So today I want to show you that online programs actually do work – but only if you get off your arse and follow them!

That’s a no-brainer but you’d be surprised how most people just let them gather ‘virtual dust’ on their hard-drives.

But not this action taker!

So I wanted to get inside Kerensa’s head to see what made her tick and how her story can help you achieve your goals.

DPM) What results did you experience when using the Aussie Fatblast program?

A: I got great results, I lost about 10 pounds (4.55kg) and am so much more toned in my arms and legs.

I also lost a couple inches off my waist, I even had to go buy all new pants!

I feel so much better than I did, I have more energy, can work out longer, and don’t feel bloated all the time like I used to. (DPM: read that again if you have to)

DPM: What would you say the biggest change was that you made in your day to day life?

A: The biggest change the program made for me was my diet. I eat completely different than I used to, and I feel a hundred times better because of it (DPM: massive take home point for everyone – you can’t out-train a bad diet)

DPM: What was the hardest thing to change?

A: The hardest thing for me to change was my diet. I have always played sports and worked out so it wasn’t hard for me to stick to a workout routine.

But I have never really followed a particular eating plan so that was a challenge for me to think of different things I could eat and to cut out all the crap I was eating.

The hardest thing for me to eliminate was bread, I still love it but only eat it a few times a week now.

DPM: How do you feel now that you have achieved such amazing results?

A: I feel amazing! My stomach area was my biggest problem and now I am so much more comfortable with how I look.

I will absolutely be sticking to the eating plan and keep up with the bodyweight workouts from now on just to maintain what I have achieved.

DPM: What advice would you give to someone reading this now who is in the same shoes that you once were?

The hardest part is forming new habits. Like instead of reaching for a sandwich, reaching for a tuna lettuce wrap.

Or instead of going home an hour early to watch tv, getting your workout in at the gym or at home.

But as soon as you get into the routine and forming those new habits, it becomes as normal and natural to you as what you are doing now (DPM: massive take home point on this people!)

Not only will it be just a part of your daily life, but you will feel incredible and never want to go back to your old ways!

So thank you Kerensa for sharing your story. Yes Kerensa is an athlete but she still had to make changes. She took responsibility – stopped making excuses – and made them.

And now look at her!

So there you have it!

Online workout programs work – if you’re willing to put them to use.

Don’t let it gather dust on your hard-drive. Put it into action and who knows – you might be able to end up looking amazing like Kerensa!

NOTE: The Aussie Fatblast program that Kerensa used is not currently available online. It will be re-released in 2012. If you are looking for something now I recommend Bodyweight Blitz

This video expose takes you into a small gym and shows you what you definitely should stay away from if you ever want to lose your belly fat.

So what do you think?

Thankfully this gym doesn’t have all of the bad machines out there.

To see what else you should stay away from check out the 5 part e-course below.

Also if you have any exercises or machines that you should never do please leave a comment. I’d love to hear about them! There’s plenty of interest on this video and it has created a bit of a stir (see the comments section when you watch the video on youtube).

But the misguided ones on there are the bodybuilders who are stuck in their old mentality. So long as you’re not into that then we’re cool!

So here’s the top 5 reasons why you should use a foam roller – or buy a foam roller if you don’t have one:

1) It is a lot cheaper than getting a regular massage each day! Spending just 5-10 minutes working on your sore muscles each day is a lot more time effective and cost effective then getting a couple of massages each week

2) Stretching with a foam roller is a lot more effective than regular static stretching in reducing post workout muscle soreness. Watch the video below to see how you can use one best:

3) If you are an office worker then this is a daily must use. Doing the back stretch I show in the above video will save you from developing neck and upper back tension from spending all day seated in front of a computer.

4) If you are a runner this will be a godsend for your ITB’s. I don’t know of a runner who doesn’t have tight ITB’s or knee pain caused by this. Watch how to massage your ITB’s in the video above for your instant cure to runners knee pain.

5) If you buy a foam roller from this link you’ll get one for approx $20 less than what Rebel sell them for and you will get it delivered to your door. I get access to them at wholesale price and am happy to pass that discount onto you.

So what are you waiting for?

Either get yours out of the corner of your lounge room and actually use it or go online here and buy one now. Your body (and your wallet) will thank you!

There’s a number of reasons apart from him being a good bloke (I meet Craig back in 07 at one of his conferences) is that he is up to date with what sucks and what works when it comes to exercises.

And the one I’m going to share with you today is just plain dangerous and is taken from something he saw during one of his workouts.

I’ll leave it to Craig now:

HERE WE GO – starting with the 1 exercise NEVER to do…

During one of my workouts recently I saw a trainer put his client through a BACK-DESTROYING exercise, and here’s what it was:

The exercise was weighted Stability Ball Crunches - but there were not normal crunches on the ball that you see people do. No way.

You see, not only did the client do a full-on sit-up motion, but she kept going – violently – into a total body flexion movement that ended with her almost putting her head between her knees.

But did you know that doing any type of spinal flexion can be harmful to your low back because this will compress the disks in your spine?

In fact, Dr. Stuart McGill, the world’s expert on low-back injuries and abdominal training, said in a recent New York Times article, “…no sit-ups, they place devastating loads on the disks.”

The disks in your spine are the same disks that get herniated in low back injury. And moves like sit-ups essentially CRUSH the disks between the bones in your spine, causing terrible pain and nerve damage.

So STOP doing crunches and sit-ups.

Fortunately, you can still get six-pack abs and a flat, sexy stomach by using back-friendly ab exercises instead.

So let’s review a huge list of abdominal exercise substitutions:

1) You can replace crunches with:

Planks, mountain climbers, and stability ball jack-knives

2) Replace cross-crunches (i.e. twisting or oblique crunches) with:

Side planks and cross-body mountain climbers

3) Replace sit-ups with:

Stability ball jackknives, stability ball planks, stability ball pikes, stability ball roll outs, and hanging knee raises.

And that’s just to start. You’ll get all of these and plenty more in the Turbulence Training workouts, of course.

Hope you enjoyed that list of ab exercise substitutions!

Just say NO to crunches,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Creator, Turbulence Training

Either way, bodyweight exercises are a fantastic way to get in a great workout.

And today I’ve ‘borrowed’ a workout from Craig Ballantyne’s Bodyweight Manuals.

Here’s 10 exercises using nothing but your own bodyweight for you to run your eye over:

1A) Prisoner Squat (15 reps)

1B) Decline Pushup (12 reps)

2A) Bulgarian Split Squat (12 reps)

2B) Chin-up (Max-1)

3A) Single Leg Deadlifts (10 reps each leg)

3B) Spiderman Pushup (6 reps)

4A) Walking Lunge (15 reps)

4B) Side Plank Leg Lift (8 reps)

5A) Rotate Lunge (10 reps)

5B) Mountain Climbers (15 reps each leg) – or Sprinters Shuffles as I call them.

I’d do each superset eg 1a and 1b x 3 each.

It’s the perfect plan for the park, the gym, or your home. And if you want the rest of the program, you can get it PLUS Bodyweight Cardio 3 PLUS the TT Bodyweight Cardio 1000 for just $19.95 click here now.

That’s less than a couple of greasy pizzas, and a great deal better for your abs too!

Craig is going to explode some myths that I’ve shared with you over time but it never hurts to have it reinforced by someone else in the industry – nothing like ramming home the point further for you to realise this is the only way to weight loss success.

The last thing you want a beginner to do is long, slow, boring cardio workouts.

Two reasons why:

1) Beginners will get an overuse injury from doing too much exercise volume too soon.

I had many new clients come to me after injuring themselves trying to get back in shape by doing excessive cardio. Please don’t make the same mistake.

We had to spend weeks rehabilitating their injuries before we could kick their fat loss workouts into high gear.

2) Long, slow, boring cardio doesn’t very work well – if at all – for fat loss.

Research has shown that doing 300 hours of cardio (6 hours per week for 50 weeks) resulted in only 5-6 pounds of weight loss in American men and women.

That’s a waste of time.

So what’s a better beginner fat loss workout?

Let me explain.

FIRST, we start by doing a general bodyweight warm-up circuit. Most old-school workouts tell you to do a 10-minute warm-up on a treadmill, but that’s a waste of time.

How does a treadmill prepare you for a total body workout?

Answer: It doesn’t. Jokes on us when we waste our time with it.

In the Turbulence Training workouts, you’ll get proven bodyweight circuit warm-ups that get you ready for fat loss.

SECOND, we do a lot of bodyweight resistance training, often while lying down on a mat.

That’s right, you’ll discover how to work your body and burn calories while LYING DOWN.

You’re going to be shocked by these exercises. In the Turbulence Training Beginner Workouts, you’ll see how to use total body exercises to burn fat with little or NO equipment, all done in the comfort of your own home.

THIRD, we finish off with interval training.

And YES, beginners can do interval workouts.

Here’s how I know this:

1) Researchers have used interval training in all types of populations, such as overweight beginners and even in cardiac rehabilitation (talk to your doctor though first, of course, if you have any medical conditions).

2) Research shows that subjects PREFER interval training over long cardio. So there you go, I’m not the only one who thinks cardio is boring – even subjects who volunteer for research studies would rather do interval training.

3) The most important interval training fat loss research study was performed on overweight beginner level women.

That study found that women who performed interval training on a stationary bike lost more belly fat than woman who did long slow cardio.

Case closed.

Fortunately, with the Turbulence Training Beginner Workout program you also get my “Bodyweight Cardio” program that replaces interval training if you don’t have a bike.

You can get that workout, plus three more beginner fat loss workouts here – all for less than the price of a greasy large pizza meal from one of the big chains:

(The best thing is you get all of the above for less than $20 USD – and with the Aussie Dollar being so good at the moment against the American it is basically $15 plus some change)

To get started click here right now and you’ll be taken to Craig’s site.

Beginners can lose fat very fast with these workouts,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Certified Turbulence Trainer

They’re crowded, play crap music and are full of people doing the wrong thing.

But every now and then I do give it a go and always avoid the busy time so I don’t have to fight for equipment.

If you are into your gym – here’s a gym workout routine that follows my Aussie Fatblast principles of short n sweet exercise to get the job done.

Check it out and let me know what you think:

It’s not for the faint hearted though.

But here it is:

Dynamic Warm Up – just bodyweight exercises doing Push Ups, Spiderman Twists, Waiters Bows, Squats, Side Plank x 3 of each

1) Squat Press x 10 – Use an olympic barbell with plates thrown on the side but you can also use a dumbbells – either one or two. Take your pick.

2) Cheat Chin Ups x 10 – These are tough. Sure you don’t have to hold your bodyweight off the ground for the whole set but you get the plyometric action because you have to jump up to the bar for each rep.

That cranks up the intensity a notch and gets your heart rate pounding. Basically, you can say it’s another great variation when you’re looking for some bodyweight interval training routines.

3) Rower 500m sprint – The heart rate’s already pumping from your first 2 exercises and then you have to crank out 500 metres on the rower – yeah it’s tough, but do you want results or do you want to be like that cardio queen over on the treadmill?

That’s it. I cranked that out for 3 sets through and was literally spent. It was 25 mins total time including warm up and stretching – I had a good stretch on the foam roller to finish that lasted for almost 10 minutes.

What do you think of that one? Give it a go and let me know.

Either way you’ll get a workout that will give you results if you stick to it and combine with a healthy eating plan like I provide in my Secret Guide to Smart Eating.

If you want the full gym workout routine that goes for 18 weeks, complete with the above mentioned smart eating guide as well as quick, healthy, recipes – you need to get you hands on the Aussie Fatblast Success System which is the complete system from start to finish that will get you back in your skinny jeans, or for the fellas, help you lose inches from your beer belly even if you’ve been burned by every workout or diet fad ever conceived.

But if I had a gun to your head and asked you the question – what would you say?

Now for my thoughts on the matter.

My Aussie Fatblast Weight Loss Workouts give you the exact way to schedule your gym workout routine and your interval training sessions to ensure that you are maximising your fat loss results.

The Pulse Intervals manual gives you the best game plan to strip your unwanted fat in the shortest amount of time possible.

Download the free report (and mp3 audio) today that will help you discover the Aussie Fatblast Secrets that you must follow if you ever want to get the body that you deserve.

I know I can put my hand up and say that because of years of playing rugby and dodgy genetics with my knees my body is a bit of a train wreck… and I take care of it. Imagine what would happen otherwise!

The other day I got rammed from behind while driving. Not exactly a nice surprise but at least it was only a minor accident and no one was seriously hurt and the damage to my car was only minor.

The only injury I did pick up was a little niggle in my back. Nothing serious but enough to make me take action on it before it gets worse.

So if this happens to you or you get injured from your workout routine there’s 2 directions that you can take when this happens to you.

But the way I look at it there’s only only one real direction that you should be taking. Let’s see if you’d make the same choice.

1) You can ignore it and say “that doesn’t feel too bad I’ll just see how it goes”

or

2) You can be proactive and get treating it straight away to ensure it doesn’t develop into a long term problem.

The one thing I’ve realised as I got older is that I have to look after my body.

I can’t just keep on abusing it and punishing it without consequences like I used to back in the day.

It only took a bunch of injuries, a neck injury that stopped my rugby career and finally a double groin operation to slam that point home with a sledgehammer.

So what should you do?

Ice should always be your first choice. I always carry around a instant ice pack in case any of my clients pick up a niggle during one of my sessions.

Any trainer that doesn’t have one on board doesn’t deserve you as a client.

You can use these instant freeze packs as they only cost a couple of bucks each. Downside is they are only 1 use only but the plus side is you don’t have to keep them in a freezer.

Otherwise you can keep one in the freezer at home or use a bag of frozen peas if you need to.

The ice should be placed on the injured area for 15-20 mins.

Make sure you put the ice around something – like a paper towel or a wet tea towel.

This will prevent ice burns. Not fun. Trust me on that one! I’ve been there too. Didn’t think it would happen but it does.

Do this every 2nd hour or as often as possible for the next 72 hours – 3 days – after the injury.

This will noticeably help reduce the swelling.

You should also try and elevate your limb if possible while you are icing it.

And if you have one handy, wack on a bandage as another preventative measure especially if it is something like a twisted ankle.

If you are still experiencing grief after 2-3 days then it’s time to go and see a physio about it or go down the route of my new favourite thing – acupuncture. If you choose this option I recommend David White in Sydney.

If you want to know if acupuncture will benefit you check out one of my previous posts Is Traditional Chinese Medicine The Real Deal Or A Crock?

If you don’t want to go down that route a general doctor (GP) is not going to be much help – only a sports doctor will have an idea of what’s going on.

You want a real treatment not just “Take these pills and come and see me next week if they don’t work” – or what they are really saying to you “Take this rubbish and come back next week so I can give you more rubbish and charge you for another consultation”.

Hopefully this will help you the next time you have a strain.

Of course this does not apply for a broken bone or serious injury – you should seek medical attention straight away in those cases.

I’m only giving advice for a soft tissue injury here.

The old RICED formula still holds up.

Rest the body part – so lay off your planned exercise

Ice the injured area

Compression with a bandage

Elevate the limb if possible

Diagnosis by a professional if it is something more serious

But the big take home point is to listen to your body. You’ve only got one of them.

Like you, we’re all busy people so I need my workouts to be short n sweet but very effective.

So if you are needing some inspiration for the gym check out this workout.

When I work out I like to get my iPod out and crank out some rap music. You know, a bit of Pac, Snoop, Dre, Cube, Biggie or Jay Z type of flavour.

This workout is not for the faint hearted and definitely not recommended for beginners but follow it for 6 weeks and you’ll definitely be able to blast your belly fat away.

Dynamic Warm Up

Follow this routine

Then do supersets of:

1a) Chin Ups x 10 (using different grip each set)

1b) Decline Push Ups x 10

Repeat x 3

2a) Dumbbell Swings x 10

2b) Up Downs x 10

Repeat x 3

3a) Hanging Knee Raises x 10

3b) Hand Walks x 30

Repeat x 3

That took me about 20 minutes or so to do after I warmed up which probably took about 5 minutes.

So when you include some cool down stretching that’s 30 mins of total time spent and a total feeling of being smashed afterwards!

As you can probably tell though I didn’t use any machines.

This workout could easily have been done by me at home using one of my kettlebells or at the park on some playground equipment to use for the chin ups.

Effective workouts don’t always have to be in the gym, but if you are looking for a program that you give you weight loss workouts then you need to experience my Aussie Fatblast Success System.

* You get 18 weeks of workouts and that’s just in the main program.

* You get 13.5 great tasting, healthy meals that take 13.5 minutes or less to cook

* You get the complete guideline to interval training routines and how to use them to maximise your fat loss.

And that’s just to start.

For an investment of less than $50USD you could do a lot worse.

Check it out over at the Aussie Fatblast home page.