Year In Review, Goals for 2013x and More Excuses

Hey fitness peeps. Got to give you the review of my year followed by a small rant.
Let's start with the good stuff.

This was my second complete year racing and had it's ups and downs. To start I had a PR in the 5k in March (which I later disregarded due to the course not being the correct length. Damnit, Naperville). And competed in my first half Marathon in the Lucky 21k. Which was followed immediately by a bad back injury that I got while dead lifting. BLEH.

Soon after my injury, I tried to transition from Vibram Five Fingers to traditional running shoes. I gave it a good four months, but I just couldn't get comfortable running like that. I felt like I was always trying to step over the heel of my shoe. Plus I started getting pain in my toes. So come August I switched back to VFF. I used them for my first triathlon in Naperville and less than a month later knocked out a very good PR at the Shorewood Scoot. More than a minute faster than I had run before.

The summer prior to August was pretty light as I just couldn't get going in the Adidas Adios I was running in and I was still struggling with the back injury and developed a rib injury in late July. Much chiropractic help eventually straightened that out and I felt much more comfortable come September.

Completed my second triathlon in September and finished fourth in my division. I still feel like I could have won it, had my nutrition been better. We'll see how next year goes.

In October, I competed in my second Half Marathon and had a bad IT band issue rear it's head. Much use of the foam roller has really helped in that aspect.

So it's December, and I've had to get my cardio back after the IT issue (oh and a neck injury in October limited my training as well) and I'm almost back to where I need to be. I've switched over to Merrell Road Gloves as my primary running shoes. I'm getting used to them, but finding they're very close to the VFF but provide me with just a little more padding to keep my feet intact.

Goals for next year include the following. Get my weight down to a more manageable 180, Compete in 5-7 triathlons, win my age group in at least one race, get my PR under 21 minutes for 5k and continue building my personal training business.

So now onto the excuse portion of my blog..

I hear all sorts of excuses. My favorite being the following two. 1) no time to train, 2) no money to train.

For every time I hear these two things, I no doubt have these same people do the following. Post on facebook about all the different TV shows they're watching, post about the new tattoo they're getting, the McDonald's and Pizza they're buying, the drinking they're doing, the trips they're taking, the nails they're spending a bill on, the tanning packages they have, etc.

Seriously. A personal trainer is a MUCH better investment than any of the previous things. Getting smashed is overrated. This is coming from someone that used to drink 3-4 times a week. Not being able to remember where I spent 80 bucks is something I do NOT miss. Those nails you're dropping a ton of money on? Guys look at your body first, and not having painted nails isn't going to kill you. Having high cholesterol and being obese will. That tan? A fit white body looks better than a large overweight body. That tatoo? Great. But wouldn't you rather be able to play sports without feeling like you're sucking air through a straw?

In conclusion, STOP with the excuses. You can workout for less than an hour a day (I have clients with kids, full time jobs and they can do it). A trainer is a relatively inexpensive investment especially when you drop your fast food eating habits, smoking, and whatever excesses you have have.

I've heard them all. And they're all crap.

Couple race reports

Had a couple races over the past week or so.

Let's start with the Pontiac Boys And Girls Club Turkey Trot on November 17th.

Big news was that it was my clients Jill and Stephanie's first ever 5k. Very small turnout about 110, but nice shirts and a cheap entry fee. This was my first race since my IT injury started acting up. No problems knee-wise, but just three weeks of being off the legs showed up as I hit a 23:10. Not horrible, but over a minute off my PR. I finished 3rd in my age group and 10th overall.
The girls did great for their first ever race. I was VERY proud of how far they've come since last January. Combined they have lost around 90 lbs. AMAZING!
Fun little race. Doesn't use chip timing (you get a Popsicle stick that gives you your place as you cross the finish line and they coincide this with you time on the timer) but they give out nice shirts, it's a flat course and a TON of raffle items. And good items too, like Road ID bands and a 32 inch tv.

Thanksgiving was the Bonfield Express Turkey Trot in Downers Grove.
Over 6000 people were in this race so I was not expecting to PR. My goal was to beat last year's time by over a minute. The course was different this year. Much hillier than I remembered. Right off the bat we went straight up before running down the steepest hill I've ever raced on outside of like Warrior Dash.
So with all the climbs and valleys and all the people, I still turned in a respectable time and this is still fresh off the injury. 23:15. Not too bad at all.

So, I'm able to train hard again now. Aiming for TWO days of strength training, 2-3 days of swimming, 4 days (or 5) of running and maybe a bike ride here or there.

I'm back on my clean diet (although I cheated badly tonight), and I can feel the difference. Triathlon season starts April 28th with the J-Hawk Earlybird Tri. I fully expect to win my division this year :)

Keep at it folks. Don't let the holidays interfere with your clean eating too much and DEFINITELY keep at the working out.

Make it a habit, and stick to it!

New Run Club

I just started up a new run club in the Joliet area. If you're interested in running with us, let me know.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/191978207594079/
No fee to join!
Hope to hear from some new runners.

Chicago Monster Dash 2012 Race Report

So, October 21 was my second half marathon of the year. Training wise, I felt better for this race than pretty much anything else I've done this year.

I've added sprints and lots of interval runs to my training and my diet was WAY better going up to this race than the Latebird Tri.

Early results were really good. I was trekking along at better than 8 minutes per mile pace. Much better than the last time I ran a half.
Around mile 7, I stumbled over a transition in pavement and something went wonky in my knee. I kept trying to push but by the end of mile 8, I realized I was in a LOT of trouble. I was positive something was torn. I couldn't stride and was in immense pain. I saw the 8 min pacer then the 8:30 pacer pass me by while I tried to get my knee to relax.
I ended up having to stop every half mile to try and stretch my quads.
By the end, I was at the breaking point, but I managed to finish.

I ended up with a PR by 6 minute over my spring half which also had an injury issue, but this time I started out much faster.

Team Ortho knows how to put on a great event. They always have really good swag and their medals look really nice too. Highly recommend this run as it's a great jaunt down the lakefront pathway. I could do without the hairpin turn at the halfway point, but it's a great course all around. I'll definitely be doing the Polar Dash in January then the Lucky 21k again in March.

As for the injury, appears I had micro tears in my hamstrings which messed up my knee. On top of that, I hurt my neck on the following Wednesday. Battling injuries absolutely blows.

Taking a couple races off, then doing a small 5k on November 17th before the Turkey Trot in Naperville on Thanksgiving.

Rest week.

My body told me this week. OK. That's enough. You need to take a damn break. I have been sore, beat up feeling, etc. So this week, I decided to take about three days of training off and just concentrate on my diet. The result? Lost 7 lbs from Saturday. Crazy, I know.
The key was to redirect my diet to make it as absolutely clean as possible, increase my vegetables and my fruit intake and voila! My system is completely cleaned out. I feel SO much better.
Obviously, that means I need to work on my triathlon diet because I shouldn't feel so bloaty all the time when on it.
I still have my Chicago Monster Dash Half Marathon in just over two weeks. So I'm back to hard core training tonight with some hill sprints then an eleven mile run tomorrow.
But sometimes, you just need to listen to your body when it says "Shut it down".
Finding the difference between "I can push a little more" and "I need a rest" is a fine line, but I think I found it.
I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks.

J-Hawk LateBird Triathlon 2012 Race Report

The key to this race was my diet. Or lack there of.

I fell off the wagon big time before this race, and didn't train on the bike as much as I should have, but anyway, here's my recap.

The drive up to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater was quite nice. Virtually no highways and some beautiful scenery.

Arrived about 3 hours early and I knew going into the race I was in trouble. I had ingested pizza on Friday, cheesecake on Saturday and had ZERO bowel movements. Sorry to be disgusting, but that's something that is very important to one's digestive health and with no movements, I was concerned about cramping.

The Swim

The swim was staged in waves of 3 in each lane. I was in the 44th wave. One of my competitors didn't show up, so I shared the lane with another guy in my division.

I felt slow instantly. The other guy took off and was WAY ahead early. I could tell he slowed near the end after he opened up the huge gap, but he was a length ahead of me when he got out of the pool. I felt my side tighten during the 6th lap. Not good. Ended up with a 9:45. Not too bad, considering I did a 9:32 for 400 meters in Naperville and this was a 500 meter swim.

T1
First transition was something I worked hard on to fix. At the Naperville Tri, I had a 3:35 Transition as I struggled to get on my socks, shoes, etc.
This time, I went sockless and had no problems getting going and did a 1:34. Not bad at all

Bike
As I jumped onto the bike, I saw the leader in my division and the guy in my pool lane just ahead (I trimmed some of the two minutes I lost on the pool by hustling to T1 and getting that transition done quick), I figured, hey I can catch these guys and pull ahead.

This is when it went all wrong. Not 5 minutes in, I started to cramp everywhere. Legs, back, side. I was in pain and felt like I was riding in molasses. Just couldn't get going and watched the leaders disappear in the distance. I lost 4 minutes on the bike ride. 44:04 as opposed to 40:48 in Naperville. True we were more exposed in the wind, but I blame myself. I just didn't have any energy and was fighting my body.

It was the worst part of any race I've ever had outside of the last two miles in the spring half marathon.

T2
1:35 for my second transition. This included one of my toes getting caught in my toe shoes. I will not be wearing them next year for any tris. However, due to getting out of my cycling shoes faster, I improved from 2:07 in Naperville. So not bad, but I should have been closer to 1 minute flat.

Run
I had trained hard for the running portion and that saved this race from being really bad. I was in pain from the outset of the run. Couple notes. This was a trail run. Which I instantly loved because that's how I train usually is on the trails of the Crumby Rec Area. However, I didn't have the right shoes for this run at all. I was hurting from the rocks going into the bottom of my Vibram Five Fingers early on.

About a mile in, I finally settled into a halfway decent groove (Couldn't push any harder due to all the cramping and pain in my side). Mile 2 wasn't too bad and I caught one of the guys in front of me that was REALLY struggling. I dusted him, then as I hit Mile 3 and another climb, my quadriceps started tightening up... I tried to push through it, and at one point tried to stretch my leg, but couldn't bend it far enough into my hand. I just decided to get through it. It loosened up during the next downhill section and then as we hit a tenth of a mile to go, I was able to FINALLY go hard. Not my usual 5th gear run, but I pushed hard. Final time 25:28. All things considered, on a MUCH tougher course than Naperville, this wasn't that bad. However, with my training, I should have been down in the low 23's at the most.


Overall time 1:22:17

Diet killed me. As did my lack of bike training and my newness to the swim. I really felt that I could have won this in my division. And if I would have eaten correctly (My diet since August 5th has been pure garbage.) I probably would have and definitely would have placed in the top 3. I ended up as the 38th best time and 4th best in my division.

I like this race (However, not a huge fan of the cotton t shirt. Note to all races. Please give out tech shirts rather than cotton. I'll happily pay an extra ten bucks for it.) and I'll be back in May for their Earlybird Tri and next fall for their Latebird tri.

Next on the docket is a buttload of strength training for the next three months. Then, I'll be planning my 2013 Schedule. Already planned are these two races, the Naperville Tri, the Chicago Triathlon, and the South Shore Tri. That's five, plus races I'm waiting to hear on are a Ironman 70.3 that's close, the Rev 3 Tri in Wisconsin Dells and whatever else I can pick up. I'm hearing there are a lot of tris in the Wisconsin area, so I may be looking there.

So the key to performance isn't just training. It's your diet. Lesson learned. Time to get better.

Shorewood Scoot Race Report 2012

This past Saturday was the 2012 Shorewood Scoot.

I was pretty excited about this race, as it was being held at Rock Run Preserve. That's my home running area. I know the trails there as well as anyone, so I figured I had a good shot to PR.

The race started in the Joliet Public Library parking lot and about a tenth of a mile in made a sharp right turn onto the paved trail. I knew it was going to be tight through there, so I made sure we (Jerry and I) started near the front.Once clear of the turn, I attached myself to a group of men and women that were hustling and I decided to make an effort to stick with them. 2 of the women scored a podium finish, so they were quick. First mile went by and I felt great with a 6:45 effort.

Second mile was still at 7 min, but the third mile I dropped back a bit. I still ended up staying at a 7:04 avg pace, which was by far my best effort.

Finished with a 21:55. My PR and 4th in my Age Group.

All in all, a great event. Fun course. I hate that they didn't use chip timing, (every race should) but it was still a great overall event.

Next up is the J Hawk Latebird Triathlon in Whitewater, WI on September 30.

Why are you waiting?

Today, I'm going to just talk a little about procrastination and the benefits I've had from getting going eating better and working out.

Some of the things I've heard are "I'll start up when i'm in shape" (don't get me started. You'll get in shape when you're in shape?), "I'll start on Monday", etc.

Look, I've been there. I can't tell you how many times I've said "Ok, I'll start my workout schedule on Monday", or "I'll be eating better come Monday". Why wait? Do it today.

When you put off a workout or the start of clean eating, what generally happens is that something comes up. We're all busy. Have jobs, kids, etc. When you don't make it a priority and get after it today, it makes it much easier to duck your workout by saying "Oh I'm not feeling quite right", or "I'm going to my kids practice today so I don't have time to workout".

You MUST schedule your workouts ahead of time and get them done. They MUST be as important to you as your job, your family time, etc. I'm not saying to go late to work, or miss time with your family, but schedule it ahead of time so you can do everything. Maybe you don't need to watch American Idol this week. Will that kill you? No. Will not working out and eating like crap kill you? Yes, eventually.

Let's discuss some of the benefits I've had in the last year or two due to me getting in shape.
First, this is what I used to look like:

I made the conscious decision to stop eating fast food everyday, make my portions smaller, and eat six times a day. I'm down about 60 pounds and feeling as good as I ever had. 

Here's all the positives I get from being smaller:

I'm able to hold my son, Derek, and play with him at his rate for hours on end (I used to be fatigued after 5 minutes and would have to pass him off to Andrea)

I don't break folding chairs when I sit in them anymore

I don't fall down as often as I did before (much better balance)

I recover from small injuries much faster

I get to wear more flattering clothes that I never could have worn before

I'm able to compete in all sorts of races, 5k's, half marathons, triathlons, etc.

I sleep better

I'm depressed far less

Sex is MUCH better (trust me, people. Being healthy and having sex sure beats being heavy and trying to do it :) )

I have gotten a much more diverse pallet when it comes to food. I eat a ton of new foods than I ever tried before.

These are just some of the great things that have changed in my life.

are

These would never have happened if I kept pushing things off until tomorrow.

So the question is... Why are you waiting?

Race Report for Naperville Triathlon

August 5th, 2012 was my first ever Triathlon at the Naperville Triathlon. I had always been intrigued by the format of three different disciplines in one race and was happy to finally give it a shot.

I got to the race at around 5am and found my transition area. It was under a tree. lol

Good news is that it was easy to find. Bad news was that it was on the grass.

The start sent us out in waves of 4 people that went out every 5 seconds. We lined up by our projected swim speed. I originally said I would swim at a 10 min pace. However, I got impatient after waiting for 20 minutes or so and decided to move towards the front of the line. 

Finally got in, and actually felt comfortable swimming. I was worried about wearing myself out during the swim, so I took it nice and slow. Ended up around a 9:32 swim.

I made up some time on the way out of the swim as I'm more accustomed to running barefoot than most of the other runners.

Ended up passing two or three people on the way up to transition. T1 wasn't good. I wasted too much time getting on my cycling shoes and socks. Now, I know better and I'll just be putting on the shoes without socks and not putting them on until the bike starts.

My bike ride was about 40 min flat. Not too bad, considering again, I wasn't pushing real hard because I wasn't comfortable with the shoe/cleat system (I bought them about 5 days before the race). I still made up some good time during the ride and wasn't tired as I came into T2. Again, made a mistake here and kept my shoes on my feet. I have since practiced and I'll be getting out of the shoes closer to transition and going barefoot.

Finally, the run. I've been struggling running this year as I tried switching over to closed toed shoes and I just have not had the speed I've been looking for, nor the speed I had back in March. So about two weeks before the Tri, I switched over to my Vibram Five Fingers again. 

I did ok on the run. 24 min. Again, was worried about gassing out. I shouldn't have that issue next time.

All in all. Great time. I'm hooked. This was the best experience I've had in any type of racing. Overall, I finished in 1:20:27. Not bad for my first one. My goal for the next one is going to be around a 1:14. 

Thanks to Andrea, who has been fantastic supporting me. The next Triathlon is the J-Hawk Latebird Triathlon in Whitewater, WI at the end of September. Next 5k is September 2nd in Bartlett.

Pics that are watermarked are owned by Finisherpix

Injuries Suck! and other crap

So, this past Saturday, my planned workout was swim 1000m then run for an hour. Got the swim done, no sweat, however, 15 minutes into the run, I started to feel a tightness in my left rib cage. Turns out I displaced a rib for like the hundredth time. Which meant ZERO training this week.
Sitting on my ass is VERY frustrating for me. It drives me batty. I can't just sit and not train. Drives me insane. However, I know that if I push it, I won't be able to run my triathlon next week.
So, instead of working out, I'm having to adjust my diet. I was enjoying eating a ton of carbs all day when I was burning off 1500-2000 cals a day. Now I'm forced to cut WAY back.

Bummer, I know.

But I'm just over a week from my first triathlon.
Here's the equipment I have for it. It's a ridiculously long list.

Trisuit (sexy)
Swim goggles
Timing chip strap
Swim cap (to be provided by the tri)
Cycling shoes and pedals
Aero bars
Softride bicycle
Helmet
Garmin 305 GPS watch
Clif Shots for nutrition
Water bottle filled with gatorade
Vibram Five Fingers outfitted with Yankz shoe lace system
Number belt
Headband or Visor (Haven't decided yet)
All this tucked neatly into a cool transition bag

Can you believe all that? For just an hour and a half of work... WHEW!

Anyway, I'm hoping to start training people next year for Tri's. So, let's hope this goes well!

Image from http://www.oddee.com/item_96906.aspx

Triathlon training

So my next challenge for this year has been training for the Naperville Triathlon. I'm about halfway through the second week of training. It's AWESOME! I never thought I would be one to enjoy swimming, but I've been looking forward to my swim/run workouts. Tough stuff but I'm getting better. After the first day where I panicked and couldn't figure out how to breathe, I've come MILES forward. (Literally almost).

Strangely enough, cycling has been the one where I feel like I'm going to be weakest. I'm ordering aero bars this week hopefully which should help a little, but of the three disciplines, I feel like I'm behind on cycling. Running is fairly strong (hoping it's going to top off a bit by race day) and swimming gets better everyday.

So to show you all my training schedule so you can see how much suffering I'm doing...

 WEEK 1: The first week of training is designed to get your body comfortable with logging consistent time and distance in each sport.

MONDAY: off Always use Monday to let the body recover and rebuild. This is your only day off every week, so don't feel obligated to cross-train.

TUESDAY: swim 500 meters, run for 30 minutes

WEDNESDAY: ride for 1 hour, weights/strength training

THURSDAY: swim 500 meters, run for 30 minutes

FRIDAY: ride for 45 minutes, run for 20 minutes right after bike session

SATURDAY: ride for 1.5 hours, weights/strength training

SUNDAY: swim 750 meters, run for 45 minutes

* WEEK 2: The distances will increase only for weekend workouts. Hills and speed training are added during the week.

MONDAY: off

TUESDAY: swim 500 meters, with 5x25-meter sprints; run for 30 minutes, with 3x sprint work on a short, steep hill

WEDNESDAY: ride for 1 hour, 20 minutes moderate intensity, 20 minutes hard, 20 minutes moderate; weights/strength training

THURSDAY: swim 500 meters, with 5x25-meter sprints; run for 30 minutes, including 5x1-minute hard intervals with two minutes of easy running in between

FRIDAY: ride for 45 minutes, with 3x sprints on a hard hill; run for 20 minutes easy right after bike session

SATURDAY: ride for 1 hour 45 minutes, weights/strength training/strength training

SUNDAY: swim 1,000 meters, run for 1 hour

* WEEK 3: Continue to build on previous workouts and increase speed training.

MONDAY: off

TUESDAY: swim 750 meters, with 10x25-meter sprints; run for 30 minutes, with 4x short, steep hill sprints

WEDNESDAY: ride for 1 hour, with 25 minutes of hard effort in the middle; weights/strength training

THURSDAY: swim 500 meters, with 4x50-meter sprints; run for 30 minutes, including 4x2-minute hard intervals with two minutes of easy running in between

FRIDAY: ride for 1 hour, with 3x hard hill runs; run for 20 minutes right after bike session

SATURDAY: ride for 2 hours, weights/strength training

SUNDAY: swim 1,000 meters, run for 1 hour

* WEEK 4: This is race week, so drop off on your training intensity as the big day approaches.

MONDAY: off

TUESDAY: swim 500 meters, with 5x25-meter sprints; run for 30 minutes, with 5 minutes of fast-paced running in the middle

WEDNESDAY: ride for 1 hour, with 10 minutes of fast-paced riding in the middle

THURSDAY: swim 500 meters easy, ride for 30 minutes easy, run for 15 minutes easy

FRIDAY: off Always take off the training day two days before the race

SATURDAY: run for 10 minutes, ride for 20 minutes, swim 300 meters Easy, short training sessions in each sport to loosen up for the next day's race

SUNDAY: Race day

This weekend I have a brutal 1 hr and 45 minutes bike and a 1000m swim/ 1 hr run on the other day... BUSY weekend.

Since starting, I've dropped 10 pounds. I've completely changed my diet. Protein is now only about 15-20% of my diet with about 60% carbs and the rest fat. Big change from what I'm used to. Swimming is doing wonderful things for my shoulders, abs and chest, btw. 

So, I hope if anything, my workouts provide you some motivation to get out and get active. Not everyone is going to do a triathlon, but find something to shoot for.

Competition and GOALS!!!

Let me real quick take you back to January of 2010. I was 260 lbs. I was fat... fat fat fat fat fat!!!
Walking up the stairs at my office job was absolutely awful. I was exhausted going up a single flights.
So, I decided I needed a change.
I needed to make a goal. First goal was to run further than a mile without having to stop. Done.
Then I decided to run a 5k. My only goal was to finish it without stopping. Did it, even though my calf cramped up.
Then, it was to do a Warrior Dash. Did that last year.
Then to finish Spartan race. Done last year as well.
This year, I had to set new goals. A sub 23 min 5k. Done.
Competing in a Half Marathon. Done.
Then finishing in the top 10 % of Warrior Dash competitors. Done.

The point is, every time out I try to set a goal for myself to smash.

New goal is to compete in my first ever triathlon in August. I also plan on running Spartan Super Sprint, and possibly two more Half Marathons and a duathlon.

If you're not setting goals for yourself, you're stagnating. Even if today's goal is simply to run a 1/4 mile, make a goal, and get after that finish line!!!!

Warrior Dash and the Competitive Spirit

Warrior Dash was this past weekend. It was my second one that I've done. I know it's on the easier side of these adventure runs, but I love challenging myself and I prefer this to some of the Spartan obstacles as I feel like this race flows a bit better.

I displaced a rib about 10 minutes before running as I was warming up. Seriously, I can't get hurt doing anything cool, it's something very basic that always gets me. Once the race started, though, I was good to go and didn't feel it. I made a mistake starting about halfway in the back of my wave. No more of that. Too much traffic that I had to run through. Afterwards, that rib injury kicked in and I was on the floor. Holy crap... But my friend Vicodin was there... Thanks for that Laura.

My final time was 30:40. That's 5 minutes better than last year, and I felt like this course was harder. When I got done, I was jacked. I wanted to do something else, right away. I just felt so good about myself and my fitness level.

This is a stark contrast to my competitive nature from about 20 years ago. Before college, I didn't care and didn't work hard at anything. And in fact, I really didn't train at all in college unless you call binge drinking training. I just played hard when it came to sports. Now, however, I train hard for my events. I bust my ass and try to PR every time I can.

It's funny that as I've gotten older, I've wanted to compete more. Whether it was fights, or running, I want to win. Of course, when I say win, I mean I want to beat myself. I try to outdo myself each time. Try to find something new and challenging that I haven't done before.

I believe I'm going to do my first triathlon in August. I started bike training this week and I'll start my swim training next week hopefully. I'm way excited about it.

Thanks to Jerry, Andrea, Ray, and all my F'NRC peeps... Had a great time making some new friends.
Anyway, find something new and challenging for yourself this week. Try to make yourself a little better. No one is a tougher opponent than yourself.

Till next time!!!

Burpees!!!!

Burpees... I love them... And I hate them. My workout on Monday was simple. 300 burpees. Took me a bit to do them around my clients, but it was quite awesome.
The burpee is the single best fat burning exercise ever. When I get done, my calves hurt, my feet hurt, my ribs ache, etc etc etc. It hits almost EVERY single muscle in your body.


I often prescribe them for my clients as their homework, which generally angers them :)

Anyway, a simple way to increase your calorie burning and what not is to add burpees to whatever you're planning on doing workout-wise.


I've been doing them for a while, so when I want to really add some work, I'll simply churn out 100 of them.


But here's what you can do if you're new to these. Simply do 1 today. Then, 2 tomorrow, 3 the day after, etc, until your last day where you do 100!!! Sounds like it's ridiculous, but trust me, they get easier... Well, not easier, but manageable.


Here's how to do a PROPER burpee.

So, give it a shot... let me know how much you hate me afterwards :)

Obesity and American Eating Habits

Today, I'm including an article from Bodybuilding.com on obesity.
Obesity in America!

Along with this article, I'm including my own viewpoint. I got an opportunity to wrestle over in Portugal back in 2007. Some things that I noticed.
1) It's almost impossible to find meat for breakfast over there. Lot of pastries. For someone that eats 6 times a day and has a high protein diet, this was an issue for me, but I was able to find something eventually.
2) Portion sizes are WAY smaller over there. A large coke at McDonald's is still 20 oz (Remember the 1980's in America?). You just can't find the huge pigout meals that are commonplace in America. A Large fry was equivalent to a Medium fry here.
3) Condiments are a rarity as well. No dunking your fries in 10 lbs of catsup.
3) People didn't seem to be as sedentary and many people were out walking, biking, etc. Part of this is due to the price of cars over there as a Renault Cleo (Essentially the size of a Mazda 3) was somewhere around $38K. No big vehicles either.
4) All this said, supplements were massively expensive. A jug of protein that would be maybe 30 bucks here was around 75 over there.

So, I didn't see more than just a few overweight people across the pond. At the same time, you don't see the few really ripped and muscular women and men that you can see in the states. There was more of an average size. In fact, I was one of the larger people in Portugal in regards to muscle size.

The main thing to take from this article is portion control, portion control, portion control. Eating small meals and taking your time with them will keep you from overeating. I know everyone is busy, but instead of scarfing a Big Mac, maybe look at just a 6 inch subway sandwich on wheat and hold that mayo!

Excuses, excuses, excuses

Excuses... You know the saying. Everyone has one...
My goal is to explain away these excuses... Get you to look past them and realize they're not this huge obstacle.
First excuse (my favorite...): I don't have time. Yes, you work 8 hours a day. Yes, your kid has baseball games. But it's not like you need to put away 3 hours a night, 7 days a week to workout. You need 1 hour, 3 to 5 times a week. If you have time to go drinking on a Friday night or write a blog, or go to dinner during the week, you can workout. Same saying goes for food preparation. You can spend 20 minutes on a Sunday night to get your food together for the week.
Second excuse: I don't have the money. This is also a favorite as I ALWAYS here this one, then watch said person post on Facebook about going to McDonald's, partying, or smoking. Come on. Priorities, people!
Third: I'll come train after I get in shape. Ok, ya know what? These are all my favorites. This one though, is mind blowing. I had a person TWO years ago, tell me she wanted to train with me, but wanted to wait till she was in shape. I'm still waiting. Look, why would you wait to get into shape? If you could get into shape on your own, you wouldn't need a trainer, right? It's an excuse for "I don't want my legs to be sore that first couple weeks". Get over it, and get in there with your trainer!

The main point, is that if you REALLY want something (like a new body, the ability to wear a bikini, not being able to break a chair when you sit in it, the ability to get into those new jeans, break your best mile time, run a half marathon, etc) you will work at it and go for it. If you don't, you'll find a way to concoct an excuse and a year later, you'll be wondering why you look exactly the same.

PEACE peeps!

Oh, btw... here are some Mom's that have the same excuses you do, but still get in shape... Lora Coalson, Kim Dolan and Michelle Kyman. And if I had her pic, my son's mother is also in tremendous shape, works full time and goes to school full time... NO EXCUSES!!!

Changes

Yup. Those pictures are me. Amazing change in just over 12 weeks of work. So, I wanted to share my experience with you and also dispel some myths and excuses.

First of all, let's discuss what I did differently. I spoke with a fellow trainer, Alexia Besbekos about my diet so she could kind of tighten up the way I was eating. Generally, I did eat healthy before. However, there was no consistency and I was pulling in WAY too much sugar.

The attack plan was fairly simple. I was shooting for 185 g of protein a day, less than 50 g of sugar, 1 gallon of water and around 1800 calories a day. I was also shortening up my portions, especially when it came to pasta and meat. I was the type of guy that often would go for seconds at each meal. I immediately stopped that and stuck to the serving size on each package.

So what was next? Shopping. I drive a lot, so I needed to make sure I had food I could readily heat up and eat.

Here's what my shopping list consisted of and pretty much stayed the same each week.

- Grilled and Ready Chicken Chunks and Chicken Breasts

- Steamfresh veggies and pasta

- Eggs

- Pure Protein Whey Protein

- Natural Peanut Butter

- Sugar Free Preserves

- Whole Honey Wheat Bread

- Whole Wheat Pasta

- Fresh Fruit and Spinach

That's pretty much it. Every morning before leaving, I would take a steamfresh pack out of the freezer and heat it up for about 5 min. It might be chipotle rice, thai rice and veggies, stirfry, potatoes, etc. Almost all these packs are 2 servings each. I took the bags and divided them up in between a couple Tupperware dishes. Then dropped in some chicken chunks. Usually, just about a handful is the correct amount. Seal those up, and pack them for the day. Also, dropped in my bag some fruit and depending on the length of my driving that day, a baggie of protein powder and a shaker cup with water in it.

The next key was timing of my meals. I eat EVERY three hours without fail. I get up at 4:45 some days, eat at 5, 8, 11, 2, 5, and 8. That's six meals. The chicken and the veggies usually end up being around 250- 300 calories. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The fruit are around 80-100 calories each. Keeping track of what I'm consuming was also key. Myfitnesspal is a great app for this.

I set a goal of a gallon of water a day. I usually recommend that each person drink half their bodyweight in fluid ounces. So, if you weight 184 lbs, you're shooting for 92 oz of water. I didn't always hit my gallon, but I was usually close, which shot me in the 110 oz of water mark. Which is perfect. Hydration is important and water will actually help you burn calories.

Workouts. This, I didn't really change from what I had been doing. If anything, I felt like I worked out less. I had a friend once remark that it "Must be nice to have a job where you can work out 8 hours a day." True, I could do that. But I don't. 9 times out of 10, I workout for less than an hour. For today example... 27 and a half minutes. It was doing swings and burpees, but still under half an hour.

A lot of the excuses I hear and have heard from current and former clients are the following

"I don't have time to eat right or workout right"

- I travel as much as the next person if not more. Preparation is key. It takes me less than five minutes to prepare all my meals for the day and get them loaded up in my bag. It's not that hard kids. As for workouts, an hour a day max is all that's needed. You can find that time, even if you have a little one at home. You can bring yours with you to workout or keep them at home and workout there. I've done it.

"Eating right is expensive." 

- Not really. I spent less on my good food than I ever would buying bad things like Doritios or headed in to a fast food joint. Generally, I was spending about 30 bucks a week, if that.

"I'm not giving up my pizza and bad food or beer"

- I still gave myself a couple cheat meals a week. On days that I cheated, I made sure that I ate those meals at one of my designated times. This had two effects. One, it made sure I kept all the rest of my meals to keep my metabolism going. Two, because I was eating at my scheduled times, I was never starving and thus wasn't taking in 3 cheeseburgers. If that's still not good enough for you, I offer you this. If you want an amazing body, you may not get to eat amazing food. It's all about what you want.

I didn't find this as hard as I thought it would be. It's all about preparation and just a change of mindset and any of you can do it.

My starting weight was 218 lbs with a chest of 46 in and a waist of 41. I finished at 192 lbs with a chest at 41 and my waist at 36. Overall, I lost 26 lbs and 15 inches. The pictures speak for themselves. I didn't do anything crazy, I just decided to make a change.

Now the question. Are you willing to make a change?

Pushing Past That Plateau

So for the past year I've been stuck at right around 212-218. Had some hills and valleys, of course, but just couldn't quite make the progress I wanted. So it was time to sit down and figure out what I was doing wrong.
Of course... it was my diet.
I was not getting in enough protein and taking in too much sugar. And of course eating out FAR too often. Sometimes, you just need someone else to take a look at what you're doing and get you out of your rut. So, I contacted a friend who rocks when it comes to nutrition and asked her to help me out.
So here's what I changed.
1) Gallon of water EVERY day. a gallon a day will burn up to 200 extra calories. It also prevents injuries... SO DRINK THAT WATER!
2) Preparing food a day or two in advance. I make my egg whites up to four days at a time so I ALWAYS have a healthy breakfast without stopping at McDonald's for a breakfast burrito.
3) Cutting out protein bars... They're TOO high in sugar. I try to stay under 8 g of sugar a meal. I do eat greek yogurt from time to time, but I limit myself to only 60 g of sugar a day.
4) 185-200 g of protein a day. No more than 45g at one sitting. I shoot for just under 1g per lb that I weigh because I'm trying to lose some weight.
5) WAY more veggies. I eat around 4-5 servings of veggies every  day. Good carbs for you!

So what's been the result? A loss of 15 lbs in just over 4 weeks. 3 inches off my waist. 2 inches off my chest. 1/2 an inch off my arms (yet they look way more muscular).
I'm able to work out harder now, too. Putting up 6 miles at a time running is no big deal.
Speaking of which, signed up for my first half marathon on March 18th.  Should be quite interesting.
That's it for now. I'll be attempting to blog more from here on out...