What Biancee Taught Me About Getting More Results In Less Time
A few days ago I was kind of in a bind for time and had to edit a piece of writing but I also had to workout, and I had to get them both done pretty quick.
Run Run Run!
So instead of making an excuse and not working out so I could get the work done, I decided to do something I learned from Biancee (yes, the singer) a few years ago that I’d completely forgotten about.
I actually read my work outloud, while I was running!
Thankfully I have a treadmill in my basement. I think people at the gym might think I was a little wacky. That’s fine with me though – I’ve done some pretty strange things and got some strange looks when I used to go to the gym (i.e. exercises most people are afraid to do), so I’m used to it.
Anyway, if you want to get the same or a better workout in less time, all you honestly have to do is sing or talk while you’re exercising.
Biancee said she used to run with the Destiny’s Child group (that was awhile ago, wasn’t it?) and they used to rehearse their songs while they ran.
But you don’t have to be running. You can also do this for a little added intensity while you’re lifting as well. I highly recommend NOT singing while you’re actually lifting the weights, but during your break periods if you sing it will make it just a little harder for you. So if you keep the same rest period but add some singing (just sing whatever song you’re listening to), it’s going to make it a bit harder.
So that’s it, that’s the big secret, just sing while you’re exercising and you can get the same or better results in the same amount of time. It’s fun, makes it more challenging, and might even help pump you up depending on what song you’re listening to!
Are You Training For Purpose?
When it comes to exercising, most people are doing it completely @$$ backwards.
They don’t know what they’re training for, they pick exercises that have absolutely no meaning to them in regards to what they want, and they do them carelessly without any thought as to why they’re actually doing them.
Don’t let this happen to you!
I want you to do something the second you’re done reading this post. Actually you know what, just do it right now after I tell you what it is – it’s THAT important.
Here’s what I want you to do.
Get out a piece of paper, a few notecards or something like that…and I want you to write down your top 3 reasons why you’re training.
Then, narrow that down to your absolute top reason you’re trying to lose weight, gain more muscle, get stronger, or whatever other reason you’re getting in better shape for.
For example, here are mine.
1) Be “semi-ripped” so I can look good for myself and feel muscular, but not be too muscular because I don’t like how it looks when you can see every single muscle in my body. I don’t care about looking perfect, I just want to look “great”. I’m not the kind of person who will purposely not drink water before going to the beach because it would supposedly make them look more ripped (I actually heard of a few people doing that in a bodybuilding forum – and started questioning my own sanity just for being involved with that forum – obviously I’m not anymore).
A little sub-category of this would be to look great for my fiancée, because, well, it’s hard to keep up to how gorgeous she is 
2) Be able to keep a high level of strength even if my body is telling me no. Although this wouldn’t be a goal for the majority of people, I love the feeling of pushing myself to my limits and watching myself conquer barriers I didn’t think I could conquer.
3) Increase my strength in basic movements – Right now I’m also into doing some basic power lifting movements. I’m naturally a very weak person who puts on fat relatively easily, so this is a challenge for me. I wish I had better genes, but I got dealt a pretty lousy hand with genes in life so instead of complaining about it and giving up like most people, I simply push myself a little harder to get what I want. It’s the same for increasing my strength. And it seems to be working pretty nicely – the last time I deadlifted I deadlifted 310 pounds at 155 pounds, so that’s not too bad for a person who doesn’t deadlift very often.
Ok so there are my top 3 goals that I’m working on right now, so the next step is to look at my current workout program and figure out whether or not that program is going to help me increase all 3 of these goals.
So what I’m doing right now is doing high intensity interval training with some powerlifting movements such as a squat and press, shrugs, hang and cleans, and a few others. I’m doing all of these very intensely and not allowing myself to rest as much as I should between sets.
So is that helping all 3 of my goals?
#1 – It’s helping me keep the body I want because of it’s high intensity, along with my nutrition program I’m following (which is relatively the same all the time).
#2 – It’s helping me utilize a high level of strength even if I’m tired because the way I’m exercising now allows me to “train” my muscles to exert huge amounts of force even if I don’t have much wind left in me. In other words, I’m training my anaerobic capacity.
#3 – I’m also increasing my strength because each time I workout I aim to either increase an extra rep, do the workout in less time, and/or add more pounds to my lifts.
Ok so I’m easily hitting all 3 of my goals right now, but what if you’re hitting only 1 or 2 out of your 3 main goals, what do you do?
Well, you can either change your workout program so that it allows you to hit all 3 goals, or you figure out what your #1 goal is and work towards that. I recommend going for your #1 goal because it’s easier to focus on 1 goal at a time instead of 3.
Ok so if you’re still reading and haven’t written out your top 3 goals that you want to achieve with your exercise/nutrition plan…I want you to do that RIGHT NOW. Seriously, I don’t care if you’re at work on your lunch break, or even if you’re at work and should be doing work (although don’t get in trouble!).
Write them out right now and if necessary, change your workout program to fit your top goal – or all 3 if possible.
Then come back here and let me know how it works for you!
How To Make Sure Your Fat Loss Program Is Working
Someone from Twitter recently came to me kind of confused about why they’d only lost 1 pound even though they fasted 3 times in a week, and although I gave the best response I could – I want to lay it out in detail on the blog so everybody knows why this happens.
Ok so first we’re going to start off with the proper way to weight yourself, then I’m going to tell you why sometimes you might not actually lose as much weight as you think you should be losing – even if you’re still losing a lot of fat!
How To Properly Weigh Yourself
Your body can fluctuate anywhere from 1-5 pounds or so throughout the day (due to food and fluid intake, water retention, etc.), so the time of day you weigh yourself is very important. I’ve weighed myself one morning and been confused on why I weighed so much, then the next day I was 3-4 pounds lighter and hitting my goal.
It’s confusing!
So here’s what you do.
On a day where you wake up and go to the bathroom (in both ways) before you eat or drink anything – go weigh yourself. That’s roughly your true weight. It’s not the best measure because if you don’t eat enough vegetables you might have some backed-up “waste” inside you…but it’s the closest you’re gonna get.
Then each time you do the same thing…weigh yourself again.
This is the ONLY way to truly weigh yourself accurately. If you don’t usually go #2 in the morning, try eating a bunch of vegetables before you go to bed with a lot of fiber in them. That way you have a better chance of going when you wake up.
Ok so that’s the first thing you have to know.
The second thing is that if you’re following my advice and strength training while you’re dieting – you’re probably not going to lose weight as fast as you’d like.
Why?
Because you’re building muscle, which ADDS weight, at the same time you’re losing weight!
So if you lose 10 pounds of fat but put on 5 pounds of muscle, you’re only going to lose 5 pounds – but you’re going to look A LOT better than if you just lose 10 pounds of fat but didn’t put on any muscle.
So my point is – don’t worry about your weight!
Instead, take some pictures of yourself. If you start seeing a change, well, that’s a good thing. I also advise taking measurements. Taking a measurement of your stomach is a great place because you’re not going to add all that much muscle in that area (not as much as something like your chest at least) – so it’s easier to see the decrease in fat.
I also would suggest going out and grabbing a pair of fat calipers. They’re pretty cheap and probably the most accurate measure of body fat out there.
I suggest these Accu-Measure Body Fat Calipers – it’s what I use. They’re cheap and work pretty good, it just takes a little time to get used to (not too much though).
With these calipers you might want to get a trusted friend to do the measurements for you. After all if you’re trying to get a measurement on your back, you’re going to have to be a human-gumby and have eyes on the back of your head!
So here are a few take home points from today’s lesson:
- If you’re going to weigh yourself, make sure you do it consistently. This means doing it in the morning after you’ve gone #1 and #2.
- It’s more important to worry about how you LOOK as compared to how many pounds you lost. If you’re strength training while losing weight, factor in that you might be adding a little muscle so in the beginning especially your weight loss gains might be a little slower (this is more important for guys than girls).
- The best way to measure your progress is through pictures, measuring yourself with a measuring tape, and getting body fat calipers.
5 Reasons Bodyweight Training Might Be SUPERIOR To Weights
There is a lot of talk about the difference between bodyweight training and strength training with weights – and today I’m going to kind of go against the grain and tell you that in some cases, bodyweight training might actually be BETTER for you than training with weights.
So instead of rambling on, let me get started.
- Flexibility – With most bodyweight exercises you’ll need to develop more flexibility than if you’re training with weights. Although it might be a little harder at first, after a few workouts your body will adjust and you’ll be more flexible without even trying to be!
- Saves Time – If you’re hard on time, doing bodyweight training in your own home might be the answer for you. It takes up very little space and uses no equipment, so that means you don’t have to drive to the gym which also saves you a bunch of time!
- Builds “Functional” Strength – When I first got into bodyweight training I was into golfing at the same time. And I have to say, although I wasn’t training specifically for it, I saw about a 20-30 yard increase in my drives after about 2 months. I also noticed I was more “springy” and simply felt much more light on my feet than when I had been lifting weights.
- Easier On The Joints – A lot of times it’s very easy to injure yourself with weights – even if you’re experienced. This is because weights kind of limit yourself to a certain range of motion – especially if you’re using machines. Put simply, weights don’t train your stabilizer muscles which help keep your joints healthy. But since you’re moving your own body in a variety of different angles and directions using bodyweight training, it builds up your stabilizer muscles and strengthens your joints like crazy!
- Builds Your Core – With bodyweight exercises you tend to use your core a lot more than you do with weights. Although there are a lot of exercises with weights that DO utilize your core a lot, most people don’t do them. But when you’re doing exercises with your body, it’s practically impossible not to use your core. I’ve literally gone weeks/months without doing targeted abdominal training and my core kept getting stronger and stronger! And what does a strong core mean? It means no back pain!
As you can see, there are a lot of reasons to be putting bodyweight training into your strength training routine. Maybe you don’t want to switch strictly to bodyweight, but I would recommend at least making it part of your program.
If you happen to be an older person, I think using your body to get stronger is even more important because it’s easier on your joints.
But either way, I can guarantee you that if you start adding in some bodyweight training into your current workout program you’re going to immediately get stronger, more flexible, and have less joint pain!
Can Alcohol Help You LOSE Fat?
I can pretty much guarantee you that this post is going to stir up some controversy over time, because people are going to read the title, then head right to the comments section with actually reading what I’m about to say.
But today, I want to tell you how I came up with an idea for how alcohol can actually help you lose fat, then I’m going to reveal something that you absolutely need to think about when looking at fat loss programs.
Ok so here’s my theory on how it can help you lose fat:
From now on whenever you’re drinking alcohol (or any other drink for that matter), I want you to really focus on the taste of it. Feel as the carbonated alcohol slides down your throat. Taste the mixture of hops, barley, wheat, sugar, and/or any fruits that might be involved (depending on what kind of alcohol you drink).
I want you to do this for every single sip, for every sip of alcohol you have for the next few months.
By the end of those few months, your palette (i.e. your tastebuds) is going to be super-sensitive. I can guarantee you that you’re going to start tasting subtle flavors in foods you’ve never tasted before, and food is going to start tasting more flavor-filled.
But what’s this have to do with losing weight?
Well, it’s simple really.
In today’s times…people want robust, tongue-bursting flavors when they eat food. They want food that when they bite into it, they’re practically bursting at the seams with joy with the flavor it’s putting out.
And guess what?
For the most part, those kind of foods are BAD for you (or if they’re healthy for you, they’re usually high in calories)! Let me give you a few examples.
Would people rather drink soda, or water?
A nice big juicy, fatty steak, or very lean steak like a flat iron steak?
A few pieces of celery, carrots, etc. to munch on…or a bag of chips?
My point is this:
People eat bad because for the most part, and this is at least what people assume which I’d tend to disagree with, because bad foods taste better. They have more flavor, but more calories.
But if you teach them to enjoy more subtle flavors, even if you’re teaching them to do it through drinking alcohol…they’ll eventually start to enjoy the more subtle flavors of healthy food – helping them lose weight!
Ok..now that’s the end of my little theory – let me tell you the REAL reason I wrote this post.
I’m not sure if you just believed me or not, but if not..trust me, I could have came up with a better nonsense story. All I did just now was create a little confusion in your mind which got you to read this far. And if I was REALLY trying to persuade you, I’m sure I could have done a better job.
In this post I just wanted to point out the fact that fitness “experts” do this with A LOT of different “theories” that they have.
Just because something SOUNDS reasonable doesn’t mean it really is.
Let me give you a great example.
Eating 6 meals per day increases your metabolism…right?
WRONG!
The theory they give you might sound nice (I’m sure you’ve heard the infamous “log on a fire” explanation -right?) but in reality, there is literally no evidence to support it.
Even more, there’s actually a lot of evidence proving that it’s absolutely 100% WRONG!
So please understand that just because somebody explains something to you in a way that makes sense…it’s VERY easy to put 2 things together that really shouldn’t go together, and make them sound feasible.
You saw it in how I showed you how alcohol could make you lose weight, but honestly, even though it “might” be a possibility…it was just a joke. I’m not serious in saying that I think alcohol can make you lose weight – obviously!
From now on whenever somebody tells you something, take it with a grain of salt. Understand that they’re probably trying to sell you something and if they aren’t willing to back it up with research…you might think about simply flipping them the bird and walking away with a big smile on your face
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Recent Comments:
- Johnine Bailey: You could mix it with water to make it less caloric. Or possibly substitute a cherry powder or herbal instead. There’s a Cherry Blossom herbal that is available, I’m not sure it would do the same, but maybe it would help.
- Darlene Siddons: great post and great 10 ways to attack those last few pounds….loosing weight is about attitude and feelings, when they are aligned right it is really easy…i use Vision Map Videos to keep my goal of correct body weight in a positive realm… darlene http://visionmapvideo.blogspot .com/
- Megan: great story, and so true! And i laughed a few times during this. keep up the good work!
- What Happens When You Stop Being “Healthy”: important if you’re doing workouts that are very intense and demanding on your body, such as High Intensity Interval Training or things like Tabata
- Weight Loss Excercise: You can also check out his post on weight loss goals here – http://hasslefreefatloss.com/b log/weight-loss-goals-getting- crazy/
- Johnine Bailey: You could mix it with water to make it less caloric. Or possibly substitute a cherry powder or herbal instead. There’s a Cherry Blossom herbal that is available, I’m not sure it would do the same, but maybe it would help.
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