Rising National NPC Physique Star Dave Kantrowitz Talks with ABFITT

Rising Physique star  Dave Kantrowitz ready for big things in 2013.

Q: Dave Happy New Years and thanks for starting the year with ABFITT. Can you give us some background on yourself... (stats) contest weight etc...

Thanks Rich, same to you. I am very honored to kick off 2013 with ABFITT! I am a 23 year old National Level NPC Physique Competitor from New York. I am also a personal trainer, physical education teacher, and health education graduate student.

Physical fitness has always been a passion of mine and I really enjoy competing, networking, and creating new contacts within the industry.
I stand 5'7.5'' and weigh in at 170lbs. My contest weight is usually closer to 160lbs at ~3% body fat.
 
Q: So what does the new year have in store for Dave Kantrowitz? Any upcoming contest's or new projects in the works?

2013 is going to be a really big year for me! I have a lot of shows planned along with completing my Master's Degree this may. I will be competing in the 2013 Arnold Classic, Metropolitan Championship, Kemper Classic, and then all of the National Level Competitions until I attain IFBB Professional Status.

Q: Can you give us some of your past competition placings?

2012 Was my first year competing as a physique competitor in the NPC and I competed in 6 shows.

NJ State Championships: 2nd Place Physique A
Brandywine Cup: 1st Place Physique A
Brooklyn Grand Prix: 1st Place Physique A
NY Grand Prix: 1st Place Physique A and OVERALL PHYSIQUE CHAMPION
East Coast Championship: 3rd Place Physique A
National Championship: 16th Place Physique B
 
Q: let's talk your personal view of living a fitness lifestyle, what does that mean to you and how do you ensure success.

A healthy lifestyle, to me, is about balance. Aesthetics are attainable through nutrition, training, and proper rest. However, being able to balance all of that with work, family, friends, and social activities is what is most important.

I always make sure to take time out of my day to see those who are important and supportive of me and reach out to anyone who asks for my advice or help for anything. I have found that this type of balance makes it way easier to sustain a stable and active life.
 
Q: Can you take us through a day in the life of "Dave" as it relates to fitness. How you manage work, your fitness and nutrition on a daily basis.

My life is run by a series of alarms set on my cell phone (not kidding). I need that structure to make sure that I stay on time and on point with my diet, work, and general lifestyle

6am- wake up and hit 30 minutes of cardio
7am-  meal 1
8:30am - get to work
10:30am- meal 2
1:30pm- meal 3
2:30pm- head to the gym
4:30pm- meal 4
6pm- meal 5/dinner with the family/friends
9pm- meal 6
11pm- meal 7 and sleep

Q:  Can you give my readers a detailed day of what your diet/nutrition is like. Any foods you must have and supplements you believe in?
 
My diet is very strict as well as my supplementation. I have been fortunate enough to have two great sponsors in Athletic Xtreme and A1supplements who have taken care of me very well and help supply me with all of my supplemental diet needs! Because I am out of the house most of the delay I rely heavily on whey isolate shakes to consume adequate amounts of protein

Supplements
Athletic Xtreme- LeanFX, MassFX, HardFX, AXcell (BCAA)
AI- Glycobol
Eat the Bear- Pure Whey Isolate

Diet
Meal 1: 1/2 cup oats, 8 egg whites
Meal 2: 50g isolate shake
Meal 3: 6oz chicken, 6oz green beans, 1/2 large sweet potato
Meal 4: 50g isolate shake
Meal 5: same as 3
Meal 6: 25g isolate shake
Meal 7: 25g isolate shake with 1tbsp natural peanut butter



Q: Being a fitness professional requires your body fat levels to be low year round for photo shoots and such, how do you manage to keep your body fat levels at a manageable level to be ready to shoot?

I maintain a consistent diet, training and cardio schedule to maintain ~5-7% year round before dropping to ~3% for competition. By doing so I find that I am never rushed or pressured to get back into shape and avoid unhealthy living patterns


Q: What is your current weight training split like?


  I change up my exercises every week but my split typically follows a standard isolation style training regime

WORKOUT
Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Shoulders
Day 4: Cardio and abs only
Day 5: Arms
Day 6: Legs
Day 7: rest

Q: Can you give ABFITT readers a few important tips leading into this new year who are looking to achieve their best body ever?

When setting goals and objectives, you must be realistic. Losing 20lbs in a month is possible, but it is not maintainable and definitely not healthy. Pace yourself, do your research and train hard...it will pay off. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will you!!

Q: Dave anything you would like to leave us with? How can readers keep up and follow you?

I like to stay in contact with all of my friends/supporters as much as possible but the best way to reach me is definitely via social media

Instagram: @davekantrowitz

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments you have, or just reach out to say hey! I appreciate all the support and look forward to a great year in 2013!
LIKE US "ABFITT" ON FACEBOOK

Introducing To American Fitness Fans, Ben "The Blue Print" Noy

 Putting US Fitness competitors on notice and bringing a whole new package along with him, meet UK's Ben Noy. Ben Noy is a top international fitness model and sponsored athlete with publications and magazine covers around the world. He started through fashion/commercial/underwear modeling where he worked for all the big names. Ben is also a spokesman for two charities (Down Syndrome Association and Bowel Cancer Association), runs his own online fitness support and life coaching website and has his own clothing brand and exclusive abs and fitness DVDs!

 From a young age, Ben has developed a comprehensive and valuable sporting background with success to a high level in various natural bodybuilding, marathons/athletics, football, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, and Thai boxing. His strong background has brought him to be a well-rounded, experienced and established celebrity personal trainer also renowned at the Reebok Sport Club in London, where he trains a huge range of high-end clients. Let's get to know this fitness inspiration in my exclusive one-on-one with Men's Health and Ab's of the Year 2011 Ben Noy. 


 Q:So what does the new year have in store for Ben Noy? Any upcoming contest's or new projects in the works? Any plans on working or competing in the USA?

Ben Noy:  This year I will be competing In the US and alongside bringing out a lot more products including more DVDs etc...As I feel I've reached my peak in the UK, the US is my next stop....

 Q: let's talk your personal view of living a fitness lifestyle, what does that mean to you and how do you ensure success.

Ben Noy: Preparation + opportunity + determination= Luck&Success

 Q: I had a tremendous response to a you tube video I posted of you talking "Ten pack abs", surprisingly the overwhelming number of inquiries were about your nutrition & supplementation. Can you give my readers a detailed day of what your diet/nutrition is like.  Being a fitness professional requires your body fat levels to be low year round for photo shoots and such, how do you manage to keep your body fat levels at a manageable level to be ready to shoot?

Ben Noy: My diet varies weekly, I don't tend to get much time annually to put on size as I don't have a off season as such due to the high demand in fitness shoots! So my aim, is to gain as much lean mass as possible whilst maintaining very low body fat! I manipulate my carbs and fats to feed my body and shock my system but I tend to eat the things I fancy but make sure I get all my nutrients


Q: What is your current weight training split like?

Ben Noy: Again, I tend to varie my training routines to keep my muscles guessing but generally it varies from high rep isolation to slow compound movements...due to keeping my nutrition in control I fuel my body more on the more active training days & heavy training days.

 Q: Give ABFITT readers a few important tips leading into this new year who are looking to achieve their best body ever?

Ben Noy:  Knowledge is the key...its a science after all! Keep your veg high for fiber and fuel your body the most (high carb) first thing in the morning, pre-workout and post workout!!! The sooner you realize it's all in your control the quicker the results will follow...learn your body and the rest will follow!!!

Q: Can you give us the names of people, company's and projects you have been involved in.
Ben Noy:  PlayBoy, Aussie Bum, Diet Coke campaign, D&G & Dolce Underwear campaign, Daily Star, 69 magazine, The sun, Muscle&Fitness Magazine, Flex Magazine, Musclemania & Men's Health Magazine just to name a few of many. Also I can't Mention names due to confidentiality but I have worked with some celebs as a Pro trainer at Reebok UK.

 Q: How about some contest results.

 Ben Noy: Competitions I have won.....Britain champion, European and commonwealth champion and pro card winner, Abs Uk, Abs of the year '11, Abs of the world and a few more.


Q: How can we keep up to date with Ben Noy?

 Ben Noy: General network connections

Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/bennoyofficial
Twitter: @bennoyofficial
 Instagram: bennoyofficial
 Website: bennoy.co.uk
 YouTube channel     comingsoon:bennoyofficial
Q: Ben I understand fitness is not your only passion.
Ben Noy: Charities I represent (spokesman),  DSA - Down syndrome association & BCA - Bowel cancer association

    Like our FACEBOOK page ABFITT
Q:  Ben anything you would like to leave us with?

Ben Noy: Believe in yourself, you build your own future. Be positive and focus on one muscle group per work out (growth), don't spend hours @ the gym, don't train your jaw line by talking all the time as you need to keep your rests short (ripping out), stay hydrated for so many reasons and try and keep a diary of your food to learn what works for you...Rome wasn't built in a day, keep @ it peeps!!!!  Cheers, Ben Noy

                  



METABOLIC SUPER SETS (H.I.G.T) STYLE!

METABOLIC SUPER SETS (H.I.G.T): At the end of my training week I like to do a full body workout. I superset a group of compound movements in a circuit fashion. I call this H.I.G.T (High Intensity Group Training) and started doing this in 2004. I was working with a helicopter company fighting wildfires in remote area's. Time was limited so I needed to create an effective and fast routine. What eventually evolved into one hell of a workout.

3 sets of each H.I.G.T group. 5-25 rep range, Each group is performed without rest in between exercises. Once all exercises are complete rest 2-3 min ( more or less) then repeat until all sets are complete. Use weight relative to your strength and conditioning level.

Round 1: Incline push up (alternate hand positioning each set) >dumbbell squat press> wide grip pull up> Alternating One arm dumbbell plank rows>medicine ball ab twists feet elevated off ground.

Round 2: Barbell squat>bench press>dead-lift>25LB plate explosive squat jumps...hold one in each hand.
NOTE* ( I like to use a smith machine to go (heavy low reps) if no training partner is available)

Round 3: Medicine ball close grip incline push up>speed rope 1 min> one arm dumbbell snatch> Bent over barbell row!!!!

This is a great workout to completely drain muscle glucose and to mix up your training. I usually follow this with heavy bag work. the fighter in me never goes away so I always incorporate my love of boxing into my routines.

Rich Fit / What You Need To Know....

PROTEIN & SUPPLEMENT STRATEGIES FOR OPTIMUM TRAINING RESULTS







This formula incorporates all the latest sports supplement research, and we reveal the reasons behind these recommendations. However, if you’re the type who hedges bets, you may be more inclined to take in only one protein shake before or after your workout. Doing so will give you a big advantage over those who forgo their workout nutrition altogether, but may provide slightly less growth than our comprehensive formulation. We recommend that you go for the full monty.

Whether you want to take a protein supplement before or after your workouts, or at both times, AbFitt gives you the perfect formula for your schedule and needs. You’ll find that your time in the gym will be better spent.

THE PERFECT WORKOUT PRESCRIPTION
To get the best results possible from your nutrition plan, you need to take in a protein shake both before and after your workout.

PREWORKOUT
Take in a preworkout meal with the following ingredients in the 30 minutes before you train. Consume all the carbs and drink about half to two-thirds of this protein shake before a workout.

40 g whey protein
40 g slow-digesting carbs such as oatmeal, fruit, whole-wheat bread or sweet potatoes
3–5 g of creatine
3–5 g arginine
5 g BCAAs
5 g glutamine
Mix with about 20–30 oz water.

DURING WORKOUT
Add 20-30 ounces of water to the remains of your protein shake, and continue to sip it between sets. Finish this drink about two-thirds of the way through your workout.

AFTER WORKOUT


Drink a protein shake with the following ingredients immediately following your workout.

40 g protein
60–80 g fast-digesting carbs (sugar)
3–5 g creatine
5 g BCAAs
5 g glutamine

SINGLE-SHAKE SUCCESS
You may not always have the time or willingness to drink protein shakes before, during and after your workouts. While you will see optimal results from doing so, you can still get impressive results from drinking one shake before or after your workout. Here are the formulas for the best preworkout and post-workout shakes when you don’t plan to drink both.

PREWORKOUT SHAKE
Take in a preworkout meal with the following ingredients in the 30 minutes before you begin your workout.

50–60 g protein
80 g slow-digesting carbs, such as oatmeal, fruit, whole-wheat bread or sweet potatoes
5 g creatine
5 g arginine
10 g BCAAs
10 g glutamine

POST-WORKOUT
If you skipped your preworkout shake, then follow these guidelines for your post-workout shake:

50–60 g protein
80 g fast-digesting carbs (sugar)
5 g creatine
10 g BCAAs
10 g glutamine

What's Shakin'?
Here’s the scoop behind what’s in your scoop of protein powder.



WHEY Whey protein (about 20% of the protein in milk) is the fastest-digesting protein, making it an excellent pre- and post-workout choice. Its amino acids hit your bloodstream quickly, helping to stop muscle breakdown during workouts and jump-start the muscle-building process that comes with recovery. Whey also has a high concentration of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) — leucine, isoleucine and valine. These aminos, especially leucine, help to stimulate physiological processes that result in muscle growth. BCAAs also spike insulin levels, and insulin is an anabolic hormone that drives amino acids and glucose to your muscles to stimulate growth and recovery.

CASEIN Casein makes up the remaining fraction of milk protein (about 80%). Casein, however, is slow-digesting, meaning that it provides a slower, steadier release of amino acids. Recent research shows that casein increases muscle protein synthesis after workouts and may be as good as, or even a better than, whey. For best results, choose a protein product that contains both whey and casein.

SLOW-DIGESTING CARBS These carbs include yams, brown rice, oatmeal, fruit and whole-grain products such as whole-grain breads and pasta. These foods are digested slowly, meaning that the carbs they contain are released into the bloodstream as glucose at a slow rate. The advantage of this is that insulin levels are kept low, helping you to maintain energy levels for a longer period of time and reduce the likelihood of storing these carbs as body fat. Slow-digesting carbs are a good choice before workouts to enhance energy and promote fat burning.

FAST-DIGESTING CARBS These carbs include sugar, sports drinks, white-flour products such as plain bagels and white bread, and white potatoes. Fast-digesting carbs enter your bloodstream quickly as glucose, spiking insulin levels. While this is an undesirable effect at most times of day, it’s important to consume fast-digesting carbs after workouts because the insulin that is released in response to them helps drive muscle growth and recovery.

GLUTAMINE This is one of the most important amino acids for supporting health, muscle growth and recovery. The digestive system has a high demand for glutamine, and if you don’t have enough available, your body will break down muscle mass to get it. Supplementing with this amino helps spare the glutamine in your muscles. Glutamine also buffers the effects of intense exercise that tear down muscles, and it boosts growth-hormone levels to support muscle growth.

BCAAs These amino acids are critical for the manufacture, maintenance and repair of muscle tissue. Research on leucine, one of the three BCAAs, demonstrates that it stimulates protein synthesis, enhancing muscle growth. The BCAAs also help boost insulin release. After your workouts, this anabolic hormone stimulates muscle growth and drives nutrients, including amino acids, glucose and creatine to your muscle cells. BCAAs also help blunt cortisol levels, the catabolic hormone that leads to muscle breakdown. While you’ll get BCAAs in your protein (especially whey), it’s a good idea to add more to shakes for the specific advantages that BCAAs provide.

CREATINE Creatine is made from three amino acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. Supplementing with creatine before your workouts helps to keep your muscles saturated with creatine, producing the rapid energy your muscles need to enhance workouts. Creatine also helps to make your muscles stronger by pulling more water into muscle cells. For best results, take a dose of creatine before and after you work out to help keep creatine levels high and to replenish them after training.

ARGININE This amino acid is readily converted to nitric oxide (NO) in your body. NO is involved in numerous bodily functions that support muscle growth. The most important of these is vasodilation. Arginine supplementation helps to increase the diameter of blood vessels, resulting in an increase in blood flow to your muscles. This allows for a greater delivery of nutrients, oxygen and anabolic hormones to the muscle you’re working. It also creates a bigger pump during the workout. Finally, arginine also boosts growth-hormone levels. All of these effects are critical for muscle growth.

10 Packaged Foods You Shouldn't Buy

  1. Canned soup: This typically contains large amounts of processed salt, additives, MSG, and genetically engineered ingredients. Many companies also still use cans with bisphenol-A (BPA) in the lining. This plastic chemical has been identified as a potent endocrine disruptor, which means it mimics or interferes with your body's hormones and "disrupts" your endocrine system.
    2. Fortunately, making home-made soup is easy to learn and ensures you know exactly what's in it.
    tips:
    1. "Sign up for a CSA [local community supported agriculture] box and you'll have lots of crazy fruits and vegetables on hand to make soup.
    2. Invest in a hand blender... we use ours every single day and it's so much easier to blend the soup right in the pot.
    3. Make your own stock!" 
  2. Stock and Bouillon: Making stock is even easier than making soup. Instead of composting potato peels, onion skins, leek tops, eggplant stems and whatever else you happen to be left with, freeze them and make stock when you have enough to make a batch of vegetable stock.


  3. Canned Beans: Just like soup, beans taste better and fresher, and are better for you, if you buy them dried and prepare them at home -- and again, this way you'll ensure your beans aren't laced with BPA. CookingManager.com offers all sorts of cooking tips, including how to prepare dried beans from scratch.3 Commercially prepared beans are also typically cooked at very high heat for short periods of time, which is not as good as cooking them longer at lower temperatures.
    4. When foods are cooked at high temperatures, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are produced. These compounds, which stimulate cells to produce proteins that cause inflammation, can be toxic to the body. AGEs are normally produced at a slow rate, but the rate increases when food is highly heated. There is also a substantial body of evidence supporting the notion that heat treatment of food alters, damages or destroys many nutrients in the food.
    Think dried beans are too time consuming?
    "In reality, it takes around three minutes to put the beans in some water, another minute to change that water during soaking, and then about five more minutes to put them on the stove. All the beans you'll eat all week in less than 10 minutes."
  4. Hummus: Making your own hummus using fresh chickpeas takes just minutes once you get the hang of it, and gives you the freedom to season it to taste. 
  5.  
  6. Cereal: Most cereal is a combination of high-fructose corn syrup and GM corn, and cereals marketed to children are the worst offenders. According to one 2008 study, one serving of cereal equated to 11 percent of the daily limit of added sugar for active boys aged 14 to 18 years old, and an astounding 92 percent of the daily sugar intake for sedentary girls aged 9 to 13.4
    7. Reducing sugar intake should be on the top of your list regardless of whether you or your child is currently overweight, because it's been proven over and over that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging, and more.
    While the featured article points out that you can make muesli in a matter of minutes, sans added sugars, I don't recommend eating grain carbs for breakfast, even if it doesn't have any added sugars. Instead, I recommend focusing on protein for breakfast, such as easily-digested whey protein.
    Look for high quality whey protein derived from grass-fed, non-hormonally treated cows that's been minimally processed. This ensures it still contains beneficial immuno components, including immunoglobins, bovine serum albumin, and lactoferins, in addition to all the key amino acids and other beneficial nutrients you typically get from a high quality whey protein. Organic, pastured eggs are another excellent breakfast food, as long as it's consumed as close to raw as possible. Avoid scrambled eggs, as cooking destroys many of the beneficial nutrients.

  7. Microwave popcorn: Perfluoroalkyls — chemicals used to keep grease from leaking through fast food wrappers — are being ingested by people through their food and showing up as contaminants in their blood. One common source of these hazardous chemicals is — you guessed it — microwave popcorn bags...
    8. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been linked to infertility and a slew of other health problems. For example, these "gender-bending" chemicals can disrupt your endocrine system and affect your sex hormones, but they've also been linked to thyroid disease, cancer, immune system problems, and increased LDL cholesterol levels.
    Popping popcorn "from scratch" on the stove is simple, and gives you the option to salt and season to taste. I recommend using tasty and nutritious Himalayan Pink salt instead of processed table salt. Microwave popcorn typically contains harmful trans fats (although some brands will use the healthier palm oil rather than canola or soybean oil). If you choose to consume popcorn (it is not the healthiest food out there) you can at least use organic corn and a far healthier oil like organic virgin coconut oil and smoother it with raw grass-fed organic butter.

  8. Bottled water and "functional" waters: Plain, pure water is by far the most healthful beverage you can conceive of, and you need water to survive. However, slick marketing campaigns have managed to turn an essential part of your diet into a pure disaster... We now have an ever-widening array of flavored water, "zero calorie" water, and so-called "enhanced" or "functional" water products on the market.
    9. Avoid them all.
    Typically, they will add artificial sweeteners and dyes, listed in virtually microscopic four-point font hidden on the bottom or side of the bottle. These enhanced water products can also contain enormous amounts of sugar and fructose, adding to the numerous health problems caused by both excessive fructose consumption and genetically engineered ingredients (as an unknown amount of high fructose corn syrup is made from genetically engineered corn). Clearly, any type of water other than purified water is NOT going to improve your health, and should be avoided entirely.
    Additionally, plastic chemicals can leach out of the bottles and contaminate the water, like phthalates and bisphenol-A (BPA). Then there's the issue with all that plastic trash being generated, which is wreaking havoc on our environment. Your best bet for clean, pure water is to simply install a high quality water filter for your tap, or entire home.

  9. Fruit and vegetable juices: Fruit juices are far worse then vegetable juices and should be avoided as it is far better to have the whole unprocessed fruit. While labels promise the contents are "100 percent juice," there's virtually no such thing when you're buying commercial juice. Not only does the flavor come courtesy of professional flavor and fragrance chemists, fruit juice is also notoriously high in fructose, whether it's from added high fructose corn syrup or naturally-occurring fructose in the fruit.
    10. You're better off juicing vegetables at home to boost the nutrition of your overall diet. Raw vegetable juice teems with valuable and sensitive micronutrients that become damaged or destroyed when the juice is pasteurized, so avoid the store-bought versions and juice your own from scratch instead. Raw juice can be likened to a "living broth." It is the closest transfer of solar energy (biophotons) directly to you that we know of. Additionally, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes can be rapidly absorbed. The benefits of raw organic vegetable juice are numerous. For example, it can help:
    • Promote weight loss.
    • Boost your immune system by supercharging it with concentrated phytochemicals.
    • Increase energy. When your body has an abundance of the nutrients it needs, and your pH is optimally balanced, you feel energized. Since it can be utilized by your body immediately, those who juice report feeling the "kick" of energy almost instantly.
    • Support brain health. People who drank juices (fruit and vegetable) more than three times per week, compared to less than once a week, were 76 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to the Kame Project.5
     One important factor to keep in mind is that, since vegetable juice is very perishable, it's best to drink all of your juice right after you make it. However, if you're careful, you can store it for up to 24 hours with only moderate nutritional decline.
    Additionally there is the concern that free methanol will be created once you process the juice and store it in a container. Methanol (wood alcohol) has been associated with autoimmune diseases like MS. Fresh fruits and vegetables contain small amounts of naturally-occurring methanol. Normally this is not a problem as the methanol is typically bound to pectin, and since your body has no enzyme to metabolize that bond, it is simply excreted in your stool and none of the methanol is absorbed into your body. However, the problem occurs when you can or bottle fruit or vegetable juice, as the methanol tends to then dissociate from the pectin into free methanol, which you do absorb.
    The methanol you absorb readily passes the blood brain barrier where it can be converted to form formaldehyde, which is a potent toxin that actually causes most of the damage.

  10. Yogurt: Kefir or traditionally fermented yoghurt is chock full of healthful bacteria (probiotics). In ancient times, food preservation was accomplished through lacto-fermentation, a process that adds a host of beneficial micro-organisms to food. This makes them easier to digest, and increases the healthy flora in your intestinal tract.
    11. But don't expect to be able to pick up the real deal in your local supermarket. Pasteurized products will not provide you with these health benefits, as the pasteurization process destroys most of the precious enzymes and other nutrients.

    10. Fermented vegetables: Cultured or fermented foods have a very long history in virtually all native diets, and have always been highly prized for their health benefits. The culturing process produces beneficial microbes that are extremely important for human health as they help balance your intestinal flora, thereby boosting overall immunity. Moreover, your gut literally serves as your second brain, and even produces more of the neurotransmitter serotonin — known to have a beneficial influence on your mood — than your brain does, so maintaining a healthy gut will benefit your mind as well as your body. Fermented foods are also some of the best chelators and detox agents available, meaning they can help rid your body of a wide variety of toxins, including heavy metals.

Queens Of Lean...The Ladies Of ABFITT


(Mimi, Miami)

   
        LIKE ABFITT ON FACEBOOK

 Over the years ABFITT has featured some very special woman. These woman stand out. Having achieved success in being mom's, wives, Grandmother's and driven career oriented individuals. Passionate about life and their personal health and fitness. Today I am honored to once again visit these great gals and share with you these true examples of commitment, balance, drive, discipline and BAD ASS bodies!!

(Janet Lee, Alabama)









 Mother of seven & AbFitt favorite Janet "No excuses" Lee. (pictured right) her amazing work ethic and no nonsense approach to fitness, became an overnight favorite of AbFitt readers. Amazingly she has surpassed Trainer to the stars "Mark Twight" & the Internet darling "Chicken Tuna" as the most downloaded person from AbFitt, over 2500 hits to her picture in one week.


Hamburg Germany's, Latina Wanda




http://abfitt.blogspot.com/2010/10/want-legs-like-this-heres-all-you-need.htm

(Melanie Townsend South Carolina)














 Melanie Townsend, age 45, (pictured right) "I’ve always been kind of active with tennis, rollerblading, and running. Never lifted weights. I mean I played around with some 5 and 10 lb dumbbells, but that was it. I only started lifting heavy in June 2010".
" I had gained some weight last year, I was up to 155 lbs, which at 5’9” isn’t that bad, but I decided to lose 20 lbs by June, when my husband and I were going on a cruise to the Bahamas. I accomplished this, and just kept feeling better. My husband lifts weights, and he was always trying to get me to lift heavy, but I wasn’t sure it was for me..now I know that it is, I’ve never felt better in my life, FULL of energy. I feel better than I did at my age, than I did at 25, AND I look better! (No kidding!)"
http://abfitt.blogspot.com/2010/09/not-so-average-jill-melanie-townsend.html


(Kim Seymour, PA)








Trishann Green
(left)




Kim Seymour, (pictured left) 32 year old professional, spends 5 to 6 days per week in the gym. Kim prepares her food in advance and supplements to support her training and her bodies needs. Kim believes in split training as well as full body routines. "You have to keep your body guessing so you keep your body changing".






(Sandy Urland, PA)

 Working out has always been a part of my life. I don't ever want to be fat and out of shape...it's one of my biggest fears but I do like my sweets and this is how I can enjoy them and not feel so guilty.

Working out makes me feel good, wakes me up in the morning, keeps me strong and tone, keeps me younger and healthier. There is nothing bad about it.

I work out at home because it's convenient, inexpensive and I can do it on my time and not have to worry about driving anywhere. The key to working out at home though is variety. I have all kinds of workout videos/dvds from kickboxing, pilates, weight training, step aeorbics, dance, and cardio plus I run on a treadmill and ride bike (indoor and out). I sometimes do 10-15 minutes of each that way I don't get bored. I workout for at least 60-90 minutes 5 times a week. I used to work out 7 days a week but that was when all I believed in was cardio. Over time I have learned that you must weight train also. It's good for your muscles and helps you burn fat faster! My husband used to always tell me this and I would never listen to him but then I started reading Women's Health Magazines and found out that he was right!







(Kimmie PKFITNESSFORLIFE, Mass)
http://abfitt.blogspot.com/2012/12/introducing-pk-fitnessforlife.html
 Guest writer & model PK Fitnessforlife.
45 year old Facebook Sensation & inspiration to many, spreading her daily dose of self worth, kindness towards others and achieving personal empowerment through health/fitness of both body and mind. ABFITT would like to introduce you to Kimmie PK Fitnessforlife.
Mother to her 8 year old Little Boy & lifelong resident of Western Massachusetts, upon overcoming an abusive marriage (6 years ago) sought personal empowerment in the gym and developing a personal mental conditioning strategy that is offered to clients through her PK Fitnessforlife program
 

http://www.facebook.com/platinumkimmie
Nancy Reinhardt, Atlanta GA 
(Julie Mertz Fry)






























  









Introducing PK Fitnessforlife ...



 Today Guest writer & model PK Fitnessforlife.
 
Facebook Sensation & inspiration to many, spreading her daily dose of self worth, kindness towards others and achieving personal empowerment through health/fitness of both body and mind. ABFITT would like to introduce you to Kimmie PK Fitnessforlife. Enjoy and be inspired!



Mother to her 8 year old Little Boy & lifelong resident of Western Massachusetts (born in 1967)
upon overcoming an abusive marriage (6 years ago) sought personal empowerment in the gym and developing a personal mental conditioning strategy that is offered to clients through her PK Fitnessforlife program
           http://www.facebook.com/platinumkimmie
 
PK:   Optimum health and fitness is only achieved when every aspect of who (mind & body) you are, is called into play and exercised.  There is not much point in buffing the chasse and shining the wheels of that high performance sports car if you later fill it with inferior fuel and park it in a land mine field.  Far too many people work tirelessly on building there muscles yet undermine their efforts with hyper-self criticism.  Have you ever talked with someone at the Gym who shares their frustration at never skipping a workout and eating clean yet not seeing the results they feel their efforts warrant? 

 The emotional and psychological self can undermine the physical self when not trained equally.  It is said that we can only achieve that which we believe and I passionately endorse this and live my life by this code.  Believing in who we are resides in the emotional and psychological self and is the inner fuel that feeds the physical self to grow and improve.  Finding the discipline to consistently go and train at the Gym is also pulled from this part of who we are.  I have found countless people are reluctant to exercise their “self-worth” muscles in fear it is both weak and vein and these are the people I work with.  I remind these individuals that looking inward and working on becoming stronger within takes courage and only achieved by the strong.  If you truly want to grow, improve and strengthen completely you need to perform regular “check-ups from the neck-up”.  Blame, anger, self-pity and avoidance are characteristics of the mentally weak, as well as self deprecation. 

 When we enter this World as newborn infants we have only love and hopeful optimism in our hearts.  The World around us and the life experiences contained within have yet to erode our hope and belief in who we are and what feel we can accomplish.  If only there was curriculum within the school systems to stimulate and strengthen self image and esteem we wouldn’t see so many unhappy adults.  This work is ours and ours alone and there is a wonderful empowerment to be gained in performing the work.  You have already demonstrated that you are a person of discipline and action by walking your talk at the Gym so you are half way there.  First you should smile and become excited because it’s easier then it seems as it is the one and only true area of total control you have in your Life. 

 We Human Beings love control and all too often seek it in every area outside of our attainment.  You can go to the Gym and lift 50 pounds only to be mocked by the person next to you who is lifting 100, you have no control over the level of maturity or decency that person extends to you; but you have 100% control over the reaction you give back.  Never losing sight of your being a total success each and every day you make the effort regardless of how far you progressed, focusing on that single step having propelled you ever forward.  So I applaud and encourage you to continue to fuel your body with clean foods and exercise your muscles with sweating at the Gym but don’t grow mentally lazy and ignore who you are while focused solely on what you do.  Be good to yourself, you are perfect because you are you and if this Planet lived on another 100 trillion years there will never be another you; if that doesn’t demonstrate your perfection I’m not sure what would.  God Bless.
                                                   LIKE US ON FACEBOOK ....ABFITT
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)