Shoulders: There are three main segments that make up our shoulders: anterior (front), lateral (side), and posterior (rear)–each gets specific attention from various shoulder exercises. The front shoulders flex and medially (inwardly) rotate the arm. The side shoulders move the arm away from the body (abduction)  and the rear shoulders extend the arm causing lateral (outward) rotation. Without these muscles you would not be able to do such throwing and swinging activites such as pitching, passing, climbing, and racquet sports.

Trapezius: Many shoulder exercises also work the trapezius muscle. This muscle slopes down the side of your neck from the the upper part of your back to the base of your skull. You can thank your Trapezius muscles for raising your shoulders and rotating your shoulder blades. This muscle is also helpful in lifting activities, such as moving furniture.

Below is a list of the most useful Shoulder & Trapezius training exercises that cover both groups. On the page along with the video demonstration, is a description of what muscle or muscle groups is being targeted, a thorough explanation on how to do it and importantly common mistakes to avoid. Enjoy!

Lateral Raise (Cable)     Bent Over Lateral Raise (Cable)    

Front Shoulder Raise (Db)     Front Shoulder Raise (Bb)    

Bent Over Lateral Raise (Db)    Front Shoulder Raise (Cable)    Shoulder Press (Db)

Arnold Press     Front Shoulder Press     Upright Row (Bb)

Upright Rows (Cable)     Lateral Raise (Db)

Here are the links to videos of the other 8 categories the body is broken up into with regards of muscle groups and training them.  

Legs           Back           Shoulders & Trapezius

      Triceps           Biceps           Forearms

      Chest           Abdominals           Buttocks

So get started and click a category or stay on this page for Shoulders & Trapezius!

Some of the exercises are marked with the following notes after the exercise name, to indicate the type of equipment used:

• (Bb): Exercises that are done with a barbell.
• (Db): Exercises that are done with a dumbbell.
• (Cable): Exercises that are done with a cable-pulley machine.
• (Tb): The Home/Travel exercises that are done with Thera-band (R)

All the best with your efforts,

Cameron – BestFitnessChoices.com

You know, although this is primarily a fitness and training site, it really doesn’t matter one little bit how many programs you use or how well you follow the information contained in them when it comes to losing weight and getting fit if your nutrition and diet is poor.

I am sure many of you would have heard the quote “You can’t out train a bad diet.” Here at BestFitnessChoices.com there are many programs and heaps and heaps of info on the right methods to use and how to exercise efficiently in order to lose weight and improve your fitness. As said above, they all mean squat if your diet is full of overly processed food, sugary drinks and treats and of course, fatty, high cholesterol foods that cancel out your exercise and workouts. Even heavy weightlifting, regular cardio and high intensity interval training workouts can not reverse the wrongs of bad food and drink choices.

With this in mind, do yourself a favour and ensure that you limit the amount of these bad foods you consume. A treat here and there is fine, especially if that small release once in a while helps you stay on the nutritional straight and narrow! Remember, one Krispy Kreme donut can land you nearly a whole hour on the treadmill! Is it really worth it?

For most of us, correct nutrition is a battlefield especially for us emotional eaters (that’s me!) Below is a great article from the creator of Turbulence Training, Craig Ballantyne with his top 5 nutritional tips that can help you lose fat.

Enjoy!

Cameron – BestFitnessChoices.com

5 Nutrition Tips for Fat Loss

By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Author, Turbulence Training

As a fitness professional, this is always hard to admit, but nutrition is actually more important than your workouts when it comes to fat loss.

And since diet is more important than exercise, I’ve decided to spend a lot of time sharing nutrition tips this week, starting with these 5 diet secrets:

1) Your nutrition program doesn’t have to be extreme.

Don’t go crazy and jump into any extreme diet changes. Just ensure the nutrition plan you’ve chosen is sustainable and can be continued over a long period of time. Simple diet changes can have a much greater impact than you might think.

A great idea is to simply eat more whole, natural foods rather than trying to go on an impossible-to-stick-to ultra-low carb extreme plan?

2) Get the temptations and junk food out of the house.

To heck with willpower! If it’s in your house, you’ll eat it…and trust me, this goes for me too. Each time I visit a friend or relative’s house for holiday, I always end up snacking on the treats they have sitting around. That’s why I keep the junk out of my house.

So whatever your weakness is, chocolate, crisps, sweets or savouries, keep it out of arms reach and this means – all the way out of your whole house!

Success really can be that simple!

3) Fill in your diet-killing” gap.

For a lot of people, the diet-killing gap is between work and dinner.

For others, it’s between dinner and bedtime, but for almost everyone, there is some specific point in the day when we suffer from mindless eating.

To counter this, make sure you have alternatives…as soon as you come home from work, cut up vegetables and dip them into hummus. This will keep you full and only add a small amount of calories to your total daily consumption.

After dinner, if you feel the need for something sweet, stir up chocolate protein powder into a small bit of plain yogurt. This will satisfy you and control the sweetness cravings.

4) Remember what your parents told you and chew your food 5-10 times before swallowing.

Most people eat so fast they only chew about 1-2 times. Add a few more chews and you’ll really notice a difference and you’ll slow your eating helping you feel full.

5) Have a bowl of broth-based vegetable soup before a meal.

 American researcher Barbara Roll has published a lot of studies showing that this will help you reduce the overall amount of  food you eat. Surprisingly, consuming just water before your meal doesn’t seem to have the same effect.

So those are just 5 of the diet secrets we have for you this year.

Stay tuned for more proven secrets to help you lose fat in 2010 and beyond!

Click here to try Turbulence Training for only $4.95!

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When on the page, make sure you click the 7-day trial membership option and you will only be charged for $1 (USD)

Our back is made up of three smaller muscles. Along with other smaller muscles, these three mainly control just about every movement you do from standing up straight to swinging a baseball bat! These three muscles are as follows:

Latisimus Dorsi: Or more commonly known as Lats, these muscles run down the sides of your back and help you extend, rotate, and pull your arms to your body. This is important when engaged in pulling activities like rock climbing and rowing.

Rhomboids (Major and Minor): Compact muscles located a few inches down from the neck, between the spine and shoulder blades, referred to as the upper/middle back. The rhomboids’ primary function is to retract, elevate and rotate the shoulder blades, which also helps you accomplish pulling activities such as starting a lawn mower or serving a tennis ball.

Erector Spinae: More often called the lower back. This muscle runs along the lower part of the spine and supports your upper body, extending your spine and flexing it to either side, a part of almost every activity imaginable.

Below is a list of the most useful leg training exercises that cover all three groups. On the page along with the video demonstration, is a description of what muscle or muscle groups is being targeted, a thorough explanation on how to do it and importantly common mistakes to avoid. Enjoy!

Barbell Rows     One Arm Rows     T-Bar Row

Deadlift (Advanced)     Back Extensions     Back Extensions (With Weight)

Good Mornings (Advanced)     Front Pull Ups     Close Grip Pull Ups

Pull Ups (Partner Assisted)     Pull Ups (Chair Assisted)     Front Lat Pull Down

Close Grip Lat Pull Down     Seated Wide Grip Row     Seated Close Grip Row

Here are the links to videos of the other 8 categories the body is broken up into with regards of muscle groups and training them.  

Legs           Back           Shoulders & Trapezius

      Triceps           Biceps           Forearms

      Chest           Abdominals           Buttocks

So get started and click a category or stay on this page for the BACK!

Some of the exercises are marked with the following notes after the exercise name, to indicate the type of equipment used:

• (Bb): Exercises that are done with a barbell.
• (Db): Exercises that are done with a dumbbell.
• (Cable): Exercises that are done with a cable-pulley machine.

All the best with your efforts,

Cameron – BestFitnessChoices.com

Static pictures and verbal demonstrations of exercises are helpful but really there is no better way to make sure you are doing a movement the right way than to have a professional show you right then and there.

Exercises even as basic as squats or bent over rows can be quite dangerous if not done correctly. This is why if you can afford a personal trainer, the technique guidance in itself is well worth the money.

However luckily for you along with my partnership with Global Health & Fitness, I have linked over 130 strength training exercise videos right here at BestFitnessChoices.com for you to take a peek at! They target 9 categories across your body and are as follows:

Legs           Back           Shoulders & Trapezius

      Triceps           Biceps           Forearms

      Chest           Abdominals           Buttocks

So get started and click a category!

Some of the exercises are marked with the following notes after the exercise name, to indicate the type of equipment used:

• (Bb): Exercises that are done with a barbell.
• (Db): Exercises that are done with a dumbbell.
• (Cable): Exercises that are done with a cable-pulley machine.
• (Tb): The Home/Travel exercises that are done with Thera-band (R)

All the best with your efforts,

Cameron – BestFitnessChoices.com

Our legs house some of the biggest muscles in our body and can be divided into four seperate muscle groups. These are Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calves and Anterior Tibialis.

Below is a list of the most useful leg training exercises that cover all four groups. On the page along with the video demonstration, is a description of what muscle or muscle groups is being targeted, a thorough explanation on how to do it and importantly common mistakes to avoid. Enjoy!

Stiff Leg Deadlifts (Bb)     Stiff Leg Deadlifts (Db)     Lying Leg Curl    

Leg Extension (One Leg)     Standing Leg Curls     Leg Extensions    

Standing Calf Raises     Squats (Bb) (Advanced)     Front Squats (Advanced)    

Squats (Db)     Smith Machine Squats     Smith Machine Front Squats

Leg Press     Leg Press (One Leg)     Lunges (Bb) (Advanced)    

Lunges (Db)     Standing Calf Raises (Db)     Seated Calf Raises    

Toe Raises       Smith Machine Lunges         

Here are the links to videos of the other 8 categories the body is broken up into with regards of muscle groups and training them.

Legs           Back           Shoulders & Trapezius

      Triceps           Biceps           Forearms

      Chest           Abdominals           Buttocks

So get started and click a category or stay on this page for LEGS!

Some of the exercises are marked with the following notes after the exercise name, to indicate the type of equipment used:

• (Bb): Exercises that are done with a barbell.
• (Db): Exercises that are done with a dumbbell.
• (Cable): Exercises that are done with a cable-pulley machine.
• (Tb): The Home/Travel exercises that are done with Thera-band (R)

All the best with your efforts,

Cameron – BestFitnessChoices.com

Cameron here with some interesting info I got from Craig about his thoughts on elliptical machines. You know, they certainly are the trendy option and you can often see stacks of them at every gym you go to.

But are they the real deal or are they just “feel good” machines. I mean you sure can get a good sweat up on them and they can also be a bit of fun but I agree with Craig where he says there should also be some metabolic resistance training included in most exercises you do especially if you are really serious about blasting away that fat. Anyhow, I have his information below – take a read and see what you think?

By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Author, Turbulence Training

Just over a year ago I was at another fitness seminar in Tampa, Florida.

A physician from Georgia stopped me in the hall in between seessions and pulled me up. “Hey Craig, you were right about those crosstrainer machines. I’ve had your program for a few months now and I’m getting better results with metabolic resistance training.”

I really love meeting clients, and I was curious to find out how he heard of me. As it urns out, it was through Google, landing on an article I wrote about “how elliptical machines or as they are sometimes known – crosstrainers, suck for fat loss”.

That’s right, I think those crosstrainer-elliptical machine doohickeys are pretty much a complete waste of time.

He went on to say “I was using one of those machines for a long time and wondering why I wasn’t getting any results,” “I’m so glad I found your program”, he added.

I told him how I was sorry for his wasted efforts however I wasn’t surprised.

Furthermore, I struggle to recall or remember anyone getting great results with one of those crosstrainer machines. Nope, it’s diet and metabolic resistance training that really gets people results.

Now I know some people will surely be pretty cranky with what I have to say because they like exercising on the crosstrainer, but the truth is that they just don’t work as well as metabolic resistance training.

In my humble opinion, the crosstrainer is just the easy way out.

You’ll get loads of metabolic resistance training supersets – using my unique non-competing turbulence method – when you grab your copy of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss program.

And you can get Turbulence Training for Fat Loss for less than the cost of a one month gym membership. That also beats shelling out $1000 or more for a crappy crosstrainer for your home gym.

Click here to get started with Turbulence Training for less than 5 bucks!

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Energy and sports drinks are another bone of contention across the general public and also those in the fitness and weight loss industry with camps seeming equally divided on the benefits they can provide. In my eyes, they are a product intended for one use that unfortunately has become skewed and now it seems that everyone is jumping on the energy drinks bandwagon.

You must remember that originally, sports drinks and powders were designed for elite athletes at the top of their field vigorously performing their trade. The actual nature of these activities absolutely sapped the strength, fatigued the bodies and dehydrated these athletes in a way that mere water just could not quickly enough replenish.

So once again, the sporting world turned to science and developed these drinks that would not only allow elite athletes to perform better during their sport but also increase their endurance and recover more quickly after the event.

You may have heard the quote from a renowned NFL coach who when asked what was the difference in the two teams who had just played a classic match with one side just coming out on top in the dying minutes of the game? His response at a time when energy drinks were just coming out has immortalised a particular energy drink company forever – “The difference was – we had Gatorade.” Simple enough but I don’t think anyone would have realised the magnitude of the comment at that time!

Now energy and sports drinks are absolutely vital in aiding athletes perform at their best and recover more quickly however it seems that Joe Public has taken this on board as well but sadly, us normal folk just don’t need them for the most part!

Although elite athletes can burn well over 1000 calories a session, some even more, the average calorie burn after a normal standard, half hour workout for everyday folk is around 125 to 400 of course depending on what you do.

One bottle of Gatorade straight after that workout can put approximately 150 of those calories right back into your body! What a waste when a 1 litre bottle of water can re-hydrate you just as well and do even more for your body with no calories at all! Worse still, if you have consumed a bottle during your exercise and then follow it down with another after you have finished, you could actually be leaving the gym or getting home from your run with more calories in than out! Horror!

Now I don’t want it to seem like I am picking on Gatorade because the truth is that just about all of these sports drinks have at least 5 teaspoons of sugar (many have more!) and that includes those with fancy names such as Vitamin Water or Smart Water or waters allegedly flavoured with just a touch of some sweet smelling, normally tropical fruit.

Do not be fooled, pure water is one of the only true hydrators out there without extra sugars and sodium as well as none of the additives and preservatives that stump most people in a spelling bee! There are a few non-sugar varieties out there like Powerade No Sugar, however be aware, that these can often have higher levels of sodium than their counterparts.

Some other cons in my view of sports drinks aside from the sugar (especially as though it is high GI sugars as well) is the price with most of these being quite expensive in relation to other drinks and of course water. Also I don’t agree with the claims from those manufacturers producing drinks with “added vitamins” because these are not long lost super training enhancing vitamins but merely vitamins that can and should be found in the everyday diets of healthy people. Great health and fitness stems first from a healthy and nutritious diet. If you do not have this already, you will always struggle no matter what training methods you use.

So in conclusion, unless you are an elite athlete undergoing extremely intense training sessions or events then for the most part, good old water is all we need to hydrate our bodies and recover after a session. The marketing and advertising guru’s have done a great job on these drinks but for normal people there is just no need and no point to add extra calories after you have already done the hard work. You probably wouldn’t eat a chocolate bar straight after a training session so try and lose the energy drinks. If you really feel you need a kick then try one of the no sugar varieties? 

This article is in no way meaning to come across as saying most people do not work hard on their workouts, just to take the time for a reality check and remember the reasons why these drinks were designed for and ask yourself if you are working out under the same intense and physically demanding conditions. If yes, then well done and go for it. If not, then just grab that free water bottle!

Best of luck with your efforts,

Cameron

Work Hard – Expect Results!

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Features:

ECG Accurate Heart RateDigital and coded wireless transmission.

No cross talk from other monitors!

Safe 122 kHz low frequency digital transmission systemImproved signal interference and coding to allow exercise in close proximity to other monitors

Graphical display provides visual indication of exercise intensity compared to the active heart zone

Programmable heart rate recovery timer and interval timer

Able to set a target zone during exercising and works like cruise control on a car.

100 hour chronograph with 99 lap and split memory, with average HR for lapHeart rate with percentage of maximum heart rate displayed

Timer function features countdown timer with single or repeat option

Automatic heart rate recovery on either time or heart rate values

Time-in-Zone, with recall for time in, above and below the zones

Three heart zones – 2 manually set plus CardioZone. CardioZone automatically sets a heart zone during exercise with a single button press

Scan function with hands-free auto-scroll feature showingKcal calories, heart rate recovery time, maximum & average heart rate for session

Low battery indicator and Electro luminescent screen light

RoHS and Weee regulations compliant and Water resistant to 30 meters (60 feet)

Comes with Cardiosport G3 digitally coded heart rate transmitter

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