Part 2: Incorporating Advanced Techniques in your Flexeffect Routine

By Sean Cochrane

If you have not read Part 1 of this article, check it out here!

After the first 3-6 months, and for some, even a year of training, most of the muscle groups will have developed and increased in strength and then comes the opportunity to use the advanced disciplines like Pressure Reps, Jolting and Cross Stretching. There’s been some confusion over these which I’ll try to clear up for you. Most importantly you do NOT have to do them all at once. Many people think because they’re advanced that they have to be done altogether – and the truth is this is incorrect.

At the year mark (and sometimes earlier), you probably will have gotten your muscles developed to the stage where you just want to maintain them without going after growth, so you’ll be able to cut back on the routine from exercising 5 times a week to perhaps only exercising 2 or 3 times a week. I tend to advise people when they do cut back to enable extra rest days in between workouts so that they can introduce the advanced techniques slowly and in parts in very much the same way you started out learning the resistance exercises.

An Example schedule would be:

Day 1: Pressure Reps
Day 2: Resistance Exercises
Day 3: Jolting
Day 4: Resistance Exercises
Day 5: Cross Stretching
Days 6 & 7: Total Rest

The advanced techniques will (as you have noticed from the DVD">) take only a matter of a few minutes but no where near to the same degree of time you spent on your resistance exercises. Not only that, but if you wanted you could even divide up your advanced techniques, so for example doing the forehead scalp one day, the mid face 2 days later, the lower face and neck another 2 days later and so fourth. The combinations are endless.

People who attempt to do everything in one sitting are doing way more than necessary. It's impossible to keep that level of focus, concentration and effort up for everything, especially day in and day out. The the mind gets bored, your hands and fingers are working out hard and can get tired. Your face is also taking a huge workout. Its not going to get you faster results, in fact in reality you may even slow your results. Your tissues need down time to rest.

The 3rd edition of Flexeffect has been designed as a toolbox to enable you to have tools for dealing with any aging concern. Like any well-stocked tool box you will not need every single tool every time you open the box. You will assess the job at hand. And select the tools you need.

Remember to set aside time for your workout so that you do not have to rush and cut corners, because believe me when I say if you cut corners – you will cut your results too. Flexeffect is continuously refining, expanding and updating methods and techniques. And while we believe we have a pretty awesome bunch of tools already, as the years roll by you can expect more. Make sure you visit the forum for any updates

Time Management and Your Flexeffect Routine PART 1

By Sean Cochrane

Flexeffect is all about developing the face to give it an improved, healthy and younger look without surgery. It puts you in control of your face and is not a short term thing but rather a long term improvement program that you can use for the rest of your life.

When done consistently, you will continue to improve your appearance every day, week, month and year. If you are older, this means you can turn back the clock quite a bit. If you are younger, you can stall the clock even more! Every face regardless of age, shape or texture can derive anti-aging benefits from the program. With that said, no two people start off from the same place or with the same goals. So it's important to discuss a few concepts here to help you understand how you will improve with the program and how to enable you to make the most of your training. It’s a flexible and adaptable routine that can easily be merged into your life.

First, master the basics!

The basics are simply the resistance exercises and massage. There are 49 resistance training exercises done daily but in the beginning it takes time to learn the exercises and massage, so I often suggest to people to break it up into smaller sections. An example would be to start out with lessons 1-5 for the first week and mastering those, and then adding the next 5 lessons and so fourth building up to doing the resistance exercises daily.

Some exercises have variations, and this has been purposely designed to keep your muscles from second guessing you in your workout, but also to stop you from plateauing and losing interesting in your workout. You won't be doing the full 49 daily. It's more like 30 when you rotate. You simply pick one variation and work with that variation for a week, and then the following week move onto the next variation. Its very simple and it works to deliver faster results but also accelerates your results. A few short months will bring substantial changes and your face will become firmer and smoother as a result. These results, however, are far from the finished product.

Workouts can be done at any time of the day, but the preference is to have a clean face and hands and to do it at a time that’s convenient to you. A time when you're not pressured or rushed and will be able to focus. Using the advanced tools on different days will also allow each area that’s been worked to have down time without overworking or over-stressing the areas. This will also bring maximum results using both a flexible and adaptable routine that you’ll want to do and have fun doing. You are empowered to yield continual results over the coming days, weeks, months and years without the need, cost and time of a plastic surgeon, whilst you are using your own hands and taking care of the causes of aging in a holistic method of firming, smoothing and strengthening your face in as little as 15-25 minutes a day. Not only will there be an increase in muscle and bone density, but combined with the remodelling of connective tissue, your face will lift and you’ll counteract facial drape such as jowls, hollowing of cheeks and crepe like skin.

You can spend more time with your routine if you wish – its entirely up to you. However if you do as suggested (a) firstly your not going to find your head spinning with information, (b) time-wise it’s a shorter workout and it will enable you to focus on the exercises and more importantly (c) it gets the workout remembered much more easily. Interestingly enough, no two people learn at the same rate or via the same method. Some people label themselves as visual learners and so will use the DVD. Some will use a combo of the DVD and book, and some might only want to use the book. No way is right/wrong but what I’ve found most common in those who really do master the exercises is that they use all the materials. So they use the book, DVD, and CD throughout their training sometimes together, sometimes separate.

When you’ve learned your exercises its time to use the CD that comes with your package. This will really enable you to save time as it gives you two options. The first is 3 reps of each exercise which totals 12 minutes. The second is a longer and more intense workout of 5 reps of each exercise which totals some 24 minutes. Now even with these time frames, again you are in control. You do not have to do them all at once, you can split them up into sections during your day. The way I personally train is to do the first half of my workout in the morning on waking (as I personally find this to be a wonderful way of waking up, refreshing myself and starting the day) and usually I do exercises 1-15 for 5 reps (so spending 12 minutes) and then I do my last half at the end of the day, exercises 16-30 (again spending 12 minutes) as I find this helps me de-stress me and helps me to unwind and relax. Some people like to put some relaxing music on, which is equally wonderful and helps them to focus on the muscles working etc – its all about how you can gain maximum benefit from it. However, this is your training so you can make it work in any way that you wish. You could if you like split it up into 3 workouts in your day, starting with exercises 1-10 in the morning, 11-20 at lunch and 21-30 in the early evening if you so wanted.

With massage, people always want a time frame and in reality there is no way we can specify one because it really depends on whether or not you have areas for which you want to make a focused effort. I’d say that you would want to spend at least 10-15 minutes a day doing the massage and by far its always easier to multitask when you do this. So for example massage when your cleansing, applying moisturiser or sunscreen for example, or just clearing your mind before going to bed at night.

The basic routine is a complete workout that will deliver noticeable results within the first few weeks, and it will continue throughout your first year of training. Generally you will hear the year mark a lot, but its not to suggest that you won’t get results before then. It is quite common, and likely frustrating, when starting out, you have to work to identify which are your stronger muscles, which are the weaker ones and where your trouble spots are. That takes time, but when you do locate them you also have the tools to begin turning your weaknesses into your strengths too. So for the first year, its really up to you to how long to spend during your 5 day training week, but the total of say 22 minutes or 34 minutes a day isn’t that long to begin with, particularly when it comes to the benefits you’ll achieve.

Stay Tuned for Part 2:
Incorporating Advanced Techniques in your Flexeffect Routine

Facial Overbuild

By Deb Crowley

Why would anyone want to purchase a facial exercise program that is incapable of allowing a muscle to overbuild?

I continue to read how FlexEffect can overbuild areas of the face, like that is something negative about the program.

When a facial exercise program says their exercises build muscle, and at the same time claims 'you won’t have to worry about overbuild' they are actually selling Toning exercises... Certainly nothing wrong with that. But, you should know that FlexEffect not only claims the ability to overbuild but it also allows for simple tone if that is what you are looking for.

With Facialbuilding, overbuild happens when a person first reaches the size of the muscle he would normally want, yet continues to build because he has not yet reached the look he is trying to achieve. Naturally, this can be bothersome but in no time the novice catches on (studying his book / help from on-line trainers and fellow flexers.)

To get the look, the trainee needs variants.

You need as much material as you can get, and, ALL the various techniques used to address each and every muscle, and, the know how to put it all together. This you will find in FlexEffect as you should with any reputable training program.

Just like bodybuilding, it is truly a science (getting to know your muscle makeup and what it takes to get where up want to be)

Example. A bicep curl done with a certain amount of weight will either tone the bicep or, if you want, go beyond tone and build as much size as you are capable of.

How do variants play into training a bicep? Depending upon your technique You can either ‘build the center’ of the bicep and peak it, or, build a longer looking bicep by building the bicep up toward the shoulder all-the-while controlling the size of the muscle. This is true building... the means to get exactly what you want.

So yes, FlexEffect does have the ability to overbuild which is TRUE building hence the word Facialbuilding.

BTW Anyone starting out with toning exercises (small amount of resistance) and will actually stick with it, will, with out doubt, want to advance in their training.

deb ;)

Facial Massage, Facialbuilding/Exercises and Stopping Headaches in their Tracks

Last night I was massaging my face with a level of aggression that I had recently shown an uninitiated FlexEffecting friend and she started laughing. I think it was nervous laughter. The kind that goes with "I thought you weren't supposed to even touch your face." Granted she's known me for a while, as well about FlexEffect, and has put in her..."HELP ME" Call. She sees me, and knows intuitively there is nothing to be worried about.

As most know, I was raised in the world of FlexEffect. I never worry about handling my face. It's absolutely normal to me.

Something else occurred to me just the other evening. HEADACHES! I wonder if any chronic headache sufferers, especially those that suffer tension headaches, ever give a thought to the false notion that massage of the face is bad? The reason I ask, and perhaps this is what has aided my own education, is that I have suffered SEVERE tension headaches in my life. They can be blinding... They can last for hours. You will do just about anything to relieve the pain. And I do! I massage with such an aggressive hand that would most certainly frighten anyone that believes that the face is like wet tissue, waiting to tear at any moment... Or that such pressure would ruin the face, and cause some sort of obvious aging in a few short days or even minutes.

I have literally sat in a dark room for well over an hour just massaging my face as deeply as possible.

It actually wasn't until we were in the middle of rewriting the latest FlexEffect Book that I had one doozy of a headache. It was about 1 in the morning. The house was silent. It was like a construction site within my skull. The pounding was unbearable. I sat up and started with ScalpFlex... and then a massage with all the strength and pressure I could muster... the forehead, the eyes, my cheeks, jaw, neck (front and back), chest, as much of my shoulders as I could reach. As the pain started to flow away, it occurred to me. NO WONDER! How could I fear massage. It has already saved me from excruciating pain without ever causing one bit of negative result with regard to my appearance. And I wonder, those of you afraid to touch your face... Are you also lucky enough to hardly ever suffer a serious headache? Perhaps you haven't had any other mind numbing causes to try it. NOW I'm jealous!

I recommend talking to the Headache sufferers in your life. See what they have to say.

Flex ON!

What is SPOT TRAINING…?

What is SPOT TRAINING…? And what is FlexEffect's position on it?

The most basic example of Spot Training is doing hundreds of sit ups, in hopes that your Buddha belly will simply go away. We already know from years of repetitive information that you simply WILL not develop a six pack without a proper diet and increasing muscle mass throughout the body, therefore burning fat and exposing those muscles. It’s the TARGET TRAINING of the abs that will SCULPT that six-pack NOT expose it.

Now, from a FlexEffect point of view what does this mean? To quote one of our trainers, Sean, “As you know by now, a sagging jaw line isn’t just caused by the muscles of the jaw line sagging; but it can be by the cheek muscles sagging on top of those, or the masseter, or the mouth and chin muscles losing tone. So, if a person begins working only the jaw line muscles, they are not (necessarily) going to improve the appearance of the jaw line, because the muscles connected to it are still sagging.” It is for that reason that FlexEffect offers a complete and rounded program for the entire face. Generally, we recommend that an individual work the whole face as a NEWBIE. This is done in the same way a personal trainer will offer a new client a complete body workout. Our reasoning is the same, so you don’t create an imbalance in the face. Although, you may have a SPOT of concern on your face, it takes a balanced approach to help smooth things out. The main issue of concern is that a person not choose an area that is bothersome and work it with disregard as to how that area will really be affected. This is where a person just works the SPOT of concern, not necessarily the muscles that will TARGET the area of concern. That is the “no, no” that is heavily preached against by FlexEffect.

However, there is no reason as you can not learn your facial structures and how you personally respond to a workout that you can’t add TARGET TRAINING to your facial program. Isn’t that the very thing you would do in a gym? Surely, after six months to a year of doing the basic training that you were assigned in a gym and learned, you would change things up. Right? In fact, if you were to compete in a body building competition, you would be judged in large part on the symmetry of your body; symmetry created through the knowledge of how exercises hit each muscle, how the growth of that muscle will impact general appearance, and how you apply that knowledge. The brilliant component here is that if you over build you can easily take some time off and get your face exactly to where you like in a rather speedy time frame. Alternatively, as with any area of the body, you might also have an area of the face that takes its sweet time building. This is really where persistence is of importance, as well as working with a trainer to help you hit those muscles in a fashion conducive to your needs.

If you already own a FlexEffect Book you will note in the back of the book a section called TARGET AREAS. You are given a list of general areas of concern, and a list of FE exercises that target those areas. Unless you feel solid in your comprehension of how to apply these exercises to your individual needs, make sure you pop in to FlexEffect’s Private Workshop. You can post cropped pictures if you like, and ask for guidance from one of our online trainers how to address your needs.

Book Update

I know you're wondering... WHEN THE HECK the new book is coming? We've had some crazy set backs... and just plain delays.

We have lots of ideas that we're trying to bring through fruition.

I have Deb Chained to her desk as I write this. She's working overtime. Still not sure when it's going to be finished. But she's working like mad.

We're really excited about new material.

And I won't be giving any hints... you can ask... but the answer is NO!

Common Sense Practices and Facial Massage

Think about the phrase Common Sense . What does it mean to you? It may seem like a bizarre topic for FlexEffect. However, I find it quite appropriate.

Do you exercise your Common Sense?

Today I was perusing another skin care website. I must say, I'm completely baffled by the comments that people leave.

Example: A person wrote on another board (edited for clarification and anonymity), 'I started using a cleanser on my face. It burned really bad. I kept using it for about a month. Now my skin is constantly swollen. If I put anything on it, inclusive of cool water it burns.'

SERIOUSLY???? You put a cleanser on your face, that doesn't contain an acid type of product in it nor is it supposed to give a burning sensation... and you thought HEY? I'll just keep using this. Maybe I'll get used to it.

And it dawns on me. This is why hair dryers have a tag on them that say not to use in the bath.

With regards to cosmetics. You really need to do your research. You need to understand the side effects. The good and the bad. Especially if there is an "it gets worse before it gets better phase." You need to know why you are using the product. Don't use it just because everyone else does. Use it because you have a need that you are working on satisfying. Use it because you understand how it works.

With regards to FE... this thought process also applies. If you EVER experience pain. STOP. If you can not wrap your mind around some of the philosophies for certain areas of the face...do not continue. As you progress with areas that don't worry you, you will begin to understand those philosophies. Your comprehension will be better. Please try to do exercises and massage (especially massage) as instructed in the book.

It's very easy to see a fabulous picture of a long time flexer and decide their routine is right for you. Some flexers are extremely aggressive with regards to their massage. They have learned their face and feel comfy with experimenting. Following in their footsteps prior to your physical readiness could prove disastrous.

Imagine a body builder whose physique you admire. He/She may run 5 miles a day. Lift for 45 minutes and very heavy. You could not possibly start at the same spot. It's the same with FE. Only it's more elusive because it's not physically strenuous to start at an advanced level. It does however, almost immediately show up on your face in the terms of swelling, puffiness and sometimes bruises. And then what happens? You are completely freaked out that you hurt yourself... that you ruined your face. Well. I can understand the fear. A person that dives into a body of water headfirst without checking the depth of the water could easily break their neck... or just plain drown for lack of swimming skills.

The idea behind our massage is to stimulate the muscle beneath the skin. It's a sort of deep tissue massage... And, obviously the skin will receive a massage as well; improving the flow of blood to skin tissues. The idea is not to stress the skin to the nth degree. Have you had a deep tissue massage? When the masseuse is working on your back for example... the pressure is applied deeply and perhaps rather pointedly. However, the masseuse does not pinch the skin on your back to reach the muscles. He or she may manipulate their fingers to perhaps grab the muscle and even lift it a bit... but it's deeper than the skin. This is the same for FE. Our massage is described in more depth in our book. You can always ask questions about anything you don't understand or just does not seem clear as often as necessary until it's clear. We want you to have that "ah-ha" moment so that you may reach your greatest success with your face.