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Unfortunately, because of ever increasing global obesity rates, exercise has become a matter of life and death. And those women that can exercise well into the later years of life, will have a serious advantage when it comes to longevity and vitality.

But there is a catch… Your body is constantly aging and breaking down as is. And exercise further increases this breakdown process.

HOWEVER, if done correctly, exercise compensates for the breakdown by having an even bigger building process. So even though you take one step back with intense exercise, during the recovery process you take two steps forward.

So here is how to extend the durable life of your exercising body by getting more build up instead of breakdown:

1. Avoid doing the same movements over and over and over again: I strongly believe that the most important aspect of getting in shape is learning how to establish permanent routines within your schedule. But if you don’t add variety within the routine, bad things start to happen.

You see, if you do the same workout with the same movements over and over again, your muscles and even worse, connective tissue will not have enough time to recover.

And connective tissues take a very long time to heal and recover because of almost non-existent blood supplies. Note: blood is the recovery lifeline to all the structures in your body because it carries nutrients and repair factors.

2. Don’t start exercising until your body is hot: I’ve seen too many women count a light walk as proper warm up. This simply is not enough. You need to feel an increase in body temperature for the proper effect here.

And exercising when your body isn’t “hot” not only puts your connective tissue at more risk for injury, but it also reduces your strength, power and speed. I personally take a very hot shower (increases blood flow) before each training session in addition to warming up on an elliptical.

3. Prioritize connective tissue strength over muscular strength in the beginning: Focusing on muscular strength will burn more calories and allow you to lose body fat faster. However, in the long run it will catch up to you and can potentially sideline you with an injury for a very long time.

So make sure that whenever you start an exercise program for the first time, you focus on light weights with higher repetitions too boost connective tissue strength. Then slowly phase into heavier weights with lower repetitions.

One option here would be to start with the shake weight (JOKING!).

4. Cycle in as much low impact activity as possible: Giving your joints a break from the rigors of exercise is a great way to reduce wear and tear on non-renewable cartilage. You see, cartilage is like the tires on a car-once it wears out, there is NO way to get it back.

And a great way to extend the life of your limited supply of cartilage, is to provide your body with periods of minimal load. My favorite modality here is exercise in water because water virtually takes away all the forces and loads of gravity.

Just make sure you don’t do too much swimming with your upper body if you have shoulder issues.

Getting results NOW is important for motivation, but you also need to plan for what can happen LATER. And most women simply forget about the later, they don’t take into account what their exercise routine will do to their bodies 10-15 years down the road.

So take care of your frame, and plan for the future so you can keep on exercising as long as you want!

CLICK HERE to discover how to get sexy and sculpted arms the safe way!

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Knee pain that comes and goes is extremely debilitating because not only does it hurt, but it can make you paranoid about what you should and shouldn’t do.

Even worse, if you have a strong will and “work” through the pain, you could end up blasting through your non-renewable cartilage.

The only solution at this point? Surgery.

So here are 6 steps towards less knee pain:

1. Avoid the seated position: Counter intuitively, staying in the seated position can exacerbate pain on the front of the knee cap. I recommend trying to work from the standing position for various reasons:

a. You will burn more calories.

b. It’s better for your back.

c. It alleviates front knee pain.

If standing work is out of the question for you, at the very least elevate the bad knee(s) when seated.

2. Get a high quality knee brace: They really do help and can provide relief when you are exercising. Now you don’t want to depend on a brace, but it can help weather the storm until you figure out the underlying cause of the pain. The only drawback here is that good knee braces are expensive.

3. Make your quadriceps muscles (front thighs) strong: You don’t have to become a bodybuilder here, but you should focus on making your front thighs strong with highly targeted movements. You see, strong front thighs will help your knee cap moving correctly.

4. Keep your hamstrings (back part of your thighs) flexible: Being in the seated position isometrically contracts your hamstrings. In other words, your hamstrings are contracting even though you don’t feel it. The end result is super tight hamstrings for women with desk jobs (the majority).

5. Don’t wait too long before replacing shoes: The extra money you save by wearing your shoes thin does not warrant wearing down your knee joint. After all, money is renewable, your joints aren’t.

Your knees are the primary weight bearing joints in your body and if your shoes no longer have appropriate cushion, they have to absorb more cartilage-damaging shock.

6. Reduce levels of body fat: Since your knees are the primary weight bearing joints, fat loss is a great way to give them a break. For every 1 lb of lost fat, your knees experience 4 lbs of relief-so everything counts here.

Now keep in mind that it’s impossible to cover all the potential causes of knee pain in a single article. Please consider this article as a starting point. And if your knee pain is severe and persists, do NOT hesitate to see a doctor.

It’s much better to stop the pain now instead of waiting until you’ve lost non-renewable cartilage!

CLICK HERE to discover how to get sexy and sculpted arms the safe way!

In the first article of this series, I discussed the negative aspects of arm lift surgeries that are often “overlooked” by women and their doctors.

Well, the good news is that arm lifts have come a long ways and are now safer than ever.

So here are the positive aspects of this procedure:

1. Low incidence of major complications: Although you can get permanent nerve damage from an arm lift, this is rare. In fact, one meta review (a giant analysis of studies) showed that 95% of complications were minor. And minor complications, although a nuisance, are nothing to be concerned about—they can be fixed quickly with modern medicine.

2. Less scarring: Depending on your particular situation, you may be a good candidate for a “minimal incision arm lift.” This is a new technique that involves incisions around the axilla (arm pit). Traditional techniques, on the other hand, involved incisions (and subsequent scarring) from the axilla all the way down to the elbow.

And even if you don’t qualify for this new technique, most scars from full blown arm lifts are not as prominent as they used to be because incisions are now made towards the inner back part of your arm—an area where scarring is less visible.

Just to be on the safe side, though, make sure that your prospective surgeon is well versed in modern techniques.

3. Quantity of removed tissue: On average, you can expect to have about 463 grams of fat removed. Now 463 grams is roughly equal to one pound. And one pound of fat takes up a little more space than the averaged size coffee mug.

So imagine having a “coffee mug” amount of volume removed from your arms—it’s a lot.

4. The only solution for overgrown skin: There is a point of no return where no amount of exercise and diet  can get rid of excess skin. You see, when skin gets stretched for prolonged periods of time, new skin cells begin to grow. And once you have grown new skin, you can’t burn it off with exercise the same way you would burn off fat.

The good news is that most women wishing to tone their arms have NOT reached this point yet.

5. Flexible payment plans: Given the state of the economy, many surgeons are offering flexible payment plans so that the procedure is more accessible. Thus, even though arm lifts aren’t covered by insurance and can be costly, you should be able to work something out with your surgeon.

Now even though arm lifts are safer than ever, I strongly recommend that you try exercise and diet first. Only consider an arm lift as a last resort. After all, surgery is a serious process that no woman should take lightly.

In any case, if you do decide to move forward with the procedure, please make sure that your surgeon is up to date with all the new techniques. The last thing you want is a giant scar running from your arm pit to your elbow because of an outdated procedure!

CLICK HERE to discover how to get toned arms without an arm lift!

Obesity rates are on the rise and they show no sign of stopping any time soon. As a result, record numbers of women are seeking bariatric surgery.

But there is a catch…

After the surgery, you can be left with unsightly amounts of excess arm tissue, including skin. Thus, the arm lift has been gaining an increasing amount of popularity-even among women who haven’t lost massive amounts of weight, but want smaller arms.

And the plastic surgeons are ready to fill this modern demand. But before you decide to go under the knife, please consider the following:

1. Cost: The average amount you can expect to pay for a typical arm lift is $4,000. This number can go up or down depending on the location and experience of the surgeon. Unfortunately, since arm lifts are cosmetic procedures, most insurance companies won’t cover them.

Now you could jump on the medical tourism bandwagon and travel to another country for the procedure, but getting quality care offshore could be hit or miss. And do you really want to put yourself at risk for a botched arm lift?

2. Ulnar nerve damage: Now this only happens in about 5% of patients-a very low number. However, 5% is still 5%. And you should definitely take this into account before moving forward with the procedure.

You see, once a nerve is damaged, you could lose sensation and mobility in your arm and/or hand.

3. Length of procedure: An arm lift is not an “in and out” surgery. In fact, the average arm lift lasts about 2. 5 hours. This number can go up depending on how much tissue needs to be removed.

4. Seromas: These are pockets of clear fluid that develop along the lines of incision. They are clear because they do not contain red blood cells, the cells that carry oxygen through your blood. The good news is that seromas are relatively easy to treat.

Nonetheless, one study showed that more than 1/3 of patients develop seromas.

5. Adding a liposuction increases complication rates: Many women undergoing an arm lift also need a liposuction for the best results. Unfortunately, when an arm lift and liposuction are combined, the percentage of complications increase.

By the way, an arm lift involves the removal of skin and some superficial tissue, while a liposuction involves the extraction of fatty tissue with metallic “sucking” rods.

One way around this is to simply burn off as much fat as possible with diet and exercise before the procedure so that you don’t need the liposuction.     

6. Acute anemia: This is one of the most common complications and involves feeling fatigued and weak. And while not serious, it’s still a nuisance.

Just in case you didn’t know, anemia is a condition when red blood cell counts go down and by extension, levels of oxygen. And oxygen is needed to produce energy in your body.

7. The need for more procedures: Quite often, just an arm lift will NOT leave a woman with an acceptable appearance. Many women find that excess fat and skin needs to be removed from the pectoral (chest) and axilla (arm pit) areas as well. And the stacking of additional procedures on top of the arm lift increases the risk for complications.

Now I realize that this article is very one-sided and sounds quite negative. Well, the truth is that arm lift procedures have come a long way and are safer than ever. Nevertheless, you need to be aware of the potential risks involved.

After all, no one is going to look out for your health as much as you will.

In any case, don’t miss part two of this article in which I discuss the positive aspects of getting an arm lift.

CLICK HERE to discover the fastest way to lose arm fat without an arm lift!

If you’ve read my last two articles in this brachioplasty series, you should have a solid grasp of the truth behind this procedure. So many women think brachioplasty is an easy and quick solution to flabby arms. But this isn’t always the case. In reality, it can be a complicated and long process that can leave your arms looking worse when done with the wrong techniques.

So make sure you think long and hard before going under the knife. And if you do go under the knife, please make sure you are well informed about your plastic surgeon!

In this last article of the series I will discuss 4 more things that are often overlooked:

• The only way to get rid of sagging skin is to cut it. This is not always true-it depends on the amount. While your skin does lose some of its elasticity as you age, by no means are you stuck with the sagginess. Your skin has the ability to become tight again. Pregnant women are a perfect example here. Their skin undergoes massive stretching, yet it’s able to rebound back to the original form without sagging. The key is to work out your arms with specialized exercises to make the skin and the tissue underneath the skin tight again.

• Brachioplasty is affordable. With the current state of the economy, I think most women would disagree with this statement. According to Gary Hall, MD:

“the package cost for an arm lift would range from about $5000 to $6000.”

That’s $500 a month for 12 months. You could get a nice car with a monthly payment of $500! And don’t forget that your arms are likely to rebound within a year if you don’t exercise and diet properly. So you are looking at spending $5000-$6000 per year if you want to maintain results.

• It takes too long to get results from exercise. Well, it depends on what type of exercise you are doing. Not all exercise is created equal. If you are doing effective exercises that target your arms and promote fat loss, you are going to see faster results versus running on a treadmill all day. Add in some nutritional trickery and results will come even faster. And don’t forget the months of weight loss you have to endure before the surgery, and the months of recovery you have to endure after the surgery. In some cases, results from surgery can take longer than results from exercise.

• Brachioplasty is very low risk. Any type of plastic surgery can be risky. Hollywood is full of celebrities that are walking billboards for surgeries gone horribly wrong. I have personally worked with many women who went through surgical procedures that left them forever scarred. Remember that brachioplasty can leave you with a scar that runs from your armpit to your elbow. Even worse, if your surgeon hits a nerve (more common than you think) you could end up with permanent numbness in different areas of your arms. Having said that, new techniques have been developed that minimize the scarring issue.

Ok, now you are a brachioplasty expert. Congratulations! After reading these articles, you may be feeling a little discouraged. The good news is that you have no reason to. You don’t have to go under the knife if you want to get rid of your flabby arms once and for all. There are equally effective alternatives if you are willing to put forth the effort!

CLICK HERE to discover the fastest way to get rid of fat arms without going under the knife!

If you read my last article, you’re probably thinking twice about brachioplasty. And for good reason because arm surgery is no walk in the park. Having your arm cut up is both costly and time consuming. Also keep in mind that your arms could end up looking worst after the surgery because of the lengthy scars.

Once you take everything into account, brachioplasty doesn’t seem so attractive anymore. Here are 3 more things the doctors aren’t telling you:

• The results are permanent. I hate to break it to you, but you’re going to have to read the fine print on this one. Surgery doesn’t teach you how to solve the problem, it simply cuts it away. It’s like putting a band aid on a leaky house—it may work for a short while, but eventually that band aid is going to come off. But don’t take my word for it, according to Richard P. Rand, MD:

“arm skin is very thin and doesn’t have superb elasticity in patients who need arm lifts in the first place. Consequently, retained fat will tend to stretch out the result much more than if the fat has been lost prior to surgery. Weight gain and loss after surgery can also compromise the result significantly by stretching the skin again. Even at its best though, nothing is permanent…”

Notice that if you gain or lose weight after the surgery results will be significantly compromised. Do you really want to be stuck at the same weight you were at during surgery for the rest of your life? What if you go on vacation and gain some weight, or what if decide to lose weight for an upcoming reunion? You’ll be very lucky if the results last over a year.

• Brachioplasty is the quickest way to get rid of flabby arms. Not true. While the surgery itself doesn’t take very long (couple hours), you have to spend months before the surgery losing weight and then months after the surgery in recovery. And with a little bad luck you may even end up with a botched surgery that requires follow up procedures. When you take all this into account, arm surgery becomes the slowest way to get rid of flabby arms, not the quickest. The quickest way to solve the problem is by doing specialized arm workouts and implementing some nutritional trickery. Both of these will change the physical structure of your arms permanently.

• Surgical results are impressive. The market is flooded with cosmetic surgeons ready to collect their bounty. It’s an extremely lucrative field. But even if you have an endless supply of money, there is no guarantee you will get spectacular results. Just look at all the rich Hollywood celebrities that are walking billboards for plastic surgeries gone wrong. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some women that do get good results, but it’s hit or miss. And I know that you’d feel more comfortable knowing that you are going to get a hit and not a miss.

Well, there you have it, three more things to consider when thinking about brachioplasty. It’s a complicated procedure that requires a huge time and money investment, and there’s no guarantee for lasting results. Many women are under the false pretense that it’s an easy procedure. Nothing could be further from the truth!

CLICK HERE to discover the fastest way to get rid of fat arms without surgery!

Have you been considering brachioplasty? I don’t blame you, I considered the surgery at one point in my life as well. The truth is, getting rid of flabby arms can be virtually impossible if you aren’t using the right approach. And most women do not know what the right approach is. So they decide to take what’s perceived as the easy route—brachioplasty. The bottom line is that living with flabby arms can be a self image nightmare.

But there is a catch.

In this article, I am going to discuss what the brachioplasty catch is. In other words, what the doctors aren’t telling you about going under the knife. Here are 3 common myths you should be aware of:

• Results are fast. While the surgery may only take a couple of hours, it takes many many months to begin to see the results. Keep in mind that your arm tissue is being forcibly butchered when you go under the knife. The resulting swelling and tissue damage takes a long time to go away. Even worse, is the scar you are left with that goes from your armpit to your elbow. According to Michael Law, MD:

“this fairly long scar tends to widen, become pigmented, and even thicken – which means that younger patients must seriously consider if the scar is an acceptable trade-off for the improvement in upper arm contour”

“It is always best to be close to your desired weight goal prior to any body contouring procedure. The more toned that you are before the surgery the better the ultimate result. I usually want my patients to be within 10 to 15 pounds of their goal weight”

You also won’t be able to eat ANYTHING 24 hrs before the surgery. And after the surgery you will be immobilized and will have to take time off work to recover.

Having second thoughts about cutting off the flab from your flabby arms? So did I. After lots of thinking, I decided not to go under the knife. And I’m very glad I made that decision because I figured out a better way to get back the arms I used to have when I was a twenty-something. I discovered that specialized exercises combined with a little nutritional trickery can get you better results than plastic surgery all things considered.

CLICK HERE to discover the fastest way to get rid of fat arms without surgery!