As I was taking the memberships I noticed that one of the people who signed up for the class was a 68 year old woman. Well that certainly was a bit out of the age demographics that I had advertised but who am I to deny this gal her chance to work out and improve her physical and mental well being?

What a great attitude. This gal was doing it all. Never once did she complain or say 揑 can抰.?She was a perfect example of how everyone should attack life. I believe that our choices are rather simple. We can sit on the sidelines and be a spectator or we can jump in with both feet and be an active participant. This 68 year old woman has obviously chosen to be the latter in her own personal game of life.

It抯 encouraging to see a person who wants to get better and continue to grow. Starting a difficult exercise program and being in a class with people who are only half her age can be a bit intimidating. What a great choice she has made. Living a fulfilled, happy, and healthy life is something that almost anyone can do.

Many times people start on a new quest with good intentions. They truly want to change something about their lives that they are not happy with. Along the way some fall to the wayside. It抯 then that they tell themselves that it抯 o.k. to quit. I beg to differ. It抯 not o.k. to quit. Let抯 not fill ourselves with 搃t抯 not for me??I just wanted to see what it was about?揑 really wasn抰 serious about doing it? These are all easy ways out. The real truth is that you didn抰 have what it takes to finish the deal. You may tell yourself whatever you want. Bottom line is that you weren抰 willing to make the commitment. You can say whatever you want but you can not lie to yourself.

So what抯 the solution? It抯 simple. Finish what you start and put some spirit and effort into the process. You can do it if you set your mind and spirit to it. The great automaker Henry Ford once said, 搘hether you think you can or you think you can抰, you抮e right?br>Think you can and be like the 68 year old woman who has made a decision to make her life better.

We all know what the medical community says about exercise and how beneficial it is to our lives, but the prospect of joining a gym and sweating up a storm just isn’t that appetizing. Fortunately, for most of us we could just start using our feet more often and lose weight pretty quickly. I’m speaking of getting up and walking more often.

Walking is by far the easiest form of exercise around. But why don’t more people do it? You can go to any mall or big retail store and just take a look at the parking lot and see what I mean. It can be a sunshine filled 75 degree day and you will see car after car sitting and waiting for that front row parking spot when they could have parked just 5 spaces back with no problem. It makes no sense.

One of the other things that make walking and losing weight so nice is that it doesn’t cost any money. You never need to pay for monthly gym memberships or buy special equipment. All you need is a pair of shoes and you can begin getting into shape immediately.

Yes, walking may not be the "cool" way of exercising, but it sure is effective. Why not try it today and begin seeing the results tomorrow?

I believe these two factors, over obsession with reaching a direct goal, and not reaching said goal or actually regressing in the opposite direction, go hand in hand. They are due to looking to closely at the end result and not putting enough weight, importance, and enjoyment into the steps to reach the goals. Its a fault in the public mind set.
Take a look at 90% of athletes and what do you see?
You see a strong, powerful, and desired physique.

Its these very physiques that many people wish to achieve, be it the slim tight gymnast, the massive and powerful NFL defensive lineman, or the ripped and jacked Olympic sprinter. Its also these very people the media outlets force on you as the ideal physique, and the ones to strive for.

The problem is people, and the media, are looking to put the horse in front of the cart.

You see and desire the physique and don’t see the real picture of what it takes to achieve it. You take a mind set to the polar opposite of the athlete whom has the physique and you train directly for it as opposed to training for what caused that physique as a byproduct. You might even adopt the exact training plan and diet of this athlete, (as advertised in the latest for profit publication of course), but you don’t adopt the critical mind set.

I believe the cure, to this epidemic, and to everyone reaching their goal of a lean powerful physique lies in athletics. More in the mindset (performance based) then the actual activity, though I’d love to see more people commit to a sport or activity and feel it could largely be a quick fix by asserting the mindset and activity in one swoop.

The athlete, the one who actually has attained this awesome physical presence did so NOT by aiming to look HOT, but as a byproduct of his or her athletic training. By striving to perform better at their given sport. By eating and training with a performance based mind. By setting ultimate and mini goals. By putting in the work every day, and doing so at an activity they love and enjoy.

Even physique athletes at the highest levels, who’s actual goal in their given sport is appearance, use this performance based mindset 90% of the year. Why? It’s the fastest and most measurable way to attain tangible results and traceable progress. If they perform better…if they get stronger in a particular exercise they will get bigger or denser given they eat for their goals.

Further more, and most importantly, athletic and or performance based thinking is positive, which keeps desire and motivation burning RED HOT.

* Athletes train and eat, they don’t exercise and diet.

* Athletes continually reach and earn new training and nutrition stimulus as they conquer bench marks, as opposed to punishing ones self further when you adapt to a previous training or nutrition stimulus.

* Athletes set concrete goals and realistic steps to attain them, as opposed to broad unclear goals that are never reached or can be twisted and construed on a daily basis (“I just want to look good Nekid.”)

Everything is done consistently with a focus on today’s performance and how it adds to the whole. Things are done with a purpose, a desire, a passion and underlying enjoyment, as opposed to a concentration on the negative, self punishment and deprivation and doing things because they might help.

A lack of tangible reachable steps, a lack of joy and fun, and a focus on what you must deprive yourself from to reach your goals is no way to make a physical long term transformation.

Athletes and those who reach a great transformation be it in performance, body composition, or life in general, concentrate not overly on the big picture, but on the steps it takes to get them there. They make small manageable habitual changes and attain a great degree of enjoyment as they see calculated steps take them closer to that’s ultimate goal.

In the following parts of this series I will share some personal examples from my own life in which I succeeded at this mindset, and several in which I failed miserably as it pertains simply to body composition. For the time being, take a step back, relax and take a long hard look at yourself, your goals and what method you use to propel you.

The point is, exercise is WORK but it doesn’t have to be excruciating. If you talk to a dozen hard-bodies, you’ll likely come away with a dozen different workout routines and eating regimens – all of them challenging. But delve a little deeper and you will invariably find that, despite the differences in workouts and food, people who are successful at achieving their fat burning goals share some very important similarities in their approach to fitness.

In a documentary film entitled Body+of+Work, fitness guru and best-selling author Bill Phillips chronicles the 12-week experiences of 10 finalists in the very first Body-for-LIFE Challenge back in 1995. Phillips, a 30 year veteran of the fitness industry, admits even he was amazed at the degree of physical change these 10 champions achieved while competing in his now world-renowned contest.

Phillips explained that it wasn’t so much what they did, but how they did it that interested him most. He asked the 10 finalists to compile what they believed were the 10 Commandments of body transformation. Just as he expected, not one of the 10 Commandments had anything to do with a certain type of food or a specific kind of exercise. Here’s what they came up with:

#1 – You must have a deep burning desire to change.
#2 – There must be a reason behind that desire.
#3 – You must have a vision of exactly who you want to become.
#4 – You must have a role model to look up to for inspiration.
#5 – You must acquire the knowledge you need to get the job done right.
#6 – You must have faith that you can achieve your goals.
#7 – You must be ready and willing to experience a certain level of discomfort as you move toward your goal.
#8 – You must have perseverance and consistency together – one without the other doesn’t work.
#9 – You must take responsibility for everything you do.
#10- You must live to thrive, not merely survive.

Not bad for a bunch of former couch potatoes!

The two most important factors of losing weight and keeping it off is: a)staying active and b)watching what you eat.

For those people that have a job where they are constantly moving all day, the first part is already taken care of. All they need to do is educate themselves on what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat it. Eating more often, but small portions is a very important thing to remember. And i know, its hard not to have a large dinner after a long hard days work, but if you really want to shed those pounds, you must keep the portion sizes small enough that your satisfied but not full. Try to eat mostly grilled food like chicken breast and fish, and make sure at least half the plate is veggies. I know there are many carbohydrate free diets out there, but i honestly do not think they are very healthy. Carbohydrates are very important in the normal function of the human body and are needed, as long as you eat them in small quantities and at specific times of the day. For example, a complex carbohydrate like oatmeal would be fine before a workout, a simple carbohydrate like fruits would be good right after a workout.

For those people that work in an office, the road to weight loss could be much harder. For these people, staying active is a very important aspect. The best thing is to get in a jog or bike ride first thing in the morning before work, then another one in the early evening. 30 – 45 minutes, twice a day is all that is needed to fast track yourself to a healthy lifestyle.

These are two of the more common aspects of weight loss, but most people do not really implement them into their lives. It might be difficult to make these changes in a persons life, but the benefits really do out-weigh the hassle of taking time out of the day to jog or plan out your meals. That extra time that you dedicate each day to staying healthy might be difficult at first, but after a few weeks, it will become routine and you will be healthier then ever in no time.

Training for muscular strength, power and endurance will bring about more functional improvements than training for muscular size or appearance.

There is a big difference between training for muscle mass and training for ME, power and endurance.

Each type of ME must be trained for optimum performance under any circumstance.

Fitness is a compromise between the physical abilities of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, power, speed, flexibility, balance, coordination, agility, accuracy and toughness… and ME Maximum Strength

Maximum strength is how much force can be generated by the muscles and skeletal system for one, all-out effort.

You One-Rep Max is an indicator of this type of muscular strength.

Power

Power is strength per unit of time… I like to call this Explosive Power.

This type of ME is measured by the ability to move a weight from one point to another with speed… therefore it is often called Speed Strength.

Strength Endurance

Strength endurance is the ability to be as strong as possible… for as long as possible.

This type of ME is characterized by the ability to perform a strength movement repeatedly for an extended period of time without giving into fatigue or sacrificing form.

An effective physical training program should address the improvement of each type of ME… Not just one type of strength at the expense of the others.

Bodybuilding type training focuses on building muscle mass… and improvement in performance and燤E爄s secondary.

This leads me to an interesting question… will your muscles get bigger by training all aspects of strength?

The answer is yes… they will get just as big as they need to get to optimize performance!

Optimize muscular strength performance… don’t Maximize muscle mass.

After all, it is always better to be stronger than you appear… than to appear stronger than you are!

One final note…

You must always keep in mind that muscular strength training is only one of many components of a well balanced physical fitness training program.

You should strive to optimize your muscular strength in conjunction with the other physical abilities… Not maximize your strength at the expense of them.

After all, meeting the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence is done through the combination and seamless flow from one physical ability to another… Not by relying on one physical skill at the expense of all the others.

You can start by giving yourself a completely new and unique look. In fact, hairstyling is an art as well as a science of adding elegance and grace to your hairstyle. You should never be afraid to experiment with your hair as long as you know what you are doing. This is because everyone likes to see you in a different hair setup after a few months. This not only makes you look different but also makes you find out as to which hairstyles suit you the most.

You can also seek an expert’s advice if you want to take up basic hairstyling on your clients or yourself. Many people have taken up hairstyling as a career as it is one of the most sought after and demanding elements of the fashion industry. You can also start by experimenting new hairstyle on your friends. However you should be well aware of the basic requirements and aspects of hairstyling. For example, a particular hairstyle will look good on women with short hair but it may not suit women with long hair. Also the hairstyles for men and women vary considerably.

You can also join a basic course at a hair dressing school. This way you can learn the basics as well learn how to bring the best of creativity in you. These sessions last for anywhere between six to eight months.

You will learn different aspects of hairstyling such as variations in hair cuts, the type of hair and their maintenance, hair coloring techniques, hair treatments and how the personality and the look of the face can be changed with the change in hairstyle.

So how do most of these people get in the shape they are in? It goes without saying that they spend hours a day working on their particular specialization. But if you break it down, they are mainly doing repetitive body weight exercises and a ton of stretching. Everything a circus performer does involves incredible amounts of balance and coordination of all muscle systems. More than in any other activities do you see these people training hours and hours to get their muscles to learn one tiny little movement and have it appear fluid and effortless. When my coach told me it would take 2 years to learn how to stand on the handlebars of my bike while riding it, I thought he was crazy. I spent hours working on that one move every week and would get it here and there, but never with any regularity, until about 2 years had passed by! But once I learned that trick, I never forgot it in my body- it remembered exactly how to balance. My clients are constantly amazed at my balance and I have to constantly remind them that I have spent my life working on these sorts of activities.

Most of all I find that adding circus training into my own and my clients routines makes it a lot more fun to do. Ask any one of my clients what they like about me most, and I hope the first thing they will mention is how much fun they have. I am a huge fan of non-traditional exercise methods such as odd object lifting, my personal favorite being the slosh pipe, the use of kettlebells, multi-joint movements, and anything that challenges your balance. One of the best exercises which requires nothing more than your body and a wall, is the handstand. And the best part of all is you will always have a party trick to show off your balance and strength!

On the Floor

The first task is working on the core strength required to learn how to do a handstand. Start by laying down flat on your back with your knees bent and your hands at your side, like you are going to do a crunch or a sit-up. Place your hands at your lower back- you will probably notice a space between where the floor and your spine is. Work on tucking your hips so that you can lay your back flat on the ground with no space at all- imagine there is a string tied to your belly button and someone is pulling that string through your back into the floor. The next step is moving your feet away from your body while maintaining your lower back flat against the ground. If you can stretch your feet all the way out and still keep your back flat then the next step is to start lifting your feet off the ground. The closer your feet are to the floor the harder it is going to be, ideally you would be able to maintain your feet pointed with your heels hovering only a couple of inches above the ground. The key here is maintaining your back flat against the ground while drawing in your belly button toward your spine. The final step would be reaching your arms overhead, outstretched as if you are doing a handstand lying flat on the ground. If you can keep your arms stretched and hands just a few inches above the floor then you have got it!

Against the Wall

Now we can move towards doing a handstand while being supported by the wall. Safety first! It should go without saying that you should have a nice clear, preferably soft area free from objects that may get in your way should you come crashing down onto the floor. There should also be no objects on the wall, and you may want to wear a clean pair of socks to avoid leaving marks on the wall. The first mistake most people make is kicking up with their back against the wall. When you do this you end up arching your back and you get the exact opposite of what you are trying to accomplish, which is a perfectly flat back. So what you want to do is start with your butt against the wall. crouched down on the ground with your hands out in front of you on the ground. Your fingers should be spread as wide as is comfortable, lined up evenly, and your thumbs should be 4-8″ apart. You then start to walk your feet up the wall until they are completely overhead and you are now in a handstand. Walk your hands to within 5-9″ of the wall; you should now have your whole body, chest and legs, flat against the wall. Try to keep your arms totally straight- your elbows should not be bending; you want to use your skeletal structure to support your weight as much as possible and use your muscles to maintain the balance required. And make sure you point your toes! Hold this position as long as you can. What you are trying to do here is build up the stamina and strength required, as well as the muscle memory, to hold a handstand out in the open. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A HANDSTAND IS TO PUSH UP AND OUT OF YOUR SHOULDERS! To put it another way, imagine you are trying to push something up that is above your head, now try and push it 3″ further than you think you can; this extension is the key to holding yourself up in a handstand and will be the hardest part for you to learn other than doing an unsupported handstand.

Moving Away from the Wall

Obviously your goal is going to be to do a handstand unsupported by anything other than your own strength and balance. Once you have the strength built up to hold yourself against the wall for 30 seconds to a minute at a time, you are going to want to work on moving away from the wall. You are still going to use the wall while you are learning but you are going to turn yourself around. That’s right, I told you earlier not to kick up with your back against the wall, but now that is exactly what I am telling you to do. The idea here is that now you have enough strength to hold yourself nice and straight without an overarching back. So you are going to want to keep your hands within a foot or so of the wall and kick up into a nice straight handstand, remembering all of the little things you are going to need to work on, hands together, elbows locked, pushing out of your shoulders, straight body and toes pointed. If you don’t kick up hard enough you will come back down, don’t kick up too hard or you might have to learn how to repair drywall. The best way to prepare yourself for a freestanding handstand is to try to come up with your knees tucked into your chest. Once you have your butt over your head you extend your legs directly overhead to a straight handstand. With your perfectly straight position, only your toes should be touching the wall- now try to very lightly push your feet off the wall. You will start to feel where the balance point is that keeps you off the wall. And that my friends, is a handstand! Once you are comfortable with this whole process you can start to work on doing a handstand in the middle of the floor.

Unsupported Handstand

The same principal you used while moving away from the wall holds true when you are trying to do a handstand in the middle of the floor. When you finally have the strength and balance to hold a handstand just off the wall you are ready to move out into the open. Again you are most likely going to be afraid of going too far and tipping over- should this happen you simply want to try and rotate your body and come down as if you were doing a cartwheel; your other option is to roll out of it in a somersault- try to quickly lower your head to the ground with your chin tucked in, bring your knees toward your chest and roll toward your feet. The key here is to avoid hurting yourself. You don’t want to kick up with straight legs as this will more than likely cause you to tip over. Try to come up with your knees tucked into your chest and once you have your butt over your head you extend your legs straight overhead. Just keep practicing with the perfect technique you now have and don’t get frustrated! When I was at circus school learning how to do a handstand I had a class for 1 hour, 3 times a week and it took me close to 3 months to get a really solid handstand!

Beyond the Basics

These are the basics of doing a handstand, there are many other tips and techniques you can get and more advanced handstand “tricks” such as doing handstand pushups on or off the wall, pressing up into a handstand in straddle splits or in a pike position, lowering yourself down into an elbow lever, one arm handstands, the list goes on…

What these studies have concluded was that you need to increase your muscle’s volume. The greater the volume the more fat your muscles burn and in turn you lose weight, specifically that unwanted fat.

There is a misconception that when you build muscle or add muscle mass that you are adding or increasing the number of muscle cells in your body. That is one hundred percent incorrect. It is physically and biologically impossible to add more muscle cells to your body. Of course science is doing crazy things these days so who knows what is on the horizon. But for now, you can not add muscle cells to your body.

What you can do is increase the size or volume of the muscle cells that you do have. Muscle cells require energy in order to function. The larger those cells are the more energy they will need. So where do they get this energy from? You have probably already guessed it, from your fat stores. As you can see by this example it is very important to increase your muscle’s volume.

One of the reasons, although there are others, that the weight loss supplement creatine monohydrate is so affective in helping with weight loss as proven in many studies over the past ten years is that it shuttles water into your muscle cells giving them more volume. This increase in volume now requires more energy to burn in turn increasing your weight loss.

So how do you increase your muscle volume? You need to combine a good nutrition program with a good exercise program. Eat six meals each day or about one every two and half to three hours with equal portions of protein, carbohydrates and green vegetables. A portion size is about the same size as your clenched fist.

Once you have your nutrition program set, add in some cardio. Perform some type of cardiovascular activity twenty minutes per day for three days out of the week first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

Now add in your weight training. You should workout with weights 3 to 4 days per week for about 30 to 45 minutes. You should work each muscle group with one exercise for about 10 to 12 reps and 1 to 3 sets.

That is it! You have your nutrition, your cardio and your weights, the three components to a good weight loss program. You can add in supplementation, but make sure you speak to a knowledgeable professional about any supplement prior to ingesting anything.

As always consult with your physician before you undertake and fitness or nutrition program.

Myth 1: stretching before a work out prevents injuries:
studies show that stretching prior to activity can weaken the muscle by lengthening it to a point past optimal performance. This minimizes the benefits of strength training, cardio, and athletic performance.

Dave Q Says:
Instead try dynamic stretches that mimic the specific movement patterns you are about to do. This will loosen up the joints for your activity as well as reduce chance of injury.Many people come to me curious on the topics of health, fitness and nutrition. With so much information out there, it can be daunting to separate the truths from myths. A friend says one thing, a health/fitness professional says another. Who do you believe? In an effort to sort out of some of this confusion, I will address some of the most frequently discussed myths.

MYTH 1: Stretching BEFORE a work out prevents injuries:
Studies show that stretching prior to activity can weaken the muscle by lengthening it to a point past optimal performance. This minimizes the benefits of strength training, cardio, and athletic performance.

Dave Q says:
Instead try dynamic stretches that mimic the specific movement patterns you are about to do. This will loosen up the joints for your activity as well as reduce chance of injury.

MYTH 2: Lifting weights will make you bulky: Women shy away from heavier weights for fear they will become too masculine looking

Dave Q says:
Strength training will help you shed fat quicker and help to keep it off long term. When building muscle, testosterone is a key determinant. Men produce 20-30 times more testosterone that women. Therefore, it is almost impossible for women’s bodies to yield the same results as men’s after lifting heavy weights. Women should challenge themselves with a weight that is manageable yet difficult especially at the last 2-3 reps. Exerting the energy to get the weight up burns calories and feeds muscle fibers, making you toned and lean overtime.

MYTH 3: Holding weights during cardio increases calorie burn: The added intensity of the weights do make you burn more calories, however, it doesn’t burn enough to make it worthwhile. Holding weights while doing cardio can also lead to elbow and shoulder injuries or knee injuries for those who use ankle weights. The added weights interfere with your natural movement pattern and lead to compensations which spur injuries.

Dave Q Says
If you’re looking to increase the intensity of your workout, increase the speed, incline, or resistance up and down while performing your cardio. Interval training enables your heart rate to fluctuate during your workout and is an excellent calorie blaster! For those who still prefer to be “weighed down” during cardio, try a weight vest. The vest allows for equal distribution of weight on your body and lets you perform cardio activity more naturally.

MYTH 4: Long distance cardio is most effective for fat loss:
While long slow distance cardio (LSD) does wonders for the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, it does very little to improve your body’s ability to burn and lose fat!

Dave Q Says:
Performing an interval-based program improves both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. When paired with resistance training, interval training has the greatest effect on altering body composition and provides the most “bang for your buck”. Try using a 2:1 rest to work ratio for best results (30 seconds of sub maximal effort followed by 60 seconds of active rest). You will be surprised how much harder you body works and how quickly you knock out that cardio session!

MYTH 5: Your body should be sore after every workout:
If you’re not sore after a workout, it DOES NOT mean you didn’t work hard and your muscles didn’t benefit!
Using soreness as an indicator of intensity can have a negative effect, and lead to over-training or reduction in progress.

Dave Q Says:
It is possible to become sore a day or two after beginning a new exercise routine or altering an existing one. This is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle fibers during the lowering phase (eccentric phase) of the “lift”. As you progress, the soreness will diminish allowing you to achieve your goals. To keep your muscles challenged, you should modify your routine every 4-6 weeks.

Myth 2: Lifting weights will make you bulky: women shy away from heavier weights for fear they will become too masculine looking

Dave Q says: Strength training will help you shed fat quicker and help to keep it off long term. When building muscle, testosterone is a key determinant. Men produce 20-30 times more testosterone that women. Therefore, it is almost impossible for women’s bodies to yield the same results as men’s after lifting heavy weights. Women should challenge themselves with a weight that is manageable yet difficult especially at the last 2-3 reps. Exerting the energy to get the weight up burns calories and feeds muscle fibers, making you toned and lean overtime.

Myth 3: Holding weights during cardio increases calorie burn: the added intensity of the weights do make you burn more calories, however, it doesn’t burn enough to make it worthwhile. Holding weights while doing cardio can also lead to elbow and shoulder injuries or knee injuries for those who use ankle weights. The added weights interfere with your natural movement pattern and lead to compensations which spur injuries.

Dave q says:
If you’re looking to increase the intensity of your workout, increase the speed, incline, or resistance up and down while performing your cardio. Interval training enables your heart rate to fluctuate during your workout and is an excellent calorie blaster! For those who still prefer to be “weighed down” during cardio, try a weight vest. The vest allows for equal distribution of weight on your body and lets you perform cardio activity more naturally.

Myth 4: Long distance cardio is most effective for fat loss:
While long slow distance cardio (lsd) does wonders for the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, it does very little to improve your body’s ability to burn and lose fat!

Dave Q says:
Performing an interval-based program improves both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. When paired with resistance training, interval training has the greatest effect on altering body composition and provides the most “bang for your buck”. Try using a 2:1 rest to work ratio for best results (30 seconds of sub maximal effort followed by 60 seconds of active rest). You will be surprised how much harder you body works and how quickly you knock out that cardio session!

Myth 5: Your body should be sore after every workout:
If you’re not sore after a workout, it does not mean you didn’t work hard and your muscles didn’t benefit!
Using soreness as an indicator of intensity can have a negative effect, and lead to over-training or reduction in progress.

Dave Q says:
It is possible to become sore a day or two after beginning a new exercise routine or altering an existing one. This is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (doms), which is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle fibers during the lowering phase (eccentric phase) of the “lift”. As you progress, the soreness will diminish allowing you to achieve your goals. To keep your muscles challenged, you should modify your routine every 4-6 weeks.