Boot Camp Madness

This is the best Boot Camp in Anderson, SC.  People are losing pounds and inches like crazy.  The energy from the participants is totally incredible.

Anderson, SC premier personal fitness training.  Visit our Web Sites at FC-Nation.com and Today Fitness.org

Beth's First Training Session

Check out Beth’s first workout session.  She did great.  Always remember to eat something like a carb or quick digesting protein before a training session.

For more info on Personal Training in Anderson SC please contact me at jack@fc-nation.com

Overcoming The Skinny Fat Syndrome

Have you ever seen some one who has lost lots of weight by just dieting and no exercise?  Most of us have ran across individuals who were by some freak of nature able to accomplish weight loss just through lowering their calorie intake.

Think Jared from the Subway commercials.  The guy was able to lose lots of his weight simply by changing his eating habits and walking everyday.  While this may seem to most to be the ideal situation, it has a tremendous amount of drawbacks.

Jared is what we call Skinny Fat.  Skinny Fat is a condition that occurs when a person drops a lot of weight but has done little or no strength training or conditioning.  The person looks better because of the weight loss but when you look at their muscle tone they are completely lacking.  Why is this a problem you are asking.  Simply because while you have lost all the weight, without lean muscle mass you have also lowered metabolism.  Lowered metabolism leads to the body storing fat instead of using it as fuel.  All the weight that was lost will come back and will be harder to lose.

In order to lose the weight and keep the weight off you have to raise metabolism.  And raising metabolism means building lots of lean muscle mass and eating the right kinds of food at the right time.

Building muscle to destroy the Skinny Fat Syndrome

Optimal muscularity requires, well, muscle.  The more muscle you have, the better you’ll look.

The system I typically use to add muscle as quickly as possible starts with the following:

1. Perform three total body workouts per week with at least 48 hours rest between each session.

2. Perform an upper-body pull and push along with a squat or deadlift in each session.

3. Use different variations of each movement throughout the week, with single-limb exercises being employed at least half of the time.

4. Change up the sets and reps with each training.  Typically I have trainees do 3 x 12 on Monday, 4 x 6 on Wednesday, and 2 x 20 on Friday.

Those four parts comprise the base of the system. What you add, and where you add it, is specific to the person. Curls, side raises, calf raises, etc. only come into play if time and energy allow for it.

Eating The Right Foods At The Right Time

You should provide your body with the energy that it needs and can use at that particular time, but no more. As you do with your vehicle, fuel your body based on what you are about to do or what you’ve just done.

Because carbs and fat both provide energy, it’s important to manage the amounts of each that you consume.

For example, your first meal, along with your pre- and post-workout meals, should have more carbs. Your fat intake should be low in these meals to avoid providing your body with too much available energy at one time, which would cause some energy to be stored as body fat.

You should consume ample carbs post-workout to maximize recovery from that workout. It only makes sense to fill the tank up after you just emptied it, right?

Another meal that warrants higher carb intake is your pre-workout meal. Remember, carbs are training fuel. You need more fuel when you have just trained and when you’re about to train. So adjust your carb intake accordingly.

Consume More Carbs…

• Upon awakening
• Pre-workout
• Post-workout
• First half of the day in general

Each meal, and this means six meals per day, should contain a lean protein such as chicken breast, turkey, fish or extra lean beef.  If you have access to grass fed beef and/or bison, these are excellent choices.  Protein is essential to muscle growth.

Virtually all of the protein you eat will be used as building blocks. Very, very little will be available to produce our body’s energy currency, glucose. Even less would be available to create fat, largely due to the inefficiency of this process.

When you consider that protein is very unlikely to cause fat gain along with the fact that protein consumption boosts metabolic rate by about 25%, you can see why it’s a important in the building and maintenance of lean muscle.

Vegetables are free and can be eaten at each meal.  It’s going to be important to get as much fiber in you diet as you can.

Developing lean muscle mass will not only raise your metabolism and stop you from adding body fat the moment you stop dieting, it will also make you look and feel great.  The name is the game is not what the scale says.  It’s all about total body fat and lean muscle mass.

Contempt Prior To Investigation

Almost everyday I have a conversation similar to this one:

“No, I don’t like that!”

So you have eaten it before and you didn’t like it?  “No, but I know I wouldn’t like it.  It just sounds gross.”

If you’ve never eaten it before, how can you say you wouldn’t like it?  “Oh I know, I just wouldn’t like it.”

Deciding you don’t like something before you even give it a chance is what I call “contempt prior to investigation”.  Many of us get stuck in only doing things that we are familiar with and avoid things, situations, challenges that we are not familiar with.  The problem with never taking risk and trying new things is that we fall into a rut and life gets stale.  We continue to do the same things over and over.  Then when we get tired of doing the same things over and over, the action needed to change our behavior becomes tremendous.  We then find ourselves caught in this vicious cycle of doing the same thing we have always done because it’s familiar to us, wanting to change and do something different, and falling short because changing old habits and behaviors requires lots of work.

It’s hard work changing the way we have always thought about ourselves and the world around us.  A lifetime of telling ourselves we don’t like to eat healthy foods takes a toll on us mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  How we treat ourselves by what we consume and how we treat our bodies usually takes time to change.

I could have swore that I hated cabbage.  I know that when I was growing up, the smell of cabbage would make me gag.  The same was true of cooked carrots.  When I made the decision to change my eating habits and got serious about being fit, my attitude started to change towards vegetables.  Cabbage, carrots and even beats tasted different.  I had spent an entire lifetime telling myself I didn’t like something and really it was just my attitude.

The great thing that I have learned is that I have the freedom to change.  I am not stuck with who I was.  I experience more of life and see things today from a whole new perspective.  Who I was 10 years ago is not who I am today.  For that matter, who I was last year is not who I am today.  I am free to not only make the decision to change, but to take the necessary action to make that change possible.

This is what changing your body composition and your nutrition is all about.  Being free.  Not stuck being the same person you’ve always been.  Change is a wonderful thing.

The best indication of life is change.

It’s time to be alive.  And the only way to do that is through change.  The choice and the action is yours.

Be Your Own Fitness Hero

While I was in Texas a couple of weeks ago, I came across this statue of Sam Houston near the medical center in Houston.

Sam Houston was general of the Texas army during it’s battle for independence and defeated Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto.  That battle lasted only 18 minutes and was won in spite of the fact the Mexican Army outnumbered the Texans nearly four to one.

There are two possible reasons for me telling you this story.  One is that a true Texan could never go long without telling anyone close enough to listen, the incredible story of how Texas won it’s independence.  The other is to use this story as motivation for you fitness goals.

No matter what your goals are, you can obtain them.  No matter what the obstacles or hardships you have to endure, you can reach you goals.  The only thing that stands between you and your fitness goals are the limits you put on yourself.

Looking at that statue and remembering what Sam Houston went through to accomplish his goals filled me with inspiration and a determination I haven’t felt in a long time.  That’s what people of courage and conviction do.  They inspire us to do great things in our lives.

But here’s the better part of Sam Houston’s story.  Earlier in his life he had run for office in Tennessee and had lost his race.  Despondent and depressed he made the decision to end his life.  Sam Houston decided he was going to jump from a bridge to end his life.  He climbed up to a spot where he would jump from the bridge.  Just as he was about to jump, a bald eagle swooped down in front of him.  This he took as a sign that his life was not yet ready to end.

Is this a true story?  Who knows.  Probably one made up by a Texan who was moved to elaborate more on one of the hero’s of the republic.  But really, who needs to elaborate when that person beat an army four times larger than his in only 18 minutes?

Be your own hero.  Be inspired by others, but work everyday to get closer to your goals.  Find that person or thing that motivates you to be your best.  The only thing that gets in the way of your goals is yourself.  No one can deny you unless you allow them.

Food Intolerance Can Stop Your Weight Loss

This was week four of the limited dairy nutrition plan.  The only dairy product I’ve had have been yogurt made from goat’s milk.  And I haven’t had any goat milk yogurt in over two weeks.  I’ve even stopped using whey protein.

Me not using whey protein is a huge deal.  I’ve sworn by it for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally going without a protein powder.  Last week I got a shipment of chocolate/peanut butter flavored beef protein.  Let me tell you, this stuff is awesome.  Mixes well, taste great and the best part for me…no gas or bloating.

I’ve known for a long time now that I have an intolerance to dairy products.  I’ve just not wanted to give up dairy products because I felt they were more of an asset than a liability.  But then I started reading about if a person has a food intolerance, the food intolerance could cause digestion problems and raise the stress hormone cortisol.  Raising cortisol levels has an effect on blood sugar levels and could cause a person to have difficulty losing body fat.  Even if the person’s nutrition is on track and they workout regularly.

I’ve also been using hemp protein.  Yeah, I thought it was a little weird, but I decided to try it out.  Actually not bad but it does have a powder taste to it.  I’ve gotten used to it so it doesn’t bother me.

I’m switching back and forth between the two protein powders.  This way I’m hoping I don’t develop an intolerance to either one.

The most important thing to remember about supplementing with protein powders is that it is just a supplement and should never be used to replace meals.  The best way to get protein is to eat it as opposed to drinking it.

Also, check out the movie trailer to Food, Inc.  This is going to be an awakening about the food industry and just exactly what most of us are eating.  Click Here to see the trailer.

Elimination Diet One Day At A Time

Last week I stopped consuming all dairy products including whey protein.  This week I’ve decided to see what would happen if I gave up all sugar substitutes as well as coffee.

Let me tell you this, as much as I love whey protein, coffee has been much harder to give up.  And I had no idea how much substitute sugar had an effect on me.

This is the sixth day off of coffee and the third day off of all substitute sugars.  Overall I think I’m doing fairly well but my wife keeps saying she hopes that I am in a better mood than I was yesterday.  I didn’t realize that my mood was that bad yesterday.  In fact, other than feeling sluggish and tired, I don’t think I was that bad to live with.  But then, I did not have to live with me.

For the most part, I’m living this elimination diet one day at a time.  Nothing is permanent and all I need to do is keep focusing on what is going on here and now.  This has really been a good experience for me in that it gives me a chance to experience what it’s like to give things up that I enjoy but that may not be allowing me to reach the goals I want to attain.

Michael Murphy (yes the same Michael Murphy who wrote and sang  “Wildfire”) has a line in a song “Blessing in Disguise” that describes this whole process for me.  “It’s good to lose the things you love, just to see what it’s like.”

My hope is that you lose the things that are holding you back from meeting your fitness goals.  Trust me, I know it’s not an easy process.  But I also know it’s well worth it.

To Succeed You Have to do The Opposite

“If you look around and do the opposite of what everyone else is doing, you have a 98% chance of doing it right.”

Most people, when asked, will tell you one of their main goals is to lose weight.  With so many people wanting to lose weight, why is it that so few people actually lose weight?

There are three factors that determine a person’s ability to meat their weight loss goals.  They are diet, exercise and attitude.  If a person lacks any of the three of these factors they can kiss their weight loss goals goodbye.

Exercise and poor diet does not work.

A recent study done by Dr. John Berardi at the University of Texas was done on individuals who worked out intensely for 6 hours a week for 16 weeks.  However, they did not change their diet.  After the 16 weeks the average weight loss for the entire group was 1 pound of body fat.  Again, exercise without proper nutrition does not work.

In another study with teenage girls in a detention center.  The girls worked out for two hours a day for six months.  For their nutrition plan they followed the USDA nutrition guidelines, which is heavy on carbohydrates and low on fats.  And because they were in a detention center they had no choice but to follow the diet.  The results were that on average they gained 6 pounds, increase 1/2 inch in their waist and increased 3/4 inch in their hips. So, if you exercise and eat a poor diet you will not see any benefits from your exercise program.

Diet by itself does not work.

In a study of people that followed weight watchers but did not exercise found that people lost weight but the weight they lost of muscle and not fat.  This is highly problematic because muscle burns calories.  If you lose muscle you lose the ability to burn calories and you do significant damage to your metabolic rate.  This is referred to as metabolic syndrome.  In order to lose fat and keep the fat off you need lean muscle.  Without lean muscle, it is very difficult to lose body fat and keep the fat off.

In the same study, people who went to a gym and ate properly lost less weight than people that went to weight watchers.  However, they lost more visceral fat (abdominal fat).  And they gained muscle which is heavier than fat.

Attitude “If you want to know where your mind has been, take a look at your body today.”

Our life is a reflection of where our mind has been.  We become what we think about all day long.  Physiology follows psychology.  If we have a bad attitude toward exercise and fitness, it will show up in how you body looks.  Also, if you have a bad attitude towards proper nutrition it will show up in your appearance.

You have to see, feel and experience what you want to become.  If you want to change your body you have to not just exercise, or just diet.  You have to have a good solid workout and nutrition plan.  And you have to have a good attitude about what you are doing.  Without any of these tree components it is going to be extremely difficult to have success in meeting your weight loss goals.

What would your life be like?

One of the first things I ask someone who is just starting to train with me is “what is your life going to be like with you reach your weight loss goal?”

In other words, how is your life going to change?  Most people only thing about losing weight and how that will cause them to wear smaller clothes sizes.  But there are many other ways in which weight loss has an effect on our lives.

How will people view you now that you’ve changed your body composition.  People are generally creatures of habit and most people don’t like change.  Even when it is a good change.  How will your family and friends react to your new appearance?  How will they react to your new lifestyle?  Will they encourage you or will they see your change as a threat to their security and try to sabotage it.

Don’t think that everyone will like what you are doing.  Especially if they see you doing what they so desperately need to do themselves.  This is why it is so important to have people in your life that are supportive and want you to succeed.  I have seen so many friends and family try to sabotage a person’s weight loss goals.  Life is too short to have people in your life that are not 100% supportive.

How will you view yourself when you reach your weight loss goals?  What will it be like to have confidence in yourself like you’ve never had before? Setting and obtaining weight loss and muscle development goals is a feeling like you’ve never had before.  No longer will you feel out of control with your weight.  Feeling powerless is a very powerful feeling.  Feeling in charge of your life and secure with your body feels more powerful than the powerlessness you felt before.

How will things change in your relationships with your spouse?  Your dating life?  Your carrier?  Your relationship with food?  Yes I said that right.  How will you relate to food and how everything you eat effects you?  Will you be able to develop boundaries with your meals so that you know when to eat, how much to eat, and what not to eat?

These are all important questions and in reality don’t have answers because none of these things have happened yet.  But when you do start your journey, hold on, it’s going to be a wild ride.

5 Simple Suggestions For Fat Loss

Fat loss isn’t rocket science.  I know we love to make our problems seem much bigger than they really are, but when you really look at them they’re typically easy to solve.   And that’s often the case with fat loss.

To prove it to you here are five super simple fat loss tips you can easily follow:

1) Stop guzzling liquid sugar. Yes, I mean soft drinks and juices and bottles

of iced tea loaded with high fructose corn syrup.  For the most part, a 12 oz can of cola is 150 calories of pure sugar. Have a couple of those a day and you’ll see how the pounds are packed on.  And while you’re at it, stop drinking diet sodas.  Studies show that people who drink diet sodas tend to be as overweight or even more than those who drink regular sodas.

2) Eat breakfast!  If you want to make fat loss easy then make sure you start your metabolism off on the right foot each morning.

3) Eat more fruit. Aim for at least 5 servings a day.

4) Eat more veggies. Again, aim for at least 5 servings a day.

5) Stop eating processed foods.  Here are some ways to tell if what you are buying is processed.

• If the product has more than five ingredients – it’s processed.
• If it doesn’t have a mother or come from the ground -it’s processed.
• If your grandmother does not recognize the ingredients – it’s processed.
• If a caveman did not eat it – it’s processed.
• If a food company spends millions of dollars trying to convince you their product is healthy – the product is probably not healthy and – it’s processed.

The fresher the foods the better.  I suggest buying fruits and vegetables from produce suppliers who get their stock from local farmers.  This way you are guaranteed freshness and you know where your food is coming from.