Wow!

We are more than halfway through the year already!!

So how close are you to achieving those New Year’s Resolutions you set set for yourself back in January???

If you’re like most people, those resolutions were forgotten and put by the wayside in February. You ran into all of the common excuses:
“I don’t have time today;” “I’ll start working out next week:” “After the [insert eating/boozing event, birthday, wedding, vacation] this weekend I’m going to start eating good again.”

Then BOOM!! Excuse after excuse and you’re half way through the year already, and you’ve made exactly zero percent of the progress you intended to at the beginning of the year.

What if you’re one of the ones that has been “trying” to lose weight this year?

Did you set any specific goals at the beginning of the year? I.e. “I will lose 30 lbs by December 1st,” “I will work out at least 12 times per month, ” etc?

If you did, have you been measuring and tracking your progress towards those goals?

Have you been “trying” or have you been DOING?!

“Trying,” to achieve anything would be eating “good” for a few days then binging on food or booze, not writing down your calorie intake, making it to the gym on Mondays and Tuesdays but getting distracted for the rest of the week.
That’s what people who are “trying” to lose weight are doing.

If you're "trying" to lose weight, then you are not losing weight.

The folks that ARE losing weight and getting into the best shape of their lives are doing the following:

1) Eating Supportively. They eat the foods that their bodies need to burn fat and fuel their workouts.They also track the calories that they eat, so they know when they need to make adjustments in their nutrition plans to continue shredding body fat. They still allow themselves cheat meals from time to time, and don’t feel guilty when “cheating” at a birthday party or special event, as they know for a fact they’re getting right back on board their nutrition plan once that event is over.

2) Performing intense full body workouts regularly. Their workouts don’t take hours, they are short but effective at burning calories and building lean, tone muscle. They know before the week and usually month starts what days they will be working out, and typically have a plan for what those workouts are and how they are going to get progressively tougher throughout the course of the week, month and year.

3) Performing intense interval training cardio. No hour long boring sessions on the treadmill holding onto the top rail for these folks. They know their bodies need more than that to get something out of doing cardio.  Fifteen to thirty minutes tops and these successful folks are finished with their cardio. The really advanced know how to combine interval training cardio in with their intense resistance training workouts as well, saving even more time and incenerating even more calories every time they hit the gym!

4) Intelligent supplementation. That’s right, the folks that decided to skip “trying” to lose weight and actually do it this year stay hydrated, take a qualitly multi-vitamin, and and help their bodies recover from those intense workouts with a quality post-workout protein/carb mix shake . No infomercial diet pills for these folks. They save their money for things that actually help them lose ugly bodyfat; they don’t waste it on things that help them “try” to lose weight.

5) Personal Assistance. This is the one thing that everyone that has been successfully moving toward their goals this year has in common. Chosing a quality fitness professional helps them bring the first four factors all together, without them having to go out and get a master’s degree to know what to do in each category.

So, if you’re not losing weight, or achieving any of the New Year’s Resolutions you’ve set for yourself this year, WTF are you waiting for?!!! The year is almost over! Get your behind in gear!

Here’s a secret: THERE IS NO SECRET TO BEING SUCCESSFUL AT GETTING THE BODY YOU WANT! But you do have to take the first step!!!

There is still time to achieve the goals for your body that you wanted to at the beginning of this year, but the clock is ticking, so get with it!

If you have no clue how to manipulate those first four factors, then start with number 5 (stop wasting your extra dough on crappy food, home electronic products and shopping at the town center and start investing that extra cash with a quality fitness professional) and the other things WILL come together!!

Stop “trying” to do something positive with your life, and start DOING it today!!

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, that a former manager of mine laid out one time:

“Life will work out if you do!”

Stay focused, stay fit

Isaiah

P.S. Don’t know where to get started? Our next FREE Boot Camp Tryout Week starts with Orientation Day, Saturday, July 11th at 9:30a.m. Be sure to call (904-287-2101) or email us (isaiah@staugustinebootcamps.com) TODAY to register your spot, as spots are limited!

Though Father’s Day should be a time for celebrating what our father’s have sacrificed to allow us to lead the lives of our dreams, to me it’s more of a rude awakening.

I normally don’t hit on the health advantages of being in shape, or the extreme health risks that being overweight creates, because typically, most people don’t care about their health until it is already to late–once it’s gone. However, I’m taking this opportunity, coming up on my 2nd Father’s Day, to tell you about those risks, in hopes that if you are a dad, or if you know a dad,you can do something now to ensure that you can be around for your kids and grand kids!

Our father’s are now in the worst shape of their lives, many suffering from a very scary condition called Metabolic Syndrome X.

One of the main indicators of someone who has metabolic disorder is abdominal obesity, as clearly demonstrated in the picture above. The scary part is that many of our father’s look just like this!

Please read below for an excellent description of Metabolic Syndrome from www.MedicineNet.com:

What is metabolic syndrome?

An association between certain metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease has been known since the 1940s. In the 1980s this association became more clearly defined and the term metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or the dysmetabolic syndrome) was coined to designate a cluster of metabolic risk factors that come together in a single individual. In more current times, the term metabolic syndrome is found throughout medical literature and in the lay press as well. There are slight differences in the criteria of diagnosis - depending on which authority is quoted. Regardless, the concept of a clustering of risks factors leading to cardiovascular disease is well accepted.

The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Patients are most often overweight or obese.

Insulin resistance refers to the diminished ability of cells to respond to the action of insulin in promoting the transport of the sugar glucose, from blood into muscles and other tissues. Because of the central role that insulin resistance plays in the metabolic syndrome, a separate article is devoted to insulin resistance.

How is metabolic syndrome defined?

The definition of metabolic syndrome depends on which group of experts is doing the defining. Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), any three of the following traits in the same individual meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome:

1. Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women.

2. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.

3. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.

4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.

5. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above. (Some groups say 100mg/dl)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has slightly different criteria for the metabolic syndrome:

1. High insulin levels, an elevated fasting blood glucose or an elevated post meal glucose alone with at least 2 of the following criteria:

2. Abdominal obesity as defined by a waist to hip ratio of greater than 0.9, a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2 or a waist measurement over 37 inches.

3. Cholesterol panel showing a triglyceride level of at least 150 mg/dl or an HDL cholesterol lower than 35 mg/dl.

4. Blood pressure of 140/90 or above (or on treatment for high blood pressure).

And though Metabolic Syndrome affects more women than men, there is certainly no shortage of men 40 years and older who have that “deadly beer gut” that literally makes them a ticking time bomb for a slew of serious medical conditions.

But there is good news amongst this frightening reality: The most common cause of metabolic disorder is of course a vicious combination of a lack of exercise and poor diet.

See below for the top 7 fitness tips to help save our father’s lives:

1.) Lay off the Cold Beers!

It’s no wonder why our dads have more of a keg for a gut than a six-pack. See below for the best way I know of explaining how detrimental alcohol can be on your body composition:

How Alcohol Makes You Fat

-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.

-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.

-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.

-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver. It is here that

the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since

alcohol is toxic to the body.

-Alcohol breaks down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY

signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of

alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.

If you booze, you WON’T lose fat!

What Does this Mean?

-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour

-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If

you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to

6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat

during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from

burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you

can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when

it comes to fat loss!

-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages

promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat

storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)

The Bottom Line

If you want to be lean, a.k.a. healthy, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!

If you must drink:

a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer

b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max

References:

Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”

2.) Don’t be a wuss: Train your legs!!

Most dads, and just men in general, only want to do the typical meathead workout that emphasizes the upper body only. If you are going for the Johnny Bravo look where you are built up top with chicken legs for wheels, then keep doing what you’re doing.

However, it is important to note that strong, muscular legs are the key to torching your gut. After all, the majority of your body’s muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body. Not working your legs is like going to a gun fight without a gun, and here’s why:

a.) Training your whole body (legs included) not only helps you burn more calories each workout, it also maximally depletes your body’s glycogen stores (the sugar in your muscles) to allow for more total body fat burning

b.) The more lean muscle mass you have in your lower body the more calories your body will be burning 24-7-365 outside of your workouts

c.) Whenever you work your legs you generate the largest increases in natural anabolic hormone levels which translates into more total body muscle and less ugly, unwanted body fat

So if you want better abs, you better start using those legs! This can be easily accomplished with 3 total body workouts per week that train your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout.

3.) Do something besides bench presses and curls

Look- I get why guys don’t want to train their legs. First, it’s hard work, and most guys in a gym simply don’t want to work that hard. Just look around the next time you are at the gym; how many guys do you actually see sweating? Exactly. Secondly, unless you are wearing a speedo, no one is going to see your legs! So there is simply not as much motivation to put the time and effort into your lower body as there is for your upper body which is always on full display at the beach or poolside.

Nothing beats a little chest and bi’s baby!

However, if you are trying to develop a really nice upper body, you need to start venturing outside the realm of bench presses and curls. Don’t forget, you do have muscles on the backside of your body too!

In fact, your lats (the wings that extend from your arm pit to the bottom of your rib cage) are the biggest muscles in your upper body and when developed they really help promote that V-shaped torso that both makes your waist look smaller and your wife happy

Start doing at least the same amount of pulling as pushing (if not more) unless you want to end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Quasimodo did way too many bench presses and curls… not too sexy!

Lastly, only do isolation movements like bicep curls if you have extra time after your main workout. Compound movements like rows and pull-ups work your biceps just as hard and since they allow for the use of heavier loads, they also provide a better growth stimulus to maximize results in minimal time.

4.) Don’t eat like those idiots from NutriSystem

Here’s my take on how NutriSystem was created:

“I’ve got an idea for an incredible product and marketing campaign:

Let’s gather a group of genetically gifted former professional athletes that have put on some pounds since ending their playing days. We’ll have them all get their asses kicked by top personal trainers while following a restricted calorie diet so we lean them out real nicely.

But then we lie to the overweight male coach potato consumer and tell them that they got these results from eating the same food they are currently eating- you know, pizza, lasagna, sweets, etc. Except we’ll make the meals the size of a dime so they can still technically eat what they want and lose weight at the same time.

To make it even better, we’ll pre-package all of their meals for them to buy from us so these lazy bastards don’t have to do anything besides nuke it up and eat it!

We’ll make millions!”

NONE of you have genetics like these guys.....

Well, that’s exactly what has happened- thousands of sports-loving, ESPN-watching dads have been swindled to buy into this gimmick that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight without exercise- because Dan Marino did it!

Look- if you honestly think you can keep eating the same foods that got you that gut in the first place, then I’m not sure how much more I can help you. And yes, there is portion control within the system, but what it boils down to, is it’s a big load of marketing BS!!

5.) Accept the fact that you need some professional fitness advice

One of my favorite quotes from a client about needing professional assistance came from a friend’s superstar training client. This guy lost105 lbs of fat while training with my friend. He’s a busy executive and father of 4 in his 50’s and he spent 20+ years doing everything wrong from both a training and nutrition perspective until he met my friend. He  asked him once what his best advice was for people that are in the same position today as he was before he transformed himself and this is what he said:

“What you don’t know will hurt you, but what you think you know will KILL you!”

Dads- quit being so stubborn and macho. It doesn’t make you any less of a man to hire a personal trainer or join a boot camp because your wife and her lady friends do it. In reality, your wife (and women in general) are simply smarter than you because they effectively outsource their fitness needs to an expert whereby you try to re-invent the wheel on your own with little to no results.

If you want to lose your gut, follow the lead of the ladies

6.) Make the time for a 5-minute warm-up

You simply can’t afford to NOT warm-up. It’s like pushing the pedal to the medal in the dead of winter in your frozen car- things just don’t work right and you’re not going anywhere.

A cold body, like a cold car, doesn’t run on all cylinders

It only takes about 3-5 minutes to lengthen your muscles and lubricate your joints to best prevent injury and ready your body for a more effective workout, so don’t skip the warm-up!

Below is a great 5-minute body weight warm-up we use in our boot camps:

Alternate between 50 s of work and 10 seconds of rest for each exercise in the following warm-up circuit:

1- Prisoner Squats

2- Jumping Jacks

3- Lunge, Reach and Twist (left leg)

4- Lunge, Reach and Twist (right leg)

5- Push-up Walkouts

7.) The “no pain-no gain” attitude will leave you a bitter, crippled, and grumpy old man

The “no pain, no gain” methodology is quite possible the most abused practice in fitness. Pain is a good thing as long as it’s the right type of pain as outlined below:

When exercise BURNS YOUR MUSCLES that’s a good pain- this means you are pushing past your comfort zone to inspire change, working with intensity to torch calories and build muscle, and burning sugar so your body can burn fat for hours and hours after your workout.

When exercise HURTS YOUR JOINTS that’s a bad pain- it means you are quickly wearing down the structural integrity of your joints and will soon be unable to do anything without pain or stiffness. This is most often caused by a combination of using too heavy of loads, poor exercise form and technique, strength imbalances, and lack of mobility and/or flexibility- more reason to heed Tip#5 and seek professional help!

I have worked with too many dads who have beaten their bodies down and nothing’s more depressing than a dad who can’t play with his kids or participate in recreational activities with his buddies. Do yourself and your family a favor and stop being such a meathead when it comes to exercise. Exercise doesn’t have to hurt to get results and nobody wants another grumpy AND injured old man

From one dad to all of you,

Happy Father’s Day!

STAY FOCUSED, STAY FIT!!

Kathryn’s Dad!
(Isaiah)

Good Morning!
Right to it this morning……

There are many errors that people make when adjusting their nutrition to lose weight.  I’ve listed the Top 3 nutrition Errors below, and what you can do about them.

1) Dieting

Passive dieting....but still useless, pointless dieting.

Yes, “dieting” in the traditional sense is an error when trying to lose weight and body fat, and maintain that weight loss. People ask me all the time if this diet works, and if that diet works. The truth is, ALL diets work.

That’s right, ALL diets work. Low fat, high carb diets, low carb high protein diets, blood type diets, vegetartian diets, beach water diets, mountain diets, whatever, they all work if you follow them exactly. Why? Because they make you monitor your intake of calories and lower your calories.

The problem is not with diets “working” or not, it’s how long you can live, function, exercise and maintain lean muscle tissue on a given diet. Most diets are designed to create an imbalance and deficit in one or more of the three macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate). Your body simply can not maintain a deficit in any of those three categories for a long time without suffering negative consequences.

So, the first thing you can do is to throw away all of those diet books and magazines with the “lose 10 pounds next week diet plan,” articles. Seriously, just throw that junk away, as reading them all will only confuse you, and trying to merge them together will end up making you eat too much any how.

Seriously, throw this crap in the garbage!!!

The second thing you will do is learn the basic principles of nutrition (i.e. eat frequently throughout the day so that you’re eating something 5 to 6 times per day), and tell yourself that you’re going to start eating “normally,” instead of “like crap” like you do now. Eating “healthy,” is another way of saying “dieting,” so don’t say that. Eating normally, and occasionally splurging on things like pizza, ice cream, booze etc is OK. You can still lose weight and maintain weight loss if you are eating “normally,” most of the time, and those little indulgences are just splurges, not regularities!

2) Not eating enough!

This isn't what you look like if you don't eat enough......

THIS is more likely what you look like if you're not eating enough calories while trying to lose weight!

That’s right, most people that are “trying to lose weight,” instead of just losing the weight and body fat they can’t stand seeing on themselves, simply don’t eat enough.

This typically happens with people that start exercising and “eating healthy” at the same time. Obviously, having a caloric deficit (burning more calories daily than what you take in) is what you’re going for, but if you increase your expenditure through exercise, then decrease your intake through your nutrition choices, the caloric deficit becomes too large and your body simply won’t burn body fat, it will burn muscle tissue as a survival method.

So if you are consistently exercising intensely enough, and you are eating well, but still feel like you’re not losing weight, you may simply be trying to “diet” too much and not taking in enough calories to lose weight.

Think about this for a second; you can only drop your caloric intake so low right?

However, you can burn an infinite number of calories every day, provided you have enough fuel to allow you to do so! But calories, food, is your fuel, so if you’re gas tank is running on empty, there is no way for you to burn enough calories to lose weight and body fat!

The solution?

Eat more!

Actually, just start with the simplest thing, which is to eat more frequently throughout the day, ideally eating something every 2 1/2 to 3 hours for a total of 5 to 6 snacks and meals per day.

Once you are doing that consistently for a few weeks, you will notice a huge difference in your energy level, as well as your body fat levels!

After a few months of increased activity, eating “normally,” and losing weight and body fat, if you stop losing weight, then take a look at how many calories you have been getting in over the previous week or two (you should always be keeping track of how many calories you are taking in, if you’re truly wanting to lose weight and not “trying to lose weight.”) If you compare that with your activity levels, you may see that you’re not getting in enough calories.

Try bumping your calories up by about 300 calories per day for a couple of days, then returning to your current levels, then bumping them up for two days, etc for about 10 days and measure your results.

If you lose weight and body fat during that time and you hadn’t the previous few weeks, then you’ll know that you really weren’t getting in enough calories in order for your body to burn off that unwanted body fat!

3) Not supplementing properly to allow the body to burn body fat.

No, I’m not talking about diet pills.

If you’ve been reading my content for any length of time, you know that I’m not a proponent of diet pills.

However, I see too many people “trying to lose weight,” that do not drink enough water (water is a supplement), do not take a quality multi-vitamin (WalMart’s Women’s 1-a-day isn’t exactly quality), and don’t drink a post workout carboydrate/protein shake.

These three things are a MUST if you truly want your body to lose weight!!

Your body has a hard time functioning normally if you aren’t hydrated, much less is it going to do something difficult like burn body fat if you’re giving it enough water!

When you exercise intensely, your body loses vitamins and minerals, especially for my County Road 210 Fitness Boot Camp Clients that live here in Florida! It’s just the way it is! And it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to get everything in you need from your food, so taking a daily multi-vitamin is a must have.

A post-workout shake will allow you to stop the lean muscle tissue breakdown that occurs with exercise. Again, if you’ve read any of my writings, you know that muscle is your metabolism (metabolism is the amount of calories you burn per day), so there’s no need to expound on why you need lean muscle tissue to burn fat!

That’s it!

Til next time,

Stay focuesd, stay fit!!

Isaiah

P.S. If you need a great quality post workout shake and daily multi-vitamin and don’t want to pay GNC prices for them, just click below!

Prograde Post Workout Shake

Prograde Daily Multi-Vitamin

Hey there!

So we’re super excited over here at Look Better NAKED Boot Camps, the Best St Augustine & Jacksonville Fitness Boot Camp, and still the ONLY Fitness Boot Camp on County Road 210 & the World Golf Village Corridor! In this area of Jacksonville/St Augustine, we are the only REAL, professional boot camp lead by certified, professional, experienced personal trainers with tens of thousands of dollars of education and countless practical hours to back up our programs!

The reason we’re so excited is because we have completely revamped our boot camp program to better serve our current and future client base!

Obviously, our current programs are getting clients the amazing results they want and expect from expert personal trainers and fat loss experts, but we’re ready to take it up a notch for our clients, as we are constantly looking for ways to add value to the services that we provide!

The new boot camp helps draw boot camp clients closer together, and helps them focus on their own individual goals at the same time.

The new format is progressive, challenging, fun, exciting and rewarding!

And of course, as always, all of our programs are designed to help you LOOK BETTER NAKED!!

Check a little clip of it out below!

And remember, Saturday, May 30th at 8:30a.m. is the last chance you will have for 6 weeks to sample the BEST fitness boot camp in St Augustine and CR 210 for FREE!!

Make sure you’re there!

Til Next Time,

Stay focused, stay fit!
Isaiah

How was your Memorial Day Weekend?
Mine was great! It was spent spackling, sanding, priming, taping, paiting, cleaning the boot camp space for my St Augustine Boot Camp and personal training clients!

The place was painted so darkly before; we actually called it the bat cave LoL.
So I had to get some paint up there to brighten it up!

This is how I spend the weekends that I don’t have my daughter; doing things in an attempt to make things better for my clients.

Check it!

I did however manage to acquire some unique pieces of fitness equipment today for my boot camp, as I am always on the look out for cool stuff to use in training so I can help keep my training and boot camp clients from getting bored…….

Sorry the end of that clip got cut out; my Flip Cam memory was full! Ooops!

Basically, I was just saying that I got some great workout equipment for my boot camp clients that I didn’t have to spend a fortune on!

I hope you guys appreciate the hard work and cash that I put into the space for you, and enjoy the new workout equipment!

Til next time,

STAY FOCUSED, STAY FIT!
Isaiah

Below is an email that I recently sent out to our personal training and boot camp clients explaining the differences in personal assistance services that we offer in order to be able to better match clients with the service that is going to prduce the best results for them.

As you know, personal assistance is one of the five foundational factors for successful weight loss (cardiovascular exercise, resistance training exercise, nutrition, supplementation, personal assistance), so it is a must have for any one wanting to successfully lose and keep weight and unwanted body fat off. However, there are several different types of personal assistance that we offer for weight loss clients; please read below to figure out which one will best suite you, and make an appointment today with one of our fitness professionals in order to schedule you into a training session, group or boot camp time!

Good morning!

If you’re reading this, then you are a personal training or boot camp client!

Congratulations! You’re one of the elite 4%–as you know if you’ve read any of my writings, it is well documented that 96% of all weight loss programs fail; the other 4% get help to succeed at their wellness and weight loss goals!

It seems to me that there has recently been some confusion among the three options of personal assistance that we offer, which means that we haven’t done a good enough job of differentiating the three different types of service that we provide to help you and our other clients.

So, I wanted to clear it up for everyone, what each service is, the benefits, and the things that may not appeal to you about a particular service.
Not one of our singular services will appeal to EVERY person, and that’s OK!!!

That is why we provide different types of services, so that we can appeal to and reach as many of our clients and local residents as possible!

If one of our services doesn’t work for you, even one you may be in right now, it’s OK! We want you to figure out which one of our personal assistance programs is best for you so that you have the best chance of reaching your health and fitness goals.

Two one-on-one PT Sessions in progress

1) One-on-One Personal Training
This is the oldest and most traditional version of personal assistance, or “personal training.” This is also typically the most cost prohibitive, however it is all inclusive to anyone that needs personal assistance. It is definitely a quality service that you get more than what you pay for. The great thing about one-on-one training is that regardless of your age, fitness level or goals, it will be tailored to your specific needs, wants, schedule and idiosyncracies.
This is by far the best option if you have a hectic, unpredictable schedule, don’t like exercising around a lot of people, are an extreme novice to weight loss or exercise, need to have 100% of your trainer’s attention on you, or if you have some specific issues that must be considered in your exercise program, such as injuries, post-op rehab, or other special conditions.
Modalities of exercise vary on a client-by-client basis, ranging from traditional free weight exercises to functional and corrective exercise prescriptions and athletic training.
You see examples of this at the club daily, as Carl, Kelly, Bruce & Isaiah all still have one-on-one PT clients.

2) Semi-Private or Group Personal Training

Semi-private Group Training

This is a newer version of “personal training,” and it has grown in popularity recently both because of the lower cost per client that it provides, and because of people’s enjoyment of their workout experience as a social destination as well as a health & weight loss solution (see: the popularity of aerobics classes in the 1980s!).
An example of this would be our new “Women On Weights” afternoon training group.

The main benefits of this type of training are that it is more cost inclusive on a per client basis, it allows for a social setting where clients encourage & motivate each other, and the group is still small enough (3-5 people) that the trainer is able to take into consideration the physical, mental, emotional and scheduling needs of each client.
Modalities of exercise still vary, but typically more from group to group, and must take into consideration availability of space and equipment; there is never a situation where any one client is not exercising while waiting for a spot or piece of equipment. This is typically achieved through circuit training, using a variety of body weight, resistance band, dumbbell, kettlebell, and training ring exercises.

3) Boot Camps
One of the newest, and by far the most intense training protocol of personal assistance provided. This is the most cost inclusive per client because of the numbers of clients can be so high, but is also the most prohibitive; boot camp is certainly not for everyone.

Completely contrasted to one-on-one personal training, boot camp is all about the execution of the program, and the group working together to push each other to reach their performance and weight loss goals.Boot camp is not a haven for individual needs and special conditions; those are accounted for in one-on-one and group training. Rather, it is a haven for harnassing the power of a team to achieve individual goals. The focus during the training sessions and programs is not on the individual, but on empowering the group to reach farther and achieve more.As the saying goes, “Two minds working together towards a common goal isn’t twice as good as one mind; it’s 10 times as good!”

If you are a highly social person, boot camp may be the place for you!

The boot camp model that we have created is a high intensity metabolic training program that consistently challenges the muscular, cardiovascular, neuromuscular and skeletal systems by focusing on all aspects of fitness: strength, agility, core, endurance, power, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. This is accomlished through high intensity bodyweight exercises, running & agility drills, and overall movement exercises, both loaded (with resistance) or unloaded (no weights, bands, etc).

Boot camp is by far the most intense, exciting, challenging and fun modalities of personal assistance, but again, it is not the best answer for everyone. It is not only physically challenging, but also, mentally and emotionally challenging as well. It is definitely a high risk, high reward endeavor.

I hope that I’ve been able to clear up some of the questions, confusion, and mis-conceptions that we have allowed to get out there regarding the three distinct personal assitance services that we offer.
If you feel that one or a combination of these services would better suit your needs, desires and fitness goals than one you may already be a part of, please let us know!

We created these separate types of services so that we could provide some type of service that would be applicable to everyone, regardless of their situation.
Our ultimate goal both as passionate fitness professionals and employees of this health club business, is to serve as many people as possible with our knowledge and experience. We want to touch as many people as we possibly can with fitness assistance, because we know and believe in the difference that fitness and good health can make in a person’s life. It can change your whole life!

Have a great weekend, and as always:

Stay focused, stay fit!
Isaiah

In the past, I’ve shared my top exercises for rapid fat loss and muscle gain, featuring a host of multi-joint, compound movements for your upper body (e.g. push-ups, pull-ups, rows, dips, etc.), lower body (squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc.), and core (pillar holds and rotational core exercises). These “many muscle” exercises provide the biggest bang for your buck during your workouts to generate maximum results in minimal time. Even better are total body exercises like a curl to squat to press or a squat thrust variation that takes the meaning of a whole body workout to a whole new level.

But, I think we’ll switch it up a bit today and focus on the WORST exercises you can add to your training routine. The following list features movements that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone–movements that deliver shoddy results and flat our hurt people- movements that have far greater risk than reward:

The 7 Worst Exercises of All Time

1.) Abs Machine

I'm smiling because I have no clue what I'm doing!

Crunches and sit-ups only promote excessive flexion of the lumbar spine and tend to cause neck and back pain. What’s worse than crunches or sit-ups? Doing a similar movement with added weight in a machine that only trains your body in an unnatural front to back motion in a seated position!

Yes, abs machines, like crunches and sit-ups, do make your feel your abdominal muscles, but there are far better ways to accomplish this without the high risk of short and long-term injury to your spine.

Remember, the true function of your core is stabilization, both static and dynamic- to be able to maintain a neutral, straight-line position from your hips to your shoulders in all 3 planes of movement (front to back, side to side, and rotational) no matter what the external stimulus may be.

21 Century Training Upgrade: For rock hard, athletic abs focus on pillar stabilization exercises like front, side, and back planks and ground based rotational core work like chops variations and upper body twists.

2.) Back Machine

I love having lower back pain!

Well, if I HATE the abs machine, how do you think I’m going to feel about the back machine? I mean this is just such a stupid exercise for so many reasons.

First of all, people already use too much “back” on most movements because of tight hips and inactive/weak glutes. Wonder why 96% of Americans have lower back pain??? Thus, I prefer to focus more on hip extension movements that strengthen your butt rather than continually overloading the spinal erectors. Plus, adding in corrective stretching for the hip flexor complex, the hip rotators, and the hamstring complex that opens up your hips and alleviates excessive spinal flexion and compressions is literally exactly what the doctor ordered.

Second of all, just like the abs machine, this bootleg exercise trains your body in one plane of movement in a fixed path and as a results doesn’t work your key stabilizer muscles.

Lastly, the way that most people perform this movement in such an out of control manner for speed just makes me want to vomit. It literally looks like they are trying to lie down for reps- is this the type of movement that we want to get really good at? Wait, don’t answer that

21 Century Training Upgrade: For a strong, stable back focus on deadlift, good morning, and hip extensions variations while simultaneously focusing on the corrective stretching and self-massage of the Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip (LPH) complex. A prone cobra, or airplane as it is sometimes called, is also a great exercise to improve spinal erector endurance while simultaneously improving scapular strength and stability.

3.) Leg Extension Machine

I hate walking without knee pain!

I’ll spare you my rant on this machine, as I could go on for a while about the problems  this machine causes.

Here’s the bottom line with this exercise- it will wreak havoc on your knees! The excessive compressions on your patella will without a doubt results in the brake down of articular cartilage which will in turn results in a bunch of arthroscopic knee surgeries to remove loose bodies and eventually full blown crippling arthritis. Avoid this machine like cancer!

21 Century Training Upgrade: For strong, stable knees, focus on both knee-dominant (lunge, step-up, and single-leg squat variations) AND hip-dominant single-leg exercises (single-leg hip extension, deadlift, and good morning variations) to prevent strength imbalances between limbs AND to prevent strength imbalances between your front and back thighs and your inner and outer thighs.

4.) Fly Machine

Does this still look like a smart exercise to you?

If your goal is tear your pecs and destroy your rotator cuff, then I highly recommend that you add this exercise to your routine. I think the chest fly machine actually gets even more play then the bench press, which is considered to be the most popular exercise for guys.

Again, the use of a machine versus doing a dumbbell fly alternative eliminates the use of the key stabilizer muscles surrounding your shoulders. Furthermore, the common male desire to use maximum weight to build a chest he can be proud of typically results in overuse injuries like shoulder impingement or biceps tendonitis.

21 Century Training Upgrade: For strong, stable shoulders focus on performing an equal amount of pushing and pulling exercises. In fact, more pulling exercises initially may be a good idea if you find yourself heavily internally rotated and hunchbacked from years of focusing on your beach muscles (chest, abs, and biceps) while neglecting your rear shoulders and upper/mid muscles. The best pushing exercise you can do is any push-up variation as it not only safely trains the entire front side of your body but also engages your upper back musculature in a way that the bench press does not. Furthermore, every year people die from bench pressing, but there has never been a reported death from performing a push-up!

That's not sweat, he's just been splashed with water for the picture....

5.) Elliptical Machine

Look- if you are really, really overweight and haven’t exercised in over a decade, then I think an elliptical has some use. But, other than that, I think it’s relatively useless.

Yes, it is a low-impact alternative to running on a treadmill, but there is very little range of motion during the movement and does not burn nearly as many calories as the machine claims it does.

Furthermore, the elliptical is not a good machine to do intervals on because it promotes excessive hyperextension of the knee. This can easily result in injury at high levels of speed and resistance.

Think about it- what’s the first machine people who are new to cardio exercise jump on? The elliptical! Why? Because it’s so friggin’ easy!

Trust me, I have been there and done that. I used to convince myself that the elliptical was a good option for me because I had bum knees. But then I finally woke up one day I realized that my fat ass had to lose some weight, perform a ton of corrective stretching and self-massage on my front/inner/outer hips and thighs to improve my tissue health, and work on hip and ankle mobility to take pressure off of my knees so that I could get back to running pain-free.

At the end of the day, you can read a dam magazine while on an elliptical, so how much benefit do you really think you will get from this overpriced waste of space?

21 Century Training Upgrade: For optimal results during your cardio training, you must focus on intervals. They burn 9 times more body fat than aerobics and also result in greater improvements in overall conditioning than long, slow, boring cardio. If you are overweight/de-conditioned and/or have joint issues, the best place to start an interval training program is on a upright bike or recumbent bike. If you need to rock your cardio equipment-free and/or at home or on the road, use body weight based exercises like jumping jacks, stationary running, split jumps, etc.

6.) The Sex Machine- Abductor/Adductor Combo

LoL

Ah, the sex machine… this one just makes me smile. It certainly takes me back to the days where my meathead buddies and I would shamelessly gawk at this outrageously good looking gal who did 1,000 reps on the adductor/abductor machine to fit into her “skinny jeans.”

But, I can assure you this machine had nothing to do with her nice bod- rather it was a combo of genetics, a clean diet, and being a tri-sport athlete that did the trick.

Women all over the world seem convinced that this “naughty” exercise can some how help them rid themselves of the thunder thigh/cellulite situation.

How many times have I heard: “What exercises can I do to get rid of this flab inside my leg?” Too many times!

Come on now, you know that spot reduction is a myth by now, right? Seriously, no amount of direct inner or other hip-thigh work will burn that ugly fat covering that sexy toned musculature everyone wants to see so let it go baby.

So the first thing you need to do is clean up all of the junk carbs in your diet and starting consuming lean proteins, healthy fats, and fruits and veggies every 2-4 hours while plugging water like a fish.

Then you need to get off this sexy machine and get real with a total body workout!

21 Century Training Upgrade: The best exercises for your inner and outer-hip thigh will come from band-resisted hip walk variations, side pillar variations, and any and all single-leg exercises, especially lateral lunges. My favorite lateral lunge is the Valslide Lateral Lunge that simultaneously stretches and strengthens your hip musculature.

7.) Leg Press Machine

Good call on this one.....

It never ceases to amaze me how we all look for the easy way out when it comes to working out. It’s clear why people prefer to leg press- they get to lay or sit on their ass depending on the exact type of leg press machine being used.

If you want both nice legs and a flat midsection then you need to squat! And yes, you can’t squat lying down, sorry!

But squats are tough because they require a whole body effort, an effort most people aren’t willing to put in explaining why they get crap results form their workouts.

The leg press could very well be a major contributing cause for the rapidly increasing number of bulging and/or herniated discs among exercise enthusiasts. People always use way too much weight and use poor form resulting in brutally compressive forces on the spine.

Seriously, if you are opting to leg press over squatting, then you don’t know squat, pun intended

21 Century Training Upgrade: The best (and safest) exercises for your lower body are a healthy combination of double-leg and single-leg exercises using free weights and body weight based exercises. Be sure to perform an equal amount of knee-dominant lower body exercises (e.g. squats and lunges) and hip-dominant lower body exercises (e.g. deadlifts and single-leg hip extensions) to make your knees, hips, and back bulletproof. In fact, most people are very knee-dominant and could benefit to start by performing a greater number of hip-dominant movements to balance out their lower body musculature.

You’ll notice once common trend among all of these crap exercises: they all involve MACHINES!

Get off those ridiculous machines and focus on functional movements using free weights, bands, stability balls, etc. Not only will you ramp up your fat-burning and muscle-building pursuits, but more importantly you won’t end up hunchbacked in a wheel chair by the time you turn 50

Stay focused, stay fit

Isaiah

PS- What other exercises do you see people doing in the gym that make you cringe? What other exercises do you absolutely hate? What exercises have gotten you (or your clients) hurt in the past? Please share your personal experiences by posting a comment to this blog post, thanks!

By now, I am sure you have heard all about this new Kentucky Grilled Chicken. They’re jamming in down your throat with all of their new obnoxious commercials. I haven’t decided which aggravates me more, then stupid fast food commercials claiming to be healthy or weight loss friendly, or all of the “revolutionary” fitness products that do about as much good for you as healthy fast food…..

Anyhow, I suppose the Kentucky Grilled chicken is better for you than fried chicken, it’s still nowhere near an ideal food choice. Point it, don’t add KFC as preferred eating out spot now just because of their “healthy” alternative.

Just a note, if you are going to go off the wagon for a meal, or if you’re going to pick a food joint to go to as your cheat meal for the week, why would you bother getting a “healthy” alternative in the first place?! Ice cream is my jam, and that’s what I typically pick as my cheat meal for the week; it’s kind of become a Sunday tradition, and I just get annoyed when I see sugar-free ice cream! What’s the point?! If you’re gonna eat something unhealthy, then go all out!!!

GO ALL OUT!!

Sorry, back to the point……

Congratulations! You are eating “grilled” chicken with a bunch of garbage on the side. Lord knows that mac and cheese and biscuits aren’t going help you look any better naked!

Good Call! Not so much......

KFC says the grilled chicken has significantly fewer calories and fat, plus much less sodium, than its Original Recipe fried chicken that launched the brand more than 50 years ago.

After all, just as, if not more, damaging to our waistlines are the high calorie side dishes accompanying the chicken which are filled with refined starches and sugars and unnecessary amounts of saturated fat.

Just like with every other fast food and sub joint that has claimed to make a “healthy” alternative to their fat creating, artery-clogging, life-span shortening regular foods, I’m calling BS!!

For too long now the fast food industry has made a killing on misinforming consumers about what is and isn’t healthy.

KFC claimed that it recently did switch cooking oils to eliminate all trans fats from their products- a noble effort indeed.

But upon further review, this does not look to be the case…

I don’t know about you, but this certainly doesn’t sound like a nutritional powerhouse. First of all, “Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil” is not good for you and is a form of trans fat!!

For those of you that aren’t up to date on the latest info, trans fats are synthetic fats that are essentially foreign agents in our bodies. There is truly no room for them in a healthy diet.

Plus, a great rule of thumb is that the fewer ingredients in a food item the better it is for you, ideally less than 5 ingredients being a good marker. Well, if you count the ingredients in this “health” food, there are well over 20!

Fast food and convenience store marketing campaigns make it very hard for me as a personal trainer to accomplish my job, which is keeping folks educated on proper nutrition and constantly fighting diet fads and miracle products.

When a company says:

“Our _____ (name of product) is good for you because it’s low in fat or fat-free”

OR

“Our _____ (name of product) is good for you because it’s got no sugar”

OR

“Our _____ (name of product) is the perfect snack because it’s only 100 calories.”

In general, here are some great user-friendly guidelines to cut through all of the BS these money-hungry SOB’s are sending our way:

Beware of “Fat-Free or Low Fat” Foods:

These food choices are often high in sugar or contain added sugar to make up for taste lost which wreak havoc on your energy levels and prevent fat loss.

Look Out for “Sugar-Free” Products:

These food choices are typically made with artificial ingredients and sweeteners and/or are sometimes higher in fat to make up for taste lost and/or often contains sugar-alcohols that tear up your digestive system.

Stay Away From “100 Calorie” Items:

These low calorie bags contain ZERO nutritional value with little to no protein and are low in fiber and natural, healthy fats. Plus, these weight-gainers by another name do not fill you up between meals.

Probably the most infamous “healthy” marketing campaign is 100-CALORIE SNACK PACKS.

Who comes up with this crap?!

Which is better for you body: 100 calories of broccoli or 100 calories of mini-muffins?

GET IT?

I know personally I could easily eat 10 of these packs without getting stuffed- I guess that would be a 1,000-CALORIE SNACK PACK

Unfortunately, we live in a calorie-conscious society, and marketers truly take piggyback on this.

But you don’t need to be a dope like the rest of them.

Educate yourself.

Educate your friends.

Educate your family.

Remember, the market determines the direction companies will go. If we choose not to put this garbage in our bellies anymore, they will make less of it

Stay focused, stay fit!

PS- I just know you have got something to say about this hot button issue. Please make a comment to this blog post about what pisses you off the most about this KFC Grilled Chicken, or any other fast food marketing campaign for that matter!

Here is another workout of the week for you!

Although you know we advocate intense, full body type training, we couldn’t help but hear how many folks ask about and complain about their arms not being toned or having that back of the arm fat!

So we wrote an awesome arm-blasting & toning workout for you to try out, either as an add-on to one of our other super-intense full body workouts, or even as a one-day workout on it’s own for one of your “off” days!

The workout is written below the video, as always!
Enjoy!

Arm Trisets Workout

Triceps Tri-set
2-3 Sets (Repeat all three exercises in circuit fashion without breaking. Then, take a 30 second to 1 minute break before beginning next three exercise set)
*Lying D.B. Triceps Extensions 12-15 Reps
*Assissted Machine Bench Dips 8-12 Reps
*Rope Over-Head Tricep Extension 15-20 reps

Biceps Tri-Set
Complete all three Triceps sets before moving onto biceps!
2-3 Sets (Repeat all three exercises in circuit fashion without breaking. Then, take a 30 second to 1 minute break before beginning next three exercise set)
*Incline Bench Hammer Curls 12-15 reps
*Double D.B. Concentraion Curls 8-12 reps
*Standing Cable Curls 21s (7 top half partial reps, 7 lower half partial reps, 7 full reps)

Enjoy the workout!

Stay focused, stay fit!
Isaiah

We’re rolling through April, and May is just around the corner…

Which means seniors in high school are already knees-deep in the senior slump that typifies the last semester prior to graduation.

But, what they (and their parents) should be most concerned about is fighting the scary trend of gaining 15+ lbs their freshman year in college.

Seriously, they might soon start calling it the FRESHMAN 50 if someone doesn’t step in right NOW and educate our youngsters about proper training and sound nutrition.

As someone who is only 5 years removed from college, I know firsthand how important this info is and I wish someone shared it with me before I graduated high school.

This is also vital knowledge to pass on to your clients if you are a trainer!

Before I share my top 10 tips to fight this trend, let’s first identify why this is important, beyond the obvious health benefits:

1.) Perception is Reality: Studies show that leaner, more attractive people are more employable and earn higher wages- it’s a fact! If you want a fighting chance of getting and keeping a job, in addition to climbing the corporate ladder, you simply cannot overlook your personal appearance and presentation.

2.) Build a Recession-Proof Body: Whenever the economy is struggling and companies are forced to tighten up their budgets, they’ll “trim the fat” from their employee base (both literally and figuratively). If it comes down to two people with equal skills, the leaner, healthier employee will always win!

So enough with the harsh truth, let’s get to the real deal, here it is:

The Top 10 Tips to Fight the Freshman 15

TIP#1- Invest in a Whole Body Workout

Perform a five-exercise circuit employing body weight-based exercises that’s designed to work your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout at least three times per week with a day of rest between workouts

-Alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for each a double-leg (e.g. squat), push (e.g. push-up), single-leg (e.g. lunge), pull (e.g. row), and core (e.g. plank/bridge) exercise.

-Perform up to 4 rounds without rest for a killer 20-minute total body workout that you can do anywhere

TIP#2- Harness the Power of Intervals

-Interval training is scientifically proven to burn nine times more body fat than ordinary exercise and elevates metabolism for up to 24-48 hours following your workout.

-Perform cardio intervals on non-strength training days three times per week. Selecting your cardio exercise of choice, alternate between 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest and repeat this 30 second interval eight times for four total minutes followed by a one-minute rest. Repeat for up to 20 total minutes.

-This routine works best on a stationary bike (airdyne), for indoor/outdoor running, or for body weight cardio exercises that you can do at home like running in place or jumping jacks.

TIP#3- Eat AND Hydrate Early and Often

-Eat immediately upon waking and then every two to four hours to starve fat and feed muscle.

-By continuously fueling your furnace, and eating some animal protein (meat, eggs, cheese, etc.) at every feeding, you’ll also keep your metabolism revved up throughout the day and prevent overeating.

-Drink 2-4 cups of water immediately upon waking and then 1-2 cups of water every 2 hours, in addition to drinking 1-2 cups of water for every 15 minutes of activity.

-Consume 3 servings of green tea per day.

TIP#4- Think Fiber When it Comes to Carbs

-Eat an unlimited amount of fibrous, cruciferous green veggies to fill your belly both during and between meals (avoid corn, peas, carrots, beets, and potatoes)

-For optimal fat-burning, try to limit fruit and other carbohydrate consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout when your body best tolerates starches and sugars.

-The Carb Reduction Blueprint:

Step#1- Replace all white carbs with 100% whole grain carbs and all refined sugars with natural sugars

Step#2- Limit all whole grain starch and natural sugar consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout or immediately upon waking for breakfast

Step#3- Replace all starches and sugars with fruits and veggies

Step#4- Replace all fruits with green veggies

TIP#5- Focus on Stabilization Exercise for Flat Abs

-Integrated total body training and sound nutrition is the key to burning the fat covering your abdominal muscles so you can “see” them- spot reduction doesn’t work!

-Pillar stabilization, both static and dynamic, is the key to developing rock hard abs, preventing injuries, and improving posture- NOT endless crunches and sit-ups!

-The pillar collectively consists of your shoulders, hips, and core. It is your body’s powerhouse, foundational to all movement.

-For maximum benefits, you must seek to maintain a tight pillar position during all movements by actively pulling your navel to your spine, engaging your glutes, and maintaining a straight line from the heels through the shoulders.

TIP#6- Be a Flexible Eater

-Allot yourself 1 or 2 “reward meals” per week where you can enjoy the indulgences of college life in MODERATION as needed!

-Be sure to plan your reward meals in advance based on your weekly schedule and be sure to earn them with compliance at all other times!

TIP#7- Take These 2 daily Supplements for Life

-Daily Multi-Vitamin for Your Gender

-Daily EFA/Fish Oil Supplement

For more info, visit: Prograde Nutrition

TIP#8- If you Booze, you WON’T Lose!

-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to 6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when it comes to fat loss!

-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)

The Bottom Line

If you want to be lean, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!

If you must drink:

a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer

b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max

TIP#9- Sleep, Stretch, and Self-Massage

-Sleep: Get at least 6-7 hours (ideally 7-8) of restful sleep per night and take 1-2 hour naps to fill in the gaps. Establish a pre-bed routine and avoid caffeine after 2 pm.

-Stretch: Ideally perform Dynamic Stretching to preferentially mobilize joints BEFORE exercise and perform Static Stretching to preferentially lengthen muscles AFTER exercise

-Self-Massage: Spend at least 30-60 seconds massaging sore and tight areas of the body before and after you exercise to regenerate your muscle and connective tissue in order to prevent nagging aches and pains in the joints

TIP#10- Build-Your-Own Dorm Room Gym

Mandatory Items (less than $100):

-Foam Roller

-Tennis Ball

-Hex Dumbbells

-Resistance Bands (www.resistancebandtraining.com)

Premium Set-up (less than $200):

-All of the above

-Door/Wall-Mounted Pull-up Unit

-Stability Ball

For a great website for fitness equipment, visit www.performbetter.com

It is my sincere hope to you either use and/or pass on these 10 simple strategies to secure yourself a future filled with health, happiness, and longevity.

Stay focused,  Stay Fit!
Isaiah