If you read my post, "A Little bit About Me", then you know back then I was 46 years old and weighing 226lbs. Well I just turned 47 a couple of weeks ago and my weight hasn't gotten any better. As a matter of fact I have gained a few pounds. I found out in January that my fiance was pregnant. So I have been kinda stressing here trying to get things ready for the baby. I was still working out but not as much as I should have. And I was telling my fiance that it was sympathy weight gain. :)
Then there was a checkup where my EKG didn't look right to my doctor. So I was running around having test's done and stressing out over that.
I didn't feel any different but they say that you don't have to feel it for it to get bad.
Well after all the test's and running around they found that my Diabetes has done some damage to my heart. Even though it was just a little damage, any damage is enough.

So after talking it over with my doctor, who said it was ok to lose weight and train, I was gonna get back into my 7 minute muscle training.

Let me say this, when your 47 and find out you have a problem with your heart it kinda get's you down. Did me anyway. Here it is, I'm starting a new life with a wife and child on the way and it kinda scared me. I wanted to be sure I was around for the both of them. I would like to see my baby grow and do amazing things.

Since I do the 7 Minute Muscle and promote it, (in case you haven't noticed:)), I decided to check out another book that Jon Benson came out with.

Fit Over 40

Jon Benson and Tom Venuto wrote this together and let me tell you it is definitely different. This isn't the type of book where one or two guy's tell you how to train to stay Fit over 40, there's 52 other people in there giving their life story on what they went through to be as healthy as they are today.

There are three sections to the book.

First section:
Jon has written the first chapter of the book. He gives details of his own personal struggle with his weight and his health. He tells his story of how an inactive and undisciplined life was slowly making him die. He tells us what inspired him to transform himself and maintain the incredible condition he currently displays today.
Jon also has some great principles he give's:

* BodyWorks: Strength & Strategy
* Inner Fuel: The Taste of Health
* I Can See The Valley: New Hills, New Horizons
* Begin and Believe
* Post-40 Training Tips

Second section:
I believe this is the heart of the book. After reading the inspiration giving by Jon, He leads you through the stories of 52 other people. All who are over 40 and in great health. I thought I was in bad shape. There are some in here that were worse off then me. There's even one in a wheel chair.
The thing is, it's not about a bunch of athlete's or muscle bound freaks, yes there is some athlete's and competitive bodybuilder's in there, but there are people who are just like you and me. So it's easy to relate to them.
Some of them were very sick and some of them were healthy, but they are all over 40 and in great health today.
All ranging from the age of 40 to 80.
Will you believe there is a 77-year-old grandmother who trains and competes in bodybuilding with her 48-year-old daughter!

Section three:
Tom Venuto, author of the number 1 selling book Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle,(Fit Over 40 is number 2), takes over here. He lead's us through the 5 Pillars of Anti-Aging.

* Pillar 1: Weight & Strength Training
* Pillar 2: Aerobic Training
* Pillar 3: Learning To Be Flexible
* Pillar 4: Lifelong Nutrition
* Pillar 5: Recovery and Renewal

This help's us with the mental part and the physical part of staying fit over 40.

Conclusion:
Fit over 40 is not real big on work out's and packing on muscle.
It is big on inspiration and motivation.
Like I said before, this book isn't all about muscle bound freak's or pro athlete's, it's about everyday people just like me and you.
I believe this book is great for anyone over 40. Whenever you feel your inspiration or even your motivation is down, coming back and reading this book will lift them high again.

Fit Over 40 comes in 2 versions.
1.ebook (pdf format) $39.00
2.Success For Life Kit (e-book, paperback and MP3 audios) $59.00
Both come complete with 5 free e-books to download.

I recommend Fit over 40 as a great reading and motivational book. And at that price a great value also.

I'll be posting my progress on here and if any of you have Fit Over 40 or would like to share your motivational story I would love to hear from you too.

Fit Over 40

One of my favorite things to do when I'm traveling is supersets. Supersets combines two movements (usually for two different bodyparts) back to back without rest. This gets the heart rate up and cuts down on workout time.

My favorite technique for supersets is called "heavy/light". A great example of this is the workout I did today: Chest and Biceps. Since I can press much heavier dumbbells than I can curl (and this is true for everyone), I use a lighter weight for my chest movements, getting 12-20 repetitions. I follow that immediately with the SAME dumbbells for seated curls on the same bench, but the weight is heavy enough to only allow 4-6 repetitions.

This is a great way to mix up your rep schemes without hogging the dumbbells or having to change weights mid-exercise. Give it a shot.

7 Minute Muscle

Here is a butt-toning tip.

Most every gal in the gym is familiar with the lunge. You see hordes of women doing lunges... some trainers even have them walking around outside doing lunges.

Good idea... bad execution.

Do your lunges like this:

1. One leg at a time. Burn out the muscle with mental and physical focus. Do not do one leg then the other, or walking lunges. This is not only harder on the knees, it
removes the mind/body connection that focusing on one leg at a time can give you.

2. Then after you do one leg, then the other, rest 1 minute and then do a set of 20 rep squats using dumbbells, or on a Smith Machine. After this, repeat the lunge exercise, then the squat, then you're done.

That's two "giant sets" -- two sets of one-legged lunges and two sets of squats.
That's it. You can do this in under 7-10 minutes flat. And that's the only thing that
will be flat, if you know what I mean. ; )

Not only are you done with your legs, your butt will be screaming for mercy and more
toned practically by the time you get to your car... assuming you can walk to your
car! I'm kidding of course, but seriously -- a great workout for the booty.

Build Muscle in a Short Time

Happy Easter to all!! And to those who don't, Happy Sunday to you!!

Chins. That's the answer. Wide-grip chins where you pull up to your chest.

Two big problems though: First, most people are not strong enough to do more than a few chins at best. I was one of them. My pulling strength has never been that impressive. Second, your grip usually fails you before your back muscles tire out.

Here's how I overcame it and built up to finally being able to do sets of 10 or more chins. For me, that's good.

Work your back every other workout... but just chins. Do just ONE perfect chin-up in-between your other bodyparts. Using 7 Minute Muscle, this would be at the end of your workout.

Just one chin. But do it with perfect form.

Next workout, get two. And so-on.

Sounds utterly simple... and it is... but it trains your brain and back to connect. And it builds confidence in doing the movement. You'll be doing chins for sets sooner than you think.

Personally I can think of nothing sexier than curvy deltoids (shoulders) on a woman.
Well... perhaps a nice back-side...but shoulders run a close second.

Not "large" shoulders... just ones that have a bit of muscle and a nice sweep.
And there's no doubt that women love broad-shouldered men.

But did you know the REAR deltoid is just as responsible for the look of curvy, broad
shoulders as the part most people work: The medial deltoid?

The deltoid is three muscles: Anterior (front), Medial (side) and Posterior (rear.)

Work your rear delts by using a cable pulley set as high as it will go. Use about half your bodyweight as a starting point. Use a medium-length straight bar on the
cable machine. Grip the bar overhand, flair your elbows out to the side and keep your
arms parallel (or slightly elevated) with the floor. With your chest out, put your
dominant foot up on the cable machine for support (as if you were going to kick it
over) and then pull the bar to your upper chest. This activates the rear delts. Do
this right and you'll add more curve to your delts in no-time.

[ Editor's Note: Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

If I had to pick out the number one reason most people fail to achieve good results in the gym, guess what it would be?

Over-training. Exercising too much.

Sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me: It's quite real.

Folks write to me all the time and say...

"Jon, I don't get it. I cannot lose bodyfat and I'm running six days a week for an hour and training in the gym five days a week for 45 minutes!"

My answer back is usually:

"You are training 4x more than me, and I'm a fitness pro!"

Look, do you take 21 aspirin for a headache, thinking the more you take the faster your pain will go away?

No?

So why apply the same logic to fitness? Only a certain amount is required. Beyond that, you are spinning your wheels.

When I wrote 7 Minute Muscle, I exposed all the lies about training too long and why this is not the best way to achieve the results you want. Check it out if you want the facts.

One more thing: 75% of your progress will come in the kitchen, not in the gym or on the treadmill.

As for me, I would much rather eat smart and train less than train all the time and be forced to eat 6-8 times a day just to recover from it all.

That makes no sense to me at all.

You?

7 Minute Muscle