Stress Sucks!

How’s your morning been? Did you stumble out of bed sleep-deprived (yet again)? Were you sent into a downward spiral when you discovered you were out of coffee? Did your toddler/teenager make getting ready an obstacle course and emotional battlefield? Any brushes with road rage (or just annoying road construction) on the way into work? And don’t forget the incessant buzz of a Blackberry. 

Modern life is stressful, no doubt. The problem is that unmanaged stress really does suck the life out of us. Below are some things you can do to tone down 
stress and help you fight through tough times.

Find a Release Whatever that may be, snowboarding, yoga, playing the guitar, just make sure its not something destructive to yourself or those around you. I enjoy exercising to release stress preferably hitting the weights or going for a run, I have also found writing and meditating a good way to release stress or at least calm my mind in times when I have too much going on and too much to think about. Make sure your release is something you can do alone without the need for anything more than yourself and some time. 

Read Reading can be an effective stress buster in a variety of different ways. Reading a good book you enjoy will allow your mind to get away from what it is thats stressing you out. It will quiet down your mind and allow you to be in the present moment which is the real key to removing stress. Try and read anything that you can get into whether that is a novel, biography or a magazine it doesn’t matter. Personally I like going somewhere quiet and free of distraction to read; try a cafe near home or a peaceful room free of televisions and distractions.

Supplement Earlier this week I was looking into some of the benefits of Fish Oil and it astounds me how important this stuff is for our brains to function properly. Its been proven that fish oil and Omega 3 consumption has a direct effect on our Seratonin (feel good hormone) levels by dramatically improving it! On top of this it stabilizes mood and calms the mind. This is really a supplement no one should turn a blind eye to so to make sure your getting an adequate dose;- Take 1-2 TBSP of high quality Fish Oil a day.

L-Theanine is something I also am a big fan of, its the stuff that comes naturally in tea (notably green) a good dose of around 150mg is typically what you would get from 4-6 cups of green tea. The stuff can calm anxiety, reduce stress and is a potent antioxidant, plus the stuff really works!

Magnesium is something we also lack in our daily diet. This is partly due to the water we drink being low in minerals and the soil our food is grown in suffering from the same problem. Magnesium is necessary for every major biochemical process, such as digestion, energy production and the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It is also needed for bone strength, muscle strength and proper functioning of the heart and nervous system. Try taking 200mg a day of Magnesium Citrate to start, it could help calm your body and mind.

Strong Social Support If you are lucky enough to have a strong social network in the form of friends and family then make use of them, they will be the best thing you can get when times get tough. Having someone to talk to about what your stressed about is great, just make sure you don’t moan about your predicament, rather discuss the issue and welcome a second opinion if you are unsure as to what to do. Having social support gives you a sense of belonging which can help free yourself from loneliness. No one likes to be lonely even in the best of times! Having people that you can talk to gives you security for when the going gets tough (which it always does) also, friends and family can keep you posted when problems arise, allowing you to know who to trust. When you go to others in hard times they know you have trust in them which gives people great comfort. It also allows them to be able to turn to you in times of need. Helping others out is a great feeling and it will help deepen and strengthen your relationships. 

Stressful times are hard but they can always be dealt with effectively step by step. Developing skills on how to better deal with stress can provide valuable lesson’s each and every time, so keep positive, keep moving forward and avoid dwelling on the past.

Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Thoughts create reality

It always amazes me, how our inner thoughts become the culprit in holding each of us back at the end of the day.

On too many occasions I will tell myself I’m not good at something, but then I do it and end up blowing it out of the water. Why do I listen to the negative voice (otherwise known as "It")? Well, "It" is a tricky, cunning little bastard… it will tell me I am not good at something, or that I don’t really want to do something. ”It" is buried deep inside, quietly whispering, and most of the time, I don’t even notice “It” telling me all this negative banter.

Ok, ok…lets break bread...who, or what, is “It”? ”It”, is MY OWN SUBCONSCIOUSNESS! For example, I’ve always told myself that I’m not good at pull ups. Well, yesterday I blew my own socks off! I was in my basement, and decided to do 6-30 second rounds of pull ups. After my first round on the pullup bar, my "It" instantly whispered in the back of my head, “this is going to be hard. don’t even bother trying to continue”…. I stopped and connected the dots, and then told my ‘whispering "It"‘ to SHUT THE F*$^ UP! I grabbed the bar and went for it. To my dismay, I whipped through 3 with no problem. The next round, even with a couple of pauses I made myself get to 10 before I stopped.

It’s funny how we can use fear to keep us back. Fear of not living up to someone’s expectation of who we’re “supposed” to be. Example: I am a personal trainer….therefore, I’m ‘supposed’ to be an expert at all things fitness…even those pesky pull ups. Therefore, I don’t want to make mistakes in front of people and disappoint them of their expectation of me. WELL SCREW THAT! If you don’t practice and make mistakes, you will never get better and improve at anything. I am now incorporating pull ups into my daily workouts, even if it is 3 a day. I will only get better and stronger and a month from know I am determined to do 10 unbroken pull ups...take that "IT"!!!

Big Love to anyone who took the time to read this. We can only go up from here by putting an end to the negative inner voice. Funny, while I was typing this, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the monitor, and I looked into my eyes, and without thinking, I said in my head: you are going to be successful. You are going to change your world. I invite you to try our own mantra. Remember: You are Smart. You are Successful. You are Beautiful. You are Happy.

Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies...

It's time to rid the light weights & start pumping some iron!

You know it. You have heard it. Many times. And yet, you don’t like it. Just like with stepping on the scale, the thought of lifting heavy weights makes you cringe. You just KNOW you are going to bulk up. “My legs respond quickly” or “I don’t want to look like a man” or "my shoulders are HUGE" are a few of the usuals I hear each and every week.

Ok, ready?

Lifting LIGHT WEIGHTS in almost every case is a waste of time for women who are seeking body change. Exceptions to this rule may include pregnant women, those recovering from injury, in rehab, beginners (and even they should be adding weight quickly) or those who are giving their body a rest from the intense stuff. If you are a woman, who wants body change/to get leaner, you should be lifting heavy.
“Heavy” is a relative term and is different for every woman. At the LIGHTEST, you should be using a 15 rep max on whatever exercise you are doing. In other words, you can JUST complete 15 reps with clean, good form, but not 16. More advanced trainees will use a 8-10 rep max in their circuits.

Reasons Lifting Light Weight is a Waste of Time
If you are lifting light weights, you are training for one thing: muscular endurance. You might be able to do 100 body weight lunges, but add a few dumbbells held in your hands and you struggle at 10. What about strength? What about power? Building muscular endurance is really only good for…building more muscular endurance.


Light weights do not apply enough stimulus to elicit a physique-changing response. The exception here is the beginner, with whom ANY consistent muscle contraction will elicit a response. But after time has gone by and you are no longer a beginner, you better start adding some weight if you want to keep seeing changes to your body. The more weight you lift, the more your body will change, period. The amount your shape changes is directly proportional to how heavy the weights are and light weights=very little changes. 

The Real Deal with Bulking Up

Ok, I am going to let you in on a little secret: bulking up does happen, BUT it’s not what you think it is. Essentially, when people bulk up, they are building lean muscle UNDERNEATH layers of fat and not solving the fat-burning part of the equation. Building muscle + burning fat = smaller, leaner and more defined. Ultimate changes to your physique involve spending time in the kitchen prepping clean eats. A clean nutrition plan made up primarily of lean protein, fibrous veggies, fruit and some select clean carbs will help shed inches. Keep in mind, if you miss a week or two of working out you won't notice differences on the scale if you stick to clean eating.

Women who successfully build muscle and burn fat and incorporate a clean diet 80% of the time, end up smaller overall, shed inches, and do not bulk up. Their body fat percentages go down and their amount of lean muscle mass increases.

I guarantee you WILL NOT ever look like a man  Practicing good, old-fashioned heavy weight training along with a clean diet will do nothing but enhance your feminine look.
Muscles, curves, strength, oh my!


Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Develop a successful Health & Fitness Plan

Do you want to get healthy and fit? You must develop a purpose, an intention, a PLAN!
It is Monday, a brand new week and no better time to take some time today to refocus on our fitness goals big and small. Think about why you want to workout, why you truly want to get healthy and fit, and what is going to keep you making that effort. You all need to set aside some time to REALLY think about this. 

When you have a purpose in mind, it needs to be one that is useable, that can be drawn on when you need it. You need to actually sit down and think about why, fundamentally, you want to exercise. That will be your purpose. 

Come up with the big things you want, the long-term plan, and keep those in mind. But remember: they are guiding lines, the constant guardrails that steer our life in the direction we want. Hold on to them, but acknowledge that our minds sometimes need something far more immediate.

Therefore, what we need are objectives. To be able to reach our deep, fundamental purpose (or purposes), we need smaller, achievable steps. Just like a novel is divided into chapters, which are then split into paragraphs, when it comes to staying healthy and being in shape we must divide our overall goal(s) into small, simple, attainable goals that we can reach and conquer.

It’s as simple as this: set a series of clear, attainable outcomes.

We can’t stress enough how important these things are, how fundamental they can be to your success. There are dozens of ways to do it, and they all center around setting measurable, specific goals.

Get visual: Take a series of ‘before’ photos of yourself — in profile, from the front, and from the back. Wear the clothes you use to workout, print out the photos, and keep them somewhere useful.

Set a specific period of days whereupon you’ll take the next set of photos: 15 or 30-day periods are generally a good idea, and can give you a great sense of completion and accomplishment when you see them.

Keep a journal: Write down, in a clear and re-readable fashion, every time you exercise. When you’ve worked out several times over a two or three-week period, it’s extremely gratifying to see how often you’ve done it, because you’ll get a real, tangible sense of the effort you’ve put in.

Keeping other pieces of information in the journal can help, too: healthy meals you’ve eaten, the way you feel after a particular workout — anything that might keep you motivated when you’re feeling down.

It might be surprising, but going back and reading over exercise-related things you’ve written in a journal can be a huge motivation. Even just seeing the words “worked out” on a calendar a few times in a week can make the tiny mental difference between taking that next step or falling off the wagon.

Keep track of your weight the smart way: Our weight fluctuates by small degrees no matter what we do, and it can be difficult to always stay on track when one day it appears we’ve actually gained weight, despite all that working out. To supplement the power of your positive thinking, and make sure that scale doesn’t throw you off track, try and escape tracking your weight entirely (as just tracking weight is a rather limited system of measurement in the first place), if you must, measure yourself by inches or centimeters instead of focusing on pounds or kilograms — because empirical weight won’t ever tell you the whole story.

VISUALIZING YOUR OUTCOMES

Here’s another useful trick: visualization. It’s one of the most simple around, but it works wonders. If you’re thinking about working out, but your motivation is lacking, just picture yourself at the weight you want to be, or in the shape you desire. Picture yourself like this for 2-3 minutes straight, not just a quick thought. Make it a serious effort. Think about different clothes, different situations, different people who haven’t seen you for a while — and then keep doing it, visualize a better, fitter you. A sustained effort at visualization can be just the motivation you need.

If you’re feeling lost about your reasons for working out, unclear about why all this work is worth the effort, or just need a few ways to get focused and make sure your body is doing what your brain wants it to do, spend some time on these two things.

Think about it again: purpose and outcome. Think big, acknowledge those big purposes and grand ideals for what they are — general guidelines for our lives — and then scale downwards. Set realistic goals and attainable outcomes that you can reference in order to reach them.

The more you can engage your mind and clarify your reasons for exercising and getting healthy, realizing which ones will help you and which ones will guide you, the easier it will be to stay on track. 

Bottomline, our mind is an incredible and powerful tool — the more we can use it to our benefit, the more our bodies will thank us in the end.


Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Bubble-Butt, Booty, The Shelf!

For those of you who don't know me I LOVE working my glutes!

In my opinion, the most attractive and powerful piece of equipment a person can have is a great a**! Forget ripped 6-packs, a nice SHAPELY BUTT is where it's at!!! 

Am I right?!

Here is a FANTASTIC BUTT BLASTER WORKOUT that you can do anywhere...No Excuses! 

Warm-up: Get a step, staircase, chair, park bench, street curb 

100 Toe taps, rest 30 seconds

100 Up and Over Step

(If you are using equipment ie. staircase that doesn't allow you to go up and over, split the reps and perform 50 side step ups each side) 

3 Sets

A) Weighted Step-ups - 15x each side

-Do all of them on your left leg first, keep your left foot on step ( do not remove it during exercise), when at the top of the motion on the step, kick right leg back squeezing your glute, keep that right leg straight, step down!

B) Stationary Alternating Forward Lunges, hold DBs - 15x each side.

C) Straight Leg Deadlifts, take a wide stance with DBs - 15x

*Rest for 45 seconds and go again!

3 Sets - Conditioning Sequence:

A) 50 Feet together Jumps front to Back

B) 20 Pop Squats (Get your butt low!!)

C) 20 Feet Touching Jump Squats

D) 20 Walking Lunges Down, 20 Back

E) Jump Lunges holding DBs - 10x each side

-Land softly to protect your joints and take your time being explosive. Once done, drop weights and do 5 more jump lunges each side.

*Rest for 45 seconds and go again!

Doesn't look too horrendous on paper does it!? 

But it is one of those EPIC workouts where you will wake up the next morning in a world of trouble, which i kinda like! Your lower half will be SORE! It will be due to the fact that your glutes were firing on all cylinders, regardless of what exercise you were doing. Keep in mind, that strong glutes aren't just aesthetically pleasing but they prevent a whole array of injuries.

Remember, there is no black or white rule on how an exercise should be done, its important to take the training goal into consideration. In this case, FOCUS on your glutes!

Give me any leg exercise, and i can turn it into a glute-dominant exercise by manipulating my arms or becoming 100% focused on mind-muscle connection. I am sure my clients get tired of hearing me say "glutes, glutes, glutes" "drive through your heels" "squeeze your glutes" "drive your hips forward" "keep your ass and abs tight"! For example, by having a slight forward lean and a more vertical shin while doing a step up you increase the focus on the hip/glutes. When you squat, focus on pushing your heels through the floor and driving your hips forward. Doing a DB lunge, sit back or push back on the back foot (toes), sink down keeping my back straight to maximize the stretch on my glutes. 

Sooo, the next time you freak out about having a little 'extra' junk in your trunk, STOP, breathe, and focus on your positive ASSets.  

Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)