Burpee Tolerance Test (take this today!)

Did you know that the burpee burns over 12 calories per minute and works 639 different muscles?

Today, I have one very special challenge for you. It consists of, that’s right – the burpee.

This challenge will test your “Burpee Tolerance”, as I call it.

Here’s what you do…

After warming up and turning on your pump up music, I want you to get focused and fired up …

Once you are ready to go you, will complete the following:

*Perform as many burpees in a row as possible without stopping.

Once you stop and can’t go anymore, that number is your “Burpee Tolerance.”

 

Now there are a few rules to this:

1. Once you start, you cannot stop. If you stop, your burpee count stops.

2. You must do all the burpees as quickly as you can. The burpee is a high intensity exercise, so don’t cheat yourself by going slow on this challenge.

3. If you can, include the pushup and squat jump. If that is too hard, eliminate the pushup and keep the squat jump.

(Note: if you cannot do a burpee with a pushup, your goal should be to build up into doing this.)

 

After going through the challenge, make sure you write down the amount of burpees you were able to get in a row.

Your goal now is to beat that score the next time you perform this test.

Now I get asked all the time, “How do I get better at burpees?”

=> Here’s a plan on exactly how to do 50 straight burpees with no rest PLUS 27 other goal programs!

 

The first thing you need to do is look at what the burpee exercise itself consists of. In one single repetition, you hit three main areas:

-Pushups

-Squat Jumps

-Cardiovascular

So aside from doing burpees more often, you can also make burpees easier by hitting the three areas above.

Gaining strength in your legs and upper body will help with the strength portion of the exercise and you can do this through:

— Lower Body: Bodyweight Squats, Prisoner Squats, Dumbbell/Barbell Squats, Squat Jumps,

— Lunges, etc …

— Upper Body: Pushups, DB Chest Press, Bench Press, Overhead Press, etc …

 

Then we have the high intensity portion…

The best way to increase your cardio is by doing sprint intervals or of course more burpees which I know you are pumped for 🙂

See The 28 Fitness Goals For A Strong, Leaner, And More Fit YOU 28 Fitness Goals You MUST Achieve

 

So try this “burpee tolerance” test today, and report back with how you do. That’s all I got for ‘ya for now – keep training hard, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
ForestVance.com
ForestVanceTraining.com

PS – No matter what you want to accomplish, there is a plan for you created by an expert that has dedicated their life to figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Check out what these 11 experts put together for you:

=> 28 Fitness Goals You MUST Achieve

FVT Nutrition Coaching Group – Now Accepting New Applications

You’ve been working out – hard – two, three, four or more days per week. You feel like you’re getting stronger, you have more energy, and your overall fitness level is without a doubt improving.

BUT, you’re just not getting the fat loss results you know you could be.

I mean, you’re TRYING to watch what you eat. You know it’s better than it was when you started your workout program. So it’s really strange that you’re not losing at least one or two pounds per week.

Alright. Here’s the deal. I’m a nice guy, but at the end of the day, I gotta be real with you – because my job is to get you results.

It’s your nutrition.

You could very well FEEL like you’re eating pretty good – or at least making an effort to – but actually, you are probably making a few simple (but NOT necessarily obvious) mistakes that are keeping you from losing fat like you should be.

It could be eating sweets and snacks during the day. It could be drinking a beer or glass of wine (or two) each night. It could be going way overboard on the weekends with eating out.

Point is, you THINK you are eating good most of the time … but it’s simply not enough to get you where you want to be. You need a plan, some guidance, and accountability in your nutrition planning to help you reach your goals.

Enter the FVT Nutrition Coaching group.

This group will provide you with the specific plan, the accountability, the support, and what one of our members recently called “positive peer pressure” you need to make some serious in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Members of the group get:

— Bi-weekly in-person meeetings – we weigh in, I personally do a 15-20 minute talk on a nutrition-related topic, and then we do our “hot seat” portion of the coaching
– We go around the room and talk about any specific challenges YOU are having that are keeping you from reaching your ultimate goals. And we break it down as a group and try to help you solve it!
— Private Facebook group – so that all members of the group can interact w one another between meetings, share recipes, etc.
— Weekly food log report reviews – I personally review your food log report each week to make sure you are staying on track.
— And more.

Now there IS an application process. Truly, we do not want to accept anyone and everyone in this group. That’s why I have NOT set up an online payment option.

The cost is very reasonable actually (currently $49 per month for new members) – so that’s not the reason we’ve decided to do it this way. The key is that anyone who wants into the group must be ready to get very serious, stop making excuses, and make some amazing changes.

It’s not for everyone. But it is a GREAT solution for the right people. If you are interested, click HERE, fill out the contact form and let me know want in the Nutrition Coaching Group. Tell me why you think you’d be a good fit for the group. And I’ll get back with you ASAP!

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon, and have a great day –

Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training
ForestVanceTraining.com

PS – We have space for only a handful of folks in the current group – so if you’re interested, please fill out an application as soon as you can! Thanks 🙂

PPS – Big shout out to Kristine M, a current member of our nutrition coaching group and long-time FVT client. She posted this message in our Facebook group the other day:

“I do my own weigh in on Saturday mornings and today I passed the 20 pound mark! I’m so proud of myself yet so very thankful to my friends here at the nutrition coaching group! You all are so amazing, thank you for all your support!!”

Congrats to you Kristine and keep up the great work!!

June 2014 Challenge Workout Results

2012-08-06-18.14.29

 

Here’s the June 2014 FVT Challenge Workout again , in case you missed it:

=> June 2014 FVT Challenge Workout

 

And the results:

(Women Non-Modified)

SK 18:14
BC 18:41
SF 18:54
KM 19:30
MG 20:07
JM 20:49
AL 21:25
FY 21:46
MT 21:46
MD 21:57
EZ 23:14
LA 24:52

(Women Modified)

MA 19:11
BR 20:57
MM 21:37
AM 22:00
CL 23:47
CP 24:23
CG 25:00
GK 25:41

(Men Non-Modified)

RM 16:14
BP 17:32
RA 18:02
FM 18:59
JM 19:07
BD 20:02
MP 20:23
PD 22:00
PK 22:43

(Men Modified)

MH 21:54
BR 22:16
CB 22:56
RB 23:09
MM 23:22
ED 24:45

(DNF – great work, you’ll smoke it next time! 🙂

LT
LC
RR
JV
CB
AT
ST
JD
MH
AR
DM
NG
KM
RK
VC
OM
TM
ET
SE
SS
NH

New Video – How to Make Your Own Protein Bars!

Protein bars can be awesome when it comes to a quick, healthy snack you can take with you and eat on the go.

However, most pre-made bars are closer to a candy bar with a little protein added in, than an actual nutritious food item that will bring you closer to your fitness goals.

Making your own protein bars is a great option. This way, you know exactly what’s going in to them – and you’ll probably even save a little money, too!

Our superstar client – and now FVT internet marketing specialist – Erik has put together a video for you on how to make your own protein bars. Check it out:

 

How to Make Your Own Protein Bars

(Video Recap)

My first ingredient is organic steel cut oats. We’re going to add two cups of oats to start this recipe.

I’m adding a spoonful of raw cacao powder. Next is my favorite ingredient, a little cinnamon. Killed it.

So we’ve got our oats, protein powder, cinnamon and raw cacao in the bowl. Mix it all together.

These are all of our dry ingredients. Now we’ll put the wet ones together in another bowl.

I’m starting with our wet ingredients. First off, we’ve got a quarter cup of honey. Mmm…glucose.

To our honey we’re going to add a couple scoops of peanut butter. I prefer organic because it doesn’t have any added sugar.

Next I’m adding a quarter cup of almond milk. You can use any kind of milk…soy, regular cow’s milk. But I love almond milk so we’re going with that.

Now I’m adding a quarter cup of applesauce to this mix. I don’t think I’ve had applesauce since I was in second grade so this should be fun.

Finally, I’m going to add some vanilla extract.

Now stir it all together!

We have a pretty good consistency so I’ll add this to the dry bowl. So we have the wet and the dry together. More stirring, yay!!

Okay, so here is my secret ingredient. A little raw cream. Oh yeah.

Now that it is all mixed together I’ll put it in this dish (lined with wax paper) and put in the fridge. They suggest putting it in for twenty minutes but we’ll see if I can wait that long.

Okay, here is the big reveal! …okay, it kind of looks the same. Here’s my assistant. Next up…let’s try it.

So I just took a forkful because who has time to cut things? OH YEAH!!

Protein bar recipe:

Dry ingredients: 2 cups of oats, 1 cup of protein powder, a couple dashes of cinnamon, a couple dashes of raw cacao powder

Wet ingredients: 1/4 cup of honey, 1/4 cup of milk, two tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 cup of applesauce, a dash of raw cream

Add all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix them together. Add all of your wet ingredients together in a another bowl. Stir. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stir. Add to a dish lined with wax paper and put in the fridge for 20 minutes. Remove, cut and enjoy!

Thanks,

The FVT Team

June 2014 Challenge Workout

RFLC 3.22.14 014

Killer challenge workout for you this month to test your conditioning and all-around fitness.

Remember – these challenges are to be done only PERIODICALLY, as a way to see if your fitness level is improving. They are not intended as a stand-alone program, or as workouts you would do several times each week, etc. We do them once per month at the FVT studio, and then come back and re-visit the same challenge every three months to see how we’ve improved.

Let’s get started –

June 2014 FVT Challenge Workout

— 100 kettlebell swings (16k for women, 24k for men)
— 50 burpees (touch body to the floor on each rep)
— 100 push ups (knees for women, toes for men)
— 50 inverted rows (body should be parallel to the floor; body touches bar/etc. at top of each rep)
— 100 walking lunges (tap knee to the floor at the bottom of each rep; ea step counts as one)

 

– weights listed are “prescribed” and what you want to eventually work up to using … BUT use good judgement and safety when selecting a weight for YOUR own fitness and ability level
– exercises can be done in ANY order you want (do NOT have to do reps consecutively)
– 25 min time limit
– under 23 mins is awesome
– under 20 mins is the “gold” standard

Enjoy! And let us know how ‘ya do!! Results will be posted at the end of the week.

– The FVT Team

How I Lost 64 Pounds in 7 Months (NOT what you think)

Today, I’m going to share with you my personal story. About how I lost 64 pounds in 7 months. I’m also going to reveal what I think was the #1 key to my success … and I’ll bet it’s not what ya think! So make sure to read the WHOLE story to find out …

A little less than 9 years ago, my football career came to an end. Half of my life up to that point – over 10 years – had been invested in being the best I could be at my sport. I played all four years of high school, five years in college and two in and out of the NFL.

So it was quite the transition. And going from working out hours per day with a very specific purpose, to NO directed workouts at all, and no real purpose to train for … real quick I was out of shape.

One day, I saw this picture of myself:

And decided enough was enough. I set out to train six days per week, plan my meals religiously and get to my “fighting” weight of 246 (at the end of the summer after my senior year of high school I was weighing in at 246, and that’s when I had been in the best shape of my life, up to that point).

So I started on the plan. Things went very well at first, if I remember correctly, the first 10 or 20 pounds came off very fast – within the first month or so.

But pretty soon, the weight loss started to slow down. I hit a plateau for a few good weeks, and it was very frustrating.

At this point I was training by myself. All my strength workouts, all my cardio sessions – I was doing them alone.

I realized that I had trained in a team environment, been around like-minded people working towards a common goal for more than 10 years. And I realized that that’s what I needed again to kick-start my progress again.

So what I did at the time was 1) take two or three spin classes per week at the gym I was working at, and 2) lifted with the guys I worked with at the gym two or three times per week.

That snapped the plateau. In fact, it took me all the way to my goal weight in about 7 months. And I KNOW that getting around other like-minded people was the #1 factor that helped me really reach my ultimate goals (and maintain them until now, I might add):

So, if YOU are struggling, if you’re at a plateau … if you feel like your workouts and your nutrition is pretty good, and you can’t really figure out why you’re not making progress … this could be the missing factor for you.

And, the exact type of support you need is individual to you. Maybe it’s a spin class. Maybe it’s a training partner. The training programs we offer at the FVT Studio are also a great solution for many folks.

=> Click HERE to leave us a message and schedule your Test-A-Trainer session today

You may (or may not) know WHAT you need to do. And the reality is, if you don’t, you can do a little research and come up with a plan for yourself if you really wanted to.

At the end of the day, it’s being around like-minded people working towards a common goal, it’s the accountability and the motivation and everything else that comes with being a part of the FVT “tribe” that gets our clients such amazing results, and new success stories coming several times each and every month. (Take a look at the testimonial section on our website HERE to see a few of them!)

The moral of the story is, wherever you’re at, get some help and don’t go at it alone. Find the best solution for YOU, whatever it is. And see your results blast through the roof!!!

Thanks, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance, MS, RKC II
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

7 Tips To Make Fat Burning Meals

Got a guest post for you today on 7 tips to make fat burning meals from Diana Keulian.

Diana is a busy mother of two and creator of RealHealthyRecipes.com – an INCREDIBLE resource for just what it says – real, healthy recipes!

After years of frustration, she’s landed on her “formula” for creating meals that promote fat loss, and taste good while doing it. And you’ll discover the basics of her formula in today’s article.

Enjoy!

– Forest

###

My name is Diana Keuilian, I’m the creator of Family Friendly Fat Burning Foods and today I’d like to share with you my top 7 Tips To Make Fat Burning Meals.

Wouldn’t it be great if all your favorite comfort meals naturally promoted fat loss? I think that would be awesome.

My old favorite comfort meals were fried fish tacos, fully-loaded veggie burritos, angel hair pasta with mizithra cheese and cheese-smothered veggie burgers with fries. Yummmmmmmm! Unfortunately these old favorites brought on rapid fat storage.

Due to my love of food, in my twenties I went from a size 4 to a size 12.

In my frustration I tried portion control, and began to limit the amount of foods that I ate. This began a yo-yo cycle of eating less food one day, more the next, and never seeing the results I wanted.

Over the past few years I’ve read countless books on nutrition and have finally landed on the formula for creating meals that promote fat loss, and taste good while doing it.

Oh and this method of eating has effortlessly brought me back to that size 4 🙂

This is what I discovered…

Fat Burning Tip #1) Focus On Protein

The base of a fat burning meal is a healthy serving of quality, lean protein. Choose from organic, hormone-free chicken, pork, beef, lamb, veal, fish or eggs.

No wonder I was gaining weight! Most of my favorite meals had very little to do with protein. After giving up meat at age 12, I spent the next 18 years as a junk food vegetarian. Most of my meals were made up of processed grains and sugar.

Why is protein so important? Protein supports and fuels your lean tissues, namely your muscles, and does not have an effect on blood sugar levels, which would promote fat storage.

Fat Burning Tip #2) Ditch Grains and Refined Sugar

A fat burning meal does not contain a serving of grains or starches. Yes, I realize that this goes against everything that we have been taught or experienced with dinners. Most meals are plated with a jumbo serving of noodles, pasta, potatoes, rice, has been breaded or is served with bread, tortillas, chips or buns.

As I learned the hard way, these carbs are more than we need, and end up being stored as fat. And, yes, it is possible to create fat-burning dinners that satisfy even the hungriest meat-and-potatoes members of your family.

This was the hardest part for me to get used to. Grains and sugar are filled with fat-promoting carbs, and as you saw above, my favorite meals were all carb-ed out.

There’s really no reason, other than habit, to eat grains or sugar on a regular basis. Once I removed these from my diet, and got out of the habit of eating them, I no longer craved or even found my old favorites very appealing.

Fat Burning Tip #3) Bring On The Veggies

After you remove the grains and sugars from your meal, add a bunch of fiber-filled veggies instead. One of my favorite things to do now when building a fat burning meal is to get a bowl, add a few handfuls of organic spinach and arugula, and then top it with protein and some cooked veggies. Add a light homemade dressing and you’re looking at the perfect, quick fat burning meal.

Fiber-filled veggies are important for many reasons in addition to the fiber. They are filled with nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, all of which your body needs. They are also very low in calories compared to the amount of space that they take up in your stomach. So you’ll get full faster on fewer calories.

Fat Burning Tip #4) Quality Ingredients

Ingredients are the building blocks to a healthy meal so pay attention to the quality of the ingredients you use. Fast food just isn’t going to cut it! Be willing to spend a little more on the foods that you eat. Quality is much more important that quantity.

When choosing meat look for organic, antibiotic and hormone-free. Avoid processed meats, like lunchmeats, as these contain potentially harmful additives and lots of salt. Also avoid highly processed soy fake meats.

Choose foods that are:

Fresh, organic and seasonal
Pronounceable ingredients
Whole foods

Fat Burning Tip #5) Use A Healthy Cooking Method

The method in which you cook your meal determines how many calories, how much added fat, and the number of nutrients that survive.

Don’t prepare meals like this:

Fried and battered
Processed and packaged
Doused with cream sauce

Choose these cooking methods:

Grilled
Baked
Broiled
Steamed

Fat Burning Tip #6) Cook With Coconut Oil

I used to always cook with vegetable oil, never realizing how harmful it was to my fat loss efforts. Unfortunately most people use harmful, unstable and fat promoting oils when they cook.

The good news is that coconut oil is an amazing, healthy oil that not only tastes great but also helps promote fat loss. Among its many benefits, coconut oil is stable, even at high temperatures. It’s filled with lauric acid, which boosts the immune system and helps ward off infections.

Best of all, coconut oil has been shown to increase metabolism and thyroid activity, which boosts fat burning.

Fat Burning Tip #7) Enjoy Dessert of Fresh Fruit

When is the last time that you bit into a fresh, organic, perfectly ripe piece of fruit? Delicious, wasn’t it? I used to overlook fruit as the perfect dessert that it is, and instead would eat artificially flavored, cane sugar sweetened, processed desserts that encourage rapid weight gain and declined health.

I’m not going to say that ice cream and chocolate don’t taste awesome, because they do. But eating desserts like that on a regular basis is one of the big reasons that I kept gaining weight back in my twenties. By making the simple switch from refined sugar desserts to desserts of organic, fresh fruit I was able to lose weight without feeling deprived.

Let’s bring fruit back to its rightful place as our favorite, most popular after-dinner sweet. Out with the refined sugar and corn syrup and in with Nature’s sweetest gift…fresh fruit.

Hope that you have enjoyed these 7 Tips To Make Fat Burning Meals. I’m walking proof that this way of eating truly delivers results without deprivation or boring, bland meals.

I love food WAY too much to give up flavorful, delicious dinners, snacks and desserts. In fact, I’m so passionate about creating fat burning foods that, for the first time ever, I’ve put all of my best recipes and eating secrets together into a full Family Friendly Fat Burning Meals program.

This system has over 100 of my family’s favorite fat burning recipes – which I used to effortlessly reverse the weight I had gained in my twenties. It’s tasty stuff like Chicken Enchiladas, Baked Chicken Nuggets, Make-Your-Own Tacos, Healthy Brownies, Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies and much, much more.

Here’s a page where you can learn more about my Family Friendly Fat Burning Meals Program

I’m excited to hear your fat loss success story. Good luck, and enjoy all of those tasty recipes 🙂

FVT 15 Minute Follow-Along Body Weight Workout Video

fvt follow along workout

We’ve been getting a TON of interest in the 21 Day Summer Shape Up Rapid Fat Loss Formula program we’re running right now at the studio.

But we’re also getting a lot of the same questions from folks that are *considering* signing up. Such as –

“What do you guys actually DO at a FVT boot camp workout? “

“How is a session structured?”

“What kind of exercises do you do?”

We put together a 15 minute follow-along body weight workout video for subscribers of the FVT Newsletter a short time ago – but in case you missed it, thought it would be a great time to re-post the link.

Gina and I take you through a 15 minute, body weight – ONLY, full body workout you can do ANYWHERE with absolutely zero equipment. It’s a great little sample of what you’d actually experience in a full workout at FVT. Check it out here:

=> 15 Minute Follow-Along Body Weight Workout Video from FVT

And, for more details on the 21 Day Summer Shape Up Rapid Fat Loss Formula program – and to reserve your spot – click HERE.

Train hard, and talk soon –

Forest Vance, Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training