Arnold Schwarzenegger's No.1 Rule for Success

I had a chance to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger and Biggest Loser Trainer Jen Widerstrom at the Muscle and Fitness double cover event at Gold's Gym in Venice, California. It was a fun night on the red carpet, meeting Fallon Mercedes from FitWithFallon.com, and mingling with other fitness professionals.

Arnold Schwarzenegger on success: "Rule number one, work your ass off."

Hunger Games: The Katniss Workout

Archery is a great workout, plus you look cool and feel like an action star.

What muscles are being worked? 
Bow side: Triceps, deltoid and lats
Drawing side: Trapezius minor and rhomboids.

What exercises strengthen these muscles for better archery skills?
Pushups to strengthen the triceps and shoulders.
Lateral pulldowns
Lateral arm raises
Bent over arm raises
Military press
Reverse butterfly
Rowing

Here's how to turn these exercises into a challenging workout: 
Set a timer for 15 minutes. Do 20 reps of each exercise above, moving from one to the next without stopping. After the last exercise is complete, start over at the beginning. See how many times you can get through the series in 15 minutes. Two times through is a fairly good pace (giving you about a minute for each exercise and a little room to transition into each one.  Going three or four times through the series is pushing it to max power.

The Clay Diet: Lose Weight, Toxins?!?

Thigh gap alert!

Zoe Kravitz: “I did a cleanse. I tried to do it the healthiest way as possible, even though it’s not healthy to do. I ended up drinking clay, because it cleans out your body and fills you up. I was eating like a Mason jar of pureed vegetables a day and running.”

She lost 20 pounds for her role in The Road Within.

The Descendants Actress Shailene Woodley has also spoken out about eating clay and it's purported benefits. While on David Letterman she backed up her claims by saying everyone should "look it up" ...so I did.

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regards Bentonite clay as a food ingredient that is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). The FDA has not approved of Bentonite clay treatments for any ailments or conditions, internally nor externally, nor has it reviewed Bentonite clay's effect on toxic removal and digestive health of the body. "

While eating clay could be harmless, it could be toxic (and therefore perfectly ironic). There are some concerns about both a pregnant woman and her fetus, actually being exposed to arsenic, lead and other toxins that naturally occur in soil. The same goes for people who aren't expecting.

"Removing metal from the body is not necessarily good — iron, for example, is a metal and essential to health. So, there could conceivably be benefits, but there could certainly be harms — and a favourable benefit/harm ratio has not been established to justify recommending this," says Dr. David L. Katz, M.D., MPH, FACPM, FACP, aHuffPost blogger and founding director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University. Katz additionally called Woodley's assertion about the negative charge of clay 'meaningless.'"

Bottom line: There are better ways to get calcium, iron and minerals, like eating food rich in these nutrients.

The Godzilla Workout: Aarom Taylor-Johnson

With his ever ballooning physique I'm wondering, does he play Godzilla? Are they making him fight the monster in hand-to-hand combat? Shoot.

Aarom Taylor-Johnson is 190lbs of Kick Ass right here...and no those puns will never get old!

Tom Hardy Shirtless on Esquire

Don't let his rugged good looks fool you, Tom Hardy is a big old teddy bear. He certainly looks like a big daddy bear. Rawr!

He tells Esquire:

“I have always been frightened with men. To the point where I couldn’t go into a gym because of the testosterone and I felt weak. I don’t feel very manly. I don’t feel rugged and strong and capable in real life, not how i imagine a man ought to be. So I seek it, to mimic it and maybe understand it, or maybe to draw it into my own reality. People who are scary, they terrify me, but I can imitate them. I’m not a fighter. I’m a petite little bourgeosis boy from London. I don’t fight, I mimic.”

Now Gluten Free!

The gluten free trend:

Is it unhealthy or ineffective?
People THINK it's healthy, but trust me a gluten free cookie isn't a health food.

Why is it popular?
Because people will really jump off a bridge if everyone else does. Miley Cyrus actually popularized this diet a couple years ago (and admittedly she does have a banging body). Many thought this was a fad diet she was following, like Atkins or something. She actually has a gluten and dairy allergy.

What would a more effective dietary adjustment be for those looking to shed pounds?
Cutting SUGAR rather than gluten, dialing back on carbs (although not carb free, we need those!) and eliminating empty calories (like alcohol and those aforementioned cookies!)