For some people staying fit can be part of their lifestyle, others are focused  on a desired goal that they wish to achieve, either to drop weight, get lean or just reach the body of their dreams. Health & Fitness should be part of your lifestyle no matter what your goal is. The first step is by having a work out plan, this will help you regulate to achieve your main goal, enabling you to focus on your workout routine and the exercises that you will be doing on that particular day.  This should include your reps, sets for each exercise and also the correct rest time between each completed set. Furthermore, always keep in mind that taking one or two days off during the week is equally important, giving your body a rest will allow you to obtain quicker results and avoid injuries. Remember, sometimes “a lot isn’t always better”. Overtraining isn’t the choice you should follow; always keep in mind that letting your body rest is critical in order to achieve the body of your dreams.

You might be wondering, what is the most important part of the human body? OUR SHOULDERS are the most important body part; this is something you should always keep in mind when you train, thus avoiding any major injuries on the shoulders.  Why is it so important? For such a simple joint, the shoulder is able to present complex problems, as people start to age, their shoulders start to gradually lose the mobility and the movement may become increasingly difficult. This also tends to happen to athletes that have experienced shoulder malfunction after numerous years of intense training. Keep in mind anyone is at risk of running into a shoulder injury simply from any type of sports activity. The clinicians are aware and familiar with the structure of this muscular skeletal system as it is somewhat a mystery among the litany of joints in the human body.  Last but not least the shoulders are classified as one of the most difficult areas to examine.

 Moving forward, you might also be wondering, what is the most frequent shoulder injury?  The rotator cuff tear is one of the most critical injuries in the shoulder.

What is the rotator cuff you ask? The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and joints that wrap around the front, back and top of the shoulder joint.  The rotator cuff helps the muscles guide the shoulder through a range of motions and assists with the stability of the joint.

What is a rotator cuff tear? A rotator cuff tear occurs when there is an injury to one of the rotator cuff tendons. The tear can occur in many shapes and sizes but can be thought of simply as a hole in one of the tendons.

How can you avoid this? - Always warm up before doing any physical activities involving sports, weight training and contact sports.?- Shortly after warming up, it is important to do your stretches. This will relieve any tension or lactic acid that you might have.?- When doing any type of shoulder weight training, use sensible weights ?- Focus on lifting less weight with the correct technique.?- If lifting heavy, make sure you always have a spotter with you.

Common exercises can cause tear in the rotator cuff. Remember all of the below exercises should be done with a spotter for added support and to avoid injury.

-          Flat Bench

-          Decline, Incline Bench

-          Shoulder Presses / Arnold Presses / Lateral Raise

In conclusion, it is very important to keep all this in mind, train safe and protect your shoulders to prevent injury so you can continue to train and achieve your desired goals.

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FAT LOSS: What does it mean to you?
To many gym-rookies, or beginner fat loss seekers this means cut the calories, especially the carbohydrates, amp up the cardio, and switching from heavy, to light weight resistance training until of course they realize they did loose weight, but the wrong type of weight, and have the “skinny-fat syndrome” Skinny-Fat Syndrome is when you are skinny, but still carry the same level of body fat.
What immediately happens when you cut the calories, especially the calories from carbs, bump up the cardio to an hour a day, and reduce the weight you lift is that your body is less anabolic (fat burning, muscle-building) and more catabolic (muscle-burning).  Instead, your body burns away your hard earned muscle, and keeps the body fat especially since you are not stimulating growth with the new lightweight training program, and isn’t being fueled properly since your fuel comes from food, primarily via complex carbohydrates!

FAT LOSS: To me, this means an increase in my caloric intake, and a slight switch of my macronutrient breakdown. Wait; did I just say INCREASE in calories? Yes, I always increase my caloric intake because the workload increases. Not only am I weight training, but as well I am performing cardio, so I want to preserve, and even gain muscle mass while burning body fat!
Summer is just around the corner; don’t make the mistake of trying to get your summer body by cutting your calories and amping up the cardio. Seek professional guidance, or do the research so you get your hot ripped body effectively, efficiently, and in a safe manner

4 Simple tips to get your HOT SUMMER BODY IN 2011!
1. Use a healthy macronutrient breakdown. Ex. 40/40/20
a. A common mistake is to cut the carbs, or fats completely and increase the protein significantly to have a breakdown such as 60/35/5
2. Your body needs carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats for growth, cell reproduction, energy, transportation of nutrients, and fat loss!
3. To maintain or even increase muscle mass while burning fat DO NOT begin to lift lightweights. You gained muscle by lifting heavy, and it will only stay or continue to grow by constantly placing tension on the area with heavy weights.
4. Do not perform long duration low intensity cardio; instead perform high intensity interval cardio for a shorter period of time. A perfect example is to compare the body of a long distance runner, to an Olympic sprinter. A sprinter has a muscular, toned, ripped physique, mainly due to the way they train!

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Hey Guys!
Bringing you one of my favorite exercises that targets your chest!

Regular Push ups / Wide Push ups using The Swiss Ball.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NosiLQP_xlY 400x400]

This is a great exercise that will target your upper chest and it also targets your entire core. Keep in mind that this is an advanced work out as a strong core is required. You might be wondering why is it considered advanced? To answer your question, as your using the ball to balance yourself you need to engage your core to be stable and balanced as you go UP & DOWN in every rep. What happens if you don't use your core? You will fall off the ball.

If you are a beginner - focus your on technique and keeping your core tight, you don't have to go all the way down, but as you build your strength you will be able to move up on reps, sets & start going all the way down as I demonstrated on the video.

SETS & REPS depending your FITNESS LEVEL:

Advcanced: 5 = 10-12 reps
Intermediate: 3 = 6-8 reps
Beginner: 2 = 5 reps

& 1 MINUTE BREAK IN BETWEEN SETS.

Give it a try & Let me know what you think.
More great stuff coming soon!

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This is one of the best Leg work outs I've done. The good sore kicks in right away the next day but like they say, it's not the next day that you feel it, it's usually 2 days after your work out when you get that intense sore feeling, but the "good sore" it's always a good thing.

This is one of my favorite works out to do as it maximizes your pump, definition and muscle growth!

Heres the following breakdown of the work out - Keep in mind that the weight you use it's all on your hands, we're all different when it comes to choosing your weight in each set.

Body Part Training Breakdown:
- Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Gluteus!

Exercises:

- Leg Press, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Donkey Calves Raises,
- Wide Legged Deep Squats & Single Leg Squat on Power Plate

Reps & Exercises:
Leg Press: 5 x 12-12-10-10-8 > (Drop Set)  - Leg Extensions: 5 x 10-10-10-8 > (Drop Set)
Leg Curls: 5 x 12-12-10  > (Muscle Failure)
Donkey Calves Raises: 4 x 15,10,8,6 – Wide Squats: 4 x 12,10,8,6 (Heavy Sets)
Single Leg Squats (60 Second on the power Plate) 4 Sets

I will be doing an entry on the Power Plate – one of my fav things to use.
Stay tuned!

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Today I will be sharing the top 3 ways on how to reduce heavy body soreness. Whether you’re just starting a workout regiment or have a regular routine it’s normal to get sore after completing a workout. The question you need to ask yourself is “Am I getting the good sore”? or the “bad sore”? Furthermore, the key to starting and ending a successful workout is stretching as this will release the lactic acid that you have in your body. As a Fitness Model, my workouts have to vary. Keeping it different keeps my body guessing which maximizes pump, definition and muscle growth. With that said, here are my TOP 3 ways to avoid heavy body soreness.
 

1. FOAM ROLLER: This allows for a gentle massage by placing the foam roller below the tender area and simply rolling back and forth on it. In reality you can position the roller anywhere around your body to condition and target the specific spots that require attention and muscle relaxation.

2. HOT SHOWER: It’s proven that taking a hot shower after a workout will help with body soreness. If possible, as hot as your body can handle, why you ask? The body tends to get really tense and stiff after a workout. As the blood flows throughout, the lactic acid tends to be accumulate therefore taking a hot shower will help release the lactic acid and relieve pressure, making your body feel relaxed. By personal experience, this is one I often chose; in addition two other methods recommended would be the Sauna & Steam room!

3. FOOD: The most important of all, the nutrients you get into your body will make the difference in your post-work out regime. Eating the right food with the right nutrients will prevent the muscle from fatigue and heavy soreness. Thus choosing something with good carbs, calories and protein will make the difference. However, keep in mind that Glutamine is a key supplement since it has the vitamins you need for a post-work out.

I have done all the 3 major steps above and on days of my AM & PM workouts I am not as sore as I used to get. Remember, the good sore is important, NOT the bad sore since this can lead into injuries. Try these steps to help achieve the body of your dreams!

More Great stuff coming soon!?Stay tuned.

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I just wrote a long blog entry and went to insert an image. When I went back all my text was gone so I will have to re-write it :(

Lately I have been extremely motivated and back on track. I am super happy about this and want to share my story with you.

Like many of you, I overindulged. Not over Christmas like most, but afterwards. I was sooo good during Christmas, I avoided all of the desserts and sweets in general. But what happened after is that I got cocky. I thought I had been so good that I deserved a bit of a reward. So I had pizza..... four days in a row! Not to mention dessert as well. I stuffed myself so much that I could barely sleep at night due to being uncomfortable. Not only that, I lost my motivation to exercise. I was not in a good mindset and I was feeling very self-conscious as my clothes were feeling tight. I hadn't gained a huge amount of weight, but I felt like I now had a small gut and that my thighs were buldging. All from the large amounts of sodium and bad fats I had consumed.

I took a week just getting my diet in order. I eliminated pizza and avoided eating after a good dinner. Next came the exercising. I started off just getting myself motivated by stretching and small, fast amounts of cardio.

Over the last two weeks, I have managed to get my diet back on track. I am eating only chicken for meat, lots of veggies and fruit, yogurt, minimal carbs, lots of nuts and grains, fruit and granola for breakfast, oolong tea after dinner, green tea extract with breakfast and lunch and I am a daily Booster Juice girl. My favourite is the Pineapple Freeze with protein.

For my workouts, that I do at home, yes at HOME. I don't go to the gym. I don't think you have to go to a gym to get great results. I do cardio and then focus on ass and abs, arm and back or legs. I mostly focus on my ass and abs as I feel like those are my areas that need the most improvement and for some reason, I am just obsessed with those regions in general. I am also an avid stretching person. I love being flexible and I never want to lose my ability to do the splits and to fall back into a bridge.

In order to stay motivated, I start visualizing my work outs when I am at work during the day. This gets me sooo pumped and ready for when I get home. I have a small meal, wait 20 mins, get some sexy work out clothes and runners on, pump up the music and getter done!

My goal is to lose 2 inches off my hips. I couldn't believe when I had my boyfriend measure them and they were 37 inches. I almost fainted! Thankfully my waist is still a 26 and my bust is a natural 34. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for tone and muscle building there!

Well, I hope everyone is staying as motivated as I am this year, because I find people start to get back off track at the end of the month.

On another note, I was very happy when I did the online "Real Age" test, which combines many factors into a "real age" for you. I got 16.9! Wow, I am 25 and I feel like a 17 year old! haha You can do it online at: www.realage.com/

I don't believe it is 100% accurate, but it was a good motivator for me and to keep me positive. Benig positive is a huge thing for me and I love reading motivational quotes to prop me up. Speaking of which I will upload a pic of something I saw on a tea cup to help everyone out.

Stay healthy :)

KVLZ

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Did you ever think about why you hit that wall preventing you from improving? 

After a year or so of consistent training your body seems to get used to the routine and hits what’s called a PLATEAU. As you become more advanced in your training, there are several ways to work out when it comes to your training which will help you break though that wall, stopping you from improving and growing. By experience, I always try to keep my training very unique and different, always shocking my body with something new, allowing me to grow and obtain solid definition and power. After many years of working out I haven’t really hit that wall

l because I always keep in mind that taking a break from training is recommended. Another reason why you may hit that wall is you are OVER TRAINING.

People tend to over-train in volume and they lack the most important aspect which is INTENSITY. Try to focus on a certain amount of time, say an HOUR, and train with HIGH INTENSITY. Your results and body will grow. Remember, more is not always “better”.

THE PRINCIPLES I WILL BE DISCUSSING IN DETAILS ON THE NEXT ENTRY

• Overcoming the PLATEAU

• Muscle Failure - Forced Reps

• Reps Pause Reps 

• Super Sets

• Negatives 

• “Cheat” Reps

Each and one of those ways of training will HELP YOU break thro

ugh the wall, as you will be able to grow, obtain body definition and strength. 

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Thank you to everyone who has supported me, motivated me and kept me positive! 2010 has been a great year and I wish you all the best for 2011!

This website just keeps getting better and better, thanks to Ken Ezo for an awesome job with bringing this community together and supporting athletes across the world!

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Hello & Welcome!

You might be wondering what is Global Fitness? Well it's pretty simple to figure it out, the fitness industry it's a big industry filled of passionate athletes and each and one of them is trying to reach a certain goal in this industry. Either become a PRO bodybuilder, be a successful model, or build a name of yourself in the industry and start expanding your career in the field as weeks, months and years go by. NutraGuys introducing Global Fitness will give you the ability to expand your career the RIGHT WAY, by networking with people from the industry, sharing common goals with fellow fitness models or just meet the photographer who meets your expectations, GLOBAL = WORLD WIDE. NutraGuys & NutraGirls is reaching big numbers as it is, having members from different parts of the world. HOW COOL is that? There's nothing better than having the community come together as a TEAM and help one another reach their goal, in this industry it's all about TEAM WORK, supporting each other. Global Fitness will bring you this, bringing people together from different parts of the world and build a HEALTH & FITNESS Community.

Articles of all topics will be brought up, even for the Ladies in this Great Community, for those upcoming fitness guys willing to get into the Modeling Industry and even for those looking for some sort of advice when it comes to Nutrition, as I mentioned before, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. 

The Fitness Lifestyle will only grow from here and out. Join the Global Fitness Movement to reach the goals and dreams you desire!

Best wishes for the 2011.

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