The best bang for the buck

Let’s say your fitness goal is just general health. The order in which you would prioritize the components would be cardiovascular training, good nutrition, flexibility and then strength training. This is more of a mindset than anything else. Why? Time controls the effort.

Let’s say at the last minute your workout is cut short because of some unexpected emergency. You have the big picture goal of losing some weight and lowering your cholesterol.  However, on that particular day time does not allow you to complete all the exercise components. You have to then decide which component(s) will help you progress the most toward your goal. In this case, walking after a good meal would match your priorities. Using this technique will give you more bang for the buck. You will get back on your plan tomorrow, so don’t worry.

Sticking with your priorities in your workout program really keeps the ball rolling even if you occasionally do not have time to get all your activities in during a workout or in a week’s time.

In a nutshell:

It is really important to have all areas of fitness working together in the most effective way. When all the parts are working, the machine works better. Leaving out parts of your exercise routine just because you do not like them is asking for failure.

Exercise Programs that work

Your Health

The lower my body fat was, the better sleep patterns I had. I tended to pre-plan my diet every week, and I was more efficient in my workouts. As a snowball of health improvement efforts grows, so does the momentum of realizing the results. If you don’t stay in better shape, you WILL pay a price at the bank, either in lost revenue or higher healthcare costs.

Your Mental Capacity

When you’re more healthy, you just think more clearly. When your body fat is lower, your brain works more productively. As I recall, I wrote more often, started more companies, and had better relationships when I had lower body-fat levels. Even your ability to find potential new clients is greater – essentially, your creativity escalates to new heights.

Your Confidence

Maybe this goes without saying, but when you have lower body fat, you just have more confidence. You believe in yourself and in your ability to teach your craft to others. Confidence is a powerful thing – others can sense this strength in you and have more confidence in what you can do for them.

Your Persona (Aura) and Perception

Believe it or not, a personal trainer with lower body fat and a high level of personal confidence gives off a persona, or aura, of professionalism; people see you in a different light. People have no trouble believing you’re knowledgeable and you practice what you preach. The combination of great health and confidence also allows you to exude a sense of security for those around you. I cannot over-emphasize the power of the positive persona as a catalyst for improving your bottom line.

In short, a healthy body, high personal confidence levels, and positive public perception all translate into more dollars for your business.  

Want to learn more about how ResoFit can help you succeed as a personal trainer? Click here now!

We are very excited to be launching a new weight loss and fitness website on December 15. The new site at www.resolutions.bz will include access to personal training services online and in person. In addition, you will be able to purchase all of our weight loss and fitness books, either in hardcopy form or as an immediate download in PDF form.

Resolutions.bz will also offer a FREE monthly fitness newsletter by subscription only and daily fitness blogs specifically on weight loss, training and disease prevention. Check out the blogs now at www.resolutionsblog.com and www.resofit.com.

Bodybuilders are feelers, not lifters. Weight lifters are all about poundage, and that’s it. During competitions, bodybuilders aren’t judged on how much weight they lift, like a weight lifter, but on the visual end results. Neither training technique is wrong, just…different. Can a bodybuilder become a competitive weight lifter? Sure. Can a lifter become a feeler? Sure.

When I first started my bodybuilding career, I would go to the gym and do all my exercises with my eyes closed. This method forced me to feel the weight in my hands versus just lifting it. Feeling the movement and the amount of resistance forced me to have better form and, in the end, better-quality results. I just didn’t go into the gym and see how much I could lift — I lifted at certain weights with the proper form to achieve a target body shape.

Hey, if your thing is power lifting, then have at it. If it’s bodybuilding, then enjoy that, too. The key is to understand that each style of weight training is designed for one of two different training types — feelers or lifters — each with valuable but very different goals.

I discuss training for bodybuilders in more depth on my website — check out Advanced Bodybuilding Training Programs to learn more!

Maintaining a good tempo during your workouts is not easy. Every day, you have to deal with different energy levels, facility conditions, life responsibilities, outside stressors; anything can get in the way of keeping the right pace in the gym. Set your goal tempo and stay focused!

How do you constantly keep up the tempo? Here are three things to learn:

Time Limits for Workouts:
Maybe the smartest thing I’ve ever done is to set limits on the my time spent in the gym. Regardless of the circumstance, if the allotted time was up and my workout wasn’t finished, I just stopped and walked out. You bet your boots that never happened twice in a row — my training was too important to me.

Pre-Plan the Exercises:
Before you walk into the gym, go over in your mind (or even write down) the exercises that you’re going to do. You would be surprised how much time you waste thinking too much about what to do next.

Work the Room:
In social networking circles, they tell you to “work the room.” The gym is no different. Plan your workout to take advantage of where the gym equipment is located. This will take some extra time and creativity, so if you’re a person who’s afraid to get out of your little routine, then second place is good enough for you, right? Hopefully not. Sometimes, you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to make any real progress.

Ready to do some seriously heavy lifting? Read all about Advanced Bodybuilding Weight Training now!

My cousin Keith died at age 26, almost twenty years ago to this day. Doctors connected his cancer with steroid abuse. Even with Keith on his death bed, we both couldn’t nor wouldn’t acknowledge what the steroids had done to him and what they were doing to me. Addictive? Sadly, not to the people taking them – even to the point of death!

While not steroids or Human Growth Hormone, supplements can have the same addictive effect on the brain. Yes, they, too, can be depended upon so much that they become an obsession and an enabler. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for supplementation. Our diets today almost demand it; however, too much of a good thing can turn into a bad one.

My other advice: despite popular opinion, more is not better. I justified taking steroids by thinking, “Well, I’m not taking as much as the other people are.” That was denial, plain and simple. Taking more drugs, more whey protein, more vitamins, too much of anything only overwhelms the body and clouds the brain.

I have been clean since 1988, but even now, do I wonder what my life and physical training would be like if I did them again? Absolutely, every day. But I’ve learned that there are other things in life more important than a delusional feeling of grandeur.

Learn more about steriod use in bodybuilding now!

In the military, they call themselves “lifers.” You almost always know them when you seem them. These people are in the military for life, no “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts.” In their minds, they are 100% committed to serving their country. What does that have to do with you and your career? If you want to be six-figure trainer, here is rule #1:

You have to have a COMMITTED mindset. You have to be 100% committed to the cause and your profession. If you’re not, the first time the going gets tough, you will quit. You’ll find something else to do, or you’ll make excuses, like “people just don’t want to do it,” or “the economy is bad.”

And speaking of the economy, let me tell you something: In this year, 2009, my business has seen the best cash flow of my personal training business in the last ten years. So don’t give me that reason not to be 100% committed.

Here’s the bottom line: the business is brutal. It’s not glamorous like some suggest, the cash flow can dry up overnight, and you are selling hope – not a tangible object,  but a feeling. That’s very hard to do, especially when, by nature, people don’t want to do it. However, if you run your business correctly, personal training can be the most gratifying profession you can be in. And it can be lucrative, too.

To learn more about how to make better money as a Personal Trainer, click here.

One of the hardest things in any race, especially the Tour De France that you will never notice is one’s ability to tame the ego. Lance is a self proclaimed “data junkie” when it comes to his training tactics. Even though the Tour is over 2300 miles and takes three weeks to ride, every hill, every mile and every rotation of his pedals are calculated ahead of time. But, what happens during the race if not disciplined in the off season can ruin the best of training tactics.

Each day is considered a stage and at the end of the race it is not the number of stages one wins that determines a winner, but the clock. Sure every rider would like to wear the yellow jersey at least once, but at the end of the day, that is not what matters most. The Tour De France may be better known for its ability to crush the best of egos rather than the mammoth Pyrenees Mountains. Much greater than
Lance’s gifted physical abilities is his ability to sacrifice his ego for greater goods.

What can we learn from Lance when it comes to our workouts, losing weight, and keeping truly fit?

1. Our greatness does not come from exploiting our competitors, enemies or accomplishments. Greatness runs from within.

2. Our greatness does not come from what pant’s size we are, benchpress records, or miles under ten minutes- greatness runs beside us.

3. Our greatness does not come from how much money or fame we accumulate, greatness runs in the process.

4. Our greatness is not a matter of what our car, bike, or house looks like –greatness is only as big as our hearts.

5. Our greatness needs no explanation!

Lance would say, “Enjoy whatever you do, focus on that particular stage in your life, pay your dues with hard work and let your character speak for itself!”

Advanced Fitness Training Tactics

My personal opinion, have one major goal or competition a year, and no more. Sure you may have a competition that leads up to a major show, but don’t expect to be in peak form in both contests. Having said that, once you become a champion you may be able to stagger two shows really close together, but until them stick with one.

Mentally, I also believe that you should only do one major show a year. It’s hard to totally focus, gain size and eat extremely healthy all year round. If you are a trophy hunter, forget being a true bodybuilding champion.

Every one is different when it comes to pre-contest training. The art of it is to not diet to long, lose muscle and fry your brain, or do the opposite crash diet and lose muscle tissue. I personally like about four and a half months to have for pre-contest prep. On a side note; I also never rose over twenty pounds from my contest weight either. Set one main contest goal for the year. Have an off season training program and an on season training program. This goes for your eating too.

Write all your goals down – on season and off. This may sound retentive, but I also set thirty day goals to that lead up to the seasonal goals. Do what ever it takes to stay focused on the main yearly goal. There have been times that I had to set a daily goal just to get through the day. If you have a training partner, allow him/her to see them and take a copy of them if need be. Give them permission to hold you to them no matter what. But, do not show them to anyone else. This is just a promise between you and your training partner.

If you happen to not reach a monthly goal, do not fret. If you have competed before you know many variables abound. Patience, faith, determination, consistency and long term thinking makes a champion. If goal setting scares you because you have a fear of commitment, face the facts that you will continue to be mediocre.

The question is, “How serious are you?”

Bodybuilding Exercise Techniques

Athletes and the general fitness buffs lose their desire and motives for two reasons: boredom and lack of results. Boredom in the sense than their bodies gets use to a certain pattern of exercising and sooner rather than later adapt to that pattern. When this occurs results do not. When we are not mentally and physically pushed we end up staying at a certain level or worse give up on ourselves. This does not have to happen!

On a personal note, I have averaged five days a week exercising and won many bodybuilding championships by doing half the weight and exercises in half the time that most do. Why? Because of one simple rule; never allow your body to adapt to your program.

However, there are many of you who do the opposite and change things up too soon and too often. You don’t see results in a short period of time so you change it up. At the end of the year, if I would ask you, “What works for you?” You could not tell me, because you are confused with all the things you’ve tried. There is a fine line of when and what to change. Here are some suggestions on becoming a champion in any sport when it comes to mastering the art of adaptation:

1. Design your workout programs in twelve week cycles –
You could also call this periodization training. Your body works in cycles. Any more than twelve weeks and your body and mind get use to the pattern of your training.
2. Have a rest period between programs –
It is very important both physically and mentally to take a break to recuperate. This may be hard to do, but pays dividends down the road. Remember – More is not better!
3. Vary intensity levels on both cardiovascular and weight training workouts –
This continually pushes your body to grow and improve. Monitor heart rates and keep a good flow in your weight training workouts.
4. Set a time frame to your workout session –
This forces you to push yourself and not allowing your body to get in a rut. Do not allow your workouts to become a job to do. Enjoy it!
5. Alternate between machines and free weights –

Your body even gets use to equipment, reps and order of exercises. Change up once a while.

If you want to be a champion, these things must be incorporated into your workout plan. If you are afraid of change, experimenting or failing you will continue on the road of meritocracy. However, if you want to be a bodybuilding champion you must think outside the box!

Bodybuilding Exercise Techniques