http://www.venusindex.com Muscle shaping and conditioning for your best body Wed, 16 May 2012 14:35:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Have you been wondering what your BEST YOU would look like? Have you gotten lost in the mountains of diet and fitness information, only to keep stagnating and never getting the sleek, sexy body you know will turn heads? If so, this Venus Index Podcast is for you. John Barban, Brad Howard, Brad Pilon no John Barban, Brad Howard, Brad Pilon askbradhoward@gmail.com askbradhoward@gmail.com (John Barban, Brad Howard, Brad Pilon) 2010 Adonis Lifestyle LLC The Women's Podcast For Perfect Shape and Tone health, diet, nutrition, women's health, women's fitness, eating, looking great, exercise, perfect shape, toning http://c2536502.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/144X144.jpg http://www.venusindex.com http://www.venusindex.com/vt5-announced/ http://www.venusindex.com/vt5-announced/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 14:35:50 +0000 John Barban http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1735 http://www.venusindex.com/vt5-announced/feed/ 0 http://www.venusindex.com/original-venus-look-amazing-have-cookies/ http://www.venusindex.com/original-venus-look-amazing-have-cookies/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 10:00:07 +0000 Admin http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1711 http://www.venusindex.com/original-venus-look-amazing-have-cookies/feed/ 0 Venus Index,venus index contest,Venus index Transformation Today we have an interview with Kris West who placed 2nd in the Open Level 2 Division in the latest Venus Index Contest. - Check out her pictures: - I bet that you think Kris had to follow a very strict diet and work out every single day for two ... Today we have an interview with Kris West who placed 2nd in the Open Level 2 Division in the latest Venus Index Contest. Check out her pictures: I bet that you think Kris had to follow a very strict diet and work out every single day for two hours to prepare for a photoshoot like this in just a couple of weeks or months. Well, if you'd think that, you would be wrong... The Magic of Maintenance Point - The Minimalist/Maximalist Approach After placing in one of the previous Venus Index Contests last year, Kris wanted to just maintain her physique. This contest for her was all about finding a way to put the least time and effort into the training and diet to stay looking good. She wanted to spend as little time as possible in the gym to keep her look and ate the maximum amount of calories she could eat without gaining fat. Do you think this worked? Well, judge by results not words: How's the Maintenance in Reality? Kris trains during her launch breaks and her workouts are usually about an hour long, because she needs to get back to work. Her fitness is made around her work schedule and kids. Not the other way around as some magazines or "experts" would have you do. This time Kris didn't want to have more than 3 workouts a week. And being with Venus Index from the beginning and having lots of experience in fitness, she could play with different programs and "lego block" them into various ways (not something we'd recommend for beginners) and since the Venus Index workouts are designed this way, you can cycle them however you want. She combined the main Venus Index workout with one of the workouts from Adonis Index and cycled them week by week. Since Kris didn't do any cardio and wasn't obsessing over her training she had more time for herself and even if something came up on the day of her workout, she would just go to the gym the next day. She didn't strive for some strict workout structure in her weekly schedule and just went whenever she wanted. And as long as you are consistent, you can keep it flexible, the key ISN'T to make your fitness your life, the key is to look good WHILE having a life. And it's really not that important when you go to the gym anyway. If you have four workouts a week and you do them four days in a row, that's fine, but remember that leaving some rest days in between will help you to be stronger in your next workout thus get better results out of it. For diet, Kris changed her approach a bit. She was always a one meal type of person. This time, she didn't do any fasts and tried eating more meals a day. Not because she was afraid of Starvation Mode or some other fitness media myth, but rather because she wanted to test out some new things. She started doing several mini meals during the day to keep more energy and out of cravings. While this may sound as a surprise from a Venus, the truth is that there is a big difference in how you should eat if have 50 pounds to lose vs maintaining visible abs all year round. We are starting to find more and more evidence that not only does weight loss slow down and gets harder towards the end, but it also seems that once you get really lean (visible abs for women and single digit body fat for man) you need to eat more often and just can't do 24 hour fasts anymore. When you get very lean your body has very little fat in its storage and your appetite will be higher as a result and your body may will want to naturally store more fat. So, to stay lean and avoid binging it seems like a good idea to eat more often and not creating large calorie deficits on a daily basis. Take Home Message from Kris: Keep it simple, the simpler you keep it the less stressful it becomes Have some low calorie options in your house for snacks Start weight loss with counting calories with the goal to eventually learn to just "eye ball" the portions, nobody wants to count calories their whole life Don't think about your diet, John Barban, Brad Howard, Brad Pilon no 38:31 http://www.venusindex.com/after-40-years-of-unsuccessful-dieting-there-is-still-hope/ http://www.venusindex.com/after-40-years-of-unsuccessful-dieting-there-is-still-hope/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 10:00:30 +0000 Admin http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1675 http://www.venusindex.com/after-40-years-of-unsuccessful-dieting-there-is-still-hope/feed/ 0 Venus Index,venus index contest,Venus index Transformation Today we have an interview with Terry Clauss who placed 3rd in the Transformation category in the latest Venus Index Contest. - Check out her pictures: - There is a good chance that Terry's story will resemble to yours, because it's just so common. Today we have an interview with Terry Clauss who placed 3rd in the Transformation category in the latest Venus Index Contest. Check out her pictures: There is a good chance that Terry's story will resemble to yours, because it's just so common. Issues with weight and eating often times start at an early age, we just don't realize it. When Terry was 13, her mother was worried that she was getting fat. She took Terry to a doctor who prescribed her diet pills (At the age of 13? WTF!?). She would not eat and then binge afterwards. The weight loss and weight gain never ending cycle began. Terry tried EVERY diet there is. From Atkins, to South Beach to Naturally Thin, Diet Solution, Weight Watchers, you name it, she did it. She had little bits of success, but the issue with all of those diets was that they were all too restrictive. It wasn't about eating less, it was all about cutting out entire food groups. This may be the conventional approach, but it's just a ticking time bomb. You will always make up for whatever you have removed from your diet. For Terry it was starting to be pretty depressing to be constantly losing and gaining pounds of fat. Today Terry is 53 years old and has 40 years of unsuccessful attempts of dieting behind her. At first she was skeptical because she wasted so much money, time and effort on other programs in the past. Could you imagine trying to lose weight for year after year for 40 years in a row? Without any significant or long-term success, how would you feel, would you think that it's even possible to lose weight anymore? At this stage most women think that it's their hormones and they just can't lose any weight no matter what they do. Well, Terry decided to give Eat Stop Eat and Venus Index a chance. At first she tried ESE and got some results with that, so she trusted Brad Pilon. When he sent an email about the results from the third Venus Index contest and she saw that the girls all looked like normal people and just after 12 weeks they got in great shape, she jumped right in. She improved her physique and she is finally on her way to building a body she can be proud of and keep all year round. What really drove her to do this was that her son was going to have a baby and like she said: "I didn't want to be a chunky grandma.", so she decided to get in better shape. It's never too late and even if you've been trying to lose weight and get in shape for the past 40 years without any results, you still have a chance to do so, you just need the right approach. Terry is proof of that. Don't Be Afraid of a New Approach, You Have Nothing to Lose When we are trying something new, we feel anxiety and excitement at the same time. Usually, we are excited about it, but once it's time to take action we realize that it's new and doesn't feel very comfortable. On one hand it's exciting, but on the other, we would rather go back to our previous habits. Well, the biggest growth happens outside your comfort zone and if you want to get different and new results, you need different and new approaches. Doing uncomfortable things at first will expend your comfort zone. It's really up to you whether you will shape your future or just accept whatever comes your way. Terry sat down and compared the pro's and con's. She asked herself: "What is the worst thing that can happen?" and "What is the best thing that can happen?" She also admitted that without having to send the before pictures at the beginning, she wouldn't be so committed and would have probably dropped out during the first few weeks. The Venus Index contest works as accountability and will help you stick to your plan, it will keep you motivated, because you want to send pictures that shows at least some kind of difference. And after the contest? Well, first this get's you moving and then gives you momentum to continue and take it further. Take Home Message: John Barban, Brad Howard, Brad Pilon no 36:09 http://www.venusindex.com/creating-your-own-dietary-boundaries/ http://www.venusindex.com/creating-your-own-dietary-boundaries/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 17:17:34 +0000 Brad Pilon http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1662 http://www.venusindex.com/creating-your-own-dietary-boundaries/feed/ 0 http://www.venusindex.com/after-pregnancy-nursing-wins-transformation-contest/ http://www.venusindex.com/after-pregnancy-nursing-wins-transformation-contest/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Admin http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1627 http://www.venusindex.com/after-pregnancy-nursing-wins-transformation-contest/feed/ 1 Venus Index,venus index contest,Venus index Transformation Today we bring you an interview with Shannon Conners who won the latest Venus Index Transformation Contest. - Check out her pictures: - A few years back Shannon hated her body and every single picture of herself. Today we bring you an interview with Shannon Conners who won the latest Venus Index Transformation Contest. Check out her pictures: A few years back Shannon hated her body and every single picture of herself. Being over 30 and not satisfied with the way she looked and felt about her body, she decided to get back in shape. She started doing roller blading and slowly got into weight training. This helped her, but not in a way that she could stand in front of a mirror and say "wow", it just wasn't anything exceptional. It was one of the previous Venus Index winners Naomi who introduced her to the Venus Index approach. She would listen to the podcasts and hang around for a long time before trying the workouts. It's important to say that when she decided to start training with the Venus Index Shannon was pregnant, which many people would be against. Pregnancy itself is a challenge and most women would not want to train and watch their diet on top of it. However, Shannon herself told us that her first pregnancy was a disaster. During her first one she gained a lot of weight, and like she said, she just used it as an excuse to eat whatever she wanted, anytime she wanted without setting any limitations at all. As a result she gained a lot and felt terrible, having all sorts of weird health issues. She admitted that it was completely ridiculous. But this time, it was different. She didn't allow herself to gain so much, felt great the whole way through and even her doctor told her to keep doing what she was doing, because it obviously improved her well-being. Disclaimer: If you want to train or follow the Venus Index approach while being pregnant, consult your physician first, this is for information purposes only. This time, for the second pregnancy Shannon followed the Venus Index workout, she would just do fewer sets than in the plan and was slowly lowering the intensity of the workouts towards the end of her pregnancy. And you can't really argue with this because like she and her physician both said, this time the pregnancy was healthier and felt way more comfortable. And her doctor was monitoring her the whole time. And while she ate a bit more then she would normally, she still managed to stay at a reasonable weight. She walked a lot and lifted weights and even received comments on how beautiful a pregnant woman she was. Pretty drastic difference compared to her first time, when she felt (in her own words) 'like a whale'. Obviously guys can't imagine what it means being pregnant, but she told us that despite the challenges of being pregnant, it still should not be used as a licence to not move around (walking, weight lifting) and eat too much, that's just plain unhealthy and it will be tougher for your to get in shape afterwards. This time Shannon had more of a plan. She would even use Facebook and follow other pregnant athletes to keep motivated and inspired. Another technique she used was visualizing her post-pregnancy time. She reveals more of her approach in the interview. Shannon's Challenges, Well...Apart from Being Pregnant Obviously pregnancy is not the easiest and most fun time in the life, but Shannon still decided that she will stay at a reasonable weight and keep fit and it worked, she did gain less weight and was fit and felt "pretty good". And once she started nursing, she decided that she will enter the Venus Index competition. Which is exactly what she did and not only that, but she won the whole thing too! Here are a few of her challenges that Shannon talks about in the interview: Waking up in the middle of night to take care of the baby Making sure that she was walking a lot during the day Nursing and staying in a caloric deficit Not seeing results on a daily basis The weight loss was slowing down towards the end of the contest Having to feed the baby in the middle of the workouts Not being able to set a fixed schedule John Barban, Brad Howard, Brad Pilon no 56:32 http://www.venusindex.com/numbers-dont-lie-or-do-they/ http://www.venusindex.com/numbers-dont-lie-or-do-they/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:00:40 +0000 John Barban http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1606 http://www.venusindex.com/numbers-dont-lie-or-do-they/feed/ 0 http://www.venusindex.com/the-cascading-elements-of-change-indirect-versus-direct-effects/ http://www.venusindex.com/the-cascading-elements-of-change-indirect-versus-direct-effects/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:16:32 +0000 Brad Howard http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1615 http://www.venusindex.com/the-cascading-elements-of-change-indirect-versus-direct-effects/feed/ 2 http://www.venusindex.com/is-your-nutra-neurosis-ruining-your-relationship-with-food/ http://www.venusindex.com/is-your-nutra-neurosis-ruining-your-relationship-with-food/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:14:57 +0000 Brad Pilon http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1589 http://www.venusindex.com/is-your-nutra-neurosis-ruining-your-relationship-with-food/feed/ 1 http://www.venusindex.com/vt4-contest-winners-announced/ http://www.venusindex.com/vt4-contest-winners-announced/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:00:16 +0000 John Barban http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1554 http://www.venusindex.com/vt4-contest-winners-announced/feed/ 3 http://www.venusindex.com/dexa-results-part-2-season-1-finale/ http://www.venusindex.com/dexa-results-part-2-season-1-finale/#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:03:07 +0000 John Barban http://www.venusindex.com/?p=1533 http://www.venusindex.com/dexa-results-part-2-season-1-finale/feed/ 0