Being successful at whatever you choose depends on how prepared you are.  If weight loss is a goal, then you must be prepared.  And that preparation will take several faces

1)  How prepared are you to be committed to this goal?  Without a level of commitment success is unlikely.  You must be committed 100% to your goal.  You must not give yourself permission for excuses not matter what they are.  Stand fast, stand strong – be committed!

2)  How prepared are you to undertake the physical requirements of a weight loss program?  Diet alone is not the ideal method of weight loss.  A well balanced exercise program that combines aerobic work with strength training will help kick start your metabolism and get you started on the road to a successful weight loss program.

3) How prepared are you in the food department?  Having the right foods ready to eat at the right time and in the right amounts is paramount to successful weight loss.  When life get busy, as it does for all of us, not having a ready supply of the right foods will lead to either going without or eating junk food, both of which will sabotage your weight loss efforts.

4)  How prepared are you for objections and resentment?  Quite often when someone undertakes a weight loss program, there is resentment or subtle objections from either family members or friends.  Friends may be envious of you and your strength/commitment to your goal.  They may make you feel uncomfortable in social situations about your food choices.  Family members also can undermine your weight loss efforts without meaning to.  Having to prepare different meals for different family members is a reality if you are trying to monitor your own nutrition.  This comes back to #1 and being committed to your goal – stand fast, stand strong!

Preparation is the key to success in whatever endeavors you undertake from personal goals to business to life in general.  If you have  a goal you must be prepared and that preparation in itself takes time  to develop.  A successful plan takes successful preparation – that will ultimately lead to a goal achieved.

Being prepared is an important element in success of whatever you choose to do.

Till next time,

Narina

A question came up in the gym the other day about cycling and that led to a talk about the Tour de France.  With the Olympic Games in full swing just 40 kilometers from where I live, I thought an article about athletics/sport and how we can learn from athletes might be timely.   If you are a cycling fan you will be glued to your televisions every July watching the coverage of what is called the “greatest cycling event” in history.   This historic race was in its 96th year last July..  The race course will usually vary from year to year and cities around Europe will vie for the honor of hosting a stage of this great race, just as Cities vie for the opportunity to host a Summer or Winter Olympic Games.  2009 saw the tour begin in Monaco with a 15 km time trial and will continue daily until July 26th.

The race will cover parts of Monaco, Spain and France finishing on July 26th in Paris.  The race will cover 3500 kilometers in 21 stages, over flat and mountainous terrain.  During the course of the race they will cover 10 flat stages, 8 mountain stages and 3 time trial stages (normally relatively flat).  Through this three week period, the racers will have just 2 rest days.  Daily mileage will vary from 160 km to 211 km. Imagine spending 5-6 hours climbing through the Pyrenees mountains with probably a sprint finish, rest up the rest of the day and night and get back on your bike to repeat the same thing again and continue this for 3 straight weeks!  You can only imagine the condition of these athletes.  They are known to consume in excess of 10,000 calories a day and will still probably lose weight over the course of the 3 weeks.  But nothing is left to chance with these athletes. 

The technical aspects of the race – namely the bicycles and all their components are a whole other topic in itself.  To say the technology has advanced over the 96 running of this race would be an understatement.  Special
metals that make the frames not only incredibly strong, but feather light is just on advancement in bike technology.  Wind tunnel testing is also a common test to help make the bike and riders as aerodynamic as possible.
But, aside from the technology of the bikes, there is also the rider himself to consider.  You can bet that nothing is left to chance with the riders as well.  Each team will travel with their own physio therapists, massage therapists and associated personnel to ensure that every aspect of the rider’s rest and recovery is taken care of.  One of the most difficult challenges of this type of event is the recovery of the athlete. 

In most sporting event, once the event has taken place the athlete is free to rest, recover and train for the next event which may be days, weeks or months away.  But, with this 3 week race, the rider has less than 24 hours to recover and repeat again for 21 days.  Along with ensuring that their bodies get the treatments they need to recover, their nutrition is also an integral part of their recovery process.  Not only must they fuel throughout the ride, they must ensure that adequate nutrition meaning the right foods in the right amounts at the right time are ingested to promote the recovery process.  The same holds true for the Olympic athletes.  They are often competing in several events (one sport, but varying distances).  Also some sports will have several qualifying heats.  This requires these athletes to be able to compete, recover and compete again, usually in a very short period of time.

So what can we take away from the Tour de France?  What can we take away from watching these amazing Olympic athletes competing right now in Vancouver, B.C. Canada?  We can start by thinking of ourselves as athletes as well.  No, we are not competing for the honor of wearing the yellow jersey or to win a medal,  but all of us have daily obligations whether it be work or home related that require us to be alert and ready to tackle whatever tasks comes our way.   We can all take a little lesson from the the pro riders and athletes and start to treat our own bodies like those of the athletes.  Ensure you get the proper nutrition daily, starting with breakfast and continuing throughout the day with small meals.  We also need to ensure that we are getting adequate rest to tackle the needs of the day.  Without adequate rest you won’t  be able to operate at your peak and your workouts at the gym will most certainly suffer.  Proper nutrition, adequate rest and training are just as important to each of us as it is to the professional bicycle racer battling it out in the mountains of France.

Till next time,

Narina

At various times, I sometimes will find myself watching Golf on TV.  Now, after having played a fair amount of golf at one time, I can appreciate the patience and skill that is involved in the game of golf.  If ever you wanted a lesson in humility, take up golf.  Just when you are starting to feel really good about how your game is progressing, this sport has a way of setting you back on your heels and dealing out a  small lesson in patience.

I know a lot of people don’t consider golf a sport at all and I am sure there was a time when I really didn’t think of it as a sport either; but more a game.  But knowing what I know now about exercise physiology, anatomy and the science of human movement, I realize that golf very much is a sport with a skill set that must be developed in order to compete and remain injury free.  It is no secret that Tiger Woods takes his game preparation very seriously.   Not only does he spend hundreds of hours practicing every facet of the game itself, but he also strength trains in order to develop proper movement patterns, correct muscle sequencing during movements,
increase core strength and remain injury free.  It is fairly obvious looking at him that he is “in shape”.  You just need to look at his biceps under his golf shirt to know that this golfer takes his conditioning very seriously.  In fact, I have heard that he bench presses over 400 pounds.  Not to shabby for a golfer, eh?

I think the professionals golfers have realized that it just isn’t more time on the driving range or putting green that will improve their game, but time spent in the gym improving their bodies will have a direct impact on the performance of their sport as well.  This is something we can keep in mind for all aspects of life.  It  doesn’t matter whether you enjoy the odd game of golf at a little Par 3 course or take on the full size professional courses, you will still benefit from the a well conditioned, strong physique.  Whether you hike the Grand Canyon or walk to your local grocery store, the stronger and more conditioned you are, the easier and more enjoyable these activities will be.

I am sure we all know personally or know of seniors who are vibrant and active well into their golden years.  We all also know of individuals much younger that struggle to enjoy even the basics of daily living.  The time you spend now to take care of your bodies, strengthening the muscles and bones and working hard to keep it healthy will pay off as you look toward your 5th, 6th, 7th decade and beyond.  I for one must strive to maintain a strong and healthy body.  After all, I want to make sure I will still be able to be instructing  someone how to do Bulgarians squats for sometime to come.

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Like alot of you, I am always checking out supplement prices trying to find the best deal.  I was looking for the workout stack from Scivation with the two products:  Xtend and Vasocharge.  After searching the web I determined that the cheapest price came from massnutrition.com.  I placed my order and waited for the product to arrive.

The first problem that I ran into was that their website does not show my order history properly.  It shows my last order being over 2 years ago despite my having an email showing my latest order.  I then emailed support@massnutrition.com and asked them for a tracking number.  I got no response at all.

The product arrived at my home on Friday afternoon, February 12, 2010.  On Saturday morning I cracked open both products.  The Xtend was perfect and I was able to mix up a batch.  I then opened up the Vasocharge and found it to be nothing but clumps (see picture below).

Notice how it is a bunch of solid lumps and not powder like it is supposed to be?

I immediately emailed support@massnutrition.com and let them know (per their website instructions) that there was a problem with the product.  When Tuesday morning rolled around and I still hadn’t heard back, I emailed them again.

I received a response from them a short while later.

Upon providing them with the information they requested I received the following email.

Can you believe this?  They want me to deal with the manufacturer for a product that has not yet expired and was purchased from them a mere few days before!

I explained to them that I was not happy with their suggested resolution.  I was promptly ignored.

Thankfully, Scivation is a wonderful company.  I emailed them and received an immediate (within 30 seconds) response from their Director of Sales.  He agreed to replace the Vasocharge free.  He didn’t ask me to ship him the bad product.  He simply asked to see my receipt from massnutrition.com and for my shipping address.  I even got an email from their CEO making sure I was taken care of properly.  Their service at Scivation is awesome!

Be warned!  Do not deal with massnutrition.com!  They have terrible customer service.  They will not assist  you if there is a problem.  Steer clear of this nightmare of a place.

Last year I attended a Personal Training Business Summit.  Although it was a while ago, some recent press about personal trainers has prompted me to write this article.  One of the interesting discussions that cropped up at the conference in New Jersey is the subject of expertise in our field.  Then again this morning, I was on line talking with a group of trainers in the Eastern U.S.  This subject came up and the proliferation of fitness
material available not only on the Internet but also the T.V.  In fact, I find myself sometimes mesmerized by fitness gadgets and the latest exercise DVD on the Shopping Channel.  So, what constitutes an expert?  Good question.

At the conference, there was a lecture by Mike Boyle, strength coach from Boston.  Mike Boyle has been in the strength and conditioning field for many, many years coaching athletes at all levels.  One comment he made
came from the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  In his book he studies exceptional people (smart people, rich people  successful people).  In his book he talks about the 10,000 hour Rule.  Studies suggest that the key to success in any field has  nothing to do with talent. It’s simply practice, 10,000 hours of it — 20 hours a week for 10 years.

I think that is so true in almost anything. Yes, an education is needed and it is important to have done the studies and learned the theory, but it is also necessary to get in the trenches and put in the time honing your craft.  What do you think?  So, naturally when this comment was made at the Conference I had to think about my own time spent training clients.  So, I had to calculate it out.  Over the past 9 years, I have approximately 23,760 hours put in “in the trenches”.   Does that make me an expert?  I don’t believe so, but I think I am a bit more qualified than the trainer who trains a few clients for a couple of months and puts out a DVD or book.

So, if you are reading articles in magazines, newspapers or see something of interest on TV, consider the source first.  Is their  opinion based on science and research with years of practice, or are they spouting off the latest trend to hit the fitness world?

Also, in Mike Boyle’s lecture he passed along some quotes from Bill Gates.  I thought they were so appropriate and wanted to share just a couple of them with you. 

1)  Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your grand parents had a different view of flipping – they called it opportunity.
2)  Life is not fair – get used to it.
3)  Life is not divided into semesters.  You won’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.  Do that on your own time.
4)  Television is NOT real life.  In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

So, that being said and with my coffee cup empty,  I’m off to find another little job to do.

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

This past Sunday I started a heavy training cycle. It has been 24 weeks since my last heavy cycle.

As I train more and more Iearn better ways to challenge my body. I consistently conduct the Experiment of One and apply what I learn. One thing I have learned is that my body can’t take a heavy cycle for more than 6 weeks at a time.

Changing things up is an important principle to learn. Do not overdo it. Don’t be the person who changes exercises constantly. Be the person who sticks with a plan and changes it up every 4 to 6 weeks. You will find that your results will improve if you do.

Life is a series of lessons that, if followed, will lead you down a path towards new and interesting learning opportunities.  The key here is to pay attention to what you are being taught.  This particularly applies to fitness pursuits. 

Individual Needs Vary

We are all different.  What works for me might not work for you.  This is why following plans from the champions in the latest Muscle & Fitness just doesn’t work for 99% of the people.  This is why it is important that you pay attention to the lessons your body teaches you as you progress through a training program.  Keep careful records of what works and what does not work.  Always track the things you try.  This information will be extremely useful in future programs you design for yourself.

Creativity for Future Needs

Tracking the things you do with your training will enable you to get more and more creative with your training in the future.  Cardio before weight training or cardio after weight training – you will have the answer for you and that’s all you need.  It doesn’t matter if one works better than the other for me because you are designing training programs for you.  Take what you learn and get creative.  This will keep you engaged with your workout plan and that will keep you consistent.  Consistency is the only way to reach your goals.

Experiment of One

Everything you do is part of the Experiment of One.  You are finding out what your limits are and how to push yourself there.  You are determining what food helps you towards your goals and what food takes you off track.  You are finding out just how hard you can work.  All of these are extremely useful pieces of information that can be used to guide you in your future fitness endeavors.  Take the time to conduct a proper Experiment of One and you will be amazed at how well you know your own body in the end.  You won’t really need a personal trainer for anything more than motivation and accountability.  You will instinctively know the right path to take for your own needs.  Learn your lesson and learn it well—you will not be disappointed.

For today’s topic I wanted to talk about exercise and how working out will help your moods and mental state.  I came across this article from the American College of Sports Medicine.  The article talks about boosting your mood through exercise.  Please have a read.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151571.php

A lot of us will arrive at the gym stressed or anxious about things going on outside the gym.  The gym is a perfect place to allow the stressors of life to flow away, at least for an hour.  The one aspect of a difficult workout is that it forces you to focus on your activity and what you are doing.  This allows your brain to take a rest and allow the physical part of you to take over.  I realize that we all have stressors in our lives.  Life, in general is very busy now.  And I am sure there are days when the last thing you want to do is come into the gym.  But, it is the best thing you could do.  No matter how you feel, you should make every attempt to get in your workout.  Free your mind and strengthen your body.  You will be so glad you did and feel so much better.

In 1997, I lost my first husband to brain cancer.  For two years prior to that he fought a valiant battle through surgery, radiation and eventual recovery, only to have the cancer return.   No one goes through this battle alone, and there were so many times when the last thing I wanted to do was go workout.  But, I needed a physical release. It was vital that I maintained my own health throughout his ordeal so I would be able to take care of him.
So, I rarely missed workouts during that time.  Not all workouts were great; some were downright pathetic but at least I got in there.  It was the best thing I could have done.  That 60 minutes of workout time allowed me to rest my thoughts, workout as hard as I could that day and leave feeling re-energized and more able to handle the stressors that life throws at us.

So, the next time you are feeling that you just can’t bring yourself to workout, do it.  You will be so glad that you did.

Till next time,

Narina

It is that time again.  The time for another season of American Idol.  The one thing that I am always reminded about when I watch young performers, is their determination to "make it".  For each of them I think their idea of success may differ.  Some want to be a star, some just want to be able to write and perform their music and be able to support themselves.  But, the one common thread that flows through every successful person whether it be the music industry, business or fitting into a bathing suit for summer, is the relentless determination and focus that they put forth. 

These people have a goal in mind.  They know what they want to achieve.  They may not always know exactly how to get there.  And, they do not achieve their goals alone.  There may be derailments along the way, obstacles in their path and they may lose sight of their vision at times.  No one who has succeeded in their chosen field has done it without sacrifice and pain.  But, the difference between achieving your goal and not, is
the ability to pick yourself up, brush off the dirt and start again. 

For everything we do in life, there are ups and downs.  There are always new challenges to face when trying to achieve a goal.  It is how you face these challenges that will make the difference.  I have certainly had my challenges the last 9 years.  Walking away from a secure Nursing job to follow my dream of opening my own business was at times terrifying.  I had many challenges along the way and I made a lot of mistakes.  But, I never looked at mistakes as something bad.  I looked at each mistake as a learning experience.  I know, it sounds corny.  But, most mistakes are what you make them.  I have always tried to turn each error in judgment, each mistake into something positive.  What can I learn from this?  How can I prevent from repeating this?  Instead of creating negativity, I try to turn lapses, errors in judgement into a positive lesson.  And, I think this can be carried over into almost every aspect of your life.

Success or failure, and life in general is what we want it to be.   Turn negatives into positives.  Don’t let anyone or anything derail you from your path.  You are in control so make it happen.

Till next time,
Narina
"Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation"

Today’s topic came about as I was reading some articles/blogs from other trainers/coaches.  It seems the same questions come up over and over, and fitness professionals all over are answering the same questions.  I thought I would address some of them here.  We have certainly talked about a lot of these items in past newsletters, so it may be a reminder to some of you.

1) Women Will Not Get Bulky Lifting Weights:

It amazes me people still believe this old myth.  I would think with all the literature out now and how common strength training has become for women, this fallacy would have disappeared.   Let me reiterate one more time – women will not get big and bulky from lifting weights unless that is what they specifically want to do.  It takes hours and hours of very heavy weights with lots and lots of volume to pack any muscular weight on a female frame.  It just is not physiologically possible with general fitness programs.   With general fitness populations and even most sport specific training, there is simply not the workload necessary to create that physique.  If I see one more woman in the public gym doing squats while holding a 3-5 lb dumbbell, I won’t be responsible for my action.  So, let’s put that myth to bed once and for all.  If you are weight training three times per week with emphasis on total body movements, you will not get bulky.  End of story!

2) Low Calorie Diets Don’t Work:

Human beings require a certain amount of kilocalories daily just to keep our bodies functioning.  All our cells require nutrients to survive.  Drastically cutting calories to under 1000 calories  a day, not only will stall any weight loss attempts but is dangerous to your health over the long term.  There are certain weight loss clinics that advocate very low (700-800 calorie) diets.  Along with the very low calories, they advocate vitamin shots and no exercise while you are on their program – does it make you wonder just how healthy the program can be?  As a minimum, take your weight in pounds, multiply by 10, and that is the minimum calories you should consume per day. Example, a 150 pound person would eat 1500 calories/day minimum.

3) Let’s forget the "Fat Burning Zone"

On most cardio machines today, you will still see the graphs depicting heart rate training zones.  This is another example of  old technology and outdated science.  It is amazing how many trainers are still coaching aerobic sessions to be in the 60-70% heart training zone.    It is not that the "FBZ" doesn’t have a place.  It most certainly does.  It is a great start for those that are new exercise and especially if you are new to aerobic style
workouts and not accustomed to interval training.  Low training thresholds can also be beneficial for recovery workouts.  But, if you have an exercise history and are accustomed to working out, then the FBZ is not the most beneficial form of aerobic training.  For fat/weight loss, aerobic workouts should be high intensity and short.  Heart rates should be in the 85-95% of MHR and done in an interval style with a very short, high intense portion followed immediately by a lower intensity recovery portion.  For example, 30 sec to 1 minute high intensity followed by 2 minutes recovery, repeated for 20 -30 minutes. – Workout done!  Please remember also that aerobic training or cardio work (more correct phrase would be "conditioning work") does not have to entail a treadmill, elliptical or any other typical cardio machine.  Some examples of conditioning workouts could encompass kettlebell swings, jump squats, skipping rope, mountain climbers.  There is a endless variety of exercises that could be strung together to make up a conditioning workout.  Conditioning workouts are all about the intensity and getting your heart rate elevated. 

To recap today’s newsletter:  Don’t be afraid of lifting weights.   Eat a healthy diet with adequate calories.  High Intense Cardio Conditioning = mean, lean body built for summer shorts and t-shirts.

Till next time,
Narina