In the video below I demonstrate some money saving tips that allow you to perform a great home workout.

Milk Jug Home Workout

There have been a few Unstoppable Fat Loss members who went the first 3 months of the program without investing in any fitness equipment other than a stability ball which you can pick up for under $10 at Walmart or order from Amazon.

In the video above I use two 4 liter jugs of milk to perform a variety of exercises. Each jug weighs approximately 10 pounds. The apple juice cans weigh approximately 3 pounds.

This is a great way to start off especially if you are a beginner. Ideally you want to increase the resistance that you are lifting and progress on a consistent basis. One way to progress with the milk jugs would be to add sand instead of water.

If you find that 10 pounds is too heavy for you and the 3 pound cans aren’t quite enough you could always fill the milk jugs 3/4’s of the way. Just make sure that they are even in weight if you are using the two jugs.

It’s pretty easy to be thrifty and still get in a great workout and live a healthy and active lifestyle

Has this helped you? I’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your comments below.

Keeping It Real,

Scott Tousignant

“Hey Scott,

Thanks”

Here’s my video response and I will follow it up with a written summary:

Shoulder Warm Up Exercises

You may download this video by right clicking Prevent Shoulder Injuries

Spending 5 minutes on the treadmill or stationary bike prior to your workout is a good idea. It will elevate your heart rate and body temperature while getting your blood pumping through your body and oxygen flowing to your brain.

I like to use this time to mentally prepare for the workout and block out any potential distractions. But… warming up with cardio is simply not enough to prevent injuries, especially if you are going to be training your upper body.

On days where I’m going to be working out any upper body muscle or muscle group I perform the following exercises after spending 5 minutes walking or riding the bike…

Y’s
T’s
3-in-1 Rotator Cuff Raises
Arm Circles

These exercises get blood flowing to the area of my body that I will be training that day. What I would do next if I was training my chest that day would be to grab some light dumbbells (probably 15 pounds to start). Do 6-10 reps and then increase the weight to 25 pounds, then 40 pounds.

I will be sharing a variety of exercises in future posts to further help you with your goal of preventing shoulder injuries. I’ll also share a few modifications to my grip, which has made a tremendous impact in preventing shoulder injuries for myself.

This issue certainly hit home with me because it was something that I faced for quite some time. I injured my left pec while performing incline bench presses about 12 years ago. That injury effected most of my upper body training for a long time. My left pec, left should, left biceps, and left triceps muscles would always fatigue prior to the right side. It wasn’t so much a pain issue as it was a fatigue issue.

Massage and Active Release Therapy really helped, but the most beneficial thing that I did was perform the above exercises, change my grip, and add a few other exercises to my program that really helped strengthen my rotator cuff.

I hope that his helped Paul and I look forward to providing you with more tips that you can benefit from in future posts.

Keeping It Real,

Scott Tousignant

The video below was recorded for a home office fitness challenge that I created to help my fellow work at home moms and dads incorporate fitness into their busy work days. I thought that you would enjoy this abs workout as well.

Abs Workout At Home

Here are the exercises in this at home abs workout:

1) Side Plank
2) Plank with Side Crunch
3) 1 Dumbbell Twist
4) Stability Ball Sit Ups
5) Jackknife
6) Butt Ups with a Twist
7) Shoulder Lifts
Reverse Crunch
9) Ball Pass
10) Pelvic Tilt

Perform 10 reps for each of the above exercises. If you don’t take any rest between exercises you should be able to complete this abs workout in less than 9 minutes. Yep, it’s a quickie

In most cases I only train my abs twice per week at most. On occasion I will over-train them for a week just to shock the heck out of them.

If you are serious about sculpting a tighter tummy you will need to clean up your eating habits and adopt a more active lifestyle overall, especially if you want to maintain a flat stomach for the long term.

Enjoy the workout! As usual, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

Long duration cardio does have it’s place in an active and healthy lifestyle and it certainly does contribute to an effective fat loss program. But when it comes to seriously boosting your metabolism it’s the shorter, more intense, interval type cardio combined with resistance exercises that really does the trick.

But the success of any fat loss program all boils down to compliance… Sticking with it and following through for the long term. I have found that the best way to comply with a fat loss program is to add the ‘FUN’ element to it. If you do something that you enjoy it will be easier to stick with.

One of the ways that I like to make at home cardio fun is by turning it into a challenge. Here’s one fun at home cardio session that presents a fun challenge as well…

Fun At Home Cardio Challenge

I absolutely love it when I see one of my blog readers take me up on a challenge and share how the experience went for them. The video below is by a gentleman who goes by the name “Fat Old Man”.

As he states in the video, “this workout is more difficult than it looks”. I like to hear that because at first glance some people may brush off one of my home workout videos because they’re not convinced about the impact that it will have. That’s why I encourage you to at least perform the workout once and see how it feels.

Video Response To 100 Rep Squat Challenge

The 100 rep squat is just one way to make at home cardio fun. There are so many different ways that you can progress. You can begin by using just your own body weight and then use some light dumbbells and progress with the weight each week. You can decrease the rest period and try to complete the workout faster than you did the previous week. Or you can do a combination of the two.

Another way that you can create a fun at home cardio challenge with squats is to see how many reps you can do in 10 minutes. Again, you can progress by increasing the weight a bit each week, or increasing the number of reps that you are able to do in 10 minutes by decreasing your rest periods.

Give the 100 Rep Squat at home cardio session a try. Time yourself and see how quickly you can complete it while still using proper form. During the next three weeks I’m expecting you to progress in one way or another.

Keep me posted on your progress and share your experience with the rest of us here by commenting in the box below.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

Lower Back Exercises and Stretches

Perform these lower back exercises and stretches consistently and let me know how it makes a difference in your posture and if they have provided you with any relief from your low back pain.

I’ll be sharing more lower back exercises and stretches with you soon so be on the lookout. These exercises can be performed while you are watching television with your family or are just looking for a nice relaxing break in your day.

12 years ago I experienced some pretty severe lower back pain that resulted from performing a heavy dead lift without doing a proper warm up first. To be honest, I was trying to show off

I paid the price for several months afterward. I experienced sciatic pain where it hurt too much to sit down. The lower back exercises and stretches in the video above and the ones that I will be sharing with you in future posts all played a significant role in providing me with relief from lower back pain and helped build the solid foundation for a healthy back and body.

During that time I also took the time to visit a chiropractor and massage therapist. I’m sure that it was a combination of the exercises, professional help, healthy eating, and proper rest that resulting in such a speedy recovery for me.

My advice is no substitute for that of a professionally trained doctor and I certainly am not aware of your own unique issues that you may be facing with your lower back pain. I am simply offering some tips to help you in your journey of reducing your lower back pain based on the experiences that I’ve gone through and the experiences of my personal fitness training clients.

As always, please let me know if the tips that I have shared with you have been of help. And if you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to ask.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

Most of the calories that you burn throughout the day come from what you do with yourself during the remainder of your day. Unfortunately many people spend those hours sitting at a desk working or on the couch watching the television.

When you sit your body is only burning approximately 60-70 calories per hour. If you fall into that category of spending the majority of time with your backside parked in the seated position you are really missing out on the opportunity to burn some extra calories in a fun and entertaining way. You’re also prolonging the time period that it will take for you to sculpt the body that you deserve.

Performing your workout and cardio sessions on a regular basis are fantastic, but it’s just not enough. You need to get moving more often throughout the rest of your day. But this doesn’t have to be a tedious task.

If you have kids you are lucky. They are the best piece of equipment that money can’t buy. Shayne and Noelle are 8 and 6. They keep Angie and I on our toes all day long. Here’s some of the fun ways that we stay active as a family…

Embrace The Active Lifestyle

We make a point of being active with our kids each day. We even make up games just to spice things up. In the video you saw me being active and kicking the ball with my kids and nieces and nephews. You also saw Shayne getting soaked at Great Wolf Lodge.

We always plan active vacations. The video of Angie on the bridge was from our 10 year wedding anniversary. We intentionally booked our trip around small towns that had hiking and biking trails so we could be active during our time away.

We go apple picking every Autumn season and we visit a cool orchard that has slides and monkey bars in the barn.

We also have a yearly tradition of visiting an awesome Christmas Tree farm that has loads of outdoor activities in the forested area in the middle of the tree farm. They also have that cool hay stack maze that you see Shayne running around in. I swear there’s 100 kids running around inside there.

I would love to take credit for the great success that many of my customers achieve through following my fat loss programs, but that certainly wouldn’t be fair. A great deal of their success came from the active lifestyle that they adopted in addition to my programs.

When you talk about a “Lifestyle Approach” to fitness it goes way beyond a workout program, cardio training, or finding a nutrition plan that you can stick with.

It’s about embracing the very thing that your body was designed for… being physically active and living to your potential.

This isn’t about a set schedule or routine. It’s about having fun and experiencing a great deal of enjoyment from life.

Although you will be burning more calories throughout the day by embracing the active lifestyle… no calorie counter will ever be able to measure the true success that comes as a result of it.

It’s this type of success that you should be aiming for. It’s far greater than reaching a milestone on the scale. It’s living life to the fullest. It’s allowing the true YOU to shine!

Let’s have some fun together and show the world what we’re made of.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

That’s why I have created a home workout video for you that demonstrates some of my favorite alternative leg exercises to help you improve the strength of your leg muscles that support your knee joint. Check it out…

Alternative Leg Exercises

You may download this video by right clicking Stability Ball Leg Exercises

I don’t want you to completely throw the idea of ever doing squats and lunges out the window. What I would like you to do is perform the exercises in the video a couple times per week in an effort to strengthen your legs, building up to the point where you will be able to do squats and lunges.

After I had knee surgery from injuring it playing hockey I experienced a great deal of pain. There was no way that I could do squats or lunges. But I was persistent and continued to focus on improving the strength of my leg muscles by performing alternative leg exercises that I could do without experiencing pain. Now I can squat and lunge with ease.

Even if you don’t experience knee pain, these alternative leg exercises are a great way to add variety to your leg training.

Give them a try and let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite? If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

Fat Loss Quickie Cardio

You may download this video by right clicking Quickie Cardio

I love doing shuffle steps because…

I would love to hear your feedback after you perform this cardio session. Did you last the entire 10 minutes? Did you require a little longer rest period? Were your thighs on fire? Were you able to stay down low?

How did you feel? Was your heart rate elevated? Did you work up a sweat?

Even more important… Was it fun?

Please take a moment to share your comments below.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

PS I’ll be sharing a lot more of these quick home workouts and cardio sessions with you from now on so be on the lookout.

I find that my thoughts get more organized and many of my concerns get sorted out or ‘answered’ you could say. I feel a wonderful calmness inside when I walk in the stillness of the early morning.

Many people shrug off walking and think that you need to do really heavy sweating for long periods of time to achieve a certain level of fitness. What I want to stress is that you CAN have intense cardio sessions as well as incorporate a brisk walk into your fitness routine. It really is all part of the package. Why exclude an activity that you may love to do?

A simple walk will: get your heart rate elevated, increase blood flow to all your vital organs, lubricate your joints, clear your mind, burn calories, and enhance your mood. Of course, there is a much lengthier list to the benefits of walking. I have only listed a mere few.

I just wanted to share this experience with you! Remember, you CAN find the time to exercise, you only need to WANT to.

Cheers to health,

Angie
ISSA – C.P.T., B.ED.

Angie and I have both experienced great success with Nick’s workout programs over the past 4 years. I have also been using his programs to help my personal training clients achieve phenomenal results.

I gained six and a half pounds of lean muscle mass in just 28 days with his “Muscle Explosion” program. Angie firmed up her thighs and tightened her butt with Nick’s “Gluteus To The Maximus” program. This is also the program that I put many of my female clients through as well as some of the guys who want to build a butt because theirs is flat.

Lets face it. When you get a new workout program you expect to learn something new. Often times you discover that it’s the same old recycled crap on the market. One thing that I can guarantee with Nick’s programs is that you will learn something new from each one.

Here’s The Great News…

This week Nick is giving you some great samples from his programs for you to implement immediately. Simple visit the links below and sign up for the sample exercise and courses on each page. You will find the sign up box at the top right hand corner of the page.

Here’s Even Better News…

When you sign up for these sample exercises and courses you will be provided with a special link for 50% off of all of Nick’s programs. This is a really big deal. Why?

Because Nick’s programs are already a crazy bargain. Seriously! He’s been told for years to raise his prices but he prides himself on over-delivering.

With his programs being 50% off this week it’s an absolute steal and I am not exaggerating.

If you want to learn something new and you want to make 2009 the year that you finally achieve the body that you deserve, I highly recommend that you jump on this offer.

I own all of Nick’s programs and love each one of them. If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to ask.

Bonus:

If you take advantage of either Muscle Explosion or Gluteus To The Maximus send me an email with the receipt number and I will send you a link to a special private call that I did with Nick on how to make the most out of each of those programs.

Those two calls really helped Angie and I make the most out of the programs. Nick delivered unbelievable content in those calls. I’ll make a point to schedule some calls for Nick’s other programs to help you make the most out of them as well.

But for now I would like you to click on the links below and sign up for the sample exercises and courses. You’ll really enjoy them.

Metabolic Surge – This is a unique diet program offered by Nick. It’s definitely unconventional and that’s probably why it works so well.

Gluteus To The Maximus – If you want to learn some great new exercises to work your butt and thighs along with a variety of unique workout programs to help you firm your butt, this is one hell of a program.

Muscle Explosion – I gained 6 1/2 pounds of muscle mass in just 28 days following Muscle Explosion. The amazing thing is that I’m a self proclaimed hard gainer. This program blew my mind.

Best Abs Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of – Want a new and unique program to work your abs? This is one workout program that you must try. I love Nick’s creativity and I incorporate many of his abs exercises into my programs.

Hybrid Training – This program left me in awe. I had never witnessed this form of training. If you want to completely shock your system and force your body to change, this program with amaze you.

Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of – This was the first program of Nick’s that I ever purchased. It’s what turned me onto his work and made me a raving fan of everything that he creates.

Specialization Training – If you have weak or lagging body parts, then this program is definitely for you.

There you have it! Seven amazing programs offered by the “Mad Scientist” of the fitness industry, Nick Nilsson. Take advantage the free offers on each of those pages and the incredible 50% sale that he has going on for this week only.

Reminder: You will only receive the Special 50% Discount link when you sign up for the sample exercises and courses.

If you have used any of Nick’s programs I would love you to leave your feedback in the comment box below. I personally love each one of them, but I want to hear your input as well. So don’t be shy. Share your feedback below…

Empower Your Mind… And Your Body Will Follow!

Scott Tousignant, BHK, CFC is the creator of Unstoppable Fat Loss, The Fit Chic, and the Fat Loss Quickie Experience. Scott is on a mission to reverse the obesity trend by 2015 and is calling upon YOU to help make this possible. Together we can create positive change.