The best lower body exercise YOUR personal trainer doesn't know about.

As you might imagine, I get this kind of question a lot: “What is the best exercise for ______” fill in the blank. A common area of concern (especially among women) is the lower body, specifically the butt and thighs. Today I’m going to share the absolute best lower body exercise in existence . It’s called the Kettlebell Swing.

Before we get further into this, please remember that individual body part training and spot reduction on certain areas of the body is a waste of time. We do full body training, meaning that we train the upper body, lower body, cardio and core during every single workout, much of the time in the same exercise.

We do this to maximally stimulate lean muscle gain and metabolism which causes total body fat burning, effectively eliminating the body fat that is hiding those stubborn areas that people are having trouble seeing.

Add this kind of training to a diet high in lean protein, fiber, and green veggies and low in unnatural fats, refined sugars and starches to get rid of get rid of your gut, jiggly arms, and the junk in the trunk. The way you lose fat is genetically predetermined. You can do crunches and walk on the treadmill all day, but if you really want results you have to put in the effort, both in your training and in your eating habits.

Ask a bunch of personal trainers for their opinion and you'll get a bunch of different answers. The surprising thing is that the very best hip and thigh exercise on the planet is one that 99% of the personal trainers don't even know about!

So, on to the main event: the world’s greatest lower body exercise, the Kettlebell Swing. If your butt is too big, KBs will help firm it up and give it better shape. If you have no butt, the swing will build one for you.

See the video below for a demo of the 2-hand kettlebell swing:

Important points about the Kettlebell Swing:

• The power comes from the hips not the arms or lower back. Move explosively.
• Keep you back flat thoughout the entire movement.
• Hike the kettlebell behind you to load the glutes.
• To get full hip extension at the top, keep the heels on the ground, pull up the kneecaps and squeeze the cheeks together.

Come join us at the Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp and see for yourself.

From Resolution to RESULTS

Since the beginning of the Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp, I have helped a LOT of people improve health, performance, and body composition faster than they believed possible. I know how to help people lose ugly, unwanted body fat and get stronger than they ever believed they could. At the risk of sounding cocky, I know how to do it faster than anyone else in Nashville.

Our kettlebell-based rapid fat loss training and nutrition system is, in a word, superior. Following Pavel's example, I have done (and continue to do) the countless hours of research and trial and error and I have had hundreds of people as real world case studies to prove that our system works better than anything else. Period.

But, anyone who knows my approach knows that there is something more powerful; something that has to in place before you can even begin to think about following a fitness program. Today I am going to share some of that with you.

Let me ask you something. What do you think is the real secret behind my client success? Your answer may be the Nashville Kettlebell training and nutrition system, but that's not it.

Yes, it is an incredibly effective program. Unfortunately it is completely useless if someone is unwilling to begin it AND follow it to the letter. Does that make sense?

Does it make sense that the most important component of changing your body is finding the motivation to achieve your goals?

I am going to literally walk you through a powerful three-step goal achievement process that is so important to weight loss success that I now require it for any new client to be considered for joining our program.

Before I get into actual process, I need to get something off of my chest that may piss some people off. I know a lot of people think goal setting is just a silly, useless, touchy-feely thing. I want you to notice something about these people. Usually, they are miserable and haven't achieved anything in their own lives.

If YOU are one of those people, please do us both a favor and stop reading this article and go buy another useless weight loss book or pill and keep complaining about how you have "tried everything and nothing works". I can't do anything for you. I can only help people who want to improve.

Successful in every arena-fitness, business, sports, music, etc., are shamelessly goal driven. They know exactly what they want and why they want it. This involves planning for possible roadblocks they will encounter in their path to success. This is what you will learn today.

Step One- The Why: Why do you want to do this?
It’s time to get serious. In almost every initial consult I do, when I ask "why have you contacted me today" here is the typical blanket response that I first hear:

“Well, I just want to get healthy and lose weight I guess.”

Nope. That ain't gonna work. Sure, I know they want to lose weight and be healthy, I mean who doesn’t, but WHY? What is it that’s going to get them out of bed at 5 am to get their morning workouts in or take a couple of hours on Sunday to plan and prepare their meals for the upcoming week? It sure isn’t “being healthy” because honestly this just isn’t a very powerful motivator.

I believe that just about every body (including YOU) wants to look better naked. Stop giggling, you know it’s true and frankly that’s okay because the desire to improve your appearance is the most powerful motivator there is. This shouldn’t be such a big surprise since we are instinctually programmed to procreate.

So, I dig and find out the real reason why the new client want to do this; I find their past or pain and then look at their current and future ambitions. Some people want to be able to mow the lawn in the summer with their shirt off and not feel self-conscious. Others want to get back into their favorite pair of pants that they haven’t been able to wear for years. Then there are those who want to look and feel more attractive to ignite some passion back into their relationships.

Then there is the ever-popular big event with a built-in deadline. Wanting to get as lean as possible to rock that little black dress at the class reunion. Get off the plane in to visit family you haven’t seen in two years to blow them away with your new body, or looking AWESOME in your wedding dress on the big day, it all works! This is the stuff that gets people fired up and ready to commit to making some real changes. How do I know? Well, I just shared with you the exact “WHY’S” of some of my own real clients.

So, the first thing you have to figure out is your personal WHY. To make this even simpler for you, just answer this question: what are your physical dreams? Once you establish this, the rest starts to fall into place.

Stay tuned for steps two and three.....

Dietary Damage Control this Christmas Season

"I LOVE the junk food that is always around between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always over do it. I don't want to have that sick feeling from eating too much or wind up needing new clothes in Januray. What "damage control" diet strategies can I employ to keep from overdoing it at the dinner table this year at Christmas time?"

First of all: The hardest part is not chucking the whole thing until the New Year, so you're already ahead of the game by thinking "damage control".

The tips outlined in this post will allow you to stay social and to be able to indulge in moderation without feeling sick or splitting your pants before the January:

1. EARN your dinner!
OK, I promised diet strategies, but I first I must recommend activity. Your body is better equipped to handle higher calorie and/or carbohydrate meals within 30 minutes before and within three hours following high-intensity activity. Ideally you would want to workout out before AND after a big meal, but if you can only make time for one, that is better than nothing. It is more important that you do it than when you do it. Don't pick up you knife and fork until you have put down your kettlebell.

Your best options? 10-20 minutes of kettlebell circuits or interval training ( like the Secret Service Snatch Test). Even a 20-30 plus minute walk a few hours afterwards can serve as a bit of damage control.

2. Do NOT Fast in Preparation for a a Big Meal or Holiday Feast
Unless you are skilled at practicing the Warrior Diet, fasting in preparation for a free meal will not only lead to overeating, but overeating foods that are extremely high in sugar and empty calories. Your body has a survival mechanism. If you are following the Warrior Diet, you are already taking advantage of this. ( Marty Gallagher does a great job of distilling the Warrior DIet into it's simplest elements in his book The Purposeful Primitive. Put it on your Christmas list!)

If you are following a frequent feeding plan like Precision Nutrition, "fasting" equals "famine" to your body. So the next time that you eat your body will want to use as much of the incoming food as possible to store as body fat (survival energy) in anticipation that it won’t see food again for another long period of time. The solution is to stick to you schedule: eat every two to four hours as you normally would and prevent yourself from becoming a ravenous beast this holiday season!

3.) Do NOT Gorge Yourself
It is easy to see a huge spread of food as a "challenge" to see how much you can put away. Eat until the point of satisfaction, not discomfort. Fundamental Law of the Universe: binge eating on Junk food is not the habit of lean individuals. It is imperative to understand that that holiday meals are not a challenge eat as much sugar as you can in as little time as possible. Step away from the cookies.....

4.) Eat a High-Fiber, Protein-Rich Meal An Hour Before a Holiday Event
A meal high in fiber and protein before a big holiday meal will help prevent overeating by making you feel more full before the mashed potatoes and stuffing comes.

5.) Eat Vegetables and Lean Proteins FIRST
Just because it’s a holiday meal doesn’t mean you can’t eat any nutritious food. Load up on healthier food choices first, before the mashed potatoes and rolls and cake. Eat as much lean meat, fish, and fruits and veggies as possible at the beginning of each holiday event. This will leave less room for the unhealthy, higher calorie junk. This way you know your body is getting in some good nutrition in addition to the sugary treats.

6. Resume Your Normal Eating Habits at the Next Meal
What’s done is done. Now it is time to get back to your regular eating plan. Weekly caloric intake is more important than daily caloric intake.

7. Do not Eat Junk Food for Breakfast
Eating a highly refined carbohydrate meal first thing in the morning will make your blood sugar levels spike and dive. The result: more junk food cravings and uncontrollable hunger. Break the cycle by eating some protien and veggies for breakfast.

8. Limit Empty Liquid Calories and Alcohol
One can of soda contains about 140 calories. A 2 liter has over 1,000 calories. It is easy to rack up a LOT of calories with beverages.

As for alchoholic beverages, your body cannot burn fat until the alcohol is processed. Keep it to a minumum, only at your pre-planned event.

Holidays=BUSY days.

It is easy get caught in the trap of skipping training time holiday errands, events, etc.

The problem is by not taking time to get your workouts, you risk losing the lean muscle mass and strength that you have worked so hard to build and maintain. If you have been paying attention, you have heard me talk about it before: Losing lean muscle mass will lower your resting metabolic rate, which accounts for the vast majority (about 60-75%) of your total daily calorie burning.

This means that everyday you will be burning less and less calories which will put you at a much greater risk of packing on body fat during the holidays and being mistaken for St. Nick. Plus, losing strength will mean that the next time you start to work out your performance will suffer. Nobody wants to be sucking wind like a fat kid chasing an ice cream truck while working out.

Fear not! I will now show you some clever ways to maintain or increase the number of calories you burn per day, both from exercise and from your normal daily activities, to stay on track this holiday season. Use the strategies below to maintain and/or increase your current amount of lean muscle mass and maximize your daily calorie burn to best protect yourself against the deadly holiday bloat!

1. Perform at least one intense strength training session per week. If you have been reading anything I write then you know this is the sorest dead horse in town: Studies show that only a single strength training workout per week during times when you cannot train as frequently as you normally do is an effective way to maintain your current levels of strength and lean muscle mass. So, to best maintain your strength and lean muscle mass, shoot for at least one good strength training workout per week. Even better: shoot for THREE total body strength workouts per week. To maximize fat burning, perform three total body strength workouts per week and also perform three cardio interval workouts per week either immediately after or non strength-training days.

2. Get the Numbers. Your body is apathetic. It doesn't really care if you do 100 kettlebell swings in 10 minutes or in a day. When you honestly cannot find a five to 20-minute time slot to complete an effective total body workoutfind those hidden chunks of time during the day to get in a certain number of daily repetitions for a certain number of exercises that work your entire body. Got a free moment from now until you need to take the turkey out of the oven? Then, bang out 10 push-ups, 10 rows, and 20 kettlebell swings. Using this method throughout the day will lead to big numbers by the end of the day that will burn a lot of calories in addition to keeping you strong.

It is important to note that this "Get the Numbers" routine is a BACK-UP option, a "PLAN B" for the ideal workouts like we do in Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp. Short rest periods between exercises will create an optimal hormonal environment for rapid fat loss and lean muscle gain. Longer rest periods (full recovery) work well for strength, but not as much for burning fat. However, it comes down to effective (“Get the Numbers”) versus optimal (50-10 Total Body Circuit Interval Training Workouts), so be sure to at least be effective this holiday season!

Choose multi-joint, compound movements that hit as much of your body’s muscle groups in the shortest amount of time possible (e.g. Get-ups, swings, lunges, push-ups, rows, etc.). Use the plan below as guide to build your own “Get the Numbers” workout. Adjust the repetition ranges as necessary based on your current strength levels. All you will need is your body weight and a kettlebell. Perform this plan up to three times per week, resting a day between workouts.

Alternate between Plan A and Plan B for more variety. You can either hit your total by doing one exercise first (e.g. perform push-ups rest-pausing as needed until you get 100 total), or by simply employ circuit style training (e.g. 20 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 rows, repeat 10x throughout the day to hit your totals).

The Get the Numbers Workout For The Holidays

Workout A- Body weight Squats: 100 total

Push-ups: 100 total

Kettlebell Rows: 50 total per arm

Workout B- Turkish get-up: 10 per arm

Kettlebell swing: 200 total

Clean and press: 50 total per arm

3. Plan the Junk- From Halloween until New Years Day we are bombarded with an ever-increasing volume of junk food. From the little "fun size" candy bars ( I never got that...whats fun about haveing to unwrap ever single bite of candy?) to the mashed potatoes and gravy to the stockings full of chocolate Santas to the New Years Eve party buffet. It's everywhere, all the time.

Here is how to enjoy the "goodies" and still keep the jelly off your belly: Plan ahead of time the days/meal/events that you want to indulge. Example: The office party, Christmas day with your family and the New Years Eve party. On those three pre-determined occasions, let loose and shovel it down. Gorge yourself. Then get back to your regular plan.

I have written before about Dr. John Berardi's 90/10 rule: If you are compliant 90% of the time, then 10% of non-compliance has little effect.

4. Keep moving- Do not fear the cold, get outside and move around. Play with the kids, walk the dog, have some fun!

Once again, all these calories here and there truly do add up and could make a difference between you fitting in your pants or ripping your pants by the time the clock strikes midnight this New Year!