2009 Goals

2008 is almost over. Have you reached your 2008 goals? Did you even set goals for 2008?

Most people do not set any goals ever in their life. Some do, but don't write them down. Others write them down, but haven't looked at them since. And the few who set goals, write them down, and review them regularly achieve most of them.

So if you didn't set goals for 2008, take some time today and think about everything you would like to accomplish in 2009. Then write it all down and plan to review them regularly. 

After writing everything down get to work on one or two things from your list. Try to pick a couple things you can accomplish by the end of January, a couple of things by the end of March, end of June, end of September, and end of 2009.

If you take the time set goals and take action on them you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a year, whether it's losing 50 pounds of body fat or adding 20 pounds of lean muscle.

Live Fit,

Josh

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Hope you all have a great holiday!

Josh & Tammy

Could Your Shoes Be Causing Your Knee Pain?

Have your knees been sore? It could be because of the shoes you're wearing. 

So what is the proper footwear for resistance training? Cross Trainers and flat shoes.

Shoes label or listed for Cross Training (aka Training) will provide you with the lateral support and stability you need. Unlike running or walking shoes, which may provide you with great cushioning, but little lateral support.

Flat Shoes? Yes, flat shoes. You want to stay away from shoes that have an elevated heel (e.g. Nike Shox, Adidas Bounce), even though these shoes are listed as cross training shoes. The reason shoes with an elevated heel are not a good choice is because they place the knee anteriorly to the body's midline, which adds stress to the knee. And when squat and lunging this adds even more stress to the knee. Overtime this added stress can lead to knee pain.

So the next time you're looking to buy new shoes look for pair of cross trainers that are flat.

Live Fit, 

Josh

Your Scale Lies To You

Your alarm goes off, you jump out of bed and head to the shower. But, before your shower you decide to get on your scale after all you've been working out for a month now and your weight should be significantly down, Right?. "What! Only a pound, all that hard work and I've only lost one measly pound." 

Does this sound familiar? 

How can be this be? Well, to get the whole picture you need to look at your body composition. It is very common and in most cases, especially with beginners, you will experience a Weight Shift. A Weight Shift is a loss in body fat and an increase in muscle tissue. For example, you may have lost 6 pounds of fat, but gained 5 pounds of muscle. This would equal an 11 pound weight shift, but only a 1 pound decrease on the scale. 

It is also possible to even gain weight, because you have gained more muscle weight than you have lost in fat weight. 

Your clothes will fit better, people will say you look thinner, you will feel thinner, but that does not mean your body weight on the scale has decreased. However, don't get discouraged your scale is just lying to you! You've made significant improvements in your body.

And yes, eventually you will see a decrease in your body weight on the scale, it's just not always first. 

Live Fit,

Josh

Need a Last Minute Gift Idea?

Pick up a Defined Fitness Gift Certificate for that special someone. And if you're a current Defined Fitness member we will give you a free training session for you to use for each $50 you purchase in Gift Certificates.

Customer Appreciation Week Is Back!!

Next week we will be having our second Customer Appreciation Week. Each day we will be offering a different surprise. 

We will also be raffling off 3 prizes:

1. 1 Training Session

2. Defined Fitness Hoodie

3. Coach the Coach - a chance for you to put your coach through a workout and get some revenge for all those Leg Matrix's you've done.

Christmas Hours and New Year's Hours

Christmas Eve 6:30 am - 5:00 pm

Christmas Day - Closed

12/26/08 - 6:30 am - 3:00 pm

New Years Eve 6:30 am - 3:00 pm

New Years Day - Closed

Was That Your Best?

You're not going feel your best every time you workout. Some workouts you will feel great, you'll feel strong and full of energy and other times you will feel tired and weak. This is normal, but what matters is the effort you put in and if that effort was your best.

If you make certain to give it everything you have, as much or as little as that maybe, everyday you workout you will continue to make improvements.

It's when you decide that you're just too tired, too stressed, too busy, etc. to workout and you skip it, that you will not make progress.

The only way to get the body you want is too make progress each day. The things you do today may not seem like much, but consistently over time they will added up to make a significant difference.

Live Fit,

Josh

What is a Warm-Up?

What is a warm-up and why is it needed? Everyone has an idea what a warm-up is and I'm pretty sure that anyone I asked could give me an example of a warm-up. But, what most people think is a warm-up is not really considered a warm-up. 

If you did an observation of fitness centers across the country and observe gym members you would notice a couple trends. 1) The majority of people jump on the treadmill or elliptical for a couple minutes before they begin. 2) Some (and more than you may think) will grab two 5 pounds weight plates and begin to swing their arms in circles with a plate in each hand. 3)A lot begin with static (holding) stretching.

Are these activities a good way to warm-up? No, while most people think that they just need to get their blood moving, joints moving, and stretch out there is more to a warm-up. 

So lets take a look at what a good warm-up looks like.

First we want to prepare our body for what we are about to do. This means the warm-up needs to be specific to the activity we are about to participate in. For example walking/jogging on treadmill for 5 minutes is not similar to lifting weights.

Second we need to move our body through full range of motion movements and get in some dynamic stretching (get a stretch by moving a muscle, but not holding it). Example: Touching the toes and holding for 30 seconds is not the same or as beneficial as inch worms, even though they are similar.

Third we need to get the core involved. Again, inch worms

Fourth we need to break a light sweat and get our heart rate and breathing rate up. Example: Jumping, Hopping, Skipping, and Shuffling

Now if you will look back at what the typical gym goer does and compare it to what is needed to have good warm-up you will see that those activities do not meet all the criteria.

I understand that some days you may feel slow, sluggish, and stiff. You may feel that you just need to walk/jog slowly for a few minutes before you begin. This is fine when needed, but just remember that you still need to do your warm-up after those couple of minutes.

Live Fit,

Josh

Change Is Not Easy

There are things that we all know we shouldn't do, but for some reason we still do it. After all it is easier to just make an excuse. But, excuses do not produce results or make changes. The only way you can make a change is to take immediate action and seek out people who can help.

Why is it that in January Fitness Centers are filled with people wanting to lose weight, but by March over half of these people are no where to be found? Because it's hard.

Why do some people still eat at McDonald's when trying to lose weight? Because it's easier to run through the drive through than cook a meal at home.

But these actions will not help to create the weight loss results you desire. If you want to see results you must follow the advice of your fitness coach and/or weight loss program and stop turning left when you know you should be turning the other direction and making a better decision.

So here a few things you need to be doing to see weight loss results:

1. Eat 5-6 meals per day

2. Drink lots of water

3. Workout three times per week

4. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables

5. Stop eating processed foods

6. Make fitness a LIFESTYLE!!

Yes, I know I'm kinda preaching to choir, because if your reading this you are already making the right decisions. But, a little reminder never hurts either to keep you on track.

Remember the average American gains 10 pounds between Christmas and New Year's. So make healthy choices when you're at all those Christmas Parties you'll be attending.

Live Fit,

Josh

P.S. Thanks to everyone who participated in our Christmas Angel Gift Program for the Crisis Shelter. All of the gifts will be greatly appreciated.

Supplements?

Do you need them and are they beneficial?

It depends. If your daily diet consists of junk a nutritional supplement will do little to help. If you are currently eating healthy and clean then there may be some benefit to a nutritional supplement. But, which ones?

Well for starters, I like to recommend to everyone a multi-vitamin (I don't necessarily care which brand), a post-workout protein drink, and fish oil. If you are eating healthy these three are the only three I feel you need in addition. 

Again, if your diet is bad no supplement out there will help. So eat healthy, include the above mentioned supplements, but don't fall prey to the creative advertising pushing false claims about how Product A will help you lose 20 pounds in a week or how Product B will add 6 inches to your biceps and give you the body of a Greek God. 

Supplements are to simply supplement healthy diet and fill in any holes you may have in it. They are not to be substituted for food or to replace the need to work hard in the gym.

Live Fit, 

Josh 

Did Your Last Workout Leave You Sore?

We've all been there, the day after our first workout session. Your alarm goes off and its time head to the shower and get ready for the up coming day. But, wait you sit up and notice that your abs feel like you went through a boxing match. As you begin to stand you notice that your legs feeling like the muscles are torn apart. So as you slowly make your way to the shower feeling each step you make, you begin to contemplate calling off for the day and going back to bed. After of course calling your fitness coach to tell him off about how sore he made you. I mean, after all your not 18 anymore what was he thinking. 

This is an extreme case, but still many of us have had these mornings. While some people may enjoy feeling sore and associate it with a good workout and view as a just necessary part of the program, most do not. 

And no making you sore is not your fitness coaches goal, even though we may smile when you tell us how sore you were or currently still are.

So now that you're sore what should you do:

1. Get up and getting moving. Once you are moving around your muscles will begin to feel better. Sitting around or laying in bed is the worst thing you can do, it just makes your muscles more stiff.

2. Avoid Advil and other similar drugs. Even though you may think that these may help with the pain they actually hinder your bodies ability to recover.

Hopefully you don't have too many, if any, days that you are very sore, but if you do just get going you will feel better.

Live Fit,

Josh