Getting Out Of Your Box!!

Everyone likes to talk about going to the gym to do cardio or weights. We get into a mindset that we always need to either be on a machine doing cardio or running outside. That's about as creative as it gets. Well, dare I say it, that can get BORING! That's coming from a personal trainer.

Doing the same thing over and over again leads to monotony and stale fitness routines. I know over the past year I have replaced my favorite cardio activities with mountain biking because it gets me out enjoying area parks and gives me a great cardio workout at the same time. In the past I never would give it a chance because I viewed it as something that wasn't for me.


Often times I see people do this. They discard something as "not for them" before even trying it and when they actually try it guess what, THEY LOVE IT!! The challenges/events we run during The SUMMIT and JUMPSTART CHALLENGE as well as our fitness retreats are designed to get people out of their boxes.

Last weekend we did several "out of the box" activities such as a power hike through a State Park where we had the hikers track their heart rate and calories burned. Low and behold, at the end of the hike many of them had burned hundreds of calories while pushing their heart rates into a good working range. Who would have thought a walk in the woods could do that?

We also did kayaking. Talk about a great core workout! Where would you rather be a sunny day in Minnesota. On the water or in gym on an elliptical?

My take home point from all this is that fitness needs to be lifelong. There are many ways to challenge your body and they don't all have to be in the gym. Yes cardio machines and weights are important but they are only part of the puzzle.

We have some great activities available to us here in Minnesota. Hiking, canoeing, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, kayaking, rollerblading to name just a few. I'm sure there are other activities that I have missed but my point is, the next time an opportunity comes up to try something new don't disqualify yourself. You might find that it is just the refreshing challenge you were looking for!

Competitive Spirit!

Many times we are told that competition is bad and that everyone should be a winner. Personally I think this is a crock. Competition is what makes us better. When people don't have anyone pushing them they tend to coast and not give it their best.

Last weekend I did a mountain biking race for the first time and I had some friends doing it with me. One of them is an active 50 year old who is competitive like me. We pushed each other during the race and I know I worked a lot harder than I would have had he not been on my tail the whole time. Him trying to catch me.... me trying to stay ahead. In the end we were congratulating each other for pushing each other hard.

Right now we are running the Jumpstart and Summit programs and it amazes me sometimes how people shy away from a challenge so easily. There is an old saying that says nothing good comes easy. If you look at life everything is competition in some form.

You compete when you're out there dating and trying to find a spouse. You compete in business. Everywhere you go there is some form of competition. The concept that everyone should play nice and just get along is a sham. I do not mean that you have to be a jerk. I always respected people who give me good competition because it makes me bring out my A-game. Otherwise I would probably slack off.

So to put my money where my mouth is I'm going to jump in the Jumpstart challenge with a fellow trainer. We will compete against the clients, not for places or prizes, instead so we get better. Sometimes we are so busy taking care of others we let ourselves go. So it's time to put up or shut up.

Some of you I know won't agree with me and that's okay but in my own life competition has made me better and forced me to keep moving ahead and improving. During our last Jumpstart contest I saw it do the same for many of our clients as well.

And really competition does not have to be against someone elsehead to head. It can be mastering a tough mountain bike course, beating personal your best 5k time or doing a triathlon. My final point is that it is good to push yourself and get out of your comfort zone. You may find it addicting and rewarding at the same time!

Does exercise help with weight loss?(Time Article reaction)

Recently a client of mine handed me an article featured on the cover of Time magazine called the "The Myth About Exercise." The author of the article, John Cloud, talks about the fact that people who exercise don't always lose weight and sometimes even gain weight. There are a few things in the article I agree with and a few things that I disagree with.

Agree-
Exercise by it itself will not help you lose weight. I said previously in one of my e-blasts that losing weight is 80% nutrition. You can burn 500 calories in an intense workout and quickly erase that calorie deficit with a poor food choice. I've seen this so many times where people reward themselves with a pizza or something because they just did a cardio class. I've even heard instructors talk about this. Personally, when I did bodybuilding I really learned that nutrition is what brings out muscle definition and washboard abs not tons of cardio and crunches. People really need to understand that they can exercise all they want but if their eating is not dialed in, it can be an ineffective weight loss tool.

Disagree-
He only talks of calories in/calories out in the article. He talks about intense appetite after exercise and tending to want to eat more. Not once does he mention insulin resistance and high glycemic foods.

Dr. Spieth from Children's Hospital in Boston did a study with two groups of obese children. Group #1 ate the standard low fat high glycemic carb diet and did moderate exercise. Group #2 ate a more balanced low-glycemic diet. The children in this group were allowed to eat as much food as they wanted. They followed both groups for 4 months. Group #1 did not lose any weight but group #2 lost an average of 4 pounds each. He also found that when kids were given a high glycemic meal versus a low glycemic meal for breakfast that they tended to eat 80% more calories during the day.

In my opinion and based on studies that I've seen, many times hunger comes from eating the foods that spike your blood sugar or when your body is deprived of essential nutrients. If you avoid eating high glycemic foods, eat frequent, smaller meals and provide your body with proper nutrition, You should not get massive hunger bouts.

His premise is that exercise will only make you eat more is absurd to me and gives Americans another excuse to be lazy.

The tone of the article discounts intense exercise but this to me is an integral part of boosting metabolism. Research has shown that intense cardio and weight training can keep your metabolism elevated up to 48 hours post workout. There are also studies showing that people who exercised at a higher intensity lost more bodyfat than those who hang out in the low intensity "fat burning zone."

The bottom line is I have 15 years experience and what I have seen is people who combine exercise aqnd good nutrition have much better results than those who simply diet. Others who try to compensate for bad eating with tons of cardio usually do not have much success with weight loss. I know plenty of people who go to the gym, do hours of exercise but never seem to change their appearance just like the author of this article.

Eating right takes discipline. Unfortunately for many people they are not willing to do what it takes to eat right so they will continually struggle unil they make their nutrition a priority along with their exercise.

The scoop on Puravida Fitness retreats and the Jumpstart from actual clients

Below we have 2 video interviews with actual Puravida Fitness clients. On the top is an interview with Kathryn Cashman on her retreat exeperience last year at our first annual retreat and on the bottom is Jesssica Breyer one of the winners from our spring Jumpstart challenge sharing why she did the Jumpstart and what she though of it. These two programs are approaching fast so we wanted those of you interested in one or both of these programs to hear from people who have experienced. Check out my high tech microphone in the first interview.

Interview about the Summit program with Beth Dean

Check out the video below where trainer Beth Dean talks about the new Summit program she created to help clients reach their fitness peak.

You really don't have it that bad!!

I'm going to rant in this post. I'm tired of hearing people whine about how tough they have it and hard their life is. If you think your life is stressful just remember that there are a lot of people who are dealing with much bigger issues than you.

I recently attended a deployment ceremony for one of my best friends. He is heading off to Afghanistan for 1 year, leaving his wife and three kids. I bet his everyday thoughts are going to be about staying alive so he can get back to his family. Kind of makes things like kids activities, keeping the house clean and problems at the office look petty. Still, I find myself feeling very proud of him for his sense of duty, discipline and overall positive attitude about the whole situation. It makes me more irritated with people I listen to here in our cushy society.

I have noticed people have a hard time committing to things and tend to flake out and make excuses for not following through on something whether it is an exercise program, a volunteer activity or even social plans.

What I really respect about our military personnel is that they understand commitment and see things through without whining, bitching or making excuses. They just get it done.

So what have you been complaining about lately? Ask yourself are you just making excuses or blaming others for something that is really your fault? I hear things like "I can't lose weight because I have to cook for my_____ ." Does that mean you have to cook crappy food and eat it too? Could you not cook healthy meals? Here is another one - "you need to motivate me to lose weight!" No, I'm sorry it has to come for you. Or my personal favorite "it's so hard, I'm so busy." Do you think you are the only one that's busy? What it comes down to is priorities. If your priority is shopping, sleeping in, or watching TV during times that you could be exercising than quit whining. You make time for what your priorities are. If weight loss is a priority than you need to make time to exercise, plan meals and shop for healthy foods. Otherwise, you have no one to blame but yourself.

So the next time you find yourself complaining or having your own pity party, ask yourself "is it really that bad" and if you are blaming someone else, take a look in the mirror. As the saying goes "we cannot complain about what we allow!"