Latest News

We get over-stressed now and then. It’s a natural response under certain conditions. We need to be concern when our stress is getting out of hand and interfering with our lifestyle. What problems can too much stress cause?

• High Blood Pressure · Colds and the Flu · Allergies · Diabetes · Damage Relationships · General Bad Health

The list goes on and on:

Getting over the stress is what we should strive for. How can we go about this? Taking the natural approach has become the best way to start. Here are a few ideas to begin with.

Exercise: It could be difficult to begin an exercise program but once you start it will become easier. Exercise helps to blow off steam and gets rid of excess stress. So you benefit by reducing your tension and obtaining a workout as well. Of course speak to your physician before beginning an exercise program.

Relax: Yes it is hard to relax if you are stressing. Try taking in a deep breath slowly. Now as you breathe out picture all the stress leaving you. You may find that doing relaxation techniques on a regular basis when you aren’t stressed out to be beneficial.

Learn relaxation techniques such as: · Meditation · Yoga · EFT · Z-Point ·

Look into what causes your stress: You might not know what is inducing you stress. Try to understand where the source is coming from if possible. Once you understand what is causing your stress you can test to modify these problem areas. If you can’t, can you substantially reduce them? Maybe you can look at these stressors in a different way.

Have a Positive Attitude: Always look on the bright side of things. Don’t think about what may go wrong. Take positive steps to improve yourself, your business and your spirit. Work on your ambitions. Find methods to enhance your routine activities. By the end of the day understand that you have done all you can to maintain a healthy lookout on life. Now you can relax and enjoy the remainder of the evening either by yourself or with family and friends.

Nutrition: A healthy diet with the proper nutrition is one key to balancing you physical, mental and emotional health. Frozen TV dinners or Big Macs are not good choices. You need to consume as much unprocessed food as possible. Try to eat as much organic products as possible to eliminate pesticides from your diet. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables, raw if possible, and some fruit. Drink plenty of clean water to keep those brain neurons communicating.

Get Enough Rest: Getting enough sleep at night is crucial to keeping stress at bay. Try to relax the best you can in the evening. Exercise early so you aren’t all wound up. If you watch a movie ensure it’s not too violent are exciting. It could be better to watch a comedy, read something soothing or listen to soft pleasant music.

If your stress is so severe and you can’t seem to find relief regardless of what you try then you can desire to request professional help.
So there you have six ideas that will help you reduce stress and enjoy life more. Don’t delay. Start on these recommendations right away. Don’t stop there. Also you can schedule a session with a Coquitlam Personal Trainer, for streamlined training plan to keep your body and mind in a sound state. Keep looking for new ways to manage your stress and genuinely enjoy life once more.

It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who spends hours and hours each week pouring everything they’ve got into building muscle, it should be criminal!

Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems… hopefully, you’re different.

But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s talk quickly about what bodybuilding is…

The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all…  while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick butt if needed? 
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a guy who can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:

1. Bench Press
2. Leg Extension

So, any of your favorites on this list?

While there are others, these are the two that cause the most damage.
There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, all of them target areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and often times are overdeveloped… and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and joints out of their normal position… and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a breakdown or injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back…
This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking about! When the shoulders are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!
This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!
Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many better exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength.
Now let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg extension…
Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are already getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings.
An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain. This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles. 
The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance…
What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries weren’t ruining your training?
Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if you don’t make changes to your training now… but don’t take our word for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now… you can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to find something they CAN do. Try getting in touch with a Coquitlam Personal Trainer today, to know about the right exercises that can be beneficial for you, in the longer run.

Many individuals say beef or meat in general. 

These are great sourced elements of protein; however are you aware any particular one of the finest sourced elements of protein is Soy Protein?
We won’t have the time to get into all the benefits of soy protein here, however there are a few important points to highlight.
Plant-based Proteins, like those within soy, have already been proven to greatly help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and elevate good HDL cholesterol. This contributes to less build-up of bad cholesterol and helps prevent heart disease and clogged arteries.
As a result helps prevent heart attacks and strokes. Products which contain soy protein may manage to carry the FDA approved “Heart Smart” symbol this means – “Diets reduced in saturated fat and cholesterol including 25 grams of soy protein each day may reduce the risk of heart disease”

Animal Proteins vs. Plant-based Proteins –

Animal Proteins like meat and dairy, can be full of saturated fat and cholesterol. This kind of protein can elevate the LDL (bad) Cholesterol when it remains in your daily diet for long periods of time.
Through the years, high LDL cholesterol in the blood coupled with elevated homocysteine levels can lead to heart disease and clogged arteries, which lead to heart attacks.

So, try to displace high fat animal proteins with better cuts of meat – preferably grass fed beef and plant-based proteins like soy.
Also, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats like those in coconut oil will allow you to prevent the negative health effects connected with high LDL cholesterol and saturated fats.

One can maintain more of one’s muscles by burning the protein you take in from food and supplements in place of burning the protein of one’s muscles.
Finally you are going to keep your body well by taking in more top quality animal based protein and especially more soy protein which is wonderful for your heart and circulatory system. If you wish to know which protein is the best for you, or you wish to have a diet chart and workout plan constructed specially for you, don’t hesitate to consult with a Coquitlam Personal Trainer today.

Effects of Acid

Acid in the body acts like acid outside the body.  It creates waste.  It ages the skin, degenerates tissues, and causes major problems. Additionally, most health concerns are created by an overabundance of acid in the system.  Reducing acid in the system is critical to long-term health.

Many people love to drink a can of soda.  If you look on the label, you will discover that a can of soda primarily contains acid.  The pH of a soda is around 2.3.  That is highly toxic.  The body has to scramble to neutralize that acid in the system.  It uses sodium, calcium from the bones or teeth, or anything else it has to to be able to neutralize the acid.

Part of this system includes a slight change in a few of the foods that we normally would eat.  We understand that most people will not eliminate all the bad food from their diet, so instead of eliminating it, we are going to suggest a strategy of reduction.

Water

Most people are dehydrated.  Drinking sufficient amounts of good water is critical to your success.  To be able to determine your water needs, convert your body weight to ounces and divide it by two (2), and that is how many ounces of water you should consume each day.  Pure water is the thing that counts toward your daily intake.  Even water mixed with Pro Factor Shakes does not count toward your daily needs.  For best results, you should drink only distilled water charged with the Crystal Catalyst Concentrate. Mix one-half (½) ounce of Crystal Catalyst Concentrate to one (1) gallon of distilled water.

Exercise

Building lean muscle, burning additional calories, and improving overall health are just some of the advantages of consistent exercise.  For the next 14 days, commit to doing some sort of physical activity for at least 20 minutes a day for ten (10) of the 14 days of this program.  That may include:  walking, jogging, riding a bike, playing with your kids or grandkids, or other activities like, chasing your spouse around the house, that will raise your heart rate.  Make it something you enjoy.  Just commit to it for the next two weeks. Undergoing a training with a Coquitlam Personal Trainer is useful when you’re unsure of which exercises to perform.

Extremes

In life, balance is usually to be desired.  When anything is done to excess, we are in danger of getting away from balance.  Usually it is not one easy, or one soda that does us in.  It is when sodas, cakes, and other acid-producing foods are consumed in excess that we create problems.  You can also get free from balance on the other side.  The lifespan of most professional athletes and vegetarians, is actually less than some couch potatoes.  But, we need to identify the things we are doing in excess in our food consumption, and make some extreme choices on how to bring those into balance.

For instance, one customer was drinking 6-8 diet sodas per day.  For him, it was an extreme choice to eliminate diet sodas from his daily life, but that was among the extreme choices he has made.  For others it could be 6-8 cups of coffee, or two desserts per day, or the mid-afternoon candy bars.  We do not suggest that you necessarily quit these kinds of things cold turkey. Rather, start to exercise some discipline and control over yourself in these things.  Instead of eight sodas a day, drink only two.  Instead of four cups of coffee, drink only one or two.  Instead of four packs of sugar in your tea, maybe only one or two. Instead of a late night snack, drink two glasses of water charged with the Crystal Catalyst Concentrate. Instead of always taking the elevator, take the stairs once a day. Maybe reduce your portion sizes when you eat.  When you go to a buffet, maybe just go through once.  Remove from your thinking the idea that when you go to a buffet, “you have to really get your money’s worth,” by eating as much as you can.  The goal of eating is to give you enough fuel to get to another location meal and nothing more.  For best results, we strongly suggest that you make some extreme choices.

An experienced Coquitlam Personal Trainer can help you prepare the proper diet chart, that is devoid of acids and has the right pH factor as well.

When you are looking for ideas, listed here is proven nutrition information about how protein can benefit you.

1. Are you aware that protein increases the rate of metabolism of your system because it’s Thermogenic? – because it takes more calories to process protein rich foods and nutritional supplements.
“Thermogenic” refers to the conventional Thermogenesis process your system goes through in digesting and using the food you eat and the burning of calories and fat from that food. i.e. – producing energy from the foodstuff you eat.
The human body requires more calories to process or digest protein than it does to digest fat or carbohydrates. Thus your metabolism is raised by consuming protein rich foods.

2. Boost the rate where your fat cells are able to burn stored fat!
You’ll probably disagree with this specific, however…
Soy protein also plays a part in the body’s capability to burn fat because as you eat more protein your metabolism is raised and it enables your system to burn stored fat rather than storing more fat.
Dr. Robert Atkins – writer of the Atkins diet, in addition to Dr.’ s Michael Eades and Mary Dan Eades – authors of the “Protein Power” books, all talk about the proven power of protein and the significance of soy protein in particular. 
More about soy protein in a little bit…

3. 
   Maintain muscle mass by eating plenty of protein rich foods.
   Understand that by eating more protein rich foods, you will maintain muscle mass and more muscle mass means you will:

• raise your metabolism
• burn more fat

Recognize that your muscle tissue needs protein to keep up itself and when your system does not get enough protein, one of the first places it are certain to get protein is from your own muscle tissue. 

4. Are you feeling hungry when changing your diet plan to a much healthier lifestyle?

Maybe you are not getting enough Protein. You might be wondering the amount of protein do I want?

A Coquitlam Personal Trainer recommends that you will get nearly your system weight in grams of Protein. The common woman needs about 100 grams of protein every day. The common man needs about 150 grams of protein every day.