Category: Weightloss
Lot of us spend our days sitting around and not being as active as we could (or should). We then add rich and fatty foods to our sedentary lifestyle, and blam, we have a few to many extra lb’s. This isn’t rocket science, and this is a story that we all can relate to. (Medical conditions not being accounted for here) So, what happens? We get fat or, we do something about it.
All of us find motivation to get fit one way or the other. Maybe it was someone mentioning that you looked bigger, maybe your favorite jeans didn’t fit, or maybe you look in the mirror one day are say enough is enough. Whatever your reason to get fit, you need to look at a method/program to follow. (Any Fitness Program will take dedication and laser focus to get great results.) And this is different from staying or being healthy.
You can lead a less active lifestyle if you choose not to overeat. This does not mean you can get by without some basic exercise. Staying healthy means doing what you need to do to feel good, and live the life you want to live. You don’t have to eat “organic” this or “natural” that, and you don’t have to join an extreme fitness gym. You have to take accountability for your actions (or inaction), and not be a glutton.
To get fit, now there is a challenge. I believe you must follow a meal plan (to the letter) and you must also increase your activity significantly. It will be a ramp up to extreme fitness training, and it will be hard, but you will get through it, and you will be better off. Home programs like P90X, Insanity, and Turbo Fire will give you great results if you follow them. As will gym based programs, working with a personal trainer, or competitive sports/martial arts. There are so many activity choices once you dial in your meal plan.
Me, I like my Beach Body videos. I can throw together a 30,60, 90 day fitness program and get back to being lean and ripped. I can target improving my cardio or just work to look better naked. (Everyone wants that) This isn’t the best way, it is my way, and a way which has been working for the last 5 years. (Plus Soccer, Sambo, and other craziness) The important thing for me is to stay active for several weeks while keeping my eating/drinking in check.
Once I am where I want to be fitness wise, well then the slow slide back to needing a fitness kick in the ass begins. It is called maintenance mode. Still not being a glutton, but having a lot more flexibility in my eating. Many people call this time, “Staying Healthy.” But even when “Staying Healthy” you may (probably will) gain weight, and need to kick it into high gear for a time. And however long you need to kick it into high gear is decided on how far you are willing to let yourself slide.
My typical reset trigger: when I reach 201lbs, and it isn’t due to heavy salt or lots of drinking. This is usually a day or 2 thing. (Bloat) When that weight remains pretty consistent for a week or 2, I know it is time to get back down to 190-195.
Do you have a trigger? Do you have a goal weight? Are you happy with how you look right now? Do you want to feel better? What is your motivation?
-FitLifeSFRob
So, after 2 weeks of Asylum, Shaun T brings us the Game Day Workout. An assortment of sports influenced moves using the agility ladder, free space moves and a pull-up bar. This 60 minute workout was pretty brutal, and next time I’ll have the moves down more…But…I didn’t feel it was as good as it could have been and I was not thrilled by the flow of the whole workout. (Again, it may have been my lack of familiarity with some of the moves)
Even with what I said above, I was dripping by the end. (it began with a 5 minute interval run, some stretching, then BAM, non stop moving from game to game)
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
For someone who is pretty damn fit, to be getting my ass handed to me as bad as I am, it is either my own delusion of how fit I am or the reality that this program is FRIGGEN BRUTAL. Today’s fun began with a 10 minute warm up, which, by the end of the warm up I was ready to call it a day. (And yes, I was out too late last night, and I did have a bit too much to drink, but hey, I am human) Thankfully, the warm up cleared my head, and had me in a flop sweat clearing my body of some of the crap I consumed last night. (I got out of bed at noon, and did this workout) This workout is not as “hop happy” as many of the original INSANITY series workouts, but Shaun kicks up the difficulty by using resistance bands, and very focused motion. Like the rest of the videos, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR MIND IN THE GAME, or you won’t even be able to do a number of the moves. So, be prepared to bring your “A” game.
This workout is jumptastic with long jumps, hops, squats, plyo pushups, jump rope work, and my new nemisis, the one legged power squat. ARRRRGGG! By the end of this video, I was again soaked to the bone with my own sweat. Here’s how good the workout was. I woke up weighed myself, had 2 glasses of water (I was dehydrated as hell), and did the workout. During the workout I drank 2 Pint glasses of water, and then at the end dranka 2 scoop recovery drink (in a pint glass topped with water). When I went and weighed myself before my shower, I WAS 2 POUNDS LIGHTER! AFTER ALL THE WATER AND THE RECOVERY DRINK. This workout is brutal. Have your water and your towel handy. You will need it.
Equipment: Jump Rope, 2 Power Bands, Agility Ladder, High Quality H2O and a very absorbantt towel.
Prepare yourself. This one will hurt you.
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
Ok. I just finished the fit test, and it was really tough. I expected to be a lot easier, but maybe I let myself fall too far out of shape since my last insanity cycle a month ago. It was a really good assessment of my core strength, my overall co-ordination, and my stamina. Wow. I hit myself in ways I typically don’t and it showed. See my results below. The numbers below (2nd box) are my current measurementsm which were all taken “unflexed.” The first box are my Day 1 Fit Test Results. (If you couldn’t tell) Well, so much for stalling. Time for the “Speed and Agility” workout. wish me luck.
Be sure to check out our “How to take Measurements” article:
http://www.fitlifesf.com/2011/01/how-to-take-body-measurements/
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
Ok people. It is ordered, and ready to go. Insanity: The Asylum is a 30 day elite training program and I will be posting my results and thoughts over the next 30 days or so. I am using this program to prepare for my SAMBO conditioning camp in June. What is that? True insanity. I am going to an olympic training center in Alushta, Ukaraine (for the 2nd time) and will spend 10 days with Igor Kurinnoy. Igor is a 3 time world SAMBO Champion, and 4 time SAMBO World Cup Winner, needless to say, he is very good. (And last time I lost 15 lbs in 2 weeks, and I was in pretty good shape)
This year I am going as prepared as I can be. (How best I can really prepare for 8hr training days while working a real job…)
Monday I will take my “before” the program pic, in 30 days the “After The Asylum” pic will hit, and then after the trip, one final pic. If I don’t get hurt, I should be in the best shape of my life by June 19th.
For the record, I will be using Shakeology every day, I will be using P90X recovery drink, AND I will be maintaining a proper diet. Interested in joining me? (Well, doing “The Alyum”)
If you want to order the Asylum or just check it out, follow this link: http://beachbodycoach.com/fitlifesfrob
-Rob
If you’ve spent much time perusing fitness websites or even just standing in line at the grocery store lately, you’ve no doubt seen plenty of advertisements for diets promising to help melt away belly bulge. Nearly every women’s fitness publication, from Self to Women’s Health to Prevention has some offering marketed as a “bellyfat”- or “flat belly”-specific eating plan.
So, if bellyfat is your biggest concern, do you need to be on a plan specifically identified as a bellyfat diet? Or, if you are already on an eating plan that has you dropping pounds, will you see more loss from your midsection if you switch to one?
Our hats are off to Larry for kicking some serious butt during the 1st 90 days of the year. He lost over 20 lbs by controlling his diet, and adding some causal exercise to his day to day. The great thing is that, this is just the beginning. He is now ready to up the ante and add some real workouts to his routine.
Larry is now under 230 lbs and we will see him at 200 by the end of 2011! Awesome!
-Rob
Today I saw that Smurf had another post featured on the front page of yahoo health, and looking at the comments I was set on edge. So much so, that I wrote a response to a number of the negative comments and let it fly into the ether. Nothing mean, but I did call all the “high and mighty” personal trainers who didn’t even bother to read the article a bunch of self serving nitwits. (not that exact verbiage) [I am still waiting to see it posted to the comments]
The article is about getting the most out of your gym membership and not having to spend your hard earned money on personal trainers, unless you want to. With most gym memberships, especially the national chains, there are a number of free classes given. These classes are great if you are looking to motivate yourself to get moving, try something new, or are just getting into being fit. Good information to know, right?
This is a re-post of a multi-part series I did over on the Yahoo! Blog about motivation. If you want the ultimate in motivation, there’s still time to join the FitLifeSF 10-Week Challenge!
Welcome back to our series on motivation and finding ways to keep your fitness regime from getting stale. We’ve already talked about ways to mix things up and keep it fresh as well as using goalsetting and progress tracking as motivation tools. Today’s topic is using rewards to keep you moving forward.
I often get asked “Why should I take ALL these measurements?” The simple answer is, we need a baseline to compare progress against. The actual answer (to me) is, the more data we have, the better we can assess your current state and then develop a proper fitness program. So, get to measuring before you: begin a program, every few weeks to see your improvements (or lack there of) and at the end to see what you accomplished (or didn’t).
And more importantly: Don’t measure yourself every week. That is just a waste of time. once every 3-4 weeks will do.
What should you use to measure? Start by finding a good tape measure that will fit around the largest part of you. A cheap 4-5ft+ long tape measure is great to have around the house for LOTS of things. You will aways find something to use it for. Avoid yard sticks, meter sticks and rulers. Not very accurate unless you are measuring a string you are wrapping around yourself.
Where and how you should measure:
Technique is key here. You need to be consistent not only where you measure, but the tension on the tape as well. You want to tighten the tape so it won’t slide down your skin. Not so much that it is changing the form of your body. (Don’t pull the tape tight. Don’t dimple your skin) Over time you will get the hang of it.
I like to have a number of measurements to use as a baseline. These are very similar to what a tailor would take when making custom clothes for you.
For these measurements, don’t flex, just relax. Stand up straight, but don’t be tense.
- Neck: Standing up straight, take a measurement around the widest part of your neck.
- Shoulder: I like to take this standing up. Someone help you. With your arms down at your sides, and with your shoulders back (stand up straight), measure around your shoulders. This means the outside of your arms, at the shoulder. Not the at the bicep. At the shoulder.
- Chest: Standing up straight, take this measurement just above the nipple line. (Yeah, I said it. NIPPLE) This measurement does not include the arms. So keep your arms down, set the tape, take a breath and then exhale. (you don’t have to force out all your air) Take the measurement before you take your next inhale.
- Waist: Standing up straight. Take this at the narrowest spot, or midway between your lowest rib and your hip bone. This may be very close to your abdomen measurement. Take it anyway.
- Abdomen: This is my first men/women variation. Standing up straight. Men, take this measurement around your body at your belly button. Women, take this at the NARROWEST part of your abdomen.
- Hips: Standing up straight. Take this around your hips at the point where your butt is at its widest.
For these measurements, you can take them with the muscles relaxed or flexed. Heck, take the measurements both ways. Just document them as such. You should really do both arms and legs, you probably have 2 of each. For the record, your dominant side is usually bigger.
- Thigh: Standing up straight. Take this measurement below the butt, but above the knee around your thighs widest point.
- Knee:Standing up straight. You want to take this measurement around your knee. Take it over your kneecap and around the back of the joint.
- Calf: Standing up straight. Take this around the widest point of your calf, below your knee and above your ankle.
- Ankle:Standing up straight. (I want pressure on your ankle for the measurement) Take this around the widest point. (Side note: If the measurement from your knee to calf to ankle are similar, then you have cankles. And it will be my mission to help you change that!)
- Arm (Bicep): Take this around the widest part of your arm. (flexed or unflexed or both)
- Forearm: Take this around the widest part of your forearm. Below the elbow but above the wrist. (Unless you are Popeye, it will be closer to the elbow)
- Wrist: This is really hard to flex. Just a FYI. So take this measurement about 1-2 inches from where your hand is connected to your arm. Again, at the widest point.
Consistency of measurements is just as important as accuracy. You need to take your measurements at the same spot every time. (Unless you should be taking the measurements at the biggest or narrowest part, heck, this may change over time) So make sure you remember where you took the measurements!
Final Side Note: If you don’t have someone to help you, there is a pretty cool measuring tape tool called MyoTape. It makes taking measurements alone easier. Check it out.
-Rob