BLOG.RMFIT.COM

How Fat Loss Really Works!

2009-05-22T17:04:00Z

Hi Everyone,

wow it's been 45days since my last post, way too long. However I can say that the reason it's been too long is because the fitness industry luckily is still thriving even with the international economic troubles. My goal this summer will be to write in my blog once a month. I can really only keep up with it once a month especially because this summer I'm goign to be doing some YouTube vidoes. I find it easier to educate people by showing rather than just writing about it. This is why I became a fitness trainer in the first place. I'm really excited to get the YouTube projects underway. Don't worry I'll let you all know when I have my first posting on YouTube so you don't miss out.

Anyways Today I wanted to explain the 3 main principles to changing your body, and hopefully it will help you understand a few of the complexities of how fat loss really works.

Resting metabolic Rate (RMR)
Your resting metabolic rate takes up the greatest majority of calories in the day. So if your RMR is functioning at a higher rate then you're going to burn more calories in the day. What is metabolic rate? It's all of the process's your body goes through in the course of the day and when you're asleep. It never shuts off and it uses energy (from food) to keep your body functioning properly.

So How do you increase your RMR? It's simple to say but harder to practice.
1. Exercise: The more you move the higher your RMR will get over time. The more muscle and lean tissue you build the higher you RMR. Moving weights around intensly for 3-4xweek is a great way to ge tyour RMR revved up for even hours past the workout. Going for walks, runs, sprints, all movement increases your RMR. So move more and mix it up between high intensity exercise and low intensity.

2. Nutrition: Eating enough calories in the day may seem scary to those of you who diet all the time. But consider this, when you diet and lower your calories you're also lowering your RMR and that's counter productive. Yes you can lower your calories to about 300-500 a day without effecting your RMR much, but if you drop it even more then prepare to gain it all back twice as fast as you lost it and expect to be 5% heavier than when you started. Eat the right foods and the right amounts.

The simple rule of thumb here is to eat what was around 1,000 years ago, foods high in sugar, starch, processed crap, give it to people you don't like. Eat plenty of fiber, protein, and healthy fats, yes don't be afraid of fats, but be very afraid of sugar (aka "the white devil").

Insulin/Blood Sugar relationship
Your body has a very strong hormone that is the KEY hormone when it comes to storing energy (fat). The hormone is Insulin and insuling and blood sugar act together, when your eating is sparatic and high in sugar you'll experience the sugar High and the the low or what I call Peaks and valleys. Insulin is released in large amounts only when large amounts of sugar (all forms) are consumed. When this happens the insulin takes the sugar and transports it into your cells, mainly your fat cells. This is why sugar is so bad for you, the more simple the sugar is, the faster it is digested. unles you're training hard for 2hours or more, or competing in a Marathon, high sugar foods are not required by the body and thus is stored in your cells making you fat.

So how can I stop insuling from being release?
You can't unless you're Diabetic. You do want insulin in your body but you also want the relationship of insulin and blood sugar to be a stable one not the peaks and valley relationship you get with poor nutrition habits.
Eating smaller more frequent meals can help keep your blood sugars in balance
Eating low G.I. (glycemic index) foods and eating protien or healthy fats along with your carbohydtrates will keep those blood sugars in check. Stick to eating this way and you'll have more energy and your fat storing days will be all but gone.

Cortisol/Stress
Your body has another hormone called cortisol, and when you get stressed, either physically or mentally, your body is going to release this hormone. This hormone mechanism along with the hormone insulin are rumored to be the difference between us surviving our first few mellenia on earth and us going the way of the Neanderthal. So for that I thank my lucky starts I have these hormones, unfortunately, now that we live in abundance of all of our daily survival needs, these hormones can get in the way of looking healthy. Cortisol will release and promote fat storing when you are stressed out, so the only way to counter balance cortisol is to reduce your stress.

Get an amazing 7-9 hours of sleep per night uninterrupted.
Don't sweat the little things
if you are stessed out and physically exhausted scale back the intensity of your exercise, yes exercise places temporary stress on the body, and thus if you are already really stressed out, lighter workouts can actually relieve stress.
Find an outlet or hobby that you enjoy that can take away from the daily pressures of life.
Take vacations! I had to learn this the hard way a few years ago when I was burning the candle at both ends for too long and eventually one day I sat down and I just couldn't get up, It was like being in a trance, I just couldn't move. Don't let that happen to you, take your vacations, don't worry about your boss, your workload, or anything, take the time to enjoy yourself to the fullest.

Conclusion
I could easily go into more depth with these, but really it takes more than once blog post to educate you about how important these 3 main keys are to a healthier leaner and more energetic body. I hope what you've learned in this blog post will be put into practice right away, and that you're energy this summer is taken to new highs.

until next time, Stay Fit

Robin Mungall

Why You Should Squat Part 2

2009-04-07T14:26:38Z

Why You Should Squat!

Part II – Proper Squat Technique

By: Robin Mungall Fat Loss & Body Shaping Specialist

www.rmfit.com

In Part I of this series I gave you 4 very good reasons why you should be doing the squat

exercise. I know many of you might not squat because you either don’t know how or are nervous

that you might injure your knees. Some of you already squat but you suck at it (even if you don’t

think so) and should read how to squat the right way before you damage your knees.

First a note on injuries:

A lot of people have knee injuries or sore knees and don’t want to squat. But guess what, a lot of

you can rid your self of sore knees by doing the squat properly; others can rid themselves of low

back pain, and joint imbalances. With that being said, some of you who do have arthritic knees or

just plain really bad knees that are made painful even with a proper squat, should likely see a

doctor before continuing on. I also recommend getting a postural analysis done before doing any

exercises to help the prevention of chronic instabilities/injuries.

The Squat:

Keep in mind that there are over 32 variations of squats that I know of, and each have a certain

advantage, but for this article’s sake I’m going to teach you the most basic form of the squat.

Bodyweight Squats

1. Start by placing feet shoulder width apart and holding your arms out in front of you.

2. Proceed to squat down like you are going to sit in a chair. Your upper body will lean forward

slightly and your hips will shift backwards while going down. Keep your heels on the ground!

3. Remember to keep your knees from going out in front of your toes while squatting.

4. Repeat according to your required repetitions. If you want to make the exercise more challenging

hold your arms at your sides or behind your head.

Here are few pointers that need to be taken in mind.

Big Chest : Try to make a big chest and squeeze your

back and look straight ahead, this will prevent the

rounding of the back.

Bend from hips: Initiate the motion from the hips and

try to sit back between your legs.

Push from the heels: At any instant the weight should

be on your heels and you should be able to wiggle your

toes. Push the ground while coming up.

Knees out: Always push your knees outwards and your

knees will thank you.

Go deep: Go as deep as you can, if you can not reach

parallel then you need to work on your hips and ankle

mobility.

Let this Tot Show you How it's done

Why You Should Squat - Part 1

2009-03-23T19:52:00Z

Why You Should Squat!

Part I – Four Reasons to Squat

By: Robin Mungall Fat Loss & Body Shaping Specialist

www.rmfit.com

Have you done your squats today? What? You haven’t? What’s stopping you?

It’s sad really, I take a look around the gyms now days and I rarely see anyone doing one of the

best and most functional exercises of all time – the SQUAT.

What’s up people? Didn’t you know that squats can give you almost everything all of you are

looking for in terms of exercise? Let’s take a look at some very good reasons why you should

squat, and if you can still come to me with an excuse why not to squat then bring it on, if you don’t

have a good excuse then I should see a whole army of fitness enthusiast squatters in the gym

this year.

Why you should squat reason # 1: It burns a lot of calories

Hey fat loss fans, now you can get more climb for your time in the gym by getting off that slow

moving cardio machine and get your feet firmly planted on the ground, and start performing some

good quality squats to the point of near exhaustion. Do this and not only will you burn calories

during your time in the gym, but the afterburn effect will still be sizzlin’ that fat away long after

you’ve showered, had a post workout snack and are comfortably watching you favorite evening

show at home. Keep it up with a good diet and people will start turning their heads when you walk

by.

Why you should squat reason # 2: It’s Functional

In a day and age where we sit or lay down for the vast majority of the time, our leg strength

(especially as we age) isn’t what our grand parents was, and because of this lack of leg strength

people tend to get bothersome knees with age, difficulty maneuvering in and out of vehicles,

difficulty taking the stairs, lifting every day objects, shoveling snow, mowing the lawn and so

much more. Learning to squat and implementing it into a routine is a great way to prevent your

self from underperforming in everyday life activities. Bottom line, the squat is going to make you

more functional.

Why you should squat reason # 3: It’s a great way to flatten your abs

It’s funny, even though I’ve printed more articles on how to flatten your abs and the myth that is

spot reduction, I still see people doing endless crunches in the hopes of having a flat tummy or a

six pack. A quick tip, crunches don’t equal awesome abs. Diet, Diet and moving large amounts of

muscle do. So if you’re diet cleans up and you start doing some challenging squats, guess what

will happen? That’s right you’ll get a nice looking set of abs, oh and they won’t just look good,

they’ll be strong too.

Why you should squat reason # 4: Builds lean Sexy muscle and boosts your metabolism

Hey Ladies before you get freaked out, don’t worry it’s not pounds and slabs of bulk, in order to

do that you’ll have to eat every meal like it was your last. For those of you out there, who do want

to pack on muscle then keep reading too and start eating every meal like it was you last, (all be it

lean and healthy). Since squats work so much muscle at once (Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Glutes,

Low Back, Abdominals, Inner and outer thigh, Calves, Foot Muscles) squats are going to produce

a positive anabolic hormonal effect on the body which promotes lean muscle gains which

improves your metabolism which in effect helps with shedding fat.

The Biggest Fitness and Health Questions

2009-03-05T19:08:46Z

It never seems to fail that when I’m in a social situation I get bombarded with questions on fitness and health products which isn’t bad, I love talking about it most of the time but sometimes I just want to relax so I thought I would share with you the answers I would give to those who are asking the questions so the next time I’m enjoying a social gathering I can just direct them to my blog. I also want you to know that so many times the questions get asked by the same people over and over again; at the end of this article I will have some sound advice for you guys too. Oh and just a word of warning I’m kind of annoyed today because I spent two hours shoveling snow just so I could back my car out of the drive way so I might not be so nice. Here we go!

Q: Hey Rob what do you think about (insert brand name) Body Cleanse. We’re trying to lose weight and our friend has lost a lot of weight on it right away and it was developed by a doctor.

A: My first reaction is to say “Really your friend lost weight right away, it must work!” If you’re so convinced it works why the hell are you asking me in the first place? Now no matter what I say you’re just going to counter with some lame ass canned explanation you read from the infomercial! Luckily I think twice before I speak so after a pause (It really is a pause and my family has termed it “The Mungall Pause” and it seems to be hereditary in the men – Sorry for putting up with it Kim, Mom, Sister Michelle, Friends.) I take a deep breath and let out the truth. Of course your friend lost weight right away and so will you; this is nothing more than a gimmicky calorie reduction product and it’s a drastic way to slash your calories by a dangerous amount. You will lose a lot of weight right away, especially if you went from a McDonald’s eating 3000 calorie a day machine to an 1100 calorie 2 shakes and one small meal a day zombie. But that’s the truth you want to know about, here’s what you don’t want to hear: 1. this is a cookie cutter program so a 230lbs male and 130lbs female do the same program? HELLO! Does that not raise a GIANT RED FLAG? You may have days where you actually fast, um can you say forced eating disorder? You will lose weight – you will lose fat – you will lose muscle – you will lose lean body tissue – you will lose nutrients – YOU WILL LOSE YOUR METABOLISM! Yes that’s the truth the WHOLE truth. I won’t get all science nerd on you but when you do this you can expect a short term result for long term damage. I often get clients who finally come to me as a last resort bouncing from these things for years losing weight gaining it back and so on until I have to give it to them straight and say – “Before you can lose a lot of weight I first have to help you repair your broken metabolism, thus your fat loss will take at least 25% longer compared to if you came to me in the first place.
Body Cleanses –tisk tisk tisk people – a good body cleanse is supposed to compliment a healthy metabolism not destroy it.

Q: Hey Rob what do you think about the (insert newest one) diet?

A: This is tricky to answer, some diets out there aren’t too bad, and some are actually completely terrible. The more customized to your body the better. Here are my minimum requirements for a good diet program.
1. Must be sustainable for life
2. Must be mostly whole natural foods (even carbs) and minimal on supplements
3. Must educate on food macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates)
4. Must educate on the Glycemic Load or Index
5. Must promote high fiber
6. Must educate on individual caloric requirements and or teach the law of Thermodynamics
7. Must educate on healthy fats vs. unhealthy fats.

Q: Hey Rob I just bought this (Insert Name) Exercise Program it uses (insert gimmicky pseudo-Science term) what do you think of it?

A: Ha, SUCKER! Then I walk away. Ok I’m not that mean and ok not all exercise programs are bad, but sometimes I really do want to laugh, or call the cops on the company that’s stealing peoples hard earned bucks. First of all once again these programs are cookie cutter programs, at least most of them. Also they generally come with ultra constrictive diets for them to work which almost no one follows. In the end these products are usually just low calorie and crappy but “sexy” looking exercises that will work short term for those who are couch potatoes’s and have poor eating habits. But then again any extra movement and cleaner eating will do the trick for these people. The other thing about programs is you get what you put into it like anything else if you work hard at it you’ll get some results but if you kind of sort of do it, you’ll get nothing. The other thing about cookie cutter programs is they rarely address proper warm up procedures and they are not equipped to design a custom program based on your body and all of it’s postural flaws, muscle imbalances, personality, eating habits, stress levels, and current physical fitness level. I may be biased when I say hire a quality trainer or fitness coach, but hey, when your car needs fixing you can buy a book and take months to fix it or you can go to a mechanic and watch and learn while getting it fixed in a day which would you prefer?

Q: Hey Rob I just bought (Insert Fitness Gadget/Workout Machine) It comes with a workout plan too what do you think of it?

A: Hey Money bags, you should of invested in my product the Robin Mungall Fitness Super Sock, wear these socks while you workout and you’ll lose fat at twice the rate as you were before this special material on your feet follows the low of Thermodynamix and is proven to lose weight. (Results not typical) For those of use who can’t read the letters beside this sentence it says RESULTS NOT TYPICAL.
It’s funny how much money is tossed at gimmicks that are cheap and give no results like my favorite false products the “Ab-Tronic” or the “Sauna Belt”. Oh how I wish I had the lack of ethics so I could develop a product like this and then laugh (while on the beach with two or three hot gold digging blondes) at all the poor suckers who bought it expecting ripped abs. Unfortunately I have something called a conscience and it stops me from selling out and developing products like this.
Remember if it sounds too good to be true it pretty much is.
On the other hand there are other fitness machines out there like Bowflex, or Weider Door Gym etc. That can give you results, but let me give you a little tip of advice: Exercise equipment are just tools and nothing more, some tools are limited like most machines (sorry Bowflex you’re limited) and some tools are often used improperly simply because a celebrity uses it or it has an amazing marketing campaign attached to it. If it motivated you to get moving and working out and that’s your goal then by all means purchase the tool. But if you want a great workout and pay only a few hundred bucks for a tool that can give you thousands of exercises in all ranges of motion, you could buy a set of Dumbbell’s or Powerblock dumbbells and a Bench or Stability Ball. Or you can spend thousands of dollars on equipment that will work for a while but in the end will likely give you what’s called neural pattern overload and eventually your results will stop and your enjoyment of fitness will fizzle. Personally I would buy and did buy the dumbbells at least if you even wanted to stop working out, you only wasted a few hundred bucks and 10square feet instead of thousands of dollars, a few dents in your wall, and 100square feet.

Q: Hey Rob what do you think of fat burners or (insert pill or supplement name)?

A: If I don’t like you I will say “Yes take them, spend lots of money on them so you’re too poor to pay for the gas to drive over here so I don’t have to talk to you again.” But if I like you I will tell you flat out, 99% of supplements are total BUNK! There is too much of what I know to elaborate totally on why these things are bunk, but to sum up everything I know about supplements in general let’s just say your psychology plays the biggest role, some supplements are harmful, most supplements really do jack squat other than lighten your wallet. There are some (I can count them on one hand) supplements out there that are useful, but they are only useful for certain people and not always all the time. A good supplement should be used to SUPPLEMENT an already healthy diet. So my question to those of you who ask this one is: Are you eating a clean and healthy diet day in and day out for at least 3months? How do you know? No? Don’t know? Then don’t take supplements, if you are, then there may be some need to supplement with a few helpful things. Here is a list of some supplements I do think are good for everyone. 1. Fish Oils – Essential Fatty Acids and Omega 3’s from fish oils are lacking in a typical North American Diet. You can get them in pill form or actually eat more fish in a week. 2. Multivitamin – Face it, the commercial food supply sucks, taking extra vitamins is needed even when you’re eating clean and healthy. Or you can make your own “grow op” in your basement, just make sure your planting legal stuff ok? 3. Vegetables – Yes I know it’s not a supplement but I thought I would throw it in here to remind you that Mother Nature makes the best stuff for your body.

Q: Hey Rob it’s me again with yet another question about (insert a fitness question here)

A: Dude how much money have you wasted on a bunch of absolute crap only for me to tell you what to look for and yet again you go out and buy something else. The Answer to your fat loss doesn’t lie out there in infomercial land it lies with in YOU!!!
Richard Simmons as strange as he is has said it best LOVE YOURSELF – MOVE THOSE BUNS – PORTION CONTROL

Conclusion
With all of these gimmicks and you the consumer falling at the whims of professional marketers and con artists you may have lost track of what works and in the process have spent thousands of dollars (years worth of personal training by the way) on absolute crap. It’s time to take control of your health and get back to the basics before you venture off. Learn to love yourself, De-Stress about the way you look right now, Get your bum moving more everyday, and if it wasn’t around 1,000 years ago (Ok clients all together now) DON’T PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH!

The 3 Step Warm Up

2009-02-20T01:57:00Z

Hey Everyone,
Today I want to share with you a good question about warming up for your workouts. But first I have a casting call to make. The Hit Documentary Show X-weighted on slice network is looking for families that are looking to lose weight. If you know anyone that is looking to lose weight and has at least one child that also needs to lose weight, let them know about this offer and I will personally offer to train them for free while they are on the show. Family obesity is a growing issue, that I am increasingly growing more passionate about. The more people I can help the better.

Ok so now on to the Q&A

Q: Rob, you frequently mention warming up before you work out. In person you talked about a general and specific warm up, can you explain the differences and how a warm up should be done?

A: A general warm up is basically any modality (usually cardio) that will work up a sweat and get the circulation moving. A specific warm up is movement patterns that specifically mimic the exercises you are about to perform or are the exact same exercises you are about to perform only at lighter intensities. A warm up can greatly increase your performance in your work out. The whole concept of a warm up is to prepare the body for the task set before it. Without proper preparation, you leave yourself vulnerable to injury, low performance, and early fatigue. In my opinion a warm up needs to be specific rather than just general. A general warm up will get the blood going, but the nervous system still doesn’t know that it needs to lift a heavy weight, or run really fast, or jump really high. With your nervous system still asleep, your first set of each movement will pretty much be a waste, and I hate wasted time. Next time you work out, make sure to warm up specifically.

I thought since you’ve read the basic principles behind the warm up, I would give specific examples to help you choose the best ways to warm up for your particular activity.

The 3 Step Warm Up

Step 1: General Warm up 2 – 5 minutes on cardio equipment or light jogging/brisk walking. Get your heart rate up above normal, a mild sweat going and slightly heavier breathing.

Step 2: Key Stretches – if you have been assessed or know what muscles are chronically tight make sure you release these muscles through active stretching before you work out. Reasons for this step are beyond this article but will be addressed in another article

Step 3: Spacific Warm Up
Cardio: If you are about to do some cardiovascular exercises then do the exact same exercise at a lighter capacity. For Example: Run/Walk on treadmill program – complete a few warm up intervals of run walk at 50 – 70% capacity.

For Weights: Choose 3 – 6 of the exercises you are about to do including pushing pulling and squatting movement patterns and complete 2 sets in a light circuit format to engage your nervous system and keep your muscles warm. If you are lifting really heavy weights (1 – 5 reps max) start with 50% of the load and work your way up to the heavy load by adding 10 – 20% each warm up set. these heavier loads that means 2 – 3 warm up sets.

Note: It’s also a good idea to do cool down sets or a mini cool down circuit to essentially unload the nervous system.

Welcome

2009-02-04T17:11:48Z

Welcome to my new blog. This is the first time writing in a blog format and already I can tell you it's 100 times better than my newsletter. This system is so much more user friendly and for many of my clients reading this, you can probably remember me saying something at least once about my battles with the system I used for writing the newsletter.

Since this is my first Blog cast I wanted to give everyone an quick lesson on who I am, what I do and an update on my crazy year thus far.

So for those of you who don't know me, I hope as future blog casts are written that you will get to know me more.
As a small peasant child growing up in the low lands of montu pichu... oh wait that's not me, If you want to really know who I am and what I'm all about you can check out the about me page on my website www.rmfit.com .

Now once you've learned a little bit about me and what it is I do let me tell you about the crazy start to 2009 I've had thus far.
Ok so 2009 really begins December 27th for me when Kim (my fiance) and I decided to head down to the animal shelter to get our second pet - our first being Stinky the box turtle. We ended up picking up a black cat named Thor, and yes he wasn't very fit and healthy when we got him but now he's healthy and well actually he has a little chub since Kim feeds him his wet food twice a day.
All was going well in the year until I jinxed myself and made a resolution to NOT GET INJURED this year. Well you can guess what happened wit ha resolution like that. Yep Fighting ninjas one day saving the world I roundhouse kicked one too many of them and Broke my ankle -at least that's the story I'm going with since saying I broke it playing a game of leisure volleyball sounds lame.
Anyways I've been stuck training all my clients at the Hospital for the time being until I'm able to drive again - which will happen after the cast comes off February 13th. At this time I would like to express my utmost appreciation for my clients who've made changes in their schedules to continue training with me during this time. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! I would also like to express an amazing appreciation for my Fiance Kimberly who has put up with me, cleaned, cooked, and drove me everywhere all the while keeping up with her full time job. Kimberly you are simply an amazing women, how did I get so lucky?

Well That's it for blog cast number 1. I can't wait to get into the juice of blogging about fitness nutrition and all that fun stuff.

Hope to hear from all of you real soon.

Stay Fit

Rob