11 Super K-Tips for 2011....to get you TRIM & FIT!

Looking to drop some weight in this new year and finally feel great about yourself! Lets do this...incorporate these easy to follow K-Tips into your lifestyle and watch the pounds drop!

1.) Make sure to buy bread, pitas, wrap that are whole wheat, organic and salt free--100% buckwheat is your best choice. There is no better way to ruin a good, healthy sandwich with the wrong buns!

2.) Avoid all foods that contain high fructose corn syrup --that includes diet sodas. High fructose corn syrup messes with you insulin levels, disrupts effective normal digestive processes, and ruins your taste buds.

3.) Before eating something...ask yourself "Do I have my protein? Am I avoiding white flour?""Low sodium?" Remember sodium bloats you up like nothing else....so keep an eye on that!

4.) Drink ginger tea...it acts at the cellular level for weight loss.

5.) Buy an egg genie (boils up to 7 eggs in about 10 minutes) eat 1-2 boiled eggs per day (replace the yolk with hummus)

6.) Eliminate alcohol from your diet until you have achieved your goal weight.

7.) Drink water with lemon and sprinkled lemons on most of your foods....the alkaline of lemons once digested helps neutralize and shrink fat cells.

8.) Replace your butter with Brummel and Brown natural yogurt spread, you won't even taste the difference and its much better for you.

9.) Find a friend to workout with, invest in a trainer or join a group fitness class. Accountability is key to your fitness success!

10.) Learn to do intervals.....your body learns very quickly how to save calories and maintain same pace for a long period. You don't want to save calories!...shock your system and do some hard intervals during your cardio. Try to do with a 1:3 or 1:4 activity to rest ratio for best results. (ie: 30 sec hard, 2 min easy)

11.) Sign up for my FREE fitness newsletter through my website: kbodyfitness.com It will keep you on track and motivated every 2 weeks!

LETS DO THIS! 2011 IS YOUR YEAR!!!

WHY I do WHAT I do the WAY I do...

Why so many jumps Kendrick?!
Did you just invent that?!
But when I twist that way, its harder!
WTF...do you just sit at home thinking of ways to torture people?!
Ahh...my glutes are burning!
Ahh.....my abs are gonna fall off!
Are we on camera?
Do you want me to activate my ears while I'm at? Got everything else engaged!!

These are just some of the comments that I hear from clients on a daily basis....along with some other profanity made towards me and my exercises......but its ALL GOOD....its a love/hate relationship! At the end of the day...I know that my clients got an effective, safe, full body workout! And they come back for more the next week =)

The other day I was asked: "Kendrick, why do you do what you do the way you do" Took me a good 40 sec to register the question in my brain…(to many dang do’s got me all out of whack)....but I finally answered and I wanted to share with all of you just in case you are wondering as well.

First off, I could not see myself doing anything outside this industry. I have gone through phases in my life in which I doubted myself, but lately its been all positive and I’m heading towards the dream of helping people live a healthier life on a bigger scale.

Since I run 3 separate pages with over 5000 total followers on facebook…..I take full advantage to offer K-Tips of the day, workouts of the week, inspirational quotes, recipes, and other healthy stuff for whoever is interested….The other day I received a short facebook message which reminded me why I’m in this field.

"Kendrick, I have been living by ur K-Tips that you post up everyday on ur facebook since u added me as a friend and obrigada por voce*—and ur tips I have lost 10 lbs on my way 2 getting that pre baby figure back."

* “Obrigada por voce”= “Thanks to you” in Portuguese….and shes not even Brazilian!

That came from someone in Pennsylvania whom I never met before. It feels good getting the day started with comments like that.

If you've trained with me before...you know that I am not your typical trainer.

• I don't carry a notepad with me and write down all the reps and exercises you did for that day. One...I am more concerned with observing your form, and training you the way your body is feeling that day....I can't penalize you for not feeling up to par a certain day...everybody has those days. Next, the human body is incredibly adaptable....the way to truly strengthen the muscles is "muscle confusion" Thats the only way they'll get stronger....hence why we never do the same workout 2x....ever! I'll know when getting stronger with some of the basic strength tests exercises that I hide throughout the workouts (ie: single legged exercise, planks..and a few other secret ones =)

• 3 sets of 12 of same exercise....another one you'll never see at my studio! We may do up to 2 sets of the circuit, but never 3 sets of the same exercise........The reason? Again we want to challenge the body at different angles, so while we may activate the same muscle groups 3 or more times in one session....we'll never do it using the same exercise....plus it makes things more exiting.

• Bands, Balls, Bosu and all the other "circus" toys. When you pick up your kids, or your grocery, do you follow the same plane of motion (in a perfect straight line) from the ground up? Never! This works the same in our workouts. The key is functional training.....which trains the body to stay in tune with motions that you'll use in everyday life....all while engaging the core as well. The "circus" toys allow for activation of minor muscles as well, especially around the joints in order to strengthen those joints and improve overall balance and coordination.

• Jumps! Yea yea, everybody hates this! But the only way you get out of doing them is if you have some kind of knee/back problem. First we must understand that there are 3 main energy system in the body. Oxidative system: activated when you do any activity over 2 min (usually cardio) Glycolitic system: activities lasting 30-90 sec (most weight training is done in this zone) ATP-Creatine Phosphate system: activities lasting 10 sec or less........and that is the one most ignore...hence why I incorporate jumps into our workout....it recruits fast twitch muscle groups and really spikes up the heart rate! Activating the ATP-CP system also trains the body to flush toxic out faster (lactic acid, stress hormones) leading to faster response times in stressful situations!

• Full body exercises! This is a simple one...we have to engage as many muscles as possible during an exercise...you'll never find yourself doing just standing biceps curl. They'll be more like bicep curl with alternating lunges. More muscle activated=more energy required=more calories burned! Period.

• Circuits!….I pick 3-4 exercises….either focusing on single sided exercises per round (right leg squat/step up/ lunges) or blood shift exercises engaging both limbs…an upper body exercise followed by a lower body exercise followed by core or cardio. Usually we’ll do the circuit 2 times around and each round lasts anywhere from 3-5 min…with about 15-20 sec rest between exercises and about 1 min rest between circuits. Blood shift exercises basically trains the body to adapt to changes in blood pressure ultimately allowing the body to maintain normal levels in blood pressure as well as adjust to stressful situations more efficiently.

• Core! Almost every exercise will engage the core….which is the connection from the upper body and lower body. I can’t stress enough how important a strong core is…..prevents you from many injuries such as back problems and bad posture.

• Glutes! Another extremely important area in which we focus at every session. The glute is a huge muscle and it handles stress/weight much better than your lower back (which usually does most of the work if you have weak glutes)

Now I can’t share everything that I do with my clients (gotta keep them on their toes =)

I CAN tell you this: Any clients who has stuck with me long enough has achieved their goals……..trust me, if they are physically able and disciplined, I make sure they achieve their goals in a safe, effective manner.

I love what I do and as long as my clients are getting those positive results (or negative if we are talking weight loss) I’m going to be doing what I do the way I do!

HAVE A HEALTHY DAY!!!

Core Reminder!

I know you've probably heard it before, but its always a good reminder to continue to train the core! It continues to be one of the most neglected parts of the body when it comes to exercise. Most of us tend to do a couple of pushups or the occasional sit up and move on. Big mistake! The core includes muscles that run from the abs and back to the pelvis region and hips. A weak core can overtax the other muscles in the body and lead to poor posture and balance. Trained muscles, however, learn to work in accord, increasing overall stability and reducing your risk of back pain and injuries when engaged in sports and everyday activities. Not too mention the aesthetic benefits too! After all, who doesn't want a nice trimmed up midsection?

Core exercises are quite simple to do and you are probably already familiar with basic moves such as crunches, plank and pushups. For those uncomfortable exercising in public, no gym membership is needed for core training, moves can be done in the privacy of your home while watching TV. Take no more than 5 min everyday and pick 2-3 exercise to do...and do it with the kids, the hubby, the wifey, the dog....whoever....everyone can benefit. Simply pick up several different exercises that focus on the trunk and take your time to learn the correct technique. Complete a few repetitions to start and as you learn the proper form you can gradually build up to several sets of 10 to 15 repetitions and add in an exercise ball or medicine ball for greater variety. Stay tuned for some videos on exercise ideas! Email me if you want a free core training guide...I'll send it right over to ya!

Got Fat?

With all of these fad diets out there, many people have developed a quite curious fear of fat. What people need to understand is that there is no reason to fear fat. While there are many types of fat that will lead to bad health, there are healthy fats. Not only can these fats be good for you, but they will actually help you to either maintain your weight, or lose the weight. Sources of good fats can be found in foods like:

• Fish
• Nuts
• Avocados
• Flax seeds
• Olive oil
• Natural peanut butter

Eating foods like these can be a great thing for you. These fats work in a couple of ways.

First, the fats will fill you up faster. If you've ever ate food that is low fat and low calorie, than you might have thought you were doing yourself a favor. However, you might find that you are super hungry not to much longer after you eat them. You see, the body need to process food that is going to satiate it. Eating fat simply means that you aren't experiencing the sensation of hunger, and you are fully satisfied for a longer period of time.

Eating food like the ones mentioned can go a long way to creating a full feeling in your stomach and body. Along with this, you won't have to eat so much food, because you'll stay full longer. This works out especially if you find that you get hungry in the afternoon. If you eat a snack rich in good fats, you'll be able to get through the afternoon, and you won't be so hungry at diner time.

Hollywood is NOT ready for this!

A couple months back, I was invited to do a video shoot in Fresno (yea, I know..not quite Hollywood) for one of my clients website (www.at1meditation.com) which is scheduled to launch very soon. The website covers mind, body and spirit health and I was the lucky one chosen to be the body/fitness guy.

The experience was awesome. Dr Charles Raison (CNN doctor) had flown in from Atlanta to do an introduction video for the website. He is a super nice guy and I had a chance to chat with him on the break about how to get comfortable in front of the camera since this was my first time. He did his best to try to explain the trick of the trade to me, but as you can see from the blooper video, my A.D.D. absolutely took over at times! Luckily, the camera guy (Jeff) and producer (King Tutt) along with my demo girl (Tannisse) were very entertained and patient, so they allowed me to retake....many, many, many scenes =)

Just a note in some of these scenes I thought the camera was off...and by the way the final product is MUCH BETTER! You are not going to believe this, but they actually had a button for "Delete A.D.D." in the editing program that they had....lucky me!

Before the video...wanted to leave you with a little K-Tip of the day:

Its simple, calories in=calories out for weight loss...Eat just a
little less. Scientists at Harvard and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge found that people who lowered their calorie intake lost an average of 13 pounds in six months no matter what kind of
diet they were on. Cut 100 calories a day and lose over 10 lbs for the
year...cut 250 cal..and you're down 26 by the end of the year!

NOW..here is a link to the VIDEO! Let me know what you think =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb5HtrHoj54

Bloated? Might be that sodium!

Its 5:30 AM and I'm sitting here at Dallas Airport on my way to the Diva Half Marathon Expo in Long Island and I am feeling pretty good, primarily due to the fact that after training 11 clients the day before and taking a red eye with no sleep, I was pleasantly surprised by a girl that worked at starbucks that asked me if I was a Mexican actor because I looked like one =) Who says you need your beauty sleep??

Ok, lets move on before my head explodes...What I really wanted to share today with you is the disturbing trend that I have been noticing being abused by the food industry.

As most of you know, the media loves to tear down the rep of fat....Fat will go right to your thighs, fat is bad, blah blah blah. Yes, too much fat is ba

d (then again too much of anything is bad right?) but did you know that fat is the most efficient source of fuel in your body and that your body could not possibly survive without enough fat. So before you go for that fat free, low calorie snack, take a closer look at the nutrition facts and you will most likely find the true enemy: SODIUM.

Besides being an incredible preservative, it has a much sought after taste that most people enjoy. Its also responsible for high blood pressure, heart disease, and bloating. Thats right, sodium retains water in the body leaving you with that bloated feeling. To add to the list, recent studies also suggest that eating too much sodium triggers sugar cravings.

And since fat is looked upon as the enemy, the food industy loves to ride that wave and take advantage of cosumers by producing more fat-free or low fat, low calorie foods and "magic" diets.

Since sodium stays out of the media, most people are not aware of its effect...but you can be sure that in that fat-free, low calorie food there is plenty of sodium to make up for the lack of everything else all while preserving the food. Its a win win situation for the food industry...they can make a product thats fat free, low calorie, all while injecting tons of sodium to still add taste so the consumer will buy.

So just keep an eye out next time you are shopping for your favorite foods. Fat free or calorie free may do more harm than good...keep an eye out for that sodium (Unless you are training for endurance events, in which case you need to replace the electrolytes/sodium lost through heavy sweating)

Moderation is key once again =)

Alright..gotta board...Stay disciplined and I'll see you at the studio!

Need a drink?

Lets face it...who can possibly go through life without having a drink or two? Especially when you have get togethers or simply if you had a stressful day and want to sit back, relax, and have a cold one. Moderation is the key, and that does not change when we are talking about alcohol, but what is your best option? Well, you may know that red wine has its antioxidants, but thats not our first pick.

Sure you can have alcohol...but try Sangria over wine. A glass of Sangria contains about 150 calories with almost every single calorie benefiting you. Vitamins and minerals can be found in the organic orange juice and fruits. Next, there are the anti-oxidants and resveratrol which is found in grape skins and seeds. Studies have shown that resveratrol increases HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) and prevents blood clotting. Just make sure you pick a good red wine.
If possible next time you are out with family or friends, stick with that sangria, you'll be able to "enjoy your drink" all while getting in your nutrients!

Moderation, exercise and happy living my friends!