This one goes out to Wayne who asks “when is the best time to workout?”.  He states that he does an hour in the morning and an hour before bed.  Here’s what I suggest:

If you want to maximize fat loss, do 15-30 minutes of cardio upon waking.  That means, as soon as you wake up, chug a glass of water, maybe take some liquid vitamins, coffee is optional.. and then do some cardio on an empty stomach.  Follow that with 10-15 minutes of ab exercises.  You’ll melt belly fat like butter!

Next, I recommend weight lifting in the late afternoon/early evening hours.  For example, if you wake up at 10am, then plan on lifting weights 8-10 hours later.  This gives you all day to put some good energy food in you (complex carbs/lean protein).

I don’t recommend working out an hour before bed.  This is too late in the day and can even cause uneven sleep.  You see, after you workout, your body’s metabolism increases and stays at a raised rate for hours after you exercise.  Take advantage of this by eating your dinner following a hard workout.  Then lay off foods or eat light snacks during the 4-6 hours before you sleep. 

Hope this helps!

This one goes out to Sabiy!  She wants to avoid eating unhealthy snacks at night (like cheezits!) so this is for her..

I love snacking at night, who doesn’t!  Here’s what I eat to try to keep lean and healthy:

1)  brown rice cakes unsalted or celery with almond butter spread

2) frozen fruit (frozen makes you take longer to eat and satisfies your hunger sooner)

3) low carb yogurt with granola topping

4) chicken chunks in lettuce wraps with hot sauce

5) wasabi mayo tuna w little brown rice

6) brown rice and tuna sauteed with lemon and jalapeno (thanks Liz!)

to keep your appetite down, be sure to drink water often and even eat soup once in a while (low sodium lot fat kind, any flavor)

if you like chocolate, have a reduced sugar fudgecicle.  i like sugar-free popcicles too.

i’ll update this some more later.. hope it helps!

This is a great recipe, it’s simple and easy to make, tastes great and is super healthy for you.

I’ve been leaning out fast lately and this change in my diet has helped a lot.  Six to eight hours before bed, you want to cut out carbs like rice or pasta and instead, just eat vegetables.

I’m not a big fan of veggies or salads, but while I was touring Romania with Hollywood Men, I was served this dish every day and it’s the most delicious way for me to eat my veggies.

Here’s how:

Chop up a tomato and half a cucumber.  Top with feta cheese.  Sprinkle pepper.  Add olive oil and vinegar.  Mix it up.  Voila!  This salad is so tasty I eat it practically every day.  The tomato contains fat burning properties and cucumber is a great fibrous and water bearing veggie.  The cheese provides calcium and olive oil and vinegar are a healthy combo (as long as you don’t drench your food).

Try and enjoy!

- Steve

Recipe:

30 gms whey/casein blend protein

1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal

1/8 cup of raw almonds

5-6 ice cubes

1 cup water [Read the rest of this entry...]

View my video on doing this overall compound exercise!

Crunch/Squat/Press with a balance ball and weighted ball

Doing advanced abdominal crunches using weighted balls

A good personal trainer should have the following traits:
- reliable
- honest
- experienced
- dedicated

When looking for a personal trainer, be sure to take your time and get to know them first. The last thing you want to do is waste money by throwing it at some kid at the gym who claims to know what he’s doing. First look at the trainer and ask yourself, “does this person practice what they preach?”. Meaning, if they aren’t in great shape, then how can they help you do it? Second, look for a trainer who can understand you. For example, if you’re a dancer in a show and want to get in better shape, look for a trainer with some dance background. They’ll be more familiar with the injuries and precautions of the sport and better prepare you for training. If you are very heavy and want to lose weight, look for a trainer who’s either been there themselves or has clients that have shown this kind of (permanent) weight loss.

What should a good trainer do?
1. motivation - one of the main reasons you hire a trainer is to have someone there at the gym waiting for you to workout. it’s a powerful incentive to get your butt there in the first place! and the trainer should be someone who gets you pumped up and makes you want to workout as well
2. planning - a good trainer analyzed you the first few times at the gym and finds exercises that best suit your body type and needs. then they should provide at least two workout plans that you can alternate with. the more the better, variation creates “muscle confusion” which helps speed up your progress
3. expertise - your trainer should have several years of training experience. you don’t want the kid fresh out of training school. most of these classes only cover the basics which you could read out of a muscle & fitness magazine.
4. variation - your diet should also be planned as well as your workout. and a good trainer will provide you with options for you diet to keep it creative and keep your body burning fat at its maximum level!

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll update this again in the near future. Just a few tips to help you find the right trainer and help you obtain your fitness goals. Good luck!

Steve Kim
Model/Dancer/Actor/Fitness Model
www.stevekim.us

Let me first of all tell you guys that HIT was not the only way I trained since i started bodybuilding. But it sure is the ONLY WAY for me to train now after I was lucky enough to meet my mentor and friend Mike Mentzer in the late 90’s.

The basic concept of HIT is to induce exercise stress carefully and just enough in order to built a strong and powerfull physique in less time that ever dreamed of as well as reduce the amount of injury and wear an tear on your joints and connective tissue.

Let me start with looking at Exercise as a negative..i.e. any type of exercise, paticularly high intense weightlifting causeses an inroad into your bodies natural reserves and therefore causes a negative effect on the bodies ability to recover from it. High Intense Exercise such as desribed is very demanding and needs to be adjusted carefully, almost like taking a certain medicine prescribed from a doctor. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Ingredients for one serving

• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 4-5 stalks of green kale
• 1 lemon
• 2 SWEET apples
• 3 inches or more of fresh ginger

The above amount is for one drink.  This is how I make it instead. I buy 3 heads of romain lettuce, 20 stalks of green kale, 6 apples, 3 lemons, and 9 inches of fresh ginger. I juice all of this and make approximately 64 oz of green lemonade. I then use the water bottles from Sam’s Club (the small ones, usually around 8 oz each) and I fill up eight of these empty bottles with the juice. I then store the bottles of juice in my freezer and before I go to bed, I take one out and put it in the fridge so that its thawed out by morning and ready to drink. [Read the rest of this entry...]

It’s easy to organize your pills/vitamins/supplements! I take over 14 kinds each day and that can be a lot to keep track of. You don’t want to forget to take a pill but then you don’t want to take too much. How do you remember when it’s time to take them? [Read the rest of this entry...]