Killing Fat Through Resistance Training by I Kill Fat

Great Tips on how to Kill Fat Effectively!

Written by: Greg Sher greg@ikillfat.com www.ikillfat.com

Welcome Mission Statement: www.ikillfat.com

When my clients tell me that their cholesterol levels have gone down drastically, their energy levels are through the roof, and they’re wearing the same pants they were able to fit in 10 years ago, I know that they feel the same elation that I feel with their progress.

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They put in all this hard work and effort and now they are reaping the benefits by looking awesome and feeling amazing.This is why I do personal training.

Union Square 11th St and Broadway

I decided to name my company “I Kill Fat” because (a) I do and (b) I think getting rid of excess fat does wonders for your health, self-esteem, and overall well-being.

I Kill Fat

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Author Greg Sher 516.551.0668 greg@ikillfat.com

There was once a point in my life when I actually thought I would never be in good shape. It was only a few years ago. I was 40 pounds heavier, making horrible decisions with my diet, and terrible decisions with my lifestyle in general. I was able to turn it all around, and now I’m proud to say I’ve helped guide many of my fellow NewYorkers towards a much healthier and more powerful place in life. I know fitting in exercise can be difficult with a demanding work schedule. I know when a client first starts with me, they may have difficulty juggling their time working out versus family time, work time, alone time, and so on. However, as the weeks pass and we progress, my clients tend to MAKE time to spend with me.The reason? When they take time to work on their well being, they are healthier, more active, and happier in their home and work life too. You can only give what you have, and you have to give yourself good health because that’s the foundation for everything else in life. I hope this ebook helps you along during your quest for a healthier life. Stay healthy, Greg Sher

“Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.” -Goethe

Part 1: Why Does Resistance Training Kill Fat? a. The Difference Between Muscle and Fat b. How Developing Muscle Helps You Lose Weight c. Women and Strength Training

Part 2: Killing Fat While You Eat a. Nutrition is 50% of the Battle b. Knowledge is Power c. Don’t Ask What Your BMR Can Do For You... Ask What You Can Do For Your BMR d. Why Sugar Is Kicking Our Asses e. Why a Multivitamin Will Never Be as Healthy as a Salad

Part 3: Cardio That Kills Fat Without Killing Too Much Time a. Why Cardio? b. How to Do Cardio c. Do Cardio During This Time and You’ll Kill More Fat

Part 4: The Nitty Gritty of Resistance Training a. How to Create a Customized Program that Will Kill Fat b. Fitness Goals

Part 5: Conclusion a. PMA - Positive Mental Attitude

Enjoy...

Part 1:Why Resistance Training to Kill Fat? a. Why Should I Kill Fat? Despite muscle weighing more than fat, the fact is that one pound of fat is still approximately three times the size of one pound of muscle. Fat weighs you down, zaps you of your energy, and in some cases can be life threatening.

There are two types of body fat you can have: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat: Subcutaneous Fat

Reach down and pinch your belly fat. If it’s soft and flabby, you have subcutaneous fat. This is the fat that’s directly underneath the skin. Granted, excess body fat is never healthy, but subcutaneous fat is not as threatening as visceral fat. How do you know what type of fat you have around your stomach? Pinch an Inch.

Visceral Fat

If you can’t get a good hold of the fat around your stomach because it is hard, you have visceral fat. Visceral fat is also known as “organ fat.” This means there is fat all around your organs, and it’s even wrapping its way into your muscles.

b. How Developing Muscles Helps Kill Fat The truth is you will never actually turn fat into muscle. It’s physically impossible. What you CAN do is strengthen and grow your muscles, then melt away the layers of body fat to bring out the definition of your new muscles.Yes, that’s right — muscle kills fat, but it doesn’t replace fat. In order to build the type of muscle that kills fat, you must apply the Overload Principle to your workouts. Muscles only reap the benefits of strength training when they are forced to operate beyond their comfortable limits. The weights you lift, the reps you do, and the sets of reps you do should all be increased from time to time to keep challenging your muscles. This will help you build muscle that blasts fat away. In other words, get out of your comfort zone! The most efficient way to exercise your muscles is with resistance training.You must create tension in whichever muscle group you are working on strengthening.

Think of a snake who wraps around its prey in order to squeeze the life out of it before the snake swallows the prey whole. That’s the visceral fat wrapped around your organs.Visceral fat puts a tremendous amount of stress on your organs, forcing the liver, pancreas, and worst of all, your heart to work extra hard to function throughout the day.

Gaining strength (otherwise known as “strength gains”) typically results from you growing and toning your muscle. When you work on strength, you sculpt the look you want. The toned body, the svelte figure will come with strength training.

You are more likely to have clogged arteries, sleep deprivation, tumor growth, hypertension, and heart attacks if you are living in this condition. It’s like you are living life in a choke hold!

When you get older, your metabolism slows down, you lose muscle mass, and you gain weight more easily. Ever notice that it’s harder to stay the same weight as you age? This is why. Resistance training combats the natural muscle degradation that come with age.

With proper nutrition (more on that later) and the right kind of exercise, you can get yourself out of that nasty, visceral fat choke hold. Resistance training especially helps solve that problem.

IT’S TIME TO KILL FAT!

You also lose muscle when you don’t use it! It’s called muscle atrophy, and it’s every regular gym-goer’s worst nightmare.You lose all the muscle gains you made when you slack off for two months without working your muscles. Strength training doesn’t just make you LOOK good. Improved strength gains and muscle growth can rehabilitate injured joints, increase bone density (great for my osteoporosis clients), but most importantly, muscle kills fat. Depending on your age, hormone levels, sex, and other genetical factors, one pound of lean muscle mass can burn anywhere from 30-100 calories per day. Since 3500 calories = 1 pound, you can easily and naturally lose an extra pound a month if you gain a couple of extra pounds of muscle.

Tell me what you think! Send your reviews to : greg@ikillfat.com

c. Women & Strength Training Because I know all of the good things that come from resistance training, I implement strength programs for my clients. And yes, this includes my female clients. When I tell a new female client that we are going to be doing mostly weight resistance training they all say the same thing: “I don’t want to get bulky!” Fortunately for you, resistance training will not make you bulky! The human body needs massive amounts of testosterone, coupled with hours of heavy weight training, in order to produce muscle mass. The most obvious benefit of resistance training is the few hundred calories you burn while actually training. However, there’s an even bigger upside to resistance training — your body will burn calories for up to several hours after your session. Your metabolism speeds up and will kill fat more rapidly after you do resistance training. Research has shown that regular resistance training can increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (I’ll talk more about BMR later) by up to 15%. So for someone burning 2000 calories per day, that’s a potential 300 extra calories burned throughout your day just by being alive! There is your reward for doing strength training, and why I specialize in resistance training. When you burn more calories than you consume, you reach a caloric deficit for the day, and that results in weight loss. Once the body fat has melted away, you will be pleasantly surprised to see the beautifully defined and toned muscles that were hidden underneath all that fat! Those toned muscles are the tools that let you kill fat. If you are an older woman, then I can’t stress weight training enough. I don’t want you to lose bone density and have osteoporosis when you get older. I don’t want you to have aches and pains as an older woman, which can happen if you live an unhealthy lifestyle and don’t strength train. I don’t think you want that either.

“In the months that I’ve worked with Greg, he’s helped me become so much stronger As women (and men) get older, they have to work on not losing muscle. That’s why and trimmer, I feel like a new woman.” I think it’s important, regardless of your age, to start working on your strength training ASAP so that you cultivate a muscular physique that will serve you well throughout your life.

-Eva S., 66

Part 2: Killing Fat Without DeprivingYourself a. Nutrition is 50% of the Battle weight is to be in a se lo to ay w ly on d an e on The sleep every night. to go u yo e tim e th by it fic caloric de A caloric deficit is when you burn more calories than you consume. This is going to be really hard to do if you’re eating fettuccini alfredo. Working out hard at the gym and then not eating well is called “negating your workout.” Think about it like this: if you eat a 300 calorie pastry, it’s as if the 30 minutes worth of moderate stepping you did on the Step Machine

never happened. The six pack of beer you drank had about 1200 calories in total. So it’s like you didn’t even spend an hour on the row machine AND an hour running. That’s at least how much exercise would go into burning that off or ending up even. I’m not saying don’t eat though. I’m just saying don’t needlessly eat crap. What’s the difference between 300 calories worth of ice cream as opposed to 300 calories worth of quinoa with veggies? One of them is going to make you fat, and the other is going to provide you with hardcore nutrients that will help you burn fat and energize you throughout your day. Quality of calories: 1 gram of fat takes 9 calories to burn. 1 gram of carbs takes 4 calories to burn. 6

1 gram of protein takes 4 calories to burn. If you eat foods throughout the day that are loaded with fat, it will take you much longer to burn off those foods than it would if you ate foods containing very little fat. Muffins (don’t laugh) used to be my vice. I loved muffins. Then one day I saw how many calories (around 600) were in these things. As I flashed back to

me huffing and puffing, gallons of sweat dripping down my face, staring at the red numbers on the treadmill, I wanted to fall to my knees and curse the heavens. Something a little bigger than the size of my fist just negated my cardio workout session! Damn you, muffins! You worked your ass off at the gym, so why put your ass back on as soon as you leave? Losing weight seems to be a very popular request amongst my clients, and unless you are genetically blessed, you’re going to have to work for it. That includes working on nutrition.

b. Knowledge is Power Knowing the effect of what you put in your body is immeasurably important to maintaining a diet that is healthy. Some foods actually cancel out your workout and then some. I’m going to break down some common foods you may encounter and steer you towards more nutritious foods that will accentuate the hard work you put in at the gym. If you know which is which, you can make smarter choices. I’ll start with the main two types of fats you can encounter.

Saturated Fats Saturated fats have been linked time and time again to high cholesterol, heart attacks, strokes, and narrowed arteries (atherosclerosis). In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expert consultation report concluded that intake of saturated fatty acids is directly related to cardiovascular risk. The 2009, European Society of Cardiology Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine stated that in cohort studies, the positive relationship between fat intake and Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) was linked to their saturated fatty acid content. Saturated fats are found in red meat, cheese, whole milk, bacon and similar foods. When possible, they should be substituted with vegetables, whole grains, and fruit. I know this may sound hard, but it’s not impossible. And it’s also not something you have to abide by all the time, but you should avoid saturated fats as a regular part of your diet.

Trans Fat

“By our most conservative estimate, replacement of partially hydrogenated Trans fats are typically found in packaged fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogoods and fast food restaurants. Twinkies, doughnuts, KFC, McDonald’s...You know, the genated vegetable oils would prevent approximately 30,000 premature corocrappy foods that plague this country. nary deaths per year, and epidemiologic Back in the day (late 19th century), scientists evidence suggests this number is closer discovered that they could create a fat that to 100,000 premature deaths annually.”

would prolong the spoiling of packaged goods by simply adding an extra hydrogen -The Harvard School of Public Health atom to an unsaturated fat. The partially hydrogenated fat creations wouldn’t spoil as easily as non-hydrogenated fats. They also didn’t break down during temperature changes which made transporting them easier, and they were less expensive than animal fat. Well done boys, yet another amazing man-made invention! Obviously food makers all over the world were all about trans fats! McDonalds, along with other fast food companies, starting using trans fatty oils to fry their foods. Packaged junk foods like Twinkies and cookies were all made with trans fats until 1981, when a group of Welsh researchers linked trans fats to heart disease.

It’s like this — trans fats aren’t naturally occurring fats. Think of them as foreign substances that you are putting in your body. The stiffer and harder fats are, the more they clog up your arteries. Over time, the artery cloggers will make it difficult for your heart to operate, which could lead to a trip to the operating room. These artificial/man-made trans fats not only raise the level of “bad” cholesterol (LDL), but they deplete the “good” Greg Sher - I Kill Fat | www.ikillfat.com | Copyright 2012

Part 2: Killing Fat Without DeprivingYourself cholesterol (HDL)! Twelve years after the Welsh researchers’ discovery, a Harvard experiment strongly supported the hypothesis that eating partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans fats) contributed to the risk of having a heart attack. Since then, trans fats have been linked to Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and liver dysfunction. So what does this mean for you if you’re trying to eat right? Skip out on the Twinkies and eat some fruit if you want something sweet. Instead of cruising into the McDonald’s on your way home from work, pick up a salad at your local health food store instead.

Unsaturated Fat Not all fats are bad though. Unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) such as peanut butter, nuts, and seeds provide benefits such as lowering blood cholesterol and reducing the risk for various heart conditions or diseases. Unsaturated fats are known as “the good fats.” Avocados, hazelnuts, almonds, and pumpkin seeds are all rich in monounsaturated fats. These fats also help reduce the risk of heart disease, but they also promote healthy brain function and reduce the risks of a stroke. I just recently turned 29, so to keep my brain in fighting shape, I will definitely be snacking on some guacamole later. Polyunsaturated fats are equally as important as monounsaturated fats. Olive oil, sunflower seeds, and peanut butter are all foods rich in polyunsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats also include my favorite fat of all time…

Omega 3’s Omega 3’s not only do all the good things typical polyunsaturated fats do, but these guys actually have helped me personally. I suffered from achy elbows and knees thanks to years of hyperextension, and the amazing Omega 3’s lubricated my joints! If you have achy joints, I would recommend Omega 3’s to you too. You can get your Omega 3’s in foods like walnuts, flax seeds, and my personal favorite, chia seeds.

“A trick I’ve learned is to eat just a little bit of something that has no carbs and no sugar in it before you go to sleep because it keeps your metabolism going.” -Kelly Osbourne

Before you go into your Def Comedy Jam routine with some cheesy “Chia Pet” joke, please know that chia seeds are odorless, tasteless, and the one spoonful of the chia seeds I put in my morning protein shake has more Omega 3’s than an entire salmon, twice the amount of potassium than a banana, and three times the antioxidants a serving of blueberries contains. Stick with the good guys of fat.You are the company you keep. Use your head (especially if you are eating more monounsaturated fats than usual).

Carbs at Night Make You Fat Everyone says you shouldn’t eat carbohydrates at night. And they’re right. But do you know why? Obviously, you won’t have time to burn off the slow-to-burn foods right before you go to bed. But they also shouldn’t be eaten at night because they mess with the Human Growth Hormone that your pituitary gland secretes while you sleep. HGH does a lot of good things for your body, but one of the coolest things it does is burn fat while you sleep. All you have to do is go to sleep, and your pituitary gland will take care of a little body fat one night at a time.You don’t even have to do 8

anything! Just go to sleep, and you’ll wake up leaner. This will never work if you have carbs at night. For HGH to do its best work, your body must have no (or at least very few) carbs stored up before sleep.

Protein I went over two of the three macronutrients your body needs to consume when I wrote about fat and carbohydrates. Now let’s discuss the third: Protein. A lot of people are concerned about how much protein they should be consuming. The truth is, if you aren’t a professional powerlifter or MMA fighter, you really don’t need to be too concerned with your protein intake. But just so you know, here’s a little math to figure out what you need.

Calculate how many grams of protein you should consume daily. 1. Take your weight in pounds and divide by 2.2 (this gives you your weight in kilograms) 2. Multiply your weight in kg by 0.8 to 1.8 g/kg (this gives you the number of grams of protein you should eat in a day) NOTE: If you AREN’T lifting weights for more than 3 hours weekly, use the 0.8g/kg number, if you ARE lifting weights 6 times a week, use the higher number (1.8g/kg). lb = pound; kg = kilogram; g = gram EXAMPLE 1: 135 lb woman who gets to the gym about 2-3 times a week to strength train for 30-45 minutes each time. 135 lbs/2.2 = 61 kg 61 kg x .08 = 48 g’s of protein per day So this woman should only have about 48 grams of protein a day. EXAMPLE 2: 160 lb man who is a regular exerciser and lifts weights frequently. 160 lbs/2.2 = 72 kg 72 kg x 1.8 = 130 g’s of protein per day See? Even a guy who lifts weights all the time doesn’t even need to consume more than 130 grams of protein per day. That’s nothing! If you are lifting weights regularly and you do want to experiment with consuming a little more protein, be sure to also up your water and fiber intake. Water will help cleanse your kidneys to prevent any stones from forming. And speaking of stones… If you don’t up your fiber intake along with your protein intake, your bowel movements will be hard as stones. I experienced that once… Yep, just once. Hemp protein is a good way to strike a balance between your protein and fiber intake. Hemp protein cleanses the liver, is environmentally friendly (since it’s grown as a whole food without any crazy pesticides), and is one of the few food sources that contains GLA (Gamma-linolenic acid). GLA is an Omega 6 fatty acid good for hair, skin, nails, and fighting off diseases such as cancer. This type of powder is not only rich in protein (about 5 grams per tablespoon), it’s also rich in fiber. I Greg Sher - I Kill Fat | www.ikillfat.com | Copyright 2012

Part 2: Killing Fat Without DeprivingYourself personally put 3 tablespoons (1 serving, which is 15 grams of protein and about 10 grams worth of fiber) into my oatmeal and stir it up. I think it tastes great, and the combination of the high fiber/protein-rich meal keeps me full for my first few sessions of the day. Speaking of sessions, when we are done with a training session, you just have depleted your body of many macronutrients, and the one that you need to restore more than anything is protein. The amino acids in protein will help speed up the recovery process of any muscle tearing that occurred when we were working out. That’s it for the macronutrients. Now we should go over the one thing that everybody seems to be missing in their training programs:

Water I always have a few clients who simply don’t drink enough water. Common excuses include: “I don’t like the taste of it”, “I don’t want to have to pee later”, “I never remember to drink it”, “I’d rather drink (insert something not as healthy as water here)”. Here is my problem with not drinking enough water . . . The Earth is 70% water.Your body is made up of about 60-70% water. Coincidence? Of course not! Your body will not operate at its fullest potential without enough water. For example: • Blood is mostly water. It can best transport oxygen to all the cells in your body when you have enough water in your blood stream. • Water provides a moist environment for your ears, nose, and throat tissues. • Water is part of your immune system, which helps you fight off illness. • You need water for your digestive system as well. • You need it to get rid of toxins. • You can’t even live for more than a couple days without water. How much water should you be consuming daily? The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day. Mind you, this isn’t for people hiking in the Amazon, or anyone living in a harsh habitat with extreme temperatures, or doing strenuous activity such as spinning or grappling for five 5-minute rounds of MMA in the heart of Brazil with no air conditioning. For those extreme conditions you must up your water intake! During strenuous exercise, your body needs to stay hydrated so that you can remain mentally focused and physically strong. No water during exercise leads to dehydration. Dehydration is when the amount of water leaving your body is greater than the amount of water being taken in.Vigorous exercise, diarrhea, vomiting, and massive amounts of alcohol can all lead to symptoms of dehydration, which include the spins, dry mouth, muscle cramps, dry skin, and constipation. Now for those of you who were wondering when to consume your water, please keep in mind that timing is everything. If you have a workout session scheduled, make sure you have been drinking water throughout the day in small amounts here and there. You want to make sure you have some water in your system before exercise. But, let’s just say your boss was talking your ear off for the last three hours, and you didn’t have time to properly hydrate throughout your day before our 12 p.m. appointment — don’t freak out at 11:47 a.m. and start chugging water because then your stomach will be too full for me (with a good conscience) to have you do box jumps.

“Your body is 70% water and it is the most important nutrient that your body needs. Be sure to consume about 8-10 glasses a day for optimal health!” -Bob Harper

How do you know if you are in need of hydration? It sounds gross, but inspect your urine. If your pee is very light yellow/clear, your body might be in need of getting rid of excess water. Put the Brita down and 10

chill for a bit. If your urine is a very dark yellow, it’s holding on to water as a defense mechanism, so it’s probably time to drop a dollar and pick up a bottle of Poland Spring. Why am I stuck on water and telling you to stay away from other drinks? Well, I’m not a fan of drinking juice with your meals because the sugar in those beverages gives you a temporary sugar high, which will just lead to a crash later. Too much coffee or caffeinated beverages are addictive and will give you the jitters. Soda contains too many calories and is one of the reasons why this country is so overweight… Just stick with the water! It’s free!

c. Don’t Ask What Your BMR Can Do For You ...Ask What You Can Do For Your BMR! How many calories should you be consuming per day? I get asked this question by pretty much all my clients and friends. Before I can answer, I need to know the person’s BMR. The BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. This determines your total daily energy expenditure (calories) during rest. Once you calculate your BMR, write down how many calories you burn a day during exercise. In order to lose 1 pound a week, you need to be in a deficit of 500 calories each day, because 3,500 calories equal one pound. Tailor your daily caloric intake/daily exercise routine to make sure you are in a 500 calorie deficit per day, and you will be losing weight in a very efficient way. If you are losing anything more than a pound or two per week, you may be losing lean muscle mass which isn’t healthy. Plus, from being in only a 500 calorie deficit, you hopefully won’t feel too deprived during your new weight loss journey.

BMR Equation Women ds ) BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in poun in age x 4.7 ( – ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches years )

Men

) BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds age x 6.8 ( – ) es inch in t + ( 12.7 x heigh in years )

Woman Example

Man Example You’re a guy who is 30 years old, weighs 200lbs, and you’re 6 feet tall. BMR = 66 + (6.23 X 200lbs) + (12.7 X 72inches) - (6.8 X 30) BMR = 66 + 1246 + 914.4 - 204 BMR = 2022 calories

rs You’re a woman who is 40 yea 180lbs, and is 5’6.

old, weighs

in pounds ) BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight 4.7 x age in ( – ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches years ) ) + ( 4.7 x BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x 180lbs ) 66inches) - ( 4.7 x 40 BMR = 655 + 783 + 310.2 - 188 BMR = 1560 calories

A 200lbs man who runs at 5mph for an hour burns approximately 755 calories. Ok, so if you run for 30 minutes, you will be at a 377 caloric deficit. Couple this with a 122 caloric deficit by choosing the right meals to eat and there it is! Your 500 caloric deficit!

day coupled Aim for under 1500 calories per with k with proper exercise.. Try to stic of water ty plen k drin foods rich in fiber and thing any eat ’t don , Also day. throughout the per ar sug that has more than 5 grams of serving.

Part 2: Killing Fat Without DeprivingYourself d. Why is Sugar Kicking Our Asses? I find that despite having a good control of their caloric intake, many of my clients are still consuming too much sugar. And it’s easy to see why.

“Everyone has to understand that bread, crackers, croutons, things like that, that’s sugar! As soon as it’s in your system it processes straight to sugar then straight to fat.” -Jackie Warner

You see all these famous athletes holding Vitamin Waters in magazine advertisements.You pick up a Sports Illustrated and you’d think it would be absolutely impossible to NOT drink a Gatorade after a basketball game! But what those advertisements aren’t telling you is that these sports drinks are loaded with sugar! Sure, they may greet you with a smile and say “Made From the Best Stuff on Earth” like Snapple, but really, this so-called “Stuff” is sugar water that will make you fat with 26 to 54 grams of sugar per serving! By the way, notice how I said per itamin Water has V of le tt serving? bo l ca pi ty A There are 2 servings per Snapple bottle. That means there are really 52 to 108 grams of sugar in each bottle!

suger per serving about 13 grams of

You just got robbed of 30 minutes on the elliptical! Now you may be thinking “Dude, this is juice from fruit! How bad can it be?” Pretty bad. Any juice that comes from the fruit doesn’t come with the whole fruit … Which means it doesn’t come with the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes your body needs to digest and absorb the juice… Which means you are just getting the sugar from the fruit… Which means you’re pretty much just drinking sugar water… Which will make you fat.

What’s wrong with sugar? All refined sugars have been stripped of their vitamins and minerals, which means your body actually has to borrow stored up nutrients just to digest this crap. When your body undergoes this process, your immune system says “screw this” and goes bye-bye, leaving you more susceptible to getting sick. Sugar also causes wrinkles, acne, ruins the enamel in your teeth, AND can help facilitate the growth of cancer (check out CBS’s 60 Minutes report “Is Sugar Toxic?” if you don’t believe me).

Don’t Be Fooled By Marketing If I didn’t know any better and I saw the marketing of “energy” drinks, I would think they wanted me to get healthy. Take Vitamin Water, for example. They have an ad that says “More Muscles Than Brussels” (whatever that means) and shows a muscle. The ad drips gym sweat. So I’d think this is an ad for a health product, right? No. A typical bottle of Vitamin Water has about 13 grams of sugar per serving. There are 2.5 servings in a Vitamin Water. 13 grams of sugar x 2.5 (because no one buys a Vitamin Water and doesn’t drink the whole thing) = 32.5 grams of sugar. That is 130 calories worth of crap. So don’t drink it. Vitamin Water was so deceptive with their marketing that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) sued CocaCola (the company that makes Vitamin Water) for billions of dollars a few years ago. Turns out peddling sugar as a health drink can get you in trouble, at least some of the time. That doesn’t mean you can let your guard down, though. It’s not like you have to grow eyes in the back of your head or anything. Just be cautious. Don’t be fooled by these products that say “Quench Your Thirst”, “Made From the Best Stuff on Earth”, or “More Muscles Than Brussels…” Read labels. Learn how to count servings. A little side note — there is nothing wrong with Vitamin Water Zero. It has 0 calories, but above all else, it is sweetened with Truvia! Truvia is a natural sweetener that is a great sugar substitute. It does not contain aspartame, or any harmful chemicals in it. It is totally acceptable to put Truvia in your coffee instead of table sugar!

e. Why a Multivitamin Will Never Be as Healthy as a Salad Once I was killing time before my next personal training session, so I went to a health store to browse. After walking around and looking at new products, I came across a huge display of multivitamins. I immediately said to myself, “Hmmm.... I can drop $20 right now and pop two pills for 45 days or I can eat a salad… I think I’ll go with the salad, since vitamins don’t even have most of the benefits natural foods do.” And here’s why: Plants and fruits offset the crazy amounts of free radicals floating around their systems by producing antioxidants. These free radicals are floating around the plants’ systems because while they are changing light into food and energy (remember learning about photosynthesis in 7th grade?), there is an electrical storm going on in their systems that produces free radical electrons. Free radicals are not good for any organism, so plants create antioxidants to keep alive while undergoing photosynthesis. In humans, free radicals cause cancer, premature aging, and a whole slew of diseases. Antioxidants help eliminate the free radicals we get from things like the sun, smoke, and other environmental factors. Greg Sher - I Kill Fat | www.ikillfat.com | Copyright 2012

Part 2: Killing Fat Without DeprivingYourself But there’s a catch: Humans and all other animals can’t produce antioxidants on their own. Only plants do. We have to eat plants to get antioxidants so that we can kill free radicals. Antioxidants are the only things that can offset free radicals. When you take a vitamin, you don’t receive nearly as many benefits as you do when eating a whole food. Besides, the Earth pretty much sets us up to live a nutritious, healthy lifestyle. So, why go to a corporate giant to spend hard-earned money on stuff that arguably isn’t even food? Which foods should you eat? I stick to the colors of the rainbow — red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. If you eat an entire rainbow every day (and I’m not talking about a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal), the chances are you won’t need a multivitamin. Strawberries, oranges, bananas, leafy green vegetables (the darker the leaf, the more nutrients), blueberries, and grapes give you almost all the macronutrients, vitamins, minerals and even protein that you’ll need.

“I don’t want to disparage people who take multivitamins — it’s their choice as a consumer. What we’re presenting is the science showing it’s neither beneficial nor harmful. If they want to choose to spend their dollars elsewhere this might be a good place to do so. Perhaps they can buy more fruits and vegetables.” -Dr. Neuhouser, lead author of the multivitamin study and associate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle

In a recent study of 161,808 women who were part of the government-funded Women’s Health Initiative research effort, doctors from 40 centers around the country collected data on multivitamin use. While research shows that people who eat nutrient-rich diets filled with fruits and vegetables have lower rates of heart disease and cancer, it hasn’t been clear whether taking a daily supplement results in a similar benefit.

Part 3: CardioThat Kills Fat Without KillingToo MuchTime a. Why Cardio? “Do the cardio you hate the least.”

Your heart has been working since the second you were born and will work hard until the day you die. So the least we can do is help your heart out by strengthening it!

-Jillian Michaels

If you don’t care about your heart, at least do cardio for the psychological benefits! Once endorphins (think of them as happy hormones) get released in your brain, you might not be so stressed out or depressed for the rest of the day. “Runner’s high” is real, and it is the cheapest, most legal high I think a person can achieve in this day and age.

And, of course, let’s not neglect the obvious: Cardio kills fat!

b. How to do Cardio? I hate seeing all these people at the gym half-assing it on the treadmill for 30 minutes while they read the Wall Street Journal and then run to the nearest Burger King for “dinner.” Yes, they burned 47 calories or so, and their hearts thank them for that, but if they think that’s enough to make them lose weight, they should think again! To really get the most out of a cardio workout, you have to raise your heart rate. When we talk about how much to raise your heart rate, we talk about your VO2 MAX.Your VO2 MAX is basically a fancy way of figuring out how well your body utilizes oxygen during cardiovascular exercise.You’ll need to know your VO2 MAX in order to know how hard to push yourself during a cardio workout.

VO2 MAX Formula:

220 – (age) – (resting heart rate) X .70 + (RHR) = Your target heart rate for 30 minutes after I work you out Of course, doing anything cardio-wise benefits your heart, but if you really want to kill body fat, I recommend either one solid hour of Steady State Cardio OR Interval Training.

Steady State Cardio:

Steady State Cardio is typically done for one hour, NOT including a 3 minute warm up, and 3 minute cool down at approximately 50-60 percent of your VO2 Max. This is time-consuming, so make sure you make a killer playlist on your iPod before hopping on whatever piece of cardio equipment for about 60 minutes. I prescribe Steady State Cardio for my beginner clients, who really can’t handle High Intensity Interval Training just yet. Besides beginners, I also occasionally prescribe this for my bodybuilding clients. If you are a bodybuilder, typically with a fast metabolism, you want to make sure your cardio isn’t too strenuous, otherwise you may eat into your muscles while doing cardio immediately after a weight training session. For example, I had a client named Brent who had a resting heart rate of 100 BPM (beats per minute) his whole life and pretty much could eat an entire Sizzlers under the table and not gain a pound. Brent, who by the way was 19 when I met him (thankfully his heart had youth on it’s side) was a candidate for Solid State Cardio. A resting BMR of 100 is a long shot, and if you load up on carbs before a cardiovascular session, you are almost guaranteed not to harm your muscle mass. Here is an example of a Solid State Cardio program for a treadmill: Incline: 10-15 Speed 3-3.5mph Time: 60 minutes

Interval Training:

Interval training workouts are faster and more challenging.You warm up for about 3 minutes, then walk for a minute, run for a minute, walk for a minute, run for a minute.You get the idea. Give me 30 minutes of this and then a 3 to 5 minute cool down before you get off your machine. 30 minutes and you’re gone! You just did an equal, if not greater amount of work in 30 minutes worth of Interval Training than you would have in an hour of Solid State Cardio. That’s pretty cool right?

e Part 3: Cardio that Kills Fat without Killing too much tim c. When to do Cardio Cardio is wonderful, except when you do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.Your body needs carbs to target body fat during cardiovascular exercise, so if you run a mile first thing in the morning when all of your glycogen stores are empty, you “run” (no pun intended) the risk of eating away at hard-earned muscle tissue during that cardiovascular exercise session. I’m not a huge fan of cardio at night. I wouldn’t get my heart rate up to about 90 percent of my VO2 Max an hour before bed for two reasons. 1. I’m going to bed soon, I don’t want my heart racing when my head hits the pillow. 2. I (and you) need to eat something immediately after a cardio session, and I (you too) definitely don’t want to eat something right before bed.

But... I understand time is a luxury, and if you are an average New Yorker who gets off work at 10 p.m. after a 17 hour day, it’s not the worst thing in the world to do a little cardio at night. As long as it gets done 3 times a week.

When not to do Cardio Cardio before you hit the weights (especially with me) is no good either! Do you really want to deplete the carbohydrates that your body has stored up before you meet me for a vigorous strength training program? Don’t do it! You need the energy from carbs to lift!

Do Cardio DuringThisTime and You’ll Kill More Fat! Nothing makes me happier than when I ask my clients what they are doing immediately after our session and they respond with: “Gee, I guess I have to do cardio now because that’s what you’re making me do.” Just thinking about it makes my heart soar. Here’s why: If you expend lots of energy training with weights, you burn not only calories, but your store of carbs. That means the only thing left to burn during cardiovascular exercise is annoying body fat! Don’t make it a long cardio session though. 30 minutes worth of approximately 60-70 percent of your VO2 Max would be better.

Part 4: The Nitty Gritty of ResistanceTraining a. How to Create a Customized Program that Will Kill Fat? One of the most important things to consider when creating an exercise program is balance.Your workouts must contain symmetry. If you do four sets focusing on pushing forward (bench press) and pushing upward (military/shoulder press), you must have four sets each focusing on pulling in the opposite directions (rows and pull-ups/lat pull downs). I have trained a few people who needed a few special modifications in their programs, but for now, let’s focus on the regular men/women who want to get in shape with no injuries or special needs first. Here are some basic exercise programs that can easily be tailored to meet your fitness goals. Full Body Program - This is when you hit all the major muscle groups of the body throughout the duration of your workout. This can be for strength training, weight loss, and even body building. Split Routine - A split routine is typically two to three workouts a week, each consisting of half of the muscle groups of the body.” For example, one split routine may look like this:

MONDAY - (Workout A)

WEDNESDAY - (Workout B)

- Flat Bench Press - Squat - Military Press - Lunges - Sit Ups - Leg Raises

- Wide Grip Cable Row - Straight Leg Deadlifts - Lat Pulldowns - Lying Leg Curls - Lateral Bends - Torso Twists

Notice how Monday’s workout consisted of the body’s “push muscles,” and Wednesday’s workout consisted of the opposite muscles of the body, the “pull muscles.” This is ideal for strength programming, but can be used for other needs. Friday you go back to Workout A, so that by the following Monday, or next time you workout, you do Workout B. This way you hit all the muscle groups in the body multiple times per week. Continue alternating between the A and B workouts for optimal results. Pyramid Training - Predominantly for strength and/or hypertrophy (muscle building) clients.You do 4 to 5 sets per muscle group, increasing the weight and performing fewer reps with each set until you find your one rep max. Here is a typical Pyramid program:

FLAT BENCH:

- Warm Up Set - 95lbs for 15 reps

After five sets the pectoralis major (chest), it isn’t uncommon to - 135lbs - for 10 reps devote the rest of - 185lbs - 5 tothe 6 workout reps to exercising the same muscle group you just pyramided instead of targeting the remaining muscle groups of - 205lbs - 3 to 4 reps the body. After all, this is a very taxing and intense workout.

- 225lbs - 1 rep

After five sets for the pectoralis major (chest), it isn’t uncommon to devote the rest of the workout to exercising the same muscle group you just pyramided instead of targeting the remaining muscle groups of the body. After all, this is a very taxing and intense workout. Greg Sher - I Kill Fat | www.ikillfat.com | Copyright 2012

Part 4: The Nitty Gritty of Resistance Training If we were to spend more time on the chest, the rest of the workout would probably look like this:

Incline Bench Press - 3 sets of 10 reps Decline Bench Press - 3 sets of 10 reps Bodyweight Dips - 3 sets of 10 repsT Tricep extension drop set - 3-4 sets of 3 to 4 reps each

Those are the types of generic programs out there. Now lets take a look at how to implement them with some real life scenarios.

b. Fitness Goals TONE UP / LOSE WEIGHT This will entail more reps (I like 15-20 per set usually), less rest time, and fast rep speed usually with a Full Body Program. These are the three main elements to an efficient “Tone up/Lose Weight” workout program. This is a program that can be done up to three days a week, with a day of rest in between workouts. I also like to include multitasking exercises. Multitasking exercises are exercises that typically involve multiple muscle groups working at the same time. The more muscle fibers you trigger, the more calories you burn during the session. Examples of multitasking exercises would be squats with an overhead shoulder press, or lunges with bicep curls. Exercising bigger muscle groups kills fat. Notice how I group the smaller muscle groups (shoulders and biceps) with bigger muscle groups (glutes and quads)? This is because just standing around working on your biceps burns almost no calories compared to working them with the biggest muscles of your body. I typically implement supersets (two exercises back to back), tri-sets (three exercises back to back) and circuit training (about five exercises in a row with no rest time) for my resistance programs personalized for my weight loss clients.

“I was referred to Greg by my husband. I was skeptical that the same trainer who helped him gain 10-15lbs over the course of the summer could help me lose 15-20lbs. From day one, he had me on a new diet plan and was already making me sweat and work harder than I had ever worked before in the gym. Not only did he train me to the max every minute of our session, he made sure I was doing cardio on our days “off.” Greg is one of those trainers that doesn’t let you slack and you feel accountable with him. I lost 15lbs over a six week period with Greg, I have been able to successfully maintain my weight now for over two years, and I’ve never felt better.” - Jane H. 30

Here is an example of a circuit that you may experience while training with me: 15 reps per exercises. No rest time in between exercises. Fast reps Push-ups Burpees Alternating Front Lunges Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs Jump Rope (30 seconds) Squat with One Arm Cable Row Hanging Leg Raises Walkouts Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts with Overhead Shoulder Press 3 Staircase Sprints You can and will get stronger from a routine like this, but this will typically not help you put on muscle mass. Besides the change in appearance that comes from a program such as this one, you will definitely notice an increase in your stamina and endurance.

Get Stronger

These types of workouts usually entail approximately 3 to 4 sets of about 10 reps (roughly about 75% of your one rep max) per muscle group, coupled with about two minutes of rest time in between sets. One appropriate frequency of full-body strength programming could be 2 to 3 times a week. When I say 10 reps, I mean by the time you reach the tenth rep, it should be extremely difficult for you to lift the weight, and maybe even rely on a forced rep. A forced rep is basically an assisted rep from your spotter (me). I am a big fan of forced reps when done properly. This is ideal at the last few reps of your last set for whatever muscle group you are working on. Here is how you get stronger: When you lift weights, microscopic tears occur in the muscle fibers. Don’t worry, these tears are actually classified as positive muscle tissue damage because when you leave the gym, you will rest and eat properly (I will make sure of it). With proper rest and nutrition, your muscles repair themselves and force the tissue to adapt to the stress you just put them under. Therefore the muscle fibers are slightly bigger and stronger than the last time you worked them out. The more positive muscle tissue damage, the stronger your muscles get once repaired.You create more tears in the muscle fibers you are exercising during eccentric contractions. What are eccentric contractions? Well, without getting into the many different types of contractions that a muscle can go through, let’s just focus on the bench press exercise. During a bench press, there are two types of contractions: eccentric and concentric. The eccentric contraction is during the negative (bar going down) of the rep, the concentric is the positive (bar going up).

“Soon after my 50th birthday I scheduled a 23-day, 175-mile hiking trek up to 18,500 feet in the mountains of Nepal. I must say that after training with Greg for the months leading up to this trip, I realized I was stronger than I had ever been before and knew I could last longer on this hiking trip than any other hiking expedition I had ever been on.The 20-something-year-olds I was with had trouble keeping up with me! While everybody else was stopping to catch their breath or heading back to the base camp, I was still pushing on. I returned home safe and sound, and went yacht racing the very next weekend!” - Mark A, 51

Part 4: The Nitty Gritty of Resistance Training On the last set of the bench press, during the last few reps, you’ll bring the bar down to your chest (full range of motion for everything!), and because your muscles are completely fatigued, you won’t be able to lift the bar back up. That’s where I come in! I will assist the bar up, but will expect you to control the bar down to your chest for the eccentric contractions of the movement. It’s all about the last reps of the set! You will reach your results much quicker if you give it 100% of your efforts during our workouts. Forced reps promote strength gains. Leave it all in the gym! By the way, you should never do this type of training without an experienced professional to spot you. Here is a sample Strength Training Program that I might create for you...

4 sets of 10 reps. Moderate rep speed. 1 min - 2 min rest time Flat Bench Squat Pull-ups Romanian Deadlifts Military Press

Get Bigger Hypertrophy training involves a much slower paced, heavier weight day with longer rest periods.You want to load your muscles under weight that you can only lift 4-6 times. One thing that makes mass building programs different than other workouts is the emphasis on individual muscles groups. There are different approaches to hypertrophy training. As I mentioned earlier with the Pyramid workout, depending on how you react to it, we may work out four days a week, devoting time to one muscle group per day. Let’s say we do an entire day dedicated to legs. It would be a good idea to start out doing a multi-joint/compound movement such as a deadlift or squat to Pyramid, then work the legs differently, attacking different muscles of the legs from different angles to finish off the day. A typical leg day for my bodybuilding clients may look like this:

4-5 sets Squat (Pyramid) 1 set of 10-12 reps Front Lunges 1 set of 10-12 Lateral Lunges 1 set of 10-12 Curtsy Lunges 4 sets of 10-12 reps Romanian Deadlifts 4 sets of 3-4 dropsets Standing Calf Raises This workout, along with all my workouts will be 50% of the equation that lets you reach your fitness goals. The other 50% will come from your lifestyle when you leave the gym.Your nutrition, your sleep, your water intake... The workouts and diet plans I provide for you will lead you down the road to your fitness goals, all you have to do is just stay on the path!

Part 5: CONCLUSION a. PMA - Positive Mental Attitude Researchers continue to explore the direct relationship between positive thinking and health. Positive thinking has lead to many healthy benefits including an increase in lifespan, lower levels of stress and depression, reduced risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, a stronger immune system, etc. Michael F. Scheier, a psychologist at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has found that optimists handle stress better than pessimists do. Research from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2001 linked a more optimistic outlook with a lowered risk of heart disease in older men. Researchers of the University of Pittsburgh report that optimistic women have less thickening of the carotid artery walls. In 2009, the American Heart Association journal published an article that suggests that a positive mental outlook is associated with reduced evidence of coronary heart disease and total mortality in postmenopausal women. So what does that mean for you? If you can keep a positive mental attitude and follow my guidelines, you CAN reach your fitness goals!

“I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything.” -Michael Phelps

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed reading this ebook as much as I’ve genuinely enjoyed writing it and that you implement these tips and facts in your everyday life. It’s never too late for a positive lifestyle change.You’re never too far gone to set your goals and realistically reach them.

Stay healthy.

About Me I’m a Manhattan personal trainer and Pilates instructor who specializes in resistance training and helping people get in awesome shape.

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