Curious to know what supplements are REALLY worth your money? One of the most common questions I get asked is about supplementation. What’s worth the money? What’s safe to use? Should a fat burner be a part of my supplementation? If you feel like you have a number of questions that need answers, the following will provide some insight. Here is a list of my top rated supplements: Health-Promoting Supplements: Okay, first we’re going to talk about the products I believe will support proper health. By nature, they will also support your performance and body composition goals because both of these are easier to achieve when you’re healthy. These are all natural products that will work with your body, rather than against it. Whey Protein First we have whey protein. Now, I always recommend you get as much of your nutrients from real food whenever possible. But, that said, for those who have higher protein requirements, this can be a challenge. A protein supplement can be helpful. If you are going to use a whey, try your best to get a grass fed product. This is the most natural and healthy option available. If you can’t source it, the next best thing is a whey isolate. Aim for one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day as a starting point. Realize if you are training hard, you may need even more. Fish Oil Next we have fish oil. All of us need this. It really is that necessary. Fish oil provides us with omega-3 fats, which have an endless list of health benefits. Realize that if you do eat a lot of fatty fish, especially salmon, you may not need to supplement as much as others, but I recommend you start with 1 gram of DHA per day. Do this and you will be setting yourself up for longterm success. Vitamin D Another key vitamin – vitamin D is also important for overall health. Unless you get a lot of direct sunlight (the best natural way to get vitamin D), you will need to supplement. Read the label and take the dosage indicated. Multi-Vitamin Again, while you should strive to get all your nutrients from real food, having a good multi-vitamin for back-up support is always a wise decision. Just do be sure to get a quality product here. Don’t pick up that bottle of Centrum that you find in the grocery store. Get a product that’s natural and of high quality. Greens Blend For those of you who really struggle to get in enough vegetables in your daily diet, a greens blend is also a smart choice. This will give you the antioxidant support you need to promote superior health. Probiotic Finally, the last health promotion supplement I recommend you consider is a probiotic. This will help to keep your digestive system in proper working order and ensure that you are making use of all the foods you eat as best as possible. Now in addition to these, you can also add in some other products that may help enhance your workout and body composition slightly further. Performance Enhancing Supplements: Creatine This is a very well researched and beneficial supplement and there’s no harmful effects of taking it. A five gram dose per day is typically recommended and you’ll want to make sure you get the creatine monohydrate variety as it’s creatine in its most pure form. Branched Chain Amino Acids BCAA’s are also a wise idea to consider and will help to delay the onset of fatigue. If you find you’re running out of energy early on in your workouts, BCAA’s, can help. I’d recommend starting around 7.5 grams per day, however if you are training hard, you can take this up to 10-15 grams per day. Caffeine Finally, you might wonder about fat burners. Should you use one? I would say no. Firmly. Fat burners will mess you up if you aren’t careful and are not natural for the body at all. Need an energy boost? Go for a cup of coffee instead. Caffeine is the most under-rated fat burner out there and you can get it right from your coffee pot. No fancy supplement needed. If you need other ideas for a pre-workout energy boost, check out my video where I discuss this here. There’s no need to turn to a fat burner in my opinion, so I’d recommend you stay away. So there you have my line-up of supplement recommendations. Stick to these and you can feel confident you’re hard-earned dollars are being put to good use. Bonus: SHOULD You Be Taking Supplements? One question I got a lot (perhaps even more so than WHAT supplements should I take) is WHY should I be taking supplements? Well, here’s the deal … No one “needs” supplements. With a solid diet, a structured workout routine and a lot of dedication, you can achieve your goals. But, if you really want to ramp up your results, and not only get that extra 5% boost, but get there quicker, too – this is where supplements come in. With a highly-efficient workout plan such as HIIT MAX that focuses on burning as many calories in a single, short session as possible, and has an emphasis on pushing you to your limits, so you never hit a plateau – I’d say supplements become more important. To make the most of the metabolic adaptations imposed by HIIT MAX™, and maximize recovery, then all the supplements here are well worth taking. To learn more about how HIIT MAX™ can get you to your best body ever, click here Tweet 3 Share 14 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Welcome Morellifit Family to a workout nutrition Q + A with Michael. Today we focus on nutrition that has to do specifically with your workout routines. Q – Can you eat protein prior to your workout? Michael – You can. For me it’s not right up into your work out. Q – What is more important to eat before your workout? Michael – Fuel for sure! But a couple things you need to take into consideration. When was your last meal? If you ate two hours ago, and you had lots of carbs you potentially don’t need to eat before you work out. Its all predicated on you. Your body, your goals, and what your training looks like. If you’re going on a treadmill for 45 minutes you don’t need carbs for that; sweet potato, white rice or any carbs for that. It all depends on your training. But you definitely want to have some fuel before and after a work out. Q – What’s HIIT? Michael – High Intensity Interval Training. It’s my number one selling program bar no one. And I think we just passed 100,000 students world wide. Hittmax.com is essentially my version of high intensity interval training. I basically took plyometrics and strength and married them together to give you HIIT MAX. In a nut shell it is high intensity exercise followed by either low intensity exercises or a short period of rest. Q – What is the best way to bulk? Michael – Eat. If your really lean, like skin and bones and a hard gainer, and your goal is to bulk I hate to say it, but it’s milk and peanut butter. Almond butter if you want to go a little healthier and whole milk, pasture raised and the more organic the better. If you are lean hard gainer, that is highly recommended. Me and D are the opposite of that. We look at a cheese burger and gain weight. The moral is that you have to eat above your TDEE. You need to figure out your TDEE and you can go to morellifit.com and click on the blog. There is a BMR calculator so you can figure out your TDEE. Now in order to gain weight you have to eat above your total daily energy expenditure. If you don’t you won’t gain weight. If 3500 calories is a pound, then eat 500 above your TDEE for 7 days. In a week, you know that you’ve gained a 1 lb. You always have to remember, the cleaner you eat, the cleaner the gains. Know that I’m thankful for your support, and I’ll always have your back. Be patient. Stay the course. And let’s get fit, together. Tweet 0 Share 0 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Welcome Morellifit Family to a workout nutrition Q + A with Michael. Today we focus on nutrition that has to do specifically with your workout routines. Q – Can you eat protein prior to your workout? Michael – You can. For me it’s not right up into your work out. Q – What is more important to eat before your workout? Michael – Fuel for sure! But a couple things you need to take into consideration. When was your last meal? If you ate two hours ago, and you had lots of carbs you potentially don’t need to eat before you work out. Its all predicated on you. Your body, your goals, and what your training looks like. If you’re going on a treadmill for 45 minutes you don’t need carbs for that; sweet potato, white rice or any carbs for that. It all depends on your training. But you definitely want to have some fuel before and after a work out. Q – What’s HIIT? Michael – High Intensity Interval Training. It’s my number one selling program bar no one. And I think we just passed 100,000 students world wide. Hittmax.com is essentially my version of high intensity interval training. I basically took plyometrics and strength and married them together to give you HIIT MAX. In a nut shell it is high intensity exercise followed by either low intensity exercises or a short period of rest. Q – What is the best way to bulk? Michael – Eat. If your really lean, like skin and bones and a hard gainer, and your goal is to bulk I hate to say it, but it’s milk and peanut butter. Almond butter if you want to go a little healthier and whole milk, pasture raised and the more organic the better. If you are lean hard gainer, that is highly recommended. Me and D are the opposite of that. We look at a cheese burger and gain weight. The moral is that you have to eat above your TDEE. You need to figure out your TDEE and you can go to morellifit.com and click on the blog. There is a BMR calculator so you can figure out your TDEE. Now in order to gain weight you have to eat above your total daily energy expenditure. If you don’t you won’t gain weight. If 3500 calories is a pound, then eat 500 above your TDEE for 7 days. In a week, you know that you’ve gained a 1 lb. You always have to remember, the cleaner you eat, the cleaner the gains. Know that I’m thankful for your support, and I’ll always have your back. Be patient. Stay the course. And let’s get fit, together. Tweet 0 Share 0 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
The recommended amount of water you should drink daily is a topic at the center of many heated debates. Many people claim there is an one-size-fits-all prescription to how much water you should drink every day. The most common water prescription says that you should drink 8 glasses per day. However, this statement is entirely false. The optimal daily water intake is highly individualized and is different for each person. Why? Because various internal and external factors play a role in determining the amount of water you should drink. The purpose of this post and the video below is to provide you with: The 7 Factors to Determine Your Daily Water Intake A Better Prescription for Your Daily Water Intake Important Health Reasons for Proper Hydration 7 Factors That Determine Your Daily Water Intake Climate Altitude If you are a woman and are nursing If you are sick, have the flu, or healing from any other illness How active you are during the day Your body-fat percentage Your weight A Better Daily Water Intake Prescription “Half your body weight in ounces of water” is a good baseline prescription for the amount of water you should drink daily. For example, for a person who weighs 200 pounds, he or she would divide by two. This equals 100. Therefore, for a 200-pound person, the starting point or baseline prescription for water is 100 ounces per day. However, please keep in mind this is just a starting point, as you must add in other factors. For example, if you are a bicyclist or avid runner, then you should drink more water. So, start with the baseline prescription. Then listen to your body and increase your daily intake based on what you are feeling. This is the most solid prescription that you can get without going to see a hydration specialist. Important Health Reasons for Proper Hydration It is important to maintain an exceptional hydration status for many reasons, including, but certainly not limited to: Toxin Removal, Increased Energy Levels, and Mood Improvement Other liquids such as tea, coffee, juices and the like do not factor into your hydration status. Only water by itself factors into your hydration status. Achieving Good Hydration Do not beat yourself up if you fail to drink 100 ounces of water every day. Just try your hardest. And do your best while remaining aware that what one person may need to stay healthy may be entirely different than what you need. Start at the baseline prescription of drinking half your body weight in ounces. And then listen to your body from there. It will always tell you what you need. After you implement this, leave me a comment below letting me know how this approach to staying hydrated is working for you. And until next time, take care. Tweet 0 Share 4 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Are you burning fat at the rate you want? If the answer is no, then you need to focus on cranking up your metabolism. This can be done from the comfort of your own home. So, if you want to use a resistance training program to lose weight, there are a few things to keep in mind. These things will ensure that you burn the maximum amount of fat possible. Let’s take a look at some key things to remember: Consider A Circuit Approach The first thing to think about is structuring your program so that it’s a circuit training set-up. Circuit training is going to have you moving from one exercise to the next, as quickly as possible, with hardly any rest periods in between. Because of this, it tends to produce the absolute best metabolic boosts possible, causing you to burn off calories at an accelerated pace for the hours post training. In fact, you can burn calories for up to 24 hours after an intense training session. If you want to increase post-exercise calorie burn; aka the “after-burn” effect, circuit training is an effective way. Just be sure to challenge yourself and lift heavy enough weights to keep resistance up for high intensity and maximum results. Cardio Intervals Next, you need to add intervals of cardio
if you aren’t going to implement circuit training into your resistance training. Place short bouts of cardio in between sets when you’d typically be resting. This will keep your heart rate higher throughout the workout and allow you to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, avoiding long, boring and repetitious cardio training afterwards. Here are some of the best exercises and combined movements for your circuit training program: -mountain climbers -burpees -jumping jacks -jump squats -box jumps Don’t Forget About Your Diet Lastly, but most importantly, do not forget about your diet. Diet is one of the most crucial things, and you’ll need to be disciplined if you want to endure lasting success in health and fitness. Many people think that they can just exercise their way to fat loss, however, you’re in for a rude awakening if you don’t balance your life with a healthier diet. If you aren’t making better choices in the kitchen, it’s going to be very difficult to accomplish health and wellness. Once you get going, don’t look back; because once you get there, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. Always make sure you are aware of what you’re eating throughout the day, if you’re conscious of it you can control it. Crash diets are a no-no and can cause more harm than good. Remember that the goal is long term success and sustainability. Let’s get fit together! Tweet 0 Share 1 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Welcome back for another Coaches custom workout! This custom workout is brought to you by Kristen. This is her shoulder sculpting workout, that at the end totals 500 reps! Are you up to the 500 rep challenge?! Here it is! The video shows you all of the different exercises. Now here is how to put them together. Superset 1: x5 = 60 reps Seated Arnold Press – 10 reps Seated Dumbbell Press (same weights) – 5 reps Superset 2: x 5 sets = 100 reps Dumbbell Lateral Raises (heavier weight) – 10 reps Dumbbell Lateral Raises (lighter raises) – 10 reps Rear Delt Cable Crossovers: 10 x10 = 100 reps Upright Row Pyramid: x3 = 90 reps Barbell Upright Row (heavy weight) – 10 reps Barbell Upright Row – drop weight 30% – 10 reps Barbell Upright Row – drop 30% weight again – 10 reps Superset 3: x5 = 100 reps Cable Single Lateral Raises – 10 reps each arm Cable Single Front Raises – 10 reps each arm Barbell Military Strict Press: 10 reps x 5 = 50 reps = 500 total reps This workout is a great way to challenge yourself and push your shoulder workout to a whole new level. If you’re looking for other ways to challenge yourself try HIIT Max and mix up your routines with a little bit of high intensity interval training. Changing up your workouts is the best way to see results. If you like this work out, let us know below and suggest other workouts for our coaches! Tweet 2 Share 4 +1 2 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Did you know that as many as 25% of all people who make New Year resolutions fail within the first week? Scary stuff, huh? And that’s why I waited until now to put this blog out. See, if had I released this at the end of December, or the very start of January, it wouldn’t have been much use – you’d have been all amped up and ready to go. That fire in your belly would be there to get on and smash your 2015 goals. But now though – over 50% of you will probably have slipped up, and perhaps already even given up for another year. But I don’t think that’s the case, and even if you have made a bit of a resolution faux pas, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t get back on the grind, and CRUSH it for the rest of the year. After all, if you’re reading this and following me, that sets you apart from all the others who’ve already broken their resolutions. So read on to find out how to set New Year resolutions that stick. Step 1: 7-Day Goal A year’s a long time, right? That doesn’t mean we need to look that far in advance though. Sure, you may want to drop 30, 40, or perhaps even 50 pounds. Perhaps you desperately want that six-pack, but know it’s still a ways off. It’s great to have lofty ambitions, but you need to start small. Give yourself a goal to hit over the next 7 days, and keep it simple. It could be something like – – Get 5 workouts in this week – Spend 3 hours per day with your kids – Get your diet 90% right – whether that’s eating lean protein at every meal, getting 4 servings of veggies a day, or taking all your supplements. Got one? Good, let’s move on. Step 2: 30-Day Goal This is a little different. Switching things on their head, let’s look at a BAD 30-day goal – “I want to lose weight.” This is just far too vague. It doesn’t mean anything – you can lose weight from one day to the next, or drop half a pound by sweating in a sauna, yet neither of these are what you want. Try this instead – It’s February 20th, 30 days from today. I have lost 2 inches in my waist, 7 pounds, and my clothes fit better. I am happier, healthier, and feel more fit than I did just 4 short weeks ago. See the difference? These goals can be measured. They put you at the finish line. Step 3: Grab a Pen … And write these down. Get two sticky notes, and write both goals on each. Put one of these in your car (on your steering wheel or your dashboard) and the other on your bathroom mirror. That way, you’ll see them multiple times every single day. Step 4: Call Me! Accountability is a huge part in goal setting, and one that’s all too often overlooked. That’s why I want you to reach out to me. My job is to help you as much as possible, and I want to empower you to achieve great things and crush your goals this year. None of us can get where we want on our own – we need that support and motivation. So get in touch – either by commenting here or on the video, on Facebook, on Instagram or via email, and let me know how you’re doing. If you tell me what I can do for you – whether that’s creating products, hosting webinars, or putting out blog posts on different topics – I’m happy to do it. The Proof is in the Pudding Since implementing these tactics – the 7-day and 30-day goals, writing them down on sticky notes, and the accountability factor, I’ve hit every goal I’ve set for myself. Before this, I was haphazard and sporadic, and 9 times out of 10, I failed. So follow my lead, break down your goals, and let’s get fit together in 2015. Oh, and if you need some help losing that last bit of winter excess? Then HIIT MAX could be perfect for you, you can check it out here {insert link to HIIT Max}. Tweet 0 Share 0 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
I read. A lot. I love learning, I love self-development, expanding my knowledge, and above all, helping you guys. And one of the amazing tips I picked up recently is all to do with reaching your goals. Actually, not just achieving your goals, but smashing your targets out of the park, and making them a breeze to accomplish. I learnt this trick from my buddy Tai Lopez. It’s genius, and you will love it. Before I reveal it though, let me tell you what this will help you with. The Art of Goal Setting Goal setting is key in your success. Without having set, defined, determined and realistic goals, you’ll get nowhere. So many people want to lose weight, get leaner, feel fitter and healthier, live longer, build bigger arms, or finally achieve that six-pack. But few follow through and do it – why is that? It’s rarely a lack of desire, or even a lack of knowledge – rather it’s a lack of goal setting. Or rather, it’s because people are scared to commit, and fail to use contrast bias. And that’s what today’s blog is all about. The Man on the Moon Before we put a man on the moon, how incredibly unachievable and implausible to you thinking shooting someone off into space and having them land on another planet sounded? It must have been pretty crazy, right? Pre-1969, few outside of NASA truly believed we’d ever do it. But we did. Despite this being such a lofty ambition, it was achieved, because a few dedicated, committed and disciplined folk dared to think big. And this is where contrast bias comes in. How to Use Contrast Bias How tough do you think it will be for you to lose 10 pounds? How about to run that triathlon you’re thinking about? Or to get your ideal beach body? Right now, you might think it’s pretty tough, and therefore, you’re unlikely to give everything 100%. But do me a favor, and put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment … So you have 10 pounds to lose and you’re scared. Well what about those guys and girls on ‘The Biggest Loser?’ How about Jared, the Subway guy? Or people who’ve got themselves from being morbidly obese and at death’s door, to slim, fit and healthy? They had a lot more to lose than just 10 pounds, yet they did it. So what’s stopping you from shedding your excess body fat. Let’s talk about performance for a second, too. You might want to run a 5 mile race in, say, 45 minutes. At the moment, if your only exercise is the odd walk or weekly yoga class, then achieving this probably feels like little more than a pipedream. But there are people out there running 5 miles with one leg. Heck, there are amputees and war veterans running 50 miles and completing ultra marathons with one leg. Suddenly, your goals don’t seem quite as scary. Think About Mr Armstrong Whenever you’re planning your goals, think back to Neil Armstrong. That man on the moon gig – that was huge. Just like losing 200 pounds for someone is huge. Just like conquering a disability to complete an ironman is huge. Your goals – as important as they may be – really don’t seem all that difficult when compared to such immense physical and mental feats. Just bear in mind, whenever you’re a little scared, a little worried and a little nervous about setting yourself a target – be that for weight loss, burning fat, or sports performance – people before you have achieved much more difficult things, and plenty more in the future will do too. Your goals are more than doable, provided you commit to them and back yourself. As always, I’m here in your corner as well, cheering you on every step of the way. If you need me, all you have to do is send me an email, or drop a comment in the video below: Tweet 1 Share 0 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
