. These million dollar trainers have these contestants doing crunches/situps incorrectly with hands behind hand & neck torqued, which is putting pressure on their cervical spine/neck. Without proper form during exercise we're putting A LOT of unnecessary pressure to our spine, joints, ligaments. This pressure will lead to injury & chronic pain in the future.

A proper situp/crunch is done with your arms crossed over your chest, and when you come up you should be looking upward not forward so that your neck & torso come up as one piece.

A proper squat/lunge is done with your upper body upright, knees BEHIND the toe-line, going straight down not forward, and pushing through the heels to come back up.

A proper pushup/plank is done with your arms/hands under your chest not your face so you're not putting pressure in your shoulders/rotator cuffs/neck, and with your feet WIDE apart.

Learn proper form so you avoid injury!

It's time for this week's INTENSE 30min RIO Fitness Chicago® routine:

WARMUP: 3 Sets of 60sec Frankenstein Walk (YouTube/Google it)

•30sec 5-10lb Dumbbell DEEP Squat (Deep enough to touch the floor/your feet with weights)
•30sec 5-10lb Dumbbell Forward-Backward Crawling
•30sec 5-10lb Dumbbell Clean & Presses
•30sec Rolling Pushups (Pushup, roll 360* either to left or right until in pushup pos. again, hit another pushup, roll opposite way, then hit another pushup and repeat)

Repeat all four exercises for 2 rounds, rest 2mins, repeat for 2 rounds, rest 2mins, repeat for 2 rounds, and then conclude with static stretching. #happyYOUyear #RIOfitchi

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

New year, so new mindset on getting healthy. Instead of focusing on losing "weight"/on the scale, focus on losing BODY FAT %. Body fat is what makes us look & feel terrible, and what kills us by increasing our chances of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. *People who carry their majority of body fat around their midsection are most at risk.* See the picture to see how losing body fat makes us healthier in 19 measurable ways.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Happy YOU Year! To see the happier & healthier you in 2013, we must eliminate things from your life. Today's elimination is CAFFEINE.

Many recommend it for metabolism, but there's serious side effects to caffeine (stress on your heart/liver/kidneys/central nervous system, it's an addictive substance, and it also pulls calcium out of our bones). Calcium depletion leaves bones weak & more susceptible to injury. This is especially dangerous for women who are already at higher risk for osteoporosis than men.

Here are TEN healthy ways to sleep better, feel calmer, and NATURALLY boost your energy levels without caffeine:

1) Get 1,000mg/day of calcium from foods (low-cal cheese/yogurt, almond milk, collard greens, spinach) to counteract the caffeine. Taking a calcium supplement daily is also another great idea to prevent bone density loss/injury.

2) Make a serious effort to get enough sleep every night. Lack of sleep causes the body to not secrete growth hormones which help us recover from the previous day & feel rejuvenated the following day.

3) Eating something SMALL every 3hrs to keep your metabolism fast.

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

5) Increase B12 intake. 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.

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.

7) GREEN TEA increases mental acuity and protects against heart disease; Choose one with NO caffeine and just add a twist of lemon to help absorb the antioxidants into your bloodstream.

8) GINGER TEA soothes digestion and fires up your energy

9) CHAMOMILE TEA calms the nervous system and relaxes the muscles; drink an hour before bedtime to get a good night's rest.

10) TAO TEA is a set of healing bagged teas for internal cleansing, calming your emotions, and promoting balance.

TODAY/THIS WEEKEND try this INTENSE 30min RIO Fitness Chicago® routine:

•30sec 5-10lb Deadlift
•30sec Pushups
•30sec Tuck Jumps
•30sec 5-10lb Dumbbell Floor Wipers
•30sec 5-10lb Dumbbell Single Arm Between Leg Chopper

Repeat all five exercises for 2 rounds, rest 2mins, repeat for 2 rounds, rest 2mins, repeat for 2 rounds, and then conclude with static stretching. #happyYOUyear #RIOfitchi

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Happy YOU Year! To see the happier and healthier you in 2013, we must eliminate some things from your life. Today's elimination is ALCOHOL. Alcohol is one of the three quickest ways to gain body fat (along with stress & over-consuming calories) because it has empty calories, increases the fat producing hormone cortisol, and decreases the fat burning hormone testosterone.

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.

Here are the effects of drinking & the benefits of not drinking on your mind, body, energy levels, cardio & strength performance, etc.:

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Last week we at RIO® issued a 30 day no alcohol challenge to YOU! In case you haven't started, here are the effects of drinking & the benefits of not drinking on your mind, body, energy levels, cardio & strength performance, etc. May not seem easy to go without it, but if you want to see a drastic improvement in how you look & feel, YOU can do it!

Hydration

1-2 Days After Drinking

Since alcohol consumption is very hard on the kidneys, drinking will have a negative impact on your body's hydration. Your body's water will go to the kidneys to metabolize the alcohol when it should be used to help process other substances!
Hydration is key to performance in sports or weight lifting because water is needed in all energy-creating reactions. It can take the body awhile to become re-hydrated, so I suggest if you are out drinking, have a glass of water as well, to maintain proper hydration.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you have not consumed alcohol for the past 1-2 days, you are not seeing any of the negative effects of dehydration. Processing all of the substances in your body is easy, because alcohol is not limiting this at all.
Your performance in your sport or weight lifting routine is steadily improving because you are not hitting any roadblocks due to dehydration.

Mind function

1-2 Days After Drinking

Alcohol diminishes the function of the mind through various processes. It affects many of the hormone functions in the brain within 1-2 minutes of consumption. Besides that, alcohol intake slows glycogen metabolism. This means the brain receives less glycogen, so it doesn't have much energy.
Since the mind plays a large role in any exercise to aid in motivation and focus, decreased mind function due to alcohol should be avoided!

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you have not had any alcohol in your system in the past day or two, your mind function is at its normal level. Your workouts will probably feel much better than they did coming a day or two after drinking!

Protein Synthesis

1-2 Days After Drinking

Anabolism, or protein synthesis, is negatively affected by alcohol. Alcohol hurts the absorption of protein in the body, just like it hurts the absorption of any other substance. Because less protein is being turned into muscle tissue, you are not growing to the fullest! This decrease in protein synthesis doesn't just slow down growth, it also hurts recovery, because less protein is going to repair muscle tissue.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

With improved recovery and protein synthesis, you might not see a sudden change, but in time the increased growth and recovery will really make a difference!

Cardiovascular Performance

1-2 Days After Drinking

Alcohol's blood thinning effects might help the heart somewhat, but don't be mislead - alcohol's negative effects on the heart are more numerous than its positive effects.Decreased cardiovascular activity can make recovery in lifting and sports more difficult in between sets or drills.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you have not been drinking in the past day or two, you should feel like you're in better shape. This is because the heart is functioning better!

Strength Performance

1-2 Days After Drinking

Because of many of the aforementioned processes that alcohol can have a negative impact on, strength performance takes a hit as well. When you are not properly hydrated and recovered, how can you expect to perform at optimal strength levels?
Diminished mind function can also be a very bad thing when it comes to strength performance- you might not have the same level of mental focus, as you did while not on alcohol.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you haven't had any alcohol in your system for the past few days, all of these effects can be avoided. You can finally realize your full potential since alcohol is not hiding it.

Energy Levels

1-2 Days After Drinking

Alcohol tends to limit the metabolism of other substances in the body. One of these substances is the carbohydrate. By limiting carbohydrate metabolism, muscle glycogen levels are limited. This means that fatigue sets in earlier and endurance, strength and speed are compromised.

As I mentioned before, the negative impacts on cardiovascular function also have a negative impact on the body.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Without having consumed alcohol over the past 1-2 days, you should notice an improvement in energy levels. Those long sports practices or workouts will probably seem shorter, and of better quality!