The Wii Fit has gained popularity in the past year with the hope that it may help people lose weight. The fitness gaming system might be able to keep players in shape as it offers many types of activities – from running to pushups to yoga – but not if they don’t play it.

Although more than 1.5 million homes have a Wii Fit, it has become little more than an exercise fad that will most likely come and go (just like all the fitness gadgets and gizmos they sell on late-night television).

According to this article, few people use it consistently for more than a month.

“I don’t know a single person who has bought the game who uses it routinely after a month,” said Brian Crecente, managing editor of the popular gaming blog Kotaku. He also stressed that getting results from the game requires dedication and real physical exertion.

Although the Wii Fit is a great marketing tool and a clever way to appeal to gamers that may not exercise, it takes more than a game to change people’s habits. It takes hard work. And although the Wii Fit may be fun at first, the novelty eventually wears off and the hard work no longer seems fun.

I, personally, may not believe that the Wii Fit will make much of a difference in weight loss or getting people into shape. But it’s better than no exercise at all if used consistently with a high level of effort.

If you’re going to use the Wii Fit – great! It would be great to see if it makes a difference in our nation’s obesity epidemic. Time will tell if it fades away like other fitness fads or if it actually makes a positive impact (as mentioned in the article about the study that will be released later this year).

Whether you decide to use the Wii Fit or another type of sport or activity for exercise, be sure to at least include 2-3 days of resistance training each week to help build muscle, strength and increase your metabolism.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, strength is very important for increased conditioning and a higher quality of life – especially as you age. I’m not sure of all the Wii Fit’s capabilities, but it may not have as many resistance training options that you could get with dumbbells, barbells, odd objects or bodyweight exercises.

Just don’t forget that making better choices nutritionally will be the key to your success (along with a strong support system and hard training).

I’ve never seen anything like this before! Nutritionist Mike Roussell and Men’s Health Fat Loss Expert Alwyn Cosgrove have put their money where their mouth is…LITERALLY.

You’ve probably heard of the rapid weight loss program – Warp Speed Fat Loss – as I used it last year with good results. Warp Speed Fat Loss is a 28-Day blueprint for people that want to lose up to 20lbs in 28 days. It works like gang busters.

The story goes like this:

Mike was talking to his Dad the other week and his father didn’t think that people would believe that it was possible – being able to lose up to 20lbs in 28 days. Especially with all the exotic berry and weight loss scams all over the internet.

So Mike decided he needed to figure out a way to help overcome the seed of doubt in people’s minds (because the program really does work).

Do you know what he came up with?

A 120% Money Back Guarantee. The guarantee is that if you use Warp Speed Fat Loss while charting your progress in the Faster Fat Loss Zone (Mike Roussell’s fat loss membership site – you’ll get a free 45-day membership when you purchase Warp Speed Fat Loss) and you don’t lose at least 10lbs, they’ll refund your order completely plus send you $20 via PayPal.

Warp Speed Fat Loss

That’s right. If you don’t lose the weight, Mike and Alwyn are going to give you your money back AND send you $20 for your trouble.

Find out all the details here:

Warp Speed Fat Loss

P.S. Just in case a bunch of dishonest people take Mike and Alwyn up on this so they can get $20, Mike and Alwyn have limited the offer to the first 100 people.

Go Here Now So You Don’t Miss Out – Warp Speed Fat Loss!

In a previous blog, I mentioned that I, personally, am not a big fan of milk. I rarely drink milk, but I sometimes use it as a base for some of my protein shakes and to eat with Musli (an organic German cereal that I get at the health food store). However, I have recommended milk to others for various reasons as seen in this blog to get extra protein in the diet or as a mid-day snack.

When it comes to milk and other dairy products (cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese), I would encourage you to shop for raw products (or at the very least – organic). I also don’t recommend fat-free versions of dairy products for two reasons:

1. All fats are not bad for you. Your body needs some saturated fats along with healthy fats.
2. Fat is crucial for the absorption of the vitamins and nutrients in dairy products (and other foods, including vegetables).

For example, Vitamins A and D are fat-soluable vitamins. Since dairy products contain Vitamin D, you want fat in order to properly utilize Vitamin D in the body. Most people elect for fat-free products that have been fortified with Vitamins A and D, and they don’t realize that it’s useless without the fat.

Also, I am against commercial store-bought milk as found in most grocery stores. I highly recommend that if you are going to drink milk, you should only drink raw milk. Store-bought milk is pasteurized (which kills the enzymes in the milk) and homogenized (changing the fat content) and is worthless.

Check out this video about milk by Dr. Jonny Bowden. Also, read this article by Dr. Mercola and this article originally published in 1938 in Magazine Digest.

I’ve been using raw milk for months (although I did drink it when I was younger and got it straight from the cow). Prior to finding a few places that sold raw milk in my area, I bought organic milk. That’s better than most store-bought milk, but it’s still not as good as raw milk or even pasteurized but non-homogenized raw milk (I have the choice of both types of milk where I live). However, for cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese – you may only be able to find organic products. That’s fine! It’s still better than most store-bought products.

A good alternative to milk (for those who are lactose intolerant or can’t find raw milk at their local health food stores) is Almond milk. It tastes good, is low in calories and makes a pretty good milk substitute. I recommend Almond Breeze Original. You can drink it, use it in a high-quality and nutritious cereal or for protein shakes.

Let me know if you have any questions!

If you have been resistance training for a year or two and have knowledge of how to perform various exercises but don’t feel satisfied with your results, then it may be time to develop a training plan to help you make consistent progress in the gym.

Most beginners and intermediates go to the gym and perform whatever exercises they feel like doing on that particular day. I have seen many people follow a bodybuilding program where they perform chest and triceps one day, back and biceps another, legs one day (if they actually work their legs) and shoulders, calves and abs another day.

This is only one variation of many that I have seen that require a minimum of four days per week devoted to resistance training in addition to any type of energy system development or cardio that they perform in addition to the resistance training workouts. When you add it all up, it requires 6-7 days devoted to training at approximately 60-90 minutes per session. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have time to train that often!

There are a few problems with a bodybuilding training plan if you’re not a bodybuilder or don’t have plans to compete as a bodybuilder or want to look like a bodybuilder:

• First, if you are a beginner or intermediate lifter, you may not see many results after your first few months of training. Once your body adapts to the exercises and overall volume and frequency, it will stop making gains. At this point, many lifters try to add more volume to their workouts or add additional workout days.
• Second, most people that want to get in shape don’t have four, five or six days to train (which is typical of most bodybuilding programs). If you have problems getting to the gym more than three days each week, a bodybuilding program is not going to give you the best results.
• Third, a bodybuilding program typically has the lifter performing long workouts with a high amount of volume while targeting each bodypart once per week. For those of you who are time challenged, then this type of workout plan won’t help you get the results you want in the time you have available.
• Fourth, most people don’t want to look like a bodybuilder. Many people prefer a more athletic physique and want to lose fat, gain strength and muscle, have some sort of athleticism and be healthier than they currently are. If this sums up your goals, then a bodybuilding training plan won’t help get you where you want to go.

There are more reasons why a bodybuilding training plan is not ideal for most people (other than bodybuilders), but the above bullet points give you something to think about.

I was speaking with a friend recently that asked me for some tips on what she should be doing in the gym. This is what I recommended, and it’s a good way to help you design your own training plan so you can continue getting the results you want to meet your goals.

Program Design 101

First, keep it simple. How many days do you have available to train at the gym (or at home if you have a home gym)? How much time can you devote to training each session? If you have 30-60 minutes, two-to-three times per week, then the following tips will be very useful for you.

If you can perform 2-3 resistance training workouts each week, then I would recommend using two full-body workouts (A and B) that you can alternate 2-3 times each week. The A-B split, as it is known, was popularized by Charles Staley (for a good article and sample training plan suited for intermediate and advanced trainees, see this article).

For the “A” workout, choose a leg exercise (squat variation), a horizontal push variation (bench) and a horizontal pull variation (rowing) as your three main exercises. Perform as a circuit moving from one exercise to the next with fairly short rest periods (sets/reps to come). Finish the “A” workout with some arm and ab exercises (keep it under 10 minutes total).

For the “B” workout, choose a leg exercise (deadlift variation), a vertical push variation (overhead presses) and a vertical pull variation (chins/lat pulldowns). Do them as a circuit like the A workout. Finish with some abs and arm or extra shoulder/upper back/rear delt exercises (keep it under 10 minutes).

For the sets and reps, try something like this:

Day 1: 4×6 or 5×5 (make this your heavy day)

Day 2: 3×8, 3×10 or 3×12 (this is your medium day)

Day 3: 2×20 or 2×15 (this is your light day)

The reason I like to use different sets and reps each day is because your body can only handle so much heavy lifting. By dividing your days into heavy, medium and light, it will help prevent potential overuse issues and joint pain and problems.

It also helps keep your body from adapting too quickly to the workouts while helping you train for strength, hypertrophy (muscle gain) and strength endurance (or speed strength) all in the same week. This is a term called undulating periodization and has been popularized by Alwyn Cosgrove (see this article for more information and tips).

Using the above sets and reps, you can alternate your “A” and “B” workouts like this:

Week 1

Day 1: “A” workout (sets/reps above, i.e. 4×6 or 5×5)

Day 2: “B” workout (sets/reps above, i.e. 3×12 or 3×10)

Day 3: “A” workout (sets/reps above, i.e. 2×20 or 2×15)

Week 2

Day 1: “B” workout (sets/reps above, i.e. 4×6 or 5×5)

Day 2: “A” workout (sets/reps above, i.e. 3×12 or 3×10)

Day 3: “B” workout (sets/reps above, i.e. 2×20 or 2×15)

Weeks 3 (same as week 1) and Week 4 (same as week 2).

At the end of week 4, you would change the exercises for your next four-week phase and change sets/reps so you don’t perform the exact same set/reps as your previous training block.

You can continue to use this type of training template for a long time and make consistent gains (or losses if you are trying to lose fat)!

One benefit to the training template above is that you only repeat each workout every three weeks. This makes it hard for the body to adapt and also helps keep your motivation high knowing that you don’t repeat the exact same workout too frequently while still seeing results.

You can perform your cardio or interval training after your resistance training workouts for conditioning and fat-loss benefits or on your “off” days depending on how much time you have available to train each week. You can easily adjust the above template to fit your time constraints.

If you only have 30 minutes to train, perform a general 5-minute warm-up and then perform one warm-up set for each of the three exercises in your circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and then perform your work sets for each exercise for the amount of sets/reps required that day.

Since you will be using compound exercises that hit more muscles of the body, you will get a sufficient full-body workout using only three main exercises each workout requiring only about 30 minutes.

If you have more than 30 minutes, then you can add the extra arm, shoulder and ab exercises that I listed previously and also devote some time to a proper dynamic warm-up and any additional exercises or cardio that you may need to perform.

If you have questions about this type of training template, feel free to post some comments below. I can list suggested exercises to use and even a sample training program. With these basic program design tips, you’ll be able to get more out of your training and continue seeing results!

I’m a big fan of Jonny Bowden. He is on the cutting edge of nutrition and isn’t afraid to go against the nutritional dogma that many have been led to believe.

I also like that much of what he discusses about food and nutrition can be found in the bible. Although Jonny Bowden doesn’t necessarily make references to God or the bible in his books and articles (although he mentions God and spirituality), the foods he recommends are based on the perfect creation that only God is capable of and knew about long before science or others discovered their benefits.

I first heard of Jonny Bowden from a recommendation by famous Olympic strength coach Charles Poliquin who recommended the book “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.” I ordered that book along with “The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy.”

After reading the first several chapters of The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy, I was hooked on Jonny’s writing style, and I quickly began ordering nearly all of the books that he’s ever written!

One book that I recently finished reading is “Jonny Bowden’s Shape Up: The 8-Week Program to Transform Your Body, Your Health, and Your Life.” This is a book that I ordered several copies of for various family members and friends – it’s that good! Now, let me tell you that the book was poorly edited. But if you can overlook that, you will find that this is one of the best books available to help you understand that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet and that what works for one person may not work for another.

Jonny Bowden’s Shape Up isn’t a diet plan. It’s not a training plan. It’s a YOU plan. It shows you how to take control of your own health and how to make the right choices when it comes to food, training and so much more.

This is truly a “life skills” book and not just a nutrition book (although you’ll learn some really good stuff). For the first time, someone has explained the problem with diets and how we are all individuals and need to adjust things to fit our lifestyle, metabolism, genetics, etc.

If you are taking steps to improve your health and your life, then I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Jonny Bowden’s Shape Up! It will change your life in many ways while improving your health, fitness and nutritional habits.

I also recommend getting a copy of “Jonny Bowden’s Shape Up Workbook” – it’s a good companion manual to go with the book with plenty of useful information to help jump start your life on the right path to health and fitness.