Can you help me gain lean muscle mass and looses fat even if I'm not active right now?

Yes I can but it requires some leg work by you first.  Start by visiting your doctor. Once you have their permission to begin a diet and exercise routine to gain lean muscle mass and loose body fat, write down everything you eat for the first two weeks. Weight yourself each seventh day at the same time, and same manor. (if you did it the first time at 6 am before eating do it again 6 am before eating.) Then contact me via e-mail blehan@hartford.edu. I will meet with you and discuss your current exercise and diet habits. I'll analyze your current diet, and chart your Base Metabolic Rate - BMR and plan a new diet and exercise routine to help you make the lifestyle changes you need to reach your goals.

Can you help me tone up, or increase my results from my current routine?

Yes start by doing the same diet tracking as described above. Also if your not recording your weight training / cardio  routine in a daily journal start doing so.  Record exercise, weight used, number of reps attempted, and successful reps completed.  Also record your general mental feelings (cranky, happy, etc.)  and the amount and quality of sleep you got the night before.

I can also test your current Body Mass Index - BMI. This determines your body fat percentage.  I have both calipers and an electronic system for testing. Calipers offer the best measurement and the least margin of error. I use the USCG/USN specs to take skin fold measurements. 

We can review your journal entries or track a few workouts then change the routine to get past plateaus and dead ends.

Food Glorious Food

My First Simple Rule is all things in moderation food wise. You need to eat less more often. Portions should be no bigger then your closed fist since that is the size of your heart and stomach.  I follow the FDA Food Pyramid and try to balance the daily recommended amounts over the 6 or so meal a day I eat.

Carbs ARE necessary.  10 years since Aktins launched his diet and he is dead of heart issues and many people who have followed his diet are also suffering serious heart conditions. BACK TO RULE ONE. All foods in moderation.

Fat is also necessary for your survival and wellbeing. The biggest mistake I see when I'm asked to make someone a diet is they have cut the fat so much, their body's defense mechanism has started to horde fat and consume muscle. Vitamins such as the B family need fat to be absorbed into the system.   I eat some type of fat everyday at breakfast and take my multi vitamin with this meal. My fat of choice is Peanut butter. Its high in protein, has good oils and is tasty to boot. A toasted bagel is my method of delivery but if your diet is carb rich and your trying to loose mass, then substitute a piece of whole wheat (or as you Canadians say brown) toast.

Water is the essential element Humans need in order to survive. It hydrates, and cleanses toxins from our bodies. So work your way up to 8 glasses a day slowly since you can drink too much water and cause your brain to swell.

Ok Brian what about Junk food and Beer? EAT THEM. But don't reach for that beer if you can't work it off in your next workout. When I was bodybuilding I planned my diet with the notion that every thing going in, had a role in keeping the machine working at top speed. So if I wanted a Beer I would have to account for the calories, and carbs in that days allowance.  As to junk food eat it. BUT limit yourself to one item, and limit to one day. My "cheat" day was and still is Sunday. If I want candy I eat it.  By denying yourself the foods you love you guarantee yourself to failure. If I was a real good boy during the week and had great workouts, CHOCOLATE was my vise. Now I lift and workout to feel better, keep active, fit and general wellbeing, not to become the HULK, or Mighty Mouse.

Simple Rule Number Two: Keep the portions small and eat it slow. Then figure where to cut the comparable amounts of carbs, fat and sugar from your treat in your next few meals.

How Much of What

You need to balance the exercise, diet, sleep and cardio activities in your new lifestyle.  Each person will respond differently to the same diet and routines.  Also once you find the right combination, you need to mix it up ever 90 days or so because as animals we adapt and conform to environmental changes.  So if the routine has bench presses for chest, after 90 days change to incline presses, after 90 more days you can switch back or try a new exercise for chest.  The goal is to keep your body guessing.

What about supplementation?

What about over the counter supplements and diet pills, and fat burners?  In my opinion a well balanced diet limits the need for any supplementation. The supplement industry in the USA is a Billion dollar plus per year machine. Peddling what used to be called Patent Medicine, or snake oil, 99% of the supplements on the market are unregulated, and their long term effects are unknown. I have tried my share of the latest supplements over my early years and found all or them with the exception of two to wastes of my hard earned money.

The two that weren't in my opinion were branch chain amino acids in pill form, or liquid form (used as a soy sauce replacement) and Creatine which worked for me ONLY because at the time I ate almost no red meat.  If you do eat meat then just put your cash in the toilet and flush it since that's what your doing anyways.

Fat burners are just out of the spotlight they once were as the darling solution to unwanted pounds due to a recent ban by the FDA after a string of deaths due to abuse and overdose. If you need a buzz drink caffeine. If you need to loose a few pounds do cardio.

As to vitamins I use a multi vitamin in the winter just to make sure I get everything I need.  All vitamins are the same, the difference is the extra trace elements they add to them. Again a well rounded diet should eliminate the need for these unproven elements.  I keep it simple and I'm in no way indorsing one brand over another, but when I use them I use Flintstones chewable. The price is right and they taste great. Don't be suckered into buying high priced brands, marketed for men with this condition, or women of this group. Only your doctor after a blood test or consultation can determine if you need a particular vitamin, or mineral.

To Juice or not to Juice

In a recent survey of High School Athletes, over 300,000 said they had used Steroids and or other performance enhancement drugs.

Buying black market or veterinary grade Steroids is dangerous and illegal! Don't think you won't get caught buying from some off shore web site. What your buying may not be what it was said to be. Students a few years ago here in Hartford  bought drugs on-line through a web site that turned out to be nothing more than Armor All. So much for the quick Beach / Spring break body. Imagine injecting that into your butt, cause some poor guy had twice before the area became infected and surgery was required to repair the damage. 

Steroids have their place as legitimate medical treatments for many health issues.  Healthy people taking them for quick gains or so called instant beach bodies are playing Russian roulette with their life, risking sterility, kidney and liver disease, and cancer. If your body is not producing the right amount of male hormone (testosterone) then you are a candidate for replacement therapy. Only your Doctor can prescribe legal steroids.

The human body is a great balancing machine, Ying and Yang like.  If your body is creating the right amount of testosterone and you flood your body with more of it, two things happen. First the body tries to reestablish the natural balance and increases the amount of estrogen, the female hormone, you produce, causing your male pectorals to develop into breast like nipples.  Painful and ugly to see, these so called "bitch tits" if left untreated can in time become cancerous. Male breast cancer is on the increase in the united states.

Secondly your body attempts to shut down your own natural testosterone factory. Most visible as a shrinkage of the actual testicles, and a reduction in libido. If your testicles shut down for a period of time your body may never be able to restart the production cycle.

Precursor OTC supplements such as Noranderstien can cause the same side effects as above since they increase the supply of testosterone by going around the natural factory in your pants.

The Brain / Body Connection

Your Brain is your best workout partner / motivator. A positive mental attitude will allow you to reach your goals and have the body you want, and be very happy with it. A negative mental attitude  will run you down and defeat you.  Use a full length mirror and really look at yourself, then visualize yourself wearing that new bathing suit, dress, or suit. See yourself bigger, stronger, leaner, better at your sport or winning that Bodybuilding competition. Plan your meals ahead and plan on eating right, don't leave it to Wendy's to plan your meal. Enjoy your workouts, no matter how grueling they seem at the moment. Having a good time making changes to your lifestyle can be challenging at times, but if you see it in your mind sooner than later you will see it in the mirror. You will feel better, have more energy, and reach your goals.

So What Do You Charge For Personal Training?

Well I don't do too much training anymore since my schedule with work eats up most of my time to commit to a schedule for clients. I offer my services to Faculty / Staff and Students alike. All I ask in return is a donation to one of my favorite charities - The Meriden Humane Society