In part 1 of my article series on grains, I wrote about gluten and its connection with many health hazards, such as tissue inflammation, running down the immune system and unwanted fat storage (especially in the belly area due to high cortisol release).

In this article I’m going to explain the role of phytates and how many foods, including grains, contain this supposedly nutrient robbing substance.

What are phytates?

Phytic acid, also known as phytates in its salt form, are antioxidant compounds found in chief dietary foods such as whole grains, legumes, soy and some nuts and seeds. Wait! Did you say antioxidant? I thought antioxidants are good for you? You’re probably asking yourself this right now. Well yes, antioxidants are good for you, but not phytates! Imagine an evil twin of an antioxidant, that’s what you can call a phytate.

Why are phytates a hazard to your health

Phytic acid or phytates have a well devised plan of nutrient thievery as soon as they enter your gut. They interfere with the absorption of key minerals such as zinc, manganese and calcium. Phytates when entered into the gut, have a binding mechanism to these minerals and rob your body from optimal absorption from these key micronutrients. Phytates can also damage your gastrointestinal tract and immune system.

Phytates & grains-stay the hell away from them!

The foods most abundant in these anti-nutrients are wholegrains, legumes, soy foods and nuts & seeds. For now I’m going to focus on just purely wholegrains for the sake of this article. I am anti legume and soy as they have many other health problems that these foods contribute to, however nuts and seeds are less risky as they are higher in nutrients and can be soaked or roasted to destroy these phytates.

Phytates are actually not of much concern for someone who follows a healthy diet and lifestyle. I am strictly referring to someone who follows clean eating habits leaning towards the Paleo style, which is a diet rich in animal protein, fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds. The average Westerner does not even come close to this! Every day grain consumption is through the roof! Couple this eating habit with other high processed food intake, high trans fat intake, low organic food intake and your body has no mineral source to out absorb what the phytates are robbing from your body.

So, if you follow the paleo habits and eat clean, phytate consumption here and there is ok. But if your kitchen is filled with processed canned food, boxed cereals, hydrogenated vegetable oils and bread; I suggest you rethink how you conduct your shopping in the supermarket.

Mineral deficiency symptoms and grain connection

Interested to know what mineral thievery can possibly bring out in your body?

Well lets have a look shall we:

Zinc thievery: Zinc is one of the most important, and I repeat, IMPORTANT minerals in your body. Not enough zinc in your body can contribute to low testosterone, weak immune system, poor brain function, impaired nutrient absorption, digestive issues and overall every day performance.

Calcium thievery:  Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. Poor calcium intake can contribute to cardiovascular problems, poor nerve transmission, muscle cramps and poor sleep.

Manganese thievery:  Manganese is a very important mineral for development of connective tissue. Deficiency of this mineral will contribute to poor development of bone structures, improper enzyme production and poor glucose management.

So as you can see phytates are not series threats if you are eating high quality foods to replace the minerals that are being robbed. But to be harsh and honest, most people do not eat enough high quality foods and have good enough eating habits these days to counteract the stress from eating to much grains and phytates.

So my suggestion

If you’re too lazy to change your food choices and start eating healthy, you can soak or cook your grains to destroy as much phytates as possible, but in all honesty, just make a simple effort to increase your consumption of free range, grass fed and organic meats, eat more fruits and vegetables, eat small consumption of nuts and seeds, take high quality fish oil regularly and you will be on your way to healing your body from grain induced disease and epic fat storage!

Stay tuned for part 3 on article series on grains

Working in a gym, I see it time and time again; people coming in and slogging their guts out in the hope that one day they will shed the fat and have that muscular, defined beach body that they desire.  I see these people putting in the hours, the hard work, the sweat and the dedication; yet they aren’t achieving results.

What’s the problem, you want to know?  Their training method and it’s not their fault.  There are so many different types of training methods out there.  Anyone could jump on google and think that something looked great, but you need to ask yourself – is it effective?  Am I going to burn fat?

If you are seriously going to change your body composition you need to work harder and smarter.  You need to turn up the heat and work on a level that most people aren’t.

The workouts that I’ve put together in this ebook, I’ve tried and tested on all sorts of clients over the years; from the seasoned and regular gym goer to someone that has never exercised before and the one thing they have in common, is that these exercises work.  Yes, they are challenging, but if you want to melt the fat then you need to turn it up a notch.

Have you ever heard of fat loss resistance?  It’s often referred to as metabolic syndrome and is caused by poor diet and lack of exercise.  Once you’re suffering from fat loss resistance it makes it even harder for you to shed the fat.  These workouts are not a cure for fat loss resistance, however they are going to help prevent it!

With all that said, I’ve chosen 5 different styles of training that are not only guaranteed to take you to MELTING POINT, but through variation and dedication will add a whole new dimension to your training regime.  Welcome to strength training the Fitness4ever way.  Over the next few chapters you will learn why strength training has its advantage over aerobic training as well as more about the 5 training methods; tabata intervals, German volume training, escalated density training, 6-12-25 and German body composition training.

Grab your copy of Melting Point by clicking here.

Dumbells, barbells, kettlebells, clubbells, cables, medicine balls and sledgehammers; these training tools are a must have for every person who is serious about getting fast results with strength, endurance, power and body composition. What about machines? Are they useful in the gym environment? Do they get you results like free weights?

How about I dissect this subject on machine training and explain why the leg press is one of the best machines to use for fast results with your physique.

There are 3 main reasons why we should use machines. Here they are as follows:

1) During a musculoskeletal rehab program

Lets say you have a football player who has just injured his rotator cuff in the shoulder. You would not expect him to move straight onto big lifting such as a bench press or military barbell press; or a dancer who has just slipped a disc in the lower back. Barbell squatting and deadlifitng would be out of the question also.

However machines can be a low risk alternative for muscle activation and movement in the joints. Yes, of course machines will not activate important stabilizers, as well as the core due to the fixed position. Lets face it, if they are a client, with a serious goal and you’re their coach, you need to start somewhere and progress. Machines give you that opportunity.

Note: If your going to deal with a client that has an injury or suffers pain, make sure your qualified to train that particular client.

2) To strengthen a structural imbalance

One of the biggest reasons that people plateau with gains in strength and size is that a particular muscle used during that lift is weak. For example, a client of mine may be lacking results in the bench press and through specific testing; I find out that the triceps are the weakest muscle, which causes a poor lockout at the top of the lift. My goal? Strengthen the triceps through isolation training; this may call for some machine work.

3) Body composition

One of the tricks of the trade I use for effective fat loss and body transformation is the lactic acid technique, which involves using both free weights and machines to bring about high lactic acid levels in the body. This brings me to the point why the leg press is one of the most effective machines to bring about fast fat loss.

Let me explain!

The quads (thigh muscle) and the glutes (bum muscle), are largest muscles in the body. When trained correctly they create a powerful fat burning and hormonal response. Growth hormone and testosterone are the primary anabolic and fat burning hormones stimulated during lower body training. The leg press can be used at the end of your lower body workouts to create this effective hormonal cascade that will bring about fast fat loss.

The best leg press finishers for fat loss  

Want to truly shock your body in fast fat loss! Try these two leg press routines at the end of the workout, but don’t expect to be walking for a while at the end of these!

6-12-25 drop set on the leg press

This finisher begins with selecting a weight that you can maximally do 6 reps on, (don’t expect it to be much by the end of your workout) bang out one set of the 6, then immediately drop the pins to a weight where you can complete 12 reps, a 20 kg drop in weight would be a safe number. Once you have a completed a set of 12, immediately drop the pins to a weight that you can complete 25 reps on! This is where it gets hard! Another 20 to 25 kg drop would be safe for the 25 reps.

Here is an example of how it should look:

• Set 1-100 kg for 6 reps on a 4010 tempo

• Drop your weight immediately!

• Set 2-80 kg for 12 reps on a 3010 tempo

• Drop your weight immediately!

• Set 3-60 kg for 25 reps on a 2010 tempo

Complete 2-3 sets of this, see if you can walk!

2 minutes non stop on the leg press

Brutal and unforgiving for the beginner gym member, yet exciting and thrilling for the fitness freak! When done properly, expect fat loss and lower body growth.

2 minutes on the leg press is one of my favorite finishers on the lower body. Its simple! Choose a decent weight, not too heavy, not too light; you may have to play around at the start to see what you can cope with. Take your time and execute the leg press non stop for 2 minutes straight. Remember what I said, NON STOP! That means you cant stop, if you have to stop half way through the set, you either chose a weight to heavy or you are wimp who cant handle hard training!

Ok, the anti-grain movement is slowly settling in and in my opinion, I’m glad! Compelling research is surely enough to convince us that grains are one of the most damaging foods on the planet? Of course, there will always be controversy; in fact over the last 10 years or so, grains were said to feed and nourish the body and even help with weight loss.

So, with me being me, being armed with the tools for a good argument when it comes to nutrition and health; I have decided to write an article that explains the low-down on grains and why they are a food that should not be in your kitchen and should most definitely not be in your belly!

What is gluten?

Gluten is found in foods such as grains of wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, and triticale. Gluten is made up of several sub fractions or families of proteins. The scientific name for the most studied of these sub fractions of proteins is gliadin. Gliadin is found in all grains and cereal grains; a silent predator hidden in these foods ready to cause damage.

How does gluten damage the body? 

Imagine a particular food that when eaten, your immune system reacts to this food as if it was an invading enemy, thus causing an “immune reaction”. Now, lets say a person frequently ate this food, in fact, let’s say a person ate this food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he had done so  since he was brought into this world. Now imagine the kind of beating the immune system would have to take from consistently being bombarded with this invading enemy. This invading terrorist is grains, or more specifically, gluten.

Over time the immune system is constantly firing; from here, a dangerous downward spiral of health issues start to come about.

There are countless scientific studies that grains and gluten are responsible for, including over 200 chronic illnesses and conditions such as:

• cancer
• autoimmune disease
• osteoporosis
• brain disorders
• intestinal decease
• chronic pain
• digestive disorders
• infertility and problematic pregnancies

And more!

Grains and fat storage

Besides reeking havoc on the immune and digestive system, grains can dramatically contribute to unwanted fat storage. For the most part, there are two main reasons why.

First off, grains are rich in carbohydrates. Unless you are a person who is insulin sensitive and can handle their carbohydrates very well (and you are not gluten sensitive) then I guess there is no real reason you can’t have grain foods every now and again. Sorry to be harsh, but most of the people I deal with, and most of the general Western population are neither of the two. Grains, like simple and refined sugars, will affect insulin, which is your key hormone that will dictate fat storage and how well you dispose of glucose in the blood. Excess grain consumption=fat storage.

The second reason is that grains, or particularly gluten, causes inflammation in the digestive tract. Inflammation in the body is a particular type of stress, and when the body experiences stress, a specific hormone called cortisol is released. Cortisol, like insulin, is another chief fat storing hormone and it’s especially responsible for excess fat on the waist and hips.

How do I find out if grains are really bad for me?

The first step would definitely be to identify symptoms. After you eat grains do you get headaches, bloating, digestive troubles, foggy brain, loose stools, and stomach pain? These are just some of the symptoms to keep an eye out for. Another great way to identify grain sensitivity is clinical testing. Blood testing is a great way to see if your immune system is creating anti bodies to the particular food, and it’s also more accurate. Me personally, I just go gluten free diet!

Alright! Its 2012; we all know that most of us, if not all of us, are partly guilty of eating like crap over the holidays. For some, eating like crap left them with the consequence of elevated body fat levels. It could be the belly, for others its the thighs and bum and for some it’s the upper back.

Wherever you store most of your fat, it’s a situation that can be dealt with. And hey! It’s a new year, so why not kick start your health and fitness goals with these ten tips to get you results immediately with your physique and health:

1. Drink green, white and black tea

Wine, beer, soft drinks and sugary drinks were probably the dominant liquids consumed during the Christmas break. Now you must think of a bang for your buck liquid alternative to drink so your body can start repairing and burning fat. Drinking various herbal teas on a regular basis is a great way to kick start your metabolism, lower inflammation, aid in detoxification of harmful toxins and prevent cancer.

Green tea is my favourite. It increases insulin sensitivity so you can burn more fat, raises basal metabolic rate, blocks up to 30 grams of starch during meals, and kills intestinal pathogens. These are just a few things green tea does in the body. A word of warning, make sure your brewing tea leaves in a tea net, as drinking excess tea from chlorinated tea bags will increase the risk of breast cancer. Aim for at least 2 cups of tea a day with out fail.

2.  Alkalise the blood with raw juices

Alkalizing the blood is one of the best methods to increase energy and vitality. Too many people overlook the importance of alkalizing the blood. If you have a raw juicer, I recommend trying green juices first thing in the morning when you wake up to alkalize the blood. A good green juice combo is a mix of, celery, cucumber, spinach, lime, ginger, pineapple and green apple. Feel free to try different vegetable and fruit combos. Remember, don’t use to much fruit as over consumption of fructose can lead to fat storage. If you don’t have a raw juicer, try green vegetable powders such as primal greens from Poliquin or Vital Greens.

3.  Give cancer risk a knockout with unlimited consumption of cruciferous vegetables

Ok, we all know that we should eat our vegetables, but how many of you out there actually eat 5-7 servings of vegetables a day. Is that to much? Ok, how about 3 servings, I think that’s easy enough? Cruciferous vegetables such broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts all contain a unique antioxidant called sulpheraphane. This potent phytochemical is primal for decreasing cancer and decease risk. But to maximize absorption of this phytonutrient and other antioxidants, eat these vegetables organic, and steam them for about 3-5 minutes.

4.  Don’t overlook the leg press

Over use of machines in the gym is definitely a big no no if you want a healthy, strong and lean body; but using machines such as the leg press smartly can bring about fast and effective results with body composition.

At the end of your workout try these 2 finishers:

2 minutes on the leg press non stop (BRUTAL!!)

3 drop sets of 6 reps (heavy) to 12 reps (medium weight) to 25 reps (light)

This is also brutal. These finishers will not only leave in a wheel chair, but it will trigger the release of a potent fat burning hormone called growth hormone.

5.  Forget six pack training and focus on interval training

The truth is, if you really want diamond cut abs, six pack training such as crunches and leg raises are not the most effective way to get you there. Instead, focus on all out interval and sprint training. For some people, running as fast as they can on a treadmill can be foreign and quite a challenging experience; but through clinical practice and numerous study’s, it has been proven that interval training is far more superior for ripping up than sit ups are.

Try interval training either on the treadmill or rower, and focus on either 30 seconds off maximal activity with 30 seconds rest, or 1 minute off continues activity with 1 minute rest. For an even greater challenge, try 20 seconds of maximal activity with 10 seconds rest.

6.  Eliminate pro inflammatory foods such as gluten, soy, dairy and wheat

Food induced inflammation is one of the biggest reasons for phantom fat storage. I refer to phantom fat storage as to when im dealing with a client that stores fat for no reason, even when there off carbohydrates and sugar, eating a high protein diet and training there hearts out till they fall to the floor. When you have inflammation, your body releases stress hormones such as cortisol, which is a fat storing hormone, especially for the abdominal area. The usual suspects? Well you can certainly point the finger at gluten, wheat, soy, dairy and some times even eggs. Eliminate these foods out of your diet and I guarantee you will see fast results with how you feel mentally, physically and how great your physique is.

7.  Take fish oils and carnitine for rapid fat loss

I have written numerous articles on the outstanding benefits of regular supplementation of fish oil. For an even better bang for your buck supplement protocol, try paring fish oils and carnitine together.

L-carnitine is an amino acid. Its main reason for being potent for fat loss is that it drives stored fat into a place called the mitochondria. The mitochondria is located in every cell in our body, it is the powerhouse of our cells, the fire, the flame, the engine, when fat is shuttled into the mitochondria, its burned and metabolized for energy. Omega-3 fish oils also aid in this process by increasing cellular activity, making these two supplements the bread and butter for rapid fat loss.

8. Go on a 14 day protein boot camp

Any time I want to lose body fat quickly and get my health back on track, I engage in a 14 day protein bootcamp. During this period you follow one simple rule, if it doesn’t walk, run, swim, or fly, or is not a nut or a vegetable, then don’t eat it!! Even fruit! During the 14 days you want to give your body a rest from consuming sugars and carb rich foods. Instead focus on getting your carbohydrates only from vegetables. The animal protein and smart fats will increase thermogenisis (heat) in the body and raise basal metabolic rate. This 14 day initiation period is crucial if you’re serious about losing the holiday pounds. For some people it can be a struggle; for others, it’s easy. The results speak for themselves. And remember during the 14 days you are aloud unlimited consumption of vegetables, reasonable amounts of smart fats such as nuts, oils and butter, and hit for 5-7 servings of animal protein a day.

9. Don’t eat more than 2 hours before bed time.

Pre-bedtime meals can be a major roadblock for long-term fat loss success. I always believe to eat if you’re feeling hungry, as long as it’s the right food; eating too close to bed time can alter your quality of sleep. If you eat too close to bed time and your food is still digesting when you sleep, your body’s ability to reach stage 5 sleep, which is the deepest sleep you can reach, is impaired. When you reach a deep sleep, your body is flooded with anabolic hormones such as growth hormone and melatonin. These two hormones are primary for recovery from stress, building the immune system, and burning fat.

Try not to eat 2 hours before bed time, this will ensure your dinner is fully digested, and your body can reach a deep sleep. If you feel a bit peckish, take 15 grams of a fiber supplement before you sleep, which should ease of the hunger.

10.  Shop smart in the supermarket; avoid tuna, non-organic strawberries and canned tomatoes

Toxic load in the body is one of the worst things to promote. If there’re 3 foods I would say to avoid in the supermarket, it would be tuna due to the high mercury levels, non-organic strawberries due to the high pesticide content and canned tomatoes due to the high heavy metal content. There are a lot of other foods I recommend to avoid, but start with these 3. Consuming too many toxins can really destroy the body from the inside out, be smart when you shop, by organic food when you can, especially fruits, vegetables, and meat should be free range, grass fed, and organic when possible.

Still to this day, people find it hard to believe the idea that butter should be eaten on a regular basis. They find it even harder to believe that butter is a potent weapon for fat loss. For the none believers out there, I’m fresh from Charles Poliquin’s BioSignature course, where we covered some very interesting things about butter and the nutrients and functions it serves within the body.

1) Butter and Iodine

According to Charles Poliquin, people who consume butter as oppose to people who don’t, attract a longer life expectancy. Why is this? Butter actually contains a very high bio-available source of iodine. Now if you don’t know, iodine is the nutrient that stimulates proper thyroid function; and for those of you who don’t know the function of the thyroid gland, the thyroid is the gland that regulates your metabolism. Still don’t understand? Its simple, follow this formula…

Butter consumption = easy absorbable source of iodine = better thyroid function = faster metabolism = faster and more successful fat loss!

Still not convinced? Let’s do the math….. 

First let’s look at the impact a 1% increase in thyroid function will have on metabolism. A 1 % increase in thyroid is a 6 % increase in metabolism. So, let’s say you include organic butter in to your diet on a regular basis, coupled with a proper fitness program. In 8 to 12 weeks you would have increased thyroid function by 3 %, that would pack a whopping 18% increase in metabolism! Butter is definitely a must have in your kitchen fridge.

2) Butter and short chain fatty acids

The main fat in butter is called butyric acid. Butyric acid is a short chain fatty acid. This is due to it only having 4 carbon atoms on the fatty acid chain, compared to other fatty acids that have up to 24 carbon atoms on the fatty acid chain. Short chain fatty acids are easy to digest and the body mainly uses these fatty acids for energy. Butyric acid also helps feed the good bacteria in the gut, which will keep the colon healthy long term. So if you’re a newbie to fat loss programming, butter is a great food to include in the diet when someone is limiting carbohydrate intake as the body will use short chain fatty acids for energy.

3) Buy butter organic!!!

One thing I learnt from Mr. Charles Poliqiuin is that if there are 2 foods you should by organic, it’s coffee and butter. Why is this? Well believe it or not coffee and butter are some of the healthiest things you can include in your lifestyle! However, when purchased non-organic, they are loaded with harmful pesticides that will negatively impact your health. So when you can, by your butter organic. It even tastes better (in my opinion).

4) Melt butter over vegetables to maximize nutrient uptake

Melting butter over your vegetables is a great way to maximize nutrient absorption. Plant based foods contain vitamins & minerals. The catch is that some of these vitamins and minerals have different absorption pathways in the body. For example vitamins A D E & K are what you call fat soluble vitamins, meaning they only absorb in the presence of fat, unlike vitamin C which is water soluble, meaning it will absorb in the presence of water. So if you’re not including fats such as butter in your meal (or maybe some fresh olive oil) you are not maximizing nutrient uptake!

5) Include butter or other smart fats in your meal to lower glycemic index

Eating a high carbohydrate meal? Well make sure to include butter or other healthy fats in your meal such as fresh olive oil, omega 3’s, avocado, and some nuts (not all at once!) Including smart fats with your food will slow down the G.I (how fast a food converts into glucose in the blood) as well as the insulin index (how much insulin is released by the pancreas) which in return will minimize blood sugar crash and prevent unwanted fat storage.

So by now I think we should all know that butter is not the enemy, butter is a nourishing food that will aid in fat loss and provide some much needed nutrition. If you don’t have organic butter, go out and bye some now!