Funny you should ask. Here’s my 2012 “Best List” of everything that matters:

The Best Muscle Building Workout?
Brief, infrequent, high-intensity weight-training workouts continue to be the most scientifically supported muscle-building strategy. It’s a hard pill for my muscle-head friends to swallow, but the 30-minute/one-set per-exercise training protocol simply makes the most sense, produces the best muscle-gains, and is the least likely to cause long-term, over-use joint injuries.

The Best Weight-loss Workout?
When “weight-loss” is one’s primary goal, the best exercise strategy often comes down to just “moving more.” It bears mentioning that effective weight-loss has more to do with eating-habits than any exercise routine. Brisk-walking sessions, more intense cardiovascular-type training, and even weight training, can all can play an effective role in a successful weight-loss strategy. However, if you’re obese and it’s mainly due to an overly sedentary lifestyle, the best weight-loss workout is to just move more. Begin by simply finding ways to add more movement to your day.

The Best Sports Supplement?
Uhg, do I really have to go there? I would rather say they ALL suck, ’cause they mostly do nothing. However, if I had to choose one, “Creatine” actually has some scientific evidence backing its effectiveness. That said, it should hardly be expected to work magic. The theoretical improvement on short burst of energy-output is only incremental. It will NOT add 50 lbs. to your bench press or 30 lbs. of muscle to your physique. Stop dreaming!

The Best Diet Strategy?
“Portion Control” will always be the most practical and most sensible dieting strategy. It’s probably not, “what” you eat that has you packing on the pounds, but instead, “how much” you eat. Learn to eat “any” food in sensible amounts and you won’t have to give up bacon or hot fudge sundaes. Portion Control makes weight-loss a breeze. Stop torturing yourself with overly restrictive n’ dumb diets.

The Best Overall “Body Makeover” Strategy?
“Smart Exercise and Sensible Eating” (See above). Yes, it is just that simple. Nonetheless, few people actually use this strategy, mostly because they’re too lazy and too busy looking for a short cut. This is the reason the weight-loss and fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar business. There’s a “sucker” born every minute. In 2012, don’t you be one.

The Best Commercial Dieting Plan?
Again, I don’t feel they are necessary, but if I had to choose one, I would conclude that “Weight-Watchers” makes the most sense. The eating program is nutritionally sound, the least restrictive, relatively inexpensive, and the “support meetings” work for many folks.

The Best Gym to Join?
This is a bit tricky, but in my opinion and experience I’d give this advice: If you are an “experienced” workout enthusiast – needing NO instruction or guidance, and are not likely to succumb to high-pressure sales tactics on supplements and useless, mostly under-qualified Personal Trainers, I’d have to say that the “big box” chain gyms are hard to beat. For about $10/month you often get hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of the best exercise equipment money can buy, and plenty of it. Additionally, these-type clubs are often open 24/7.

If you are more of a “novice” or workout beginner, you may find your locally own neighborhood gym more suitable. The owner is usually on-hand and customer service can be much better and more personal. You can usually get some free workout advice regarding the “basics” of exercise from the owner, gym-manager, or what is generally a friendlier clientele-base. The one caveat; there “are” exceptions to EVERYTHING I just said. Trust your gut whenever you “checkout” a new gym – because it’s usually correct.

The Best Source of Weight-loss and Exercise Information?
Why it’s the incredibly informative and unbiased book, “Diet, Exercise, & Weight-Loss BullShit- Exposed!” By Franny Goodrich, of course. Did you really expect a different answer?

It’s time to re-think the common myth that the intake of too few calories will cause your body to go into “starvation mode” causing your body to think it’s starving and therefore burn only muscle as fuel, holding on to “all” its fat-stores.

Also, let’s stop buying into the notion that to get out of “starvation mode” you’ll need to consume more calories to kick start your now sluggish metabolism. Most people believe this, probably because they’ve heard it so often. They assume it must be true, but like most other dieting myths, it’s false.

You cannot eat more calories to force your body to lose weight. The laws of physics and thermodynamics will simply not allow it. Let’s say a person claims to be eating only 1,000 calories and not losing weight. A well-meaning friend then tells them that they are in starvation mode, and in order to lose weight they must eat more to jump-start their metabolism.

My question is: instead of eating more, what do you think would happen if you just stopped eating altogether? Would you then go further into starvation mode and continue to stay at the same weight or maybe even gain weight? Clearly, you would lose more weight if you stopped eating altogether. Dumb, I know – I’m simply illustrating a point.

So, where did this myth come from, and how did it begin.

Like many myths, they are born out of semi-truths. There actually is a well-documented and true phenomenon known as the starvation response. However, it only happens in humans when they lose so much body fat that they fall below fat-levels essential for survival. For men this would be below around 5%-fat and in women, just above that. This hardly applies to the average “dieter” reading this post, or bodybuilders dieting for their next competition.

My bodybuilding friends usually like to jump in here and say, “but, if we consume to0 few calories we’ll be burning muscle instead of fat, right?” Wrong again. This is another case of a slice of truth being blown-up into a major exaggeration. We always burn or lose some muscle (amino-acids) when we diet, no-matter how sensibly it’s done. But before it actually amounts to anything significant (or an amount that is noticeable in one’s visual musculature), the body will first exhaust most of its fat reserves.

BOTTOM-LINE: if you are “over-fat” and NOT losing weight, regardless of your efforts to do so, the most important thing to do is re-evaluate your own energy-equation. Yes, I mean “calories-in versus calories-out”.

Outside of a special medical condition, weight-loss will always be the on-going balance of how much you eat versus how much you move.

The best way to do this will always be to focus on food-portions and to maintain a healthy level of activity.

Wait!  Before you call the Food Police on me, hear me out.  Although nobody would argue that eating healthy-foods is wise, it’s not an automatic slam-dunk that doing so will trim your waist, butt and thighs.  If you’re a person – like many – who’s daily diet consists of Chicken Caesar Salads, Tuna Wraps, handfuls of Mixed Nuts or Raisins, then you should also know that these – so called – diet foods, are loaded with calories!

I have said many times, it’s NOT any particular food that makes you fat, it’s the excess calories – regardless of the food-source.  You can get just as fat eating too much lean white chicken, as you can eating too much ice cream n’ hot fudge.  Conversely, you can get just as lean eating the right amount of chocolate-chip cookies, as you can by eating the right amount of fruits n’ vegetables.  This is a weight-loss fundamental that quite frankly too many ignore, or too many fail to understand.

Here’s a way to understand my premise.  At first glance, would you “ever” imagine that you could actually lose weight on this diet?

Breakfast
1 Hot Fudge Sundae -284 calories
1 Small Coffee with Milk and Sugar – 80 calories
Total – 364 calories

Lunch
1 Big Mac – Sandwich – 540 calories
1 Small Diet Coke – 0 calories
Total – 540 calories

Dinner
1 Serving Kraft Macaroni & Cheese – 210 Calories
1 Fudgsicle – 100 calories
1 cup Grape Kool-Aid – 60 calories
Total – 370 calories

Late-night Snack
2 Chocolate Chip Cookies – 260 calories
Small glass Whole Milk – 150 calories
Total – 410

Daily Total: 1,684 calories (Not many, huh?)

The truth is that most people would lose weight – lots of it – if their daily caloric in-take was 1,684 calories.  Obviously, I would never advocate eating this way on a regular basis, however, it illustrates my point that “excess” calories makes us fat, and not any particular types of food.

No matter what you choose to eat on a daily basis, “portion-control” is the best diet-advice.  We should strive to eat a healthy cross-variety of foods in reasonable portions.  When one chooses to indulge in sweet or fatty treats, eating reasonable portions is the key.  The good news is that no-food should be totally off-limits. As they say, “anything and everything in moderation”.  Eat, drink and be merry.

I have created an easy way for my friends to understand belly fat, and why it’s impossible to spot-reduce fat in this area – or any area – of our body. I call it “Puddles & Ponds”.  Yes, you really can get rid of belly fat. I’m just going to spare you much of the frustration by explaining how it works.

Most people are a bit confused when it comes to losing belly fat. They think the fat around the belly is somehow different, and is therefore harder to lose, but they are wrong. Fat is fat, period. Think of it this way: Imagine a small town in a pretty country setting after a rain storm. The rain ends and the entire town is now wet with a thin layer of water that covers the entire landscape. Water has also pooled in the form of puddles large and small. Also, the town’s pond swells to accommodate newly deposited rainwater.

Eventually, the sun appears, and the water begins to evaporate. ALL the water is actually evaporating at the SAME RATE. It doesn’t seem that way because the ground dries quickly and becomes dry, and it takes longer for the small puddles to be gone. The much larger puddles are slowly shrinking, taking 1-2 days to completely dry-up.

However, to the naked eye, the pond across street hasn’t changed at all. Truth is, the water in the pond is also evaporating at the same rate as the other water. It’s just harder to recognize because it is much more plentiful than the thin layer of water that covered the streets, or the small puddles scattered throughout the town.

Body fat is a lot like the water. A thin layer accumulates underneath our skin over most of our bodies, just like the wet town. It’s called “subcutaneous-fat”.  We also store it in larger quantities around the body, often called “fat depots.”   This tends to be in the hips, butt, and thighs on women, and the frontal-belly, lower,, and upper-back on men.  These are the body’s “Puddles and Ponds.”

As we lose fat from exercise or reduced calorie eating, the fat loss in our body is like the town’s evaporating water. The thin layer of fat on our upper chest area, neck-line, and the backs of our hands tend to show the first signs of disappearing fat. It’s because those areas tend to have lesser fat deposits than other parts of the body. Be assured, the body is losing fat over its’ entire landscape. It’s just that the belly is like a pond. Unfortunately, although our belly fat is disappearing, it’s not until we lose a significant amount that we really notice it. The same as not noticing the pond losing water until we actually see the shore-line receding.

So, if you are exercising (and eating) to lose fat, you’ll initially notice results only in some areas of your body, and not others. Stay the course. Your belly or butt is NOT being stubborn at all; it’s losing fat as fast as the rest of your body. It just seems like a slow poke because it’s a “pond”, not a “wet street” or a “puddle”. Additional Ab exercises WILL NOT help you lose belly-fat any faster. You cannot spot-reduce your body fat stores around your waist by exercising that area.

Remember, our bodies’ burns fat like the sun evaporates water on the town. Yes, a little at a time, but, ALL at the same time.

Maybe it’s time to swallow hard, stop listening to those people trying to make a quick buck by sprinkling fairy-dust on your weight-loss dreams, and accept the fact that there are no-shortcuts to being fit. The good-news is that without any hocus-pocus, you really can lose a pound of fat every three days or so, and yes, you really can drop 2-jeans-sizes in a little over a month if you start doing things right. In the interest of being concise, I give these four pieces of advice to those who find themselves bogged down with weight-loss frustration:

1. STOP BLAMING GENETICS
About 25% of your body weight is determined by genetics; the other 75% is determined by your eating habits and activity level. Remember: low-calorie eating and exercise, or the lack of either, or both, is the main reason you don’t like what you see when you stand naked in front of your full-length mirror.

2. FORGET MAGIC PILLS, SHAKES & ENERGY DRINKS
If I see another “90-Day Challenge” scam I’m gonna scream! Most are simply a ploy to sell you shakes, supplements, and fat-burners; don’t get sucked-in! Stop buying mail-order meals too.

Eating needs to become a “lifestyle” of sensible-eating practices, so buy real-food in real grocery stores. Does anybody really intend to eat packaged meals and drink health shakes for the rest of their lives? While I’m on the subject, for my gym-going friends who may be wondering about muscle builders and energy drinks: Don’t get me started! Everything you need to build your body or refuel your energy, can be found in cheaper versions of real food.

3. DO THE MATH
Weight loss is a mathematical-equation: GET USED TO IT! Consume less calories than you expend, and you will lose weight. Calorie-wise, the types of foods you eat don’t really matter, because a calorie-is-a-calorie. Whether it’s 3,500 extra calories of apples or 3,500 extra calories of bacon-fat, both add-up to a pound of fat on your butt, belly, and thighs. Nutritionally, these foods obviously vary greatly, but calorie-wise they don’t. That said, yes, you should always try to select from a cross-selection of mostly healthy foods.

By the way, you should also stop trying every idiotic diet that the people at work – or your friends – are trying. Aren’t these the same people who try a new diet every month? Maybe you need to change your relationship with food. Do you realize that 25% of the time that we reach for something to eat, it’s because our body actually needs it. The other 75% of the time it’s simply a physical response to an emotional-issue, like stress, boredom, etc. The next time you open the fridge consider why you’re doing it. Lastly, if you really “must” try one of today’s popular diets, remember this; any diet that is reasonably-healthy and will result in an overall daily calorie reduction beyond those expended will work. Just pick-one and stick-with-it!

4. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!
There is no need to take on an elaborate exercise regimen when you can simply find a way to add movement to your day. You can begin by taking brisk walks around your neighborhood, or, rock to music on your iPod while doing yard-work or house-cleaning. As far as calories burned, it all adds up less of you in staring back in the mirror.

People should realize they don’t have to waste a ton of time exercising. Two hours in the gym, is too much.  Running 5 -10 miles is too much. Those who already workout may want to consider exercising harder, not longer. 30-minute weight training sessions and 20-minute cardio sessions (both three times per week) are all you need: Intensity is the key to results.

Now it’s up to you.

So, you’re a woman approaching 30 years old; perhaps 40; maybe even 50. Question: What is the #1 reason your body does not look as it did when you were a youthful, fit, and energetic 21 years old? Answer: It’s the loss of muscle-mass. Ladies, it may be time to say “I do” to weight-training. Now most women would say, “Hey, I don’t want big muscles!”  The fact is; weight-training and women may just be a perfect marriage.

First-of-all, it’s important that women understand a common misconception that too many still believe. Women do not “bulk-up” as a result of lifting-weights. Even if that was a women’s goal, unfavorable genetic factors such as low testosterone levels and higher levels of estrogen simply preclude 99.9% of woman from developing “big muscles.” Now, stay with me as I explain why muscles are the key to attaining the body you desire.

As women age – men too – their over-all muscle mass decreases; it is simply a natural process of aging. The loss of as little as a half pound of muscle can eventually lead to additional fat-deposits on your butt and thighs. Why? Because muscle is active tissue which makes high calorie demands – even while resting. Contrarily, less muscle means a slower metabolism. As early as your mid-20’s, the average woman will experience a slight decline in her metabolic-rate each year. By no real coincidence, it exactly parallels her loss of muscle mass.

The relationship is obvious. As muscle-mass decreases; metabolism slows. As a woman ages, even if she continues to eat the same number of calories per day, her body-fat levels increase, and the cycle is established. The loss of muscle, when combined with the passage of time, leads to an over-fat, out of shape body. The good news is that this entire unpleasant scenario can be mostly avoided by engaging in as little as three 30-minute, high-intensity exercise sessions per-week, performed on non-consecutive days.

It is also important to note that “exercise” doesn’t have to be performed in a health club, using fancy exercise-machines. It can be just as effective to workout in your home using resistance-bands and body-weight exercises. The key is that you must perform exercises that put a work-load on all the major-muscle-groups of your body. In this instance, casually plodding along on your treadmill day-in and day-out just won’t cut it!

Resistance bands are quite inexpensive, and can be purchased at most discount retailers – Walmart comes to mind as a place I have seen them. Of course, local sporting goods outlets like Dick’s Sporting Goods will provide you a great variety of choices for home exercise equipment as well. I am not advocating exclusively for resistance-band workouts; you can get a very productive muscular workout in-a-pinch, without using any equipment what-so-ever. A combination of various body-weight exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, towel-pulls – combined with a few isometric-type exercised like pushing your palms together in front of your chest for 60-seconds, can constitute a great hotel-workout for travelers, or anyone who needs a good workout, in a pinch.

The bottom-line is this: Whether you are an aspiring swimsuit model, a career-minded woman looking to get back into shape, or just the average woman who is simply unhappy with her body’s appearance, do not shy away from weight-training (a.k.a. resistance-training or strength-training). It can be essential to retaining the youthful, lean and shapely body you desire – at any age!

Who doesn’t want a flat, trim waist-line this summer?  Here’s the scoop on all the crunches, sit-ups, trunk curls, planks, rotary torso machines, and other redundant core and abdominal exercises we perform daily in our quest to have a hard, flat, and sexy waist-line.

The abdominal muscles are the most misunderstood part of the body when it comes to exercise. Fitness marketers have also made the word “core” popular these days. Our core is not an actual muscle group. It is simply the connecting muscles that join our upper body to our lower body, our front to our back, and our left side to our right side.

Nobody has flabby abdominal or core muscles. Weak, yes, but rarely flabby, and here’s why: Muscles, by their nature are not flabby; flab is flabby. In-other-words, what most of us recognize as a flabby gut, is in-fact a case of too much fat covering the abdominal wall. The underlying abdominal muscles are just fine. Without realizing it, we actually do many things to keep them strong. Our abdominal and core muscles are actually at work for most of our waking day. Walking, bending, twisting, and even sitting, keeps them continuously contracting in-concert.

Additionally, whenever we engage in forceful breathing, or when the body braces itself to lift something overhead, there is a forceful isometric contraction of all abdominal muscles. The truth is there is not a single exercise on this earth that will get rid of belly fat. The fat on your body is more about calorie-intake than about what type of exercises you do. So, you may ask, should you work your abdominal muscles at all? Sure! Strong abs helps reduce low-back stress, and improve posture. However, you must remember to work your abs with brief, intense resistance exercise as you would any other muscle.

Folks seem to think they need to do countless reps to trim their waistline, but this only equates to wasted, redundant movement. You cannot “trim” a muscle. If anything, the muscles of the abdominal area will grow slightly when trained. Without boring you with a lengthy physiology explanation about muscle-tendon length ratio or cross-section width of muscle-bellies, just know that, much like facial muscles that do not grow when we chew on a piece of steak until our jaw aches, the abdominal and trunk muscles do not possess the physiological factors to experience much growth when strenuously worked.

If you’re looking to sport a chiseled set of abs, you must reduce your calorie intake to melt away belly-fat. What’ the best exercise? Don’t over-think this. Forget doing side bends or hundreds of sit-ups; just select your favorite abdominal curl exercise, and then have at it! You should be exercising these muscles 3 – 4 times per-week, on non-consecutive days.

Here is something else to remember when doing abdominal work; frontal abdominal muscles have a range of movement of about four inches. The remainder of the movement engages the hip-flexor muscles. Therefore, crunch-type movements should have a very small range of motion. Also, keep the tension continuously on the abdominal muscles. Most people allow momentum to swing their body like a pendulum during an abs exercise, but this is counter-productive. More often than not, any person performing 50-or-more abdominal crunches, is probably doing them incorrectly, or needs to add resistance to the movement. The real secret to a sexy, flat mid-section is not finding the right ab exercise, but addressing the energy equation of calories-in vs. calories-out.