Belinda Benn - 46 y/o Fitness Model/Trainer who knows her Sh*t

My wonderfully fit and beautiful Kiwi friend Belinda Benn has an informative page which talks about fitness, nutrition and beauty. I love this chick because she's a great role model and well rounded (MBA, expat living in Panama, adventure seeker, goal oriented, in better shape than most 20 year olds that I know).

I encourage you to sign up to download her free e-books which is as useful as any more expensive book you'd purchase at the bookstore. Check it out here.

Ask Nat- Working Out Advice

My dear friend Nish wrote me a while back for my opinion on how to tighten up for the summer.  Check out this Q & A.

Working out

Agnieszka to Natalie

Hey! How are you? How's LA? I'm so happy and excited that you are following your dreams. It's inspirational.

I wanted to ask you about working out and figuring out the best workout for me.

Here's what I'm doing right now.

Food:

• Keeping a food journal. Actually on an app called Lose it!.
• Calories 1200 -1500 (sometimes over...)
• The days I work out my net is usually closer to 1200 or less.
• Eating well most of the time.... 3 meals and then healthy snacks in between. Can give you more details if that would help.
• Drinking... nothing crazy... vodka + soda or white wine maybe 2 - 3 x a week. = )

Working out:

• Personal trainer 2x a week for 55 mins.
• We do circuit training... lots of weights, resistance, bosu ball, core stuff, abs, lunges with weights, that kind of stuff.
• Then I do about 30 mins of cardio (1 min on / 1 min off) after.
• I've been trying to do cardio kickboxing 1x or 2x a week and / or cardio 2x a week.
• I also tried a bodypump class (circuit training with a barbell and weights).

My goal:

Bikini hot!!! Since I starting working out with the trainer (back in Oct) I haven't lost any weight but I have trimmed down in the core area and everything fits better. I was able to get into pants that I haven't worn in a year- that was awesome!! I have a lot more definition overall which I really like.

I want to continue trimming down my belly (goal being a flat stomach- I know food is the major contributor to this) and build more muscle overall. I really want Michele Obama arms!! I want a long, lean, muscular look.

What do you suggest I do to amp this up? Heavier weights with my trainer? More reps? Weight train more often? How many days and how much cardio should I really be doing?

Write me back when you can... I would love to hear your advice.

xoxo

Nish

Nish - you are on the right track.  Looking at your calorie count and workout schedule you sound like you ticked off most of the major things that you could do to clean up the habits.  I also used Lose It! in the past and it's helped me be accountable for what I'm eating (I recommend everyone keep a food diary).  Reeling in the alcohol also makes a big impact on your physique as well since it's just added calories to an already slim diet.

If your physique is as I remember, a long slim physique at 5'8 without much muscle definition, then you should definitely consider working to put on more muscle.  The main thing to remember is that as women we cannot put on muscle like a man because we have 1/20th the testosterone levels; therefore, women would have to supplement with steroids in order to achieve such a look.  Also, having a lean body (<18% bodyfat) keeps the overall frame nice and tight while being able to show off the muscle tone.  We want to avoid the skinny fat look and go for that tight body that has curves!  The muscle is what creates the curves and the skin lays on top of that frame.  You can literally reshape your body by understanding which muscle groups to grow while maintaining your ideal bodyfat levels.

I can speak from experience that I have trained and ate like a bodybuilder for the last three years (so much food) in order to reach the ideal muscle mass for me.  That meant on a 5'4 frame, I put on 15lbs of muscle while keeping to a bodyfat level between 15-20% depending on where I was with dieting for a show.  It sounds like alot and you'd think that I'd be huge but 1lb of muscle takes up 1/7th the space of equivalent weight of fat.  So pay attention to your bodyfat levels intead.

Regarding your diet.  I think that keeping below 1500 calories is good.  I would take a look at your protein - carb - fat ratios now and tweak this so that your body is getting the right mix.  The easiest way I've handled this (although I've done the math and weighing of my foods in the past) is to -

Avoid eating fats as much as possible.  Yeah yeah, I know we need fats in our diet but the reality is when people are just learning to tweak their diets, usually they don't realize that fat usually make up >30% of their total caloric intake.  A fat is a fat, whether it comes from animal meat or olive oil.  And there's 9 cal/1 gr. fat vs. 4 cal/1 gr. carb or protein so you can see how it's easy to spill over your calorie intake.  When cooking, use water to avoid sticking or spray oil.  Bake and steam whenever you can.  You will find that you'll get fats in from other areas of your clean diet and it's just easier to avoid wherever possible. 

• FYI: You want your around 15% of your caloric intake to be from fat... makes sense if you want your physique to be close to a tight 15% bodyfat.

Keep your protein intake high and keep it to very clean sources such as fish, chicken breast, super lean cuts of beef, seafood.  I have protein with every meal, about 100g of meat, 4x a day.  The rule of thumb is to have 1gr. protein for every lb. of lean body mass.  So if I'm 120 lb. and have 25% BF, then my lean body mass = 120lb x (1 - 0.25) = 90 lbs and therefore should consume at least 90gr. of protein/day.  90 gr of protein is not meat weight but the protein macro within the food. Rule of thumb: there's roughly 25g protein per 100g of meat.  When I was working to pack on muscle, I ate 180g protein a day.  I swear to god I was so bored of eating baked chicken and fish but it got the results that I needed.... curves!

Putting on muscle increases your metabolism.  For every lb of muscle you put on, your body burns 60 additional calories!  If you feed your body with good food at a controlled caloric intake, you don't have to worry about getting fat.

You are going to be hungry.  It's called a diet for a reason.  Get used to the feeling of hunger and find ways to keep your mind busy by drinking water, chewing gum, sticking to fibrous veggies, drinking plain green tea.  I've been known to plow through baby carrots, cucumbers, and guzzling water while sitting at my desk trying to distract a growling stomach.

Here's the steps that I take when I'm tightening up:

1. Perfect the diet. 80% of the hard work is right there.  You trained your dog to wait for that treat, show that same discipline to food as well.
2. 30 min cardio + 45min weight training for starters. Then over time as endurance grows and show is around the corner, bump this up to 30 min cardio in the morning, 30 min HIIT cardio (1 min sprint/1 min normal pace) + 45 min weights.  I only do this in the last month before a show, otherwise it's the 1st part year round.  This is 4-5x a week.
3. Take alot of vitamins such as the multi, calcium, E, recovery supplements such as glutamine, omega oils.  Your body will be using a higher than normal amount of nutrients because you are tearing your muscles to rebuild stronger, burning through food while trying to be lean.  Lance Armstrong did not reach his levels by drinking only orange juice.  Just sayin'.  There's a point where trying to get all of your nutrients from food will not be achievable while on a limited calorie diet.
4. Eat fibrous foods. I say this again because hunger's a bitch and fiber is the best way to combat that feeling.  It also keeps your system nice and clean.
5. Big breakfast, veggie + protein snack, moderate lunch, veggie + protein snack, smaller dinner. Go to bed feeling empty.

Now on to the training.  You're on a good program with the focus on your core, diversified training.  How heavy are your weights?  When I want to reshape my body, it involves either putting on or tearing off muscle.  Put on muscle - going super heavy weights.  Tearing off muscle - cardio bunny for long periods and no weight training for that muscle group. 

If you want Michelle Obama arms with nice shoulder caps, biceps, triceps it can be achieved through heavy weight training to build each muscle group while keeping your bodyfat in check so that you can see the definition. 

Shoulders: dumbbell side, front, and rear lateral raises and dumbbell shoulder presses with 12 reps x 4 sets.  Go really heavy.

Triceps: Tricep dips, kickbacks, tricep cable pushdowns. 12 reps x 4 sets.  Go really heavy.

Biceps:   Bicep curls, hammer curls, cable pulldowns.  12 reps x 4 sets.  Go really heavy.

I don't like to work my forearms because I don't like that look.

When I was developing my body, I worked every muscle group a week in order to be balanced.  That meant for me:

Monday – Quads/Calves
Tuesday – Back
Wednesday – Cardio Only or Rest
Thursday – Chest/Shoulders
Saturday – Cardio Only or Rest
Sunday – Hamstrings
Abs Workout Everyday

So somehow take a look at your program and see if you are developing muscle where you want for your ideal look.

I used to weight train my legs/glutes twice a week because 1) huge calorie burner and 2) always could use a better butt.  It's a diet trick for when us fitness people overeat...

This was a little long winded but you can see that the volume of my writing was focusing on the diet and then getting to the exercise.  If you need some fresh ideas on working out, check out magazine websites such as http://www.fitnessrxmag.com and http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com for more inspiration.

Q&A - Arms

I get a regular questions about my training and diet so I'm going to start posting my quickie answers as I receive them.

For more in depth nutrition and workout information, I'm partnering up with Dr. Marco Zanetti on bringing his multiple anti-aging Italian books to the English speaking world.  He's also an Italian National Champion Bodybuilder, President of FIBBN (Italian Bodybuilding Federation), owner of his own wellness center, and trainer/nutritionist to many elite athletes.  As we progress with the translations, we will be making available his 22 years of science and application to you.

We now tune back to my brain dumps of fitness and diet. :)

Between You and Marcela

Marcela XXXXX February 16 at 1:41pm
Hello pretty girl!! You have the most beautiful arms and shoulders, talk me about your train

Natalie Minh February 20 at 11:01am
Hey Beautiful! Excuses for the late reply, thanks for the note, how are you? Hope you're doing well and that 2010 turns out to be another spectacular year for you :)

Shoulders - I would typically do 3-5 sets, max 12 reps, 4 different exercises for my shoulders using weights of 10 lbs for mid deltoids, and maybe 6-8lbs for front and rear delts.

Arms - 3-5 sets, max 12 reps, 5 different exercises for my arms. Max weights of 15lbs on triceps and 10lbs on biceps.

Hope that helps! :) xx

Ava Cowan Biography & Prep

She's hardcore, love it. I also love that she's the same height as me so I can relate to her regime.

Check out her stage performance as she is getting sprayed with Jan Tana tanning solution.... And folks this is why I keep myself in shape. HOT!

Interview with Beauty Magazine Beautips

Check out my in-depth interview with Beauty magazine Beautips covering my fitness, nutrition, beauty tips from photoshoots to everyday life, and reaching your goals.

Fitness and Nutrition Programs coming soon!

I'm working with another fitness expert whom I respect, Ian Graham, to develop a kickass fitness and nutrition guideline for men and for women.  As a Pro level physique competitor, I have learned alot over the past few years in my quest for the perfect body.  What usually happened was that I would try whatever new tidbit I read about, judged if it was fact or fiction, and moved on.  The ultimate measure of all of my efforts were demonstrated at a specific deadline by presenting the best conditioned and symmetrical physique that I could at my shows.

This will be considered a very comprehensive program for those who want to make transformations to their physique.  Be on the look out over the next few weeks!

Scarsdale Medical Diet (SMD): Day 2

Yesterday morning (Day 1): 132lbs

Did 30 min stationary bike in the morning, 30 HIIT Stepper in the evening, 45 min of fast paced full body workout using 8kg dumbbells (walking lunges, shoulder press, tricep kickbacks, bicep curls, etc).  Diet was pretty tight, drank about 7 liters of water.

This morning (Day 2): 127.4 lbs

Go go go go go ...!

Daily Schedule

My Typical schedule:

7am: Wake

7:30-8:30am: Glutamine, fiber, and coffee. Do morning stationary bike for 30 minutes, cook food for the day as required, get caught up on emails.

8:30am: ½ cup of All Bran with skim milk, stevia, cinnamon. 2-3 egg whites.

9am: Work

Noon: Cup of plain vegetables (sometimes raw or steamed), 4-5oz of protein (baked, steamed, etc), sometimes a ½ cup of cooked rice/low calorie broth soup/slice of bread.

12-1pm: Usually nap in the car and run errands

2pm: Take supplements.

3pm: Eat protein and a cup of plain veggies.

6pm: Take supplements. Eat protein and a ½ cup of plain veggies.

7pm: Leave work for the gym

7:30 – 10pm: Gym. HIIT stepper routine and musculation. HIIT routine is 30 minutes of alternating sprinting/medium intensity on the stair master. Then for musculation I do something like legs, back, shoulders/arms, chest/arms, abs/legs. Or if I’m short on time in the evening then I’ll do my stationary bike for 30 minutes and a workout DVD.

10pm: Eat protein and a cup of plain veggies. I mix it up but remember to have a protein and small amount of carb. For example, I might have a couple slices of ham/smoked salmon and a cup of fat free yogurt and fruit. Or I have some 100g chicken breast + rice cakes + veggies. Whatever it is, I keep it light so I go to bed slightly hungry.

10 – 12:30am: Cook more, internet, emails. Sleep.

Diet and Workout Advice from a Fitness + Bikini Model

Many men and women ask me for the quick and easy tips on how to “get into shape”. So, here’s my experience with fitness and nutrition.

Keep tight on your diet.
I mean it. If you binge, it shows and consistency is the name of the game. Diets don’t work after 3 days! I take 12-16 weeks to prepare for my physique competitions because fat loss is a slow, steady grind of dragging myself to the gym day after day, week after week, feeding my body only what is considered clean food.

Cut the booze.
But I can't! How can I socialize without it?! ~Because it will make you fat, that's why. And you don't want to be the fat, drunk friend do you?

But in all seriousness, alcohol is a huge detriment to your diet because of the empty calories and the fact at that it's a liquid calorie, you often don't realize the impact. A Long Island Ice Tea is 700 calories. A typical burger is also 700 calories. (!)

Eat a good high protein/low fat diet with a moderate calorie intake.
Women: you want curves? Those are not fat pockets, honey. That’s muscle. Men: What do women want? Men with strong, healthy bodies. Your diet is 80% of the hard work and you need to fuel the body properly after all of those hours of working out. We have all seen those folks at the gym who are there regularly but why do they look the same year after year? Why do the experts of body transformations, bodybuilders, can change their physical composition in such a short time? Watch your portions, keep it high in clean proteins like chicken, fish, lean beef, etc, low carbs (potatoes, rice, breads), low fats (butter, oils, animal fats).

Eat lots of veggies.
Yes, veggies are healthy we all know that. But the real tangible benefits for me are when I’m trying to keep my calories controlled veggies are the least calorie dense food around, they fill me up with lots of fiber, keeps your system nice and clean, and don’t give me food coma like a typical snack can.

Let’s compare:
100g of raw veggies is typically around 10-30 calories
100g of fries is 294 calories

Drink at least 4L of water/day
Water keeps your skin clear, body working properly, and feeling full. When you are hungry, guzzle water and stick to your scheduled meal plan.

Start with 30 min. cardio at a high intensity and move up as you develop endurance
I like to do a HIIT stairstepper routine where I go all out for 1 minute (10 in effort), slow it down to a 7 in effort for the next minute, repeat for the next 30 minutes. When I need to step it up for competition prep, I’ll throw in a 30 minute steady state stationary bike session each morning. I’m also a fan of workout DVDs because of the convenience/machine boredom factor so mix it up, do whatever it takes to keep motivated.

Determine a weight training split that works for you, go heavy, and stick to it.
I used a 5 day body part split for most of my training: legs, back, arms, chest, shoulders and killed it on each of those days. Here’s an example of a weekly program:

Monday - Quads/Calves:
· Machine Leg Press 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Lunges 4 sets x 12 reps
· Machine Leg Extensions 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Standing Calf Raises 3 sets x 15 reps

Tuesday - Back:
· Machine Lat Pulldown 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Rows 4 sets x 12 reps
· Cable Straight Arm Pulldowns 4 sets x 12

Wednesday - Cardio Only or Rest

Thursday - Chest/Shoulders:
· Cable Crossovers 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Flies and DB Press superset 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Lateral Raises 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Front Raises 4 sets x 12 reps

Friday – Triceps/Biceps:
· Cable Pushdowns 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Kickbacks 4 sets x 12 reps
· Tricep Dips off a bench 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Hammer Curls 4 sets x 12 reps
· Standing DB Curls 4 sets x 12 reps

Saturday – Cardio Only or Rest

Sunday – Hamstrings
· One Leg in Air Pelvic Pop 4 sets x 12 reps
· Cable Lying Leg Curls 4 sets x 12
· Barbell Stiff-leg Deadlifts 4 sets x 12

Abs Workout Every other day
· Bicycle crunches 4 sets x 20 reps
· Medicine ball leg lifts 4 sets x 20 reps
· Medicine ball shuffle around seated pike legs 4 sets x 20 reps
· Side bends or machine torso rotation 4 sets x 12-15 reps

I squeeze in a session of yoga when I can to maintain flexibility.
I totally thought that yoga was way too slow paced for my hyper active personality. Then one day I gave it a try and I was impressed with the challenge it actually was. I also felt much more relaxed physically which in turn gave me more energy and enthusiasm to do my bodybuilding routine.

The Metabolic Effect Blog

I first connected with Jill Coleman on Twitter and learned about her wonderfully intelligent blog called the Metabolic Effect (ME).

Jill Coleman BS, ACSM-CPT, ME-MGT is also a contributor to ME. Jill is a triple threat in the fitness world in that she has a bachelors degree in exercise, advanced certifications from ACSM, is a masters candidate in holistic nutrition and is a professional fitness model. She is also the Director of Instructor Training for Metabolic Effect and has been instrumental in developing our training curriculum. She brings a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and credibility to the blog. She writes and appears frequently in many fitness publications. She is a contributing writer to Onfitness magazine and is currently finishing up the highly anticipated exercise book series, My Gym Trainer, with co-author LeAura Alderson. You can learn more about Jill at her website www.jillfit.com or follow her on Twitter www.twitter.com/JillFit

I highly recommend you to check out her blog http://metaboliceffect.wordpress.com/ if you want to become educated on the science of fat loss.

My Fitness Program used for the European Championships

This is a blog dated from February 2008:

I am training for a fitness competition in April and a few people have asked, "How did you get those legs? arms? flat tummy?.." So here’s the details.



There are three components to my training: weights, cardio, and nutrition.



Weight training is the key to having curves and tone. All sets use heavy weights which increase after each set. The last set should be extremely difficult to complete and you may only be able to do 8 or 10 reps but you use mental power to do the last couple repetitions… don’t give up! For example, for the leg press I use the machine and set the initial weight as 140. Second set is 160. Third set is 160+10. Fourth set is 180.



Key thing to remember with weight training is that you must push yourself and to use weights that are heavy.



Cardio is key to burn fat. Everyday I do 1 - 1.5 hour of cardio, the ab workout, in addition to the scheduled weight training. Usually 30 -45 min bike in the morning and 30 - 45 min elliptical (moonwalk machine) in the evening. Wednesday and Saturday I try to do cardio as well but if I’m really tired then I take the day off. My goal is to get to very low body fat for my competition so my routine is a bit heavy for now. Off season I plan to 3-4 days of cardio of 30 min.



Nutrition is 80% of the hard work in my program. If there is a layer of fat on my abs, all the crunches in the world will not do any good so I am strict about my diet and afford one cheat meal a week (used to be cheat day) to keep my sanity. A cheat meal means I can eat anything I want and I save this as my "prize" for the tough week. I eat as close to "nature" as possible meaning that if the food has been processed or comes in a wrapper I do not eat it. Avoid processed foods. If it grows, flys, or swims then eat it. J



Basically I eat every 2-3 hours -

Breakfast: 1 cup Oatmeal or muesli. No sugar, only skim milk. I also try to eat 2 egg whites (hard boiled eggs with the yolk popped out) usually or maybe a few slices of smoked salmon or lean lunch meat (sliced ham) because the protein helps kill the hunger pains.

1st Snack: Fruit or veggie. Today I had a 1/2 raw yellow bell pepper. Usually I have a plain lowfat yogurt cup or cottage cheese too.

Lunch: rice or sweet potatoes/yams (although they are difficult to find at the grocery store). About 1 cup cooked max. I have 1-2 cups of veggies as well, the greener the better. Spinach, broccoli, brussels spouts, carrots, bell peppers, etc. Stay away from regular potatoes, full of starch. Farmers feed this to livestock to ’fatten them up’. Meat is fish, or any lean meat, cutting off all the fat. For this week I cooked up some chicken breast, lean ground beef meatballs, and fish. The amount of meat if you eyeball it is about the size of your palm or a deck of cards. Maybe I’ll have a leafy salad with homemade vinaigrette (1 part balsamic vinegar, 1 part olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed garlic), nuts, dried berries or raisins, olives, cornichons. No cheese.

2nd Snack: Fruit and/or veggie. Today it will be a banana and apple. Sometimes I have a cup of soup.

3rd Snack (at home): Right before the gym I have to have some protein (canned tuna, raw sashimi salmon, chicken breast) just because I’m starving. Usually the size of the palm of my hand or a deck of cards.

Dinner: Same as lunch.



Some principles of my diet:

· I never drink soda or juice and avoid any additional sugar in my diet. Juice seems healthy but it’s healthy when it comes in the fruit with the fiber. When it is stripped from the fiber, it is just pure sugar.

· I stopped drinking alcohol for now.

· Drink alot of water, about 4 liters/day

· Eat unlimited vegetables.

· Take a multivitamin and glutamine supplement which helps my body recover from training very hard.

· Try to avoid eating meal replacements like protein shakes and protein bars. Instead eat real food which your body will process much easier/efficiently.

· I count calories and try to keep my diet around 1300 calories/day. Max is 1500, only special occasions. I’m 163cm and 1300/day is my resting metabolic rate according to my calculations.

· No cheese.

· No white bread. I may have one whole wheat pita on occasion.

· Brown rice, yams, Quinoa, Cracked wheat, occasional whole wheat pita, plain rice cakes etc are often my carbs.

· No chocolates, candies, or sweets exist in my house. If it’s there, i’ll devour it in a heart beat.

· No pasta.

· I bake all of my food rather than frying. You have to have some fat in your diet in order to survive so I try to get it from veggie sources like avocado (guacamole = avocado, minced onion, lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, salt/pepper), mixed nuts, 2 tsp olive oil max.





Actual Exercise

If you are unsure what the exercise means, you can usually Google the term.



DB = dumbbell



Monday - Quads/Calves:

* Machine Leg Press 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Lunges 4 sets x 12 reps
* Machine Leg Extensions 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Standing Calf Raises 3 sets x 15 reps

Tuesday - Back:

* Machine Lat Pulldown 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Rows 4 sets x 12 reps
* Cable Straight Arm Pulldowns 4 sets x 12

Wednesday - Cardio Only or Rest



Thursday - Chest/Shoulders:

* Cable Crossovers 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Flies and DB Press superset 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Lateral Raises 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Front Raises 4 sets x 12 reps

Friday – Triceps/Biceps:

* Cable Pushdowns 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Kickbacks 4 sets x 12 reps
* Tricep Dips off a bench 4 sets x 12 reps
* DB Hammer Curls 4 sets x 12 reps
* Standing DB Curls 4 sets x 12 reps

Saturday – Cardio Only or Rest



Sunday – Hamstrings

* One Leg in Air Pelvic Pop 4 sets x 12 reps
* Cable Lying Leg Curls 4 sets x 12
* Barbell Stiff-leg Deadlifts 4 sets x 12

Abs Workout Everyday

* Bicycle crunches 4 sets x 20 reps
* 2 kg Medicine ball in between legs, lift up/down 4 sets x 20 reps
* 2kg Medicine ball shuffle around seated pike legs 4 sets x 20 reps
* Side bends or machine torso rotation 4 sets x 12-15 reps