Fitness Gurus

by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, January 5, 2011 | Health

The internet is a great thing.  Not so long ago, a great deal of knowledge was stored away in ivory towers… like the stacks in a university library or the shelves of an obsessive researcher’s office.  Today, with the internet, much of that cutting edge knowledge is right there at our fingertips.  We live in a great time, soon in my opinion to become much greater (albeit perhaps through some growing pains–but that is another subject).

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One year ago, at the San Francisco class, I announced it was time to focus on the physical body.  Since then, many of us have enjoyed fabulous results from the Bliss Ayurveda herbs.  A number have also worked with weight loss and physical conditioning.  I have done a great deal of research regarding ‘fitness gurus’ and would like to share those results with you.

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Firstly, and probably needless to say, most of what is seen on television is simply not the best that is available.  Aggressive marketing as opposed to real skill and knowledge seems to determine who gets on TV.

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Of the scores of fitness gurus I have learned about (and put their programs to the test), a small group stands out as truly skilled and knowledgeable.

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If you are interested in an aggressive approach to weight lifting and fat loss, hands down Nick Nilsson is the best of the best.  His programs are unbelievably effective.  “Metabolic Surge” is outstanding for fat loss and conditioning.  “Mad Scientist” is awesome for muscle gain and long-term conditioning.  “Muscle Explosion” is fantastic for short-term (28 day) muscle gain… full body with a targeted muscle group included.  Nick’s programs are not for the faint of heart, but are fantastic if you really want results quickly. He gets my highest rating for sure. He has a new book on Amazon, Muscle Explosion.

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For aerobic exercise and fat burning, I must tell you that jogging is out.  Intervals are in.  The research supporting this is extensive.  Go to www.intervaltraining.net to learn more.  It is a great site.  Doing intervals with weights is even better.  The Spartacus Workout is a really intense approach.  I did it for a short while and liked it, until I discovered Nick Nillson.

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Clubbells are another great thing to know about.  I use them every day for my warmups.  One five-pound club is all you need for that.  Many people use clubbells for their entire workout which if fine.  Many exercises compact the joints.  Clubbells open them.  If you have any sore muscles or joints, clubbells could be the solution. You can watch the video blog I recently posted.

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Alwyn Cosgrove is a highly knowledgeable expert in the field.  His books are great.  I did his Warp Speed Fat Loss program with good results.

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I now prefer Nick Nilsson’s work (see above).  Alwyn is a bit more into interval type work.  Nick is more into weight training.  I did Alywn’s undulating periodization workout from his book “The New Rules of Lifting” with good results.

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Jeff Cavalier (AthleanX)is also very good.  He is really into functional fitness for athletes and general conditioning.  His program is very good, though I prefer Nick’s.  Jeff and Nick are both on youtube. Though the real genius of Nick is in how he puts it all together more so than his specific exercises.

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Craig Ballantyne deserves mention.  Good basic information and he writes a lot of free articles.  In a nutshell I guess you would say he is into full body compound exercise interval type of routines.

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Mike Geary is also very good.  I did his routines for a while… similar to Craig’s routines.  Personally I prefer Mike.

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Of course, hatha yoga is good but most everyone knows about it.  Personally, five or ten minutes of yoga a day feels like enough for me, just to keep the muscles stretched.

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So there you have it.  Check all this out and, in my opinion, you are well on you way to the best the fitness gurus have to offer.