Here is the third exercise in Butt Blaster Series: V-lift.
It is both a stretch and a strength exercise.  Here is how you do it: Stand in a V stance (a V stance: this means stand tall, abs engaged, feet pointed outward, and legs slightly wider then your shoulders so you’re making a giant V) while holding medium resistance dumbbells - try 10 lbs to start.  The dumbbells should be held with your palms facing in, the weights touching the front of your thighs.
Slightly bend your knees, but keep your back straight and shoulders back.  Now, you want to bend over, but bend from the hip keeping your back completely straight.  The dumbbells that are touching your front thighs almost scrape your body, and follow exactly your toe line all the way down to the floor or as far as your able.
Keeping your stomach engaged and your butt lifted, feel your hamstrings stretch all the way out and open up as you stretch towards the floor.  Once you have reached the bottom of the rep pause for a beat, for 5 to 10 seconds, and breathe - but stay tight!
Now, leading with the top of your head; squeeze your butt, squeeze your stomach, and lift the dumbbells back up close to your body.  Remember, back straight, and slowly straighten up to your starting position.  At the top of the rep, softly push the dumbbells into your thigh while lifting your butt, not your heels, and squeeze for 5 seconds.  Repeat the sequence slowly for 15 reps.

Quick recap of key points:

• Use your butt, not your back.
• Go slow and squeeze, never bounce.
• Relax your neck and engage your abs.
• Pace is key!  Minimum 5 seconds down, hold for 5 seconds, 5 seconds up, and finally squeeze for 5 seconds @ the top of the rep.

Interval cardio on these sets, as well, for two minutes; let's go - chop, chop!

So there is the series: after you have done all three of these exercises you should be spent! 
These three exercises and the interval cardio should take at least 45 minutes to complete. If you have any energy left and you really want to challenge yourself do 30 minutes more of medium paced post cardio.  Remember, it's all about the details, your focus, and executing the extras that will separate a good butt from the butt of your dreams.

All the best in health!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise
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On to the second exercise of the " Butt Blasting Series ": Dumbbell Step Ups
This exercise is a bit more anaerobic in nature and requires major focus.
With a medium weight dumbbell in each hand, say 10 lbs, put your right foot flat up on a bench or box.  Roll your shoulders back and engage your upper back, not neck, to hold the dumbbells.
Now, with stomach tight, slowly stand up engaging the right butt and entire right foot.  Don't push up from your toes or knees. Stand all the way and squeeze your butt @ the top of the rep by pointing your opposite toe - but don't lock out your right knee.
Now, slowly come down, counting 5 seconds or even 10 seconds, back to your starting position and repeat the same sequence with the same leg for 15 reps.
This should burn like crazy!
If it doesn't, you’re not going slowly enough; you’re bouncing.  So, maybe lower the weight of the dumbbells or lower the height of the bench or box with a step.  If it truly gets too tough, you can spot yourself by bouncing just a little bit off the bottom, but never forget to squeeze @ the top of the rep and keep that foot flat the whole time.
Do 15 reps each leg but don't interchange your leg. You should do 15 reps on one leg and then 15 reps on the other.
You want to feel this right in the dimple of your butt cheek.  You should be able to take a magic marker and draw a target on your dimple and that is how specific you should feel this, and it's all possible by going slow.

Key points again:

• Roll your shoulders back and engage your upper back, not your neck, to hold the dumbbells.
• Pace is key!
• Use your butt, not your knees.
• Never have your knee extend past your front toes.
• When you get good at this add weight and add height!

Note:  You should do cardio intervals with this exercise as well.
3 to 5 sets of 15 on each leg and stay tuned for the third and final exercise in the series!

All the best in Health

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise
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Hi everyone!  I always get questions on how to slim and trim the butt.  I also get questions on how to shape the butt - give it a lift.  So I am going to address all these questions in a series I created for you called "The Ultimate Butt Blaster Series".  These three exercises will shrink, tone, and shape your butt like never before!  I will create a separate post for each exercise in the series and will post them one at a time for you - 

Note: This is not an easy routine.  These are advanced exercises that require coordination and a pretty good starting level of fitness.

Exercise #1: Rocket Jump Squat
Loosely straddle three stacked steps, a box, or low bench with your feet flat on the floor, but toes slightly pointed out so that your inner thigh is engaged.  Slowly lower into a squat position leading with your butt, keeping your chin straight, and toes behind your knees until you almost touch the step, box, or bench with your butt.
Next, make sure your abs are engaged and leap into the air, landing on top of the step, box, or bench with your feet together.  Try to land gracefully, softly, and quietly like a cat.  This will instantly incorporate and recruit all the right muscles.
Now, slowly lower down into a squat position and then slowly come up, but in the last 10% of your up motion, jump off the step and jump down, making sure to control your landing and catch your fall like a cat - again, landing with your butt and not your knees.  You should be in the same stance as your starting position.
Repeat this 15 times and do between 3 and five sets.

Interval Training
In between each set, jump on a piece of cardio equipment, like a treadmill, and run for two minutes. Run hard - almost a sprint. Or, walk on the highest incline possible and really open up your stride as much as possible.  You should switch between the two cardio exercises with each interval.

This is not easy; take your time and think like an athlete.  Stay focused and in your body.
OK, on to the next exercise!  More to come!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise
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Remember when training your lower body that it is critically important to incorporate and focus on three things:

Cardio, Pace, and Resistance.
Focus on them and you are sure to see results.

Exercise: THE STAIRS: The really is the ultimate butt blaster.

• Cardio: Pick a place where there are a lot of stairs like bleachers at a local high Scholl or college. You want to walk for a minimum of 30 minutes but no more than an hour.
• Pace: Establish a nice easy groove.  Let the intensity naturally increase and it will trust me.
• Resistance: The incline and over all bio mechanics of the body as it relates to stairs creates the resistance.

But you need to be specifically aware of where your power comes from. You need to say to your self  and repeat “ my stair workout mantra “, Which is = “ heal and butt, heal and butt, heal and butt “
Ingrain this in your mind and feel it in your body .You need to come from your butt not your knees.

Also, again this is why pace is key. Go slow and walk almost flat footed like your in mud. Feel the stairs in your butt not your quads. If you do feel it in your quads slow down or even take a break. This is not a rocky workout it’s about slow methodical focused intensity.

This one workout will do it all .You should try to do a stair work out at least three times a week and be sure to stretch after. You should also include my special “figure 8 stretch” into your routine.

Stand feet together then slight bend over so you can grab the out side of each knee with your hands. Now carefully start to do a figure eight motion. Count up to fifty and open up making bigger figure eights as you go. You can also sit down into the exercise as well, just feel it out. The purpose of this is to circulate blood and allow for lateral support to the knees. I actually wear neoprene supports with an open patella to really keep my knees supported and warm.

For diet you should have a scoop of Fat Burning Lemonade  before you train and a scoop of Nutrition Complete Protein Powder within an hour after you train. Also be sure to hydrate and incorporate more Omega Three into your diet. Remember your body needs the Fat Burning Lemonade for fat utilization, the Nutrional Complete (Protein) Powder for recovery, and the Omega Three for fuel. All these together create a fat burning inferno and will give you the tightest, sexiest, yet most natural booty on the block.

Good luck tell me how it goes, the feedback is awesome!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise
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Hi, here is a great  exercise for everyone.  It's from the yoga world and one of my all time favorites, the Side Bridge.  I love it because it works so quickly and effectively on all the parts of our abdominal area we so desperately try to maintain.  The abdominal area being our lower back, sides, obliques, and stomach.   This literally hits them all in one exercise!

Some times if I had a crazy day and no time to do anything with my body I will do side bridges before I go to bed.  I actually feel like I didn’t lose the entire day and still got a little something in.  It's all the little “somethings” that add up and keeps our bodies and minds in shape.  Of course, if you can get a full dose of exercise, fantastic! 

OK, here is how to do a Side Bridge:

1.  Lie on one side, with legs straight and ankles on top of each other like the picture of yours truly. 
2.  Support the upper body by keeping the elbow directly beneath the shoulder.
3.  Being careful not to let the top hip rotate forward, engage the abdominals and use the torso to lift the hips up, parallel to the floor.
4.  Hold this position for as long as you can, maintaining a neutral neck and spine position.

When your feel like you can't hold it anymore, well this is when I say "Tighten your skirt up Mary, suck it up and count to ten!"  Seriously though, really hold it for an additional ten seconds to really get that peak contraction.  This is when your body benefits most, so the last ten seconds really count!

OK.  Drop down, roll over, and do the other side.  No rest, right to it, and hold this as long as you can with a ten second hold @ the end.

Now rest.  See how you feel.  Where did you hold that exercise?  From the right spots?  Or your neck?  Did you breathe or hold your breath the entire time?  Try to feel and make notes to yourself and get ready for set number two.

This time, start on the same side you just finished with.  You do this rotation for four sets.  On the last set, make that final ten count as long as possible without sacrificing form and it will feel great!!!!!

When it gets tough, remember some more key tips.  Wiggle your fingers, relax, think grace, and don't let your shoulders or neck kick in and take over the exercise.  Also, squeeze your butt.  Lift it up from the inside.  This will protect your back and keep you stable, not to mention work that butt a bit as well!

Common Errors:

Error:  Dropping the hips
Correction:  Slightly contract the gluteals and the abdominals to keep the body in good alignment.  Squeeze your butt and keep your body in line by flexion.  A strong, tight, stomach is the name of the game.

Error:  Twisting or tilting the head
Correction:  Keep the head and neck aligned with the spine.  Don't get lazy!  Be aware of your body and your breath the whole time.  Don't check out, check in!

So the next time your  lying around on the couch watching TV, knock out some side bridges (click to see a video of the exercise)!

All the Best in Health!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise
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You liked the “fast” part, right?

As a rule, I’m contemptuous of fast weight loss methods, because they invariably trigger rebound weight gain.  But there’s one way to lose weight quickly without causing a rebound: losing what some doctors now call “false fat”.

False fat is the five to ten extra pounds of water weight, generally accompanied by abdominal bloating from gas, that comes from eating foods that cause food reactions.  False fat isn’t really fat, or adipose tissue, but it looks like fat, feels like fat, and can last forever if you don’t do something about it.
Again, this false fat may be on your body due to a food reaction and you may not even be aware that you are having the reaction.

Most people think of food reactions as allergies, but allergies are just one type of food reaction.  The other, more common type of reaction is a food sensitivity, which is an allergy, but milder.  All forms of food reactions, however, have similar symptoms: water retention, abdominal bloating from gas, food cravings, heartburn and indigestion, facial puffiness, and low energy.  If you frequently have more than one of these symptoms, it’s quite possibly due to food reactions.

Food reactions typically occur when people can’t fully digest what they eat.  For example, the food reaction of lactose intolerance is an inability to fully digest lactose, the sugar in dairy products.  When food molecules can’t be fully digested, the body identifies them as foreign invaders – such as pathogens – and tries to get rid of them, in part by washing them away with extra water.

This inability to fully digest foods is extremely common these days, because:
-We eat too narrow a range of foods.  Most people get about 75% of their total calories from only about 10 of their favorite staples.  Unfortunately, when you overeat any one food, you can exhaust your body’s ability to digest it, by depleting specific digestive enzymes.
-We eat artificial foods that the body doesn’t recognize as foods.
-We eat foods we’re not genetically programmed to eat.  The easiest foods to digest are those your ancestors thrived on.  The hardest to digest are the foods your ancestors rarely ate.  For example, Asians and African Americans have extremely high rates of lactose intolerance, mostly because their ancestors didn’t consume many dairy products.

Spend some time on identifying and addressing such reactions.  Finding and resolving them, if you have them, will go a long way to helping you achieve your fitness goals.

All the Best in Health!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise , Improved Appearance
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