Sleep…The Missing Link

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You’ve been working hard to get in your exercise sessions and eat a healthy diet, but are you still feeling a bit sluggish?

Don’t have the energy to attack the day with enthusiasm?

Hit a plateau on dropping those last few pounds?

What are you missing?

Diet, Exercise…And SLEEP

It may be as simple as having a regular schedule of good nights’ sleep. Adequate rest and recovery is essential for health.

Research shows that sleep regulates mood and is related to learning and memory functions.

When you sleep well, you wake up feeling refreshed and ready for your day. Sleep affects how you look, feel and perform on a daily basis, and can have a major impact on your overall quality of life.

What happens when you sleep?

To get the most our of your sleep, both quantity and quality are important.

When you’re sleeping, your body follows a pattern of alternating REM (rapid eye movement) and NREN (non-rapid eye movement) sleep throughout a typical night, in a cycle that repeats about every 90 minutes.

NREM is about 75% of the night; during this stage you’re relaxing, your breathing and heart rate slow, your body temperature drops, and you begin to fall asleep and move toward the deeper sleep.

During this stage, the blood supply to the muscles increases, hormones are released, such as growth hormones, allowing for tissue repair, and development (especially in the muscles).

Also happening during this stage is our energy levels are restoring.

REM sleep accounts for about 25% of the night. During this stage, you’re in deep sleep, where our body becomes fully relaxed and your muscles are shut off.

While the brain is active (and typically dreaming) during this stage, this is the sleep stage that will support our daytime performance and function.

If our sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete all of the phases it needs for muscle repair, memory consolidation, and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite.

Here are a few key benefits of regular good night’s sleep:

Learning and memory. Sleep helps the brain to commit new information to memory.

Metabolism and weight. Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way your body processes and store carbs and by altering levels of hormones(like increased cortisol-think belly fat)and that affect your appetite.

Safety. A lack of sleep contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.

Mood. Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

Cardiovascular health. Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

Disease. Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

How much sleep do you need?

There’s no ‘magic number’ here. Different age groups need different amounts of sleep and sleep needs vary by individual. Here are the recommended ‘rule-of-thumb’ ranges:

Teens (11-17) 8.5-9.25 hours

Adults 7-9 hours

Older Adults 7-9 hours

To determine how much sleep you need, it’s important to assess your own individual needs and habits.

See how you respond to different amounts of sleep, pay close attention to your mood, energy levels, and health after a poor nights sleep, versus a good one.

Determine how often you get a good night’s sleep, if it’s not often, then you may need to consider changing your sleep habits.

Check out the Quick Tips for ways to get better sleep

8 Quick Tips To Get Better Zzzzzz’s….

1. Cut Caffeine. The effects of caffeine can take as long as eight hours to wear off. So if you drink a cup of coffee or soda in the afternoon and are still tossing at night, caffeine might be the reason. Cutting out caffeine at least four to six hours before bedtime can help you fall asleep easier.

2. Avoid alcohol as a sleep aid. Alcohol may initially help you fall asleep, but it also causes disturbances in sleep resulting in less restful sleep.

3. Relax before bedtime. Stress not only makes you miserable it wreaks havoc on your sleep. Develop some kind of pre-sleep ritual to break the connection between all the day’s stress and bedtime. These rituals can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as an hour.

4. Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and comfortable. Use earplugs, window blinds or curtains, set the temperature between 68-72 degrees–everything possible to create the ideal sleep environment.

5. Eat right, sleep tight. Try not to go to bed hungry, but avoid heavy meals just before bedtime. And avoid any specific foods that you know cause you trouble, such as spicy foods that cause heartburn.

6. Avoid napping. While a nap sounds like a good idea after a long day, napping can only make matters worse if you usually have trouble falling asleep. If you do, keep it brief, between 15-20 minutes.

7. Keep pets off the bed. Allowing pets to sleep with you can cause you to wake during the night, either from pet movements or allergies.

8.Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed.

These activities can wire up your brain, making it difficult for you to fall asleep and in the end not get the most out of your day.

Talk Soon.

Dave

Do THIS to Live Longer

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For ages, humans have been trying to find ways to live longer.

From Ponce de Leon who searched for the Fountain of Youth to today’s scientists who are searching for compounds that can help turn back the aging clock, we as a species are obsessed with finding ways to prolong the inevitable.

The good news is, there IS something you can start working on right now, that is proven to extend your lifespan.

I’m talking about your lung power.

As it turns out, how well your lungs can supply oxygen to your body determines your risk of dying from ANY cause.

The medical journal Chest (yes, that’s the name) did a follow up study to the Buffalo Health Study–which followed over 1,100 people of all ages.

Their results?

The better your lungs work to supply critical oxygen to your body, the less risk you have of dying from ANY cause. [1]

This correlation was even stronger when it came to heart disease.

What does this mean for you?

If you want to live a long, healthy life… you better start improving your lung function.

The best way to do that is through intense exercise–preferably high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

(There’s a quick How-To HIIT video at the top of this post)

By exercising in short bursts–like you do when sprinting, you build up your heart’s and lung’s reserve capacity.

Basically, this is your body’s ability to spring into action at any given moment.

Let’s say you need to run away from a neighborhood dog that’s chasing you… if your heart and lungs don’t have enough reserve capacity, chances are you won’t get very far.

In fact, a lack of reserve capacity is the cause of many heart attacks! The body just doesn’t have the extra “oomph” it needs to exert itself from a standstill.

To start building that capacity and begin improving your lung power, do a short interval of INTENSE exercise (you can pick whatever type of exercise you prefer)

This interval should last anywhere from 30–90 seconds.

By this point, you should be panting and out of breath. It’s time to rest for about 60 seconds. Then rinse and repeat.

Build up slowly… start with maybe just one interval of exertion and rest… and gradually increase the amount of intervals you can do, until you’re doing anywhere from 10–20 minutes total (alternating between intervals and rest).

One word of caution: These intervals can be tough, so if you are currently out of shape and are carrying some extra weight, start slow and ease into it. Maybe start by power-walking… alternate between walking fast (for your intense interval) and walking slow (for the rest portion.)

Unfortunately, doing long-periods of exercise like jogging doesn’t build up your lung power.

Short bursts of vigorous exercise remain the absolute best way to do it.

You’ll burn plenty of calories (and fat of course). But even better: you’ll dramatically increase the chances that you’ll live longer.

Talk Soon.

Dave

Fat Loss Tips: 5 Minutes to Tight Toned Arms

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Getting tight toned arms are pretty high on almost everyone’s list of wants.

Especially as we’re entering spring and summer. Sleeveless tops, tank tops, dresses, and of course swimsuits all show off the arms.

Here are 5 simple fast exercises you can do that will deliver tight and toned arms quickly.

1. Close Grip Push-Ups

2. Concentration Curls

3. Triceps Extension

4. Hammer Curls

5. Triceps Dips

You can do each exercise for reps (8-15) or time 30 second to one minute rounds.

Now try these out.

Talk soon.

Dave

Fat Loss Tips- 4 Minute Rapid Fat Burning Workout(Simple)-Video

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Simple doesn’t mean “easy”.

Simple can be amazingly effective and challenging.

Just 2 moves here for 20 seconds each. Get as many repetitions as possible.

1. Body-weight Squat

10 seconds of transition/recovery

2. Push-ups.

10 seconds of transition/recovery

4 Rounds = 4 Minute Fat-Loss

You can use this as a very effective fat-igniting finisher for your workout.

Or as a quick anywhere/anytime workout when you’re tight on time or traveling.

Don’t let how simple it is deceive you it’s hard and effective. Do it.

Talk soon.
Dave

Can’t Sleep? Drink This…..

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Nothing can make someone crankier than missing out on a good night’s rest.

Sadly, research shows 30%(seems low doesn’t it?) of all Americans don’t get enough sleep because they suffer from chronic insomnia.

(Hmmm… maybe that’s why most people don’t say much in the morning boot camps!)

Either way, not sleeping well can severely impact your mood and ultimately your health.

Big pharmaceutical companies have tried solving this problem ineffectively with sleeping pills. But these don’t work as well as promised and come with a healthy dose of side-effects.

The good news is that there is a perfectly all-natural sleep-inducer you can take whenever you’re having trouble falling asleep.

In fact, you probably have it in your refrigerator right now.

I’m talking about milk.(go for the skim!)

For decades, moms across the country have given their kids a glass of warm milk before sending them off to bed.

And as it turns out, there’s some solid science to back this “tradition” up.

Research has discovered that milk has a set of nutritional compounds called bioactive milk peptides that can help you get a restful night of sleep in addition to calming you down.

These bioative milk peptides work specifically on the brain’s GABA-A receptors; much in the same way certain pharmaceutical-grade sedatives work… without all the nasty side effects.

But that’s not all…

Research published in the European Journal of Nutrition shows that these same bioactive milk peptides can reduce your body’s cortisol (“stress” hormone) levels. [1]

(Remember higher cortisol levels equal increased fat storage , usually in the belly)

Over 40 healthy male participants were divided into two groups. One group that received bioactive milk peptides and a control group that did not.

Both groups were subjected to psychological and physical stress, through the administration of numerous tests.

The researchers then measured concentrations of cortisol, heart rate and blood pressure at specific intervals.

As expected, the group who received a placebo had a spike in cortisol that’s typically caused by stressful situations.

In comparison, the group that supplemented with the bioactive milk peptide saw a NET reduction in cortisol levels of -20.69 percent.

Put simply, the milk peptides literally kept cortisol under control, limiting the detrimental effects it can have on your

body.

By helping control cortisol, milk peptides help you relax, creating a sedative effect.

But the research on milk’s ability to put you to sleep doesn’t stop there.

Its efficacy at helping sleep was also studied in a placebo-controlled study that recruited 32 participants with a history of insomnia.

The study, published in The Open Sleep Journal, gave the subjects in the test group 150mg of bioactive milk peptides one hour before bedtime every day for 30 days.

After just 14 days, the participants who received the supplement experienced a 50% improvement in sleep quality.

And by the end of the 30-day study, they reported needing 30% less time to fall asleep and even felt more alert and energetic.

Sleep quality and sleep efficiency was improved, even in those participants who suffered from moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression. [2]

So if you ever have trouble sleeping, take mom’s advice and drink a glass of warm milk(stick to skim milk when fat loss is your goal)

If you are lactose intolerant, you could find the bioactive milk peptides in supplement form -most likely at your local health food store.

Either way, make sure you get your “zzz’s”

Sleep is just as important as working out and eating healthy.

Without enough sleep, you won’t function at 100% capacity. So make sure to give it the importance it deserves. You’ll feel a lot better for it!

Talk Soon.

Dave

P.s. When I interview clients the first thing they notice after they start my program is they sleep better. Usually better than they have in years! If you’d like to set up a free consult to help you discover how fast you can start feeling better. Click Here=>FREE Health and Wellness Consult

References:

[1]. Messaoudi M, Lefranc-Millot C, Desor D, Demagny B, Bourdon L. Effects of a tryptic hydrolysate from bovine milk alphaS1-casein on hemodynamic responses in healthy human volunteers facing successive mental and physical stress situations. Eur J Nutr. 2005 Mar;44(2):128-32.

[2]. de Saint-Hilaire Z, Messaoudi M, Desor D, Kobayashi T. Effects of a bovine alpha S1-casein tryptic hydrosylate (CTH) on sleep disorder in Japanese general population. The Open Sleep Journal. 2009;2:26-32.

Fat Loss Tips: Boot Camp Basic Exercises

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Hope you’re having a great day.

We originally intended this for people coming into boot camp for the first time. Really to help people who had never exercised before or hadn’t in a while, pick up on the fundamentals faster.

Then I realized the fundamentals here apply all the time.

When you’re working out you’re doing one of 4 things.

1. Squatting

2. Pushing

3. Pulling (rowing)

4. Putting things over your head

And that’s about it. Everything else is a variation of these 4 basic moves.

We added in crunches(even though we don’t do a lot of these) and a plank for strengthening the core.

All the details are explained in the video.

Check it out.

Talk soon.

Dave

Valentines Day 2 For 1 Boot Camp Special

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Happy Valentines Day!

I’m going to get right to the point.

You need support-to get to your goals. And the more support you have the better you’ll do.

So it’s a Valentine’s day 2 for 1 Rapid Results Boot Camp SALE-A-Bration

Regular Monthly for a single Camper is $229.

It’s Valentines Day and I like simple math.

So you and a friend can join my Rapid Results Fitness Boot Camp for just $199.

That’s my entire 4 Week results getting program for only $99.50 per person.!

That’s crazy.

So the old “It’s twice what I can afford!” excuse is gone. Your wait is over.

Get the flat stomach, toned arms, tight glutes and firm thighs you want in less than 4 weeks.

You’ll be looking good for Spring Break!

For less than half the regular price!

Invest in yourself: you can lose 10-15 lb by Spring Break (Joyce Munday, 54, lost 11 lbs in just 21 days!).

Get a Jump Start on shorts, tank top and swimsuit season!

Look and feel better than you have in years.

Give one to that Mom, sister, friend or family member that wants it-needs it but would never ever get it for themselves. And bring them with you. You’ll both do better and feel better fast.

Everything is Included!

1. 21 Day Fast-Start Guide,($21 value) including

 -Revealing the Secret to Body Transformation

-The Perfect Day Eating Plan

-The Nutrition Crash Course Handbook

-How to Burn Twice the Fat in Half the Time Workout Guide

-Calorie Incinerator Blueprint

-Fast Start Planning and Goal Setting Guide

 2. Unlimited(up to 28) Fat-Blasting Fit-Pro Driven Workouts-($229 value)

3. Full-Body Before and After Diagnostics to make sure you’re on track to meet or pass your goals($97 value).

4. Unlimited Email and Phone Support-24 Hours a Day/7 Days a Week.(Priceless)

5. Leanbody Done-for-You Fat Loss Meal Plans ($74 value)

6. Proprietary Body Firm Website and Ongoing online Support/email/blog/and newsletter. ($39 value)

7. 100% Unconditional Results or Your Money-Back Guarantee! You get into this program and get the body you want. Or you don’t pay a dime!

A $460 Value for only $99.50 each!

4 Weeks later You and your friend have a Rockin New (Pool and Beach Ready) Body to show for your investment of time, money, and energy.

I know you are a busy person and may not be able to and aren’t ready to start now. Don’t worry I’ve got you covered. You have 30 days to activate your Boot Camp. The old “I’m not ready right now” excuse is now gone too. Start when you’re ready.

What are you waiting for?

Here’s the deal 2 for 1.

You and a friend for $199 ($99.50 each)

Get on the phone, text your BFF, look over your cube and tell your buddy it’s time!

I only have room for the First 11 People That Respond!

There are 2 Ways to Lock in your spot-

Best and Fastest way is to Register online

Click Here=>Valentines Day2 for 1 Boot Camp Special

Or

Call Meghan at the Office(817.320.0743)we open at 10am Tues.Morning.  She’ll get you registered.

If you have any questions feel free to call the office (817-320-0743) or email dfannin@thebodyfirm.biz

If the phone is busy call back. We want to get you registered.

We can only take the First 11 That Respond. Call Now. (817-320743)

This offer is for new campers only. If you’re already a VIP client or VIP camper scroll down. We’ve got a gift for you.

Time to get ready for our swimsuit season.

Talk soon,

Dave

P.s. All the exercise and diet advice in the world won’t help you if you can’t stick with it. Social support-having friends, family, even a coworker is the glue that holds it together-and everyone-you and your partner get better results faster together. Click Here=> Valentines Day 2 for 1 Boot Camp Special

P. P.s. If you’re already a VIP. I didn’t forget you! Call the office and we’ll tell you what we have set up for You!

P. P.P.s If this just isn’t for you. Please forward this offer to a friend, family member or co-worker. We’ll honor this offer because of your relationship with us.

Monday Motivation-How Roger Lost 110lbs and Ran The Boston Marathon

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Happy Monday!

Hope you had a great weekend.

If you need some extra motivation to get your exercise in today. You’ve got to check out Rogers story.

Starting at 276lbs with a goal of running the Boston Marathon and raising money for Cystic Fibrosis, his journey started with a single step.
Check out the video.

His “How he did it” video below is both interesting and instructive. There are a ton of take-aways here that you can apply to your own goals and program.

3:10- He told a lot of people

3:20- He put himself out there

3:28- He got a coach

5:02- He started to pay attention to his eating

5:29- He had a goal a driving “reason why”

6:44- His advice to you

Here’s a link to his website
Click Here=>Running For My Existence

Have a great Monday!

Talk soon.
Dave

Fat Loss Tips: 3 Fast Action Ab Exercises (No Crunches)

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Just say no to boring old crunches.

Here’s 3 fantastic ab exercises that you can do, no matter your fitness level.

1) Cross Crawl-looks difficult-is actually a very safe exercise for beginners, while challenging for those that are fit.

2) Side Plank- looks difficult and can be. There’s a beginner and advanced version explained in the video. This will work muscles you didn’t know you had.

3) Mountain Climber- If you’re a beginner or very overweight and this is really uncomfortable-you can make it easier by elevating your upper body-put your hands on a chair, bench or couch and then kick in the lower body motion. I know it doesn’t look like an ab exercise but it is, and one of the best.

Try them all out and add them into your workout today.

Talk soon.
Dave
P.s. Be sure to friend us on Facebook and keep in touch!
Click Here=> The Body Firm Facebook

No Excuses Motivation (Video)

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In case you need that extra kick in the pants to get it going today.
I’ve used everyone of these excuses before and you’ll hear your favorites too.

My dog is sick.

Its too cold.

Its too hot.

I’m bloated.

I ate too much.

I’ve got a case of the Mondays.

Ha!

See you soon.

Dave
P.s. Don’t forget the 5 for 5 Challenge this week. 5 Workouts in 5 Days. Get on with it!

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