It is important to find out why you are experiencing shoulder pain to begin with. While there may be more serious reasons for shoulder pain, you may find that simple exercise movements that increase your shoulder strength may also remedy your shoulder pain.

For example; some therapists recommend using the assistance of a Swiss-ball for performing exercises for your shoulder rotator cuff muscles. In this instance, the patient would be asked to lie face down on the ball. With thumbs pointed upwards (think “The Fonz” on “Happy Days”) you would be asked to pull your shoulder blades together and extend your arms out to either side of you to create a “T” shape with your torso. Then lower your arms and repeat for a specified number of repetitions.

However, to help insure your shoulders remain healthy, you may want to balance the number of upper-body pushing exercises you currently do (like pushups and bench presses) with upper-body pulling exercises (such as seated rows and reverse flys) whenever you are at the gym. Ignoring this balancing act and letting one side dominate your training focus, will undoubtedly leave you susceptible to injury.

See you at “The Gym!”
musclemechanics.com

You are stronger, more energetic, and looking & feeling pretty good about yourself, too. Now think about how applying that same rule of consistency toward following a nutritional plan would speed up your progress even further…

Regardless of your exercise and training intensity, your body needs a steady supply of nutrients all day long. In fact, nutritionally speaking, the days you take off from your regular exercise routine are not that different from your training days. You need to be eating every 2-3 hours…

Come to think of it, missing a days worth of proper nutrition will set you a whole lot further back than a missing a workout – not that you should be willing to miss either one of them…

So, you want to look good by the end of the month? My advice is that you take the time to prepare. Keep your fridge, cupboards, even a desk drawer at your office well stocked with low-fat, nutritious snacks. The time this takes is minimal and the results you will see in the mirror will be greater and faster than you imagined.

That said, I ask, “How’s your consistency?”

Are you doing great with your training schedule but missing the bigger picture by neglecting your nutritional consistency?

Don’t neglect your nutrition. If you want to get the most out of your fitness routine, you need a plan that puts together a “nutritional routine” that will help support your goals. And, if you need more help, just ask us!

We have a system that will “map” out your daily nutritional intake, and put it on auto pilot so you can focus on getting ahead.

For more information on our system, check out the tutorial by following the link bellow RIGHT NOW…

http://musclemechanics.vitabot.com/members/demos/create.html

Then, call or shoot me an email and let’s get you started! You’ll be surprised at your results!

See you at “The Gym!”
John Aaron Villarreal
musclemechanics.com
“The Gym for Personal Training”

For a while there I let “vanity” dictate my routine. If you are a client of mine, then you know I discuss the difference between vanity muscles and fitness. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing fitness for “vanity sake.” Many people I’ve encountered who claim to be ‘bodybuilders’ or ‘strength trainers’ will brag about their bench, their body-weight, or even the size of their arms. And, that’s great!

However, rarely will you hear a guy who lifts weights talk about his conditioning. In fact, many people think cardio is simply for “wimps.”

Well, I too must admit that there was a time when I neglected my conditioning purely for the pursuit of larger muscles and greater strength.

I was under the notion that cardiovascular conditioning would take away from my size and strength gains. But after years in the fitness industry (and actually getting older) I can to realize that this notion was a misconception that stems from only getting half the story.

Overdoing cardio can and will slow down your gains. But, what you probably didn’t know is that it is possible to do 3 or 4, 20 min sessions of cardio a week and still maximize muscle and strength gains.

In fact, my training Team and I believe that improving your conditioning will actually boost your performance in other areas. One major benefit is the ability to recover quicker between sets. You’ll also find that actually performing heavy weight movement exercises don’t take as much out of you either.

There are many other health benefits too.

Not only will you improvement in your ability to move heavier weight, but your endurance, alertness, and ability to go “give it your all” will increase.

So, don’t be afraid of combining conditioning work with your resistance training. It will provide rewards that will carry over to many areas of your life.

HINT: Start off slow, with 5 or 10 minutes of using a treadmill or elliptical machine. If you don’t have access to them, then try jogging or jump rope a few times a week.

If you need help designing a program that best suits your needs in the least amount of time, then consider giving me or any of my staff a call. We are here for you and can give you what you need to discover more ways to boost conditioning and your maximizing your “vanity” muscles! ; )

See you at “The Gym!”
John Aaron
musclemechanics.com
“The Gym for Personal Training”

PS: Combining strength training with conditioning work requires premium grade nutrition plan if you expect results. Click Here: Learn more about my ONLINE NUTRITION PROGRAM and our affiliation with Pro/Grade Nutritional Supplements!

Go to http://www.musclemechanics.getprograde.com/

Yes, beef has a rep as a diet buster, but eating it may help you actually peel off pounds…

In a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women on a diet that included red meat lost more weight than those eating equal calories but little beef.

The protein in steak helps you retain muscle mass during weight loss. But, after watching the movie/documentary “Food Inc.” My recommendation is that you try to consume local organic beef; it’s healthier for you and the environment.

Try This: Grill or broil a 4-ounce serving of top round or sirloin; slice thinly to top a salad, or mix with veggies for fajitas. : )

See you at “The Gym!”
John Aaron
Muscle Mechanics
“The Gym for Personal Training”

PS: Remember to LOG YOUR NUTRITION! It’s the best way to maintain your goals and is guaranteed to help you reach (and maintain) your weight goals.

So, how much importance do you place on your warm up?

It’s not hard to find people focusing for their max sets. The fact
they’re ready to go all out kinda forces them to do so.

Where you do find people slacking is in their warm up.

They may spend a few compulsory minutes on the treadmill, or maybe
on a little stretching. But the problem is that their mind is
usually somewhere else. Maybe thinking about the happenings of the
day, on what to cook for supper, or even on the exercises they’ll
be doing in a few minutes.

Most wouldn’t see a problem in the above. It’s just your warm up,
right?

Well, it is your warm up, but it’s not ‘just’ a warm up.

It sets the stage in terms of the success of your training session.

Warm up help prevent injuries by literally warming up your body,
increasing the flexibility of muscles, tendons and ligament.

Done properly, warm ups increase the range of motion in your joints.

It also gets your nervous system revved up, which helps increase
reflexes, and contractile abilities.

You could think of hurrying through your warm-up to get to the
workout like partaking in a race, and neglecting to warm up your
tires.

This really applies to people with desk jobs. You could say their
bodies are essentially ‘asleep’ most of the day…

and proper warm up is just the thing to wake it up.

Next time you warm up, really focus on it. While your intensity
level isn’t going to be that of a max set, your focus should be.

Work up a nice sweat, gradually moving your limbs and joints
through a greater range of motion. Feel tensions melt away, put
aside any outside thoughts, and let’s melt some fat calories!

See you at “The Gym!”

John Aaron
MUSCLEMECHANICS.COM
“The Gym for Personal Training”

In fact, I’ll admit, I learned quite a bit from it…

I’ll bet you didn’t realize walking through your grocery store that these 4 items could send your metabolism soaring!

Seriously click over right now and devour every word. ; )

http://musclemechanics.getprograde.com/slimming-supermarket-secrets.html

Live Life Well,
John Aaron Villarreal
musclemechanics.com

PS – One of the boosters is something you can put on toast. But it’s not what you think. Who knew?
http://musclemechanics.getprograde.com/slimming-supermarket-secrets.html

Here’s another great article from The New York Times that outlines 12 good foods you should always have in your pantry and/or fridge.

This is great advice and a great list. You can use this link to get the full story…

http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/recipes-for-health-12-foods-for-every-pantry/

Remember to give me your feedback. Feel free to add your comments to this post, too. Let me know what you do to help maintain your nutrition and preserve your precious personal time.

As always – Live Life Well!

John Aaron
musclemechanics.com

If you go by what you hear in diet ads then you believe that it’s anyone’s fault but yours.

The big diet companies think that if they put the blame on you, then you wouldn’t buy their bogus pills. So they put the blame on your cortisol levels, your modern diet (ie fast food), or your busy schedule instead of where it belongs – which is squarely on your shoulders.

Sure, you have obstacles that get in your way – your schedule, your job, your kids, the weather, your knee injury from college…but ultimately you have the body that you accept.

I’m going to repeat that so it will really sink in.

You have the body that you accept.

Embracing the blame for your current weight is not a bad thing – it’s empowering. Think about it. If it really wasn’t your fault, if it really was due to a long list of variables that you have zero control over, then you’d be stuck. You’d have no way to change.

The Secret Behind ‘Before and After’ Pictures

Allow me to pull back the curtain for you on something that the diet industry doesn’t want you to know. You’ve seen countless before and after pictures documenting weight loss as a result of a diet product. Well, there is more involved than just the diet product, and it’s the same across the board.

Look into the eyes of any person in their before picture and you’ll see that they are disturbed. The body they have is no longer in sync with the body they can accept.

They changed the body that they accept.

Now look into their eyes in the after picture – see the sweet satisfaction? They now own the body that they decided they could accept. And what a great feeling that is.

Your Time To Transform

Whether you realize it or not, you already posses everything you need to transform your body, but it all starts with taking responsibility for the body that you have today. You have your current body because until this moment you’ve been OK with it.

Oh sure, you aren’t thrilled with it, and you even talk about losing weight and getting fit, but you haven’t changed what you’ll accept. Here’s how to transform your body in 3 steps:

Step One: Get Disturbed

You’ve heard it said that emotion creates motion. This is essential when it comes to losing weight. Just like those folks in the before pictures, to transform your body you must first decide that you can’t live another day in the body you currently have.

It’s time to get your emotions stirred up. Make a list of all the reasons that you must lose weight and get fit. Get disturbed!

Step Two: Get Focused

Without clarity it’s very hard to get where you want to go. Now that you’re disturbed with the body you have, it’s time to decide what the body you can accept looks like.

I want you to think in concrete and specific terms. Just like the captions under those before and after pictures – “Suzy lost 25 lbs”, “Mike lost 8 inches from his waist”, “Jenny went from a size 18 to a size 6″ .

Get a clear picture in your mind of what you’ll look like in your after picture and visualize what the caption will read.

Step Three: Get Moving

The time spent between your inspiration (now) and your action determines whether you will succeed or fail. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck between inspiration and action – there is always something that you can do right now.

Don’t you agree that you’ll be happier living life in a fit, healthy and attractive body, rather than the body you have today? Of course you’ll be happier.

I’ve helped scores of clients just like you finally lose their unwanted weight.

I am here to take you from your before picture to your after picture, however, you need to bring something to the table – you need to make up your mind about what you’ll accept of yourself. What will you accept?

Until Then – Live Life Well,
John Aaron
musclemechanics.com

But it wasn’t until I attended a seminar at The Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas that I learned about the importance of “grip.” And, it’s not just for a firm handshake, either.

Grip strength was a big thing in the bygone era of ‘Charles Atlas.’ You don’t hear too much about it today. As a result, most of us have focused more on what I call vanity muscles (the kind you like to flex in the mirror) and as a result, un-knowingly learned to develop a WEAKER grip.

This “vanity” phenomenon has caused people to think it’s normal if your grip isn’t strong. That what wrist-straps are for! It’s perfectly fine, and normal, if your grip can’t hold yourself up when doing leg raises or pull ups – It’s not.

Your grip is capable of phenomenal feats of strength. There are men who can pinch and hold 100 lbs with ONE HAND.

Your grip is a major part of your overall strength, too! Don’t believe me? Try doing a pull-up without your wrist-straps! You’ll discover you probably can’t do as many without the “assistance.”

So, don’t cut yourself short by ignoring you grip. Start building a stronger grip today.

See you at “The Gym!”
John Aaron
musclemechanics.com

As a busy professional, I am sure you are aware that your mental health is just as important as your physical health. In fact, most would agree that the mind is of greater importance. However, the two go hand in hand.

Because of that, and the importance a healthy brain has on your quality of life, today I am going to share with you 3 ways to reverse the effects of aging on your brain so you can enjoy life into your 80′s, 90′s and beyond! Afterall, what’s the joy of retirement without the witts to enjoy it?

Here are a few simple and quick tips on how you can maintain a youthful brain and perhaps reverse the effects aging can have on your brain:

#1. Exercise – Surprise, surprise! If you are not a regular exerciser, it is imperative that you start – now. A recent study published in a Neurology journal found that people who exercise or get active at least once a week have a longer lasting memory. A belief is that the increase in cardiovascular exercise improves and maintians the small blood vesseles of the brain.

#2. Be Friendly – If you live with someone, or do volunteer work, you improve your memory by almost 25%! This is presumably because you keep the mind stimulated, by meeting and speaking to other people.

#3. Do Puzzles – You may think this a waste of time , but those newspaper puzzles like Sudoku and crosswords improve your memory, brain speed and vocabulary! Plus what’s the harm of having a fun way to pass time productively if you commute to work by public transport?

If you are a consistent exerciser, then you know that your brain is very much like your body, if you look after it, you’ll receive years of healthy, happy living.

Live Life Well,
John Aaron Villarreal