This picture pretty much says it all! If you’re not familiar with The Arnold Sports Festival, there is a lot more info here.

So, do any of you know who this is??? I don’t… but he looks important, so I thought it would be a good idea to try to find out who I photographed.  (Miz, can you help???)

Also, I was very happy to meet Tosca Reno there. I have interviewed her before about eating clean, but that was on the phone, so it’s always great to actually say “hello” in person.

Last year, I met fitness model, Jamie Eason who is very cool. My interviews with her are here:

Jamie Eason’s workouts

Jamie Eason’s diet

Anyone else ever been to The Ahhhnold?

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The Facts:

Lifting weights or doing strengthening activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis can actually help you maintain or lose weight. These activities can help you build muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat. So if you have more muscle, you burn more calories—even sitting still. Doing strengthening activities 2 or 3 days a week will not “bulk you up.” Only intense strength training, combined with a certain genetic background, can build very large muscles.

Tip:
In addition to doing at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity (like walking 2 miles in 30 minutes) on most days of the week, try to do strengthening activities 2 to 3 days a week. You can lift weights, use large rubber bands (resistance bands), do push-ups or sit-ups, or do household or garden tasks that make you lift or dig.

SOURCE: The Weight-control Information Network (WIN)

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Ladies – have you noticed that it’s hard to stay in shape as you get older? Does it seem like you have to work harder at it than men? Well, there’s a reason for that. New research shows women have a tougher time replacing the muscle we naturally lose as we get older because of the way our bodies react to food.

The study found post-menopausal women were less able to store protein in muscle than men – probably due to hormonal changes. And the female body’s response to food and exercise starts to go down in their mid- to late-60s. Women are especially at risk of losing muscle mass because they tend to have less muscle and more fat than men in early and middle age.

This makes it even more important for older women to combine resistance training with a diet high in protein to stay in shape.

“Rather than eating more, older people should focus on eating a higher proportion of protein in their everyday diet,” says study author Michael Rennie, The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. “In conjunction with resistance exercise, this should help to reduce the loss of muscle mass over time.”

Of course, maintaining muscle is critical in reducing the risk of falls – a big cause of premature death in the elderly. Half of seniors who have a serious fall die within two years.

You can start by learning how to add weights to your workout right now. Don’t worry – you don’t have to go all out if this is something that’s new to you.

If you want to read the full study, it’s in the online issue of PLoS One.

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Arnold has left the building. Yes, the Arnold Sports Festival wrapped up Sunday here in Columbus, Ohio. Wow – what a turnout! The big event attracted more than 17,000 competitors and 150,000 fans over three days. And FatFighterTV got in on the action just in the nick of time – let’s just say I was running a little behind schedule…
Named after its co-producer – California governor and former body builder, Arnold Schwarzenegger – the event is the nation’s largest multi-sports festival. It features everything from competitions in body building to championships in dance, archery, and table tennis. Plus there’s the Arnold Fitness Expo with 650 booths showing off the latest in fitness clothing, footwear, and supplements.

All in all, the perfect place for Les Dowdy and Melinda Files to get motivated about hitting the gym and get some healthy ideas for their future business.

“We’re both into health and fitness,” Dowdy tells FatFighterTV. “We want to open a juice bar.”

“It’s very inspirational,” says Files. “I can’t wait until next year.”

Speaking of inspirational… on our way out, we caught up with head-turning Fitness Model, Jamie Eason, in town for the festival from Houston. We will be featuring her in this blog soon, so stay tuned. Until then, you can check her out in DXL magazine and on BodyBuilding.com. ***Updated – Check out my interviews with Jamie:

Jamie Eason’s workouts

Jamie Eason’s diet

From what I saw in the little time I had at the Arnold Sports Festival, well – as Arnold would put it… I know next year “I’ll be back.”

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