Personal trainers have built their business on bringing fitness training and support to individuals in the comfort of their own homes. In recent years though, there has been a new dynamic growing at creating a similar environment for another group of clients – those you never meet in person.

If you’re like me and born outside of generation z (mid-90s to 2000s) then this sounds absolutely crazy!

A personal trainer who never spots you or yells out “c’mon, one more rep”? Huh? Really?

[Imagine Obama on the other end coaching you?? - "I don't think I can do it coach... YES WE CAN!"]

So let’s move together past our collective first glances and see what virtual personal trainers and coaches have to offer.

How exactly does this arrangement work?

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I had the pleasure recently to meet with one of the busiest guys in the online fitness world, Chris “FitandBusyDad” Lopez for questions and answers regarding kettlebell workouts, specifically for fat loss.

For those of us who complain about not having enough time in the day to squeeze a workout in, prepare for a whole lot of shame, guilt, and inspiration.

I first met Chris during a boot camp training session this summer just outside of Toronto. Besides impressing the hell out of me with his tenacity and intensity, he was an even nicer guy who was quick to encourage and support others during the session.

Not only does he run his own personal training business and a successful blog full of videos and sample workouts, he is also a devoted husband and father to 4 (soon to be 5) beautiful children… all daughters! (I sent him an NRA application last week.)

Without re-copying his entire daddy bio from his blog, he does all the stuff a great dad should do (and more) while staying in great shape throughout the year. Hell, he’s even been voted by iParents.com as ”dad of the month” for June this year.

So here’s what he had to say about kettlebells and fat loss after one of our training sessions:

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Six pack abs are said to be the pinnacle of fitness by some. I’m not much for flashy titles, but not many things are more appealing then a flat stomach on the opposite sex.

Ever stared in a mirror after months of hard training and wondered when you’ll see that sexy six pack of yours?

[I think NBA basketball players are unusually tall and look ridiculous in public places. Not Jameer Nelson. The guy is well put together but it might also help he's six feet tall and 190 pounds. Advantage: short guys!]

For the average Joe like you and me, we tend to screw things up royally when it comes to going after the vaunted six pack or flat stomach. But how? (more…)

I see more flat stomach and six-pack ab infomercials everyday that revolve around the classic crunch move.

We all know this move: lie on the floor on your back, grab the back of your head with your hands and pull it two inches off the floor. I think it’s safe to say this method does not work very well for building your 6-pack abs and flattening out your stomach.

[There's nothing intense about this exercise. Look at this poor girl's facial expression! Not another time wasting crunch, please...]

Aside from them being useless for getting six pack abs, the crunch movement itself is actually harmful to your spine and lower back. Every single time you perform a crunch, you are doing what the world’s leading experts on back pain describe as a dangerous motion.

Research shows every time you crunch, you do what is called spinal flexion, and spinal flexion compresses the disks between your vertebrae. If you do that too much, you could end up with a herniated disc. It’s the same motion as rounding your back to pick up something off the floor, and you probably know someone who has hurt their back that way!

Total body ab exercises are more effective.

Instead of wasting your life lying on your back doing an exercise that you can do hundreds of times, you need to replace crunches and all those other 1980s aerobics style exercises with better, total body ab exercises to get more results in less time.

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Even if you’ve packed on a few winter pounds, had kids, or neglected your belly for years, it’s never too late to get your middle section into a firm and sexy shape.

[Win or lose, Melissa Rycroft sports the best looking abs during this seasons' Dancing With The Stars] 

The following moves hit all of the major ab muscles, specifically the rectus abdominis (ie. the “six pack” muscle) and the obliques. They also force you to focus on your abs throughout the motion (no worries about sleep walking through this routine). Perform these exercises 3 times a week, in addition to your interval training routine.

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Have you ever wondered why some people can have lean and sexy bodies all year round, while they eat anything they want and some people struggle to lose their belly fat and love handles, no matter what they try?

Isn’t it so frustrating to eat healthy and do regular exercise and still struggle to keep the weight off?

Well there is a reason those ripped fitness models and bodybuilders can stay lean all year round while doing very little cardio exercise, while everyone else struggles.

They have discovered the secret to keeping fat of their body…

They have discovered the secret weapon to being sculpted and firm, not soft and flabby.

They have discovered the secret to looking and feeling their best.

It’s the ONE thing you must have…

MUSCLE

The most basic relationship or equation to understand is this:

Muscle = Fat Loss

And who knows how to build muscle better than a muscle building expert?

A good friend of mine, Vince DelMonte is a bodybuilding and weight loss expert. He is the author of the #1 muscle building course in the world right now, and has thousands of male and female clients in over 120 countries. I thought Vince would be best to explain to me and the readers of The Fat Loss Authority why muscle is the massive weight loss and health secret no one is talking about.  Below you’ll find the conversation between Vince and I last week.
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As many of you know, weight training is my main exercise activity when it comes to fat loss. However, training with equipment such as dumbbells and barbells properly is known by very few. If it was easy then you would see a lot more muscular and lean physiques on the streets.

Before you learn how to weight train properly, it is critical that you learn these five weight training tips before you even begin to start hoisting heavy objects above your head.

1. Goal Setting

“Inch-by-inch life is a sinch. Yard-by-yard life is hard.” Words made famous by Vince Delmonte himself. Treat your goal setting the same way. Do not expect to be on the cover of Men’s Fitness by next summer. Decide how much muscle weight you wish to achieve in three months. Six months and one year. Decide where you wish to finish and work backwards. Creating a powerpoint presentation with your favorite physiques also helps reaffirm your journey. (more…)

I was recently in the gym with fitness guru Vince DelMonte , for a mid-week workout. It’s not often someone gets to sweat and grunt along side a fitness professional (a very busy one at that) so motivation that day was a non-issue. On the agenda today? Building muscle, period .

Now most of us think we can build or gain muscle by training each body part once per week, slamming back some protein shakes, and eating enough chicken and tuna to grow feathers and gills. Unfortunately, it ain’t that easy.

During this particular workout, there were no cameras, no notebooks, and no quitting. Next time we’re planning on filming the workout for funzies so you can really see me get put into the hurt.

You can find the same workout we did on this day from Vince’s No Nonsense Muscle Building Program.

During this session, I re-learned three important strategies when it comes to building muscle :
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I was sitting down with Vince DelMonte, author of Your Six Pack Quest and No Nonsense Muscle Building, over the weekend and he insisted that I pass along this incredible offer to the readers of The Fat Loss Authority. Vince, along with other fitness experts, are joining forces to produce what is one of the most valuable giveaways ever for a limited time only (48 Hours).

We are talking hundreds and hundreds of dollars in real value—stuff you can’t get ANYWHERE else and for FREE. Since it’s only 3-4 months away from beach season, Vince is giving his Razor-Sharp Abdominal Cardio workout book and online video — a real $57 value that you can only get by purchasing the full Six-pack Quest system.

Get your free gifts here:

==>http://www.FreeFitnessGiveaways.com

There are also some other cool gifts from Joel Marion and guys like Jon Benson and Jeff Anderson, so be sure to check out the site TODAY, as it’s being taken down in just a couple days (and it WILL be the last time Vince and company do this for a very long time).

Again, only download the gifts that you are most interested in and want to start using right away (don’t fall victim to information overload). You probably don’t need all the gifts so decide on which one you need the most right now.

Enjoy the workouts!

Did you know the quality of a workout/activity can be greatly increased by the choice of your fellow participant(s)?

Research shows that choosing a buddy to walk with means that you’re more likely to stay with your program. Being active with a partner or a small group can help you stay motivated and make your workout more fun! Perhaps you already have some exercise friends within your support circle, but there is always room for more.

Finding someone with similar fitness interests and goals to work out with can be stressful but here are four easy tips to find more health and fitness friends:
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