Trainer spills secret to Nadine's sexy body

MANILA – Nadine Lustre is one of the actresses who has a body that a lot of girls aspire to have.


No wonder she has been hailed as this year’s sexiest woman in the country after all.

While she also maintains a healthy and controlled diet, another reason why she has a sexy body is because she regularly exercises.

In an article on Cosmopolitan Philippines, Lustre’s trainer talked about the actress's gym routine.

"I admire Nadine’s work ethic and time management skills. We all know how hectic her schedule is and as her trainer, believe me, she needs 48 hours in a day,” Mark Banta said.

He also admires Lustre’s discipline, especially her endurance

"Another thing I like about training Nadine is that she doesn’t have go-to moves. If she needs to endure an hour of ab workouts, she’ll do it," he said.

"If she can squeeze in a workout after taping in the morning, shooting in the afternoon, guesting at night, why can’t we make time for a 30-minute workout?” he added.

Currently, Lustre is currently one of the regular hosts of ABS-CBN’s “It’s Showtime.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

How Sharon Cuneta lost over 40 pounds

MANILA – Sharon Cuneta revealed she lost more than 40 pounds since she started dieting because she wanted to look her best when she makes her TV comeback.

Cuneta, however, said in a press conference on Monday that she is still trying to lose some more weight to achieve her "bold star" figure.

“You cannot believe how big I became. I had no work. Siguro I lost a little over 40 pounds from the beginning but I have several more to go bago ko ma-fulfill 'yung pagiging bold star ko,” she said in jest. “So much happened so parang just when you think it’s over, meron na namang bago.”

Admitting that she is not fond of going to the gym, Cuneta said it is hard for her to lose weight.

“I am still trying to lose 15 more pounds and to try to exercise. Honestly, I am not fond of exercising. My favorite lang is the treadmill. I’m a multi-tasker. By doing the treadmill, I can watch a show and hindi ako nagwa-waste ng time. Not that exercising is a waste of time pero 'yung hitting two birds with one stone,” she explained.

Cuneta said she also watches what she eats.

In an open letter to her fans in August last year, Cuneta thanked those who expressed their support after she bared her frustrations, including problems with her weight.

"Besides my size, I have long been back to being 'me,' maybe a different me, but a stronger, kinder, more considerate and more appreciative, maybe even a little wiser me than before. And definitely a lot more grateful," Cuneta wrote in the post.

"I think I have stayed fat because my size has been overshadowed and overpowered by my personal happiness. And it's true that that just may be one of the best things I can take away from this -- because that can only mean that I have had my priorities straight! I have a wonderful family that is not just intact but loving, and when all the temporary brightness fades around me, I know that they are the ones who will still be there, even if everyone else leaves. Around here, right now, I am a happy wife and mommy. And THESE, my friends, are what have helped to keep me real. And made me very, very happy and fulfilled," Cuneta added.

Cuneta, who hosted the first season of "The Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition" before she left ABS-CBN, also further opened up about being fat.

"I just do not like being big and fat because of the demands of this industry I move around in. And also, I have always enjoyed wearing my kind of clothes (too basic and plain, maybe a bit boring for TV! But pretty, pretty clothes, as far as I'm concerned), and I obviously cannot wear them because they don't make them in my present size. I like being at my ideal weight because I have had to face health issues and I don't ever want to go through anything like that again (and you don't know all of it!)," she said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sexy Coleen Garcia shares secrets to staying fit

MANILA – Want to score a bikini-ready body like Coleen Garcia’s? The “It’s Showtime” host shares some of her secrets to staying fit as she graces the cover of a women’s magazine.

In a behind-the-scenes interview from her cover shoot for Cosmopolitan Philippines, Garcia said she makes an effort to do different exercises every day.

“I try to work out every day whenever I can. Each day is a different workout. There are days when I do purely legs, there are days when I do purely abs, purely arms. But on the days that I don’t get to work out much, I try to squeeze everything in one day,” she said.

“It’s mostly weight training, heavy weights because I enjoy it. I try not to work out on my arms so much because they get big,” she added, laughing. “I don’t want big arms so it’s really mostly toning. Lighter weights for my arms and heavier weights for my legs because that’s what I’m trying to build.”

When asked to talk about her eating habits, Garcia said following a strict diet does not work for her.

“I pretty much eat what I want as long as it’s the right amount. No excessive eating, I just try to hold back a little bit,” she said. “I believe in kind of granting yourself whatever you want as long as you do it with discipline, like you don’t eat too much of it.”

Recalling the time she tried to go on a diet, the “It’s Showtime” host said: “My trainer would give me food, like chicken and everything, and I had to eat it for my protein. So what happens is I end up eating more because apart from that chicken, I would still eat whatever I wanted at the end of the day.”

“So it’s just better to limit yourself. It really helps to know the times when you’re supposed to eat. It’s good to have small, frequent meals every three hours, that’s what my trainer told me. You have to be eating something light every three hours just so your tummy doesn’t get too hungry.”

Early this year, Garcia became a new “fitspiration” for many of her followers on Instagram after she was seen posing in colorful bikinis in Maldives with her boyfriend and fellow “It’s Showtime” host Billy Crawford.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Older minds need physical and mental activity

Exercising the body and mind may be the best way to keep an older brain sharp, suggests a new study.

“The best medicine is physical activity,” lead researcher Ralph Martins told Reuters Health.

“At the end of the day, the two together – physical activity and cognitive training – gave us an additional benefit,” said Martins, who directs the Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Care at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.

Martins and his colleagues studied 172 people from ages 60 to 85 years, assigning them randomly into four groups.

One group walked three days a week for an hour and did 40 minutes of resistance training twice a week for 16 weeks. Another group did hour-long computer brain-training exercises five days a week, also for 16 weeks. A third group did both the physical exercise and the computer activities. A fourth group maintained their regular routines.

The researchers write in Translational Psychiatry that only the group that engaged in both physical activity and computerized brain training showed significantly improved verbal memory, which helps people remember words and language.

The researchers note that the study failed to show benefits for executive functions that control focus, attention to details and goal setting. They also didn’t find benefits for visual memory, processing speed or attention.

Martins said physical exercise had the most profound and constant effect.

Dr. David Merrill also sees physical activity as the most useful aid to maintaining memory and cognitive ability as people age, but the combination of physical and mental exercise may offer “synergistic” benefits.

“What’s good for the muscular-skeletal system is good for the cardiovascular system, and it’s also good for the brain,” said Merrill, who is a geriatric psychiatrist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Physical exercise sets the stage for the brain to be responsive to new information,” said Merrill, who was not involved with the new study. “You’re all ready to build new synapses, new connections.”

Both Martins and Merrill recommend that older people exercise regularly and stay intellectually involved. Both favor real-life challenges over computerized brain exercises.

Martins urges retirees to join service organizations, like the Rotary Club, and to dance for the physical exercise and mental acuity.

"Full retirement doesn’t make sense for graceful aging,” Merrill said. “People should try to keep working not only to maintain their self-identity but to challenge their brain.”

Merrill said the new research is the most recent of a handful of studies showing that a combination of interventions can help seniors remain mentally alert.

He advocates building up to more strenuous exercise than people did in the study.

“There’s lots of data that shows that being physically active is good for the brain,” he said. “It’s almost so intuitive that it defies logic that so few people are active physically.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that older adults perform moderate and vigorous aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Want to get fit? Eat more, exercise less

MANILA – Model-actor turned fitness consultant Edward Mendez is encouraging Filipinos to eat more and exercise less if they want to lose unnecessary fat and gain more muscle.

After testing it for himself and getting a lean physique, Mendez now actively promotes this fitness principle by holding classes and writing a book titled “Your Dream Body Come True.”

In an interview on “Mornings@ANC” on Wednesday, Mendez said the key to getting a strong and lean body is eating healthy food often and having quick, intense workouts.

He observed how a lot of people tend to exercise too much and starve themselves in an effort to slim down.

“Don’t starve yourself because if you do that, the thyroid gland will sense that there is no food coming in. The metabolism will go down and the fat, which is considered reserve energy, will be stored and will become more stubborn to burn,” he explained.

“That’s the common problem – they keep losing weight but they’re not satisfied with the shape of their bodies because they’re not really losing fat, they’re also losing muscles,” he explained.

“Most people like to train two to three hours in the gym,” he added. “The problem with that kind of regimen is they’re damaging their bodies more. And when they do that, muscles are being eaten up and the metabolism also goes down.”

One of Mendez’ clients or “jedis” as he calls them is “Mornings@ANC” host Pinky Webb, who attested to the intensity and effectiveness of his program.

Referring to Webb, he said: “Not only is she getting thinner but she is also getting strong. She started with the squats, now she is doing [more intense workouts].”

Mendez said that with his program, results can easily be seen after three months. His basic tips for a “dream body” include eating healthy food every three hours, working out for a total of four hours a week, and giving the body enough time to rest.

“You do cardio in one day for 23 minutes and you’re done. The next day, you do weight training for 45 minutes and then you’re done. So that’s three days of weight lifting and three days of cardio,” he said. “You focus more on nutrition. It’s 70% nutrition and 30% training.”

“You have to rest also. If you work out almost every day doing weight training or running, you’re not giving the body enough time to repair. Because every time you step into the gym, you’re damaging your body. You got to give your body some rest to complete the repair of the muscles. When you do that, that’s when you burn fat and shape your body up,” he added.

Mendez also advised those who want to get fit to avoid stress as much as possible.

“You have to control your stress level. Stress is the main culprit to weight gain and many other health complications. If you’re not stressed, you can easily burn fat and gain muscles,” he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

10 Ways to Revive Your Resolution to Exercise

The new year is already into its third month, and if you haven't yet lost weight, stopped smoking, eaten more vegetables, exercised regularly, or started to fulfill any other New Year's resolutions by now, chances are it's not going to happen.

Unless. Unless you can get over that mental hump that stops you from exercising — the most common resolution at the beginning of the year as people seek to lose weight and get in shape.

How to do it? I’ve come up with 10 ways to ensure you exercise, and while not all of them will work for everyone, at least one of these should spur you to get back on the path to exercising if you've fallen off.

1. Apps

There are enough health and fitness apps in the Apple Store that you could spend a year going through them. One of my favorites, which I discovered at MedicalInsurance.net, is My Fitness Pal. It helps keep track of what you eat and how much you exercise. I mostly use it to track my meals, and I sync it with the Fitbit app to track how much I exercise. There are plenty of other apps to track diet and exercise, and I'd recommend using free ones at first, such as a free pedometer, to see if you like it.

2. Pedometer

This is a fun way to measure how many steps you take in a day, and I like to track my progress after a walk or gym workout. I use a Fitbit pedometer, which keeps track of how many steps, miles, and stairs I've walked. It also tracks calories burned, which is an incentive to exercise, although too often the Fitbit and My Fitness Pal apps disagree on how many calories I've burned when they sync. From $60 to $100, the Fitbit can either be clipped to a pocket or worn around the wrist.

3. Get a Nudge

It could be a friend urging you on, a spouse encouraging you to go to the gym, or a strong conscience helping to ensure you exercise. An alarm reminder that you set up on your smartphone to tell you that it's time to get moving may be enough incentive. If those nudges don't work, another interesting option is a text message from Coach Alba, an adaptive technology that sends users text messages when they have "crucial moments," says Vince Han, founder and CEO of Coach Alba.

Targeted at people who have chronic weight loss problems, the $5 monthly service learns from users' texts when they're most likely to overeat, such as when watching TV or when stressed. It responds with alternatives, such as brushing their teeth or reminding them it's time for a workout. While mostly used to avoid temptations such as late-night snacking, Coach Alba could be used as a nudge to get exercising when food cravings hit.

4. Find Internal Motivation

External motivations such as a goal of losing 10 pounds or running a marathon can be great, but failing to meet them or even meeting them may not help you continue exercising after they've been met or you've given up. Internal motivations will last longer and are more likely to encourage you to exercise, says Ryan Hurst, program director at Gold Medal Bodies.

Instead of trying to impress other people with an external motivation, an internal motivation could be to become strong and healthy so that you can be there for your children and family as you age, Hurst suggests.



5. Schedule It

If a nudge from a friend or app isn't enough, schedule exercise like you would a meeting or doctor's appointment, recommends Kimberly Fowler, the author of a book on yoga. You don't miss a meeting with the boss, forget to pick your kid up at school, or miss dental appointments, so scheduling exercise should make it easier to achieve. Also tell your social networks so that, like the nudges suggestion above, other people will see it on your schedule and encourage you to do it.

6. Find Activities You Enjoy

Going to the gym day after day for the same workout probably won't encourage you to exercise enough, so find an exercise you enjoy, says Charla McMillian, a certified strength and conditioning specialist. It could be dancing, jumping, biking, swimming, or playing in the back yard with your children.

7. Determine Immediate Rewards

The long-term rewards of exercise are what too many people focus on — such as the vague phrase "get healthy" — and are less likely to get people motivated to exercise daily than immediate rewards such as improving their daily quality of life, says Michelle Segar, a healthy living motivation researcher at the University of Michigan. These can include reduced stress, being in a better mood, and feeling stronger. If you feel good after exercising, that's a good incentive to keep doing it.

8. Recruit Friends

Get a friend to join you, giving both of you motivation. "Working out is more fun with other people, and you're more likely to stick with working out if you're accountable to another person," says Chris Mosier, a certified personal trainer in New York City.

9. Exercise in the Morning

This is a way to get it out of the way so that it's not something you dread doing later or find the excuse to put off if you've had a rough day at work, Mosier says.

10. Prepare the Night Before

Set your workout clothes out the night before and leave them where you'll see them in the morning, Mosier says. That way, they'll be staring you in the face when you get up, and it will be easier to get dressed and get started.

If you can't get back to exercising yet, remember that it's only March and it's not too late to start fulfilling your resolutions. Let us know which work best for you.

source: wisebread.com

Can exercise detoxify the body?

NEW YORK -- The word "detoxification" is flung around the fitness community as frequently as kettlebells are swung.

Yoga teachers regularly speak of detoxifying twists, aerobics instructors of detoxifying sweat, dieters of detoxifying fasts. But health professionals are skeptical.

"If you start talking about exercising to detoxify, there's no scientific data," said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, chief of women's sports medicine at Harvard Medical School. "The human body is designed to get rid of what we don't need."

The same applies to fasting.

"No good scientific data supports any of those cleanses, where you drink juice, or (only) water for a week," she said.

Exercise is important, Matzkin added, because it enables our body to do what it is made to do, but the kidneys and colon get rid of waste. The role of exercise in that process is unclear.

"In general exercise helps our lungs; kidneys get rid of things that can cause us onset of disease," she said.

A healthy lifestyle -- eating healthy, drinking plenty of water and exercising -- is important to detoxifying because it enables our body to do what is intended to do.

"As for specific yoga moves, I'm not so sure," she said.

Yoga instructor and fitness expert Shirley Archer, an author and spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) said the theory behind the effectiveness of detoxifying twists in yoga is that they squeeze the organs, which push the blood out so fresh blood can rush in.

"Better circulation equals better health," said Archer, who is based in Florida. "If detox means to eliminate from the body what it no longer needs, then certain yogic practices can help."

She said yogic deep breathing with strong exhalations can empty the lungs of unneeded carbon dioxide and allow for a fresh breath of more oxygenated air. "This nourishes all of our cells," she said. "It is also a method of cleansing because better circulation equals better health."

Meditative movement practices, such as yoga and tai chi, she added, can detox your attitude because they require staying in the present moment and discourage dwelling on the past.

Last summer, celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson began taking groups of 40-odd women on what she calls Detox Weeks, which involve at least three hours of workouts each day, as well as lectures on fitness and nutrition aimed mainly at encouraging lifestyle changes.

Similar weeks in other cities are planned for 2013.

"Women work out and think 'Why can't my love handles, muffin tops go away'?" said Anderson, creator of the Tracy Anderson Method and a co-owner, with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, of fitness centers in Los Angeles and New York. "The most important thing is if you can become a consistent exerciser."

"A good workout is not five to 10 yoga poses," she explained. "You have to learn to scale up your endurance. If you can only jump for five minutes straight, we'll go to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes."

Anderson said she uses the term detoxification broadly to include everything from working up a good sweat to clearing the mind of destructive thoughts.

"Detoxification is a big topic," she said.

Nancy Clark, a registered dietitian in Boston, Massachusetts and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, said the body generally does a fine job of detoxifying itself through the liver and kidneys. Sweating has nothing to do with it.

"When you sweat you really don't detoxify anything," she explained. "If someone goes on a crash diet, then maybe toxins are released but then the body would take care of them. When you sweat you lose sodium."

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Laughing yoga cultivates merry mindfulness

NEW YORK -Â Can't touch your toes? Laugh it off.

Laughter yoga, unlike Pilates yoga, water yoga, aerial yoga and other offshoots of the ancient eastern practice of uniting body and breath, doesn't aspire to sculpted arms and bendy backs.

Laughter yoga just wants you to be happy.

"You may not lose fat, but you will lose the idea that you're fat," said Sebastien Gendry, founder and executive director of the American School of Laughter Yoga.

"People come because it's the exercise they can do and it makes them feel good," said Gendry, who founded the school in 2004. "It's the easiest form of yoga. They can't twist, they can't bend, but they can do this."

A blend of yogic deep breathing, stretching, and laughter exercises that cultivate child-like playfulness, Laughter Yoga was developed 17 years ago in Mumbai, India by Dr. Madan Kataria. Laughter Yoga International now claims 600 clubs in 60 countries.

Gendry, who was born in France, was the first American to train as a certified Laughter Yoga teacher.

Central to Laughter Yoga is the tenet that the body cannot differentiate between pretend and genuine laughter.

"We fake it," Gendry said of the group classes he leads. "We simulate to stimulate. We go through the motions of joy to create the chemistry of joy."

In one exercise attendees are instructed to repeat "ho-ho, ha-ha-ha" while clapping hands; in another they are directed to "picture yourself jumping for joy."

The exercises are unapologetically silly and very short—20 to 40 seconds each in an hour-long class, Gendry said, to facilitate the shift from thinking to feeling.

"The goal is not to work on muscle mass," he said. "It is to overcome critical thinking."

Another goal is to connect with classmates.

"Laughter is a means to an end," he explained. "In hatha yoga (the yoga commonly taught in studios and health clubs), the focus is the breath. In laughter yoga, the focus is the "dristi," or gaze, of the other. It builds community."

It's also easy. Gendry said it usually takes two days to master the fundamentals of the method.

"For those who want to teach, it takes a week," he said. "Truly, this is not rocket science."

New York City-based fitness expert Lashaun Dale, who has been teaching movement, fitness and yoga for over 20 years, said she really enjoyed the Laughter Yoga class she attended.

"It's a hoot," said Dale. "It releases so much stress. You can't help but laugh. First, there's discomfort; then it's hard to stop."

Dale said the class favored gentle, healing movement over the intense stretching and exertion of the vinyasa flow of typical yoga classes.

"It is a way to do movement," she said. "If you're stressed out, you're not taking care of yourself. You can't get fit until you get balanced."

Humor can boost the immune system and lower blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn 10 to 40 calories.

Gregory Chertok, sport psychology counselor and fitness trainer at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center in Englewood, New Jersey, said there is a staggering amount of documented findings on the importance of mood to behavior.

"It (laughing) is not like doing a cardio workout or a plank (exercise)," said Chertok, who encourages his athlete clients to notice their moods. "It's less of a physical, more of a social, benefit. Engaging with people is an enjoyable thing."

Chertok noted that writer and researcher Norman Cousins, whose book "Anatomy of an Illness" influenced Kataria, famously referred to laughter as "internal jogging."

He said the Self-Determination Theory, a psychological theory of motivation, says that anyone seeking a healthy lifestyle must feel three things: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

"A person who is not physically able to do more strenuous yoga may feel more competent and related in a setting like this (laughter yoga)," he said.

Of course, as Pandora discovered to her dismay, even openness has consequences.

"You cannot open up your box of emotions separately," Gendry explained. "Laughter and tears go side by side. The more you laugh, the more you cry. You can't avoid that."

source: interaksyon.com