Stay-Fit Buzz Interview with Alice Matos

Learn how rising star Alice Matos is dominating the Brazilian fitness scene, is building solid muscle, yet is still able to look like a ‘female’.

 

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: First things first, you’re from South America, Floripa, right?

 

Alice: That’s correct, I’m originally from Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: How does the fitness industry work there compared to the North of America. Are the opportunities to create a name for yourself still the same?

 

Alice: In Brazil, the fitness industry is just beginning to take off. It is not as popular as it is in the U.S. But I like what I do and I usually have an affect on people who live with me and even those who do not know me personally.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: It appears that you have travelled to quite a few places, which is a great way to spread your personal brand in my opinion. What countries have you visited to date?

 

Alice: I traveled to 3 competitions in October 2011. First to Spain-Madrid and then to US-Ohio in March 2012.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: There are a good number of inspirational fitness icons from the South American region, especially women. Have any of them inspired you to take the journey that you have taken?

 

Alice: I started to compete with the invitation of my coach Waldemar Guimarães. Brazilian women who inspire me are Gal Yates, Larissa Reis, Natalie and Nicole Melo Eccel.

 

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: Most people just want to be involved in fitness to stay active, healthy and to of course stay in shape and look great. What gave you the desire to want to compete and what was the experience like when you first hit the stage?

 

Alice: A year after searching for my coach, I simply kept to a basic training principles and keeping good form, as this is what was required for me to begin competing. He invited me to participate in the IFBB Championship and I have been a runner-up in Brazil. The feeling of going on stage and to represent Brazil is indescribable and only motivates me to improve.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: Let’s speak about your physique for a moment, because one of the reasons for inviting you over to Stayfitbuzz was because of your strong, yet still very feminine build. You clearly achieved that by not being afraid to apply resistance training to your workouts. But how did you look before you got into fitness? Was it your goal to develop the type of physique that you have today?

 

Alice: I never imagined participating in a bodybuilding championship at first. I did not want to lose my femininity. But I decided to take my chances and favorable genetics for bodybuilding. And now I love the physique that I gained from it!

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: On Stayfitbuzz, we talk a lot about ‘the specifics’ of building a strong, lean and sexy body. Because we know that there are many factors that can affect how one person will look and develop compared to a next person. Factors such as age, sex, race, experience, genetics. What are your strong and weak points? Do you find building strong legs easy compared to your upper body? Have you had to fight to keep a high metabolism to maintain the body that you’ve built? Was building muscle as hard as they say compared to the relative ease at which men build muscle?

 

Alice: My abdomen is a strong point and my weak point is my quadriceps. My upper limbs grow more easily than my legs. In preparation for competitions, I do not do much exercise for the abdomen and for my legs, I have to work the quadriceps hard and perform more aerobic exercise to avoid looking too bulky, but defined. Building muscle is hard for men and women equally, without regard to the biological factor that is more favorable for men.

 

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: It looks like you’re about to perform a variation of a lunge exercise in the picture above (Although it does look like a photoshoot). Is that one of your favorite exercises?

 

Alice: My favorite exercise is the eighth abdominal

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: In fact, how do you find the photoshoot process. Is it something that you enjoy to do?

 

Alice: I love doing photo shoots and see my progress over time.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: Some ‘genetically gifted’ women sometimes find that the big compound lifts such as deadlifts and squats build too much mass on their legs than they would like. Do you find that to be the case in regards to your body? Have any of your peers/associates complained about those exercises affecting them in that way?

 

Alice: A good exercise to not get the bulky looking leg muscles and develop in a way so that they’re more slim and toned is doing this exercise.

 

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: We can agree to that. This is actually one of the exercises that we include throughout our No Nonsense Butt Building Specialization reports

 

Alice:

 

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: Eating clean is just one of the things you have to do if you want to get in shape. But what are some of your favorite meal plans. Are there any popular ‘healthy’ foods from the South American region?

 

Alice: I love to eat omelet with one egg yolks, six clear and solid light tuna. Pancake protein: http://blog.labellamafia.com.br/?paged=6). In addition to fruits and vegetables. I also love eating sushi-sashimi.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: Finally, how do you keep fitness fun? As the saying goes, ‘love what you do and you will never work a day on your life’.

 

Alice: I try to enter my workouts into my daily routine. That way, it becomes a part of my lifestyle and not an ‘extra thing’ to do. For me it is a commitment to go train and it made me addicted to endorphins, the feeling of pleasure of work well done.

 

About Alice Matos

 

 

Alice Matos is an upcoming  IFBB BIKINI INTERNATIONAL Fitness model from Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.

 

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The Lose Fat vs Lose Weight Challenge

 

 

As a Fitbuzzer, your body is simply made up of Central Nervous System trained muscles with a tiny layer of fat on top. And since the goal is to lose fat and not weight (Because that would include losing lean muscle, which you need to help you ‘stay’ lean), it would be in your best interest to keep that layer of fat low. But how low should you go? What’s the best way to measure body fat %? What methods are deemed useless? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out.

 

The lose fat vs lose weight challenge

 

 

It was in this video post where I spoke about the effects of lifting weights to get lean. In fact, lifting weights to get lean while maintaining your current diet may just be a better option than actual dieting. Because typical dieting may cause you to lose lean muscle (Up to 50%). You know, dropping 5-10 pounds of weight in a matter of days by dehydrating yourself. But that’s pointless, because you know you’re going to gain all of that back again. Keep on repeating that process and you’ll gain back MORE each time you do it, because each time will result in a loss of even more lean muscle, which you now know helps you keep the fat off. So when you hear the terms ‘weight loss’ and ‘fat loss’, be sure to understand that both terms mean two different things.

 

• Weight loss = Crash dieting (Why America is FAT) – Lose fat and muscle
• Fat loss = 3 Key formula (food intake based on percentage + structured weight training and cardio) – lose mostly fat and no muscle

 

 

The goal of fat loss is obviously a more challenging one to accomplish. I know because…

 

1. You’re always looking for an extra formula (I’m not going to say magic pill. I respect you a bit more than that ). Besides, that’s part of the approach to tweaking what works best for YOU.)
2. You, me and everyone else on this planet is never happy with how they look. Even if they look fantastic in the eyes of the masses.

 

Now, there is a reason I named this post a ‘challenge’. The reason is because most people make the mistake of worshipping the scale first before anything else. But think about this (Especially ‘lean’ guy Fitbuzzers)…

How many times have you walked up to the scale, been disappointed with the weight on the scale (You wished you were heavier) but then looked in the mirror and found that you’re actually happy with what you see?

Or

How many times have you walked up to the scale, have been happy with the weight, but disappointed with what you see?

Confused?

Well, there’s nothing confusing about either of those scenarios really. But it does highlight the reasons why you shouldn’t be using the scale as your no.1 judge for progress. The reason for the confusion is that the scale doesn’t tell you how much of your weight is fat and how much of your weight is muscle. To add to that, your weight will flucuate throughout the entire day. Which basically means the reading on that scale can never be completely accurate. It will always be a tool for gauging. As I’ve said before, it’s better to judge by what you see in the mirror and the measurements based on your body fat percentage and lean body mass.

Back to the video above…

These two charts are taken from that same page mentioned above. However, I want to clear up a few things regarding some of these charts. Namely the bodyweight vs body fat percentage charts.

 

 

The true break down of the height/weight/sex chart

 

You may have seen charts like the ones above before. Some charts only include what weight you should be in regards to your height. However, I’m not going to post one of those for you to see. Why? Because just like the scale, these charts are not a totally accurate.

 

Example time…

• Female
• Height: 5′ 9″
• Weight: 110lbs
• Actual BF%: 29.8% (Going by our chart)

 

According to that chart (Some differ by a few percentages more) this women is considered obese. Which is wrong, because this women simply has more fat than muscle, but she is definitly not obese, because she only weighs 110lbs.

Or

• Male
• Height: 5′ 7″
• Weight: 205lbs
• Actual BF%: 10.8% (Going by our chart)

 

He would be considered obese in regards to his height and weight ratio. But as you can see, he has a very low body fat percentage, probably has stacks of lean muscle mass (Which aids to his weight – This is the kind of weight gain that you want by the way. Especially for those on the No Nonsense Butt Building program who want to grow their glutes) And most likely looks like this…

 

 

Photo credit: Chad Shaw

Just like the scale, these height and weight only charts don’t factor in your actual body fat percentage. If you was a foolish person (One of the above two examples), you would go and cry yourself to sleep if you judged your progress by weight only. So if you’re using these charts as a tool, just understand that the devil is in the details.

 

The Body Mass Index (BMI)

 

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is another well known method to determine whether you’re at a “healthy weight.”

 

How it works

• Female: BMI is 27.3
• Male: BMI of 27.8

 

If you’re BMI is higher than the figures you see there, then you’re considered ‘obese’. Well one way to test how efficient this is, is to test our male and female subjects from the above example:

 

The BMI formula

 

• Female
• 110lbs = 49kg
• 1.75 sq meters = 3.06 meters
• 49kg/3.06 = 16.01

 

• Male
• 205lbs = 93kg
• 1.70 sq meters = 2.89 meters
• 93kg/3.06 = 30.39

Well, as you can see, the female subject from above has a favorable BMI rating of 16.01. So she’s ‘healthy’, right? Not quite, remember, this is the same lady that has a body fat percentage of 29.8%. Which is totally bad, but isn’t exactly ‘healthy’.

Then we have the male subject who is completely shredded, has stacks of lean muscle mass, a low body fat percentage, yet BMI states that he’s ‘unhealthy’. Which we know he is not. So it’s quite clear that this form of testing will not favor everyone. What we need is a solution that can be applied by anyone.

We have covered the non-effecient ways to measure your weight and body fat percentage, let’s start looking at some of the better solutions for a more accurate reading.

 

The mirror

 

 

”The mirror is a better judgement of progress than the scale, because what you see is what you get… right?”

 

Wrong (Kind of..)

 

You might have heard me say something along those lines before. But the truth is, the mirror can also become your worst enemy. Because when we talk about the mirror, we’re talking about the mirror using only your eyes to gauge progress. And you won’t be able to notice your real daily and weekly changes, unless your body is changing at light speed, which is never a good thing, wether that’s losing or gaining weight. Honestly, the only real world method of knowing if you’ve changed or not is when your peers tell you that you have. Of course, you can always take progress pictures when you KNOW you have reached a new goal weight (From being in a near obese state) and then analyse the changes. But it’s always best to include a practical and accurate method of testing your body composition for measuring progress.

 

 

Underwater Weighing (Hydrostatic)  

 

 

”Hey, I thought you said practical. This doesn’t look or sound practical at all”

 

OK, this method isn’t totally practical in terms of measuring your body composition. But it has been labeled as the ‘holy grail’ in comparison to some other methods. The main reason for this is because when you are dipped under water, the fat on your body will float and the muscle on your body will sink. However, there are some disadvantages  to this method…

 

• Men have denser bones than women.
• Young people have denser bones than older people.
• Some races have denser bones than other races.
• You have to be able to blow all of the air out of your lungs before going in the water, otherwise your body fat percentage will appear to be higher than what it really is.
• It can be expensive.

 

But overall, it’s worth doing once in a while. Or just to have a little bit of fun . But for a more practical approach, the next method is what you may want to add to your mirror solution.

 

Skin fold measurements (Pinch, pinch, pinch)

 

 

Before I get into this, let’s first understand our types of fat.

 

Essential fat

You’ll find essential fat in your liver, heart, bone marrow, nerves, brain and in all other organs of your body. It’s called essential because your body needs it to insulate and protect against heat loss as well as storing energy. It’s ‘internal’ fat, which is why it’s almost impossible to drop to zero BF%, despite how much you hear that term thrown around.

Subcutaneous fat

This is the fat that deposits right underneath your skin and is where most of your body fat is stored.

 

With the later, it therefore makes for a near accurate measurement of body fat testing by pinching folds of fat in 3 or 4 locations around your body.

But how accurate is it?

Well it is true that you can use this method doing it yourself by purchasing skinfold calipers. However, you do have to be ‘skilled’ to get the best results. Which is why for some newer self testers, it may be best to start with an experienced professional.

However, once you do become fairly skilled using this form of self testing (After a bit of practice and avoiding human errors such as taking a horizontal fold when it should be a vertical fold), the next step is to ensure that your testing method is reliable and consistent. Because this is a game of progress. And if you can’t measure your progress effectively, then you’re wasting your time. So, here’s a few pointers…

 

• Make sure you use the same tester, wether that is yourself or a professional
• There will always be room for error. It doesn’t matter if your body fat percentage reads 15% when it’s really 19%
• The only thing that really matters is that you notice a reduction or increase in body fat percentage. That’s what this process is all about

 

This method works best for those who are in the 15-35% body fat percentage range. The selling point being that this method is practical in addition to using the mirror and progress pictures to track progress.

Now, I’ve talked about how to calculate your lean body mass and overall desired weight before. It’s not something that you should overaly obsess about. However, it is important to work these figures out in terms of goal setting.

 

How to calculate your lean body mass

 

To kill all kinds of confusion with these terms, your lean body mass is simply the total weight of your body minus the fat. I always talk about that maximum 50% of lean muscle that you could lose if you screw up and start crash or starve dieting, and by using this formula, you will be able to tell if you’ve gained or even lost muscle.

 

Required

• Your body fat percentage (Acquired from using one of the above methods)
• Your bodyweight (The scale)

 

Lean body mass calculation

 

• Bodyweight: 170lbs
• Body fat percentage: 14%
• Multiply your body fat by your weight to find the pounds of fat
• 0.14 x 170 = 23 pounds of fat

 

Then minus the fat from your total weight for your lean body mass

170lbs – 23lbs = 147lbs

 

Calculating your ideal weight

 

”Heeey, I thought what I weigh doesn’t matter, or isn’t as important as I once thought?”

 

Well, that is true. However, it’s important to calculate these for goal setting purposes. After all, you have to know your destination before stepping out on the journey right?

 

The formula

• You are female
• Your weight:  170
• Your body fat%:  14%
• Your fat weight: 23 lbs.
• Your lean mass:  159.1 lbs. (total weight – lbs. of fat)
• Your target body fat percentage:  11% (.11)

 

• Determine your percentage of lean mass at your target body fat by subtracting your desired body fat from 1:  (1 -.11 = .89)
• Divide your current lean mass by your percentage of lean mass at your target body fat percentage to yield your ideal weight:  (147/.89 = 165)
• Your ideal weight at 11% body fat is 165 lbs.

 

It doesn’t matter how big or small the goal is. You can simply plug your details into this formula and start working towards your goal weight.

 

Conclusion

 

You now know that it’s better to be ‘obsessed’ about what your body fat percentage is than what your weight on the scale is. In fact, don’t obsess over anything, that’s a horrible word. But in short…

 

Winning formula

 

• The mirror
• Progress pictures
• A practical way to measure your body fat percentage

 

Losing formula

• The scale
• Height and weight only charts
• Strictly using BMI

 

There are also tons of other methods to measure your body fat percentage. Many of which I haven’t even listed here, such as:

 

• Bio- Electric Impedance Analysis
• Total body potassium
• BIA Body Fat Scales and hand grip tests
• Infrared
• Total body electrical conductivity
• Isotopic dilution
• Urinary creatine excretion,
• Total body calcium
• Total body nitrogen
• Total plasma creatinine
• Computerized
• Tomography
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Ultrasound
• Neutron activation analysis
• Dual photon absorpitometry
• Circumference  & Anthropometric

 

Many of these are high technology methods that can give some very accurate results. But for the sake of your sanity and to ensure that you don’t ‘obsess’ over anything, just keep it simple on your quest to lose fat vs losing weight on this fitness journey.

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Stay-Fit Buzz Interview with Valeria Orsini

Learn how Valeria truly represents the term ‘Strong is the new skinny’ by remaining ‘soft’ yet ‘hard’ at the same time.

 

 

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: Hello and welcome to Stayfitbuzz.com. Now, your story is unique, as you have started out as a glamour model. Or, is that where your journey really began?

 

Valeria: Yes, you are correct I started off as a glamour model at the age of 18.

Valeria: Well one day I received an email from Josef.L the President/CEO of Nutri-sups about representing the brand. I was honored and taken by surprise, even though I’m lean, I’m not a fitness model. It was an easy decision, I love everything Nutri-sups represents.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: You also recently stated that you need to remain ‘soft’. Is that because you’re still active as a glamor model?

 

Valeria: Yes this is true, its a difficult balance. I still model for swim wear & lingerie lines, and they want to see soft & feminine looks, but I’ve never heard a client complain about me being too fit. I know my look is a little different from the years before, but I love it and embraces fitness & health.

Stay-Fit Buzz: What are the requirements to be accepted as a Nutri-sups athlete. And similarly, as a glamour model. Because it sounds like there could be a challenging balance to be maintained in terms of your physique?

Valeria: Nutri-sups has levels of athletes “Glamour models” that’s my category & it goes up to Fitness diva, and fitness model. Nutri-sups expects & helps us be in shape all year round have helped me step by step in my transformation. This company is truly a family, thanks to Jay L and Scalpa.

Valeria: My diet consists of chicken, fish, greens/veg, oatmeal, nothing really special just the diet & portion control that has worked for years. Eating clean is very rewarding, your body is thankful and does what its suppose to. I train at Monsters MMA gym in Miami 5 days a week doing jiu jitsu & muay thai back to back. I’m obsessed with it, best cardio and I do weights 3x a week.

Valeria: I mean I’m Colombian/Puerto Rican so keeping my glutes tight is important. Actually my glutes have grown thanks to the thousands of lunges & squats at Monsters. Im naturally muscular so I do owe about 65% to genetics.

Stay-Fit Buzz: Have you actually focused on strengthening your glutes specifically, which is something we know CAN be achieved, with certain approaches to diet and working out?

Valeria: Some days I dedicate my work out to abs & glutes but not enough attention to just my glutes to have a dramatic change, I’ve had an over all change.

 

Stay-Fit Buzz: That sounds about right, as that’s the same approach that we apply when it comes to building glutes, to change the shape and look of the surrounding muscles at the same time.

Stay-Fit Buzz: What do you enjoy more, glamour or fitness?

Valeria: I love dressing up having hair & make up and pretty things to wear but glamour never changed my life, fitness did. Fitness has change everything for me, the way I eat, look, and feel. Fitness has made glamour modeling even better, now I’m in better shape and always ready for my next job!

 

Valeria: Of course but they also have their similarities… when I shoot glamour I feel like seductress & womanly, and when I shoot fitness I feel strong & unstoppable… but no matter what I’m wearing or shooting for, I always feel confident & sexy because I know I’m healthy and in the best shape of my life.

 

Valeria: I want to continue down this road of fitness and continue to inspire & motivate girls/guys that if I can do it they can do it. Everyone can join me on this trip, its a long road and next stop “Fitness Diva”. Long term wise, well if you really want know stay tuned & follow me on my journey xoxoxoxo!!!!

About Valeria Orsini

 

 

Valeria is a glamour model and Nutri-sups sponsored fitness model

 

Connect with Valeria on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialValeriaOrsini

Connect with Valeria via Twitter: Valeria_Orsini

Connect with Valeria via Instagram: Valeria_Orsini

Connect with Valeria via email: [email protected]

 

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The 7 Step Fat Loss Formula That Never Fails (Part 1)

Since running Stayfitbuzz I have communicated with many individuals. Some were already quite successful in their fitness journey, while some were just starting out. In fact, I feel like name dropping from a random list:

 

• Meni Fotara
• Zorica Nalbantjan
• Meera Hirani
• Andrew Harrell
• Ale Rodriguez
• Bruna Gomez
• Gloria Herrera
• Sylwia Czauderna
• And more….

 

Either way, they all caught the Stayfitbuzz. Because regardless of the results or current levels of fitness, they have come along to stick it out for the journey. That’s the approach and mindset you need if you want to succeed in this fitness lifestyle.

However, nothing is perfect and the world changes daily. Does that mean that no plan can be perfect? Well, I’ll let you argue about that in the comments. But before you get there. I want to give you a 7 step fat loss formula. A system that if followed can only fail if you fail to use the system.

Let’s get into it…

 

What we know (And have covered so far, here, here and here)

 

• Eating less will work, but only up to a certain point (You ate A LOT less, but you didn’t magically disappear? )
• Becoming active via strength training/weight training and cardio is a vital part of the formula. But then you probably faced that dreaded 6 week sticking point where no changes happened.

 

#1 Stop fooling around and decide what the hell you want

 

I gave a brief introduction to goal setting in this post. But the first thing you’ll need to do is write down what you want to achieve manually, on paper. Not on a computer. Because there’s something magical about physically writing things down that helps you remember things and why it’s important. If so, great, because you at least have an idea of where you want to go, instead of following a tunnel to nowhere.

 

#2 Know your starting point

 

Remember Rippley from the accelerate your fat loss post?

Her stats

• Weight: 200lbs (She obviously weighs more, but 200lbs for example sake
  
  )
• BF%: 20%
• BF: 38lbs
• Lean body mass: 166lbs
• Wants to lose: 20-25lbs

 

Yes, she may have a long way to go before reaching her ultimate goal. But she at least has established her starting point… with objective measurements. Which basically means that she will be recording all of the above stats on her progress reports (I’ll create these for you at some point soon)

 

#3 Take some freakin’ action already

 

Now, the reason you found your way to Stayfitbuzz is because you wanted to find a proven model for fat loss that you could simply copy and paste. If so, great, because that’s the smart and fast approach to success. You don’t want to model what everyone else in the world does, which is to lose weight fast and gain it right back. And so, you have Stayfitbuzz (The posts and programs).

Now, it is true that varying factors (e.g genetics) will of course yield a different result for every individual that follows the programs. But that’s OK. The main point about following a proven model is that you will be able create your best physique in the quickest time possible.

Because you are unique it will mean that you will have to experiment with the ‘proven’ formula somewhat. That’s OK too. As long as you follow each process, you will be victorious.

 

#4 Keep on taking action

 

Now that you have the proven formula, you have to keep on acting on it daily and weekly each step of the way, because a goal without action is useless. Quit the talking and start doing. Again, the majority of people out there will talk. But when you look at the amount of people who actually see a goal through to the end, then you’re looking at a handful. Be one of those in that handful. Whether it’s turning a change into a habit, getting yourself into the gym at least 3 times a week or cutting junk food from the shopping list. Just keep on doing it. If you take your eye off the ball, you’ll lose.

 

#5  If it works, keep on doing it

 

I may have mentioned something in the ‘formula’ that should have worked well for you, but didn’t quite work as well… for YOU. You decided to tweak a small thing and like magic, the results blew you away. What ever that process is, just keep on doing it. 

If what you do isn’t working, then go back to the formula, identify where you went wrong, repeat the proven aspect of the formula and try again or tweak. Just don’t go around in circles repeating the same mistake over and over. It can become a deadly habit, that if not cured can affect you for life.

The ability to sense whether something is working or not will take some trial and error. Just make sure you know what you are looking for when you are making judgments. Again, once you find a process that works with what you learn here on SFB and from your own reports, then stick to it. Don’t change it. If any Naysayers try to question your approach, then screw ‘em. Because you know what’s what. You’ve seen you’re journey, they haven’t.

 

#6 The program isn’t crap, it may not just be for you

 

No matter how popular a program may be, there is no program out there that caters to EVERYONE. So it’s not uncommon to hear the positive and negative views about a certain program. If a program doesn’t work for you, even our own, then try something else. Don’t be bitter and quit. In fact, quitting is the worst thing you can do, because it keeps you at ground zero… forever! You’ll always produce a result with any form of action. Some results will be great and some won’t. It’s as simple as that. Just use the not so great results as feedback for your eventual great results, which for many of you will be to strip away that final phase of fat. The only time you have to worry is when you can’t notice that something isn’t working.

 

#7 Be persistent

 

Yes, I know that you know this by now. But it’s true. Smart consistency and persistence will take you to your goal physique. Persistence, because you may have to change your approach more than once to hit your ultimate formula. Whether that’s with the timing of your meal plans, the types of foods you eat, where fat tends to build up most or whatever. Keep a smart eye on everything.

But most of all, be honest along the way. If you’ve been doing something for too long, then it’s OK to quit something, as long as you change the direction. Just don’t get into a habit of jumping onto every single program out there one after the other. That will get you nowhere.

Your initial plan may not workout, that’s OK. Heck, the original plan for Stayfitbuzz isn’t on the same course as originally planned.

If so, you can just switch, because there are countless strategies to adapt to in this industry. It’s just that the StayFitBuzz formula is a proven approach… that you’re allowed to be flexible around . Take the fundamentals and apply the 7 steps to create your own ultimate formula. And when you need an extra boost, Stayfitbuzz will always be there for you.

 

To conclude

 

Your tools for progress

1. The mirror

2. Photos

3. Measurements

4. How your clothes fit

5. Your friends and colleagues thoughts about your appearance

6. Opinions from strangers

7. Fat weight

8. Total bodyweight

9. Your lean body mass

10. Your body fat percentage

11. Your skinfold thickness

 

The best from the bunch are the opinions from ‘fitness friends’ and strangers. This is because your fitness friends probably only see you every 7-10 days if that, so they’ll will be one of the first to notice a real change, even if you haven’t. And strangers will perceive what they see within seconds of acknowledging you. And if it’s a positive reaction, you’ll know. Not that you care what anyone else thinks . You can agree to disagree. Either way, these will be your tools for progress. Stay tuned for part 2.

 

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The Top 24 Reasons to Live The Fitness Lifestyle

 

The fitness and health industry is a growing ‘trend’ at this current time and it is developing in many interesting and unique ways, targeting all kinds of key groups of people. But even with this ‘trend’, there are still some nay-sayers who point a negative finger at fitness. I have never perceived fitness as a ‘trend’, but below you’ll find 24 reasons why we do what we do and why you should keep on doing what you do. Let’s get into it…

 

#1 Health is ‘perceived’ as wealth

 

It doesn’t really matter what you do for a living. But the fact is, that people associate ‘material’ things with riches and wealth. Unless you are a leader and/or well known individual in your industry, then for the most part it will be in your interest to dress up like the guy on the left on your rise to wealth, if that’s what you’re after (OK, maybe not to dress up  the same as him , maybe just his expensive watch). This is because most new people you encounter will only take what you say seriously based on how you look (Expensive gear, watches etc.).

Now, if you look good naked, you will definitely look good in clothes. The baggy suit vs non baggy suit is a good example of looking good in clothes that fit well.

(Obviously ‘this’ man is not out of shape. But the fact of the matter is he looks more ‘expensive due to well fitted clothes, which is what will happen when you are in shape)

Just like Kelsey Byers said in her interview ”Now that I’m in shape, I tend to look good in anything I decide to wear”.

If you were a former skinny guy, your trousers will now fit (You may now be able to abandon the belt), your shoulders and strong back would have fixed your posture making you look strong and authoritative and even a ‘cheap’ suit can be made to look rich simply because you are body rich (No more looking like a high school student whose mom bought two sizes up to grow into).

If you were a former fat girl, your clothes will now show your new curves. And people (especially the guys) will remember you for it.

 

#2 People like to buy from beautiful people

 

You probably don’t think about this much, but it’s the truth. People like to buy from beautiful people. Think about any business or entity that requires an offline (or even online) human interaction/transaction to take place. Now think about who those people are. Let me do the hardwork for you:

 

• Waitresses
• Gym staff
• Air hostess’
• Receptionists
• Fitness show booth staff

 

This list could go on. But it would be safe to say that anyone who fits the description of those roles are individuals who you could call societies perception of beauty. And the reason is obvious. People like to buy from or be associated with beautiful people. So get body beautiful.

 

#3 Improved confidence

 

Now, looks aren’t everything. Heck, even some ‘good looking’ people lack confidence. But being in the best shape of your life some how makes you look more attractive, thus improving your confidence.

(Above: Natalie Cassidy)

This can range from:

• Being more comfortable in the clothes you wear
• A new natural ‘glow’ to your character
• The way you carry yourself

 

#4 Being healthy makes you attractive

 

You can love a person regardless of their flaws. If they improve on them for their own benefits, great. But if they begin to slack and do nothing about it, then it can and will often lead to you perceiving that person in a different and less attractive light. Which often leads to relationship troubles and break ups. If you take up the fitness lifestyle your partner will have one extra reason to show off his/her trophy.

 

#5 Being healthy reveals character traits

 

Picking up dates or attracting the opposite sex is not always about looks. Looks is often what gets people to notice you, but to hold ones attention, you have to bring more to the table then looks alone. Being healthy shows that you are dedicated, motivated, self disciplined, goal oriented, structured  and always seeking progression. Ambition is always a pro trait in the eyes of the other sex and in todays world, where the pressures to stay looking young (especially for women) is at an all time high, then living a fitness lifestyle will indeed keep you ahead of the pack.

 

(Above: Kim dolan, aged 40+)

Photo credit: LHGFX Photography 

 

#6 Being fit opens up opportunities

A prime example of this was revealed in the interview we done with Sara Solomon. She decided to take up the fitness lifestyle, got into shape and on one random day in the gym, she was approached by a top trainer who encouraged her to compete on stage (Even though she didn’t know what that was at the time). Fast forward to today and she’s now landing multiple magazine covers, writing articles for fitness websites and much more. All because she decided to live the fitness lifestyle.

 

#7 Being fit encourages personal development

 

Most of you who read this will be in some profession or another. And if so, you will be fully aware of the importance of diversifying all the sources of plenty in your life: opportunities, knowledge, friends, networks, investments, risks, health (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual). Being in great shape can clearly open up opportunities as seen above. But one of the even greater things to come out of those opportunities is the personal development that comes from it. You’ll make new friends (Some life long), your network will grow (Some colleagues may become life long too) and you simply improve as a person. That great health that you have developed for yourself will shine into your professional life. And I can assure you, people WILL notice and your name will be out there by word of mouth. The best part of all however is the new opportunities that you will develop for others.

 

#8 You could find love

 

“Love is miserable. Marriage is miserable. And sex is great. Yeah, that’s about right for me right now. No, there is quite a separation between the two as far as I’m concerned. I think that sex is really sex and love is love. If you happen to love the person you’re having sex with, that’s tremendous. I really see a complete separation between the two. They’re totally unrelated.”

”You know why people search for love? Money’s man made. Power’s often man-abused. Yet love, in its purest essence, is what we’re all/should be born into. That feeling of knowing someone appreciates you more than you appreciate yourself doesn’t have a dollar sign attached and is beyond words, beyond music, beyond everything.” – Marvin Gaye

 

The topic of love is a big one and can be explored in many different ways. However, I won’t do that here. What I can say though, is that most people want that feeling of love in their lives. And if you take up the fitness lifestyle and have followed this post up until now, it’s safe to say that you could just find the love of your life on your journey. You are what you think about most, so love may find it’s way to you because of that. But more often than not, it will hit you when you least expect it. Either way, putting your new fit and healthy self out there is a sure fire way to find love.

 

#9 You’ll encourage others to become fit

 

This is probably one of the best benefits of becoming fit and healthy and is probably one of the main reasons you are on this website. A typical stranger may visit Stay-Fit Buzz and download all of the information that’s on offer. However, I know that from experience, won’t be enough for someone to take action on their new found knowledge. This is the reason why you can see a Hall of fame and member area above, because it is there where you’ll find real progress from real people who are active in the SFB community.

 

The information educates (important), but transformation and progress motivates

 

Motivation, which is one of the keywords in our slogan.

 

#10 Being fit makes you more productive

 

 

We know that exercise will increase your stamina and push you to get more out of your day. But it will also make the day at work more pleasant too.

 

Moment of Clarity

• Diet
• Weightlifting
• Cardio workouts
• Meditation

 

All of these are super aids for clearing your head and improving your self actualization. Once this happens, you will actually start looking forward to the day ahead.

 

Equals mission accomplished = A happy lifestyle, all because of fitness!

 

Which leads to an improved self esteem

Countries like the USA are built on confidence. And this is what you will become. People feed directly off of it and they will respond to you in a positive manner. Once this happens the boss man may start shining the green light on you which may lead you to take on greater responsibilities and gain more respect from your co-workers.

 

**The fitness lifestyle will improve your day-today-life**

 

#11 Tolerate more pain and ache no more

 

Exercise increases the level of endorphins in your body. Which acts as the bodies natural killer of pain. I’ve talked about the importance of stretching quite a lot on this site, but doing so will nullify those super aches that you tend to suffer from as you age. Especially back pain (Which can be brutal). As long as you perform the exercises outlined here with full range of motion and in a progressive manner, you’ll find that your aches will go away and that your flexibility will be improved.

 

#12 Child birth will become a breeze (For the ladies)

 

If you stay fit, shooting out those babies will become less of a traumatic experience.

 

#13 You will have super energy (Like me

)

 

I personally know a lot of people that are absolutely shattered after a day at work. But this should not be so. Especially for young people (50 and under). This will not happen once you become gym fit. You will be ready to do so much more in the evening hours which in turn gives you more time to get a lot more done in your day (obviously).

 

#14 No more stress

 

Physical or emotional stress!

These:

• Rocky Relationships
• Bad friendships
• Crappy work colleagues

 

Will affect you no more!

 

#15 No old peoples home for you

 

The majority of you here will be aged 60 and under. But for those who are creeping past the big SIX ZERO, get pumping now. You’ll turn into a Duracell battery and keep going like Mr Bruce Forsyth.

 

#16 You will get beautiful sleep

 

Working your muscles, the insane way will help you sleep and you will have no choice but to relax in the late hour. It really is that simple. It gets even better when you start taking up (beneficial) non-fitness activities such as meditation and yoga.

 

#17 Fitness will make you last longer (Guys AND Gals)

 

 

The reason why I included the ‘AND Gals’, is because I’m not talking about the correlation (or studies) between male impotency and exercise and how exercise can help prevent it. I’m talking about actually lasting longer from an endurance perspective. Therefore, this relates to both males and females. If you take up the fitness lifestyle your sex life will improve for the following reasons:

 

Improved cardio endurance

If you build a strong, clear heart and improve your lung capacity, your body can therefore function for a longer period of time. Most if not all sexual encounters will have elements of (HIT) action going on throughout. HIT activity will always return back to low intensity activity. The bonus here is that you’ll now be able to knock out multiple rounds of high intensity action throughout.

 

Muscular endurance and strength

One of the major benefits of strength training (Which is included in all of our workouts) is that you’ll actually be able to start puling off some of those positions that you can see in the picture above. Quite simply, any position that requires you to hold your body in a position for a short period of time will now become a breeze.

 

Flexibility

Seriously, think about all of those sexual encounters you have where one of you complains that ‘you’re not a rag-doll (usually the lady)’ and that your body simply can’t stretch that far. Well as long as you stretch as described in our workouts and take up programs such as yoga, then pushing that back bone an inch or two more will be an issue… no more.

 

The benefits that fitness can have on your sex life is obvious, which is great. And if you match that along with strength training, then you may find that you only need to reduce your calorie intake just slightly, if at all, to maintain the ultimate lean and strong Fit Buzz physique.

 

#18 The Fitness Lifestyle Will Lower Your Blood Pressure

 

A high blood pressure is the starting point of potentially having a heart attack. You will literally be dead within minutes once pressure bust pipes. Regular exercise will prolong your life greatly. Here’s a visual example of why having a high blood pressure is dangerous.

 

#19 Junk food will start to taste bad

 

 

Unfortunately, most people are forced into this benefit due to bad health and obesity, which is at an all time high in the US. I discussed why this is, in this post. Either way, if you take up the fitness lifestyle and start consuming mostly A-rated foods, then those foods that are high in sugar/fat (cakes, buns) will make you want to spit them back out in a flash. Seriously, it’s like you can feel the effect of what it will do to your body before it has even gotten around to doing it. I personally experienced this with soft drinks, which I stopped drinking back in high school. My best friend is water!

(Note: You don’t have to turn into a party pooper and  eliminate all foods that aren’t A rated. You just need to ensure that you are consuming A-rated foods 80% of the time).

 

#20 You could save money

 

Once you have educated yourself about the lifestyle diet, strength training and cardio, then you’ll start to notice that most of the foods you used to eat at work were not only unhealthy, but also damaging to your pocket too. Home cooking is a great solution and contrary to what most believe, it won’t take up your time. You simply cook once (Which takes time), but then you are set up for the next 4-5 days. There is plenty of food for thought in the lifestyle diet ebook if you’re in need of that. The best part about home cooking is that you’ll save a ton of $$$ in the process.

 

 #21 You always have something to look forward too

 

 

For some people, looking forward to a workout is the next best thing to looking forward to Friday night. If you take up any kind of class or are following one of our strength progression programs, then it’s safe to say that you will be looking forward to growth and satisfaction. I experienced this first hand when I started to create the Fit Buzz pull ups program. Seeing myself increase my pull up numbers week after week urged me to keep going back for more. And in more recent months, I have been able to truly conquer the muscle up exercise, on a bar (The rings are easy. But the bar is something to be proud of). This progressive and challenge oriented mind set is a much better experience than following the crowd and the image above, which unfortunately describes the majority of the working nation. (Who can draw the fitness version to that image? )

 

#22 No one can mess with you

 

Now, I’m not one to encourage violence, but if you take up the fitness lifestyle and/or decide to take up a martial arts class, it’s safe to say that you’ll have the mind set and physical strength to ensure that no one will be able to mess with you should a situation arise. The main benefit here however, is the mind set you develop and not the physical strength. Yes, you may begin to ‘look’ strong, which often times will make people think twice anyway. But the mind set taught in most martial arts is to learn how to prevent physical altercations with a said angered person. Not how to defend yourself from one. Nevertheless, if you develop a lean, strong (and sexy) body, it’s unlikely that anyone will want to mess with you.

 

#23 It helps you deal with anger management

 

The beauty and innocence of the ‘perfect’ life truly is over once you become a teenager, and life becomes even more eventful as the years go on. I always do state that you should try to retain that ‘kiddy’s’ mind frame as long as you can (Which is one way of keeping in touch with the young crowd as you age). But that is always easier said than done as life will take its toll, and everyone’s pain threshold is different.

Any how, my point is this…

• Rocky Relationships
• Bad friendships
• Crappy work colleagues

All of these situations can make your blood boil to new heights and cause serious anger (For years after in some cases). But rest assured. You don’t need to attend any anger management classes. All you need is the gym.

A few screaming strength training workouts will be plenty to get that built up anger off of your chest. The best part about all of this is that you will be killing two birds with one stone.

 

1. No more anger (The initial anger may actually help you push more weight )

2. You get to build a better body. Which will obviously make you feel great. Mentally and physically.

Win, win!!!

 

#24 It helps you develop beautiful kids

 

”You can’t party your life away

Drink your life away

Smoke your life away

F**k your life away

Dream your life away

Scheme your life away

Cause your seeds grow up the same way”

 

As a parent, you will know how important it is to instill great ethics into a child’s mind in the early years. What they learn in the early years will continue on into the rest of their lives. However you live your life in their early years will greatly reflect right back on to them. If you live and eat like crap, they will live and eat like crap. But if you live the fitness lifestyle and your kids see mommy and daddy training hard after work and cooking healthy meals, then they will follow suit and do the same and you will develop beautiful kids.

 

To conclude

 

I could probably list some more and if I’ve missed any important ones, feel free to fire away in the comments section below. But if anyone in your current network or circle of friends decides to knock or diss your choice for a lifestyle in fitness, then use this post as a reminder to why you do what you do. Fitness FTW!

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4.5 Reasons Why Strength Training Won’t Make Women Bulky

(Left: What you think will happen if you lift weights | Right: What will probably happen if  you lift weights – Valeria Orsini)

 

If you’ve been an observer of the fitness world for any length of time, you would often hear about the misconception that lifting weights will make you ‘bulky’. That is a common goal for most men. However, that is not the goal here at Stay-Fit Buzz. And it is not the goal for the women who follow Stay-Fit Buzz. Yes, you will build muscle, but weight training per se will not make you ‘bulky’. Which is what so many women fear. But today, I will explain the reasons why strength training won’t turn you into a female hulk any time soon.

 

 

#1 Building ‘huge’ muscles is not easy

 

I’ll state this from a guys point of view, because it’s mostly guys who want to build muscle for size, generally speaking…

 

Building ‘huge’ muscles is not easy (Unless you are a genetically gifted freak). 

 

The first reason is because humans weren’t designed to be able to build huge muscles. It would have been a disadvantage to our ancestors if we were able to. The only reason why some individuals are able to build huge muscles is because of the resources (namely food) we have available to us today. And I say ‘some’ individuals because the gene GDF-8 controls how large muscles can become. Many people will have a substantial amount of this within their bodies, therefore, most people won’t be able to build truly huge muscles. Yes you can break through genetic barriers to some degree, but you actually have to ‘force’ that break through. If you aren’t forcing that break through, you will not build huge muscles. You have to plan for muscle building (For size), it doesn’t happen by accident. And even then, you aren’t guaranteed to get the desired results unless you follow a good program.

 

1.5 Building ‘huge’ muscles for women is not easy

 

The simple reason is because women have less of the muscle building hormone testosterone than men. The only reason why women think that weight training will make them look like the lady on the left (above) is because fitness magazines have conditioned them into thinking that way. I can assure you, any woman you see who looks like the one you see on the left is ‘juicing’ aka, taking steroids or some other anabolic drug to get ‘huge’. So unless you’re ‘juicing’ (Which you won’t be), you’re not going to look like the lady on the left.

However….

Another point to note is that many women will often look at ‘contest ready’ images of women they may have once wanted to look like and then get turned off. Even some of those we have interviewed, such as Miryah Jade Scott.

 

The image above is a ‘contest ready’ Miryah Jade Scott’

This second image is Mirah Jade Scott on a normal day

Her physique is similar to that of an athlete, yet still very femine. How you want to look is up to you. But those are just the details in-between. If you lift weights via the strength training workouts you see on Stay-Fit Buzz you will get strong and lean. But you certainly won’t get ‘bulky’.

If you haven’t watched the body fat percentage video I created, then you can do so here. This is where I explain the stages of the drops in body fat percentages a typical Fitbuzzer would go through. To keep it simple though, a ‘contest ready’ physique is not sustainable and you will not look like a contest ready Miryah Jade Scott 24/7/365. So from here on, don’t ever assume that lifting weights will make you look like a contest ready female. Because that Fitbuzzers, is entirely goal related and strictly planned for.

 

#2 Successful muscle building doesn’t happen overnight

 

This is a big comedy moment of the misconception that lifting weights will some how automatically make you look bulky… overnight! Muscle building itself takes time, unless you’re a bodybuilder going on a ‘bulk’ (A term used for increasing calorie in take and muscle size). You are in total control of how you want your body to look. If you ever find yourself at a point where you are becoming a bit too narrow and ‘square’, then it’s very easy to change your training and nutrition.

 

#3 Your diet sucks for building huge muscles

 

The Stay-Fit Buzz lifestyle diet allows you to calculate your calorie intake in a way that benefits you specifically (Build lean muscle without too much fat build up). Most people who come into strength training will be eating at a caloric deficit for fat loss, in which case, there won’t be much muscle building.  Even if there is a caloric surplus, the goal of strength training is to retain the muscle mass you already have and push a percentage of the weight lost towards fat and away from muscle. (Which is why strength training can have a slightly upper hand then typical dieting). Either way, successful muscle building for size is largely determined by eating substantially more on a consistent and daily basis. Which you are not, so no bulky muscles will be built here.

 

#4 You’re not training to failure

 

In order to increase or change the size of your muscles, you first have to intentionally feed them for that purpose. That you already know. But the second thing you have to do is train them to grow.

You now know about ATP right? The energy required to contract a muscle. Well, a muscle cell will contain a limited amount of that. But here’s what happens with that energy. Part of it is distributed to protein synthesis (the building of muscle) and the other to mechanical work. In general, your muscles will be in a 50/50 anabolic/catabolic state. You’ll eat food, you’ll store energy, you’ll of course use that energy throughout your daily activities and your proteins will get replaced. When you add heavy weight training to those daily activities, you exhaust all of the ATP for that muscle cell, less energy goes towards protein re-synthesis and your muscles start to go into a catabolic state. What then happens (During this process) is that the muscle cell goes into an anabolic state and synthesizes more protein then you had BEFORE heavy resistance training.

 

This is how you build muscle for size. 

 

However, because you will be focusing on performing fewer reps and not ‘entirely’ exhausting your muscles, you’ll be minimizing the tearing down of muscle and of course a reduction in the actual build up of muscle and size.

 

Low rep sets (More sets) and heavy weight = Increased strength = Tension and muscle tone 

 

And again, if you are female, you simply will not build muscle the same way a man does or the same reasons stated above. Your weight may go up slightly. Which could be due to more muscle density, which is a good thing, because dense muscle is hard muscle. Besides, what you see in the mirror is more important than what you see on the scale.

 

 

A Fitbuzzer asks: Ok, but Stay-Fit Buzz, I’m a naturally slim lady and I decided to follow No Nonsense Butt Building. I now understand how to structure my meals to build muscle and ‘control’ the build up of fat. But what if I stop weight training. Won’t that muscle turn into fat?

 

No. This is because fat and muscle are two completely different types of tissue. Your muscles can shrink back to their original size if you stop training and it may appear that your muscles have turned into fat because you simply retained or maybe increased your calorie in take. This will lead to rapid fat gain. Since starting Stay-Fit Buzz we began to understand and see certain followers drop right out of fitness due to injury or other reasons out of their control. However, we saw them come back 3-6 months later. Why? Because the goal at Stay-Fit Buzz is to treat what we do as a lifestyle, which means weight training, the lifestyle diet and everything else SFB related becomes a habit and not seen as a chore. If you do have to drop out of fitness, just go back to the lifestyle diet ebook and re-calculate your calories based on your new activity levels.

 

Ok, understood. But what about my flexibility. I don’t want to become a stiff walking zombie. I still want to be able to ‘move’! How can I retain my current flexibility?

 

Good question. Well, if you perform all of the exercises with a focus on full range of motion throughout, you’ll actually ‘increase’ your flexibility. Of course, it won’t be the same as if you were to increase it with specific stretching exercises (Which you perform at the end of your workouts anyway), but it will increase. The only way you will truly lose range of motion and flexibility is if you became a huge bodybuilder. This can only happen if you’re a genetically gifted man AND if you focus on becoming that big. And if you’re a woman, you now know that simply cannot happen naturally.

Just make sure that you stretch in the way that we describe in all of our workouts 3 or 4 times a week. If you want to totally kill the misconception that weight training will make you lose flexibility, then simply watch a video of a fitness show such as the Olympia and you’ll often see some truly huge competitors that are not only flexible, but can also perform a full splits!

 

To conclude

 

If strength training causes a female to look like a bodybuilder that would equate to me saying “I don’t want to run any laps today because I don’t want to win the 100m gold next week” and that Fitbuzzers is not going to happen.

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