Do Squats till You're Happy!

Yea, yea. We know the economy sucks. Yes, we are tired of reading about global warming, protesters in the streets, pirates taking hostages and everything else we are bombarded with in the news everyday.

But did you know studies have shown that fit people tend to be more positive, happier people. Why? Aren’t they dealing with the same emotional issues as the rest of us? Don’t they read the news? Why are they happy?

Science has already proven over and over again that exercise has a positive effect on your moods and overall happiness. Regular exercisers often speak of the high that they feel following their workouts. To your average “couch potato” (as we like to say in the west when referring to the most sedentary people), this might seem like an exaggeration used to make them feel guilty about not getting off of their katooshey. Hey! New word!

But it is true! You see, when we work out at moderate to intense levels, the pituitary gland located within our brain releases endorphins into the bloodstream. These endorphins are actually a powerful natural painkiller. As a matter of fact, the English word "endorphin" is a combination of "endo" and "morphine" -- meaning endogenously produced morphine. These endorphins also work as some of the most potent stress relief therapies ever known. The body also releases powerful agents such as adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine as well. It is no wonder why we feel so good during and after exercise.

As a matter of fact, the scientific evidence is so overwhelmingly positive, in April of 2001, the U.K. government recommended to all its doctors to consider prescribing exercise as an alternative to drug treatments for their patients who suffer from mild depression.

However, I don’t need science to prove it to me. As a fitness trainer for 12 years, I have personally seen the effects first hand on a daily basis. Clients have often come to their session, stressed about all the happenings of life, whether it is work, family or whatever. After leaving some sweat on my floor, they go home changed- stronger and happier than they were when they came in!

It is no wonder that exercise is now being prescribed to treat depression among patients. Study after study has shown exercise to be a potent antidepressant.

This is clear: Exercise will make you happier and more positive. It will help you deal with stress more easily and lead to a greater overall feeling of well being. Is there anything more important than this?

Happiness is what we all are seeking. Exercise will help us get there. Looking good is nice! But people also want to feel good!

Am I being so bold to say that committing to a regular exercise routine will definitely change your life for the better? YES! 100% of the clients I have asked have said that working out bettered their lives.

Go try it yourself. Get a group of friends together and exercise together. Let’s create strong positive feelings to help us battle and win this war of negativity we are getting from the world around us.

5 Fitness Myths Still Alive in Bangkok

1. If women lift weights, they will get "bulky". Some women are still afraid to lift weights with intensity because they think they are going to look like a bodybuilding comic hero.

Truth: Most women just don’t have the genetic potential to get big and muscular. When I say most, I am talking about 99 out of a 100 do not have the capability to get massive without the use of steroids. Kilo for kilo, fat takes up just a fraction of the space that fat takes. Muscle is a much denser tissue than fat. If you are LUCKY enough to gain 5 kilos of muscle while losing 5 kilos of fat, you will look significantly smaller! I have yet to have a client come up to me and say, “Jeff, can we cut back on the weight training? My muscles are getting too big.” Remember, muscle on your body will help burn the fat off of your body. So, hit the weights and hit them hard!

The size of 2.2 Kilos of muscle vs. 2.2 kilos of fat. Yes, they weigh the same!

2. Work the stomach the muscles to get a flat stomach. If you sat down and ate 15 slices of pizza and sat on the couch for the next 3 days you are going to gain some fat. However, you have no control on where you want that fat to go.

Truth: Doing crunches and sit-ups will not help us lose fat around our stomachs. When we lose fat, the body will take fat from where it wishes to. Exercising a body part does nothing to help speed up the fat in that particular area. You are working muscle tissue. Fat tissue sits over the top of it and they both serve completely different purposes of the body. If you want to make your stomach flat, you have to lose bodyfat. To do that, you must exercise all of your muscles and pay attention to what you are putting in your mouth when you sit down to eat.

3. Vibrating platforms for fat loss. I laugh out loud to myself when I see a GloboGym-WOW trainer lead his client to a vibrating platform. This person is paying 1,500 baht a session and they are using one of the biggest scams in the fitness industry. The people of the U.S. fell for this scam in the 1950s. I was amazed to see it advertised and used here when I came.

Truth: It is the Law of Thermodynamics in conjunction with having the proper hormonal balance which will burn fat. You cannot SHAKE it off! SIMPLE BIOLOGY dictates this! One person said that the vibrating platform POPS the fat cells! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I think he must have been standing on his head because I think it was more likely his brain cells that popped!

Pop those fats ladies!

4. Fruit juice is good for you. People always seem to be ordering a fruit juice instead of a soda because they are under the impression that it is better for their health. Fruit juice has just as much sugar as soda. A big glass of fruit juice can have up to 8 to 10 teaspoons of sugar in it. This will create a quick rise in blood sugar and insulin, basically making fat burning an impossible task for your body.

Truth: You are better off ordering water.

5. You need to join a gym to get fit. You do not need to join an expensive GloboGym-WOW gym to get fit. Most gyms are concerned about sales, not about fitness. Why would anyone need a live D.J. or fancy million dollar lighting system to reach their fitness goals? The gym is full of machines that are designed to look state of the art in order to fool you into thinking it’s some kind of modernized fitness factory. They are purposely designed to look confusing and overwhelming, as if it was designed by division of NASA. This is so you will pay more money to get instruction on how to use the machines.

Truth: Moving your body is more effective than using machines. Pushups, pull-ups, squats, jumping movements and some simple dumbbell exercises are MUCH more effective at creating results.