Oh what a tangled web...

"Think of your body as a PC. The moment you wake up, it starts launching applications, etc. As long as you're tapping away and clicking the mouse, it keeps buzzing. If it sits idle, what happens? The screen darkens and the machine lowers its activity into power save mode...right? Your body is the same!! Inactivity research--a new body of science exploring our sedentary lives--shows that when you sit for a few hours, your body starts to shut down at the metabolic level! Fat burning enzymes, such as LPL, which are responsible for breaking down triglycerides in your bloodstream, simply start switching off. Sit for a full day, and LPL activity plummets by 50%.

As your body falls deeper into energy conservation mode, your circulation slows, your digestion becomes sluggish, and your calorie burning metabolism dims to a flicker! That's why it is hard to lose weight or maintain it, no matter how much you ride.

All that sitting is making us fat, unhealthy, achy, and sad. Researchers say that diabetes, depression, cancer, alzheimer's, and heart disease chances are boosted incredibly by sitting all day!

'The human body has evolved over years to stand and walk and live on the move...when you sit all day, you are doing something completely opposite of what you are designed to do. That's like hammering nails with a cellphone, failure is inevitable.'"

The above excerpt was taken from the latest edition of Bicyling Magazine...and this doesn't even take into account the problems inactivity places on the body's ability to move! Throw that into the mix, and no wonder there are so many problems in today's society!!!!!

Get mad at this problem, and show your clients how to fix it.

Figure it Out!

I've been trying to put into words just how I feel about motivation, and the lack of it in today's world. Why do we have more members of gyms, more people hiring personal trainers, and yet the growth of unhealthy diseases rise like the growth of our society's waistlines?

Enter Ross Enamait. Ross, if you happen to take a look at this blog, know that I give you all the credit for somehow putting on paper my thoughts!! Motivation is lacking. In Ross' words, here is something I think that helps:

"And even if you are training solely for looks, what happens when you are finally happy with your appearance? For example, suppose a woman decides that she wants to fit into her old bikini. She busts her ass for 4 months before summer and achieves her goal. What does she do now? Does she enter a 15 year maintenance period without any defined goals? The visual goal has already been realized, so what else can she look forward to? Without a measureable goal, it is common for the individual to lose passion. When passion fades, expect results to fade as well. When you focus on performance based goals however, you will never run into this problem. I am always finding new ways to challenge myself. Each challenge provides a unique outlet for my passion. I don‘t know what I’ll be doing this time next year, but I do know that I’ll be working hard on whatever the goal may be."

When passion fades...
Help your clients find something to train for! Fitness professionals need to understand that an unfit, unhealthy person needs to have a goal--make it short term, and SMART. There is nothing like failing to put a weaker minded individual 10 steps behind. Unfortunately, these are most of your clients. They've failed time and time again, or had some success then relapsed. Just like an alcoholic.

Help your clients find their passion for fitness.

Above is my passion. My 6 month old drives me to "figure it out." His future depends on me and his mom staying strong, confident, and enduring. Being fit handles part of that equation.

"The shoe that fits one person pinches another: there is no recipe for living that suits all cases."
Carl Jung

What does fitness do for you?

You may not think it does anything for you right now. However, 20 years down the line, when there is a surgery that begs for rehab...this is when lifelong fitness counts.

The constant application of discipline over time.

Fitness...

Training for Life away from you, the trainer??

So,
Who is still confused over what style of training is best? By this I mean, what manifests the greatest results when it comes to fitness? (I care nothing about looks right now). Is it cardio or endurance training or strength training exclusively--3 to 5 sets of one exercise per body part, is it split body part training or old style 'circuit' training?

I have been giving my clients weekly routines for years that involve each of these scenarios. In my opinion, train for fitness first then for whatever your particular favorite event is next. Meaning that if you want to run a marathon, fine, but first make sure your body is fit enough to handle it. You must be strong enough to handle the pounding your body will take, so train for it.

If a client asks me to give them something to do when they aren't training with me, I am realistic about how often they will train without me. No client is the same. Keep this in mind when handing out "to go" workouts. To stay fit, and therefore have function (ie everyday living capabilities) one must train all 3 energy systems, as well as muscular strength and endurance. Look this up online if you are unfamiliar with them...phosphagen, glycolytic, and oxidative.

To do this, givce them workouts accordingly. One day's workout should focus on strength training, one day's on muscular endurance and some form of cardio endurance (either utilizing resistance or traditional cardio machines), and another day on intervals (again utilizing resistance or traditional cardio machines).

Use your skills as a trainer to figure out what type of exercises your client needs away from you. Let's be realistic and understand that most are NOT doing what they need to do outside of your presence when 'prescribing' these exercises. Know that they may screw up your drill when they are not near you. At least make sure their form is safe...it may not be perfect, but if it's safe, off they go!

Good New Year so far?!?!?

2009 Mission Statement

Hi folks.
I just wanted to start off the New Year by saying congratulations on surviving 2008. It was a tumultuous year to say the least. But new things for you are on the horizon.

First, I want to thank you all for trusting me with HELPING you reach your fitness goals. No matter what you read or see, YOU are the person who works hard to reach your goals. I NOR ANYONE ELSE can do it for you. This does not mean that I can't improve in helping you...I CAN and I WILL!

Second, guiding you is what I do. We will traverse through injury, mental and physical fatigue, and all of life's hurdles that come upon us. What YOU WILL DO, is come out the other side a MORE FIT PERSON.

Third, YOU will take matters into YOUR OWN HANDS! The one, two, or three days a week you see me, for some of you, is NOT ENOUGH to move forward. If you want to maintain what you have, or stay at your current level of movement and/or fitness, that is fine. We will discuss this individually later.

Finally, you know that you WORK HARD while you are with me. This will continue. There is a time for flexibility, for easy or moderate intensity, and a time for a 30 minute walk--along with the high intensity training that's needed to improve most of your fitness levels. I will expect MORE CONCERTED efforts by you to improve your health OUTSIDE OF MY REACHES in 2009. If the economy is going to suck, let it, your efforts in improving your health WILL NOT!

2009 is going to be a BREAKOUT year for some of you. I hope for ALL of you it is. It is in your hands, as to if it is YOU or not. Grab the opportunity and improve yourself.

Personally, my 6 month old Charlie has reminded me that life is precious...that the meaning of life is to GIVE YOUR life meaning. My life's meaning is to help you the best I can. If you fail I FAIL...and I will not fail!!!!!!!!!!

See you at your next session.

(This is a letter I sent out to my clients last week.)

Holidays and Fitness

Plain and simple...if you've done the tings all year long to stay in shape, and create a level of fitness you are proud of, don't worry about missing a day or two this time of year.

Spend time with your family. They've missed you this year, doing the things you have to do to compete in whatever event you've chosen to train for--a marathon, a long distance multi day bike ride, or the stress of your job. Watch Hermie and Rudolph try to save the world from the abominable snowman. Or Eddie show up unannounced at Clark's house, without the daughter trying to "get cured off the wild turkey."


Have fun. See you in the New Year!!

We all know WHAT to do!!

Those of you who know me, also know my philosophies of training. The harder you work, the more results you see. The cleaner you eat, the leaner you will be. Of course, I'm not talking about macronutrients--which can change throughout your training plan, depending on what that is-- i'm just talking about fewer chemicals. The growing trend that I notice is that no matter what training plan I recommend for someone, they have to do it. Something psychologically NEEDS TO CHANGE in this society. People know what to do, they just aren't doing it. Alwyn Cosgrove echoes my belief with these remarks:

"Therefore it's likely that you already have ALL the knowledge you need to achieve anything in your training. You KNOW how to get bigger. You KNOW how to get leaner. You KNOW how to get stronger. It's not a lack of knowledge for most people -- it's a lack of application. As you may have noticed, I've become tired of writing training programs and prefer to write about concepts or mindset shifts these days. I think people know what to do, but just aren't doing it. e.g. for getting lean: Did you train today? Did you do something that will elevate your metabolism? Did you eat supportively? Post workout shake? 5 meals? Protein at every meal? EFA's? Stop trying to figure out a better plan if you aren't already doing all of the above. A lot of the time it's an application of knowledge that is the missing link - not a lack of knowledge per se. Think about this: One trainer recommends 8 x 3 for squats. Another trainer recommends 3 x 10 for squats. Trainer one prefers total body training three times per week. Trainer two prefers body part splits with each "part" getting hit twice a week. The average person gets "frozen" as they don't know what to do now as the advice is the complete opposite. The educated person realizes that in order to succeed, based on both coaches experiences - you have to squat, you need about 24-30 reps of squats, and you need to train the whole body around 2-3 times per week. So they just get started and make sure that they hit those variables. The good stuff is in the similarities. So keep studying - but focus on taking action not on formulating the perfect plan. This person already had all the knowledge he needs to get to where he wants to go. He just needed to get started. If he'd have started with the completely wrong weight, he'd still have been closer to his goal than he is after taking the weekend off."


APPLY YOURSELF! Be the change for which you have the knowledge to MAKE HAPPEN!