"Attitude determines your Altitude!"

Bodyweight Strength

2012-01-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

The Importance of Bodyweight Strength

If I had to choose 1 fitness “tool” to work with, do you know which one it would be? Nope, not a dumbbell. Nope, not a medicine ball. Nope, not a Kettlebell. Do you give up? My answer is your body! Our body is the best tool in the fitness world. You can become more athletic, build explosiveness, increase your functional strength and reduce your chances of injury by just learning how to strengthen your ability to move and control your own body. When you think about the beginning of time, when we were running around trying to hunt, gather and feed our families, we didn’t have access to artificial, man made equipment like the ones mentioned above. We used our own body. This is how we used to work. As training tools like dumbbells, ropes, medicine balls, barbells and kettlebells are important to maintain variety in a program, it’s not the “end all be all” of fitness.

Way too many individuals lack their ability to move and stabilize their own body but yet those individuals are the ones lifting weights and using other pieces of equipment. Why you ask? Well, it’s the resources that are shoved in our face. Walk into any mainstream gym and the first thing you will see loaded in the floor area are machines, free weights and cardio equipment. Again, these are necessities in the fitness world but if you cannot do regular push-ups, chin-ups and bodyweight single leg squats correctly, why should we be digging into free weights and loaded machines?

Take 10 high school football players. See if they can do 10 perfect bodyweight pull-ups, 25 perfect bodyweight push-ups and 10 perfect single leg squats, I highly doubt if every kid can do this feat. But yet, we can walk into the high school weight room and see these kids performing heavy bench presses, squats and Olympic lifts. This is a recipe for sore shoulders, knees and lower backs. Because they can’t control their own bodyweight, but yet forced to lift external loads, they are creating more dysfunction in their body, which leads them down a path of chronic injury and pain later in life.

This video is a prime example of how high school weight rooms focus on machine based exercises. Except the crunches (which have no function), I didn't see one bodyweight exercise being performed.

Try it out for the next few weeks in your fitness program. Take out the majority of your equipment and focus on more bodyweight exercises. You can do push-ups, chin-ups, 1-leg squats, shoulder touches (push-up position and you tap your opposite shoulder with your hand), planks, side planks, and push-up walks (stay in a push-up position and slowly walk forward, back and side to side). The list goes on.

The positives of doing this will give you more shoulder, core and hip stability, you will enhance your kinetic (full body) awareness and your weight training lifts will get better. You actually limit your absolute strength when you limit bodyweight strength. It’s that important!

Crossfit, Is it a Safe Program

2012-01-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Crossfit, Is it a Safe Program?

With the increase in popularity the past few years, Crossfit gyms are opening everywhere. People watch the “Crossfit Games” on ESPN and are intrigued by the great looking, physically gifted athletes that are competing. I have received numerous emails, texts and questions on my views on Crossfit and their workout protocols. Here’s my answer:

First before I get into it, I am in this business to create smart and efficient training programs for people. My job is to give sound information about fitness and nutrition to the athletes, general fitness enthusiasts and children I train. It is my duty to study, research, and gain deep education on a very broad spectrum of information. My program is far from perfect and can always get better. But it’s a solid and functional program. My program is designed to improve the trainee’s movement, athleticism, stamina and way of life.

The fitness industry is loaded with material, opinions and information that can influence the minds of the mainstream market. Before I give opinions on specific programs or studies I do my research first. I have studied Crossfit, listened to CF podcasts, watched many videos, talked to many former and current CF members and have been able to form my educated opinion.

A quote from a former CF member when he used to do Crossfit:

“I love Crossfit, the workouts are intense, I get my ass kicked and I feel great afterwards. I will continue to hit these workouts up.”

A quote from the same individual 6 months later:

“Crossfit sucks. I ripped my rotator cuff and have not been able to do anything the past few weeks. The workouts are out of control. I am ready to regain my health with smarter options.”

Unfortunately this is what happens to many CF members. They jump into Crossfit style workouts without a long-term plan. They enjoy the intensity, the competitive nature and the tough workouts. This is very common. But months down the road, when their body is trashed, overworked and injured, they begin thinking, “is this for me?”

Crossfit should not be an exercise program. Crossfit is definitely not for a serious athlete, someone with a current injury, and anyone over 35 years old. There are far too many limiters in this random exercise routine that will exacerbate an injury or cause a new injury down the road. It might not happen today or next week but eventually the body will breakdown. There is no progressive plan of action. Today’s workout of the day (WOD) will not progress you to next week’s workout. There is no deep concentration on initial assessments, warm-up strategies, corrective exercise, and functional training. Very few CF coaches have a broad understanding of biomechanics and human movement to assist their clients. Their weekend certification process gave them the bare essentials to training humans. So they get “certified”, open up their gym, charge inexpensive rates and start running their clients through the workouts of the day (WOD). I did say “very few coaches” just in case you missed that part. There are some knowledgeable CF coaches that actually care about tissue quality, flexibility, technical proficiency, proper progression with their workouts and functional movement in the gym.

Here are the last five Crossfit WOD’s:

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters with a 45 pound barbell
15 foot Rope climb, 3 ascents
135 pound Thruster, 12 reps

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
10 Pull-ups
75 pound dumbbell Deadlift, 5 reps
135 pound Push-press, 8 reps

For time:
Run 2 miles
Rest 2 minutes
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps
20 Box jump, 24" box
20 Walking lunge steps with 45lb plate held overhead
20 Box jump, 24" box
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps
Rest 2 minutes
Run 2 miles

Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Deadlift, 9 reps
135 pound Hang power snatch, 6 reps
135 pound Overhead squat, 3 reps

Looking at these workouts in the eyes of a non-educated fitness enthusiast and I think, this looks pretty cool. I like the variation and the intensity. It would be fun to do these workouts. Looking at these workouts as an educated fitness professional and I think, this is terrible program design, poor workout structure and not enough detail to the functional elements that needs to be implemented into a program. For a “non-educated” fitness enthusiast it is not their job to research, study and stay well informed of the cutting edge and new training methods. That is why they decide to jump in Crossfit because it’s the new thing on the block. It’s fun. It’s competitive. It’s on TV. Why not?

1. Olympic lifts should be kept under 6 repetitions. I like Olympic lifts when done correctly. I hate Olympic lifts when performed incorrectly. I spend weeks with athletes on technique work before we even start an Olympic lift. I sometimes drop the Olympic lift if I feel there is better options, which there can be with some populations like adults over 35 years old, poor moving athletes and young children.

2. In an exercise program, one of the main goals should be to enhance movement capabilities. When you become a better mover, whether you are an athlete or an “average Joe or Jane”, you become more functional in your sport or your every day life. You reduce your chance of injury, increase your range of motion, increase your functional strength and you become more athletic. Crossfit does not promote these traits. Crossfit promotes ass-kicking workouts that yes, will get you sore and burning calories and it might even get you to look better in your bathing suite but what’s the point if you have a dysfunctional shoulder and hip and you limit your way of life. There are smarter options to get you to your goal.

3. There are some staple exercises in Crossfit that I cringe when I watch being performed. “Kipping” pull-ups is a forceful pull-up variation that you will kick your legs up before pulling up to the bar. This is a sure fire way to cause havoc and friction on your gleno-humeral joint when done with high repetitions, which are definites in Crossfit. Unfortunately the video explains why “kipping” pull-ups are great for explosiveness and power, which is false. Any pull-up variation will be at a much higher demand and give you more benefit when done perfectly without momentum. The purpose of this exercise is to build upper body posterior strength and stability.

Push-press is a great lift. I actually have it in my program for a softball team I am training. But it’s another abused exercise in the Crossfit world. There is no attention to the details of the lift. The goal for Crossfitters is to just lift the weight up over the head. Again, a recipe for injury. As you can see in the video below, if you understand Olympic Lifts and what they should look like, every exercise being performed is sloppy and performed poorly. There is no attention to clean movement. It's about "hammerin out, hamerin out", as you can hear the coach in the backround saying.

4. Crossfit Endurance is a very poor selection of strength work for endurance athletes. Multi-sport athletes are some of the most driven and hardest working athletes. They will do almost anything to improve their performance. Well, Crossfit should not be on that list. As an endurance athlete, strength work should be spent on clean and functional movements that will enhance balance, symmetry, stability and bio-mechanical movement in their specific sports. With the high amounts of volume for any endurance athlete, overtraining becomes very prevalent. We should not exacerbate that training load anymore with high repetition and erratic CF workouts. Time in the gym should be spent building the body back to take on the demands of the sport or sports.

5. Crossfit is definitely not an athlete specific training program. There are too many risks of injury with CF style training. If you are an athlete, it is mandatory to choose better, more efficient training protocols. Do not get caught into the trap of "just because it's hard, it's good" thought process. Hard training doesn't mean smart training. Anyone can throw together a series of exercises and make someone sweat. Not everyone can progressively take an athlete to achieve their ultimate goal.

We will see where this Crossfit craze goes in the next five years. I wouldn’t be surprised if it faded out and people came back to smarter, more functional training methods, I guess time will only see. I do advise any CF current members, or anyone interested in CF that you need to take a step back and think about the long haul of training. Performing a Crossfit workout once a week to hit that metabolism or to implement some variety into your routine will not hurt you. Doing Crossfit everyday as your exercise “program” will eventually hurt you. Again, maybe not tomorrow or next month, but your chances of injury go through the roof with erratic exercise selection. If you are a CF coach, and want to stay under the CF affiliate, at least attend Perform Better Workshops throughout the year so you can become more educated and offer your clients better training. Just remember, it’s important to look ahead in your life. You don’t want chronic pain that affects who you are as a person. A workout should leave you feeling better, opened up and your functional movement has been increased. If you are sore after every workout, and almost every training session is the hardest, most grueling thing ever, I would choose another program.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading my blog. If you are a CF fan, and having fun, keep doing what you do, just understand that there could be harmful repercussions later in life from what you are doing right now. Hard, aggressive exercise selection is not the remedy. Smart, consistent and functional training will improve your life and your performance.

Chossing a Fitness Coach

2011-12-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

If you are serious about changing your body and getting big time results you need to hire a fitness coach. When choosing a coach to guide you to better health, fitness, conditioning and nutritional habits, there are many aspects to look at. The right trainer can help assist you to better levels of performance. When looking for a trainer use these guidelines below to help you make this important decision:

1. Positive and Passionate Attitude. This is the most important trait you are looking for in a fitness coach. “It doesn’t matter how much you know until they know how much you care.” Fitness coaches need to care, be passionate and enjoy coming to work everyday. And the first time you meet with a trainer you must sense this attitude.

2. Education. As attitude matters, being educated is just as important. With so many weekend certification courses available it is too easy to get on line and “get certified”. So beware of the trainer who took a weekend course and began training clients. Fitness coach education is on going and the industry has changed. The degree or certification is just a stepping-stone and your trainer must stay on top of his or her education. Does your trainer attend national workshops and seminars throughout the year? This is a big red flag if your trainer never attends continuing education classes. Don’t be afraid to ask your trainer some important questions: “What was the last fitness book you have read?” “What was the last seminar you attended?” “What college did you go to and what is your degree?” “What certifications do you have?” “How many clients have you trained?”

3. Experience. A true expert in the field has put in 10,000 hours of training clients. That is training at least 25 hours a week for 7 ½ years. You do not want some “person” who read Men’s Health magazine and decided to start training people. Experience is huge.

4. Appearance. Fitness coaches need to look the part. They do not need bulging muscles ripping out their shirt but they must be physically fit, showing that they practice what they preach. You want a coach that dresses nice and clean, stays neatly groomed, is respectful and walks the walk.

5. Workout Design. Does your fitness coach have a system? Or is it just a hodge-podge of exercises thrown at you. A proper workout must have a proper workout flow and design. Your coach should educate you on his or her system and philosophy.

6. Day 1. What you do on day 1 will tell you a lot of about your trainers’ experience. Day 1 should consist of a thorough, health history and physical assessment and education on the trainers’ system and workout design. The first workout should be moderate exertion and should leave you wanting more. A little soreness is ok but if you can’t walk after your first day, find someone else.

7. Fitness Mentors. There are a few individuals that every fitness coach must follow and learn from. Ask your perspective trainer about these fitness innovators: Mike Boyle, Gray Cook, Mark Verstegen, Todd Durkin, Sue Falsone, Charlie Weingroff, and Martin Rooney. These are the top dogs in the industry and if your trainer does not know about them, find another trainer.

A Reflection of 2011

2011-12-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

I sit here with a few days left of 2011 and as I start looking back at the year, I start thinking to myself what a year it has been. Sometimes, we get caught up in the busyness of life and forget to reflect and learn from the past. I want to learn from this year, I want to become better from this year, I want to grow from this year. So, I am writing this blog to express 8 important happenings from the year and what I learned and took away from them. You might pick up on some valuable lessons as well....

The death of Scott Nelson, August 17th: Scott was a very close friend that tragically was killed in a cycling accident up at Rocky Hill. Scott's death really took a toll on many people that were close to him, including myself. When someone so young and full of life dies, you start asking questions like why him? and how come? This death hit the community hard. People who didn't even know Scott were affected. As time passed and we were able to somewhat get back to normal, I started growing as a person after his death. Scott lived his life for others. His humble personality and charismatic touch were very infectious to be around. We need to live more like Scott. We need to treat others like Scott did. We need to challenge ourselves everyday like Scott did. It's so critical to live life to the fullest, each and everyday, because you just do not know. You do not know when your last day will be. Also, you must treat others good. Treat them like you want to be treated because again, you just do not know when it could be their last day. Why live life knowing you could have treated others better or lived at higher levels? We can not live like this. In 2012, decide to live everyday, to treat everyday magnificent, to enjoy the people around you, because you just never know. And if you end up living till your 90 or so, just imagine the lives you will touch with this approach.

The birth of my daughter, February 15th. It's pretty ironic that my first 2 lessons on this list are about death and life. These life changing events truly do change your life. Watching the birth of my daughter humbled me as a man. Watching my daughter, my own flesh, be born is a magical experience. Watching my wife the past 9 months sacrifice her body and emotions taught me about respect. And holding my daughter after the birth was emotional and taught me that love is pretty deep! As death is a hardship, Life is spectacular. We must cherish our life because we only get ONE! That's right, one life. We must put our focus on the positives and learn from the negatives. Don't dwell on what could of been, instead focus on the next positive decision. As I am watching my daughter grow up, she is so concentrated on the little intricacies that life brings. The colors, the sights, the sounds, everything around her. As adults, let's learn to do the same. Let's slow down a bit and really concentrate on the important things. Our relationships, our family, our friends.....each day!

Ironman Arizona, November 20th. Training for this massive event was the tough part. It took sacrifice, time and much energy to prepare myself for this event. During the training , the death of Scott happened, I expanded to a new facility, my daughter was a new born, I was still running my business and tri club, we took in a foreign exchange student and I still needed to find time for family...I would say it was a busy year. I needed organization, time management and very productive days. Because of the tools I learned from personal growth coaches Brian Tracy and Jim Rohn, I was able to schedule all of my priorities into my day. Ironman not only taught me about challenge and humility but in order for me to complete this event, I needed to become obsessed with organization and time management. Every Monday morning I write out my "to do list" for the week. This includes work stuff, family time, personal things, workouts, reading/writing, anything that needs to be accomplished. I also have a time management sheet that I follow. It is a 30 minute breakdown from 4:00 am till 9:00 pm. I write in everything that needs to be accomplished for the upcoming week and try my best to follow the plan (some days just do not work out because of things that just come up). I even go as far to write in my naps, my reading time, my family time. I am very serious when I say this, I could not have been prepared for Ironman if I was not organized! It's not just about putting in the training. As that is a big part of it, if you do not have the organizational tools, you will not get the training in. It goes hand in hand. And this goes for any big task or goal. Ironman was a personal achievement that I wanted to accomplish. I did it! But what I got out of the experience is life changing because it taught me to be more organized, a more humble person, more patient, to truly enjoy my family and friends and to always challenge myself to become better. And not just in my athletic life but my family, my work, my personal life. Personal development is the motivation to live life at high levels. We must continue to grow, educate and become better people as long as we are living!

California Fitness Academy's expansion, September 3rd. First off, I would not be in the position I am in today if it weren't from some valuable people in my life. I had a few "secret angels" that helped me get started with my business. I am so humbled and appreciative of these people in my life. To me, life is about taking risks. Business, especially in these tough economical times, is risky. My first few years were more about just putting in the work. When I first got into business, I didn't really have a true understanding of goals and setting up my future. I was a hard worker and knew how to get people in shape, that's what I did. But I quickly realized that I can not just spin my tires and work hard. I needed challenges, I needed goals, I needed structure, I needed to realize what I wanted in the future. I needed to become a businessman. I needed to work ON my business in order for it to be successful. A good friend of mine, his name is Brian Hyde, one day gave me "Eat that Frog" by Brian Tracy. It was an audio CD. I listened intently to the lessons and tools Tracy was explaining. This was my first experience to Goal setting and I became hooked. I have read the likes of Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, John Maxwell and many other personal development coaches. The lessons I have learned have become a big part of my daily living. And I am still going. I am on a mission to learn, educate and observe from the best. The resources are out there. If you are on a mission yourself to start a business, to complete a specific event, to get a promotion, whatever it is, the key is personal development. Jim Rohn says, "You can't change anything around you until you change what's in you." The cool thing is, is that we can dramatically change how we work, how we live and how we grow. It's just about putting in the work. Back to the expansion of my facility. After 5 years at my first location, a 2600 sq. foot medical building, we were able to grow and fill our facility with loyal and committed clients. Again, very humbling knowing that these people intrusted in my program. First off, I love my job! I love coming to work everyday. I love my clients. I love my staff. This is a big help. But in terms of putting in the time, I put in the time and am still putting in the time. Eight hour days are for business owners who want to fail. Business growth does not just happen. Every successful business owner works! It's not a "luck" thing. Most successful people create their own luck by putting in the work. I am still climbing the mountain to where I want to get with my business but being able to expand to a 6700 sq. foot facility was remarkable. I am in a time of "growing pains" where we are getting used to a few new expenses and paying off of new construction bills. So we still have lots of work to do, but 2012 will be a big year for CFA. It's important to push yourself. Sometimes to the point to where you are stretched beyond your means a bit. It will force a sense of urgency, to get the work done, to become better in every aspect of your life. In 2012, set your goals just past what you think can get done. Challenge your body, your mind, and see what you can do!

Taking in a foreign exchange student, August 16th. Ten days before we actually met Linda, we add no idea we were going to do this. I get an email from her exchange organization in the beginning of August. Since Linda put that she is an avid triathlete on her bio, they contacted me knowing I was the President of the Visalia Triathlon Club. They wanted me to email my club to see if anyone was interested in taking in a student. Well, I went home that night, mentioned it to my wife and we decided to be the host family. Hey, moving facilities, the birth of my daughter, Ironman, and everything else, why not!? When I grew up, my parents took in over 40 individuals to live with our family. From foster children to relatives, to friends of the family to people living on the street, our house was open to assist someone with a friendly and loving home. I guess that I found that trait my mother had. My wife probably was a bit skeptical at first but is now really good friends with Linda. We met with the exchange organization pretty much the day after the email, signed all the paperwork and by the weekend we were assigned Linda. That next week, Linda and I chatted a bit through Skype and email, finalizing all the details and getting to know each other a bit. She arrived on August 16th. And right into the craziness of our life. As you can see from my first point above, Scott died the 2nd day Linda was here. Yeah, nothing like a teenage girl coming to California and finding out about our very good friend dying in a bike accident. She was able to take it all in and handled the tragic news and her first few weeks with us pretty well. Sometimes, I fill my "life" plate up too much. I spread myself thin and work myself to the grind. But it's who I am. Like I have mentioned, Life is about living it to the fullest, no regrets, nothing to do over. Because we just get ONE! Linda is now part of our family and she will always have a place in our hearts. And just by taking the risk to open our house, spread ourselves a little thin, we now have a very good friend and another part of our family!

Reading the 4 Agreements, February. Be Impeccable with your word. Don't take things personal. Always do your best. Don't make assumptions. These four "Agreements" transformed my life. Reading this book by Don Miguel Ruiz taught me to really think about the way I live my life. To not just go through my day to day actions without applying these 4 principles. Now, of course I am not perfect and follow these to the "T" but I am constantly thinking about them. Be impeccable with your word applies that what comes out of your mouth can truly affect people. Your words can affect people in a very positive way and in a very negative way. I choose to use my words to create optimism and healthier living for people. I choose to surround myself with people who live by these same values. Life is better this way. Don't take things personally means that if someone is bashing you, verbally beating you up, or talking behind your back, it's them, not you. This is definitely easier said than to do. People can be outright vulgar and vicious. And like the "Be impeccable with your word", words can drastically affect people. Here's an example. I was very excited to get an article posted on the Active.com website this past year. Active is one of the leading multisport educational resources there is in the world. My article was posted and I was stoked. I received some positive feedback, people really enjoyed my article. But I get this one email from, we will call him "Joe", and Joe writes how horrible my article was. He bashed me! After I read the email, I admit, I was a bit down. This guy, named "Joe", never met me, didn't know what I do everyday, just read an article and decided to personally attack my personal philosophies and methods. But, as I thought about it for awhile, I soon began to realize that it's ok. His words do not have to hurt me. For some reason, he decided to take the time to bash something positive, he must have something going on in his life that caused this pessimistic/egotistical attitude. This is where the 4 Agreements altered my thoughts. I didn't take the email personally. In fact, my thought process quickly turned around and I was motivated because of it. I wanted to be better, write better and continue doing what I was doing. People can be mean. They can gossip and talk behind peoples' back but we can choose to use our words in a good way. We can hype people up and give them confidence and improve their self esteem. That is how powerful our words can be. We must learn to get rid of the "vampires" in our life that will suck the positive energy out of our lives. It is up to us to eliminate negative people from our life. It is up to us to mold our lives and our thoughts and our actions. It just takes daily practice and mental conditioning to develop our daily lives the way we want. Always do your best is a core value of California Fitness Academy. We follow this principle on a daily basis. If you are putting in effort, you might as well strive to your best efforts. Read the books, study the material, train the correct way, eat the right foods. If you have a goal, put in the work and go for it. Do your best! It's a daily tactic that everyone needs to focus on. Last but not least, Don't make assumptions. This is a difficult "agreement" to live by. We get caught up trying to assume what people are thinking. We might here what "someone else said" and then we quickly assume. Those assumptions could be entirely incorrect. Get the facts first before you start assuming because it turns into "negative poison" and will affect your life. So remember these 4 Agreements. Be Impeccable with your word. Don't take things personally. Always do your Best. Don't make assumptions. They will change your life!

Death of "Junior", a CFA client, October 8th. Unfortunately I have two deaths on this reflection list. Death is a touchy subject and a tough pill to swallow but it can be a time of growth as well. Junior was a motivational human being. He began working out at California Fitness Academy in 2010. He was committed, showing up to his workouts ready to work hard and give his best. He was a young business owner who had tremendous work ethic and character. We became very close and connected to Junior. When I got the call on Sunday the 9th that Junior was killed in an automobile accident, I was sad. Just when I was starting to recover from Scott's death, I hear this news. How tragic this was. A 26 year old, positive person, business owner, son, brother, hard worker....the question is again asked, why? Well, here is my reasoning...as we grow through life we start realizing the true meaning of LIFE. Unfortunately some people wake up each day and accept being average and methodically get through their days. For them, days run into each other and excuses are made of why they aren't where they should be. We may not be in control of some things, like tragic bike or auto accidents or our genetics or how our family and friends act or the economy or the views of the President, but we are in control of ourselves. We have capability to wake up and think a certain way. We have capability to live a certain way. We have the capability to set goals and work to achieve them. We have the power to change who we are today to make for a better "me" tomorrow. We have the capability to not make excuses and just get it done. It just takes work. I decide to have a positive mindset. I decide what food goes in my mouth. I decide how I react when a road block is set in front of me. I decide how to treat others. Junior lived everyday. Some people spend their lives dying and it's sad. But Junior was unique and wanted change and growth and leadership and personal development and health. He lived! Let's learn from Junior and wake up tomorrow morning and decide to live life to the fullest! Junior: "You were the epitome of what we will try to emulate."
Bike ride to San Luis Obispo and Run from Avery to Angels Camp, July/December. Why you ask? Because I can! These two special training days are definite learning experiences. The bike ride was an adventure that started in Coalinga, Ca and took me through the coast to San Luis Obispo, 106 miles. The run was an epic conclusion to my Christmas vacation. I would start heading "home" as my wife, daughter and Linda (foreign exchange student) would leave a few hours later and pick me up on the way. 20 miles and 3 hours later, I made it to my destination. With both situations I had studied in detail my routes beforehand, I knew exactly the direction I needed to go to get to my destinations, hence the first lesson is about goal setting. It works the same way for any objective/goal. You have a starting point, which is "A" and the goal is to get to "B". There are long and extra "mileage" routes that could have you lost and frustrated, there are short and quick fix routes that might not give you the end result. But then there is the efficient route. The one that can get you to point "B" safely in the allotted time. Quick fixes are not good, they are not maintainable and not having a plan of action will get you lost and frustrated so planning and preparing the most efficient way to get to "B" is the best remedy. As you embark on this journey, this goal, road blocks are destined to be in your way. Whether it's a steep hill to run or bike, a dirt decent that's rough on your bike, an angry boss, a tough financial situation, sore knees or ankles, or a change of plan (death in the family, newborn child, etc)....how will you handle the road block? What direction will you take? My idea, take it head on. Take the challenge, the goal, the journey head on. But be prepared. Do the research. Know the path to your destination. Know your destination. If you do not know where you are going, good luck finding your way. Start constructing your 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 year goals. Just write a list, call it your "BIG LIST" and write down everything you have ever wanted. And start working to get it. Create your "bike route". Expect road blocks and frustrating times but keep going. These adventures gave me much time to allow my mind to be turned off but I also did lots of thinking. I thought about everything, family, work, fitness, life, and whatever else my mind was on. As I was cycling down the coast or running through the Avery hills, I came to the conclusion that life is what you want it to be. You can either sit on the couch each day with no goals or aspirations and die while you are living or you can get up and be active and be unique and strive for your best. You can not set limits on yourself. You will never reach maximum capacity with these self set limits. Fly I tell you. Fly high and keep going. Why you ask? Because you can!

Time to make 2012 the biggest year yet. When others are resting and not moving forward, be the person to take big action steps in the right direction. Decide right NOW that you want a big year. Decide right now how you want to live. Decide right now that you can and you will be a better person.

Happy New Year and Let's Make It Happen!

Ironman Arizona - A Magical Day

2011-11-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

As I rolled around the corner to see the finish chute, the one thought came into my head was, "It's over, I finally did it!" The thoughts that go through your mind during an Ironman Triathlon are pretty amazing. I ran down the finish chute hard, comfortable and relaxed knowing I had just achieved a lifelong goal. Here is my story...

Training for an Ironman is a commitment. You must dedicate yourself to the training program and the preparation. They say, "The success is just showing up to the start line of an Ironman." The journey is long, arduous and grueling. There are many sacrifices you must make in order to train and prepare for this epic day. And when you cross the line, it becomes all worth it. Leading up to Ironman, my training hours/mileage for this year added up like this:

3100 miles on the bike
745 miles running
150,000 yards swimming

which equates to approximately: 450 hours of training time

This doesn't add in the time driving to and from workouts, cooking and eating for training, traveling to races and stretching and foam rolling. It is definitely a job in itself.

It doesn't take weeks to get ready for this 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run, it takes months and years of consistent work. Going into this Ironman, I was ready for the adventure to come to a conclusion. My mind was made up that I was not doing another Ironman, this is it, one time and out. I was ready, prepared and anxious for this long awaited day and it was time to see what I could do....

We drove to Arizona on Wednesday, got into town around 5:00 pm, settled into our rental house and relaxed before bed. The next morning Eric Blain (My good friend who I have been coaching for the past year) and I headed out on a easy 1 hour spin on our bikes. We rode into the main location of the event and cruised around the scene. We got familiar with the roads and were able to see some of the run course. It was good to see this before the actual race. The rest of the day we chilled and stayed off our feet. We woke up Friday morning and drove the bike course. Seeing the layout before you race is important. The course had a false flat heading towards the first turn around on the bike, so we were prepared for that. But the way back was slightly downhill and fast. We then headed towards the main location of the triathlon, parked and ran a small portion of the run course to get our legs moving. We were both feeling fresh, sharp and ready.

Tapering should be a well planned layout of decreasing training volume the last 3 weeks of the training plan. I always advise athletes to be very disciplined during this taper as this is the time to allow the body to fully adapt to the months of training. If you do not allow recovery these last few weeks, the body will have residual fatigue and you will not perform on race day. So, our taper was well planned out and both Eric and I were feeling ready.

Friday night the excitement started to escalate as we went to the mandatory meeting. Race directions were given to the 2900 signed up athletes. Eric, myself and Eric's cousin Kevin drove home that night all in anticipation of the big day ahead.

We woke up Saturday morning, hopped on our bikes for 40 easy minutes just to get our legs up and moving. It felt good. We were now 24 hours away from one of the biggest events of our lives. The rest of the day was filled with eating good food and relaxing, getting all of our gear checked in and situated and mental preparation. The time was now here...

After a solid 7 hours of sleep, my alarm woke me up at 4:00 am, normal for me, so I was up and showering. I started the coffee, ate a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter and jelly and had a banana. I sat on the foam roll for a few minutes then went outside and went through a good warm up to release any nerves and prepare the body for the big day ahead. We headed down to the "hot spot" at 5:30 am.

Here's where the first road block of the day happened....

As we were walking to the transition area, a quick thought came into my head, "Did I put my timing chip in my gear bags?" See for Ironmans, you have gear bags and special need bags for the day, you do not put your transition bag by your bike. Well, I made a big mistake and left my timing chip in my transition bag, which was still out the house! Ok, it was 5:50 am and I was calm and knew it was enough time to have my wife, Stephanie, drive back and pick it up for me before the start. I put everything together for the morning, turned in my special needs bags, put my fluids on my bike and made sure everything was good to go. I called Stephanie, "Where are you." (very calmly) She said, "I am not even at the house yet, the roads have closures so I am on the freeway." The time is now 6:10. Ok, we still have time, I told her, "Steph, this is all my fault, but if I sound a little agitated, I am sorry, but please try and hurry." I went back to my bike, pumped up my tires and then started to put on my wetsuit. The time is now 6:25. I called Steph back, "Where are you?" She said she was on a road that had closures and couldn't get through. I started to walk back to her, probably about 1/2 a mile from the transition area. I had her on the phone, "where are you babe", I kept saying. I admit, I was freaking out a bit. The time was now 6:35, we have to be in the water at 6:50 and race starts at 7:00 am. She finally says, "Ok, are you by the parking structure?" I said, "just keep driving, I am right past it." I saw her, hopped a fence to get to the car, grabbed my chip, told her she was the hero of the day and ran back to the transition area, just in time to find Eric and Kevin and enter the water! Talk about cutting it close.

Ok, now back to the triathlon...

The swim was a one loop, 2.4 mile swim in Tempe Town Lake. The water temperature was a chilly 61 degrees but when I jumped in, I was warmed up and the water didn't feel too cold. We had to swim about 200 yards to the start line, which was good to get the arms moving. We waited in the water for about 5 minutes before the big cannon suddenly went off and the race started. 2900 athletes all starting at once is a bit chaotic but the first 10 minutes went by fast and wasn't too bad. I was able to find some space and get into my rhythm. Randomly during the swim, there was traffic and swimmers all around you fighting for space and then it would clear out. I dealt with this and continued on with the swim. For me, the 1st half of the swim was a warm up, just getting going and loosening up. Once I made the turn around, I was able to put in a few hard pick ups and upped my pace. I did this throughout the second half of the swim. I would settle, let the heart rate come down and then pick up the pace again. I felt my best on the last 15 minutes of the swim. Once we made it back to the bridge where we started, I knew we just had about 300 yards to go. So I kicked my legs out to wake them up, started to mentally prepare for the bike and I gave a big underwater "YES"....the swim was over.

I quickly got out of the water and a volunteer helped me shed my wetsuit which was awesome. I told her thank you and jogged through the transition chute, picked up my bike gear bag and headed over to the changing tent. I quickly put on my bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses and race belt and hurried to my bike. I was feeling fresh, strong and ready to take on 112 miles on the bike.

Going into the bike, my whole race plan was to conserve my energy to have enough in me to put together a strong run. The bike was a 37 mile loop that was to be completed three times. The first loop for me was a warm up. I was spinning a light gear the first 17 miles, remember it was a false flat so I stayed conservative and made sure I was getting in my fluids and fuel to stay well ahead of the game. When I made the turn around, it was quickly noticed that this was going to be a fast section of the course. The wind was at our back and we were on a slight downhill. We were hitting speeds of 25-32 mph and not even working that hard. I was liking this! Very fast we were finishing the first loop of the bike. I was feeling strong. It was great because we were able to see our family and friends many times during this bike course. Seeing them really increases your energy for the next loop of the bike. The 2nd loop was a little different than the first. The wind decided to change directions and was with us on the way out. I didn't mind this because I was able to push a little faster speed on the false flat without taking too much energy. When I turned around I was still able to keep my fast pace on the slight downhill. I kept telling myself, "stay conservative, we still have a long way to go." I did and continued to eat, drink and stay fueled, maybe too much (you will see later). I wanted to get to the 3rd loop feeling fresh and ready to go, I did and was excited to have this feeling. In fact between mile 74-90 is when I was feeling the best on the bike. I was able to put in some big efforts and increase my speed without blowing up my legs. This was encouraging. Once I hit the final turn around, there was now only 18 miles to go. My energy was good, my legs felt fine but my stomach started to become a bit achy. I slowed down on the fluids only taking in water and carbo pro to see if it would subside. I knew I had saved energy and my legs for the run but as I finished the bike and dismounted and headed over to the changing tent, my stomach was full, bloated and a bit unsettled....

I sat in the changing tent, taking my time to put on my running shoes, let my heart rate drop a bit and wanted to make sure I was all good to go for the run. A marathon awaits and I wanted to make sure I did any last minute preparations for the run.

I exited the tent and immediately knew my stomach was knotted up. I had my fuel belt on with my bottle of gatorade and quickly took the bottle and tossed it to my wife. I didn't want to carry that bottle. I dealt with some major stomach cramps the first loop. I ran decent for having this problem. The 2nd loop, this problem became worse. My run slowed and walking at times became a better choice to allow the stomach to settle. My mental thoughts started to shift at this point. I figured if these stomach issues do not let up, it could make for a long, long marathon. I could be out there till 7:00, 8:00 pm. Miles 10-13 were tough because I couldn't run the way I know how and it was starting to get to me. My pace slowed to 11+/min/mile.

I came to mile 13 and decided to stop in the porta potty to let my heart rate come all the way down and allow my stomach to settle a bit. I had to make a decision right there and it ended up being the game changer for my day. I made myself throw up. This is a bit scary, because I have never done this before and the thoughts of dehydration and not having any fluids in me the rest of the marathon came into my head. But I did it. Three tough and hard vomits led to the release of approximately 25 ounces of fluids. I stood up, regained my thoughts and had an unbelievable resurrection. I came out of the porta potty, popped a breath mint in my mouth, drank some water and now it was on. My game had changed. The next 4 miles were ran fast, at 7:30 pace. I saw my parents at Mile 17 and they noticed the change and saw Stephanie and the rest of the crew at mile 19 and they saw the change. Now I was doing what I am good at.

That pace lasted to the 20 mile mark and then I slowed up a bit so I knew I needed some fuel. I took a gel, which gave me a big side ache but I was able to get that one to subside and continued running at a strong pace. I was literally passing droves of other athletes during the last 7 miles of the run. This is the best I had felt the entire day. Yes, after 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 20 miles of running, I was feeling my best. It was a true testament to my training program. I saw my parents and my uncle at mile 24 and was excited to see them with my new and energized spirits and running pace.

This is where I knew I would have a strong finish. I gulped down a small cup of water at the last aide station and took off for the finish. I ended up running the last 5k in sub 24 minutes, which equates to 7:40 min./mile.

The finish of an Ironman is surreal. Honestly, it seems like a dream, I barely remember the last 400 yards. All I know is that I was running hard, I was strong, I was happy, I was relieved it was over, and the crowd was cheering loud for everyone finishing. I gave a fist pump at the line and the race had ended. I heard, "Justin Levine, you are an IRONMAN!" Pretty awesome feeling.

Final time: 11 hours 14 minutes
Swim time: 1 hour 13 minutes
Bike time: 5 hours 44 minutes
Run time: 4 hours 4 minutes

All of the training, the hours on the bike, the sacrifices came down to one day. That one day of testing your body and your mind to the extreme limits. And when you crossed that finish line the emotion running through your body was magical. I wanted to see my wife, my daughter and Linda (our foreign exchange student) and wanted a sweatshirt, I was cold. I sat with my family by the finish for about 20 minutes post race and tried to take in the whole day and experience. So much was going in my head. But the one big thing that I was thinking, "What could I have done with a complete, strong marathon?" Sub 11 hours is for sure in the cards, I could do that! Low 10 hours is possible. I can push a little harder on the bike, learn from my mistakes and not drink too much and then get off and run a 3:30ish marathon, I can do that! Dangit, did the bug get me....?

Well, as for now, I want to recover, enjoy the Holidays and enjoy some time off from structured training. Next year, the goal is to concentrate on shorter distance races, build my top end speed and not commit to anything big. I want to run sub 1:20 half marathons. I will take December as an unstructured training month, doing workouts that sound fun but more importantly allow for 100% recovery.

I want to thank my wife for giving me massive support in my lifestyle. She is definitely my #1 fan and I love her very much and thank her very much. And thank you to all of my friends and family that supported me, followed me on race day and kept me in their thoughts. It is truly humbling. I would not be who I am and in the position I am in if it weren't for the people in my life.

And now to the next adventure and challenge....

Don't Be Old School

2011-10-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

Don’t Be Old School
By: Justin Levine

Why do people still perform crunches? Why do people still get on the leg press machine? Why do people still believe in long slow distance training to “burn fat”? Well, this is what we knew 20 years ago. Things change and so must people. Fitness has transformed over the past 20 years. There are many concepts that at the time we thought were the most efficient ways to get fit. We no longer live in a bodybuilding world where we design body part splits for our workouts. You know the workouts: chest/triceps, back/biceps, and legs/shoulders. If you are still doing this you are “old school”. Program design has changed to training specific movements for proper function. We will get into that a little later in the article. The body is meant to function a certain way. Check out Michael Boyle’s article and dvd, “A Joint by Joint Approach”. We need mobility in certain areas and stability in others. If the hips do not move properly our low back will hurt. Does anyone out there want to blow a disc in their lower back? I am sure no one will answer yes but every time I walk into a “big box” gym people are always performing crunches, back extension and leg press exercises. Dr. Stuart Mcgill, a low back specialist, states that “any flexion or extension will create a disc to blow.” It might not happen the 1st, 2nd, or 50th time you perform these exercises, but eventually your low back will “hurt”.
This article will cover many old school concepts and methods that you should not be doing anymore. If you are just stop. I will also get into some specific cutting edge theories that you need to implement into your program design. Remember, you need an open mind when it comes to fitness. If you want to continue to get results you must learn to change your program. There is so much education out there for us to learn. Do not do the same thing you were doing 5-20 years ago. Step out of that bubble and step into the new age of fitness training and continue to learn.

Crunches are old school. Again, if you want a low back disc to blow then continue to perform crunches. The movement of crunching puts the spine into flexion. The spine does not want this load. The function of the spine is meant to be stable. When we move at the spine we cause low back pain. Read any of Stuart Mcgill’s research. This guy is way smarter than I am and these are the concepts he talks about. Another exercise people need to eliminate from their program is back extensions. Start thinking stability exercises for the “core”. Examples are plank variations, side plank variations, cable stabilization exercises, core rollouts, medicine ball training and cable chops and lifts. If you want a “6-pack”, change your diet. If you want to lose weight, change your diet. Doing “abs” at the gym will not get you leaner. It is a mix of a properly designed workout program, consistent healthy nutritional habits and proper rest and recovery. We need to promote good postural habits and doing crunches puts our body in poor position for good posture. Stabilize the spine, stop doing crunches and you will see the difference in the way you move.

Bodybuilding splits are old school. In fact bodybuilding splits are probably close to 20 years old. This is what people did in the 80’s and 90’s. We went to the gym to work our chest for an hour. Then the next day was arms. Good ole biceps and triceps for the entire workout. We would leave the gym with a massive pump in our arms. Then the next day we worked back and shoulders. Then we would finish the week with a ridiculous leg routine. Some leg workouts left us unable to walk and we were sore for days after. If you are still working out like this, STOP! This is not an efficient way to get fit. You must incorporate specific movements and interval conditioning (I will get into that one on #4) into your workout routine. Horizontal and vertical pressing and pulling movements, bilateral and unilateral knee dominant and hip dominant movements and core stability exercises. Do not make it too complicated. Add balance to your routine. If you have two pressing exercises (bench press and push-up) you need two pulling exercises (chin-ups and DB row). If you have two knee dominant exercises (split squat and lunge) you need two hip dominant exercises (deadlifts and hip lifts). When you have imbalances it leads to injury. Who wants to get injured? Nobody! If you are trying to get fit, do not lift like a bodybuilder. Structure your workouts with these new concepts to build an ultimate fitness level.

Leg press, leg extension and leg curl machines are old school. In fact if you are working out on any machine, unless it is a Keiser cable system, then you are outdated. Machines do not build function. Your movement is constricted on a machine. Remember the old school Nautilus machines when they first came out. What year was that? 1976. Back then Nautilus was the “cutting edge” of fitness training. But we do not live in the past, we live in the future. Time to step into the new age of training. If your program is loaded with machine exercises and non-functional training then change your program. Implement deadlifts, squat variations, chin-ups, rows, push-ups, presses and core stability work. You will get results. In fact you will get the best results you have ever seen.

Long slow distance “cardio” for fat burning is old school. I was a culprit of this when I first started training clients. I would have my clients do cardio on their non-weight training days for at least 45 minutes. I wanted them to stay in the “fat burning zone” the entire time. Sound familiar? With the knowledge of guys like Alwyn Cosgrove, Mike Boyle and Mark Verstegen, I finally figured out that this was not the answer. I started having my clients do intervals. There are many different interval protocols. For deconditioned individuals an interval might be a walk on a treadmill at a 5% incline for 30 seconds and then back down to 1% for 1 minute. For fit athletes I usually choose the Tabata protocol. These are very intense and can be done as a medicine ball circuit or on a treadmill or bike. I do not use the word “cardio” to my clients anymore. We call it conditioning. Cardio is the word people use when they get on a treadmill for an hour at the same pace. Conditioning is when I have my clients perform 15 intervals of 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off. It sounds better. At the completion of every training session I add conditioning to the workout. It could be a metabolic circuit, treadmill sprints, or bike sprints.

The “5 minute walk on a treadmill” warm-up is old school. Do not walk on a treadmill for 5-10 minutes and think you are warmed up. You need to implement a dynamic warm-up to your workout routine. Not just once in awhile. Every time you workout you need to perform a dynamic warm-up. A proper warm-up will prepare you for your workout, increase flexibility, increase mobility, and elevate your heart rate. A walk on a treadmill only covers 1 of those traits. Your workout will be more intense and you will reduce injury.

Ok I saved the best for last. If you are still participating in step aerobics you are very old school. This was a fad in the 80’s. All step class is going to do is give you knee pain. Yes, it is good that you are moving and staying active but there are better options than “step class”. If you like group classes choose a strength training or circuit training class. At least now you can get some interval type training.

So the moral of the story is that things change. What we used to do does not work anymore. And what we know now may change. With the beauty of science and education we as fitness professionals continue to study the body and learn the most efficient ways to get fit. I personally will continue to learn the rest of my life. Thank you so much to guys like Mike Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove, Mark Verstegen, Gray Cook, Stuart McGill, Todd Durkin and Martin Rooney who are always willing to share their knowledge to the world.

Make the time work for you

2011-10-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

I Don’t Have Time – Let’s Make Time

Instead of making this excuse, be the person that can make time for your health and wellness. Once you can make going to the gym and eating healthy food a habit, it becomes part of your life, will take less effort and you will regain that rockstar energy! Just remember, you cannot make the day any longer but what you can do is make your time use wiser. I am going to show you how easy adjustments in your day and better use of your time can give you more time to spend on your health.

Wake-up 30 minutes earlier than normal. You do this for an entire year and it adds up to 182.5 hours. Even 30 minutes a day designated for a workout or activity can tremendously increase your vitality and way of life.

Cut your TV time in half. The average American watches 5 hours of TV per day. This adds up to 1,825 hours in a year! Cut it in half and there you go, 912.5 more hours a year or 2.5 more hours per day you just gained from turning off the TV. Now you have time to workout.

Prepare most of your foods on Sunday night. Doing this can save you 20 minutes per day. Chop of your vegetables for the week, prepare a few pieces of lean chicken, and boil up some eggs and you will be more likely to have a healthy week and save daily time. Taking the time on Sunday can save you valuable time during the week.

Grab your gym bag before you leave for work. Head directly to the gym immediately when you get off work. This saves time by skipping the drive back home. Plus, you won’t get caught up at home “doing something else”.

Workout early. Get to the gym early and get your workout in before any of your daily activities begin. Once you get it in, you feel better, have more energy and have the whole evening for other activities.

Take advantage of 10-15 minutes of dead time. Perform some bodyweight squats, jumping jacks, planks and push-ups to speed that metabolism and give you a boost of energy during the day. Just like above, 15 minutes a day can add up to 91.25 hours a year.

Spend less time on the computer. I know we need our computer time but many of our hours on the computer are used for junk searching. The Average adult spends 3-6 hours per day on the computer. Let’s drop 1 hour a day and you now have 365 hours extra during the year.

Moral of the story, a week as 168 hours and we all have 4-6 hours in our week for exercise. Create the habit and make it part of your life and never again make the excuse, “I don’t have time.”

20 Ways to make the last 90 days EPIC!

2011-10-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

Are you ready to get rolling with major motivation and drive to finish this year on a high note? What's stopping you? We have arrived to the last quarter of the year. Today we have 87 days left of 2011! These last 3 months are crucial to get re-focused and inspired so we can create major impact as we end the year. To me, this is a make or break time of year. With just 87 days left of 2011, we can either get stagnate and not get better or we can tremendously enhance our life with constant improvement and personal development. You should want to get better in the gym. You should want to improve your eating habits. You should want to increase your strength and fitness levels. You should want more education. You should want better relationships. Always wanting a little more can internally drive and motivate you everyday. But usually it is a lack of desire and/or settling into bad habits or laziness that keeps us from conquering our goals. It's time to kick it up a notch! Don't be that person who is saying, "Nah, I am good, I am happy where I am at." This mindset will lead to stagnation which will cause a lack of motivation and desire to get better. Below is a very important list of things that when done consistently will make the last quarter of the year very EPIC! But it is entirely up to you to do these things. Be serious about them, and go for it to the end of the year!

Write down your goals. Even if you wrote down goals at the beginning of the year (good job by the way), write down your goals that you want to achieve over these last 87 days. Goals become real when they are written down. The next step is repeating them every morning when you wake up. "I will lose 20 pounds." "I will read 4 books." Say it with conviction and passion and start working.

Don't dwell on the negatives. Pessimistic people are destined for failure. Just by changing your attitude you can start accomplishing so much more in your life. But this doesn't happen over night. Conditioning the mind takes work and needs focus each and every day. Wake up with a mindset to take on each day with 100% effort. For the next 14 days, every morning wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and repeat, "Today, I will be my best, give my best and do my best. It will be a strong day."

Workout. We have 168 hours in the week. You must have 4-6 hours for yourself. Don't make the excuse of "I don' t have time". What you don't have is good time management. Turn the TV off and get moving. We have time for exercise, the key is making it a priority. Don't wait because when you age, it gets tougher and tougher to get results. Stay on top of your health and vitality.

Spend time with your loved ones. Life is short and before you know it 3 years, 5 years and 10 years have gone by very fast. We don't want regrets. Spending plenty of time with the people you care most about is critical. This is the time of the year where we do spend time with family and friends but this time around, really cherish the time you have with your crowd. Relationships are critical for life enhancement.

Be organized. Every Monday morning write out your "to do list" and highlight the most important tasks and start knocking them out. Get a calendar or use your phone calendar and write in all of your appointments. Put in your workouts, your family time, your reading time, your social time, your spiritual time...pretty much everything that is important to you, add it to your calendar. We actually have a lot of time, it's just how we use our time that matters. Take advantage of 15 minutes here and there for reading and/or recharge time. 15 minutes each day over a year can add up to 91 extra hours. Don't say you don't have time!

Wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal. Just like the point above, doing this over the next 87 days will give you 43.5 extra hours! This is a tremendous amount of extra time that can be used for working out, reading, writing, time with family, praying, whatever you do that will improve you.

Get sleep. Consistent sleep is the foundation of health and vitality. Sleep is not overrated and very few people can perform at optimal levels with less than 5 hours of sleep every night. The key is consistency. Try and get 6-8 hours of solid sleep every night and you will have more energy, your brain function will increase, you will be able to give more at work or school and you will just feel better.

Send flowers or a box of mixed nuts to a special friend. Sometimes we take for granted the relationships that we have built in our lives. Do this randomly. Don't wait for a special holiday - it means more on a random day when no one will expect a gift.

Eat more fresh and healthy foods. What you eat will dramatically change your energy levels and your daily vitality. If your diet is full of saturated fats, high sugar and processed foods and empty calories, you will feel like crap! Become optimal with optimal nutrition. It doesn't take any more effort to eat healthy than it does to eat unhealthy. You just have to build the habit into your life. Just remember, fresh food is the better choice!

Volunteer your time. Hit up your favorite charity or shelter and spend some time with people that could really use a friend or a laugh. Just writing a check to a charity is not volunteer work, get out there and lend a helping hand.

Challenge yourself. Stepping outside your comfort zone is hard but is needed for self improvement. Don't stay in the confines of your comfort space because you will never get better this way. Whether it is in a workout, reading a certain book, bettering a relationship or improving your mindset, be comfortable being uncomfortable.

Repeat this every morning with your goals, "Thoughts become words, words becomes action, action becomes habit, habit becomes character, and character becomes your destiny." Remember this phrase before you are about to do anything. It all starts with a thought but it's what you do after the thought is what makes the difference.

Have quiet time during the week. Recharge your thoughts and get re-focused with 5 minutes of quiet time. It can be as simple as closing your eyes in your car before you head into the office. These 5 short minutes can get you super charged and dialed in on the tasks at hand so you are more prepared to have great days.

Have a genuine positive mental attitude. Be the person that is considerate to all people. Don't worry if someone is grumpy and gives you attitude, give them a smile and a hello and continue on with your day. It is totally up to you to create this mindset. The right Attitude can positively change many things in life.

Take a risk. Successful people take more risks than non-successful people. They get out of their comfort zone and work their butts off to accomplish their goals. It's not easy but with hard work and discipline you can achieve very gigantic goals.

Surround yourself with highly positive people. If you want success, if you want to get in better shape, if you want to quit smoking or drinking, if you want to lose weight, whatever it is...then it is mandatory to have people around you that will support your objectives. Negative influences will literally suck the positive energy right out of your veins. Look around you, if you hang out with losers and people that are going down the wrong path, you better take a look in the mirror and change your friends.

Do something spontaneous. Spontaneity drives adventure and that adrenaline feeling. Out of the blue, pack your bags and head out of town on a weekend trip. No planning, just call it a free for all trip. Life needs excitement and living by the book all the time will get boring.

Focus on you. I am not saying be selfish, in fact I want you to work on the exact opposite. I want you inspiring others and doing things for other people but listen, if you are not 100%, if you are not healthy, if you do not have energy, you will not be able to do anything else for other people. You will not be able to give full efforts to other parts of your life if you are overweight, sick all the time, and not 100%. So pay attention to you, eat the right foods, be active everyday, go get a massage and become optimal! Love yourself first so you can spread more love throughout.

Start small and grow big. Think about this one for a minute....If you put $2.00 away in a savings account everyday, that's $14/week, $63/month, $756/year and $7560 in 10 years! Moral of the the story is that it takes small efforts done over and over to make huge gains. It started with just $2.00 and built to over $7k just by doing something so small everyday. It goes for many things. Working out, eating healthy, reading more books, brushing your teeth....It's not the one time you do it that matters, it's the long haul of consistently repeating these healthy habits that will dramatically change your life for the better!

Live one day at a time. Once you know your goals and you know where you want to go in life, you must live one day at a time. Remember you can't do anything about yesterday and tomorrow but today affects the future! So live today big. Do more, be more and you will get more out of life.

87 days left today, next week 80, in 1 month 57 days and in two months 27 days! They will go by fast and it is up to you to make each day count. So let's go for it and get what we want. No excuses just plain ol' hard work!

Leave a comment and let me know what you will do.....

Living Healthy, more than a physical matter!

2011-09-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Living Healthy, More than a Physical Matter

Living a healthy lifestyle goes well beyond just looking a certain way. It’s not just about ripped abdominals, sculpted arms and lean looking legs. Being healthy is a mindset. It creates a state of mind that can get you through tough times, cherish the good times and can push yourself beyond the limits that are set. As physical goals are important to have, we must always take a step back and understand the real reasons to be fit and healthy. As most gym goers head to the gym, their initial mindset is to lose weight, or “tone” their arms, or get rid of the body fat around their stomach. Again, these are goals that can keep your motivation to train but let’s take a look at some deeper goals that can help create a healthy life, not just for aesthetics but also for a positive mentality to keep you living at high levels each day.

1. I do it because it makes me feel good. The feeling after a tough workout is exhilarating. When those endorphins (the feel good chemical that is released post-exercise) are kicking we are so stoked and excited following a workout. I see it all the time in the gym. People might initially come in for a workout in a negative, frustrated and exhausted mood but once they get going and start zoning out, their mood suddenly changes. When the workout is completed, the mindset is changed.

2. Healthy living creates discipline in my life. Everyday you need to expect greatness and in order to do this you must set goals, be productive, have good time management and have a positive mental attitude. Daily discipline will guide you to this way of life. When you decide to live a healthy lifestyle, you must build small daily disciplines in your life to live the life you want. Wake up and drink water, pack your snacks, get to work or school on time, eat every 2-3 hours, get to the gym, pick up your kids, prepare a healthy dinner, get to bed on time. Healthy living is about systemizing your life to get the most out of each day.

3. Creating the “Always do my best” attitude. At the end of the day if you only gave 60%, you just wasted a day. Start giving 100% everyday and watch your life take off. Every aspect of your life will improve. Each day try to give just a little more so you can truly maximize your life. Living a healthy life is not about being perfect. Give your best effort one day at a time and your vigor for life will improve.

4. I am a true believer in myself. When you have ingrained this healthy lifestyle into your life you will become a true believer in your abilities. Believing in yourself is how you can continue to reach new heights of performance, personal development and personal achievement.

Strategies to Reducing Injury

2011-07-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

10 Strategies to Reduce Injury in a Training Program

It seems that more and more people are suffering from chronic pain, injury and aching bodies. From knee and low back pain, to shoulder and hip pain, these instances can be reduced and better yet eliminated with smart training and recovery tactics. Below are 10 strategies that can help you reduce injury and pain:

1. Foam roll and stretching. Improving the tissue quality of your muscles can dramatically change the way you move, recover and live life. Tissue quality is the foundation of movement and fitness. Lack of flexibility in the muscles limits your range of motion, causing other areas of the body to compensate, thus causing pain and/or injury. You need to take time out of your schedule to focus on improving the tissue quality of the muscle. For every decade you have been alive is the days per week you should be implementing this portion (a 50 year old should foam roll/stretch 5 days a week).

2. Smart training principles. It’s not about how hard you train but how smart you train. Hard and erratic training leads to injury and inconsistent results. Smart and efficient training leads to massive improvement and an injury free body. Don’t live by the motto, “more is better”. We want you working and getting results but that doesn’t mean pushing the body past the barrier that will lead to injury. What did you do last week and what is your plan next week? Start logging all of your workouts and create a long-term training plan that will put you on the path to a healthy and fit body.

3. Proper Dynamic warm-up. Every single training session should start with a thorough dynamic warm-up. Preparing the body for the work ahead is a crucial tactic to reducing injury. Too many people just start their workout without activating the system beforehand. This warm-up should increase heart rate, elongate muscles, mobilize joints and wake up the nervous system. Without a warm-up you increase your chances of injury during your workout.

4. Strength training. Learning how to strength train can assist you in every aspect of your life. Implement full body, multi-joint movements that will increase your function and way of life. Hire a qualified strength coach to help you design a proper program that fits your needs and goals.

5. Consistent Sleep. You will eventually wear down if you are not sleeping consistently. You are in full recovery mode when your body is at rest. If you are lacking solid sleep at night, it doesn’t matter how smart or efficient your training program is because you will not fully recover and you will tax the nervous system and eventually breakdown.

6. Proper nutrition. High-level nutrition equates to high-level performance. If you are consuming empty calories, high fattening foods and inadequate fuel, your body will not be at its best level. You risk breakdown and depletion with this type of nutrition plan. The majority of your food consumption should come from nutrient and fiber dense foods like fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Add in lean protein sources like chicken, fish, eggs and low fat milk and quality fats like avocado, raw nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.) and heart healthy oils. A good food plan will enhance your recovery, give you energy, and keep you at your optimal level.

7. Do not randomly train. One day you hit a group class, one day you run, one day you do P90x and one day you lift weights. Randomized training can definitely put you on the path to injury and pain. You will have a more successful training program when you have a plan of action and create a progressive plan to build your fitness week by week.

8. Know your limits. This is a big one. When you push past your boundaries you dramatically increase your chances of injury. I am not saying you shouldn’t push yourself, but if everyday you have extreme soreness and you are not allowing full recovery, you will eventually end up hurt. Our bodies are very resilient but when constantly pushed beyond its limits, you force breakdown and

9. Corrective exercise. We all have imbalances and weaknesses and its imperative to put focus on improving those weak links in the body. Understanding your movement dysfunction can help you devise a corrective exercise program that will enhance each weak link. If you have hypermobility issues then you need more strength and stability work. If you lack mobility and flexibility then you need more range of motion drills. Have a qualified specialist assess your movement and then implement “corrective” drills daily to give you a more functional and injury free body.

10. Drink plenty of water. As simple as it sounds, this is crucial to remaining healthy and injury free. When the body is in dehydration mode, your immune system starts breaking down, you risk getting sick and body wears down. The body needs water to work at high levels. Just by drinking adequate amounts of water you can see changes in your performance, decrease pain and injury and enhance your overall way of life.

Better Movement equates to better running

2011-06-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Become a Better Runner, Become a Better Mover – Part 1

- Justin Levine

I see too many runners just start running. They eliminate some very important aspects. No soft tissue work, no pre-run warm-up, no drilling, they just begin to run. This strategy can run you right into a physical therapy clinic. You must take the time to create a recovery and regeneration program and implement it into your overall running program so you can truly maximize your performance. Remember if you are hurt you can not train, and if you can not train you can not get better. So take the time to devise your recovery program to reduce injury and enhance your running.

I just conducted a running clinic and we discussed the importance of soft tissue work, pre-run warm-up strategies, running drills for better economy and functional strength training to enhance your strength and power. If you missed this educational clinic, don’t worry because I am going to give you some of the concepts we talked about.

First we went over foam rolling techniques. Foam rolling is a great way to “self massage” your muscles. You can reduce and better yet eliminate knots that are bundled up in the muscles from running, daily moving and activity. When you improve the tissue quality of the muscle you improve blood flow and flexibility. You will move better. A foam roll is a very important tool for runners and other endurance athletes as it can tremendously assist in injury prevention. When you roll you want to find tender areas in your muscles. Go slow and methodical and when you hit a tender spot, stop and pulse over that area for 20 seconds, then continue to other parts of the muscle. Here are the muscles runners need to concentrate on to reduce some common injuries seen in the sport:

IT Band: the IT band is located on the lateral (outside) of the leg. It attaches to the hipbone and runs all the way down to the outside of the knee. When our IT band is tight we can create pain on the outside of the knee, also known as IT band syndrome.

Quadriceps: We all know where the “quads” are. But what most people do not know is that there are three different parts to the quads. The vastus medialis is located medially (inside of the quad), the vastus lateralis is located on the outside and the rectus femoris is located in the middle. Make sure to hit all three spots as you can build up knots throughout the entire muscle. Many runners with patella (knee cap) pain or medial (inside) knee pain can tremendously reduce the pain with consistent soft tissue and foam rolling.

Glutes and Hip Rotators: If you have ever experienced low back pain this is the area you need to concentrate on when you roll. When your hips and glutes are tight, your low back takes the compensation and movement, thus causing pain. By rolling and stretching this area you can assist is taking the stress off the low back and get your hips and glutes working correctly.

Thoracic Spine: Another area, if not functioning correctly can cause lower back and even neck and shoulder pain. Our thoracic spine is the 12 vertebrae located in the middle of the back. We need active mobility in this region. Sitting, driving, bad posture and bad movement causes the “t-spine” to become locked and dysfunctional. When this happens we start moving at the lumbar spine (lower back) and cervical spine (neck) causing issues up and down the chain. Many injuries and pain symptoms can resonate from poor function at the t-spine. So we need to focus on rolling this area many times during the week to increase function so we become better movers.

Calves/Peroneals/Soleus/Feet: We run on our feet so it is crucial to work the areas of the lower leg. If we begin to have tightness at the gastrocnemius (main calf muscle) then we could experience tightness down the chain into our fascia on the bottom of our feet. When the muscles of the foot become inflamed we get plantar fasciitis, a very common symptom amongst runners and endurance athletes. But it is something we can stray away from with the correct recovery and regeneration program. Make sure to roll your calves, peroneals (outside of your lower leg), soleus (underneath your calf) and the bottom of your feet. You can use a rolling stick for these areas or you can use a canned food, baseball or tennis ball.

Next we talked about pre-run warm-up strategies. Again, too many runners forget this important aspect and just start running with out dynamically warming up. This warm-up will prepare the body and nervous system for the workout ahead. If you have a sit down job this portion is mandatory as it will put your body into good function before you begin your run. Always take 5-10 minutes to perform a dynamic warm-up. Even if that means you reduce your overall run time by 5-10 minutes. You will become a better and more efficient runner and you will reduce your chances of injury.

Lunge/Arms straight up: This is a great movement as it can lengthen our hip flexors, activate our glutes and open up our shoulders and thoracic spine. Step out into a lunge position. Place the knee on the ground and raise your arms straight up next to your ears. Push through the back glute to feel the stretch in your hip flexor. Hold for 3-5 seconds and repeat 3-8 times on each side, then switch legs.

Deep Squat to Hamstring: This movement can be used to assess your overall functional movement. So it is important to work and perfect this move. Make sure to keep your chest up, back flat and maintain good core control. Keep your heels on the floor, your feet need to be outside the hips and facing straight ahead and keep your elbows inside of your knees during the squat. As you go into the hamstring stretch, push your butt out and back and keep a flat back until you feel the stretch in your hamstrings. Perform 3-5 full repetitions.

Side Lunging: Running is a sagittal plane (straight forward) movement. We need to increase mobility in all three planes of motion to truly maximize our functional movement. So side lunging will increase hip range of motion in a frontal plane (side to side). Make sure to keep your feet straight and locked into the ground. Sit you butt back into the move as you shift to the left or right. Make sure your bent knee does not slide past your toes. Force your butt and hips to drive backwards and to the direction you are going. You will feel this stretch in your adductors as well.

Push-up Yoga: This is a total body move as it can assist with hamstring and calf flexibility, ankle and thoracic spine mobility and shoulder stability. Start in a push-up position. Maintain good posture and keep your abdominals tight. Take 4 small hand steps back towards your feet. Raise your butt into the air and place your heels into the ground. Keep your legs locked out. Hold for 3-6 seconds and then walk back to starting position. Repeat for 3-5 full repetitions.

To be continued….

Be More Efficient with these Daily Strategies

2011-06-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

10 Strategies for a more Efficient Day

1. Eat breakfast: This might be the most important tactic to creating a more productive day. First thing when you wake up your body is in a fasting state and needs fuel. Take the time to make yourself a nutrient dense breakfast that will wake up your metabolism, spark your energy levels and give you the fuel in your tank to be a more productive businessperson.

2. Drink more water: When your body is dehydrated you lack energy, slow performance, and force the body to work at low levels. It is a must to start drinking water the minute you wake up. You should be drinking ½ your weight in ounces of water every single day.

3. Write your “to do” list. Immediately when you arrive to work on Monday morning, make a list of everything that needs to be accomplished for the upcoming week. Highlight the most urgent activities and start with those. This “to do” list becomes your road map to efficient, successful and productive days.

4. Plan your meals: On Sunday night schedule at least 4 of your dinners for the upcoming week. Know the foods you will cook on which days so you are prepared. If you have dinner plans one evening, write that into your schedule. “Failing to plan, plan to fail”, quotes John Wooden. When you don’t have a plan, it will be difficult for you to manage time and organize your day.

5. Construct your “perfect” day. Start with the time you wake up in the morning, then your shower, read the newspaper, eat breakfast, go to work, check emails, make calls, eat a snack, finish a report, go to lunch, back to work, meeting with boss, respond to emails, finish writing an article, eat a snack, clean up desk, head home, go to the gym, eat dinner, and family time. Write up your “perfect” day and try your best to follow the schedule. If you get off path, don’t worry get on to the next day.

6. Wake up early: Just by waking up 15 minutes earlier each day that will add 91 hours a year of extra time. Spend that time doing something productive like reading a book or educational article or getting in a quick workout. This tactic can get your day off to an unbelievable start.

7. Get adequate sleep: We need 6-8 hours of sleep every night for proper brain function, healthy living, and more energy. Once it is time to go to bed, turn the television off, shut the lights and close your eyes. Watching TV stimulates brain thoughts and could disrupt your sleeping habits. Spend the last 20 minutes before bed reading a book, meditating or listening to soft music.

8. Eat every 2-3 hours: Pack healthy snacks to take with you so you to stay energized throughout the day. Eating low glycemic foods more frequently maintains metabolic function, stabilizes blood sugar, increases energy levels and keeps you from over eating.

9. Workout: Working out consistently will relieve stress, stimulate endorphin release and improve brain and body function. Aim for 60 minutes of activity 4-6 days a week. Implement intervals (running, biking or bodyweight circuits) 2 days a week and metabolic resistance training 2-3 days a week.

10. Positive and fun environment: Surround yourself with motivating, positive and successful people who like to work hard but also like to have fun. When you are around people who are hard working, goal oriented and determined individuals you are more likely to build and maintain these traits into your lifestyle. And smile and enjoy life! Life is too short to be taken too serious so enjoy the people you are around and be inspired to live life at high levels.

Thoracic Spine Function

2011-06-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

Thoracic Spine Function

The 12 vertebrae located in the middle of the back is known has the thoracic spine (t-spine). As your t-spine sits in the middle of your lumbar (5 vertebrae of the lower back) and cervical (7 vertebrae of the neck) spine, lack of proper function can lead to low back trauma, shoulder dysfunction, breathing dysfunction, neck pain and even headaches. The t-spine area needs functional movement. Flexion, extension, and rotation should come from this joint. Because of lack of activity, sitting, poor posture and inefficient movement qualities, the t-spine becomes locked and immobile causing the joints up or below to take the unwanted movement, thus causing irritation and pain. The lumbar spine should have very limited movement. In fact, the lumbar spine should only have 13 degrees of rotation. The cervical spine should remain stable and stay away from excessive movement. When the t-spine is dysfunctional and not doing its job, the movement shifts to the lumbar or cervical spine.

During rotational sports like baseball, golf and tennis, if there is t-spine dysfunction, there will be major compensation going on leading to shearing force on your low spine and ultimately cause injury. In our exercise routine we must implement movements that promote healthy spine hygiene, thoracic spine function, lumbar spine stability, rotator cuff strengthening and hip mobility to keep our lower, mid and upper spine healthy and functional.

Exercises that promote t-spine mobility:

1. T-spine rotations: simply get on all 4’s, keep your trunk strong, place one hand behind the head, rotate inward and touch the elbow to opposite elbow and then rotate outward, giving a big exhale as you move. Repeat 10 repetitions on each side.

2. Wall slides: stand with your back on the wall, slightly bend your knees, place your arms on the wall, making a W, slowly move your arms up as high as they can go, then move them down feeling your shoulder blades move down and together. Perform 10 repetitions.

3. T-spine extension: hold a pvc pipe with your hands, place your elbows on a bench, drive your chest down to the ground, giving a big exhale as you reach the full movement. Perform 10 repetitions.

4. Seated t-spine rotations: sit tall on a box or bench, grasp both your hands behind your head keeping your elbows back, keeping your posture, rotate one direction and exhale and then rotate other direction and exhale. Perform 20 turns.

Functional Exercise for Triathletes

2011-05-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Traditionally triathletes have been told to go to the gym and perform exercises like leg press, leg curls, leg extensions, bench press, shoulder press and abdominal (or the ever popular word core) work. Repetitive crunches, isolation exercises and non-functional strength work compose most triathletes strength programs. The pendulum has definitely been swung to the other side and functional strength work is now the buzz word amongst amateur and professional triathletes. Spending time in the gym is crucial but what you do in the gym is even more imperative. As triathletes are spending masses amounts of time on their specific skills like swimming, biking and running, time is limited to implement specific strength work in the gym. Corrective and functional training should become the basis of your work in the gym. You should no longer go to the gym to work on specific body parts (i.e. back/biceps, shoulders/legs, etc). The sport of triathlon involves the body in one kinetic chain. Not once during a triathlon does your body or a body part work in isolation. If you train isolation in the gym you will not become a functional athlete. Before I go any further, let me give you a brief description of the word “functional”. This is a very popular word in the fitness industry. Many fitness enthusiasts believe “functional training” is circus like exercise that involves unstable surface training and/or fancy equipment.

This is not functional training. This is ignorant training! DO NOT DO THIS!

The truth is functional training is purposeful training. Will your training in the gym assist you in your domain of your sport or outside activity? Will bicep curls and triceps extensions allow you to improve your triathlon performance? These moves are probably not the best application for the sport of triathlon. Looking at the sport of triathlon we must break down each sport, look at their imbalances and construct a corrective plan that will produce body symmetry to allow for more efficient movement. If you become a more efficient mover, you will become a more efficient triathlete. Yes, you must perfect the specific skills of swimming, biking and running. You can do all the corrective and functional work but if you cannot swim, bike and run, good luck. But when you have functional strength mixed with a base of triathlon endurance and fitness, you become a less injured athlete, a stronger athlete and you will be able to have longevity in the sport.

Isolation does not improve triathlon performance!

First let’s look at swimming. Most triathletes swim freestyle. The majority of the sets in the water use the freestyle stroke. Swimming freestyle puts major stress on the shoulder girdle. If you have weak stabilizers of the upper back and shoulders you will be at a higher risk of injury. The gleno-humeral joint is a joint that is made for mobility and complete range of motion and if your lack mobility, you can improve this aspect in the gym. Inside this joint you have small stabilizer muscles that must show stability. Charlie Weingroff defines stability has “the ability to control movement in the presence of change”. When a swimmer lacks this stability you risk friction of the labrum and the gleno-humeral head, which could cause impingement, labrum tears, and rotator cuff issues. Corrective exercises that need to be implemented should incorporate movements that work the rotator cuff muscles (subscapularis, infraspinatus, teres minor and supraspinatus). Going to the gym to just hit bench press and shoulder press will do nothing to strengthen the small stabilizers. If your stabilizers are weak and inactive your prime movers will be limited in their strength and movement. Along with rotator cuff work, strengthening the mid- and lower trapezius, rhomboids and scapulae is imperative for improved posture and anchoring the rotator cuff in its position. If your shoulder blade area is weak, your rotator cuff will be forced to over work, compensate and ultimately get injured.

Being in the bike position for prolonged periods of time promotes bad posture, shortened hip flexors and hamstrings, inactive glutes and a quadricep dominant repetitive movement. These dysfunctions can create debilitating pain, injury and imbalance.

To produce this symmetry we talked about above, in the gym we must focus on posture reinforcement, hip flexor and hamstring flexibility, glute activation and strength and hip dominant movements. Biking primarily works the quadriceps and if you do not concentrate on building the posterior lower body in the gym you force imbalance. Muscular imbalance is the number 2 predictor of injury according to the Functional Movement Screen. For improved functional strength as a cyclist, an athlete must implement shoulder girdle strengthening movements, glute and hamstring strength exercises and flexibility drills to reinforce length in the muscles.

Running creates the most stress to the body. When you run you put 4-6 times your bodyweight of stress every time you contact the ground. Most runners take 80-90 foot strikes per minute. If a 200 pound male runs for 60 minutes, do the math that is traumatic stress to the body. I truly believe in the quote by physical therapist Diane Lee, “You can’t run to get fit, you must be fit to run.” If this 200-pound male laces up his shoes and begins his running program without building functional strength and stability first, he is destined for injury; unfortunately a chronic injury that could take weeks and even months to heal. Let’s focus on building strength first and then start running. Corrective work to maximize your running economy is truly important. When you look at the movement of running from the ground up you need foot stability and strength, ankle mobility, knee stability, active hip mobility and stability, glute strength and power, core stiffness, proper posture and stabile shoulders. When you have these traits you run more efficiently with less stress to the body. But unfortunately most runners and triathletes lack these attributes which debilitates them and forces them to stop their activity. These hard working athletes run, run and run some more. They run through injury, run through pain and run till they get hurt. Until they put a big focus on corrective strategies to enhance their running, it will continue to be an issue.

Is all that kinesio-tape really needed? "Get fit to run, not run to get fit."

When triathletes show up to the gym, the first thing they should do is soft tissue work. Sit on a foam roll or a tennis ball and roll areas that need attention. Spend 10-15 minutes improving tissue quality and eliminating the knots and adhesions that are built up from constant training. The dynamic warm-up is next. Looking at the above imbalances that are created from swimming, biking and running, the warm-up is a perfect time to implement specific corrective work to promote balance, function, flexibility and mobility. The drills in the warm-up, when done consistently, will force this symmetry and enable the body to work as a kinetic chain. After the warm-up, spend time on corrective movements for the shoulder girdle, glute stabilizers, inner core musculature and posture enhancement. I usually design mini-circuits for this portion. For example:

1a) Y’s/T’s/W’s lying prone on bench x 6 reps (scap stability)
1b) mini-band lateral walks x 5 steps – repeat twice (glute medius activation)
1c) pallof core pressouts x 8/side (anti-lateral flexion)
1d) wall slides x 10 (shoulder mobility/posture enhancement)
*repeat this circuit 2-3 times

2a) Shoulder step-ups x 6/side (scap stability, anti-rotation for core)
2b) mini-band monster walks x 10 steps – repeat twice (glute medius activation)
2c) marching front plank 2 x 20 seconds (anti-rotation, hip flexor activation)
2d) seated thoracic spine rotations x 20 turns (thoracic spine mobility)
*repeat this circuit 2-3 times

After the corrective exercise portion, I move into the functional strength. For triathletes I design movements that, just like the corrective exercises above, build balance, symmetry and function throughout the body. So the strength movements are a continuation of the corrective work but now we could add external loads to the equation to build strength. Balance is key, for every knee dominant you add a hip dominant. For every pressing movement, you add a pulling movement. Again, I use mini-circuits for this portion:

1a) 1-leg squat x 6/side - Knee dominant
1b) Farmer Walks x 20 yards and back - anti-lateral flexion
1c) Inverted Rows x technical failure - pulling

2a) stability ball leg curls x 10 - knee dominant
2b) ab wheel core rollouts x 10 - anti-flexion
2c) alternating medicine ball push-ups x 10-16 - pressing

Depending on where the athlete is in their season will depend on the volume of this workout. Usually throughout the year I have triathletes perform 2 quality sets of these mini-circuits. I am a big advocate of smart and efficient work rather than more work. I also advise triathletes to be in the gym all year long. As an athlete's "A" race approaches the volume of the workout decreases but you would still remain in the gym at least one time per week. That workout would consist of soft tissue work, movement drills to activate and prepare the body for race day and corrective work to mobilize and stabilize specific joint structures. Triathletes should not be afraid of gym work the week of a race. The application of what you are doing is what's important. Go to the gym with a motive to become a more efficient mover and in turn you will become a better endurance athlete.

Functional and corrective exercise should be used to build a balanced and symmetrical body. If you have an understanding on how the body moves and functions you will be able to implement corrective exercises into your training program to assist in creating this functional body.

Lessons Learned at the California Classic Weekend

2011-05-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

I raced in the California Classic Weekend this past weekend. On Saturday there was a Century, metric century and a short 35 miler. On Sunday, there was a half marathon. Having a big weekend of training and racing like this, it is imperative to be fueled, hydrated and nutritionally sound leading up to the event and during the event. Unfortunately I witnessed many athletes struggling with exercise related cramps, dehydration, inadequate fueling and depletion of electrolytes and energy. These issues can limit your performance and derail your weekend. Lack of proper nutrition will cause the above problems. I will discuss the various problems, why they happened, how to deal with them and how to avoid them in the future.

Muscle cramping
Muscle cramping affects 59% of all endurance athletes. To me, the majority of exercise related cramping is caused from dehydration and sodium depletion. Your body needs fluids, salts and potassium for large volume workouts. If you show up to a big training day or a race without proper fluid intake you will end up suffering. Once you get behind in your fluid intake, it is very difficult to catch back up and regain your energy and stamina. Hydration should start 3-5 days leading up to the event. Too many athletes start focusing on hydration just the day before the event. Drinking adequate fluids should be a habit for endurance athletes in their normal daily lives and training regimen, but it must be a big focus as a race or training weekend is approaching. When we exercise we sweat and release fluids. As this happens we must replenish as much as we can during the event. Again, ONCE YOU ARE BEHIND YOU WILL SUFFER. Water should be your main source of fluids during the day. But with a race or training weekend approaching it is a good idea to supplement an electrolyte drink into your daily plan. If you are a heavy water drinker you could possibly cause an electrolyte disturbance in which your sodium levels become extremely low. This is called hyponatremia, which could cause confusion, fatigue, loss of appetite and MUSCLE CRAMPING. You could be pounding high amounts of water leading up to the event, drink water during the event and you could still suffer from muscle cramping because your body is depleted of salts. Severe water intake without sodium and electrolytes can cause this issue. That is why it is crucial to add an electrolyte supplement into your regimen. I advise 8-15 ounces of liquid electrolytes like gatorade, hammer nutrition or accelerade (or your product of choice) daily, 3-5 days leading up to an event. The more training you have the more you need. If you know the weather calls for hot and humid conditions and extreme sweating I would look into supplementing electrolyte tablets the day of, and leading up to the event.

Stay away from high amounts of coffee, alcohol and soda as these liquids can dehydrate the body. A small cup of coffee or a 12 ounce beer will not hurt you, but once you start indulging in 3+ servings you can increase your chances of creating the above issues.

"Hitting the wall" or "Bonking"
This can be a debilitating issue if you allow yourself to get to this point in a race or training weekend. Hitting the wall can stem from different inadequancies like dehydration, pushing out of your element, or nutrition dysfunction. I am going to discuss nutrition dysfunction as the main reason for "hitting the wall". Food is our fuel and we need a plan so our muscles can work efficiently. Muscles need sufficient glycogen levels to continue working at high levels. As we exercise and deplete our muscle glycogen, it is imperative to replenish the calories, sugars and fuel we need to keep moving. DON'T allow youreslf to get low because just like trying to get hydrated it is very difficult to catch back up once you are down on fuel. If you are depleting your calorie consumption because of a weight loss program, not keeping a dialed in nutrition log or you just don't think it needs improvement, then you will run into problems. When you have a big event like the California Classic you must concentrate on healthy and adequate food consumption 3-5 days leading up to the weekend. What food should you eat you ask? Well I think for the most part you know the answer to that question. Healthy fruits and vegetables, moderate amounts of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat breads and pastas, lean proteins and healthy fats. Endurance athletes need approximately 50% of their calories coming from healthy carbohydrates, 30% healthy proteins and 20% healthy fats. And you won't know if you don't track your foods. Practice tracking everything you eat 3-5 days leading up to training weekends. Also track the food you eat before, during and after the training day. You will start devising a nutrition plan that works exactly for you and then it will be your goal to execute this plan leading up to a race. Personally, I usually up my calorie intake 100-200 calories 4 and 5 days before, 200-350 calories 2 and 3 days before and eat to stay satisfied the day before. I DO NOT OVEREAT the day before an event. My loading of carbohydrates and liquids should have already happened. I want to eat high quality foods the day before but just enough to not be hungry anymore. The morning of, I want to eat food that is light on my stomach, quickly digestable and that will top of my glycogen tank and give me the energy for the beginning of the training. There are many options. I ask, "What works for you?" Practice with different foods and strategies and find the best one that works for you. Once the race or training begins, how and when you replenish your loss of calories will play a huge role in how the day will unfold. I usually focus on drinking my electrolyte drink every 5-15mintues. I start this right out of the gate. Do not wait because you will quickly fall behind. And sip, don't chug. If you feel you need a few sips then take them. A great strategy to keep you on target of fluid intake is to set your watch to 5-7 minute intervals. When the watch beeps you sip fluids. For workouts or races longer than 90 minutes its a must to add more than my liquid calories into the plan for proper replenishment. Liquid calories can come from gels, fluids or soda. Solid calories can come from bars, fruits, sandwiches, etc. The question I ask again, "What works for you?". That is why food logging is crucial because it can assist you construct an individualize nutrition program that works for you specifically. Once training comes to an end, quickly consume a post-workout snack. At a large event like the CA Classic there was plenty of fluids and food to consume post-training. I quickly grabbed water, drank down my gatorade and headed for the food lines. The quicker I get calories into my body, the quicker I can start the rebuilding phase. When I am in this rebuild and regeneration phase, this is when my body is at its highest response to improving and getting stronger. Take advantage of this 30-60 minute window.

Lack of performance
Training for a large event takes consistent training, proper nutrition and a disciplined lifestyle. There were many different levels at the CA Classic Weekend but everyone had their individual training and nutrition plans. Leading up to an event of this stature you wish for an ideal training schedule, unlimited recovery ammenities, and nutrition coaching to guide you to maximized performance. Unfortunately these tactics are not feasible for every athlete. Here are some strategies that can tremendously help your program:
-Be progressive but allow for recovery. If you want improvement you must create stress to the body. You must slightly increase training loads, intensities and volumes week to week. If you did 4 hill repeats last week, then do 5 this week. Don't be random. Randomness can cause overtraining, injury and lack of performance. There is nothing wrong with a random workout every once in awhile but a progressive schedule is the most efficient. As you want to produce this stress on the body you must also implement an active recovery week every 3-4 weeks. During this week you drop training volume.
-Find some training partners or a qualified coach. Training with like minded people makes for a more enjoyable experience. When you have similar skilled training partners you are likely to push yourself more than if you were alone, thus improving your fitness. Hiring a coach earlier in my career, personally, gave me the education and knowledge I needed to increase my fitness. There was no brainwork needed when you have the right coach. The workouts are written up, progressive, and on track to your A race. Make sure the coach you are looking into is ingrained into the lifestyle and staying current with the latest research and education.
-Know your limits. Do not be in a rush to do long distance events. In my opinion, Ironmans should take 3 years of solid training, Half Ironmans and Marathons need 12 months of consistent training and half-marathons, Olympic distance triathlons and century bike rides take 6 months of training. And this is the minimum time frame. Yes, you can go out and finish an Ironman with 6 months of training but you increase your chances of chronic injury and fatigue post-race. So be smart in your endurance lifestyle because that's what it is, a lifestyle. Get committed and understand that this sport is a long term project to reaching your goals.

The Complete Training System

2011-05-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Maximizing fitness, athleticism and performance in the world of endurance athletics is easier said than done. Many athletes focus too much of their effort on just the training component. To see consistent improvement, one must create an entire system to envelop a training program.

Endurance athletes are tremendously hard workers but sometimes this hard work will come back to haunt them as injury and pain tend to creep up for this specific athlete. As training is the foundation to getting results there are other components that incorporate the complete system. These "other" components need attention and when they are disregarded, an athlete does not maximize true potential.

The Complete Training System

Component #1 - Performance Nutrition

Perfecting healthy nutrition principles is imperative to staying healthy, injury free and truly maximizing one's performance. When your diet is incomplete and lacking of the nutrients and vitamins the human body needs to perform, recover and stay healthy, your training program will become stagnate. As training is crucial, the nutrition program is just as imperative to an endurance athlete. Vigorous training hours leads to fatigue, broken down muscle tissue, tired joints, a run down nervous system and an immune system fighting to stay healthy. Without a proper nutrition plan to assist recovery and replenishment, your body will spiral downward to a state of overtraining, thus causing inconsistent sleep, lack of motivation, and ultimately injury and stopping of the activity. I use this as "component #1" because there isn't enough focus on this tactic. Without changing any of the training protocols, tweaking nutrition for peak performance can give endurance athletes an edge on their competitors. An endurance athlete's diet should be full of complex carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables and healthy whole grains, lean proteins like fresh and lean chicken, turkey, fish and occasional red meat and healthy fats like natural peanut or almond butter, avocado, raw nuts and olive oil. Keeping your food consumption to calories that are nutrient dense and limited of saturated fats, high amounts of sugars and salts and empty calories is imperative for high level performance. Food timing is another critical aspect to understand. What you eat is important but dialing in your nutrient timing can expand your performance to high levels. Understanding what specific food does for your system can assist your energy levels, increase the intensity of your workouts and allow your body to fully recover after training. Pre-workout food consumption is dependant on each individual and the needs of that person. Find what works best for your body. Do not rely on what you saw in a magazine or read in a book. What works for you? The basic nutrient breakdown before training should consist of a 3 to 1 ratio of complex carbohydrates to protein. This ratio will top off the glycogen tank to prepare for the work ahead. This pre-workout meal should not be heavy, fiber dense and packed with empty sugars and calories. Instead aim for calories that will give you the necessary energy and jumpstart you will need to begin training, without overworking the digestive system. Within thirty minutes post-workout, this is a time when the body is an anabolic state and will be at its highest response to the calories you consume. Food that is easily and quickly digestible are better choices. Whey protein, chocolate milk and/or your specific supplementation (hammer nutrition, Gatorade #3, etc) are good choices. Once you have hammered down your post-workout snack immediately after completion of your training, you now have a 1-hour window to consume natural whole food. Aim for lean protein sources like eggs, chicken, fish or legumes and complex carbohydrates like quinoa, vegetables and fruit. And don't forget your healthy fats. Post workout is a time to nourish the body with omega 3 and 6 nutrients to repair muscle damage and decrease inflammation.

Component #2 - Efficient Training

Training progressively and smart is a tactic many athletes do not follow. A randomized training schedule is the method most amateur endurance athletes’ use. They train depending on what they want to do for that particular day. There isn't a plan of action, no progressive build up, no planned rest days, and limited structured workouts. These are strategies that must change in order to fully reach an ultimate performance level. The first step is setting up a structured training program that fits your needs and goals. Write down the top three objectives that you want to accomplish over the training period. Example: 1. Get faster at 1/2 marathon distance 2. Get stronger on the bike 3. Complete 1/2 Ironman. Having goals in place before you start the training plan will give you a target to shoot at instead of just guessing. When you start constructing your game plan, you must use these simple strategies:
1. Never increase volume more than 10% each week.
2. Every 4th week decrease your highest volume week by 40%. This is a recovery week and will allow your body to fully adapt to the training block.
3. You never want to have back-to-back training days that are both high intensity workouts. Stick to the "easy/hard/easy/hard" set up for your workouts.
4. Find your "A" race and plan your training backwards from the scheduled day to the present. This will allow your peak to happen for your most important race. Trying to peak for every race of the year will lead to lack of performance and ultimately injury.
5. Listen to your body. If your body is in a fatigue state and just can’t get through a specific workout, call it a day. Know the difference of being a sissy and just having mental and physical fatigue.
6. You should implement a base phase to build your aerobic capacity, a build phase where you implement more race pace strategies, a peak phase where you are preparing for the demands of the race, a taper period where you allow for full recovery and adaptation from all of your training, and a transition period where you have time off and allow for full physical and mental regeneration. These periods will set you up for a successful training year.

Component #3 - Recovery, regeneration and rest

The human body is very resilient and can take training loads at extreme rates. But the human body does breakdown and it’s what you do during your recovery time that allows you to build and improve performance. During workouts, we breakdown muscle tissue, deplete our energy stores and we create nervous system fatigue. When our nervous system is fatigued it doesn’t matter what we do for our training, we will not get better. We will be in a constant state of overtraining, causing compensation, breakdown, and ultimately injury. It is a must to plan and schedule rest days, rest weeks and transition periods into a training program. Here are strategies that are a must for recovery:

• Foam Roll/Stretch: You need to schedule flexibility sessions into your training week. After long weekends of training our muscle tissue becomes inflamed, tight, and adhesions are formed throughout the fascia. Rolling and soft tissue therapy will help get rid of the small knots and adhesions that build up over time. Plus it will help promote blood flow, which gives you better movement and range of motion. Endurance athletes should focus on the quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, IT band and mid-back. Stretching also needs to be implemented into the schedule. Stretching the muscle will help lengthen the fascia to allow for proper movement and range of motion. If our muscles are tight we restrict movement, decrease our performance and eventually we will get hurt. Take time to roll and stretch.

• Ice: After long and/or hard training sessions icing the legs is a great way to get them to recover at a more rapid pace. Icing will decrease inflammation, any swelling and enhance healing. But icing is not about "more is better". You should ice your legs for no longer than 15 minutes an hour. Any longer can cause damage to the surrounding muscle tissues. If you have a direct pain site (i.e. shin splints, plantar fasciitis, etc.), then ice massage is the way to go. Simply freeze a small water bottle, cut the bottom half of plastic off the bottle to expose the ice and then massage the affected area. Do this for only 5 minutes each hour.

• Light movement: After a big weekend of training or a race the best thing for your legs is to flush them out the day after. Know the difference of a hard workout and easy moving. These lighter workouts can tremendously assist recovery as it will get your legs through a range of motion, increasing blood flow, decreasing inflammation and promote recovery. Just make sure to keep these workouts very light. Spinning on a bike or a light recovery swim on Monday, following a big training weekend or race, will assist the body to recover and allow for a better week ahead of training.

• Corrective Exercise: I wrote an article for www.trifuel.com titled, “Corrective Exercises Triathletes need to do”. Go read the article here: http://trifuel.com/training/triathlon-training/corrective-exercises-that-triathletes-need-to-do and implement these moves into your routine to create a balanced and more functional body.

• Consistent Sleep: When the body is at rest, it will be at its greatest state of recovery. If you are not getting consistent sleep throughout the week you will suffer, breakdown and it will lead to injury, fatigue and burnout. As endurance athletes we are continually breaking down the body during training and it is a must to get adequate sleep. The key is consistency. So 6 hours of sleep every night is better than 4 hours one night, 8 hours one night and 5 hours another. Aim for 6-8 hours each night. During the day, try and fit in short 15-30 minute naps to rejuvenate and recharge the body and mind.

Component #4 - Flexibility and Mobility

When you lack functional movement and range of motion of your joints and muscles you do not maximize performance. Swimming, biking and running are all repetitive sports that can create stress, imbalance and compensation to the body. It’s a must to have adequate flexibility in the muscles and mobility in the joints to decrease overuse injury in these sports. When you become tight, immobile and restrict movement your body starts to compensate, thus forcing other parts of the body to work harder than they have to, which will eventually cause pain and injury. Before every workout you must warm-up thoroughly using dynamic stretching movements to allow the joints to open up and the muscles to lengthen before the actual workout begins. You will set yourself up for a higher-level training session when you learn to warm up the entire system. During the week schedule times to foam roll, stretch and work on your mobility. Just keep in mind, when you get hurt you cannot train and if you are not training you will not get better. Implement flexibility and mobility work into your training program at least 3 times a week to see improvement and reduce injury.

Component #5 – Functional Strength and Power

If you lack specific strength and power you will not maximize your performance in your sport. Functional strength is having usable strength that will transfer to the “playing field”. Plain and simple, the stronger athletes excel. But strength and power is not lifting heavy weights with improper form. Strength and power is not about bench-pressing outrageous weight. As the bench press can be a great upper body exercise, it is just a piece of the “strength and power” puzzle. As endurance athletes are very focused on their specific training they tend to forget about their functional strength and explosiveness. These traits can lead to better performance and reduction of injury. Implement strength workouts into the training program that promotes muscle balance, stability, and explosiveness. When done incorrectly you could create imbalance, a weak muscle system and poor movement qualities. Plan and perfect your movements in the gym. For every upper pushing exercise, add an upper body pull. For every lower body “quad” dominant movement, add a “hip/glute” dominant movement. When lifting think “technical failure”. Do not let your form suffer because this can lead to injury and inadequate movement.

Component #6 - The Mindset

The first step to achieving any of your goals is the power of believing in yourself. You must create a positive mindset that consistently has you believing in your abilities. If you show up to the gym or to one of your workouts with a negative, non-believing attitude you will have a lack luster training session. Mental conditioning needs to be worked on just as much as the physical conditioning side of things. We need to teach and train our thoughts to be positive. Did you know that 80% of most humans’ thoughts are negative thoughts? The crazy thing about this issue is that we can do something about it. We can change our attitude, our thoughts and our mindset. But just like we prepare and train for a 5k or marathon to get faster, we must put in the mental training to improve our mental performance. This mind conditioning does not just happen over night. Just like training the body to get faster, stronger and more athletic, we have to train our thoughts to become more positive, energetic and confident. It takes daily work for this to happen. Here are strategies to follow to improve our mindset:

• Daily Affirmations. First, when you wake up you must create positive thoughts before you even jump out of bed. Do not wake up muttering, “ugh, another day.” Say things like: “Today I will be my best and give my best”; “I will move closer to my goals”; “Nothing will get in my way”; “I will tackle my problems with a full head of steam”; “I will drop body fat”; “I will improve my times in my workout.” These thoughts will turn into actions and you will see a tremendous change in your mindset and your life. You have to be conscious of this exercise, as it is very easy to just get out of bed and “get through another day”. Remember each day is a new beginning, a fresh start, and a brand new chance to create greatness. We cannot focus on yesterday but having a good and better yet GREAT today will make for a better tomorrow. Secondly, after a long day, when you are lying in bed about to fall asleep, finish the day with a positive thought. “I did my best today”; “I am so happy to be alive and tomorrow will be another good day”; “Good job on your effort today”; “Tomorrow will be another great day”. Starting and ending your day with positive affirmations can be a game changer.

• Believe in yourself at all Times. During the day you must create a mindset that truly believes in yourself. Do not put yourself down or have disbelief in accomplishing a certain project, or workout, or task. Think of the self-degrading comments we tell ourselves sometimes. Would we like it if someone else said bad things about us? Absolutely not. That would make us very angry. But yet too many times we are putting ourselves down and disbelieving in our abilities. No matter the task at hand, do the work necessary to kill it. If you have the action and the mindset you will accomplish. Believe in that and you will start doing Big Things.

• Try some meditation. Have you ever sat in a room or in your car with complete quietness, your eyes shut and focused on your internal thoughts and mindset? Try doing this for 3-5 minutes everyday. Do it before your workout or before you step into your office or before a big race. Meditation can relax your mind, get you centered, focused and energize your thoughts. With such busy lifestyles our mind is always racing and thinking of the next step. Focus on zoning out and direct your attention on your thoughts and your internal motivations. What drives, inspires and motivates you? This internal conditioning can be a supercharge in energy that you have been looking for.

• Positive self-talk. This one goes hand in hand with endurance performance. During workouts and training you must create a positive self-awareness that will lead to successful performance. It is easy to talk ourselves into not completing the recommended distance or the last few intervals. Continually tell yourself that you can do the mileage and you can push through the tough intervals. This will transfer over to your racing as when you are pushing and giving it your all, you will be able to push through that uncomfortable zone and have a successful race. When those negative thoughts enter the head, immediately erase them and turn them into positive thoughts. “Keep going”; “Yes, I can”; “I can hold this pace”; “I can do 1 more hill repeat”; Your performance goes in the right direction when you think positively.

• Write down all of your goals. This can be a road map to a successful training program. What do you want? Faster 5k? Run a marathon? At the end of each season, you need to assess the previous season. What were your strengths? What were your weaknesses? What will be your goals for the next season? Goals are just random ideas and thoughts until they are written down. Create a game plan that you can look at everyday. When your goals are in sight every morning when you wake up you are more likely to stay on path to accomplish those goals. The next step is showing those goals to a mentor or a coach. Now you are held accountable to achieving your goals. Meet with that person periodically throughout the year to talk about where you are at and what you need to do to stay on path.

There you go, the COMPLETE TRAINING SYSTEM. You start working to improve on all six of these points you will see a dramatic change in not only your performance but also your vitality and the way you live life.

If you have any questions, you can direct them to justinlevine03@hotmail.com.

Wildflower 2011

2011-05-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

Going into Wildflower I was in my best form for any triathlon. My training the past 6 months has been consistent, efficient and dialed in to fit my needs. I am a true believer in creating a program that is about focused volume and training not necessarily long useless mileage. I try and cut out all junk mileage and keep my training time efficient and to the point. This aides in my performance come "game day".

I woke up Tuesday the week before Wildflower with a surprisingly weak body. I had a sore throat and had a bit of the chills. I went into work for half of the day and spent the afternoon/evening on the coach sipping hot tea in a blanket trying to fight off the chills and high fever that crept up on me. As Wednesday approached, I had much to do to get ready for the big weekend. But the sickness was still there. I decided to take work off and get some much needed extra rest. I found the energy to take care of the errands I needed to finish before I left for Lake San Antonio.

Thursday morning I awoke to a screaming sore throat, the worse it has been all week. We were planning on leaving at 7:00 am. I took an IB profen to get me through the morning and we finally left at 10:00 am (we had a small mechanical problem in our RV that needed to be fixed).

Wildflower weekend is pretty exciting. You have the best athletes in the country show up for this grueling course. And whether you are taking on the 1/2 Ironman, Olympic or Mountain bike course, there is deemed to be challenges that awaits you. Usually it is fun times by the camp fire and enjoying the company of our Visalia Triathlon Club team members but for me, it was extra rest in the RV as I was still battling a weak immune system and sore throat.

I got some much needed rest on Thursday night, woke up Friday morning and went for a 20 minute jog around the campgrounds. This was a needed workout because I had been on a coach the entire week. I needed to wake my legs and prepare them for the big race. My legs and lungs finally started to wake up after 20 minutes. I then hoped on my bike for a 20 minute easy ride. I actually added in 4 short 30 second hill repeats to really sharpen my legs. These two workouts definitely got my body rolling and ready for the next day.

Friday was full of rest, recovery and good nutrition. I stayed hydrated and took in all my vitamins to get any last minute immune system strength I could. It was time to go.

After a good night's rest on Friday, I woke up at 5:30 am on Saturday morning, feeling a little better. I went outside and did my foam roll routine, dynamic warm-up and some striders to wake up the body. I like this pre-race warm-up early in the morning to get any last minute nerves or anxiety out of my body. I felt confident going into this race and knew I was capable of hitting the 5:30ish mark.

I went down to transition area very relaxed, warmed up and fueled and ready to go. I stayed moving until about 20 minutes before my wave went into the water. That is when I put on my wetsuit and headed down to the water. Immediately when it was our turn to warm up I jumped in the lake and headed out for a quick 3 minute warm-up. It was enough to get my arms moving. Here we go, another triathlon is about to start.

The swim was very chaotic at first. I went out in the 2nd line of athletes and was mobbed by flailing arms and kicking legs. I stayed strong and kept my stroke relaxed and made my way through the bucket of athletes. Once we hit the first buoy, the water opened up and I began to get into my rhythm. Going into Wildflower I hadn't put much focus on my swim because I knew I had a good base and some decent speed so I decided to get in the water only 1-2 times a week. The swim went by fast and before you knew it the last turn to the boat dock was in site. I always kick my legs hard in the last 200 yards to wake them up before the run up the dock and get them ready for the bike leg. I was ready to go.

Training leading up to this race was about a bike focus. I had been biking quite a bit and my fitness on the bike was stronger. I was ready to take on this challenging bike course. Once I was out there, the wind was howling. It was so tough that it began to be a test just to stay on the bike. Being a light athlete, with aero wheels made for a tough ride. I never really got into a rhythm in my aero position. Anytime I tried, my bike would shake and the wind would throw me around. I clinched my handle bars and stayed safe. Once I made the turn into the campgrounds my energy was high and ready to take on the run course. I executed my nutrition plan and was ready for the 13 mile hilly run.

Right out of transition is an important time because you can assess how your body is feeling and mine was feeling strong. I had practiced some tough transitions leading up to the race so my legs were ready for these hills. My goal was to stay steady on the up hills, let it fly on the downhills and keep a good cadence on the flats. My heart rate was controlled and the miles were flying by. At mile 4, the big hills began and this year my goal was to keep jogging and I accomplished that goal. No walking for me! Once I hit mile 6, I knew I had some rollers to deal with that if you surge to the top of each one the downhills take you to the next one so I kept that mindset. At mile 7-8, you run through many of the camp sites. As I hit the Visalia Tri Club camp site, I saw the cheering squad screaming and yelling for me. It was uplifting to see my wife and my daughter Olivia JoJo supporting my efforts. Once I made it through the next 2 miles which was a mild decent, I knew all I had was a couple of hills to get through and the finish would be in site. I continued to grab water and toss it on my head and body to keep everything cool. I consumed one more gel at mile 10.5 just so I could finish strong.

As I hit Lynch hill, I began my sprint towards the finish line. I like running downhill so I tried and passed as many athletes as I could. I turned the corner, saw the finish chute and ran hard through the finish line. My time was 5 hours 36 minutes, 8 minutes faster than last year. I actually had a 14 minute faster run time this year so I was very satisfied with that effort.

All in all, it was another great event. Triathlon is not about wins or losses or even a specific time, it's about determination, desire, sacrifice and the sense of accomplishment. Finishing my 5th Half Ironman in 4 years leaves me feeling excited and ready to take on Ironman Arizona at the end of the year. 199 days and counting...

What Motivates You to wake up everyday....

2011-04-15T05:10:00.000-07:00

Caitlin Summers I'm motivated to wake up and work hard because of the feeling I get when I step on the softball field. I feel unstoppable, free, I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. That feeling motivates me to challenge myself so that I can continue to have that feeling as long as I can.

Murrell John Rizon the fact that I'm alive

Stacy Grinsfelder Without a doubt it is my family. I love modeling a strong, confident and healthy mom to my four children. When I see my husband and kids cheering me on at the marathon finish line I know that all the hard work has been worthwhile. As a family, they all work together to help me achieve my fitness dreams. I recognize their sacrifice, and that motivates me to never give up.

Jay Damo
Once an athlete, always an athlete. No matter if you're still in competition or not, that drive & passion will always be there & those 2 things can never be taken away by anyone. There is always room for improvement and excellence. Everythi...ng only just gets better. Be the one that gets ahead while others are taking time out. :) My motivation: to be able to pass down what I, as an athlete, know to only better themselves. That goes for my HS team I coach & my team over at the coast. :)

Joshua Hickey
Begin with the end in mind & embark on the journey to improve. There is an elite athlete inside each of us & we must work and sacrifice to make this transformation until you reach the state where you look at yourself in the mirror & the el...ite athlete inside you is jumping out of your skin. My favorite story is I'm running airport loops today because someday these runs will take me on one of those planes to somewhere great, Boston, Kona and beyond. Health is the true wealth, my goals are not directed toward growing old with money but rather investing my time to grow old using training as the fountain of youth so I can still play outside like a kid in my later years. In hind side, no amount of money you have in your later years to spend on a doctor can replace the years you investment today in your training & healthy lifestyle. Time is the true asset, you can't buy it back so invest that time in your health wisely.

Stephanie Johnson
This is a great question. I am motivated by the unlimited opportunities available in this world. The possibilities in life are endless when one strives for excellence. Excellence is doing more than others see necessary. It takes commitment,... perseverance, consistency, hard work and most important action. Nothing happens 'til someone does something. It doesn't take 100 years to reach your goals. Strive for excellence you may surprise yourself.

65 Ways to be Elite

2011-04-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of April already. This year is flying by. We are 28% completed with 2011, just like that! How is your year going? Use these 65 strategies below to become elite. Practice them daily, do them consistently and watch your life take off....

1. First thing when you wake up you need to read or watch something motivational. Get your day started with something positive.
2. Try and read a personal growth book a month. Reading conditions and educates the mind. You can start with "The 4 Agreements" by Miguel Ruiz. It's a life changing book.
3. Workout at least 4 times a week. And when I say workout, TRAIN! Working out increases endorphins and gets us accomplishing something for ourselves.
4. Eat nothing but fresh fruits, vegetables, lean fresh white meats, and healthy fats. If you eat healthy and nutritious food you will become elite.
5. Create a weekly list of all of your ideas and thoughts. Then highlight the 5 most important and start tackling those ideas. Do this every week.
6. Get a schedule and write in everything that needs to be completed. Add your work schedule, school schedule, kids schedule, your workouts, social events, everything that needs to be done. We only are given a certain amount of hours in a day, we must use them wisely.
7. After every training session make sure to have a post-workout meal within 30 minutes. Try 6oz. of orange juice with 1 scoop of whey protein or 1 yogurt with a piece of fruit. This is a must if you want elite results.
8. On Sunday, make sure to head to the grocery store to stock your house with healthy food. When you are prepared you will make better choices.
9. If you own a business, you must spend at least 30 minutes everyday on marketing your product. If you don't market you won't have business.
10. What are your goals? If you want true elite status, you will take the time to write down everything you want and when you want to achieve it. Type them out and highlight them and put them in a place where you will see them everyday.
11. Breakfast should be nutrient packed and eaten everyday. When you skip breakfast, you are telling your body to slow down and lack energy the rest of the day.
12. Core training is about anti-rotation and anti-extension movements. Stay away from repetitive crunching and twisting. Planks, side planks, farmer walks, core pressouts, chops, lifts and medicine ball slams are examples of core training.
13. Read anything by John Wooden. Coach Wooden knew how to live in a humble and positive way. He taught his athletes to not only be high level athletes but high character people. You can start with "A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court".
14. Start logging all of your workouts. If you want continued success in your training program you must track your progress and keep the stimulus on the body coming.
15. Quiet time is a must. Put away your phone, your Ipod, and turn off the TV. Try and do this 5 minutes everyday. You will recharge and center your thoughts.
16. Write down 20 things that could make you better. Highlight 3-5 of those things and go do them. Then repeat the process over and over.
17. Keep a big water bottle by your side everyday. Water is a must for elite performance and achievement.
18. Train for something. Pick a 5k, a mudrun, 1/2 or full marathon or a triathlon. Having a goal keeps you motivated and accountable to stay on track.
19. Surround yourself with the most positive and motivating crew you can find. Eliminate anyone that brings you down and is a bad influence in your life.
20. Cook your own food at least 85% of the time. Anytime you cook your own food it will be significantly healthier than restaurant food.
21. Eat lots of dark greens. Bell peppers, spinach, zucchini and red leaf lettuce are examples. These foods are loaded with nutrients and vitamins to get us performing at ultimate levels.
22. Take fish oil, vitamin C and a multi-vitamin everyday. Odds are we are not getting all of our vitamins and nutrients from food so we must supplement to max our intake.
23. Be adventurous. Try something new. This will stimulate the mind and excite you to live at higher levels.
24. Look in the mirror and recite your goals out loud. Do this everyday. Your subconscious mind will start truly believing you can achieve those goals.
25. Stay away from packaged and processed foods. Anything in a box or package is not as healthy as fresh food.
26. Workout with someone. The right training partner can help take your performance to high levels.
27. Foam roll and stretch at least 3 times a week. Tight and restricted movement causes pain and injury.
28. Try interval training. If you can't run, then walk fast up hill. If you can run, work your way to sprinting. If you don't like to run, get on a bike and do sprints.
29. Your warm-up starts your workout. Make your warm-up high energy and movement based. Go get my DVD: www.justintrain.com.
30. Workout with fun training tools like kettlebells, battle ropes, medicine balls, dumbbells, sandbells and don't forget your own bodyweight. Create fun and motivating workouts that forces functional movement, mobility and flexibility so you live life to the fullest.
31. Train your mind to be confident and optimistic. Daily affirmations will condition your mind to become elite.
32. For motivation and fitness education read my blog: www.justinlevine03.blogspot.com
33. Dress clean, fashionable and look the part. If you want to make good impressions, how you take care of yourself is the first step.
34. If you are in the fitness industry you need to go to as many www.performbetter.com seminars you can. If you want continued growth in your business and professional in the fast growing industry these workshops are a must!
35. Go and read "The Generosity Factor". A great book about the impact someone can make when they decide to help and inspire others.
36. Go on at least 5 dates a month with your significant other. This relationship is your most important so cherish the times you get to spend together.
37. Get consistent sleep every night. Six hours a night is better than 4 one night, 8 another and 5 another. And anytime you get a chance, a 15-30 minute power nap can re-energize your vigor the rest of the day.
38. Eat every 2-3 hours during the day. This will keep your energy sustained throughout the day. Add a lean protein to each meal.
39. Laugh more. Laughing creates a feel good feeling. So surround yourself with fun, adventurous and happy people.
40. Say hi to more people. Don't be afraid to greet more people with a smile and friendly hello. Happiness is contagious and a smile can go a long way.
41. Always do your best. After a day is completed and you only gave 60% you wasted opportunity to get a little better. Take advantage of each day by giving 100% every day.
42. Get truly committed. Whether it is at work, school, a fitness program, with your family or with your friends, be fully committed. Don't just do something half ass. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing to the max!
43. Help a stranger. Your true character is what you do when no one is looking. Give some food the the homeless or volunteer to kids in need. Talk about being elite!
44. When your feeling a little down and defeated, go watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIcwkn7fl-I
45. Workout like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwVLe871j34
46. Focus all of your attention on the tasks that are urgent and will be of greatest value to you.
47. One hour of reading everyday. If you do this for a whole year you will enhance your knowledge big time.
48. Next time you workout, bring a friend or family member with you.
49. Don't be afraid to stand up for what you represent. If it's a specific workout program, a religion, situation at your job, whatever it is be true to yourself.
50. Always know your word can mean so much. We have the power to affect people in such positive ways. But vice versa we can defeat and derail others as well. Let your word be optimistic and life changing.
51. Listen to this great audio book on personal development, its life changing: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Exceptional-Living-Jim-Rohn/dp/0743529065
52. Be a positive "Hustler". Go out and create your own luck. Fortune and wealth will not just sit in your lap. If you want big things then you will do big things everyday to get what you want.
53. When challenging times arise, stay focused and be determined to get over the speed bumps. Just remember without challenge you do not get better. So except the challenging times and be strong and you will get better.
54. Stay humble and never get to the point where you think you know it all. There is always room to improve - no matter who you are.
55. Make time to workout. Do not let that be an excuse. All you need is 30 minutes. Do this workout if you are buckled for time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qjv3y9K6oo
56. Becoming elite in the sport of triathlon means you need balance and injury prevention. You will learn that is my ebook, "The Complete Triathlete". Check it out here: http://justintrain.com/indexcomplete.html
57. Make yourself homemade trail mix for a healthy snack during the day. Add raw almonds, raw soy nuts, sunflower nuts and raisins. Grab a couple handfuls during the day to keep your energy high.
58. Speaking of recipes try this one: 1 can albacore tuna, 5 cherry tomatoes, 1 chopped pickle, 1/4 cup of black beans and 1-2 tablespoons of mustard. Mix together and enjoy as a tuna salad. Very healthy for elite individuals.
59. If you made it this far, GREAT JOB, send me your email because you just won a free copy of my ebook. Send me your email address to justinlevine03@hotmail.com...and keep reading.
60. Always think before you speak. Be conscious of that 3 seconds before you are about to say something and process it first. Ask yourself, "How will it affect the person I am talking to." Always be self aware, it's a sign of elite professionals.
61. At the beginning of the week write up a menu of the food you will eat each day so you are fully prepared to eat healthy and accomplish your fitness goals. Preparation is the key to a successful fitness and nutrition plan.
62. Next time you go to the gym, work extra hard. You do not get results in the gym by going easy and doing what you did last week. Keep pushing!
63. Focus all of your attention on the essential things in your life. Family, work, school, your health, your friends and your spiritual life. Stay focused on the important stuff.
64. Write out the 1 thing that will truly make you happy. Love, money, health, family, God, friends, what is it for you? Write it out in big read letters and place it where you will look at it everyday. Keep your eye on the prize!
65. Keep reaching for ELITENESS! The climb is trecherous but you will get to the top, just keep going, one step at a time!

Are you really eating healthy??

2011-04-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

First off, I have a great deal for you. The first 10 people to comment on this blog will receive my ebook for free.

Are you really eating healthy???

On a daily basis I always ask my clients how they have been eating. The answer I get is "good". Then I say ok, well tell me what you have been eating the past two days. Come to find out it was a bad two days, but before that they were eating "perfect"! So, I then tell that person to give me a food journal for the next 5 days with everything that goes into their mouth. When I see their food journal we come to the conclusion that they need some help.

Healthy nutrition is a tough task. It takes thought, preparation, time and organization. If you do not put thought into it you will never know what is going in your body. If you do not prepare there will be times when you do not eat or you will make a bad choice. If you do not make time you will rush to a fast food because you do not have time. If you are not organized then you will not be able to put in thought, you will never be prepared and you will never have enough time.

The first list are things you should be thinking about daily. I got this list from a former athlete that I used to train. His university gave this "checklist" to him on the first day of camp. We all need to concentrate on checking these things off the list on a daily basis.

Performance Nutrition: The Inside Edge

Consistent High-level performance requires that healthy nutrition be a high daily priority. Performance nutrition is about eating to optimize energy production, maintain a healthy body composition and accelerate recovery and healing. A true edge is gained by eating for health and performance EVERYDAY!

THE PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST:

Do you eat breakfast 7 days a week?
Do you eat 3 balanced meals at approximately the same time everyday?
Do you eat 3 nutritious snacks in between your main meals everyday?
Do you eat at least 3 pieces of fresh fruit daily?
Do you eat at least 5 servings of fresh vegetables daily?
Do you choose high fiber breads and cereals? (Not corn pops!)
Do you eat a large serving of lean or low-fat protein at each meal?
Do you eat adequately to maintain your body weight (unless on a fat loss or weight gain program)?
Do you eat a pre-practice snack within 1 hour of beginning exercise?
Do you eat a post-workout snack within 30 minutes of completion?
Do you eat a balanced meal within 2 hours of completing your workout?
Do you drink at least 72 ounces of water daily?
Do you sleep 7-8 hours each night?
Do you go to bed at the same time at night and get up at approximately the same time each morning?
Do you take a multi-vitamin on a daily basis?

So look at these questions on a daily basis. You will see huge results in your energy levels, your physique and your performance if you are answering yes to these questions.

Next I am going to show you your calorie needs. Here is a formula for you to figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). The BMR formula uses the variables of height, weight, age and gender to calculate the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is more accurate than calculating calorie needs based on body weight alone. The only factor it omits is lean body mass and thus the ratio of muscle-to-fat a body has. Remember, leaner bodies need more calories than less leaner ones. Therefore, this equation will be very accurate in all but the very muscular (will underestimate calorie needs) and the very fat (will over-estimate calorie needs).

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Example: 35 years old, 155 pounds, 55 inches
=655+674.25+258.5-164.5
BMR for this individual = 1423 calories at rest

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )
Example: 50 years old, 175 pounds, 65 inches
BMR = 66 + 1090 + 825 - 340
BMR for this individual = 1641 calories at rest

So, once you figure out your BMR you need to know how much activity you are putting in everyday. The Harrison Benedict forumla will help you out:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
We will use the male example above. His BMR is 1641 and we will say he is moderately active.

1641 x 1.55 = 2543 calories/day

NOW, you are asking "what do I do with that number"? Good question. If you want to lose weight you deficit that number by 500 calories. 500 calories a day will equate to 3500 calories a week which is 1 pound, a good healthy number to lose in a week. If you want to gain weight you add 500 calories to that number. If you want to maintain weight you eat right at that number.

So if that same man wanted to lose weight he would take that 2543 and subtract 500 which leaves him at 2043 calories a day. And vice versa if he wanted to gain weight.

Your daily calories CAN NOT be below your BMR. If you have these days it is detrimental to getting results. You will do nothing but eat away lean muscle mass and store body fat. You must eat enough food to spark your metabolism.

Final Tips:

majority of your food needs to come from fresh vegetables, fruit and lean proteins
eat smaller amounts of food every 2-3 hours during the day
water intake should be at least 65 ounces; the more active you are the more water you need
everyone, even weight loss individuals, needs a protein supplement; most people do not eat adequate protein sources throughout the day
if you do not cook, you need to learn
prepare you meals before you step out the door
alcohol will stagnate results; except for the buzz you get, there is nothing good about alcohol
If you have any specific questions feel free to email me anytime at justinlevine03@hotmail.com.

Recover Better - Train Hard

2011-04-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

As training gets into full gear, overuse and injury seems to creep up on many endurance athletes. You can tremendously reduce your chance of injury by what you do outside of training. Here are 5 recovery strategies for you to implement into your training program:

1. Foam Roll/Stretch: You need to schedule flexibility sessions into your training week. After long weekends of training our muscle tissue becomes inflamed, tight, and adhesions are formed throughout the fascia. Rolling and soft tissue therapy will help get rid of the small knots and adhesions that build up over time. Plus it will help promote blood flow, which gives you better movement and range of motion. Endurance athletes should focus on the quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, IT band and mid-back. Stretching also needs to be implemented into the schedule. Stretching the muscle will help lengthen the fascia to allow for proper movement and range of motion. If our muscles are tight we restrict movement, decrease our performance and eventually we will get hurt. Take time to roll and stretch.

2. Ice: After long and/or hard training sessions icing the legs is a great way to get them to recover at a more rapid pace. Icing will decrease inflammation, any swelling and enhance healing. But icing is not about "more is better". You should ice your legs for no longer than 15 minutes an hour. Any longer can cause damage to the surrounding muscle tissues. If you have a direct pain site (i.e. shin splints, plantar fasciitis, etc.), then ice massage is the way to go. Simply freeze a small water bottle, cut the bottom half of plastic off the bottle to expose the ice and then massage the affected area. Do this for only 5 minutes each hour.

3. Light movement: After a big weekend of training or a race the best thing for your legs is to flush them out the day after. Know the difference of a hard workout and easy moving. These lighter workouts can tremendously assist recovery as it will get your legs through a range of motion, increasing blood flow, decreasing inflammation and promote recovery. Just make sure to keep these workouts very light. Spinning on a bike or a light recovery swim on Monday, following a big training weekend or race, will assist the body to recover and allow for a better week ahead of training.

4. Corrective Work: I wrote an article for www.trifuel.com titled, “Corrective Exercises Triathletes need to do”. Go read the article here: http://trifuel.com/training/triathlon-training/corrective-exercises-that-triathletes-need-to-do and implement these moves into your routine to create a balanced and more functional body.

5. Consistent Sleep: When the body is at rest, it will be at its greatest state of recovery. If you are not getting consistent sleep throughout the week you will suffer, breakdown and it will lead to injury, fatigue and burnout. As endurance athletes we are continually breaking down the body during training and it is a must to get adequate sleep. The key is consistency. So 6 hours of sleep every night is better than 4 hours one night, 8 hours one night and 5 hours another. Aim for 6-8 hours each night. During the day, try and fit in short 15-30 minute naps to rejuvenate and recharge the body and mind.

Youth Athletes in the Gym

2011-04-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

Young Athletes in the Gym

We live in an area where youth sports are very popular. From traveling baseball, soccer, basketball to city league sports and the very popular junior high and high school athletics, young athletes have many options to be active. Early specialization is becoming more common and youth strength and conditioning is becoming a trendy activity for young athletes. There are many parents that are willing to spend some money for personal trainers, speed coaches, sport specialty coaches and sports psychologists so their kid can get a step ahead. This article is about training. For kids under 15 years old, starting to work out is normal. In fact, more and more junior high and early high school students are seen at the gym working out. This is not a bad thing. What could be bad is the application of what they are doing. Too many kids still have the perception that it is about weight lifting. You have their sport specific coaches hammering "how much did you lift today" in their heads. Unfortunately this is bad coaching. Working out is mandatory for athletic kids. It will create healthier habits, reduce injury later down the road, teach them about fitness and conditioning and give them the tools to improve their coordination and performance. Between the ages of 8-15, the body is in a building and maturation phase. Most kids these ages lack coordination, movement skills, running mechanics and they seem to “flop” around like a fish out of water. I know parents are agreeing with that comment because that is the first thing they usually tell me when signing up their kid "my kid is all over the place when he/she runs". Building the right program is very important. As a coach, I am going to give the most safe and effective exercises to these ages. If all I worry about is "how much they lift" then I am not doing my job. And if you have a coach that is hammering that motto, I'd be careful. Youth strength and conditioning goes well beyond just "lifting weights". For this demographic the key is to start the foundation. The foundation must be set with bodyweight strength, flexibility, healthy nutritional habits, proper warm-ups, and safe and technical movement training in the gym.

What should kids be focusing on when they do workout?

Here are few things to think about:

1. Bodyweight strength is critical. Get this age group to become superior at bodyweight control. Even for older kids (16+) the focus should still be on mastering bodyweight control. If you can not control your own body you should not be adding external loads to the movement. Once they can start understanding their own body’s movements and strength then you can start adding light external loads. Having bodyweight strength will create a solid foundation to build on the rest of their life. Having bodyweight strength will advance an athlete's overall performance. Being able to control your own bodyweight makes you more functional and you will be able to move more freely out on the court or field. For 8-15 years old, this is such an important time to drill bodyweight movements into a routine. Once a young kid can start performing 20 perfect push-ups, and 10 perfect chin-ups then you can start adding light loads. And when I say perfect, I mean perfect! But it doesn't stop there. When you have bodyweight strength you reduce injury. Your stabilizers are strong and support your big prime movers. When you increase stability which is your ability to control movement in the presence of change, you create a better and more functional athlete.
2. Improved running mechanics. Young athletes have poor running mechanics. More and more I see kids that, plain and simple, can't run. They flop and flail all over the place. Teaching proper running mechanics can be a great way to add coordination and agility to the arsenal, all while increasing foot speed and running efficiency. These drills should be practiced before practices, before games and in training. When youth athletes improve their running, they improve their overall athleticism. Their coordination improves, their movement improves and they see tremendous enhancement in the speed and explosiveness.
3. Keep it simple. Youth athletes need the basic and simplest exercises. Getting too complicated too early means you are skipping progression steps and when you skip steps you risk injury. Focus on perfect push-ups, bodyweight squats, pull-ups, core strength and proper stretching mechanics. With young athletes you have plenty of time to progress and get better. Do not be in a rush to jump levels. Mastering the simple exercises will set them up for success later down the road.
4. Stretching is huge. I see more and more young athletes super tight and immobile. When young athletes are tight they risk chronic pain at an early age. At these ages the muscles should be stretchy and supple so we can run, jump and cut more efficiently and reduce injury. Flexibility training should be in the program at least 2-3 times a week. Focus on stretching the hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, adductors, calves and glutes. And focus on good mechanics when you stretch. You should have good posture and be in good position when you stretch. Don't go to the point where you are in pain but you can feel mild discomfort.
5. If it looks cool, it probably isn’t. Too many parents will see professionals on TV working out a certain way and then want their 9-year old kid doing the same things. Go back and read #3. You must keep it simple and master the basic exercises. Repetitive jumping, lifting and crunching will lead to overuse injuries. The whole "functional training" philosophy has gotten a bit out of hand. Functional training is not standing on bosu balls doing squats or performing repetitive plyometrics for explosiveness. Functional training is a systematic, training plan with a purpose. For a youth athlete a functional training program should focus on warm-up strategies, injury prevention, running efficiency, bodyweight strength and lifestyle habit training. Just because you see it on TV, that doesn't mean it is correct.
6. Weight training is about perfect form – no exceptions. When weight training is introduced do not let technique go by the waste side. Unfortunately I can walk into many high school weight rooms right now and the weight training going on would make me cringe. There must be a period where the lifts are taught properly without any weight. Do not rush into maximal loads because this is a recipe for injury. At these young ages, learning how to lift weights correctly is fabulous. Even learning the simple olympic lifts are crucial for better development of the athlete. The focus should be on perfecting the technique of each lift. Think “technical failure”. When you no longer have perfect form the set is completed.
7. It’s about building lifestyle habits. Overall, this should be the #1 goal. A lot of kids have a dream of playing a college or professional sport but the odds are stacked against them. Teach them now how to be healthy and live healthy and they will have a healthy foundation the rest of their life.

5 Reasons you aren't getting results

2011-03-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

The fitness world is full of people that try so hard to get lean, lose weight, run faster, jump higher, improve performance, bounce back from injury and so on. You can walk into any gym right now and every single person is there for a reason. Most gym goers workout with a goal in mind. "I want to lose weight". "I want to bench a certain weight." "I play football." "My doctor said I had to." What are your goals? Do you find yourself just going to the gym aimlessly without an objective or purpose? Are you stuck in a rut and can't figure a way out of the plateau? Have you lost all motivation to workout and eat healthy? Are you bored? Well these are all legitimate questions that are asked everyday with gym goers. Keeping and maintaining motivation to train, stay in shape and continue down the healthy path is tough. It's not all peaches and cream and it's definitely not a quick fix. But with the right motivation, a persistent attitude and a "go get em" approach, you can get results and stay in the game. Here are 5 reasons that you might not be getting the results you are looking for:

1. Your nutrition plan doesn't fit your goals. This to me, is the #1 reason most people do not get results in their fitness program. You might be doing everything right with your workouts but if your nutrition is not on the same lines as your goals then your results will be stagnate. A triathlete's diet should look different than a football player. A runner trying to lose weight should eat differently than a wrestler looking to pack on some muscle. Let's take a few examples. #1 A football player who is trying to pack on muscle in the off season should have a very dialed in nutrition plan. This athlete can lift week after week and if his diet is off and inconsistent with his goal, he will not gain muscle. First, he must figure out his BMR. There is an easy way of doing this. Just add a 0 to your weight. So if this athlete weighs 200 pounds, his Basal Metabolic Rate (calories he will use up at complete rest) will be approximately 2000 calories. Then you add in activity. If he is in the gym 5 days a week burning approximately 600 calories each workout, his weekly average would be 428. We add that to the BMR number. So now we have 2428 calories. Now you add in how active this athlete is outside of training. Does he go to school, hang out with his friends, walk around the mall, etc. I usually add another 500 calories for someone extremely active. We will use this number for this example. Now our burned calories is 2928. In order to gain lean muscle, first his nutrition must be complete with healthy foods. We do not want to gain fat so he must be disciplined to eat lean foods throughout the day. If the goal was to gain 1/2 pound of muscle a week for 16 weeks, so 8 pounds of muscle, he would need to take in 250 extra calories every day. This needs to be done consistently for the 16 weeks. So now we are at 3178 calories. To make sure we hit our goal, I would recommend this athlete eat 3300-3500 calories on workout days and 3100 calories on non-workout days. Lean meats, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains and a whey protein supplement should be the majority of his food content. Let's take one more example. A 45 year old female is looking to lose weight. She weighs 150 pounds. Her goal weight is 135 pounds and would like to accomplish this goal in 16 weeks so a weight loss of 15 pounds, which is feasible with the right nutrition plan in tact. Her training should consist of 2 weight training days, 2 metabolic training sessions and 1 interval conditioning workout. On average she would burn 500 calories each workout, which would make a weekly average of 357 calories. Now her calories will be at 1857. Her job is sedentary, she sits at a desk all day but has 2 young children that keeps her pretty active when she comes home. For this individual I will add in an extra 200 calories a day for light activity. Now we are at 2057 calories. Remember, she must eat a minimum of 1500 calories a day to keep her metabolism sparked and internal organs functioning correctly. On non-workout days she will eat her minimum and will cut out all breads, pastas, and rice content. On workout days she will eat approximately 1700-1800 calories. Just like the football player, the food should consist of lean meats, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats. She could add in a whey protein supplement to get in her protein. The woman must focus on eating a big, healthy breakfast, 2-3 snacks with protein, a lunch that consists of a bowl of fruit and a lean meat and dinner will be a meat and a vegetable. Unless there are some specific GI problems or thyroid issues, this female should lose her 15 pounds in 16 weeks if she stays consistent with her workouts and follows the nutrition plan accurately.

2. Your training doesn't fit your goal. If you want to get faster at running a marathon then why are you spending all of your time running long and slow? Here's another question, if you are trying to gain muscle and drop body fat, why are you lifting light weights and performing slow cardio? Here is another problem that leads people to not getting results. Their workout does not fit their goals. You must have a general training plan to fit your needs and goals. Don't just workout to workout. When you have goals you are more likely to stay motivated and on track to achieving that specific goal. Let's look at a couple examples. I always run into the runner or triathlete that wants to improve their speed in their sport. They have a pretty good base of training. But all of their training consists of long and slow aerobic work. I hate to break it to you but you will never get faster this way. In fact you might slow down. If you want to go faster you must train at faster speeds. No, I am not saying for every training session to be all out time trials but there are definitely smart and efficient ways to program speed training into your program. The great thing about interval and speed work is it is time efficient. So all of those long useless hours you were putting in can now be cut down and you can spend more time on things like stretching, foam rolling, strength work, spending time with the family, your job! The first three are mandatory for speed as well. A triathlete's program should incorporate at least 1 speed/interval day for all three disciplines. But you must program this wisely. You never want 2 hard days in a row, definitely a recipe for injury. So for example, Monday is your hard swim. Tuesday is a medium intensity bike with some added high cadence work and some functional strength work. Wednesday is your track workout and interval bike workout. Thursday is an easy recovery run. Friday is an off day. Saturday is a long bike mixed with hill repeats, tempo rides and/or just a long ride. And sunday is your long run spliced with some tempo work and/or hill work. Again, if your goal is speed, then train for speed. Get out of that comfort zone and challenge your threshold. But this type of training is demanding on the body so recovery is very crucial as well. Let's look at one more example. You are an average gym goer that enjoys pumping some weights. Your main goal is to shed some body fat and look leaner. First, go back and read #1. Second you need a dialed in training program that fits your needs. For your goal, you must be in the gym 4-6 times a week. You need 3 full body lifting days. Here is your simple program: upper body push paired with lower body hip dominant 3-4 sets through, upper body pull paired with lower body knee dominant 3-4 sets through and add in some core work....you choose different exercises to place in the template. For motivation purposes I like an undulating scheme where day 1 you hit 10-15 reps, Day 2 you hit 6-10 reps and day 3 you hit 3-6 reps. Push hard! Two days a week you are doing body weight training. Chin-ups, push-ups, plyometrics and core work. Think circuit format. Keep the tempo high. And the final day of the week hit a conditioning workout. Boxing, sprints, mountain bike, basketball game, whatever you want as long as you push yourself. Along with these training days, there must be foam rolling and flexibility work implemented so add these protocols either on your off days or before you go and train.

#3 You have no goal. So the first 2 we have talked about will not be credible if we did not set any goals. Goal setting, whether it be for your training, your job, your personal development, your relationships or your spiritual life is the key to success. If you do not have a direction you will aimlessly be shooting in the dark without a target. This gets boring, this gets unmotivating and you will fall off the bandwagon very quickly. In the training world, you must have some sort of goal to keep you on track and focused. What sparks you? What do you enjoy doing? Are you a weight training person? Or do you like running in triathlons? Heck, even if you have never done a triathlon, it could be a great sport to pick up. You must write down this goal once it is in your head. A goal is nothing more than a thought if it is not written down. Once it is written down it becomes real, it becomes conscious and now you can stare at it daily to keep you motivated. Now that the goal is written out you need steps to accomplishing this goal. If your goal is to lose 15 pounds in the next 16 weeks, write it down. Step #1 Nutrition plan must follow my goal, Step #2 Training must be done 4-6 times a week, Step #3 Find a workout partner, Step #4 Log all workouts and construct a food diary. Now it is up to you to follow through on these daily steps and so you can stay on path.

#4 You do not have the right support group. Being around like minded individuals is critical for you to accomplish your goals. You must surruound yourself with positive and motivating people that will support your endeavors. When all of your peers are negative and take you away from your goals, are they truly friends? If you want to lose weight and get in shape and all of your friends go out and drink and eat late, then it becomes quite difficult for you to achieve your goals. The hardest but yet smartest thing you can do is choose different friends. Find a network of people that is on the same lines as you and that will support you. You will stay motivated with the right group of friends because they are all doing it with you.

#5 You do it by yourself. Not that you can't get results by yourself but it is tremendously easier when you either have a good workout partner, a club to belong to or you hire a coach. Having a good workout partner can significantly improve your results and motivation. You both can keep each other accountable, push each other in the gym and stay on each other. Joining a club is another great choice. If you are an endurance athlete there are plenty of clubs to join in your local area. Having a club allows you to meet and discuss training tactis, strategies, nutrition and equipment. You may be doing the majority of your training alone but you know you have a group to bounce ideas off or train with once in awhile. Hiring the right coach is proven to increase results. First look for a qualifed, in the trenches and passionate coach. Ask him/her questions like, "Where did/do you go to school?" "What was the last book you have read pertaining to fitness?" "What is your training program like?" "How long have you been training people?" A coach could structure an exact program specifically for your needs. A coach will motivate and stay on you to work hard and smart throughout the program. A coach will be on the look out for overtraining symptoms and will know when to schedule active recovery days and weeks in the schedule. A coach will be there for to answer questions regarding training, nutrition or management of schedule. If you have been in a rut and have trouble with the previous 4 concepts we have discussed the right coach will put together a detailed plan that will be feasible for you to follow.

All about Nutrition

2011-02-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

Nutrition – It’s that Important

Health and fitness is a spectrum of many different aspects. This article will discuss the importance of a good nutrition plan. Physical and mental well being can not be achieved by skipping meals and ignoring good nutrition. Good discipline with your nutritional habits can enhance your energy, stamina, vitality and overall well being. Use the advice below to assist you with your healthy journey:

1. Don’t skip meals. Skipping meals is telling your body that you want it to run slow. Your metabolism will shut down and you will store food as body fat. You will lack energy and you will have lack luster performance. This is a big mistake people make and this will put a road block on your results in a fitness program. Wake up and eat and then feed yourself every couple hours. This will increase your metabolism and give you energy throughout the day.

2. Nutrient Timing is critical. What you eat is important but WHEN you eat specific foods is more important. You should not be eating foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugars when you sit in your car or at the computer or when you know you are not going to be active. After eating these foods your blood sugars are spiked and if you are not active then this sugar will be stored as body fat. The best time to eat carbohydrates and sugars will be before or after working out or when you know you are going to be active. Read labels, know what is going in your body and understand how certain foods affect your blood sugars and energy.

3. Eat lean proteins, fresh vegetables and fruit and good fat. These foods should be the majority of what goes into your body. Stay away from foods that are processed, packaged and canned. If you need energy, grab a piece of fruit with a small handful of almonds. If you are starving in the middle of the morning then grab a couple slices of lean deli turkey meat and ½ cup of berries. Keep your foods fresh and lean and you will immediately see a difference in your everyday life.

4. Don’t Do Diets. I do not teach dieting. Diets are programs people get on and get off and it can become a vicious roller coaster of inconsistent eating habits and will lead to frustration. To me, good nutrition must become a lifestyle habit. Learn to change and learn to make good choices for the long term. This will create a healthy lifestyle and will aide in long term physical and mental well being.

5. You must eat your minimum. For every person this is different. We all have a base metabolic rate or BMR. This is how many calories we burn at rest with no activity. The simple way to approximate this number is to take your weight and add a zero to the end. So if you weigh 150 pounds your BMR will be approximately 1500 calories. This is the minimum number of calories you should be eating during the day. Then you take activity into account. On a scale of 1-10, rate your activity level. If you are moderately active then give yourself a 5 and add 500 calories to your BMR. Now your number is at 2000 calories. So if you wanted to maintain weight you should be eating around 2000 calories. If you wanted to lose weight you should eat 1500-1900 calories. But DO NOT go below your BMR. This will shut down your metabolism and create a fat storing process that will stagnate results.

6. “Fail to plan, plan to fail.” I give this quote to all my clients to teach them about preparation. If you do not prepare or have the healthy foods around, you will not succeed with good nutrition. Look in your fridge and cupboards on Sunday. If you need healthy foods then make a trip to the grocery store and pick up your necessities. Think about your schedule for the week and pick up foods that will easily mold into that schedule. If you are busy then you need quick healthy choices. Make a weekly food plan so you know what will be cooked and prepared for the upcoming week. This will dramatically assist you to a healthier lifestyle. Do not make the excuse of “I don’t have time”. Just be organized and have better time management.

7. Indulge once in awhile. Life is not about having perfect eating habits. If you have been doing good, eating healthy and working out and if you are craving a certain food, then eat it! Don’t feel guilty or convince yourself you did something bad. When you are working out and putting in the work you can indulge once in awhile. But that “once in awhile” can not turn into numerous times a week. Be disciplined and have self control. Enjoying life to the fullest is having your health and taking full advantage of everything around you. Go out and make it happen!

Shin Splints

2011-02-23T15:36:00.001-08:00

The Nagging Shin Splints

Shin splints can stop you in your tracks in your training program. Technically known as tibial stress syndrome, shin splits cause dull, aching pain on the front side of your shins. Shin splints are inflammation of the periostium of the tibia (sheath surrounding the bone). There can be a number of reasons why shin splits are caused and I will go over a few:

1. Overuse and bad programming. This is probably the number one reason people have shin splints. Anything with “stress” in the diagnosis means you over did an activity. Your body was not prepared to handle the stress of the activity so inflammation happened. If your body is not prepared to run (usually the sport where shin splits occur), tibial stress syndrome will arise quickly. You must program your training wisely. Bad programming will definitely lead to shin splints because your body could not handle the high volume too quickly thus leading to overuse and injury.
2. Poor ankle mobility. When running your ankles need adequate range of motion. You need to be able to dorsi-flex freely (bring your foot up towards your shin). Poor ankle mobility will stress the shins each time you strike the ground during running. A simple drill for increased ankle mobility is to elevate your foot on a platform and drive your knee over your toes.
3. Overweight. When you run you put 3-4 times your bodyweight of pressure every time you strike the ground. If you weigh 180 pounds that is 540 pounds of shock each foot strike. Do the math and that is a lot of stress to your joints. If your body can’t handle the “stress”, stress happens. If you have extra weight on your frame and start running too much too soon, shin splints will happen.
4. Poor flexibility and functional movement. “Don’t run to get fit, be fit to run” is a quote by Diane Lee, a physical therapist in Canada. You must build your running mileage around a proper recovery and strength program. If you get strong, stable and flexible, you will run more efficiently and reduce your chance of shin splints or any other overuse injuries.

If you have shin splits, here are some remedies you can implement to relieve the pain:
• Drop the activity that caused shin splints until your pain subsides
• Ice massage - 5 minutes every hour (freeze a water bottle, cut the bottom 4 inches off of plastic to expose ice and massage the affected area)
• Soft tissue work with a massage stick, baseball or foam roll on your feet, calves and peronnials (side of the lower leg)
• Daily stretching
• Ankle mobility drills
• Feet and ankle strengthening - towel curl ups with your toes, calf raises, heel walks and dynamic warm-up barefoot
• Warm-up every single training session

What it Takes - A Fitness Business Journey

2011-02-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

What It Takes – A Fitness Business Journey
BY: Justin Levine, www.justintrain.com

When I first decided that I wanted to have a gym of my own, I didn’t really know what to expect. I wasn’t a business man. I was a great trainer. I had the connections, I had the clientele and I had the support. So I jumped on the tight rope. Unfortunately in business, there is no net below. Stepping into the fire, I quickly got familiar with the business ins and outs. Operating expenses, payroll, training employees, QuickBooks, profit margins, receivables, cash flow, marketing, working really long hours, etc.. The list can go on and on. Getting clients into shape was the easy part. The business side was the hard part. The one piece of advice that I was given from another business owner I knew was, “Just make more money than you spend.” Pretty simple concept right? Yes, there is some truth to that comment but it just isn’t that simple. In 3 years of being open, my business knowledge has expanded so much but I still have a long way to go.

Here is my story:

How it began
The first thing you need to do if you want to open a fitness facility is get really good at training. Don’t think you are ready if you have only been training clients for a couple of years. You need at least 5 years of training 30-40 hours a week. There is nothing better than being in the trenches. If you just know the business side of things but have no knowledge of the training, it will be very hard for you to make it. You have to have a passion for helping people change their lives! A fitness business will fail if you are not producing results. I first started training my friends in college. I would invite them to the gym to workout with me and I would devise “old school bodybuilding” routines for us to complete. I loved it! I went on to get my degree in Human Performance and Sport. When that was completed I was given an opportunity to work at Notre Dame University as a fitness facility intern. This is where I learned how to manage a fitness facility. I worked long hours and got paid very little. One of my job duties was to run students and staff through equipment orientations. I would teach them how to use the various machines around the gym. I took this job a bit further. I would sit down with them and discuss their goals and their current lifestyle habits. I then started designing individualized programs for these individuals. All of a sudden these people were getting results. Wow, it worked! Soon before you knew it, I had walk-on athletes coming to me and wanting to train with me. I began designing sport specific programs for these top level athletes. It was all done for free but I didn’t care because I loved doing it. Fitness became my life and my passion. I moved back to California (my home state) and lived in Los Angeles for 8 months. I worked at a mainstream-big box facility where I trained between 35-45 hours a week (training 35-45 hours a week is very demanding). And no it didn’t start that way. It took about 4 weeks, unpaid, of hanging out in the gym to start building my reputation. With a college degree and right out of an internship from Notre Dame, I was getting paid $9.00 a session. I would get to the gym at 5:30 am, then would take a short lunch break and then back at 3:00 and was there till 7:00 pm. Those were long days. I left that gym to come back to my hometown of Visalia. I quickly got a job at a private fitness facility. It was more my style. The atmosphere was family oriented and I had already known quite a few people there. I started with 1 client. That is right….1 CLIENT! This 13 year old kid was my prized client. I trained him like he was a professional athlete. Next thing you knew I had 2 clients, 4 clients, then a full schedule. It took about 2 months for me to build my reputation and schedule. It did not happen overnight.

Taking the Leap
I had reinvented the personal training department at this facility. Soon before you knew it my schedule was so packed that I had to give clients to other trainers. But again, it did not just happen. I was working my ass off. I remember some nights around 7:00 pm; I would be on my 12th session of the day, leaning on a piece of equipment because I was so tired. Once I had worked at this private fitness facility for 3 years, it was time to make a change. I needed more of a challenge. I was training nothing but 1 on 1 sessions, working 9-12 hour days/6 days a week and my pay had pretty much topped off. It was grueling, draining and financially tough. I had built a very solid relationship with a father of two kids I had been training for 2 years. He told me that I had “changed his kids’ lives”. He wanted to help me out. He told me that whenever I was ready to start my own gym to let him know and he would be my private investor. I was in awe. I could not believe someone would do this for me. I thought it over for sometime and continued to train. I waited about another 6 months and then decided to take him up on his offer. Again, I made a connection with another client who happened to know a commercial real estate agent. This agent had a facility he wanted me to check out. It was the one! By the way this real estate agent is now a client of mine. Another lesson to be learned, Make Connections!
I didn’t do anything right at the start. I created an unorganized budget, I had no clue about start-up costs and I did not have a business plan. Again, I knew how to train, I knew how to work with people, and I had a passion towards fitness. About 1 year into it, I finally took the time to create these things, which has helped the business tremendously. I believe in what Brian Tracy says, “Just get it done 80% and then go back and tweak. But just start!” I had about 10 clients to start out with. Before you knew it I was hiring 2 trainers to work for me because those 10 clients doubled to 20. Next thing you know a junior college softball team was training at our facility. Now we have over 70 clients and athletes and 4 trainers that are apart of California Fitness Academy.

Now that I am in the Fire
Read! Learn! Train! Read! Learn! Train! Apply! I spend most of my time training clients. That is what I love doing but when I am not doing that I am reading and learning. I have figured out that the older I get, the less I know and the more I have to learn. There is so much knowledge out there. And the crazy part is that this information is very accessible. Whether it is in a book, a video, a website or a blog, the education is out there. Here is what I am constantly reading and following on a daily basis: strengthcoach.com, alwyncosgrove.com, Thomas Plummer, Todd Durkin, Core Performance and Brian Tracy.
Owning your own business is a double edged sword. You can make your own hours but end up working all day anyways. You are your own boss but for me I am tougher on myself than any other person can be. You do not really get a set paycheck which is good and bad. Financially you can have a really good month and follow it up with a really bad month. You take responsibility for when everything is going great but you also take responsibility when something is not going right. I have so much to learn and have so much room for growth. Have I made it yet? Not to where I want to be. It is just a matter of time. This shit does not just happen overnight. I learn from the big dogs in the industry (Mike Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove, Mark Verstegen, and Todd Durkin). These are the guys that keep me inspired and motivated to get better. I see what they have built and I want that. Would I do it again if I could? Hell Yes! To me, life would be boring without challenges.

Here is a little bit of advice for someone trying to start their own fitness business: work your ass off, do not settle for average, read everything and expect to be at your gym more than home. But GO FOR IT! If you have the determination and the want to make it happen, you will!

5 Things I would have changed if I could do it all over:
1. I should have looked for a more cost efficient building. The building I am in now is nice but too expensive. I am already trying to sub-lease it out so I can move to a more cost and space efficient building. I needed to be more patient with this process.
2. I would not get the real turf with the little black rubber pellets. This stuff is messy and annoying. My clients always complain about how it ends up everywhere at their homes. I even get some clients who accidentally swallow one or it slips into their ears. Not good! My next flooring will just be normal turf.
3. I paid too much for start-up equipment. I should of just started with necessities (dumbbells, med. Balls, bikes). I love the Keisers and power racks but I probably did not need those to start with.
4. Read more business related material. Especially Thomas Plummer, Pat Rigsby, and Ryan Lee. I should have started this right off the bat. Education is the path to a better business.
5. Meet with a business coach. Or even just a mentor who is willing to guide you along. A business coach will keep you accountable and on your toes. To me this is mandatory.

Random Thoughts Before Superbowl

2011-02-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

I sit here watching the Superbowl pregame festivities and think to myself, "man, the writing bug comes at odd times." Thoughts, ideas, answers, motivation and drive all approach my mind as we wait for not only the Superbowl but my wife to have our first child (which could happen anytime). Here are some random thoughts to get you and your mind thinking:

1. For over a year now, I have been disciplined to create my weekly schedule. I have a simple spreadsheet with 30 minute blocks for each day. From the moment I get up and from the moment I leave work I manually write all of my appointments, my break times, my workouts and any personal responsibilities into this template. It sits right under my keyboard at work so I can glance at it at any time during the day. This has been a great way to increase productivity during the day because it allows me to construct my day precisely. We can not make the day longer but we can use our time more efficiently. This strategy improves my management of time and keeps me moving efficiently towards my goals. I am anal with this small task. I sit down on Friday afternoons and create the schedule for the upcoming week. When I show up to work Monday morning the plan is created and then I get to work. Sometimes we show up to work out a plan of action or random tasks to handle and we have nothing written down. You can accomplish a few things on your "to do" list with this method but you will also have wasted time. Thirty minutes of wasted time every day for a year adds up to over 10,000 minutes or 60 hours. A lot can be achieved in 60 hours so make the most of your time and start by writing out your weekly schedule every week.

2. If you are forced to do your longer runs on a treadmill, don't fret because I have a workout that will make time fly by fast. Whenver I run on the treadmill I make the focus on efficiency instead of volume. I might not hit those super long runs (over 16 miles) but I can run those medium distance training runs (8-13) but what's more important is there will be structure and focus during the time I am on the treadmill. Give this workout a try next time you are on the treadmill:
Workout #1: 15 minutes of ez running, 10x30 second pick-ups/30 second ez running, 2 minutes cruise then hit Main set #1: 5 x 5 minutes tempo running (this is a pace that will be a bit slower than your 10k race pace), 2 minutes of ez running for recovery, 2 minute cruise after the first main set is over, then main set #2: 8 x 1 minute hill runs, this should be between 5-8% hills and keep your pace steady and consistent (not a hard run)/1 minute easy jog for recover, and finish with 5 minutes of running
Total: 83 minutes

3. The workout structure that we all need to be following should incorporate some foam rolling, flexibility, mobility for the joints that need it, stability for the joints that need it, balanced strength training, and high intensity conditioning. If you are going for gaining lean muscle mass, shedding body fat, improving coordination, movement and strength then this should be your design. Don't skip parts. If you skip the peanut butter in a PB/J sandwich, you get a weak sandwich. Here is a breakdown of a great way to design your program and get everything you need in less than 60 minutes:
Foam Roll: 5 minutes
Stretch: 5 minutes
Movement Preparation: 10 minutes
Power/Core work: 8 minutes
Strength work: 25 minutes
Conditioning/Finisher: 5 minutes
Total: 58 minutes

4. Books you need to read: "4 Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz, "The Generosity Factor" by Ken Blanchard, "The Art of Exceptional Living" by Jim Rohn (CD), "Impact Body Plan", by Todd Durkin

5. The top five "core" exercises are probably what most people do not do. #1. The Pallof Press: this exercise is a rotary stability move that will strengthen the anti-rotational muscles in our abdominal wall. Start with standing, then move to tall kneeling, then move to 1/2 kneeling. This movement will challenge your stability and give you the strength you need to move more efficiently. #2 Farmer Walks: This is a great strength exercise as well. Not only will you build your ab wall for stability and strength but you will add in forearm strength and rotator cuff strength. It's simple too, just pick up a pair of dumbbells and walk up to 20 yards with good tight posture. #3 Plank/Side Plank: In terms of simplicity and logistics, the plank is the best because it can be done anywhere with many different variations. The plank teaches the anti-extension muscles to be strong and keep the back from unwanted stress from daily movement. There are many different variations. Start with 5-10 second short intervals, focusing on tightening the whole ab wall. Build to where you can hold for 60 seconds. Master the simpler versions before adding in the tougher versions. #4 Core Rollouts: All you need is the ab roller or a stability ball to perform this exercise. This challenging move works the anti-rotation muscles that are needed to keep the back safe. Make sure to learn how to perform this move the correct way. Ask a qualified coach to teach you this move. If you feel it in the low back, you are not doing the move right. #5 Cable chop/lifts: another rotary stability exercise that creates strength in the ab wall and builds connection between your shoulders, hips, and core. This move teaches the ab wall to be strong, stable and elastic. Start on both knees, then move to 1/2 kneeling and then move to standing. Stay tall and tight during this move.

6. Today's menu for Superbowl: Breakfast - bell pepper egg scramble with gluten free pancakes and fresh strawberries, bananas and blueberries. Lunch - Turkey melts with bell peppers and avocados. Dinner - Tortilla soup. Add in a couple of beers and we have ourselves a great day of chillin', watching the big game.

7. I honestly think flexibility dysfunction causes more problems than we think. Flexibility is the range of motion of muscles. When muscles are tight we restrict movement and then compensate through other areas of the body. Endurance athletes in particular need to implement flexibility sessions into their weekly schedule to stay lengthened, keep their muscles durable, and to aide in the recovery process. Stretching is all about good position. Make sure you have good posture when you stretch. Be strict with each move and understand that you need mild discomfort not sharp pain. You can perform static stretching which is stretching longer than 30seconds. And you can perform active stretching which is stretching each stretch for 3-10 seconds and then repeating. This is a great method of stretching as it reinforces the stretch/flex cycle our muscles go through during sport.

8. Smile more. If you get caught up in the stresses of life you need to take a deep breath, relax and smile! Smiling creates a feel good feeling. First thing in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror, smile and tell yourself you are going to give it your best effort in that day. Smiling is a great way to start your day and is a great way to erase negative feelings. Do it more!

9. The body is capable of doing so much. We have so much potential but unfortunately we limit our abilities. Don't settle for just being average. We can take our bodies and our abilities to ultimate levels. It's just a mindset. Have the mindset to work, work hard and work some more. Don't sit and wait for that winning lotto ticket. We must create our own luck and our own significance. We must go out and get what we want with hard work, drive and discipline. It's doing the little things over and over and over again for a long time. Then things start happening to you. And don't stop when things don't go your way. Let that be a sign to you to work harder, get better and be more motivated. How you handle setbacks and challenging times will define your character. So set big goals, believe you can do huge things and put in the work and persistency to make it happen. EverDAY is important!

10. Packers or Steelers? It looks like it could be a great game. But I am picking Packers 24-21 in overtime. Have a great day today and have an even better week!

It's Up to You

2011-01-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

"A day is more than just a day. A day is opportunity, freedom, a chance to get better, a motivation to live. Yesterday is gone but TODAY is here! And tomorrow is awaiting. The amount of life you put in today will enhance what tomorrow brings. So LIVE TODAY! BE IN TODAY! GO FOR IT TODAY! Make TODAY unbelievable!"

Your thoughts turn into action so if you are continually thinking high level, positive, genuine, inspiring and motivating then your actions will turn into these words. "Get rid of the vampires in your life. These are the people that will suck you dry and not care." says Todd Durkin of Fitness Quest 10. If you are trying to do BIG THINGS and have BIG GOALS then what is the point of having poison in your life. You need to eliminate anything that will stray you away from your goals. It might be hard at first. The peer pressure is tough but you can break through. You can create freedom. You can create legendary ism (yes I made that word up). You can create greatness. You can create the day, the week, the month, the year, THE LIFE that you want. It's up to you though. It's up to you to make that decision to be ELITE, to think a certain way, to act a certain way to BE A CERTAIN WAY. It's up to you! What do you do daily, weekly, monthly and yearly to become a better person. Do you sit around and wait for success and glamour to come to you. Or do you go out and create significance in your life and others. Do you inspire people to do amazing things? Do you get inspired by reading or watching others do amazing things? It's up to you!

Take a deep look at yourself in the mirror. Seriously, try this...try staring at yourself in the mirror for 60 seconds. Look deep into your eyes. What do you see? Do you see strength, confidence, esteem, greatness, belief, a strong you? Can you even stare at yourself, looking deep into your eyes for 60 seconds. It's harder than you think. If you pass this first test the next step is to recite your goals out loud while staring at yourself in the mirror. Let your subconscious mind believe your thoughts. Be genuine and passionate when you recite your goals. Say them in the present tense, like if you had accomplished them already. "I lost 25 pounds", "I earned $10,000", "I finished Ironman Arizona". Your subconscious needs to hear in order for it to actually be real.

Do you really want it? Do you want to improve? Do you want more knowledge? Do you want better relationships? Do you want better communication? Do you want more athleticism? Do you want a healthier life? Do you REALLY WANT IT? Will you condition your mind with personal growth books and CD's? Will you condition your body with exercise, good nutrition and recovery strategies? Will you condition your soul with quiet time, church, praying (whatever works for you)? It is up to you!

Take the time to deeply look into your soul. Where are you? No! Where are YOU? The real you. The YOU that wants freedom in your life. The YOU that wants happiness. The YOU that doesn't need drugs or alcohol or pain medication. The YOU that doesn't need gossip, poisonous words, or negativity. The YOU that needs health, friendships, love and generosity. The YOU that will change people's lives, mentor hallow souls and the YOU that will create significance.

We all have it! But we must use it. It's there. It's right there inside of us. But we must find it. We must search for it. Because "IT" will change us forever. "IT" can be so heavenly. "IT" can fulfill our bodies, our souls and our minds. So remember, TODAY, TODAY is amazing and when we take advantage of TODAY we LIVE tomorrow.

Take a deep breath......

Take another one.....

and keep climbing the stairs. Watch out for the misdirection and stay on that path to doing whatever you want!

Read These Books

2011-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

5 Fitness Books You Should Read

Ok, I am going to give everyone some homework this week! I need you to go out and buy these five books that I mention below. I feel like a 3rd grade teacher giving out reading assignments but the books I have referred below can dramatically change your outlook and knowledge in the areas of personal growth, fitness, nutrition and health education. You can get any of these books at www.amazon.com.

1. IMPACT Body Plan by Todd Durkin. This book is not only a great workout resource but it will give you tools and strategies to improve your personal growth and development. Todd Durkin is a leader and motivator in the fitness industry and trains some of the top football players in the NFL, including Drew Brees and Ladamian Tomlinson. Todd’s motivating attitude and high tempo workouts will get you energized and feeling on top of the world.

2. CORE PERFORMANCE by Mark Verstegen. Coach Verstegen is an innovator in the sports performance industry. His unique program was the foundation to the functional training era. This book gives you simple life, workout and nutrition strategies to not only enhance your physical prowess but will also assist with your confidence and self-esteem in your every day life.

3. FUNCTIONAL TRAINING FOR SPORTS by Michael Boyle. This resource changed the way strength and fitness coaches trained. Because of Coach Boyle’s training, we no longer looked at training muscles in isolation. Instead, Coach Boyle began using full body athletic movements to train athletes so they could maximize their individual sport skills. Boyle’s simple methodologies are perfect for any individual looking to get in the best shape of their life.

4. THE FEMALE BODY BREAKTHROUGH by Rachel Cosgrove. This cutting edge manual gives real life stories of hard working women who decided to change their life with exercise and nutrition improvement. Rachel gives basic strategies to women to improve their self-esteem, their self worth and their overall mindset. The tools in this book are not just for women, though, they can be used for any individual looking to enhance their strength and conditioning levels.

5. THE ART OF EXCEPTIONAL LIVING by Jim Rohn. I know this is not a “fitness” book but this book can single handedly change your life. If you practice the strategies Mr. Rohn lays out for you, you will become a more optimistic and stronger person. Your everyday life will improve and you will learn to live life to the fullest.

Inspiring Others

2011-01-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

As I sit here winding down from a busy day I think to myself "Do most people reach their full potential?" There is so much we can do and so much we can achieve. Is there a way to educate more people and give them the inspiration they need to want to better themselves. Living to me is waking up each day wanting to take on my challenges and having enthusiasm with anything I do. This is a difficult task for most people. But how can we inspire more people? When you guide and motivate other people to high levels, you feel strong and content. Here are 6 ways to guide others to greatness:

1. Invite others to workout with you. Working out is positive, creates strength and energy and gives you a sense of accomplishment. When you workout with others you build relationships and connect deeply with your peers. There is nothing better than a group of positive individuals sitting around after a workout with smiles on their faces knowing they just took a step closer to their goals. So next time you workout, get someone to come along with you, inspire them, motivate them, guide them to greatness!

2. Recommend positive reading material. This is monumental. Reading can expand your thoughts, your knowledge, the way you think and open your mind to new ideas and methods of living life. No need to try and reinvent the wheel when there are very successful people out there giving you the keys to personal development. Start reading these books: "The Art of Exceptional Living" by Jim Rohn, "Tdday Matters" by John Maxwell, "Goals" by Brian Tracy, "The Pyramid of Success" by John Wooden and "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.

3. Always be conscious of your words. I am reading "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz and the first agreement is "Be impeccable with your word." We get caught up in gossip and negative speaking too many times in life. We need to always be aware of how our thoughts affect other people. Our words can affect others so greatly, either in a postive or negative way. You can inspire others by speaking positive words and never speak negative about anyone. Try to do this.

4. Your character counts. Inspiring others to greatness starts with your true character. John Wooden says "your reputation is what others think of you, and your character is who you really are". What do you do when no one is looking? How do you act when no one is looking? This is the definition of character. When you have a strong character, others follow your lead and rise to greatness. Think about what you will do next time a tough time arises.

5. Keep pushing for betterment of personal development. Look at the people you are surrounded with in your daily life. Are you the one pushing them to get better? Or are you the one getting pushed? Whatever role you decide to take, know and understand that you inspire others when you continue the climb to your goals. When you have a group of determined and hard working peers, you will all strive for greatness. Choose your crowd wisely and know that the people you are surrounded with can take you down the right path or take you down the wrong path. You decide.

6. Believe in yourself at all times. When you believe in yourself you give a sense of confidence and strength to others. It will be tough to inspire others if you can not inspire yourself. Work on your self esteem with mental conditioning affirmations. Whether you enjoy meditation, praying, listening to soft music or just plain ol' quiet time, these strategies will help you center your thoughts and get you focused on your goals and personal development. When you start believing in yourself you will start to believe in others and lead them to greatness.

The Mind Game of Running

2011-01-06T13:40:00.001-08:00

Running – Get in your Head
By: Justin Levine

When most people think of running they think of logging miles, what type of shoes should I buy, what workout should I follow, what type of stretches should I do and so on. Well today I am going to talk about improving your mental game to improve your running game. This component not only can help you improve your performance but can tremendously help take your game to a whole different level. Mental conditioning needs to be worked on just as much as the physical conditioning side of things. We need to teach and train our thoughts to be positive. Did you know that 80% of most humans’ thoughts are negative thoughts? The crazy thing about this issue is that we can do something about it. We can change our attitude, our thoughts and our mindset. But just like running a faster 5k or preparing for a marathon, we must put in the training to improve our performance. And it just doesn’t happen over night. It takes daily affirmations, consistent positive thinking and a burning desire to want this change. So I have laid out 5 mental exercises for you to work on to improve upon your mental conditioning. The key is to actually take the time to work on these strategies. You can read these over and over but nothing with change until you actually practice these strategies. And yes, these are for everyone!

1. Daily Affirmations. First, when you wake up you must create positive thoughts before you even jump out of bed. Do not wake up muttering, “ugh, another day.” Say things like: “Today I will be my best and give my best”; “I will move closer to my goals”; “Nothing will get in my way”; “I will tackle my problems with a full head of steam”; “I will drop body fat”; “I will improve my times in my workout.” These thoughts will turn into actions and you will see a tremendous change in your mindset and your life. You have to be conscious of this exercise, as it is very easy to just get out of bed and “get through another day”. Remember each day is a new beginning, a fresh start, and a brand new chance to create greatness. We cannot focus on yesterday but having a good and better yet GREAT today will make for a better tomorrow. Secondly, after a long day, when you are lying in bed about to fall asleep, finish the day with a positive thought. “I did my best today”; “I am so happy to be alive and tomorrow will be another good day”; “Good job on your effort today”; “Tomorrow will be another great day”. Starting and ending your day with positive affirmations can be a game changer.

2. Believe in yourself at all Times. During the day you must create a mindset that truly believes in yourself. Do not put yourself down or have disbelief in accomplishing a certain project, or workout, or task. Think of the self-degrading comments we tell ourselves sometimes. Would we like it if someone else said bad things about us? Absolutely not. That would make us very angry. But yet too many times we are putting ourselves down and disbelieving in our abilities. No matter the task at hand, do the work necessary to kill it. If you have the action and the mindset you will accomplish. Believe in that and you will start doing Big Things.

3. Try some meditation. Have you ever sat in a room or in your car with complete quietness, your eyes shut and focused on your internal thoughts and mindset? Try doing this for 10 minutes everyday. Do it before your workout or before you step into your office or before a big race. Meditation can relax your mind, get you centered, focused and energize your thoughts. With such busy lifestyles our mind is always racing and thinking of the next step. Focus on zoning out and direct your attention on your thoughts and your internal motivations. What drives, inspires and motivates you? This internal conditioning can be a supercharge in energy that you have been looking for.

4. Positive self-talk. This one goes hand in hand with running performance. During workouts and training you must create a positive self-awareness that will lead to successful performance. It is easy to talk ourselves into not completing the recommended distance or the last few intervals. Continually tell yourself that you can do the mileage and you can push through the tough intervals. This will transfer over to your racing as when you are pushing and giving it your all, you will be able to push through that uncomfortable zone and have a successful race. When those negative thoughts enter the head, immediately erase them and turn them into positive thoughts. “Keep going”; “Yes, I can”; “I can hold this pace”; “I can do 1 more hill repeat”; Your performance goes in the right direction when you think positively.

5. Write down all of your goals. This can be a road map to a successful training program. What do you want? Faster 5k? Run a marathon? At the end of each season, you need to assess the previous season. What were your strengths? What were your weaknesses? What will be your goals for the next season? Goals are just random ideas and thoughts until they are written down. Create a game plan that you can look at everyday. When your goals are in sight every morning when you wake up you are more likely to stay on path to accomplish those goals. The next step is showing those goals to a mentor or a coach. Now you are held accountable to achieving your goals. Meet with that person periodically throughout the year to talk about where you are at and what you need to do to stay on path.

Running is a physically demanding sport and you need strength, endurance and speed to improve your physical performance. But the mental side of things is just as important to work on. If you create a mental conditioning program to improve your overall thoughts and mindset you will become a better athlete. Become great and do big things by working on the strategies above. It is time to be HUGE! Keep living and keep training and big things will come your way.

10 Workout Strategies for the Fitness Professional

2011-01-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

10 Workout Strategies for Fitness Professionals
By: Justin Levine, www.livecfalife.com, www.justintrain.com

After a forum topic discussing how fitness coaches get their workouts in, I decided this would be a very informative article. Practicing what we preach might be the most important aspect of our job. Nobody wants a deconditioned and unhealthy fitness coach telling them how to get in shape and what foods to eat. We must take the time to focus on ourselves and get fit. Our schedules are busy, we spend so much time helping others and educating ourselves and yet I show up to seminars and see many fitness professionals out of shape. This is breaking code for our profession. So this article will give 10 strategies to assist the fitness professional get workouts in during the week.

1. Schedule them in. Just like we are anal about our schedule of clients we must be anal about scheduling our individual workouts. Look at your schedule on Sunday night for the upcoming week and add your workouts to that schedule, just like if it was an appointment. And don’t say you don’t have time. Make time, just like we would tell our clients. We would advise our clients to do this same strategy so practice it yourself and get your training in your schedule.
2. Keep your workouts short. Tabata! That is about all I have to say for this one. If you are so cut for time then hit 2 rounds of Tabatas. Perform a short dynamic warm-up and then go for it! It will take you less than 15 minutes to perform this workout. Just like we would tell our clients, No excuses!
3. Set a workout goal. Alwyn Cosgrove gave me the idea to set a workout goal throughout the year. How many workouts can you consistently get in the upcoming year? Be realistic with yourself. Every time you complete a workout, write the number in big red numbers on a calendar. Go hard to hit your goal.
4. Train for something. 5k, 10k, half-marathon, triathlon, or a fitness challenge. These are all fabulous motivational tools to spark some motivation to get your training in. Show your clients that you not only have the drive and discipline to become a great fitness coach but you can get out there and compete as well. I know running or other endurance sports are not for everyone but you can find an activity that you might enjoy and then you train to become the best you can be. How about Crossfit games? JK
5. Train with your clients. Coach Boyle mentioned that he performs airdynne sprints with his clients after their workouts. This is a great way to build relationships with your clients. Throughout the year I advertise “Workout with Justin” nights. Clients sign up to crank through a workout with the owner. A great way to bond with the members of your facility. Again, building relationships with clients should be a priority.
6. Get a training partner or group. Again something we always recommend to our clients. This is a great way to keep you on your training schedule and keep you accountable. It makes for a fun and inspiring training session and allows you to strive for higher results just like the members in your facility.
7. Workout early. Most fitness coaches are at the gym at the crack of dawn so this may not be an option. But if your schedule allows for a few mornings a week to workout early, it’s a must. Get your day started on a positive note and check it off the list by working out early.
8. Train with other trainers. Set-up a training session with the other trainers of the gym. Show the clients and/or members that the training staff is fit, in shape and works hard. Once a month, instead of our usual trainers meeting, we workout together. This builds staff unity and connection.
9. Foam Roll/Stretch Class. I just started this 2 months ago. Pick a day where your schedule is lighter and allows for this type of class. I chose Sunday evening at 4:00 pm. I invited my clients, family and friends to this active recovery class and we spend time rolling, stretching and getting the body prepared for the upcoming week. Eventually I will charge $8.00 for this class but I am getting people interested first. Sometimes during the week it is hard to find time to work on our limiters so having a scheduled class can be a great way of getting it in.
10. Have a goal. Do you want to lose body fat, increase your deadlight, run a faster 5k, or improve your tight hips? Spend time writing down your fitness goals so you can have direction and motivation.

Remember this is a priority and a perk of our profession. We get to stay in shape for our job! So as an industry, let’s all work on improving ourselves, not only professionally but athletically and physically as well. You will see an improvement in your job, your energy and the way you interact with your clients.

Climbing the Mountain Starts With The First Step

2011-01-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

It is the first week of January. It's a fresh start to a challenging climb. The year starts off with an abundance of energy, motivation and exuberant attitudes. People are "ready to roll". See, most people do not recognize that you can create a magnificent year. You are in charge of your "lucky" decisions and experiences that come your way. If you devise a game plan and manufacture a step by step program to conquering your goals, guess what, you will....

Do not wait for "lucky" times to come your way. We can not sit and wait for "our lucky break" or that winning loto ticket. We can not just expect lean and sculpted bodies. We can not expect to get some form of pleasurable results without hard work. That is the foundation of accomplishment. If you watch Joe Paterno, Urban Meyer, John Wooden, or Phil Jackson do their job, they are top of the food chain hard workers. They are advocates of discipline, personal development and mental awareness. That's why they are successful.

Well you can be super successful too, in your own way. You can have plenty of wealth and happiness and powerful and strong relationships if you decide now, to be elite.

So the mountain is high. We will drive up that beast, step by step, day by day, month by month until we reach the top and celebrate personal growth, strengthened character and higher achievement.

If you are serious and want results you will write down your goals with the necessary steps to succeed. Don't wait, don't say "it's in my head", don't just write them on scratch paper, take the time to sit down and contemplate what YOU WANT this year. Then type them and print them out, and highlight each goal and set them in a place where you will look at them everyday.

This will be a fast moving, inspiring and high level year. And with dedicated minds and positive attitudes, you will get to the top and commemerorate the journey.

P.S. Be on the look out for my cutting edge DVD titled "The Ultimate Dynamic Warm-up."

Making 2011 Great - Decide Now

2010-12-28T17:47:00.000-08:00

Making 2011 Great – Decide Now

It is time to put together a plan for 2011. How many workouts do you want to complete? Do you want a personal best in a specific event? Do you want to eat healthier foods? How much money do you want to save? How committed will you be? Right now is the time to set your goals and create a road map to a successful and big year. We are in control of our future and it is up to us to create our own luck. If you want a year that is full of life, positivity, achievement and personal development then preparation now will guide you to accomplishing these goals. Here are five very important strategies for you to use to make 2011 your best year!

1. Right now (and do not wait till after the New Year), you need to sit down and write down everything you want to do and achieve in 2011. Get a notebook and jot down your goals, your workout goals, your professional goals, your family goals and any other ideas and thoughts that are in your head. Once you write them down, type them and print them out. Highlight your goals and place it in a location where you are going to look at it everyday. And everyday look at them and make sure you are staying on track to conquering the goals set. If what you are doing is not taking you closer to your goals then it needs to be cut out. Remember, you can do so much and having direction will make it more realistic.
2. Your health is the foundation of your life. Your energy, your family, your work and your personal development all depend on how healthy and vibrant you are. When you are active and conscious of your fitness and conditioning levels you will take full advantage of every thing around you. So be realistic with yourself, how many workouts can you get in 365 days? If you workout 4 times a week that is 208 workouts. Can you do that? Write down your number on a calendar and every time you complete a workout change the number. Stay on track, not just after the New Year but the entire 2011!
3. Have the mindset to make small daily changes. Too many times we want the fast remedy, the quick gimmick, the “less work is better” method but it doesn’t usually work this way. To get results, whether it be increases in fitness and performance or a financial goal you must have a long term strategy and mindset to see big time results. Tell yourself that you want to improve 1% every day for the entire year. Think about that….365% better at the end of 2011, not bad.
4. Drink more water and get consistent sleep. A simple strategy that too many of us take for granted. Being hydrated aides in every bodily function and gives us energy and stamina to take on each day. Drink at least 72 ounces every day. Getting sleep will rejuvenate and regenerate the body and mind after long days. Try your best to get 6-8 hours of sleep every night.
5. When you stray away from a goal that was set all it takes is getting back on track. Just because you skip a workout or eat a bad food or spend more money than you should of, don’t lose focus. Don’t use the excuse of, “Aghh, I blew it, it’s over.” Each day is a brand new day to start over and continue back on the path to accomplishing your goals. Do not let a bad day, a missed workout, or a negative person crush your goals. Stay on track!

Let’s make 2011 an unbelievable year. Our community must think this way in order for things to turn around so come together, be positive, be healthy, and help each other out. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

15 Random Thoughts

2010-11-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

1. John Wooden's book is amazing. I was able to get through most of it in a 3 day weekend at my in-laws. The concepts he talks about are valuable life lessons that should be practiced every day. This book should be read at least once a year to be reminded of the important lessons.

2. Thom Plummer kicked butt in Newport Beach. For those fitness professionals that attended, we grew our arsenal to better our business. I have seen many fitness pros get stagnate with their business. They do the same training, the same marketing, have the same business plan year in and year out. And that is why they lose business. We must stay cutting edge and on top of the industry to keep the customer satisfied and motivated to train and get better.

3. 51 weeks till Ironman Arizona. This will be a life changing event. Reading John Wooden's book stamped the idea that the journey is the fun part. I will enjoy and live in the moment of each mile I log, each training session I complete and each lap that I swim. Showing up to the race will be a big achievement and completing the race will be icing on the cake.

4. Speaking of weeks, we have 11 weeks till our first born child will be born. Talk about amazing, nervous, excited, ready, life changing, stressful, and AWESOME! It is crazy to think about the child that Stephanie and I produced will be here shortly. I will raise that kid to the best of my ability and teach him or her many valuable life lessons.

5. Working out should be fun. Too many people get caught up doing the same routine over and over and over again. This leads to stagnation, plateau, boredome and lack of motivation. As humans we need variety in our life. So learn to switch up your workout routine every 2-3 weeks. You can change the exercises, the sets and repetitions, planes of motion, the weights, use different tools (like kettlebells, Jungle Gym straps, medicine balls, etc) and the order in which you perform the exercises. Just make sure to have an upper body press (push-ups, bench press) and pull move (inverted rows, DB rows), a hip dominant (bench hip lifts, single leg deadlifts), a knee dominant (1-leg squats, lunges) and core stability work (planks, landmines). Keep your workouts fun and fresh and keep pushing.

6. I am pretty annoyed with how professional football players can not just make a play and hand the referee the ball without show boating or dancing around. It's your job to make plays so you should act like you have done it before.

7. What was the last book you read? Knowledge is power. The more you read the more powerful you become. Just like our bodies need training, our minds need to be conditioned as well. Books are our minds "treadmills". Let's get on it and "run" for miles!

8. What are you doing every day to better yourself? Self-improvement can be worked on daily. There are some things we can not change. But we can change ourselves. As Todd Durkin would say, improve 1% every day and expect big improvements over the long haul. Ask yourself the questions every day, "what can I do to better myself?"

9. Write down your goals. As 2010 is winding down we must begin thinking of how we want 2011 to go. We have to look back at this year and assess our strengths and weaknesses. Where can we get better? What can we continue to improve upon? What can we realistically achieve in 2011? You should have your 1-year goals written (preferrably typed out) before the New Year. What do you want? Goal setting is the map that will lead you to success.

10. "Can you say you are giving 100% every day? If not you are wasting days." Thom Plummer challenged us to become better and give it our all each day. Never let a day go by where you only give 80% because then you are not doing all that you can do to reach the next level. I feel the minute I start resting, someone else is out there going strong and passing me so my rest days are few and taken when needed. We have the choice to have the mindset to reach ulitimate levels. Remember if you aren't moving forward, you start moving the wrong way. There is no "staying the same".

11. Your character represents who you are, the way you dress, the way you act, the way you talk, what you do when no one is around, what you listen to, what you watch, the people you hang out with and the way you treat others. Start improving your character and everything else will go in the right direction.

12. My favorite foods: red and green bell peppers, grilled chicken, bananas, eggs, natural peanut butter, cliff bars, broccoli, strawberries, blueberries, grilled mushrooms, and can't forget chocolate milk (after workouts of course). Remember, you are what you eat. If you want high level performance you must eat high level foods.

13. Talk is cheap. Too many people talk too much and do not produce action. Actions speak much louder. So if you say something, please back it up with action and follow through.

14. Try these warm-up drills before your next workout: perfect jumping jacks, walking lunges, sumo squats, pogos, skipping, lateral shuffles, careoka, inchworms, push-ups and short hard runs. This will get your entire nervous system ready and fired for a great workout!

15. Books that should be read every year: "How to Win Friends and Influence People" Dale Carnegie, "A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court" by John Wooden, and "Goals" by Brian Tracy

EXTRA: Go for Greatness. Do not settle for what "everyone else is doing". Be unique, be true to yourself and strive to be high level. Without challenges, Life would be boring. SO when a challenge enters your life, take it head on and do everything you need to do to conquer that challenge. Make it a great week!

Is Your Fitness Program Balanced

2010-11-16T16:20:00.001-08:00

Is Your Fitness Program Balanced
Part 1

When you go to the gym, how do you choose what exercises to perform? Most people do not plan their workout ahead of time. Most likely you are not creating balance in your body. When we look in a mirror we see our front side: chest, biceps, quadriceps and abdominals so these are the areas we are going to hit more often. If we do this, we will have an anterior (front side) dominant body and this imbalance will lead to bad posture, poor movement, aches and pains, and ultimately injury. Below are the movements that need to be implemented when going to the gym. Like I have talked about before, you need to start thinking about training specific movements not specific muscles.

Knee Dominant: These are exercises that get more quadricep recruitment. Squats, lunge variations, split squats and step-ups are examples of this movement.

Hip Dominant: These are exercises that are more hip and glute dominant. In my opinion we lack strength and stability in this area. Most of us are “quad” dominant because of the way we move and workout so we need to focus on hip dominant exercises. Deadlifts, single leg deadlifts, hip lift variations and stability ball leg curls are just a few examples of this category.

Pulling: You will be working the muscles of your upper and middle back when performing these movements. Chin-ups, pull-ups, pulldowns, inverted rows, dumbbell rowing and 1-arm cable pulls are examples. Performing these movements will enhance your posture, your shoulder stability and your upper back strength.

Pressing: These are exercises that will recruit more of your chest and shoulders. Bench pressing variations, push-ups, shoulder pressing and incline bench pressing are examples.

Core Stability: Remember, our “core” is not just our abdominals. Our core integrates our hips, glutes, abdominals, obliques, multifidis, pelvic floor, transverse abdominals and lower back. We should not perform movements that put stress on the lower back from repetitive flexion and extension. We need stability in this region. Planks, side planks, core rollouts and cable holds are examples.

When you plan your workout, make sure you are choosing one exercise per category to create balance and symmetry through the body. Get out of performing body part splits (i.e. chest/back, biceps/triceps, legs) and get into performing full body routines. You will see the results and make your time at the gym much more efficient. Next week I will show you how to design a program using the categories above.

(Please go to www.justintrain.com or call 334-8990 to learn more about these movements.)

Part 2:
You do not want more knee dominant movements than hip dominant movements or more pressing movements than pulling movements. This will lead to an imbalanced hip or shoulder structure which can ultimately lead to injury. Learn to create balance and you will feel better, reduce injury and get results.

Today I will give you two examples of how to design your workout to get the most bang for your buck. I will use the movements that were introduced last week. Make sure to start all your workouts with a proper dynamic warm-up. This warm-up should increase flexibility, open up your joints, elevate your heart rate and prepare the nervous system for the workout ahead. It is mandatory.

Workout #1
Set #1
1a) Split Squat x6/leg – Knee dominant
1b) Front Plank x 20 seconds – Core stability
1c) Inverted Rows x 12 – Pulling

Set #2
2a) Stability Ball Leg Curls x8 – Hip dominant
2b) Core Holds x10 seconds/side – Core Stability
2c) Push-ups x12 - Pressing

Workout #2
Set #1
1a) Squat (holding Dumbbell) x12 - Knee Dominant
1b) Side Plank x10 seconds/side – Core Stability
1c) Cable Pulls (lawnmower pull) x 10/arm – Pulling

Set #2
2a) Deadlift x8 – Hip Dominant
2b) Core Rollouts x8 – Core Stability
2c) DB Bench Press x12 - Pressing

Both of these examples have balance and structure. The idea is to go from one exercise right into the next. Once you have completed each set one time through, take a short break, grab some water and continue. Depending on your fitness level will determine how many sets you will complete. Start off by completing 1 set, see how you feel and then go from there. You can perform up to 4 rounds of each set of exercises.

Please, if you have any questions regarding exercise technique, give us a call at 334-8990 and we will assist you to understand them better.

Make the Decision to be Your Best

2010-11-05T11:54:00.001-07:00

3 Decisions – Have You Made Them
by: Justin Levine

1. Positive Attitude: This decision might be the most important. Whether you want to lose weight, improve your performance or compete in a triathlon you must have a positive attitude and determined mindset to accomplish your goals. When you wake up do you immediately tell yourself “I can’t wait to go to bed again?” Or do you wake up with a motivation to Live Life. If you learn to start your day on a high note and think about how good the day will go then you are more likely to have good days. Instead of watching the news or reading the newspaper as the first thing you do, read something positive and motivating to start your day, then go to the news and newspaper. You have the opportunity to have a fresh start each day. Focus on the day ahead. You can’t do anything about yesterday and tomorrow but today can affect the future. So think and breathe positive thoughts each day.

2. Healthy Lifestyle: If you do not have your health it is very hard to take full advantage of everything around you. Your health is so important for mental and physical wellbeing. Decide to make health, fitness and good nutrition part of your life. Do not fall into the trap of following specific diets and trendy fitness programs and products. Learn to make fitness part of your life. If you do not do something about it now you will eventually have to worry about it later. And unfortunately when it is later, it gets harder. If you make it a lifestyle habit now you are more likely to have a fit and healthy life later. Living healthy is a journey and when it is a habit you feel good, look good and you will take advantage of everyday. Schedule your workouts just like you would schedule a work meeting. When you are more organized and manage time more efficiently you will not be the one that makes the excuse of “I don’t have time.”

3. Be Your Best: Too many people settle for being average and just do what they need to do to get by. We need to strive to reach our full potential. This takes a consistent approach and hard work. When you are working out do you push through a few extra repetitions or do you quite when it gets tough? If you want to get results and Be Your Best you must challenge yourself physically and mentally. Do not settle. Go for the top, conquer your goals and be ready to push through. When you accomplish a specific goal, reassess and set new and higher goals. Believe that you can and strive for excellence.

Random Thoughts - November 1st

2010-11-01T10:10:00.001-07:00

To stir up some brain waves this morning I decided to devise a blog dedicated to some random thinking. There has been a ton on my mind lately, from program design to business stuff to Brett Favre. And it is time to put some of these thoughts down on paper. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions or want to stir up some conversation.

1. I have been reading a ton lately on strength and conditioning and fitness business. Along with my normal blogs of Alwyn Cosgrove, Thom Plummer, Pat Rigsby, Mike Boyle and Mark Verstegen, my newest blogs I have surfed through are Todd Durkin, Bret Contreras, Eric Cressey and Jason Ferruggia. When I read these different blogs I realize how different but yet similar our industry is. Every name I just mentioned are successful fitness entrepreneurs and coaches. Their training styles and philosophies are very different. Instead of picking each program apart and looking for errors, I try and find pieces of each program that could be a positive influence to mine. There is so much out there. So many coaches doing their thing, getting their clients in shape and figuring a way out to be successful. It's not about whose programs better or "I can't believe Trainer A is doing that still". It is all good and as long as you, as a coach or trainer have reasons and understand why you do certain things, that is what matters. Don't be the guy or gal who watches youtube and then for your next training session take your client or yourself through the workout you just saw. That's ridiculous. Have your system and program built and then tweak, add and subtract accordingly. What is best for your clients might be different to another trainer or coach. So moral of the story is keep reading, learning and bettering yourself.

2. Persistency is the word of the year for me. Being persistent in anything you do is key to getting long term results. From business, to fat loss, to triathlon training to relationships, if you continue to have persistency and put in the work you will continue to reap the benefits. First business. There is no such thing as a short term success plan for business. I am in my 5th year of business and hustling my ass off everyday. It is a constant work load each week. The minute I rest, I realize that someone else is working just a little harder so I get my butt back in gear and keep going. Five years ago I was a great fitness coach with not much of a business vision. Today I am a better fitness coach and business owner with goals. In five years you can learn so much if you put in the work. In fact you can have a totally different understanding of something when you read and educate yourself. Reading everyday for 1 hour for 1 year can make you an expert at something. SO imagine reading everyday for 1 hour for 5, 10, 20 years. WOW! I am excited for the years to come. Next, is fitness results. Too many people buy into the quick remedy approach to fitness. Too many infer-commercials, too many trainers giving 8-week transformation programs and too many "fat burning" supplements on the market. There is no such thing as fast results in fitness. I have been working out for over 18 years. I started out with the bodybuilding phase in the 90's and the education I learned from that was priceless. Learning 15 different isolation exercises for each body part is how I began my fitness career. Yes, it was old school but it started my foundation. I slowly progressed into the functional training era in the early 2000's. But to me this was cool and crazy exercise prescription. It was standing on bosu balls or doing bicep curls on 1-leg, this is how I trained and how I started training my clients. It worked back then. I was doing dynamic warm-up drills before I even understood the actual reasons why. I just knew that it was a better warm-up than walking on the treadmill. I now understand function and the joint my joint method to training. I believe sport, performance, fitness and life is about how well you can move and control your body. Absolute strength only matters on your movement efficiency. If you can squat 500 pounds but can not do a 1-leg bodyweight squat then what is the purpose of lifting that 500 pounds. But vice versa take an athlete who can bust out 1-leg squats with 25 pound dumbbells, you have a "functional" athlete. His strength has a purpose. You need function, stability, mobility, flexibility, power, balanced strength and specific conditioning to be an elite athlete and to be an elite person. If you leave one of those concepts out you will not be well rounded. Back to the point, it takes weeks, months, and years of solid dedication and consistency with your workouts and your nutrition to reach high levels of fitness and performance. When you try a new exercise, master that exercise and then move to the next level. It is a constant process of learning, getting better and moving on.

3. California Fitness Academy has built a name for itself in Visalia and surrounding area. We are now on top of the fitness industry in our area. But just like maintaining a lead in football, the key is staying strong and not backing down. People need to know that our place is results oriented. Our clients are not perfect and our coaches are not perfect as well. WE are all trying to live a healthy lifestyle one day at a time. It's not like everyone at CFA is walking around with ripped and lean bodies. That is not what it is about. No gym is like that. But everyday our coaches come with motivation, inspiration and dedication to get their clients excited to live. We are always trying to give our clients the best and most efficient fitness programs out there. If that means changing things up a bit or adding a new exercise then that's what we do. The key is keeping people inspired to reach new levels of performance. Being able to help someone improve their health and life is unbelievable and we will continue to offer the BEST service and fitness education in the area.

4. I was at a BBQ this last weekend with some great friends. It was a potluck style BBQ. Anytime I go to a BBQ, you never know how healthy or unhealthy the food will be. Remember, you can choose the food and the portion size that goes into your mouth. Well I decided to stop off at the grocery store on the way and pick up some red and green bell peppers, a pineapple and some fuji apples. I decided to give this BBQ a slice of healthy and delicious food. I first sliced the apples and threw them on the grill. I lightly flavored them with cinnamon. They cooked on each side for about 5 minutes, getting a little soft and charcoaled. Those were a great healthy appetizer to get the party started. Then I threw the whole bell peppers on the grill. I had pre-seasoned them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Those would cook for about 15-20 minutes. When the peppers were about done, I sliced the pineapple into halves and threw them on the grill. The pineapples only need about 4-5 minutes on each side. I took the peppers and pineapples off the grill and let them cool. I then diced the peppers and pineapple, threw it all together and created a healthy salad mix. I still enjoyed the other dishes but in moderation. But these are the things you need to do if you want to get results. Yes, it takes a little effort but in the end you eat healthy and feel great.

5. Are you a Brett Favre fan? When Brett is on the field, to me, he resembles what sport is all about. Hard work, dedication, comaraderie with teammates and not making any excuses. He has portrayed these traits for many years. In fact he has been doing this for 292 straight games. But lately, his drama is getting annoying. Let's see how this "soap opera" ends. I hope he can find a way to win some games and finish the season on a positive note.

6. I have talked about stretching before. In fact, I had a random thought blog where I brought it up. And I am going to bring it up again. Flexibility is so important for long term benefit and performance. Lack of flexibility is the reason so many people have dysfunction, pain and injury. When you go to the gym, the first thing that is ignored is stretching. Maybe because it is uncomfortable or it is just boring but usually this is what people leave out of their program. When our muscles are tight they resist movement and are more susceptible to injury. We can do something about that. Ignore all the articles about how its not good to stretch before a workout or game. I have been stretching for years. And most of my stretching is done before I do anything active. Add in some foam rolling before you stretch, even better. It's what you do after you stretch is the important part. After you stretch you should perform a thorough dynamic warm-up to increase blood flow, elasticity and prepare the body for the work ahead.

7. It's time for a change when....
-You have been doing the same workout routine for more than 1 year and you just methodically run through your workout each day.
-You are unmotivated to workout and go to the gym. Change your workout, hire a coach, get a workout partner or join a club. These things will spark that motivation and get you inspired to train again.
-You needed to go buy new pants, a size bigger. Take a look at your nutrition plan, your fridge and your cupboards. Change your food, change your workouts and change your mindset. The bigger your pants size the higher the odds of you getting a chronic disease like diabetes, stroke or cancer. Do something about it.
-When all of your closest friends are always drunk. I will be the first one to admit that I enjoy a few beers. Drinking a beer is relaxing and destressing (is that a word?) But it's when you start drinking many drinks during the week. Did you know that 2 light beers a day add up to over 110,000 calories in a year. These are wasted calories that will add inches to your waist line. Be smart and start hanging out with people that will support you in a positive way.
-You wake up everyday with a negative outlook on life. Change your job, change the people you hang out with or change your attitude. Life is a good thing. Yes it is hard and grueling but when you appreciate and live each day to the fullest, Life becomes awesome! And once you have this positive mindset you can spread the wealth and inspire others!

8. Can you believe it is November already?? Man, time flies. We have 2 months left of 2010. We will never get these two months back so we must create an experience to remember these last 60 days. How we finish the year off will dictate the start of yet another year. So decide now to finish strong with momentum. Stick to your goals, stick to your game plan and drive everyday to better yourself. Each day is crucial to move a little forward in the right direction. So let's BE ELITE! Let's BE BIG! And let's GO GET EM'. Time to make it happen....

5 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Yourself

2010-10-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

1. Write down your goals. Goals are just ideas and thoughts if they are not written down. Be disciplined and take some time to write down what you want to accomplish. If you stay at the level you are currently at you will get stagnate and start going backwards. You must continue to want more, be more and do more. Once you write down your goals, create 5-7 steps to accomplish each goal. For example:
"I want to run a marathon in March 2011"
-Set up a training plan
-Improve nutrition protocol
-Focus on foam rolling/stretching 4x/week for recovery
-Get consistent sleep
-Log all workouts and your feelings after each workout
-Performance test 1x/month

If you create steps for each of your goals you will have a game plan to go out and achieve each of the goals. Don't sell yourself short and reach for the top!

2. Surround yourself with successful/positive people. If you are constantly hanging out with negative and bad influences you will get off route to your goals. Choose who you hang with carefully because the crew you are with will guide you, whether it is down a negative road or a positive road. If you are around positiive and determined people you will be more likely to have these traits. If you compete in triathlons or running events, find a club in your town to interact with. Start looking at the people you are with everyday....Are they helping you get closer to your goals or taking you farther away. You make the decision.

3. Workout. Having physical health is the foundation of Life. When you are physically conditioned you can put more effort in everything else in your life. You will have energy, vitality, strength, endurance and vigor to take on all of your tasks in your life. Do not be the person who says "I do not have time to workout". You must make time and put training into your schedule. Just like a work meeting or appointment, add your workout time to your daily and weekly calendar. No excuses, just get it in. It doesn't have to consume your life, but it does have to be in your life.

4. Positive Self Talk - Daily. Wake up and tell yourself that today is going to be a good and strong day. And when you go to bed tell yourself that it was a good day and tomorrow will be even better. These positive affirmations will create a mindset that is strong and positive and get you on path to conquering all of your goals. Whenever a road block enters your life, focus on the positive things you can do to get through that block. Anytime a negative thought enters your mind, ignore it and change it to a positive thought. We can control our thoughts. IT just takes discipline and hard work to create this type of mindset.

5. Healthy Nutrition. Your nutrition habits are how you feel, go about everyday, think and live. If you focus on eating fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and quality fats everyday, you will see a tremendous change in your vitality and quality of life. You will decrease your chances of chronic disease like cancer, stroke, diabetes, and obesity. We choose what goes into our mouth on a daily basis and it just takes a certain mindset to choose healthy and fresh food. Don't do diets. The first 3 letters of DIEting are DIE! Let's live a healthy and full life. If you are craving a certain food, go ahead and sample that food but know that you will be back on your healthy journey the next day. Live the 85/15 rule where you are focused on eating healthy and nutritious foods 85% of the time and giving into your cravings of unhealthier foods 15% of the time. When you think like this, you will see the long term benefits.