Book Learnin'

Understanding how your body works is important in your fitness life. If someone knows why they are doing something they are much more likely to do it.

Sometimes you'll hear doctors and the like say, "You gotta exercise." And leave it at that. They mean well, and they're right. But, that's about as specific as saying, "You need to earn money to live." There are lots of different ways to earn money. And there are lots of different ways to exercise.

It breaks down to what you are training for, and which energy systems of your body you want to concentrate on. Or maybe you want to train more than one energy system. So we're going to cover some of this stuff over the next few days.

So, let's start with energy systems. Most trainers will tell you your body has two energy systems, anaerobic and aerobic. Anaerobic means "without oxygen." Aerobic means "with oxygen." Okay, so basically anaerobic means your body is producing energy to move your muscles without using oxygen to directly fuel them. Aerobic, you guessed it, IS using oxygen. Now this is all well and good, but it's still kind of boring and overly basic. It doesn't really tell you anything useful.

What you never hear is that the energy systems can be further broken down. There are actually two systems within each of the main two. So there are really four.

Today I'll tell you about the first one. This anaerobic system is responsible for the first 6-10 of all out effort. It's called the Adenosine TriPhospate/Phosphocreatine system, or ATP/PC system for short.

ATP is the fuel your muscles use to move. At rest you have about 6-10 seconds worth of this stuff in your muscles. Once you burn through that, Phosphocreatine kicks in and helps to make more ATP. It's really complicated and it's not to important to know how it all works for the average person. What is important to know is that it does happen.

This is why you can sprint all out for about 10 seconds and then you'll feel yourself slow down a gear no matter how hard you push it. It is physiologically impossible for the human body to sprint wide open for longer than 10 seconds. So don't feel bad. This is why all sprinting events never last longer than 10 seconds. Ever notice how long a football play is? The average is 6 seconds.

If you want to be a football player than it would make sense to train your ATP/PC system wouldn't it?

So what happens after 10 seconds? The second part of your anaerobic system fires up. That's for tomorrow.

Train smart,

RL

When's Recess?

School starts up today for most of the state. As far as I know anyway. I have clients whose kids started today in different schools so I'm drawing conclusions.

This time of year parents are finding their schedules are "getting back to normal." Especially the stay-at-home moms and dads out there. Why not use this mini-transitional time of the year to schedule in some much need workout sessions?

Almost every potential client I meet with during the summer months tells me, "I don't plan on starting anything until the kids are back at school." So now that that's happened I encourage you to take control and make yourself exercise. No more excuses. And I should go call all those people now and see if they're true to their word or were just giving me lip service, which happens a lot. I think it's so they can tell themselves and others they met with a trainier, even if all they did was talk. The truth is people can do at least something during the summer. I sometimes want to tell people, "stop using your kids being out of school as a crutch." It is possible to workout with your kids home. I do it all the time.

But anyway, enough of my harsh attitude. How about all you parents out there send yourselves back to school too. The school of fitness. I know that was cheesy but you get my point.

Train smart,

RL

Reverse the Curse

Time to finish up the principles of fitness training.

Now some of them are pretty self-explanatory. So I won't spend any time on them. There's the adaptation, progression, moderation, long term training and warm up/cool down principles. And if you want to sound like you really know what you're talking about you can say stuff like,

"You need to moderate your progression of adaptation through varying specific overload training, depending on your individual response in the long term of course."

There's one last one I'm going to talk a little about today and that's the dreaded Reversability principle.

Wouldn't it be great if you could train for a certain goal, reach it, then never have to train again for it but still maintain all the ability you gained? For example, training to do 50 pushups in a row, hit that goal, then never doing another pushup again but still having the ability to do 50 in a row if you wanted. That would be nice.

Unfortunatly, thanks to the reversability principle, that is not possible.

Simply put, if you dont use it, you lose it.

Any adaptations your body makes due to physical training can all be reversed with enough time.
It takes anywhere from 2-10 weeks to lose any physiological improvements you achieved through your training.

It really bugs me when my wrestlers come back to start the season and they're in terrible shape. Didn't they realize what they were about to embark on? Don't they remember last year?

It is so much easier to maintain the level your at than to lose it and have to get it all back again. You must be on a year round training schedule. Sure, you can emphasize certain aspects of your training at different times of the year, or just do the same style workout all the time (with variation of course.) But you just need to stay moving!

A key to life long fitness is to never stop. Always be finding new ways to challenge yourself, And definitely NEVER just stop. Or the reversability monster will come and steal away all you have worked for.

Constantly strive to improve.

Train smart,

RL

Mind Games

We'll get back to principles of training next time.

Today I want touch a little on getting the most out of your workouts.

In order to get the full effect you must put your mind into the exercises. By this I mean, don't distract yourself mentally. Your mind/body connection is never greater than when your body is under stress. Wether it's good (exercise) or bad stress. Nuturing this connection will actually make you mentally and physically stronger. And yes, I believe smarter.

This is the main reason why I'm not to crazy about listening to distracting music or watching TV while you exercise. It just takes something off.

You often hear athletes talk about "the zone." The zone is when your mind/body connection is at it's peak. Everything is working together in harmony and you can accomplish things you wouldn't be able to do just any old time.

If you try to distract yourself while you exercise and just go through the motions you are robbing yourself of some of the best benefits of exercise. I find that when I'm in good physical shape my mind seems to follow. I want to read more, I want to learn more, and I do.

Also, mentally focusing on the muscles and energy systems your using while exercising can lead to greater physical results as well. That little bit of focus can enhance your form, or make that contraction just a bit better. It can add repetitions or time. It can work wonders.

One time while I was jumping rope I got so into "the zone" I just kept going until I had more than doubled my usual amount of jumps per workout. And since then my jump rope training has never been the same. That never would have happened if I was watching TV while I was doing it.

Get inside your mind while your exercise. Focus. Cultivate the mind/body connection. It will serve you in every aspect of your life.

Train smart,

RL

ME! ME! ME!

Today's principle is one that throws a wrench into the works. Just after you get all these principles into your head (and there's more to come) comes this one. It's the....Individual Response principle.

This principle basically states that everybody reacts to training differently. So a coach shouldn't expect every single one of his athletes to respond in precisely the same way.

Genetics, diet, sleep, maturity (both physical and mental), and other enviromental and personal factors can contribute to varying degrees of training response from athletes.

All our lives are like giant mazes. We all have a goal to get to, but none of us get there the same way. We have to find out what works best for us and go by that route.

This principle is one of my favorites just beacuse it leaves so much open. It also can comfort someone who is feeling like they haven't achieved anything. I point out all the things they HAVE achieved, and just because they can't do something as well as this guy over here doesn't mean squat. Perhaps they can do this one thing better than him.

Everybody is different. Some people are naturally strong. Some have God-given endurance. Some are born super flexible. I could train flexibility non-stop but I would never get as flexible as those little contortionist girls in the circus. Why? Because science has shown they are just born with the ability to contort their bodies that way. It's something that can't be developed. So their individual response to extreme flexibilty training would be different than my response to the same training.

One of my natural "gifts" is leg strength. I have "tree trunk" legs. And I've always excelled at leg exercises, even before I was big into exercise. I remember I could push the whole stack on the leg press machine in my high school when I was a freshmen, without any training. So my response to leg training is different than, say a guy who has a lot of natural upper-body strength but little chicken legs.

You can use this principle to help train your weak spots. I do a lot of upper body work because that's my weak spot. And I may respond slowly to that training, but that's just my body and I have to deal with it. My legs on the other hand respond to training very quickly.

It's all about how your body responds. Use the other principles of training to construct a sound workout program for yourself, and use the individual response principle to help keep everything in perspective. You are you. Train for you.

Train smart,

RL

Variety Show

Today I'm going to talk about another training principle. This one I personally struggle with a little in my own fitness regime. Well, struggle isn't really the right word. It's more like I'm constantly dealing with this principle on the fore front. The overload, and specificity principle sort of take care of themselves just as long as your smart and constantly pushing yourself. But this next one can be a little tricky for some, some like me.

The Variation Principle.

This is the "you-gotta-mix-things-up" principle.

This principle states that one must vary their training regime to avoid having their bodies get to used to their training. If that happens you can get to the point of dimishing returns, just like economics, you start getting less and less results from the same exercises over and over again. It's also helps to prevent boredom, probably the worst enemy of exercise.

This doesn'e mean you can master an exercise to the point where you'll never have to do it again. It just means you should vary the instensity, duration, frequency (sound familiar? overload principle anyone? see how they all work together?) or style of the exercise.

Here's an example from my own training:

I'm big into pushups, all kinds. I'm always trying to find new ways of dong them. Recently I was getting a little bored of the regular way of doing them, plus I wasn't really improving any further, I hit a wall so to speak. So I used my superior ingenuity to come up with a new way (for me anyway) to tweak my pushups. And boy oh boy, let me tell you, the results have been awesome. Doing 5 of them this new way literally felt like I did 25-50 the old way. Needless to say I almost exclusively do pushups this new way. The results have been crazy, my upper-body is transforming. I thought I was already good at pushups for somebody my size, but I was wrong, maybe I am now. Who knows?

There are always ways to inject some variety into your workouts. Just think, read, research. Contact a trainer. I have some clients with very short attention spans. With these clients I try to make every session different. I have to, otherwise they get bored and don't work as hard, and maybe even quit.

It can be a challenge to marry the variation and specificity principles together. You might think, "One says to be specific and the other says to mix it up, which is it?" It's both. You can be specific to a goal or sport and still vary the workout, just think about it.

These principles all work together. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to yet another one.

Train smart,

RL

Be Specific!

The specificity principle is another important training principle. In fact, combined with the overload priniciple, these two are considered by many to be the most important.

So, what is the specificity principle? It's simple.

I states the body must be trained for the specific sport and/or activity it will be performing.

For example, a sprinter and a marathon runner wouldn't train the same way. Either would a bodybuilder and a gymnist.

I deal with this principle a lot with my coaching. Wrestler's need to be in condition no doubt. But, they need to be in the right kind of condition. So when I put them through their conditioning routines I am focusing on those energy systems used in the sport of wrestling.

How can you use this is your life?

One of the questions I ask potential clients before we start working together is: "If we were to work together what would you be looking to get out of it?"

Their response helps to key me into what specific results they are looking to get out of the time they spend with me training.

I could ramble off example after axample here but I won't. I'll just give you a couple. If a client says to me, "I just want to lose weight." Their training will be different than that of a client who says, "I want to get stronger, and if I lose weight that's okay too."

You need to analyze what you want to get out of your training. You can't do everything at once, believe me, I've tried. But, you can do a lot at once. I have clients who don't really want to do any sports, they just want to get into overall shape. Well, there are degrees of that too which must be considered. Even if they're just slight changes, everyone is different.

Train for your specific goals and watch your results compound.

Train smart,

RL

Sent to the Principle

Over the next few days I am going to cover some key principles of fitness training and how you can apply them to your life.

What is a principle?

It's "a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption"
(Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.)

Depending on who you talk to, there are about 10 accepted principles of fitness training. Some more important, or easily understood and applicable to your personal training regime, than others. Today I'm going to talk about a good ol' basic one. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the:

Overload Principe.

This means exercising the body at a level above which it normally operates. Thus, it triggers your body to essentially "grow or die." Your body thinks you're trying to kill it so it adapts by getting stronger, or more efficient to save itself.

You can accomplish this a few different ways.

You can increase the the frequency of training. For example, going from training once a day to twice a day. This one is hard for the average person to do due to time constrants. Most people have "trouble" finding time to do one workout every other day.

You can increase the intensity of the exercise. This means "taking it up a notch." Perhaps more weight if you're a weight lifter. Maybe a different angle than your body is used to. Performing the exercise faster. Increased intensity will use basically the same amout of time but be much more taxing on the body.

Finally you can increase the duration of the exercise. This is simply doing the exercise for a longer amount of time during one workout session. A good example of this is going from jumping rope for 10 minutes to 20 minutes. Or increasing the number of reps of any given exercise.

Anyone who is exercising is using the overload principle in one way or another. Be concious of it. Understand why you are doing what you're doing. It will make your training more enjoyable, instead of just feeling like you're going through the motions.

Tomorrow I'll cover another principle of training.

Until then...

Train smart,

RL

No Dancing Around it.

Today is the big day. Dance registration for my daughter. And I predict she will be a star pupil. She has been dancing since before she could walk. Sure, I know a lot of babies do the little bopping up and down when they hear music, but now that she's 3 she always wants to dance. She strikes poses, puts her arms in the air. And I swear she's already learned to pause for applause.

I hope she loves dance and makes it a part of her life forever. It will keep her active and in shape.

Kids need activity. And that's the problem. Most kids today are passionate about video games instead of playing REAL games and sports.

I've written about this before and I will do it again. We as parents MUST guide our children onto a path of a healthy and active lifestyle. I will expose my daughter to all kinds of sports and activities as she gets older. Anything that strikes a chord in her soul I will do my best to harness and let her explore it further. But right now, at the tender age a 3, she seems to be digging the whole dance thing.

In my coaching at the high school level I am constantly amazed by how soft kids are today. But then I think back to how I was at that age. Fat and lazy. But I had something in my mind, call it stubborness, but once I decided to change, I knew I could and I did. I was/am mentally tough. Kids today seem to be lacking that as well. I'm not sure if sitting in front of screens and monitors all day zaps away motivation or what, but our children are in trouble. They feel trapped, even if they don't know it yet.

I've had freshman come into my wrestling practice thinking it was going to be easy, and that they didn't have to do what THEY didn't think was necessary. Just plain piss poor attitudes to put it exactly right. But once you break them of that. Give them some direction, teach them to focus in on the mind/body connection within them. They change. And change dramatically.

So get your kids involved in something. Find that passion. They might whine now, but they'll thank you for it in the future.

So we're starting with dance. Of course she'll learn to wrestle and fight too. Just in case she needs it.

Train smart,

RL

Think and Grow Fit.

I'm a bit pressed for time today so I'm going to share with you another one of my more mature (nice way of saying old) articles.

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Think and Grow Fit
By Ryan Linderson


Everything begins with an idea. Those of you who’ve read the classic book by Napolean Hill, “Think and Grow Rich” understand this concept. Everything in life we manifest, beginning with a simple idea. Put desire and passion behind that idea and you get results. The book deals with making money. However, the same concept does apply to fitness.
You’re not in the best physical condition. You admit it. You want to change it. You need to change it. There’s the idea. The thought of you in the best shape of your life. Feeling and looking great.
Go write it down.
First write down the condition you are in today, then the condition you want to be in. Next write down when you want to be in that condition, then write what you’re willing to do to get into that condition (i.e., workout everyday, stop eating junk food, etc.) This is your goal. You have it written out, which automatically more than doubles the chances of it becoming reality. Ask any successful person if they write down their goals and more often than not you’ll get a loud, “Of course I do!”
What you write would look something like this, “I, John Doe, am 30 pounds overweight on June 10, 2005. I want to be 30 pounds lighter by September 10, 2005. I will accomplish this by exercising 5 days a week. I will also cut my food portions in half since I know they are twice as big as they need to be.”
Now what do you do?
You read that goal out loud to yourself as many times a day as you can. It becomes a burning desire. A burning want. When the human mind truly wants something it finds ways to get it, no matter how hard or how out of reach it is.
Does this really work? You bet it does.
When I was a sophomore in high school I was still fat. I was on the wrestling team as the heavyweight but I was still too fat. I weighed around 230 at that point with a very high body fat percentage. Then my coach told me I was going down to the 189-pound weightclass the next season. That was how it was going to be he told me. He didn’t ask me, he told me. That one sentence changed my life.
In my mind, faliure was not an option. I was going to weigh around 190 the next year. And I did. One-hundred ninety pounds on the dot the day of my junior year physical.
I had stumbled onto the concept. I didn’t recongnize it then, but I do now. I wrote down “190.” I posted it in the room I exercised in so it was always on my mind. My coach’s words echoed in my head. I wanted it bad. I thought about it constantly. It worked.
You need to be your own coach. You are an important person in your life aren’t you? You are important to your kids, your family, your friends. What you say does matter. Tell yourself what you want for a fitness level. Write it down to constantly remind yourself. Your brain will automatically search out all the necessary means to accomplish your goal.
Everything begins with an idea. It’s simple. It’s the truth. You have the power to change your body into whatever you want it to be. Use the power. Think and grow fit for life.

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Have a great weekend, exercise a lot!

Train smart,

RL

Is it partly cloudy or partly sunny?

Nothing is more toxic than negative energy. Yet some people seem to feed off of it, not thrive, just survive.

Have you ever met someone like that? They just seem to enjoy it when not-so-good things happen to them. They like to complain and moan about their miserable lives. And they just attract more negativity to themselves like a magnet.

I try to live my life in positive energy. Sure I get bummed out sometimes, but I always confront that negative energy and turn it positive.

It may sound cheesy but a couple of my favorite sayings are :

"When God closes a door he opens a window."

and

"God helps those who help themselves."

If you're fat and out-of-shape, instead of feeling sorry for yourself, look at it as an opportunity to discover your inner strength. Getting into shape is not easy. Are you the kind of person who can do it, or are you a miserable person dwelling in your own self-pity?

People like to worry about the "ifs" in life. Well, that works both ways. "What if I get heart disease?" Turn that into, "What if I lose the weight and get fit?" Change your perspective. Change your attitude. Expell the negativity from your mind and suck it some positive.

It might just change yor life.

Train smart,

RL

Shake and Bake

Isometrics.

An often overlooked aspect of fitness training.

What are they? Basically, they are any exercise in which the body does not move. You are either applying force to an immovable object or holding a position for time without moving. This style of training is great for getting that shake and bake going. Your muscles get a workout from the inside out.

What do I mean by that? Well, it's hard to explain in words. You just have to feel it.

I'm going to give you a couple basic isometric exercises to try.

The Isolation push-up a.k.a. Iso-push-up: Get into normal push-up position. Back straight, stomach tight, butt inline with your back, neck long. Now lower yourself down until you're about half-way to the floor. Now just hold for time, for as long as you can. The first time you do this you'll be lucky to see 30 seconds.

Now let's do one for the lower body.

The Hercules Chair a.k.a. Wall Chair, Wall squat (I just think Hercules Chair sounds cooler.): Get your back against a solid wall. Feet are about 18-24 inches from the wall depending on your height. Now lower yourself down against the wall like your sitting in a chair. Push back into the wall and hold yourself up. Try to get your knees to 90 degrees and your butt to 90 degrees to the wall. Now hold for time.

Get a handle on these and you'll see what I mean by them working your muscles from the inside out. It's just a different sort of feeling, and a different sort of training.

You can use your imagination and come up with all kinds of isometric exercises. In fact, almost any exercise can be altered just a little to incorporate isometric elements.

So mix some isometrics into your fitness regime. Feel the shake and bake.

Soak it up

What's one of the simplest things you can do to lose weight and be healthier?

Drink water.

Never touch soda again, it's poison, even "diet" soda. It's chock full of unnatural chemicals. Stuff I don't want in my body, and you shouldn't either.

Now how much water should you drink? I believe the common "Eight 8 ounces glasses a day" idea is lacking. And here's why: 8 x 8 = 64 ounces a day. Now does every human body need just 64 ounces a day? Did Andre the Giant need the exact same amount of water every day as someone with Dwarfism? I don't think so.

There's a way to figure out how much your body needs. This is a good way to get a rough estimate depending on your activity level: you need 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of bodyweight.

So a 200 pound man needs 100 ounces of water, if he's very active he'll need even more. I usually try to drink a gallon a day, that 128 ounces. No I don't weigh 256 pounds, but I am very active so I feel 1 gallon is a good daily intake for me. And sometimes I'll drink more.

If you do this and cut out all the poison liquids you're consuming everyday you will feel incredible. Your body will be saying 'Thank you' for finally giving it what it needs. You'll sleep better, you'll recover from exercise faster, you'll be healthier, basically you'll just feel great.

Most people walk around in a constant state of dehydration. So they don't even know what it feels like to be truly hydrated. Are you one of them? Trust me, being hydrated is a good thing. It's what nature intended.

Give water a chance

Train smart,

RL

Sad, sad, sad...

This past weekend I was at my town's annual country fair. I've been going my entire life and it's pretty much the closet thing I get to a vacation. Which is fine with me. I endulged in some junky fair food, once a year is okay, all things in moderation. I see people from my town, enjoy the weather (if it's nice, which is was), my daughter plays, I watch the acts on stage, and I people watch.

Last night I saw something that upset me. A family walked in front of me. Both parents obese, and older son obese and then a little girl, no more than 5 years-old. She was so fat she could barely walk. Her body was literally almost a perfect circle. She was too young to realize. She was dancing around to the music like little kids do. She was smiling and laughing. But after a few minutes she would be breathing heavy and struggling to even walk to sit down. It was so sad. And in my opinion a form of child abuse. At the rate she was going she'll be lucky to live to 30.

And the kicker is the parents gave both kids, the son and the little girl, their own family size serving of french fries. Ridiculous. These parents, and many like them, are killing their children.

I wish I could just smack some sense into these people. All I can do is hope to influence, educate, motivate or inspire. And it's seeing things like that that remind me why I do what I do.

It breaks my heart to think of the future waiting that little girl. Hopefully something will happen in her life to change it for the better. Hopefully her parents will smarten up.

Parents need to be good stewards of their children's bodies.

That's all I have for today. To be honest, this kind of bummed me out. But there's really nothing I can do.

A good workout will get the juices flowing and make me feel better. So I'm going to go do that, and you should too!

Train smart,

RL

Resistance is NOT futile.

So resistance training is the same thing as weight training right? Wrong.

This is a common misconception.

Weight training IS resistance training, BUT resistance training is not only weight training.

Something as basic as a pushup is still resistance training even though there are no iron weights involved. You are still lifting the resistance of about 65-70% of your body weight.

I hear from older folks sometimes that their doctors want them to start resistance training. Then they tell me they just don't want to lift weights, or are scared too. I tell them what I just told you. You don't need the weights.

There's body weight exercises, resistance bands, all kinds of things you can do that don't involve one weight.

If you like lifting weights, more power to you. Just realize, they are not the be all and end all of fitness.

One of the main things that put me off the weights for good was the fact that it seemed every lifelong weightlifter I met who was over 30 had a grocery list of injuries as long as his arm. Lower backs, rotator cuffs, elbows, wrists, knees, ankles...heavy weightlifters just seem to always be injured in some way. I just didn't want that. I like to be able to move. I like to be in shape and be able to do stuff that being in shape allows me to do.

So resistance training is important, it is key. You must do it. But you don't need those weights.

By the way, if any of you out there would like to get some resistance bands/cables I can recommend a company that sells the best on the market, commercial quality stuff. Just ask.

Train smart,

RL

DMV Fitness

I had to go to the DMV today.

One thing I noticed is how much negative energy is flowing through that place. Everyone is in a bad mood. It's like a festering pit of negativity. Sure, no one likes being there. But, what are you going to do? You have to be there so at least try to be positive.

Something I do in situations like that is simple deep breathing exercises.

It's something you can do in a public place because no one can really tell you're doing anything. Just suck in a nice controled deep breath, think about breathing from your feet. Fill your whole body with air. Hold for a count or two then exhale, slowly. Do that a few times and I guarantee you'll feel better. As you inhale think of breathing white positive energy into your body and as you exhale imagine expelling thick, black, negative energy.

This is also great to do before and/or after a good workout.

I can't make going to the DMV a pleasurable experience but this can at least make it a little better.

Train smart,

RL

Only 4 easy payments of..

Poeple often ask me why I am so anti-equipment when it comes to exercise. It's not that I'm anti-equipment, it's that I'm pro-exercise. The "need" for equipment is often used as an excuse for people to not exercise.

"Oh, I would exercise if only I had a treadmill, but they're so expensive so I just can't exercise."

Something like that.


Or...

"I can't afford a gym membership so, poor me, I'm destined to be fat and lazy forever."

You do not NEED anything. Just your mind, body and a little space.

When I was growing up I got suckered into buying a few fitness gizmos off of late night infomercials. You know, those scientific breakthrough machines that were proven in a major university study to burn fat faster than anything previously conseived by the mind of man.

And what happens to those gizmos?

They end up taking up space in your closet, or under your bed.

You see, some piece of plastic or expensive machine will not get you into shape. Only your mind will.

Use equipment if you wish. But, they key word is USE.

Train smart,

RL

PS - Do you have any fitness gizmos laying around your house taking up space?

The Real F-Word

Here is another one of my articles I wanted to share with you.

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What is one thing that every human being on this planet feels all the time? It is ingrained into us on an instinctual level. It can serve us for the good or for the bad, and it’s extremely hard to control. The answer: Fear.

Fear is something I find very interesting. In fact, I am currently working on a new book and it is going to have a chapter devoted just to it. Fear is something so powerful, and it can be equally good and bad. It has propelled outnumbered, outmatched armies to absolute victory. And I’m sure it has prevented millions of people from realizing their lifelong dreams.

I first became interested in what fear is and the hold it has over us back when I was a kid. This may seem silly but it’s usually silly where we get some of our life lessons. There was a movie written and staring Albert Brooks in 1991 titled, “Defending Your Life.” For those of you who haven’t seen it it deals with what happens after you die. The basic story is that we are put on Earth to conquer fear, and when we die we go through a trial to see if we have. If you win you “move on,” if you lose you get reincarnated and get to try again. Regardless of what you believe really happens when you die you have to admit it was an interesting idea for a movie. I find myself thinking of this movie a lot, more than I like to admit. I will not let fear be the boss of me.

The fear of success is a very real thing. So is the fear of failure. And don’t forget about the fear of staying the same, and the fear of change. There’s a fear for everything, and we all have felt all of them at some point. Either on a conscious or subconscious level.

So what do we do about fear? How can we use it, harness its power to get the things we want in life? Good question, and beyond the scope of this article. Conquering fear has to become a lifelong quest. I believe every person has to find their own way, what works for them. However, the number one thing we all have to do is become aware of it. Understand fear is what’s getting in your way. Then think. Think about if this fear is helping you, or hindering you. Then take action to remedy the situation.

Is fear keeping you fat? Is fear keeping you weak? Are you afraid if you exercise people will notice you? Perhaps you fear sticking out. People fear compliments, people fear getting noticed.

Some of the scariest things I’ve done in my life have been things that were great for me in the long run, but made me “stick out” in a way. Now I don’t care. If I was afraid of sticking out I wouldn’t be writing this article. Whenever I have a fear pop into my gut the thought of that silly movie pops into my head. I recognize the fear, and analyze it. And you know what? Most of the time it’s no big deal.

So go ahead. Take on your fear. Get in shape. Start that business. Take that risk. Fear fear.

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Train smart,

RL


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So, you work at a gym right?

Whenever people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them they almost always ask, "So you work at a gym?"

No no no.

People seem to have a hard time believing you can get a real quality workout without all the machines and gizmos at your local gym. It's the truth. All you need is your body and some space...and the knowledge of how to do it.

I go to my clients. I train them in their homes, offices, wherever they want. And more often than not I get the reaction of, "That was the best workout of my life, I didn't think you could do this without equipment." Well my friends, you can, in fact it's the most natural workout out there. You work your entire body as one unit. You don't want to isolate a single muscle, you want to focus on a muscle group (upper body for example) while you're also engaging the rest of your body for support. That is how you get into functional condition. Sure I use some equipment sometimes just to mix things up and keep it interesting. But I don't need to. And it's always easily portable, minor equipment.

Bodybuilders may look good with their inflated muscles. But believe you me, they gas out in about 2 seconds doing anything functional. I used to love it when I would wrestle against a big, bulky bodybuilder guy (which was rare because most real wrestlers know that isn't the way to train for wrestling) because in about 30 seconds they're as weak as a newborn kitten. They're also always the first guy to get injured. Why? Because their body is not used to working as one unit. It's been trained to work one muscle at a time. That's not how the body functions in the real world.

Bottomline, train for functionality and the good looks will follow.

I would consider opening my own gym someday. It would not be your typical gym, that's for sure.

Train smart,

RL

PS - Please note: When I mention wrestling I'm talking wrestling, not WWE stuff.

Quote of the week

"You can make progress and you can make excuses, you just can't make them both at the same time."

How to never pass out in a heat wave.

I saw an article yesterday that's headline was, "Obese people more likely to pass out due to heat."

Call the President!

That falls into the, "No s**t Sherlock category."

I know sometimes I may seem harsh on fat people. I know I am. I used to be one of them so it's okay, at least in my head. I know the only reason people are fat is because they choose to be. They eat bad and they don't exercise. You can shoot out all your excuses, bad genetics, no time, whatever it is, I'm not buying.

Now of course I realize there are the very very rare cases when someone truly is trapped by some medical condition. But truth be told, those situations are RARE, and most likely not you.

Here are some basic tips you can do to begin your path to non-obesity: Eat breakfast. Drink ONLY water (no soda, no juice drinks a.k.a. high fructose corn syrup smoothies.) Walk. Practice deep breathing exercises. No junk food, if it comes in a wrapper, bag or box don't eat it. Those should get you started.

So I would recommend if you don't want to have an increased risk of passing out during a heat wave that you stop being obese. Right now!

Train smart,

RL

Whiskey

The most important part of your fitness regime is not the exercises. It's not what equipment you're using or not using. It's not which energy system of your body you are working. It's not if you're trying to bulk up, lean out, or just get overall fit. It's not how old you are, how fat you are or how weak you think you are. It's not the work. It's not the results. It's not whatever over-priced supplement or shake you're choking down. And it sure as hell isn't the outfit you wear to the gym.

It's motivation.

The unseen drive. The one that pushes you to actually do. To go. To go do it.

It's different for everyone. Only you can find it. People like me can tell you how to look, why to look, and even where to look. But, only you can find it.

You don't know how many times, and from how many people I've heard good intentions. Another one of my favorite quotes is, "Talk is cheap but money buys whiskey." (I don't drink whiskey but you get the point.) Nothing happens unless you make it happen. You won't get the awesome results of exercise unless you......exercise.

So what is it for you? Health? Perhaps it's setting a good example for you kids? Or maybe it's just good ol' fashioned vanity.

My main motivation is never getting fat again. Sure I have other motivations. But when I boil it down to my core, that is the one still standing.

I encourage you to search your life, find that one key motivational factor. Concentrate on it. Here's a little tip that works: Once you get yourself all worked up to the point you're about to go bang out a great workout, take out an index card and in big letters write, "Remember this feeling." Put that card somewhere you'll see it on those days you're having trouble getting going. Every time you see it bring yourself back to that mental state you were at when you wrote it.

You must motivate and inspire yourself. Other's may help, but only you can do it.

Train smart,

RL

PS- What are some of your motivations?

Skip-a-dee-do-dah

One of my favorites exercises is jumping rope. I do it at least every other day usually. It's a great workout that can be done in place of jogging. In fact, that's how and why I got into it. I hate jogging, always have, always will. It's boring. However, I still wanted to get that aerobic element into my workout regime. I don't really like big bulky machines, they're big, they're bulky, and they're expensive. So stair machines, and bikes, and treadmills are out, for me anyway. If you have one and like it, then use it if you want.

A good jump rope cost a few bucks.

I've read in more than one source that 10 minutes of rope jumping is equal to 30 minutes of jogging for your heart. I don't know if that's true, but I've heard it from a few people so it must be right? Anyway, it sure feels like the truth.

At first it might be hard for you to learn. You want one jump for one revolution of the rope, none of this little baby jump in between each regular jump you see little girls do on the playground. Start with both feet together. When you get good you can start the running step. Then all kinds of fancy things are possible, although I usually keep it simple. I just want the workout, I'm not looking to win any creative rope skipping competition (yes they actually have those.)

So if you're looking for something different, challenging, great for you, and maybe a little fun, try jumping rope.

I know some of you might be thinking, "How is jumping rope any less boring than jogging?"

All I can say is it just is, for me anyway. I like to count my jumps and try to beat my records for consecutive jumps without a miss (as of yesterday, 2047.) Or I'll set a timer for 10 minutes and try to get more jumps in that time than I did last time. There are also different kinds of jumps ropes. There are light speed ropes, there are heavy thick ropes, there's rope rope, plastic rope, leather rope. All delivering a different style workout. I recommend getting two, a speed rope and a heavy rope. Give it a shot.

It's too hot to be jogging outside anyway.

Train smart,

RL

Kids today.

Yesterday was my daughter's third birthday.

We went around the area checking out a gymnastics school and a couple dance studios. Keeping kids active is one of my core beliefs. Probably because I've always felt like I was robbed of that when I was a kid due to migraines. I would get several severe migraines a week and sometimes it seemed that even the thought of physical activity brought one on. Consequently I spent a lot of my childhood staying still trying not to hurt. Luckily, I seemed to mostly grow out of it around puberty time. Although I still get migraines, it's nowhere near as often as it used to be. Also exercise seems to help them now, go figure.

My wife really wants my daughter to do dance, which is fine with me. I'm more into the gymnastics. Gymnastics give children a solid foundation to build on. They become aware of how to use their bodies. Spatial awareness, strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, all benefits of gymnastics training. I wish I had done it. Even though I would have been "too big" for gymnastics according to all the "experts." I still would have gotten a lot out of it.

Whatever the activity is I highly encourage you to get your kids moving. Even if they're resistant to it. Force them if you have to. Hopefully you won't. Help them find a passion, something they enjoy, even love, that will keep them in shape.

I see it all the time in my coaching, kids today are, for lack of a better word, soft. And this is just over the last 5-10 years. I don't know, or really care, whose to blame. Video games, TV, junk food, whatever it is, the facts are kids are fatter than ever, sicker than ever, and are going to grow into adults that die sooner and sooner.

Kids learn by imitation. That's a point you'll hear me say over and over. Be active yourself and they will too. Teach them to live better. I think that's the greatest birthday present I could ever give my daughter.

It looks like we're going to go with both, dance and gymnastics, sounds like a plan.

Train smart,

RL