Friday, May 26, 2017

Keeps your body fit and able

Keeps your body fit and able


So you want to go and do something at the spur of the moment. Maybe it is travel or play a pickup game of some sort. Can you do it? How will you feel the next day? Can you physically climb that rope or walk that travel or fit into that area? Here is one of the 50 reasons why is it important to exercise.
Not everyone is going to win the Olympics or end up on the front of some magazine, however being fit enough to do more than the average at any time for any reason is important on so many levels. If you have small kids and they want to learn how to ride a bike, can you help them or do you have to get your neighbor to help you. I had to do that for my neighbor and it is not fun. Actually it is really embarrassing on so many levels. If your school age child wanted to play a pickup game with you or your vet tells you that fighto needs to go out more and get exercise, can you take him out? In the military one has to be ready in an instant. No time for one to say, “Hey can you give me a few days to get prepared?” in the same way we should be ready in an instant for anything, including major health issues.
By having a healthy fit and able body, statistics have shown that we can concur health issues sooner than those who are not fit. University of Rochester has done a study that shows that those that are in good shape have less incidence of on the job sickness or absenteeism. Proper exercise keeps your body fit, able and strong. The body will heal faster and ward off illnesses sooner. I can’t tell you the last time I had a sickness.
Another real good reason why keeping your body fit and able is important is because it doesn’t limit your food consumption. I can eat anything at any time for any reason. But I also know that food is only a fuel and for as much input as I have, there needs to be a direct output and that is thru proper exercise. With your body fit and able your quality of life can be great. No I can’t tell you that you will put on years onto your life, but what I can say is that for whatever time you may have left, quality of life, for those whole are fit and able, is great. I have a member who is 84 years old and for most of his life he has been exercising. What that man does in a day would make most 30 year olds want a midday nap. When you look at him, you don’t see old but a man who has relied on his ability to stay fit and able, and that he has done. He still mows his 2 acre lawn, blows the leaves off his roof, goes for 5 mile walks with his wife of 67 years and so many other things an 84 year old man should not be able to do.

Well here is another reason why we need to exercise. Let’s all get up and at it. The benefit for you exercising is keeping your body fit and able.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Life expectancy

Life Expectancy

I was looking at a website the other day that I found very fascinating. This website discuss, in much detail, statistics in reference to mortality given so many factors. Factors such as obesity or cancer or heart disease among so many other factors have been put into this website . This website broke mortality into male or female (not other) and all age category. It looked at each state, county and city and gave current statistics on so many factors of our mortality. Excellent find I would say!
What I found fascinating the most is that when I looked at median income, it showed that the wealthier you are the less likely you were to die at younger ages. 

Here are some known facts:
1)      In Hawaii people tend to live the longest. The average age of mortality is 81.30 years

2)      In Mississippi people there tend to live only until age 74.96 years of age. This is the lowest of all the United States.

3)      In Hawaii the average income is $73,486 which is not too far behind DC ($75,628) and Maryland which is number one at $75,847. Mississippi had the lowest family income of all the United States at $40,593.

4)      As far as obesity was concerned, Mississippi had the highest amount of percentage of people that were considered obese. This figure is over 79%. DC and Maryland had the least amount of obesity at just under 54% and they were on the bottom of all the states.

5)      The only thing I did not see on this website was the correlation of education to mortality and obesity. I have a strong feeling that DC and Maryland would be high on the education scale and Mississippi would be one of the lowest in the country.

What I find interesting is that there seems to be a correlation between lifestyle, income and obesity. It seems as though the poorer you are the more likely you are to have major health issues. Over and over again as I read the statistics on this website was I amazed at such findings. So the question remains, what can be done to reverse the trend of obesity and poor living? Is it making more money? Is it getting more education? I really don’t know the answer to those questions, but if these statistics are correct I think the answers are obvious.


The name of the website is worldlifeexpectancy.org. Check it out.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Keeps your brain fit

Keeps your brain fit

Whereas many believe that the heart is the engine of the body I personally don’t think so, I believe it is the brain. Why, because nothing can happen in the body with out there being proper and live brain function. The heart can stop beating and man can still pump blood throughout the body but if the brain stop functioning, life stops as we know it.

The brain keeps us alive. It sends electrical currents to each organ and gives every organ the energy it needs to keep functioning as that organ is supposed to. The brain is the battery of the body. It sends the electrical currents to were ever they have to go. The brain sustains life and knows when something is in trouble and needs mending. It is the command center of everyone body. Like the Capitan of a ship, the brain controls every aspect of our being.

Here is the problem that one could have if you are not fit, as stated above our brain monitors every part of our being. There isn’t one organ that the brain is not in control of and help sustains its life. Now add obesity or heart disease or any other illness, this makes the brain have to work harder to either cure the issue or sustain that organs life. With a person who exercises, it gives the brain a fighting chance to overcome illnesses and injuries. Exercise allows blood flow to all aspects of one being and this blood flow supplies the brain with the fuel to fight whatever the issue may be.
When the brain doesn’t have to work so hard to sustain life, it also has its moments to relax and that is huge. If your brain is working overtime 24/7 at some point it will not work as it is supposed to work. Can you say stroke, dementia or Alzheimer’s. Yea, there is even evidence to show that exercise and a fit body can slow the incidence of strokes, dementia and even Alzheimer. “ Can Exercise Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk?” By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS on JULY 2, 2014 wrote an article in the New York times talking about this subject and I found it quite fascinating.


Scientist had a study done on people with Alzheimer’s and found that their E4 gene was smaller in those that did not exercise to those who did exercise. I would suggest that everyone read his article at https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/can-exercise-reduce-alzheimers-risk/?_r=0, it is good reading.  All the articles I have read suggest to me that a fit brain gives us a good quality of life on so many levels, so my suggestion to everyone is don’t stop exercising, the benefits of that outweighs anything else in the present and most definitely in the future.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Improves learning abilities

Improves learning abilities

I read this on a website the other day and wanted to share it with you:
“Exercise helps memory and thinking through both direct and indirect means. The benefits of exercise come directly from its ability to reduce insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the release of growth factors—chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance and survival of new brain cells.
Indirectly, exercise improves mood and sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas frequently cause or contribute to cognitive impairment.

Many studies have suggested that the parts of the brain that control thinking and memory (the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) have greater volume in people who exercise versus people who don’t. “Even more exciting is the finding that engaging in a program of regular exercise of moderate intensity over six months or a year is associated with an increase in the volume of selected brain regions,” says Dr. Scott McGinnis, a neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School.”

I have noticed that when I need to really clear my mind and think about solutions, after exercise I seem to be able to come up with solutions much easier. Exercise allows the blood to flow more efficiently thru the body which gives us the ability to allow the proper chemicals in our brain to react. Also after exercise we can focus more on the tasks at hand which gives us the ability to clearly think thru our day.

Now I am not saying that the only intelligent people in the world are all physically fit. But what I am saying is that according to doctors and The Harvard Medical School daily exercise causes less stress on ones organs and thus allows the body (the mind) to focus on the task at hand and not focus on trying to stay alive.


My challenge to all that read this is to ask yourselves a question, are you actively exercising? If not, then why not? Why not begin the process, it may just improve your learning ability.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Lifts your mood

50 Reasons to exercise (Lift your mood)

How many times have we gotten up in the morning and felt as though it was just going to be one of those days. Nothing seemed to be going right and good ole murphy was having breakfast with you. How many times did we finish a day of work and ask ourselves why we even went in to begin with. The boss yelled at us. The employees were complaining about something. There was more month than money and thru all this the stress was killing us on so many levels that your mood may have gone from happy to sad in the manner of Nano seconds.

There have been studies done that have shown and proven that exercise, when in the midst of a depression can lift your mood. We have a chemical in our body that is released by our glans that makes us feel much better and brings about a feeling that in the end swings our doom and gloom to happy and confident.

I know for myself that on those days that I have a bad day or things are just not going right I will go and get some exercise in and my whole attitude changes. Exercise allows me to get out of my own head and concentrate on something else, which in the end, benefits both my mind and body. Also I find that exercise allows me to logically think thru my issues. I can’t even tell you how many times, when in the midst of a complicated problem, a solution has come to my mind that has solved the problem at hand.

Exercise is also one of the most effective ways to improve your mental health. Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts overall mood.

Studies show that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as effectively as antidepressant medication—but without the side-effects, of course. In addition to relieving depression symptoms, research also shows that maintaining an exercise schedule can prevent you from relapsing.
Exercise is a powerful depression fighter for several reasons. Most importantly, it promotes all kinds of changes in the brain, including neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that promote feelings of calm and well-being. It also releases endorphins, powerful chemicals in your brain that energize your spirits and make you feel good. Finally, exercise can also serve as a distraction, allowing you to find some quiet time to break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that feed depression.

I have noticed that when I am under a lot of stress my muscles tense up. My lower back hurts. I get a low migraine headache and my neck hurts. On some occasions my blood pressure will go sky high (some cases 180-105) and I need some way to reduce the stress. Most people go and take drugs, but there are side effects to all that medication. Whereas with exercise there are no chemical side effects like there would be if I was taking medications. After exercising, I feel 100% better and ready to tackle any stresses that may come my way.


I highly recommend exercise. It will change your mood on so many levels.

Friday, April 7, 2017

50 reasons why

50 reasons why you should exercise

The number one reason why people don’t exercise is…. You guessed it, we are lazy. However, this blog is about quit the opposite. This blog is about the 50 reasons why we should exercise. Then once a week after that I will break each reason down why they are so important. So here are the 50 reasons why we should all be exercising:
01.Lifts your mood                                                                      26.Strengthens your bones
02.Improves learning abilities                                                     27. Strengthens your heart
03.Builds self-esteem                                                                  28. Improves posture
04.Keeps your brain fit                                                                29. Prevents colds
05.Keeps your body fit and able                                                  30. Improves appetite
06.Boost mental health                                                                31. Improves cholesterol levels
07.Boosts mental health                                                               32. Lowers risk if (certain) cancers
08.Reduces stress                                                                         33. Lower high blood pressure
09.Makes you feel happier                                                           34. Lowers risk of diabetes
10.Has anti-aging effect                                                               35. Fights dementia
11.Improves skin tone and color                                                  36. Eases back pain
12.Improves sleeping patterns                                                      37. Decreases osteoporosis risk
13.Helps prevent strokes                                                              38. Reduces feelings of depression
14.Improves joint function                                                           39. Prevents muscle loss
15.Improves muscle strength                                                        40. Increases energy and endurance
16.Alleviates anxiety                                                                    41. Increases sports performance
17.Sharpens memory                                                                    42. Increases pain resistance
18.Helps to control addictions                                                      43. Improves balance and coordination
19.Boosts productivity                                                                  44. Improves oxygen supply to cells
20.Boosts creative thinking                                                           45. Improves concentration
21.Improves body image                                                               46. Helps with self-control
22.Gives you confidence                                                               47. Lessens fatigue
23.Helps you keep focus in life                                                     48. Increases sex drive and satisfaction
24.Improves eating habits                                                              49. Makes life more exciting
25.Increases longevity                                                                   50. Improves quality of life


So there you have it, 50 reasons why we should exercise. In my next blog I will being the process of discussing each one in more detail. But just for the fun of it, read  them over again and ask yourself this question, where do I need help and can exercising really help me? Think about it.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

What Makes a Champion?


What Makes a Champion?
What makes a champion? Is it something a person is blessed with at birth? Is being a champion just about being lucky? Can anyone be a champion?
Over the many years I have been involved in athletics and business I have taken note on all those that have achieved greatness in their endeavor and there are a few things that they all have in common.  
  1. They are focused on their task at hand
  2. Negative vibes don’t exist in their world
  3. They are goal planners
  4. They think outside the box
  5. Being “normal” to them is failing and there is no room for failure
  6. They surround themselves with positive people. There is no room for negative influences regardless of who we are. They will get rid of us.
  7. They don’t settle for their last performance, whether in business or on the field of play. They are constantly trying to get just a little better.
  8. They are risk takers
  9. There are no such things as excuses for bad performance. In their world, excuses are for the weak.
  10. Winning is the only option in their world.
I don’t believe that one is thrust at birth into being a champion. I believe that it takes hard and consistent work to become one. It takes years of failures and doubt. It takes years of sweat, blood and tears to reach that final destination of being called a champion. Luck does play a bit of a role but a very small bit. Hard work is the only key to success and nothing less. It is constantly working when others call it a day or quit for the night. It’s running in all types of weather when others will only run when the weather is perfect. It’s always giving 100% regardless of how they may feel at that moment.
It really upsets me when I see competitions where there is no really winner and everyone gets trophies at the end of the day. We are setting our children up for mediocrity in the end. What is wrong with mediocrity? America was not built on that or for that. Mediocrity breads failure in the end on so many levels.  

Yes I believe that anyone can be a champion. The question you have to ask yourself is, “How badly do you want it?” If you want it bad enough you will focus and figure out a game plan for you to achieve your final goal… being a champion.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The hardest part of life changes

The hardest part of life changes is that sometimes we may need to make the hard decision of not hanging out with the same crowd we are accustom to.
Mary has been trying for years to lose the 150 pounds she had additional on her frame and she would lose it then gain it back. It was frustrating to her. She tried everything to keep it off but could not. She would work out every day religiously and still somehow or another she would end up back in the same position months later.
One day while analyzing why this yoyo thing was happening, her trainer asked her who she hung around. She told him that she has been hanging around the same crowd for years now. She did not think that they had anything to do with her weight problems. They were much thinner than she was, even though they too were overweight. The trainer had told her that they looked at her fuel intake and her rest and they were running out of ideas. The trainer suggested that she stop hanging around them for a few weeks. At first she blew that idea off but as luck may have it her friends had to go out of the country for a few weeks, so she decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
Well, at first, it was pretty easy to do because they were out of the country. But when they came back it was really hard. Thursday thru Sunday nights were spent with them and every Friday night they would meet at the local bar to socialize. Mary decided to stop going there for a while and hang out with her other group of friends. These friends were made at the gym and she seemed to have a lot of clean fun with them. Well weeks turned into months and before you know it, she did not miss her old crowd and something else happened… she just didn’t lose that unwanted weight, she actually kept it off.
At first she couldn’t believe that it was her friend and the environment she was in so one Friday night she was asked by her old group to go out. She did, and her eyes were open. Besides the alcohol drinking and the food consumption, everything they did was over the top. That was the last time she went out with them. One year later she hasn’t seen any of them and she has run several marathons and now teaches aerobic classes and feels great about her “new” life.

We need to understand that if we are to have a total life change, we may need to make the hard choices and change the environment and the people we hang out with. Maybe your friends and environment is holding you back from achieving what you ultimately want. If so change them and you will feel better for your move.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

The end game

I think I may have figured out why so many people lose a lot of weight and then a few months later or a few years later gain it all back again. Most people don’t understand that there is no “end game” with actually having a lifestyle change. For most people lifestyle change means, “well I will lose this weight and get in better shape so that I can get back to life as I know it” and that is just wrong, way wrong.
People ask me why I am so successful with people losing weight and it is because I make sure they understand that there is no “end game”. There is no time, once we get started that they can rest and go back to life as they knew it. If they feel as though they cannot change their ways, and for good, I cannot work with them.
If you want to be successful at your lifestyle change you must understand that what you are about to do is something that you will have to do for the rest of your life. You will never be able to go back to life as you once knew it because if you do, well, you will only be setting yourself up to fail…… again.
There is a medical term that we use when it comes to our health and it is called “set point”. The “set point” is the point where our body is accustomed to and lives at. If you have been heavy your whole life and then you lose the weight, unless you do something drastic, your body will revert back to your original “set point”. This can be changed, but it takes hard work and strong discipline for this to be changed. I believe your set point can be reset after a minimum of 3 years of consistent change. I could be wrong however. I have only seen a small number of people actually reset their body to a better, healthier setting. Most fail miserably within the first year.

So, who will you be? Will you be the person who fails or succeeds? Do you understand that the only way to win this game is to change your lifestyles and for good? Do you understand that your old life can NEVER be visited ever again? Think about it.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

New life New times…

I can remember when my first son was born. Here I was in the room waiting for my wife to give birth, but it hadn’t occurred to me that when he was born my life would never be the same. At 9:05am Corbin was introduced to this world and my life, as I had known it, would never be the same ever again. I remember when the doctor handed him over to me for the first time and said, “Here is your new son, dad.” I freaked! I thought he was talking to my father. I had never been called a dad or father before and it was a term that took me a long time to get use to. I remember going home and wondering to myself, “now what do I do?” I told myself, “I am not ready for this.” But as quickly as day turns to night, so did my old life vanish in front of me and my new life begin.
Over the years I have lived by a saying, “Who I am, my kids will someday be.” A statement that scares me an awful lot. Why? Because that tells me that for my kids to have a fighting chance in this life, I have to straighten out and fly right on so many levels. Now I wasn’t a late night partier, nor was I a drinker or smoker so the transition was not that tough for me, but responsibility and accountability became my best friends and worst enemies.
Responsibility and accountability to who? Now not just to my wife but a little defenseless baby boy who is going to look to me for everything and follow in the footsteps I leave behind. He will mimic my every move and become a mini me and if I don’t like myself and my ways, I must change them so that he doesn’t pick up my bad habits. Wow, to me, that is heavy and almost impossible to follow thru with.
Most Americans today are obese and most Americans don’t like that fact. Every morning we get up and try not to look in the mirror and if we could shower in the dark, well, we would. Then we look at our children and get upset when we see them sneaking snacks and sitting around doing pretty much nothing. It scares us and we yell at them to get up and get moving. There are programs out there like” 60 minutes of exercise” that are supposed to help motivate our children to get up and move.  There are children diet plans and classes in school to teach our kids to eat “healthier”. All of this is BS. It is a waste of our money on so many levels.  Remember what I said a few paragraphs up? “Who we are, our kids will someday be.” Does anymore have to be said?
The programs out there should be designed for adults not their children. The adults are the lazy ones not the children. The adults are bringing in the fast food and junk foods into the house, not the children. The adults, the parents, are the blame for our kid’s obesity problem. Let’s call a spade a spade and get our heads out of the sand and change ourselves and not worry as much about little Johnny or Anna. They will follow suit, we need to set the example.

Let’s start now! New Life and New Times are here. Take advantage of it and change!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Quality over Substance

I always get upset when people question me about the statement I made which was, “Activity is more important than the food you are consuming, when you first start out.” When we understand what a calorie is, then it really doesn’t matter what we eat, but it does matter what we do afterwards.
The average American diet looks like this… Practically nothing for breakfast. Then for lunch, well let’s WORK thru lunch. We are just so busy; we need to get these projects done. Then somehow we get home later that evening and we are beyond hungry and in some cases we even have a headache. At this point we open our mouths and consume everything in sight, good bad or indifferent. Oh now let’s not kid ourselves, yes we do.
For my “healthy eating’ people, in some cases you are no different. The only thing you may do different is instead of a greasy hamburger, you may have a huge salad for dinner. But everything else is pretty much the same.
So what is wrong with this? One thing, food does not make you healthy. Food does not make you thinner. Food does not make you lower your cholesterol or reduce your high blood pressure. Food only is the fuel we need to support life, period. What makes us thinner, healthier, lower or cholesterol and blood pressure? Activity. Activity helps our body clean out the bad stuff in our systems. Activity helps clean out our arteries by pumping blood thru them.  Thru activity and good blood flow, we have a great potential to lower our cholesterol and blood pressure.  Food cannot do that.
Now once we have established a decent active routine and the process of getting to greater levels of fitness has now become an issue, then we can bring the quality of food to the table. Then and only then does food enter into the equation.

In my next blog I will talk about finding reason to get active.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

First step in the fight…


Don’t kid yourself, this will be hard to accomplish. At first it may seem easy to do but wait, wait until something happens to you good or bad. We have a tendency to revert back to our old ways to either celebrate because something good happened or just give up because something bad happened. Yea I am talking about your health and finally getting it to a point where you feel real good about yourself. Getting your health to a point where medications are not an issue. Getting to a point where YOU take back YOUR life!

First things first… we must surround ourselves with people who care about our success. This is very hard to do, because everyone has an agenda and most live with the attitude, “what’s in it for me”. This person(s) has to have our best interest in mind at all times. They must be able to hold you accountable in a friendly loving way. They must be willing to sacrifice for the cause, whatever that cause may be, without reservation. They must be willing to come along side us when we are down and discouraged and lift you up. We need to feel comfortable around that person to be ourselves at all times and without reservation.

Sally has been a client for a number of years and I remember having this talk with her when she first joined with me. She blew me off and told me that her friends would support her. Well, a year later she told me that it was a struggle to maintain her losses. She was still drinking excess, eating more than she should and not getting the rest she actually needs. I mentioned to her our initial conversation and at first she became defensive but after thinking about it decided to begin the process of replacing her old friends with new more supportive friends. Now don’t read too much into this. She kept her old friends just did not hang out with them anymore. Her new health conscious friends came alongside her and cultivated her and now she has no problem creating and achieving goals.

This first step is the most important and about 80% of your battle. Once you have this piece in place, the workouts will be much easier to maintain and your goals much easier to achieve and keep.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Is food the answer?



I was on my Facebook page the other day and there was a general message left from a friend. The message said, “Really tired most of the time. What can I do to get some energy?” I stayed silent for a few days but kept looking at the people who were posting. People were telling her that if she were to eat this certain food or take this certain supplement she would get the energy she needs. Some people said apples, some said veggies, some even went as far as to say more coffee. But none of them asked the question, “What does your exercise look like?”

Believe it or not, exercise, whereas if done really hard, can tire you out, also has the effect of giving you much more energy in the long run. Here is something that many don’t realize… Science has proven that the harder your heart pumps during a workout, at rest, the slower it will become. Also, exercise gives you the ability to handle much more of a daily stress load on your body. Medical science has proven that people who tend to exercise daily have a happier physical life and don’t suffer from illnesses as often.

In defense to my friends who really mean well, food is our fuel for life. We need it to stay alive, but I believe what most people need to do is not eat more but exercise the fuel we have stored in us. Our bodies need to become more efficient in the fuel we give it. I know my Facebook friend meant well, but in the end is more food really what she needs? Or is it exercise to lose the excess weight and put her into better shape? Think about it.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Step Challenge...How are we different!


What a crazy world we live in. Could you have imagined just 20 years ago that we would have a device on us that could measure the amount of steps we take each day. Be able to tell us where we are by GPS and map our route and then measure our resting heart rate? What a world we live in.
Last year I started a Step Challenge at my gym, Parkers Place, because I really was tired of hearing people complain about gaining so much weight or not being able to lose the weight they had. I also started this challenge just to see how many steps the average person in my gym actually takes. Little did I know that after the first month, this challenge would take on its own life.

The Parker's Place Step challenge was not your usual 3 or 6 week challenge. This challenge measured how many steps you just don’t take on a day but also for the year. Actual steps were counted every day and tabulated on a white board. Now just counting steps, in it of itself is quit boring, however I asked myself a question… Where would those total steps put us if we were to really walk from our homes? Would we be still in Wisconsin? Would we make it to the west coast? Where would we be?

So, along with counting steps I also drew a map of the United States and started everyone from Oconomowoc Wisconsin and we started walking west. (Now we used 2100 steps as a mile which is just about the national average). The goal was to get to the Pacific Ocean. I also sweetened the pot a little by adding prizes at 250,000, 500,000, 1,000,000, and 2,000,000 steps. Boy, did this challenge take off. By the end of the first month I had several people who had passed the 500,000 mark and was quickly approaching the 1,000,000 mark. People were hitting the marks much quicker than I thought they would.

My hopes on putting this challenge together was to make people aware of how much we are not physically active and it worked. For those that finished the challenge, which ended at the end of November, they all told me that they were better off doing it because it got them thru the usual times when they would have experienced a low and lost focused. This challenge helped them keep focus.

Well we have started another challenge this year and this one finishes in San Francisco (market street). The prize points are higher 750k, 1.5mil, 3mil, and 5mil and we started January 1st instead of March 1st. This gives us two more months to get those goals achieved. Well, here we go. I will blog about our experiences later on in the year.

Visit us at http://www.parkersfitness.com/ for more info!

Thursday, January 5, 2017

The Beginning of the year

Well, here it is January 1st and you told yourself that you wanted get in much better shape this year. You have tried many things over the years and not one of them has really stayed with you and worked. You have tried thousands of diet plans and bought hundreds of pieces of equipment that you saw on infomercials. But this year you tell yourself that “THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT!!!!” Well, let me just state outright that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I guess that means that most of us our just plain insane.
In this blog I am going to give you some ideas on what you can do to finally turn that corner and get yourself in the shape you have always wanted. So let’s get started.
Step one:
Take a moment and think about what you really want to do. Do not go to a gym in an emotional state. That is like going to the grocery store hungry. You won’t make wise decisions. Once you have realistically thought about it then write your goals down. Most people I know don’t want to have movie star bodies, they just want to feel good in the body they have, so, be realistic.
Step two:
Once you have written your goals down. Put them to the side and wait a week and revisit them. If they still make good sense, then begin the process of pursuing them. Go to your local gym and ask questions about the place and most important the owners. Why the owners? Because you can tell a lot about a place by the who the owners are. Are they absentee owners? Do they do the personal training? What does the client base look like? Are there people there your age? Are they open 24/7? What type of neighborhood is the gym located in? Then finally look at the price. The average gym should cost you $35 per month for single membership and $70 per month for family. Remember, you get what you pay for. If you go cheap, you will get cheap. If you go expensive you should get top treatment. DO NOT LET THE 12 MONTH COMMITMENT SCARE YOU OFF. If you are serious about committing to your goals, 12 months should not be a deal breaker. Two year or three year commitments are not necessary and are just plain stupid. Don’t fall for them and don’t sign up for anything more than a 12 month commitment.
Step Three:
Once you have selected a gym, commit to three times a week to improve your health. You cannot do it once or twice a week; you are wasting your time and your money. You need a minimum of three times a week. If you need help, seek out a personal trainer that is your own age to help you. Why your own age? Because a 20 year old trainer has NO idea about the needs of a 50 year old even if you told them. They can be well educated but reality and book smarts are two different things. This is not to knock my young trainers, but the majority of them are only in it until they can find something else they can do to make MONEY. When you find a trainer who is older, the majority of them are in it for the long haul and have the knowledge to help you achieve your goals. Most important though, their staying ability is far greater than a 20 year old.
Finally, do not select a gym just because your friends are there. Socializing while working out just doesn’t work and you will not achieve much. Remember why you are seeking out a place to work out. If it is for social reasons, then don’t purchase a gym membership, take your friends out and spend that same money on having fun. (Sorry, told you I was going to get real about this). More on this in a later blog. My next blog will be on dieting after the holidays. Should we do it?