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April 21, 2011

My Review of Craig Ballantyne's "Turbulence Training" - The Best 40 minutes Fat Loss and Body Remodeling Workout for Busy Men and Women

I am the type of person who gives it to you straight, so let me tell you what’s it all about.
If  you are expecting a typical e-book, which starts with a long-winded introduction, and containing senseless information, that is not what you should expect from Craig Ballantyne's "Turbulence Training" at all.
You will not find any of those cheesy pictures of buff models, you will see only the photos of real people who transformed their bodies due to this training routine.
It doesn’t meter if you are a beginner, experienced or an advanced fitness practitioner, Craig Ballantyne does the greatest job ever giving us the best training routines for each category.
So, if you are an overweight, sedentary beginner who haven't been doing any exercise, like I was one year ago, “Turbulence Training” is the answer to your problems.
The beginner program helped me prevent the injuries overweight people usually get when they start a high-volume cardio program. It also prepared my muscles for all future workouts.

The key principle which makes Craig Ballantyne's "Turbulence Training" work is interval training. This fitness program is an efficient 24-week workout routine, which can be used over and over again.
We will do the same set of exercises for four weeks and after that period, the workouts will change accordingly. This variety is needed to keep on boosting our metabolism, burning fat month after month and keep making gains in strength and fitness at the same time. And, don’t worry, there are a lot of workouts to choose from.
You should train three days per week and each session is about 50 minutes or so. All exercises are designed as short bursts of workout that are intense as they can be so your body will burn fat even while you are inactive. 
This is because strength training is the other core of the e-book.  Aside from helping us shed off those excess pounds through short and intense exercises, our muscle strength will be given a boost so we can have the best body type that you can have.
Therefore, there is no need for excessive cardio exercises. Thank God! Because when you are overweight, the last things you want to do are running or do extreme cardio. Do not get me wrong, moderate jogging is good for everybody.  But do it with an extra 50 pounds pressing against your chest and legs. I am confident you understand now why I quitted every single training routine in the past.

A key note to remember is that during the most intense of workouts, you should change your diet accordingly to get the most number of benefits possible. And we are fortunate, because what sets Craig Ballantyne apart from the rest of the guys posing as successful exercise e-book authors is that he is also a nutritionist.
There is an entire chapter in the "Turbulence Training" e-book, which is dedicated to teaching you how to eat right. 
But this is not a restrictive or fad diet at all.  Instead, the program is committed to helping you lose the fat, get you in better shape and help you have the best body type that you have ever had in years.
Keeping close watch of the food that you are eating while undergoing a serious exercise program is the key to being the healthiest that you can be.  Eat six small meals throughout the day instead of having the traditional breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Make sure to plan those six healthy meals the night before. 
If you need to, keep a food journal and write down everything that you eat so that you can keep a close watch of your caloric intake. I am keeping it and it helps me a lot.

Another important thing to say is this training program is not only a research-proven and useful in boosting your muscle growth fitness routine, it is also time efficient and money saving.
Is pretty much suited for everyone: both men and women, and it can all be done right in the comfort of our own home, without paying an expensive gym where everybody is checking out “the new fat guy” or a gym trainer who charges 100 bucks an hour. 
You might need to invest in a few barbells and an exercise ball, especially if you are a guy. But every single investment is well worth it.

So what is my final verdict?
After using this program for more then a year, I found only one or two drawbacks.
The first drawback is that we have an entire chapter dedicated to the topic of eating right, but the author did not go into the more intricate details of the diet that should be included with the exercise program. Nevertheless, the training itself more than makes up for the lack of details about the diet. I lost from 4 to 6 pounds of body fat each month.
Obviously, I was not able to sustain the same rate of fat burning in the last 3 months. This is only because there isn’t too much fat left… Lucky me!
However, there is good news. The author decided that we should all benefit of the complete nutrition guide, so he included it his offer, together with four other bonuses.
            It is a very good thing, not only for the advanced fitness practitioners, but also for everyone interested in saving a considerable amount of money.
The last drawback is that after over 13 month of "Turbulence Training", I am still getting bald…So do not buy this if you think your hair will grow back!
However, if all you want is to improve dramatically your health, lose fat and gain lean muscle at the same time, perform and look better and be in the best shape of your life, THIS is the right fitness program for you. 
So, if you decide to buy one e-book this year, make it this one. It was definitely money well spent for me.

I hope you find this review useful and get some value out of it.
Start the “Turbulence Training” today. Be strong!

   To your best year ever,

   Edward Platz
   Full-Time Dream Achiever
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“Smart Fitness”, what does it mean?

A crucial step before starting any training program is figuring out what your overall fitness goal is right now. So what is your fitness goal? Mine was to be healthier, lose weight (lose fat, actually….) and generally perform in better way. But be aware, because training for “better performance” has a weird side effect: YOU WILL LOOK GOOD, too!!!
Meaning, training for performance will lead to more muscle and less fat. And, training for looks will lead to increased strength and improved performance. So looks and health come together. As long as you choose the smart fitness routine…which is the training program that will work best for you, off course.
And there we have a lot of options to choose from. But do we, really?

As we all know, a fitness routine is a training plan and, if lucky, a diet plan.
So why don’t all work?
Why are people giving up after a couple of weeks or months… Because it’s not all about the exercises, diets and motivation. It’s what you do with those, it’s how you apply them. Actually, it is about the person who puts them together. It’s all about the author, our fitness trainer. Our fitness trainer must have the ability to keep us motivated when we exercise his routines.
So, you see, before even considering a fitness training routine, we need to consider choosing the right fitness trainer for us in order to achieve our goals and keep us motivated to do our exercises.
The first thing to look for in a fitness trainer is a certification regarding his being a professional fitness trainer.
Then we should consider another key factor, his experience. If he worked with numerous people with positive feedback, then this is the fitness trainer for us.
And the last key factor, but not the least: he must be a certified nutritionist.
If you find one who was all three qualities, you can be sure he has the best training routine ever.
And after a couple of month of reading fitness reviews and studying training strategies I was pretty sure I found the right guy.
He is a world-renowned CSCS expert (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) and a nutritionist. He has fitness articles featured in publications like Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Fitness Hers, Muscle and Oxygen. He even has a background as an athlete's trainer for Canada's rugby team.
His name is Craig Ballantyne, the author of "Turbulence Training".
This guy provides a lot of clear strategies and ideas that everyone can use to transform their body the right way. And he does it because his training program is not a “one-size fits all” model, but rather an approach to properly identify your needs, plus specific tactics to get ahead quickly.
It works like charm if you are a beginner, as I was 13 months ago, or if you are an advanced fitness practitioner, as I am today.
It is just so easy. However, pay attention!
"Turbulence Training" may be the right fitness and diet program, but it will not happen over night! We cannot expect to hit the jackpot if we do not put a few nickels in the machine.
It took me about one year to be in the best shape of my life.
I began the "Turbulence Training" program 13 month ago and I am still doing it. At home, 50 minutes a day, three days per week.
Was it worth it? You should be the judge of that!
I am a 36 year old man. I am a full time single parent of a 7-year-old daughter. I have a very demanding job. And, according to my doctor, my biological age is now, no more then 27!  In addition, my ex-wife thinks I am super hot…
Well, what do you think about that? …No, not about the “ex-wife thing”…
At this very moment, I can live the life most people cannot, because I decided to do what most people do not: start a very smart fitness program.
            Therefore, if you want to start your way to a much happier and healthier lifestyle, I recommend you the fitness routine that changed my life: Craig Ballantyne’s “Turbulence Training”. But first, read my review so you can find out what is all about.
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Help needed, I have motivational issues…

People often say that motivation does not least. Well neither does bathing. That is why I recommend it daily.
Sometimes, we show short bursts of motivation or enthusiasm. We start doing something enthusiastically, but lose interest and motivation after a while, because we find it hard to sustain them.
If you wish to improve your life, you need to awaken motivation and enthusiasm. You need to realize how much you lose by their absence, and how much you gain by having them.
If you are overweight, and you do not have enough inner strength to exercise your body or follow a diet, you should consider strengthening your motivation to lose weight.
Yes, motivation is important! And yes, we are all interested in living a healthy life!
Nevertheless, being interested is the main reason people generally fail. So, please, don’t be interested. It is just not enough. You should BE COMMITTED!!!
Because being interested is doing what it is convenient, while being committed is doing what it takes.
So, what really takes to have the full package: a great health and a great body?
My solution was ad still is Fitness.
I consider smart fitness to be one of the most significant things you can do to add more years to your life and life to your years. You have to take care of your body in order to live a more satisfying and happier life.
Pay no attention to what the critics say.  A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. And don't let anyone steal your goal.  It's your goal, not theirs.
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Back to the “personality versus looks” issue. Again!

It's not like we don't have a wonderful personality…
Yes, people, visual impact is more important then we want to admit! Off course, our great personality is very important, too. I will agree with that. But let me ask you one thing. If you have two cars: one ugly with a great engine and one beautiful with a dreadful engine… I wonder which one of those two will you first take for a spin?  I guess we all know the answer…
At this point, I am sure you are thinking at the ideal situation, “a beautiful car with a great engine”. And you know what, it is possible! We can all have such a car.
Let me rephrase that: We can all have the charming personality and the greatest physique ever! It can be done! Life gave us this gift at birth, together with the tools to obtain it! It’s up to us!
A study established that only about 10 percent of how long the average person lives is dictated by our genes. The other 90 percent is dictated by our lifestyle.
The fact of the matter is there is a lot of confusion around what really helps us live longer better. We have heard of the Atkins Diet, the Low Fat and Very Low-Fat Diet, the Oprah Diet, or the Zero Carb Diet…
We have low fat food, low fat puddings, low fat ice cream, low fat muffins…
Should we be running or doing yoga? Should we be doing fitness or bodybuilding? Should we eat organic food or tofu? Should we be taking supplements or not?
On the other hand, all the specialists agree we should all exercise correctly, eat healthy and have a spiritual life.
Everybody agrees that those are the three keys to a great life. We all know what we need to do to improve our lives and yet, comically and tragically, we do not. Why don’t we? Why aren’t we doing those three things?
I am an engineer, so logic, science and analytical thinking come naturally. Therefore, I tried to find the right answer to that question.
I had to, because two years ago my doctor told me I am doing all the right things to become obese. I was 34 then, but my biological age was “a little” over 50. His advice was, obviously: go to the gym, mister Platz. So I did, but it didn’t work very well for me.
You see, today, there are thousands of gyms and fitness centers available. However, doing the same boring exercise routines can be very straining and frustrating most of the time. Aside from doing everything repeatedly everyday, you also have to realize the fact that exercising does not show immediate results even after a few weeks of working out. This can be frustrating and many people will simply give up the exercise program they enrolled in. I know I did, more then once…
Do we quit because of the laziness, low self-esteem, fear of failure, lack of faith in our abilities?
Could it be the lack of motivation the cause?
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There is never a bad time to start a better life!

We all know that our formula for living is quite simple. We get up in the morning and we go to bed at night. We all do that, so what makes the difference? The obvious answer is what we do in between.
In our everyday life, we meet all kinds of people who don’t enjoy what they do, they simply go through their lives getting on with it. They get no great pleasure for what they do. They endure it rather then enjoy it and wait for the weekend. Nevertheless, we also met people who love what they do and could not imagine doing anything else.
I always wondered why some choose the game of success and happiness, and the others do not. It is a decent question because we only get to play this game only one time, one life…
Not everything about life is enjoyable, but the low points help us enjoy the high points. While I may not enjoy those low points, I can appreciate their value. Therefore, I suggest, "Appreciate every minute of life".
There is never a bad time to start a better life! We should all love life, because what more is there?
Once I understood this, I began the wonderful journey of changing.
Now, I occupy myself as best as I can and try to bring as much value as I can in everybody’s life, including mine, off course. 
But, what gives me the right to have an opinion on the matter of living healthy, in general and living healthy through smart fitness, in particular?
Well, I am a certified biomedical engineer, so I know quite a lot about nutrition.
However, I can assure you that this is not why I am entitled to on opinion.
            You see, the extensive knowledge I possess about eating the right food, at the right time did not stop me from becoming overweight. Or mildly obese, as my ex-wife "kindly" referred to me 2 years ago.
What is it, then?!
Nothing else but the power of example.
Two years ago, I was 34, overweight and have all the related problems: health problems, family problems, emotional problems…
At this very day, after 13 months of smart fitness training, not only that I have lost 54 pounds of body fat, but I also succeeded in building a lean and much stronger physique. I am in the best shape of my life and as healthy as I can be!
Yeah, the correct answer is the power of example.
And if you want to be an example for yourself and the others, I am confident that you will find the following lines quite interesting.

I will start by asking you a simple question: When you look in the mirror, are you happy with what you see? This is a very important question. Because the way you feel about yourself dictates how everybody else will feel about you: your friends, your wife, your husband, even your kids. The way you feel about yourself, the way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.
If you are the minority that looks great, I am truly happy for you. All I have to say to you is, keep up the good work, enjoy the best of life and help other people to experience the best of their lives, too. Teach them the ideas that made a difference in your life.
            However, if you are a part of my majority, the part that needs a certain amount of physical improvements, I will first say that you should never allow yourself to be made a victim because of the way you look! Accept no one’s definition of your life! Define yourself! Keep in mind that no one else is responsible for your body except you! So start defining yourself, today!
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