• Use dumbbells, barbells, and machines—in that order. “The smaller, stabilizer muscles you use with dumbbells fatigue before your larger muscle groups”.  So progress to machines, which require less help from your smaller muscles, as you grow tired.
• Don’t be afraid of situps. We’ve changed our tune on these, and here’s why: Situps increase your range of motion, which makes your abdominals work harder and longer. (Doing crunches on a Swiss ball or with a rolled-up towel under your lower back has a similar effect.) Just avoid situps with anchored feet, which can hurt your lower back.
• Press your thumb into the bench before lifting. “If you can feel the wood, find another bench”. Hard benches can cause T4 syndrome—a misalignment of your thoracic spine that affects the nerve function of your arm, weakening it.
• To build speed in swimming, develop your ankle flexibility. Flexible feet will act like flippers and propel you faster through the water. To increase your flipper flex, do this: Sit on the floor with your shoes off. Extend your legs in front of you, heels on the floor. Point your toes straight out as far as possible, then flex them toward your shins as far as you can. Repeat for 1 minute.
• Shop for workout shoes late in the day. That’s when your feet are the largest. Make sure there’s a half inch of space in front of your longest toe, and that you can easily wiggle your toes. Then slip off the shoes and compare them with your bare feet. If each shoe isn’t obviously wider and longer than your foot, go half a size bigger.
• Exercise one arm at time. Do a set of shoulder presses with your left arm, then do a set with your right. “You’ll get higher-quality sets than if you work both arms at the same time”.
• Throw all your dirty workout clothes into one mesh laundry bag. At the end of the week, tie a knot in the bag and throw it in the washer. You’ll always know where your favorite workout shirts are, and you won’t have to touch your sweat socks when they’re fully ripe.
• Do squats and deadlifts . . . to build your abs. Research shows that these two exercises force your abdominal muscles to do a significant amount of work to maintain your posture.
• When doing standing arm curls, completely straighten your arms by flexing your triceps at the end of each repetition. This ensures that you work the muscle through its entire range of motion.
• When you run, breathe so that your belly rises as you inhale. This ensures that your lungs are inflating fully with oxygen, so you’ll be able to go longer. Practice by lying on your back and placing a book on your stomach. The book should rise when you breathe in.
• Use mustard instead of mayo.
• Eat more soup. But choose non-creamy soups, which are filling and lower in calories.
• Cut back on or eliminate high calorie drinks such as soda, sweet tea, lemonade, etc. If you drink a 20-oz of soft drink every day, switch to the diet version or eliminate them completely and from just this one change you could lose up to25 lbin a year.
• Take your lunch to work.
• Sit when you eat and be relaxed.

Tony Greco’s GymBag Segment on Team1200! Aired on January 25th, 2012. Listen in Every Wednesday at 8:30am

• Tony’s tips to extending your life

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Snack on this preworkout treat to power up your next cardio session!

Oxygen Magazine Reader recipe by Devon Timberlake, Louisville, KY; Photography Maya Visnyei

Preliminary research from the UK suggests that eating a small portion of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate on cardio training days may help reduce oxidative stress and increase movement of free fatty acids after exercise. However, maintaining an overall low-sugar diet is key to burning those fatty acids once released, and the darker the chocolate, the less sugar it has.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole-grain flour
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• 2 oz dark chocolate-covered espresso beans (70% or higher cocoa content)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon to combine.
3. Spread mixture evenly in a 9″x9″ baking dish. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden around the edges. Let cool and slice into eight bars. Serve or refrigerate for later.

Nutrients per serving (59 g):

Calories: 240, Total Fats: 13 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 10 mg, Sodium: 110 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 26 g, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 8 g, Iron: 2 mg

Ready in 40 minutes • Makes 8 servings

Source: http://www.oxygenmag.com/Nutrition/Articles/Dark-Chocolate-Espresso-Granola-Bars.aspx

• Do this simple jumping exercise to improve your vertical leap: Stand on the edge of a step that’s about 8 inches high. Step off backward with both feet. When your toes hit the ground, immediately jump back onto the step. Concentrate on pushing off the ground as quickly as possible, rather than on the height of your jump. “The speed of the jump is more important than the height”. Do three to five sets of 10 to 20 repetitions twice a week.
• To catch a football, focus on the tip of the ball. You’ll watch the ball into your hands, instead of just tracking the blur. Plus, by concentrating on that specific spot, you’ll block out oncoming defenders.
• To avoid injuries, write an “expiration date” on your shoes as soon as you buy them. Shoes last about 500 miles, so simply divide 500 by your average weekly mileage to determine how many weeks your shoes are likely to last.
• If you want to exercise before work but aren’t a morning person, try this trick: For a set period—say, 4 weeks—force yourself to get up 15 minutes earlier than normal and do any type of physical activity (walking, for instance). “Make it so easy that you don’t even have to change into your workout clothes”. As you are near the end of the 4 weeks, you’ll have a new habit and will then be able to progress to greater amounts of exercises.
• Push from your toes when you do leg presses. Your quadriceps will work harder.
• Don’t use machine weights exclusively. A study found that older adults using exercise machines improved their strength on the machines an average of 34 percent in 2 years. But their strength measures for everyday activities actually declined 3.5 percent.
• Break cable rows into two parts. Hold the bar with your arms outstretched and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then pull the bar to your body.
• Satisfy your sugar cravings immediately after your workout. Eat at least20 gramsalong with some protein. The sugar will help carry protein to the muscles you’ve just worked. So have a soda with your tuna sandwich, but limit your sugar intake the rest of the day.
• For every set of abdominal exercises you perform, do a set of lower-back exercises. Focusing only on your abs can lead to poor posture and lower-back pain.
• Don’t try to lose your gut by working your abs. Researchers found that it takes 250,000 crunches to burn1 poundof fat—that’s 100 crunches a day for 7 years.
• Eat the low-cal items on your plate first. Start with salads, veggies, and broth soups, and eat meats and starches last. By the time you get to them, you’ll be full enough to be content with smaller portions of the high-calorie choices.
•  Juice has as many calories, ounce for ounce, as soda. Set a limit of one 8-oz glass of fruit juice a day .
• Get calories from foods you chew, not beverages. Have fresh fruit instead of fruit juice.
• Keep a food journal. It really works.
• Eat until you are 80% full.

Tony Greco’s GymBag Segment on Team1200! Aired on January 18th, 2012. Listen in Every Wednesday at 8:30am

• The secret to the staying young
• Keeping healthy this winter

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90 Minute Hot Power Yoga Lean Seminar

January 25th, 2012 @ 7:00pm-8:30pm  –   34 Beech Street

Come and experience this dynamic 90 minute class of Hot Power Yoga Lean, lead by Tony Greco.

This is a vigorous style Yoga combining yoga poses, martial arts techniques with athletic movements, all performed in a Hot room.

This will take you through a challenging experience that will increase your flexibility, lubricate your joints, ligaments and tendons, massage the organs of the body, detoxify, tone, reduce stress and increase mental calmness….are you ready to release the warrior within?

Seminar cost is only $20.00 per person.
This seminar includes the 90 minute class, a limited edition Greco Yoga Method T-shirt, and a
complimentary hydrating juice.

Space is limited; call now to pre-register

613.565.6060
info@GrecoYoga.com | www.GrecoYoga.com

If you haven’t heard or seen already, Tony was on the Cover of the January issue of Faces Magazine.

Two Articles were featured inside:

(click on titles/links to read)

• A Successful Franchise Built by Canada’s Leading Fitness Specialist, Tony Greco

• New Years Resolutions and Sticking to ‘em!

• If you think you’re too busy to exercise, try this experiment: For one day, schedule a time to work out, and then stick to it—even if you can exercise for only 10 minutes. “At the end of the day, ask yourself if you were any less productive than usual,” says John Jakicic, Ph.D., an exercise psychologist at the Brown University school of medicine. The answer will probably be no—and your favorite excuse will be gone.
• To build forearm strength for tennis and racquetball, crumple newspaper: Lay a newspaper sheet on a flat surface. Start at one corner and crumple it into a ball with your dominant hand for 30 seconds. Repeat with your other hand.
• When doing lat pulldowns, don’t wrap your thumb around the bar. Instead, place it on top, alongside your index finger. This decreases the involvement of your arm muscles, so you’ll work your back harder. Works for pullups, too.
• If you’re a beginner, train to failure—the point at which you absolutely can’t do another repetition—then throw back a pint. In a new study, beginners who trained to failure with three sets of six exercises per day then drank a supplement immediately afterward gained over5 poundsof muscle in just 8 weeks. A pint of 1 percent chocolate milk will provide all the nutrients you need to achieve the same result.
• If you don’t like an exercise, start doing it. “You’re probably avoiding it because you’re weak at it,” says Mejia.
• If you’re not exercising at all, just try to fit in two 20-minute aerobic or weight-training sessions a week. Researchers at Oklahoma State University examined absentee records of 79,000 workers at 250 sites and found that those who did this minimal amount of exercise had fewer sick days than those who didn’t exercise at all.
• To make a steal in basketball, swipe up, not down. Refs and whiny opponents are just waiting for you to hack down on the ball. Flicking up is more subtle and surprising—and if you do poke the ball away, it’ll be higher and easier to grab.
• To sprint faster, work your hamstrings. They help you push off and develop speed. Try this variation of the leg curl: Pull the weight toward you with your ankles flexed (as you normally would) so that your toes are pointing toward your shins. But when you lower the weight, extend your ankles so that your toes are pointing away from your shins. Your hamstrings will work harder than with the traditional version of the exercise.
• To mountain-bike uphill faster, edge forward in the saddle to distribute your weight more evenly between the front and rear wheels. If you slip back too far, you’ll cause the front wheel to skitter off the ground. If you lean too far forward, you’ll lose traction on the back tire.
• When doing squats, rest the bar so that as much of it as possible is touching your shoulders. Holding it only on your lower neck causes the entire weight to compress your spine, which can lead to spinal and muscle injuries.
• Skip the treadmill warmup before lifting weights. Instead, do a warmup that targets the muscles you’ll be using. For a full-body warmup, grab a bar and do two sets of 10 repetitions each of the squat, deadlift, bench press, and bent-over row.
• To strengthen your grip, wrap a towel around the bar when you do arm curls. It makes the bar thicker, which forces your forearm muscles to work harder.
• Before you try a maximal lift, load the bar with a weight that’s 20 to 30 percent heavier than what you think you can handle. Then simply lift it off the rack, hold for 1 to 2 seconds, and put it back. Wait 3 to 4 minutes, then try your true max—the weight will feel noticeably lighter. Never attempt this without a spotter.
• To see if you’re overtraining, check your pulse first thing in the morning the day after a workout. If it’s 10 beats per minute or more above normal, your body is still recovering.
• Use a shoulder-width grip when doing upright rows. Unlike the traditional narrow grip, it’ll help you avoid shoulder-impingement syndrome—an injury that causes tendinitis and bursitis.

Click on the images below to see a preview…

• Susan Gray will talk about th upcoming  Greco Gives Back  Gala at the Chateau Laurier on February 2nd
  
• We’ll talk about going Gluten Free & a Little Yoga talk
• Tony will also share his secret to a flat, muscular stomach

Team1200 Grecosize Promo: 

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CFRA Greco Lean & Fit for Life Promo:

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Tune in this Saturday at 7AM on CFRA, or 9AM on Team 1200 to listen live or by podcast on the Team 1200 website.

To listen to full previous shows, click here.

Tony Greco meets with Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) and Overbrook Forbes Community Resource Centre staff to pledge $25,000.00 for a new playground in 2012.

The expansion of the Carson Road Community by 26 additional homes is part of a $5.5 Million Dollar social housing development project led by City of Ottawa and OCH. Mr. Greco and the Lean & Fit centres across the capital have made this commitment through their charity The Foundation to Fight Obesity in Children.

Read More…

Tony Greco’s GymBag Segment on Team1200! Aired on January 11th, 2012. Listen in Every Wednesday at 8:30am

• Tony talks about the benefits of Yoga and his signature program Yoga Lean

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What better way to spend the last show of 2011 than by looking back at some of the great interviews from the past year. Included in this “Best Of” edition of Grecosize are conversations with Buddy the Cake Boss, an interview with Carol Alt, and talks with NHL stars, including Claude Giroux and Mike Fisher.

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• Set your goals in reverse. That is, pick a date of completion and work backward, writing down short-term goals as you go. “The goals then seem more like deadlines,” says Ballantyne.
• When running uphill, keep your head up and your eyes focused on the top of the hill. This opens your airways, making it easier to breathe than if your upper body were hunched forward.
• Do your ab exercises at the beginning of your workout if you can’t pass this test: Sit with your feet flat on the floor and your legs bent—as if you had just performed a situp. Then place your fingers behind your ears with your elbows pulled back. Lower yourself to the floor as slowly as possible. “If it doesn’t take at least 5 seconds, you need to prioritize your abdominal training,” says the Australian strength coach Ian King.
• To build speed and endurance, train like a Kenyan: Go slowly for the first third of your run, at a normal pace in the middle third, and at a faster-than-normal pace at the end. Gradually increase your starting pace each week, and you’ll increase your normal and fast paces, too.
• To hit a golf ball farther, take some practice swings from the opposite side. It strengthens and balances your muscles, which may help you clear that water hazard. Do a few opposite swings on the first three or four holes, or for a minute at the driving range.
• Squeeze your butt muscles when you lift weights over your head. “You’ll force your body into a position that automatically stabilizes your spine, which lowers your risk of back injuries,” says Staley.
• Don’t forget to warm up your brain. “Preparing your central nervous system for activity is just as important as preparing your muscles,” says Vern Gambetta, former director of conditioning for the Chicago White Sox. That’s because your central nervous system tells your muscles when to contract. Try standing on one leg while you squat down, and touch the floor in front of it with your opposite hand. Do two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions with each leg.
• Keep your heels on the floor when you squat. If you can’t, your hip flexors are too tight. Try this stretch: Hold onto the sides of the squat rack and lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hold for 30 seconds. Return to a standing position, then repeat five times.
• Squeeze the bar inward when you bench-press. This works more muscles in your chest. But squeeze it outward when you do the close-grip version of the exercise—this hits your triceps harder.
• For straight-on putts, aim exactly17 inchespast the hole. That’s because the17 inchesof green surrounding the cup will be free of footprints, meaning blades of grass there are thicker and more upright and will slow down your putts dramatically.
• Bend your wrists to work your biceps harder. That is, extend them backward slightly—and hold them that way—while you do arm curls.
• Don’t exercise when you’re sick—unless your symptoms are above the neck. And even then you might do better taking a day off. “Your body will use its resources to heal itself, not build muscle and endurance,” says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., a trainer in Santa Clarita, California.
• Play better tennis by training your eyes to focus faster. You’ll hit more winners by learning to change your visual focus from distance, when your opponent is hitting the ball, to close up, when you’re hitting it. Try this drill while riding in a car: Focus on an object about a tennis-court length away. Then quickly shift focus to a closer object.
• Use a bench to squat with perfect form. That is, stand in front of the bench when you squat. Lower yourself as if you were sitting down. When your butt touches the bench, push yourself back up. Try it with a light bar or a broomstick first.
• Eat immediately after your workout. A 12-week study conducted by Danish researchers found that older men who drank a shake with10 gramsof protein,7 gramsof carbohydrate, and3 gramsof fat (about the same as in a cup of milk) within 5 minutes after their weight workout gained muscle, but men who consumed the drink 2 hours later did not. For a serious postworkout muscle-building shake, try this formula from Thomas Incledon, M.S., R.D.: Blend a half cup of fat-free frozen chocolate yogurt, a quarter cup of egg substitute, a cup of fat-free milk, a large banana, and a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, and drink. You’ll down23 gramsof protein,52 gramsof carbs, and only4 gramsof fat.

This Saturday on Grecosize and Greco Lean & Fit for Life:

• Tonys tips on reaching your fitness goals for 2012
  
• Nutritional habits you need to ditch this year
• Tony will also take your health and fitness questions

Team1200 Grecosize Promo: 

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CFRA Greco Lean & Fit for Life Promo:

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Tune in this Saturday at 7AM on CFRA, or 9AM on Team 1200 to listen live or by podcast on the Team 1200 website.

To listen to full previous shows, click here.