 It’s another rainy week in New York City, but this weekend is Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer season. Time to move the jackets and sweaters into the bottom drawers and the backs of closets and move the tank tops and box cuts to center stage. No more hiding under layers of clothes. Time to show some skin and get some sun. And along with all of this comes the immediate desire for dramatic physical change. At Empower Fitness, we’re busy helping our clients do exactly that – from our fashion models and celebrities, to our “soccer moms” and business executives - everyone’s mindset seems to have shifted to “lets do this NOW”. I’m here to help. This is the fifth week of Empowering tips on nutrition and exercise to get you fitting into that tight speedo by the time you’re invited to the first pool party of the summer. Follow the tips I’ll outline here and you’ll be ready for the beach - whether your “beach” is the pier at Christopher Street, the pool at the Soho House or the white sands of Fire Island Pines.  If you’ve been following the program, your nutrition is solid – you are eating small, frequent meals which are comprised of good food choices. No dieting, no hunger. Just smart nutrition that is in line with your goal of a leaner, more toned body. This week we are going to flip the switch on the nutrition, employing a trick which will accelerate your body’s ability to burn fat (instead of sugar) to produce the energy you need. This is a form of “carbohydrate manipulation”, which sounds complicated, but is actually very simple. I call it nutrition for fat-loss acceleration. On certain days for the rest of the program, you will employ fat-loss acceleration to change the hormonal environment in your body so that you are burning stored fat all day (and night) long. Here’s a quick and simplified look at the science: Your body requires fuel so that you can move, breathe, operate your heart, brain, kidney’s etc. The body’s preferred source for that fuel is sugar. If sugar is not available, it is also possible for the body to burn fat for fuel. And this is the desired effect. But for this to happen, fat has to be available, we have to be releasing it from the fat cells. But that should already be happening because you are eating frequently which is the mechanism that allows for fat to be released.  Okay, so what do you need to do to increase your body’s ability to burn fat? It’s simple. Restrict sugar intake. Sugar comes mainly from starchy carbohydrates and natural sugar sources, like fruit. So we are going to avoid those on fat-loss acceleration days. If you need a reminder, look at my food list and cut out everything in the starchy carbohydrate list and all fruits and added sugars. Simple as that. So, if your meals were approximately one third each of starchy carbs, fibrous carbs and proteins, you will now be eating more proteins and vegetables and no starchy carbs at all. Fats are okay on fat-loss acceleration days, but it’s best to eat the “good fats” suggested on my nutrition sheets and to be careful of portion control since fats are calorie-dense, containing more than twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins. This week, we want to employ two fat-loss acceleration days, non-consecutively, and not on days when we do the new workout. Don’t do more or less, but two days exactly as suggested. This program has been carefully tested and the optimum number of fat-loss acceleration days are built into each week of the program with the appropriate workouts. Speaking of the workout, that is going to change radically today. The focus until now has been adding lean tissue (muscle) to your body in order to rev up your metabolism and get your body ready for this next phase where fat loss becomes the primary goal. The workout this week demands more energy be burned from the body during the workout (and for many hours after) by asking the same muscle groups to work hard for two exercises in a row, creating a need for more oxygen to be pumped into the muscles. And a higher oxygen requirement means a speeding of the metabolism and greater fat loss. The workout will require that you do some homework as a few of the exercises may not be familiar to you. Just find a good video by doing a search on Youtube if you don’t now how to correctly perform a suggested exercise. Or if you are newer to this kind of exercise program, it might be a good idea to hire a personal trainer to teach you how to do the exercises properly. Here are the exercise pairs:
This week, we will be doing 2 Sets of 15 Repetitions of each exercise (with a warm-up set with half of the weight you will use for the working set for the first pair of exercises). Complete all sets of the first pair before moving on to the second pair and so on. Rest two minutes between each set. Note that for exercises which are done with the left and right sides individually, like the split jump and the reciprocal shoulder raise, you will do 15 Repetitions for each side for a total of 30. You will want to choose a weight for each exercise that allows you to JUST finish BOTH parts of each set. So, you may be able to do more weight for a squat, for example, but if after doing that you cannot finish doing the split jumps, you should adjust the weight accordingly. When you have finished doing the 2 Sets each of the 4 exercise pairs above, it’s time for abs and a little cardio. You will do 2 Sets of 15 Repetitions of the following abdominal exercises done back-to-back and then rest for 2 minutes. Again, if you don’t know how to perform them correctly, look them up online.
When you’ve completed those, do 15 minutes of cardio on your choice of equipment, just make sure to follow the Interval Training guidelines. If you need a refresher on that, it can be found on my downloads page. Repeat the workout three times this week, with at least a day of rest between workouts. You will also want to add two cardio workouts to your program this week. These should be done on days when you are not already doing the above workout. Each time, do just 30 minutes of cardio on whichever equipment you prefer, just make sure to follow the Interval Training guidelines. It is okay to do this on the same day(s) you are amending your nutrition for fat-loss acceleration This week takes a sharp turn in the focus of our program, from both the nutritional and the exercise standpoints. For the rest of the program we are gong to focus like a laser on burning fat and producing a leaner, more toned body. Your eating should become even cleaner, if possible. If you were allowing yourself some leeway, this would be a good time to really “be good” for the next five weeks. Remember that the exercise and nutrition components work in synergy; that is, the combination of the two produces greater results than would the sum of the parts. Do both well and you will see results that are better (and faster) than anything you have done before.  NOTE: If you have a smaller frame or a more thin body type, and you are primarily interested in adding muscle to your body (and don’t have much need for fat loss), you may continue the program from last week with a small change. Instead of doing 12 Repetitions of each exercise for each set as you did last week, you will now want to do 3 Sets (plus the warm-up on the first exercise pair) consisting of 12, 10, and 8 Repetitions, respectively. Because you are dropping 2 Repetitions from one set to the next, you will be able to add one increment of weight as you move from one set to the next as long as you have finished the preceding set. If you did not complete the prior set, just keep the weight the same for the next set. You will also want to maintain the same nutrition suggested from the beginning of the program and add 250-500 calories to what you were eating each day previously. At this point in the workout, your body is highly anabolic (capable of adding muscle) and because the workout weights are getting very heavy, you will be able to eat more and add more muscle to your body without the fear of adding much fat. I will be updating the program each week for the duration of this blog on getting in shape for summer. You will notice that each element builds on the previous one, giving you a complete program, a road-map, for getting from where you are to where you want to be. I hope you will stay with me. I am looking forward to hearing about YOUR ten-week success story.  Greg Rothman, MS PT, is a fitness professional, author and the owner of Empower Fitness Studios in NYC. He received his Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and has twenty years of experience in the fitness and rehabilitation fields. He believes that absolutely anyone can have the body of their dreams once they understand how to eat and exercise in a way that supports their goals. It is his mission to Empower as many people as possible to do just that. Greg is happy to hear from you if you have questions about any topic related to fitness or nutrition, and can be found at www.GetEmpoweredFitness.com.
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The weather is warming up in New York City after yesterdays storms, and in seven weeks it’s July 4th Weekend and summer will be in full swing. Time to move the jackets and sweaters into the bottom drawers and the backs of closets and move the tank tops and box cuts to center stage. No more hiding under layers of clothes. Time to show some skin and get some sun. And along with all of this comes the immediate desire for dramatic physical change. At Empower Fitness, we’re busy helping our clients do exactly that – from our fashion models and celebrities, to our “soccer moms” and business executives - everyone’s mindset seems to have shifted to “lets do this NOW”.  I’m here to help. This is the fourth week of Empowering tips on nutrition and exercise to get you fitting into that tight speedo by the time you’re invited to the first pool party of the summer. Follow the tips I’ll outline here and you’ll be ready for the beach - whether your “beach” is the pier at Christopher Street, the pool at the Soho House or the white sands of Fire Island Pines. If you’ve been following the program from the beginning, your nutrition should be in check. You’re eating a good mix of foods that support your goals and you’re doing so frequently. This is really the opposite of a diet - you should never be hungry when eating in a supportive way. And if you’ve done the first two weeks of the exercise program, you’re feeling stronger and your body is starting to get a tighter, more toned look. Don’t worry that your weight on the scale hasn’t changed - this just means that you're adding heavier lean tissue to your body and losing some body fat, so no net change in weight is expected... yet. That comes later during the fat loss phase. This week we want to change things up a bit, introduce a new exercise concept and start really lifting some heavier weights. This week, we will be doing the same exercises, we will just be doing them differently. Instead of doing an exercise and then resting, we will now be completing two exercises back-to-back. These exercise pairs are called “Supersets”. You can learn more about this in my Fitness Concepts page - The password is “metabolism” Here is how you will be pairing your exercises as you move on to Supersets:
We will also change the numbers, and you will be doing 3 Sets of 12 Repetitions of each “Superset” before moving on to the next pair. Because you are doing fewer Repetitions per Set, you can now also do more weight. If you were able to complete 15 Repetitions of a given exercise pretty readily in your last workout, move up by one increment for your first set this week. If you had a very hard time completing 15 Repetitions of a given exercise in your last workout, or could not complete all 15, then stay with that weight and move up by one increment in the second Set. Rest 1.5 minutes between each Superset. A good rule of thumb to know if you can increase the weight by one increment from one Set to the next is this: If you finish the Set and could have definitely completed an addition 2 Repetitions (for a total of 14), then you can increase the weight for your next Set. Don’t forget to continue to do your “warm-up” Set with half of the weight you will use for your first “working” Set. You only need to do this “warm-up” Set for the first pair of exercises. It is even more important to do the “warm-up” now that you will be lifting even heavier weights. The Physioball Crunch will still be done by itself at the end of workout. And you will still be doing 15 Repetitions, but now you will be doing 3 Sets. As we have done in the past two weeks, complete the exercise program three times per week, resting at least one day between workouts.  As we continue to decrease the number of Repetitions per Set and increase the weights we are lifting, you will get stronger and add more muscle to your body. You should be seeing a difference in how your body looks in the mirror by the end of this week. Next week, the workout will take a turn. You will be given the option to continue with another week of this “Strength and Growth” Phase (for those who are more concerned with adding muscle to your bodies) or to move on to the “Endurance and Toning” Phase (for those of you whose primary concern is fat loss). As we go forward, I want you to know this: Every day that you make a positive change to your nutrition, every day that you work hard on the exercise program, your body is changing for the better. You may not see the changes in the mirror every day, but know that if you follow both the nutrition recommendations and the exercise program, that you will see dramatic results by the end of the ten weeks. If you want some motivation, take a look at what clients who have completed my program before you have said about it. I will be updating the workout each week for the duration of this ten-week blog on getting in shape for summer. You will notice that each element builds on the previous one, giving you a complete program, a road-map, for getting from where you are to where you want to be. I hope you will stay with me. I am looking forward to hearing about YOUR ten-week success story.  Greg Rothman, MS PT, is a fitness professional, author and the owner of Empower Fitness Studios in NYC. He received his Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and has twenty years of experience in the fitness and rehabilitation fields. He believes that absolutely anyone can have the body of their dreams once they understand how to eat and exercise in a way that supports their goals. It is his mission to Empower as many people as possible to do just that. Greg is happy to hear from you if you have questions about any topic related to fitness or nutrition, and can be found at www.GetEmpoweredFitness.com.
 It’s another rainy, Spring day in New York City, but in eight weeks it’s July 4th Weekend and summer will be in full swing. Time to move the jackets and sweaters into the bottom drawers and the backs of closets and move the tank tops and box cuts to center stage. No more hiding under layers of clothes. Time to show some skin and get some sun. And along with all of this comes the immediate desire for dramatic physical change. At Empower Fitness, we’re busy helping our clients do exactly that – from our fashion models and celebrities, to our “soccer moms” and business executives - everyone’s mindset seems to have shifted to “lets do this NOW”. I’m here to help. This is the third week of Empowering tips on nutrition and exercise to get you fitting into that tight Speedo by the time you’re invited to the first pool party of the summer. Follow the tips in my 10-Week Program and you’ll be ready for the beach - whether your “beach” is pier at Christopher Street, the pool at the Soho House or the white sands of Fire Island Pines.  If you have been following along, you should have the nutrition down pat by now. You should have more energy throughout the day and avoid those mid-afternoon “crashes” to which so many people are prone. And if you started your exercise program last week, you should be feeling stronger. Along with all of this, your metabolism is starting to increase, so you should be burning more calories all day long. This is all a very good start.  By now, you should be lifting more weight than when you started. Good job. Getting stronger and building lean muscle tissue is always the first step of a good exercise program if the goal is the lean, defined body that almost all of my clients tell me that they want. Now it’s time to take it up a notch. While last week, you performed one set of twenty repetitions for each of the exercises in the program, this week you will be doing two sets of fifteen repetitions. You will still do a warm-up set for the first two exercises using half the weight you plan to use for your first “working set”. For your first working set of each exercise, you will increase the weight by one increment from the weight you used in your most recent workout (unless you REALLY struggled to complete the twenty repetitions or if you were not able to complete twenty - in that case start with the same weight and go up one increment in the second set). Complete both sets of each exercise before going on to the next exercise. Rest one minute between each set. In order to ensure that you are lifting efficiently and reaching a point of fatigue that will give you the most potential for strengthening and adding new muscle tissue (Maximum Intensity), follow this rule of thumb: If you finished the fifteen repetitions in the first set and you could have completed AT LEAST three additional repetitions, go up one increment in your second set. If you could not have done so, then keep the same weight for the second set. I know that this is all VERY specific information, especially with regard to how to progress your weights. It is also VERY important to follow it as exactly as possible. This program is really simplified so as to give you the very best results you can get in the most efficient manner. Because of this, it is only by following the instructions very closely that maximal results will be achieved. It is also important to note doing this exercise program without following the nutrition from the first week will also not be as effective. The components are meant to work together and provide a synergy so that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. It really is very hard to “out-train” a poor diet. Eating in the supportive way suggested will give your body the nutrition it needs to add lean muscle tissue and begin to stoke the metabolism.  If you have become accustomed to eating only two or three meals each day, eating in the way that I’m suggesting can be difficult. Sometimes it is helpful to add a meal replacement shake for those busy times when you are unable to eat within three to three-and-a-half hours of your last meal. Also, if you want some help with getting maximal returns from your workouts, adding a specifically formulated shake for pre- and post-workout can really make a difference. As we go forward, I want you to know this: Every day that you make a positive change to your nutrition, every day that you work hard on the exercise program, your body is changing. By the end of this week, you will continue to have more energy and you should start to feel that your body is tightening up. It is unlikely that you will be lighter on the scale, but recognize that this is because you’ve added muscle to your body, and muscle is heavier than fat. Think about it this way - if your weight stays the same while you add a few pounds of muscle, then you have lost the same number of pounds of fat. Actual weight loss on the scale will come later as we “flip the switch” and use the metabolism-increasing muscle you have added, along with specific nutrition tricks we’ll learn later, to really ignite your furnace and change the focus of the program to burning away the excess fat. You are off to a great start. I will be updating the workout each week for the duration of this ten-week blog on getting in shape for summer. You will notice that each element builds on the previous one, giving you a complete program, a road-map, for getting from where you are to where you want to be. After we focus the first three weeks on adding some muscle to your body and revving up your metabolism, the nutrition and exercise program will change dramatically with a new focus on shedding fat (and weight) as summer approaches. I hope you will stay with me. I am looking forward to hearing about YOUR ten-week success story.  Greg Rothman, MS PT, is a fitness professional, author and the owner of Empower Fitness Studios in NYC. He received his Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and has twenty years of experience in the fitness and rehabilitation fields. He believes that absolutely anyone can have the body of their dreams once they understand how to eat and exercise in a way that supports their goals. It is his mission to Empower as many people as possible to do just that. Greg is happy to hear from you if you have questions about any topic related to fitness or nutrition, and can be found at www.GetEmpoweredFitness.com.
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Greg Rothman, MS PT, is a fitness professional, writer and the owner of Empower Fitness in NYC. He received his Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and has twenty years of experience in the fitness and rehabilitation fields. He believes that absolutely anyone can have the body of their dreams once they understand how to eat and exercise in a way that supports their goals. It is his mission to Empower as many people as possible to do just that. His “Recession-Proof” Fitness Programs are an affordable way to find dramatic physical change over the course of 10 weeks. Greg is happy to hear from you if you have questions about any topic related to fitness or nutrition, and can be found at www.GetEmpoweredFitness.com. Archives
July 2017
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