Your Health and the Economy - 8 Things You Can Do To Stimulate Them Both

Our President is working hard to make an impact that will stimulate the economy and get this country back on it's feet. He tells us in his speeches that it's time to act responsibly and that we need to change our habits. Every time I listen to him speak I can immediately relate his message to the same message that I write and speak about. It takes the same thought process to change one's habits to stimulate muscle if you want to be lean and fit. After all, isn't health and fitness about taking responsibility for our lives? You bet it is! So at this trying time in our nation's history, I think we should also make an effort to take responsibility for our health.

Got stress?

Yeah, me too. If you find yourself indulging your senses with food or alcohol or anything else that creates a temporary escape, then you are simply avoiding and prolonging making positive changes. You are moving away from improving your life and your health. That's not good, and it's probably just making you feel worse in the long run. Look, I'm not going to paint you a rosy picture and tell you this is easy and that everything is going to be all right. What I can tell you is this. If you want a healthier life...live and be healthy. If you want a happier life...live and be happy.

The quote for the day:

"There's no way to happiness. Happiness is the way." ~Buddha

You can substitute health or wealth or anything in place of happiness for that matter. It gets down to three very simple and repetitive tasks that we all do, all day long.

The three things that we do are:

What we think about - thoughts
The choices we make - feelings
What we do as a result - actions

Now that sounds really simple. On a conscious level it is. But most of the time we are on auto-pilot. We go through the motions thinking the way we think and doing things the way "we do" them. Because that is who "we are". But all of a sudden we realize that we are over weight, malnourished, we see the bags under our eyes, we've got a rash, our teeth are yellow or coffee stained, our hair is dull, our nails are brittle. Sounds attractive, doesn't it? Well, it doesn't have to be this way.

Think about how we start each day. There's an opportunity to have your day go down hill right from the get-go. If you have a big mirror and you don't like what you see in your reflection, your mental state has just been affected. Heaven forbid you decide to step on the bathroom scale. If you don't like the number you see, you've just registered another whammy. Now let's suppose you take a shower and than get dressed. You either like the way your clothes fit or you don't. If you don't, strike three, you've just started your day off with three negative emotional experiences that could send you to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast!

So getting back to my point. The word for the day is "stimulus". What controls your actions is your thoughts. Pay more attention to what you pay attention to!

Here's a few suggestions.

• Watch less news. It's mostly negative
• Read the comics, not the obituaries
• Take a hot bath before going to bed to relax you
• Avoid quarreling, especially with your spouse and kids
• Take an afternoon 20 min power nap (more on this later)
• Go to bed fifteen minutes earlier than you do now
• Get up fifteen minutes earlier than you do now
• Read before bed, but no TV

In short, replace negative stimuli with positive stimuli. Think about what you are doing the moment you are doing it. Ask yourself, is this a bad habit? If you can find a way to catch yourself in the act of the things that you do that don't support you and then change your thoughts about that very moment, you are well on your way to changing the world. And the world is you!

Press on!

The "Dirty Dozen" Workout

Here's a great workout for you. What I like about this workout is once you understand the rules you can make infinite substitutions and scale it for time and group fitness level. I use this workout for boot camps classes, small group training, and one-on one training too.

The foundation is 12 exercises for a 12 minute workout. Some of the exercises require dumbbells and some require just body weight. The protocol is :45 seconds work with :15 seconds rest / transition. Scaling it back will shorten these durations.

Note: In editing this clip I cut off some of the video at the back end of some of the exercises to keep the entire movie under You Tube's 10 min limit.

Scaling For Time and Fitness Level

Depending on the group size and overall level of ability, I will scale this workout accordingly. For example, I may ask the group to perform this workout in 6 minutes instead of 12. This way each exercise is performed for :20 seconds with a :10 rest. Another option is :30 /:10 which will make this an 8 minute cycle. In a typical boot camp class we will perform this routine up to three times. First round 6 minutes, second round 12 minutes, third round 8 minutes.

You might notice in this video that some people appear to have less than perfect form. They are working to improve their form and/or they are working around an injury. BTW, don't forget to give people options for making the exercises easier or more difficult so that everyone gets a "10" experience.

Good luck and please send me your comments and suggestions!

Movement Matters

A large part of my work day is spent observing how people move when they exercise. Regardless of fitness level, there’s much more to exercising than meets the eye. I believe that everyone needs to learn how to move properly either before, or as part of their fitness program. One of my teachers and mentors, Paul Chek, HHP, NMT has written a great book on this topic that I highly recommend titled, “Movement That Matters”.

In my ten years of experience as a personal trainer and coach, I have observed that strength training with weights and jogging are the dominant forms of exercise. It’s also been my observation that the skills of balance, stability and coordination are far more important to human development in gaining strength and improving athletic performance than most people realize. The vast majority of fitness experts and exercise enthusiasts don’t realize the vital role played by the Central Nervous System (CNS).

In short, training the CNS is the most important element that a training program needs to include. A training program that does not address the needs of the CNS is an incomplete, inefficient and less than effective program. The CNS can be trained in a variety of ways, and the easiest way to work on the CNS is to include exercises that involve multiple muscle groups and that are performed while standing and moving.

These relatively simple movements will improve your balance, stability and proprioception. (PRO-pree-o-SEP-shun). That’s a ten dollar word that means the sense that you are moving properly and are aware of what your various body parts are doing.

The worst thing that a beginner can do is to try to do exercises with an “external load”, that’s another fancy term that means “lifting weights” – before learning how to move properly and developing the requisite balance and stability skills. One of the worst things that anyone can do is to just jump on exercise equipment and start cranking out reps.

I’m not a fan of most exercise machines. The problem with machine-based exercise is that the machines provide all the stability and balance for you so that your body never has to work on these skills. The pillars of human movement are pushing, pulling, bending, twisting, raising and lowering (squatting) and locating (walking, running, etc). When you combine movement patterns that require the body to use many muscles and multiple joints at one time, you are far better off than using any machine that isolates one muscle group at a time.

By adding external load (weights) and challenging balance, the CNS must adapt to the new way of doing things. This “stimulus” to the muscles and the CNS is what the body adapts to. Thus we improve our ability to move, flex, extend, and balance, and ultimately we get stronger too.

I’m a big fan of body weight exercises like mountain climbers, squat thrusts, lunges, and push-ups, etc. There are too many to list. Personal trainers and strength coaches who are doing their jobs properly will have their clients working on these dynamic and functional exercises before progressing to adding weights.

In closing, CNS training is more complicated than weight lifting, and a program that works on the skills of balance, stability and proprioception will allow people to get the most out of their exercise time and effort. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather complete my workout in less time, burn more fat and build more muscle. Wouldn't you agree?

How About a Nice Kick in the Pants?

Any one who knows me knows that I truly like helping people. I listen to many stories people share with me about their lives. It never ceases to amaze me the conviction that many have about their beliefs in regard to what they "can't do". Imagine if we could turn that thought process around. Wouldn't that be something? What if every time you spoke a limiting belief about yourself, a big boot came out of nowhere and gave you a swift kick in the "you know what". That might change things a bit, don't you think?

We're all different, and our challenges are not the same either. Truth be told, some people really do have some serious challenges. It could be life-threatening illness or a family member that is sick, or an aging parent. There are only so many hours in the day and some circumstances just demand our time and emotions. So just to be clear, I'm referring to those among us who "believe" they have challenges and feel stuck. But the truth is they have more options than they realize if they could just learn how to get out of their own way.

Here's a few examples.

I want to lose weight, but - -

(the don't list)
I don't like to work out.
I don't like to get up early.
I don't like to cook.
I don't like vegetables.
I don't like to lift weights.
I don't like the gym.
I don't have the time.
I don't like to sweat.

(time constraints)
I work too many hours.
I have children to take care of.
I'm a single parent.
I work nights.

(physical limitations)
I'm too tired.
I've got flat feet.
I have a bad back.
I have tennis elbow.
-insert any previous injury here. Some are legitimate and some are
just an excuse and are based in the fear of getting reinjured.


(it's not my fault)
My wife won't let me. (husband, boss, brother, sister, etc.)
I want to, but it just doesn't work for me.
I've tried that before. (and it just didn't work for me).
Lifting weights makes me too "bulky".
I can't give up my wine at night.
My spouse won't help or support me, so why bother?
I can't eat breakfast if I'm not hungry.
I can't drink water if I'm not thirsty.
I don't like the taste of water.
I don't like having to go to the bathroom so frequently.
I can't afford a trainer or a gym membership.
I have bad genetics.
I am big-boned.
I'm not a morning person.

Some of these reasons may seem funny to you. But to the person who has come to believe and live any one of these self-limiting beliefs, there's nothing funny about it. They are just stuck!

The truth is that sometimes we will tell ourselves whatever we need to believe so that we don't have to try.

I've been there. When I think about my life and looking back, I was very good at making excuses for my lack of time and lack of money, lack of opportunities and the list goes on and on. Talk about living in lack, I was the king of excuses!

My knees and lower back were in pain. In fact, I had a very common case of "donelaps disease". That's a condition you get from over eating where your stomach "done laps over your belt". (wink)

I felt lousy, my emotions went up and down like mercury in a thermometer and my mood often swung like a sledge hammer. I would grind my teeth in my sleep and I felt old before my time. The sad part was that I was only in my mid-thirties!

1) Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life

When I finally got it into my thick skull that I alone was responsible for my life AND I actually started to take responsibility, things began to change. And they began to change rapidly!

No more complaining, no more blaming, no more excuses! Try doing that for just one day!! It's very difficult to do. Our habits of finding fault with others, ie., bosses, the economy, the weather, our kids, circumstances, parents, our upbringing, past traumas, and on-and-on are so ingrained, it's truly an uphill battle to put on the brakes.

In order to accomplish this, you have to accept 100% responsibility for everything in your life. That means that everything that you have (both good and bad) in your life, you are responsible for, even if you don't understand why. The two ways to do this are:

- Stop complaining

- Stop blaming


2) Know What You Want

This is absolutely key, because if you want to make life altering changes, you have to be 100% committed to the end result. There can be no middle ground, no settling for second best. And to do this you must have a clear picture in your mind of what it is that you want.

3) Make a List of Reasons WHY You Need to Succeed

Do You Know Your 'Why'?

Maybe you want to start your own business, maybe you want to change your body composition, or be the best in any other form of endeavor. In your personal relationships maybe? Maybe you're like me? If you start something you want to do two things:

- Enjoy it
- Be hugely successful at it

If you don't know WHY you want to do something then you you will never stick it out to see it through. Your reasons WHY must be big and powerful. When is comes to losing fat and getting lean, it's these reasons why that will carry you above your temptations to eat and drink foods that work against you. The saying "old habits die hard" is absolutely true. But when you know why you want to lose 50lbs for example, you will not succumb to the habits that do not support your goals if your reasons why you need to succeed are powerful enough.

4) Make Your Why Crystal Clear

Your reasons should be crystal clear. Does they propel you forward?
Does your Why help overcome your fears and doubt's, your tendency to procrastinate maybe?

Dwell on your Dream! What is it that motivates you, brings joy to your heart, maybe tears to your eyes. Feel the emotion! Write down what it is and WHY! This is really important. It will clarify your thinking and crystallize your dream, making it real and it will motivate you to take the consistent action that is needed.

5) What Do You Value?

What is it that you value most? Would having a lean muscular body change the quality of your life? Are you willing to make sacrifices to have that dream body? It will take work. It will be hard. You will be sore. But it will be worth it. Oh yes, it will be so worth it.

You need to find what you value most, shift your priorities, and stop doing the things that sabotage your efforts. You need to once and for all focus and realize that whatever it is that you want in life, you are going to have to go and get it yourself. No one is going to show up and take you by the hand or do it for you. It's up to you and that's the way it's always been.

So if you are not happy with your weight, who's to blame?

If you are not happy with your bank account, who's fault is that?

If you are not happy with your personal relationships, who are you pointing a finger at?

It's YOU, it's always been you. So stop blaming anyone else, stop complaining and step up to the plate and take responsibility for everything in your life.

The solution to your challenges is within you. That's where it's been all along. So whatever it is you are serious about doing or changing in your life I hope you take this message to heart. Once you start this journey you'll change your life in powerful ways. One you'll look back on where you once were and you'll smile. Just don't forget to help someone else along the way.

Why Am I Not Losing Weight?

I'm often asked, "If I'm under eating and exercising, why am I not
losing weight (body fat)?" Here's a simplified explanation based on
the science.

First of all, under eating is just like being on a diet. It's
important to have a baseline of nutrition to meet metabolic needs.
So it's vital to know how many calories you need to consume
each day to maintain, build, or lose, depending on your goals. As
we are talking about improving body composition, (muscle-to-fat
ratio) this is especially significant.

If your body does not have adequate calories coming in from
glucose (carbs), then it converts amino acids (protein) found in
the lean muscle to a usable form of energy. By adding in exercise,
your body requires more calories and therefore will burn muscle
faster since there is an inadequate supply of glucose/glycogen.

When muscle is broken down and burned, the body loses its primary
calorie burning machinery, therefore slowing the metabolism. So
initially you may see weight loss, as you lose muscle. Then the
metabolism slows (due to lost muscle) and you stop losing weight.
The entire time, your body composition has actually increased the
percent of fat because you're losing more muscle than fat.

By increasing your calories from glucose to the appropriate level,
your body will use glucose and stored glycogen for energy, sparing
your muscle/lean mass. By then adding in appropriate exercise
(muscle-strengthening resistance training and cardio), your body
continues to burn glucose (carbs) and fat at an optimal rate, while
also building lean mass. The body's additional lean muscle mass
leads to more calorie burning machinery and therefore more fat
being burned. This may not show on the scale (especially
initially) but will be evident in inches lost and a decrease in
body fat percentage.

This is where Isagenix can make a big impact in the process of
helping the body to release fat weight. Isagenix as a system helps
reduce calories, which is also what typical diets do. But where
many diets fall short, Isagenix has a positive impact on LMM. In
fact, Isagenix is not only LMM sparing, it's muscle building!

I also recommend that you use the following calculation in
conjunction with body composition measures. This calculation helps
bridge the difference between scale weight and body fat:


1. Take your weight and multiply it by your percent body fat as a
decimal. For example: 160 pounds x .25 (if body fat is 25%) = 40
pounds of fat.

2. The rest of the weight is LMM (Lean Muscle Mass-muscle, bones,
etc).

So 160 pounds - 40 pounds = 120 pounds of LMM.

As you fuel your body properly, watch your lean muscle mass weight
increase and the body fat weight decrease.