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Accepting the Inevitable

The reason most people exercise is to achieve and maintain optimal health. Daily training, using both anaerobic and aerobic forms of exercise, combined with a balanced nutritional program, is the best way to achieve a high level of fitness. But how long will the body continue to improve? Let’s find out.

Your body has a life cycle like that of every other living thing in this universe… including the universe itself. The next time you train at your health club, look at the people working out around you. Why doesn’t everyone working out look young? Obviously it’s the continuing cycle of life; we call it aging. Unfortunately, that word is associated with negative connotations including illnesses, injuries, and a decline of one’s active life. Let’s see if we can change how we look at ageing.

To deny the fact of ageing is psychologically damaging. To ignore it will give you false hopes and the possibility of actually making you age faster. Let me give you an example; me. That’s right, the Iron Guru himself makes (plenty of) mistakes. After competing in physique competitions for forty years, it was very difficult for me to alter my training as I got older. Back in the day, heavy, high intensity training was the norm, because my body was in a growth stage. That period didn’t last forever, but I kept the heavy, high intensity training because I did not want to accept the ageing process. What followed were more injuries than muscle growth. It took me years to accept those facts, and it was by using simple logic that I was able to adjust my training. There are only a certain amount of years for which the body has the correct chemistry for growth. When that chemistry changes, so must your workouts. The next goal of training is maintenance. You want to maintain what strength and muscle tone you have developed over the years. The focus is now on consistency, with moderate resistance anaerobic and aerobic training, Ageing can now be looked at as an extension of your younger years in many ways.

Your body continually sends out subtle messages as to what it needs to maintain optimum health. Be in tune, and live all the years of your life healthy and active.

Training Smart

It certainly doesn’t happen all the time, and I’m the biggest violator of that rule! However, as I’m getting older, I don’t have as much of a choice.

Up until just a few years ago, my weight training was based on; preparedness, a loosely planned workout sequence, extreme focus, and to max out the weight on whatever lift I was performing. That worked well for a long time and brought me much success during my forty year bodybuilding career. But over time, things changed.

What is important for you to know, is that the body’s requirements for maintaining optimum health, changes with age. It is hard to stop a freight train traveling at top speed. And so it was for me; trying to ease back on the intensity after so many years of heavy lifting. The first sign that the body has changed are injuries.

Looking at it from a physiological standpoint, muscle growth comes to an end after a certain amount of years. So the logical question is; why am I still lifting heavy? The correct approach at this point is still; preparedness, a loosely planned workout sequence, and extreme focus. But instead of maxing out the weight; back off a little on the resistance, increase the reps slightly, and possibly add some compound and supersets into the mix. This formula has been working very well for me. Yes, on occasion, I will lift heavy, but now I know my limitations.

Have fun lifting weights, it’s the only way to optimum health!

 

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Mother’s, you have the most difficult task of all. For me and most men, we do our day’s work, come to the gym to workout, go home to eat, and go to sleep. As long as we eat right, we can transform our bodies relatively quickly. Drop weight? A few weeks. Add muscle? A few months. Done deal. With women, especially Mother’s with a family to take care of, it’s a much greater challenge.

For a woman in her forties, there are challenges men will never have to endure. Not only does she have nonstop work caring for her family, a full or part time job, but hormonal changes may begin that will wreak havoc trying to maintain body fat levels. Even good nutrition will no override changes in hormone levels. With all that on her mind, she is now expected to keep lean and strong year round. Here are a few suggestions to Mothers young and old.

If you are still in your twenties and thirties, don’t rely on good genetics, they don’t last. Incorporate all forms of exercise, especially resistance weight training. Now is the time to develop muscle and to also strengthen your skeletal system. Always eat healthy, natural foods, and drink plenty of water. Cardio should be done five or six days a week, weight training three to four days. The more effort you put in now, the easier it will be to maintain the health and beauty you currently possess. Those of you forty and over will need to preserve what you have and make advances wherever possible. Unless you have injuries, there is no reason why your regimen should not be the same as younger women. I have quite a few clients over forty and I train them as if they were still in their twenties! It’s not about heavy weight; it’s about intensity and frequency. When hormonal changes come, these women are in good health to ride out the storm. Nutrition becomes even more important during and after hormonal changes take place.

Rest assured that maintaining a healthy lifestyle as soon as you can, will bring you a future of longevity and good health. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

Gyms of Yesterday

There was a time when a gym was a place to transform your body. It was a place to go where you could discuss nutrition, whether your goal was to pack on muscle, burn body fat, or both. There was always someone working out whose physique got your attention. A role model to learn from, a true motivation to spark your workout. Unfortunately, times have changed.

Unless you have years of training experience or are working with a professional trainer, the chances of you making significant progress from what you see in today’s gyms are slim. A good portion of the members are either using the gym equipment for cell phone texting, listening to music, or a meeting place for conversation. Can someone please tell me why there is a need to carry around a gallon of water and a gym bag filled with clothes during your workout?!!! Are they leaving for the airport after the gym? There are so many distractions to the actual workout, focusing on training is all but lost.

Some months back, there was a televised health club commercial featuring a bodybuilder simplifying his workout in just a few words, “I pick things up and I put things down”.  Now although their intent was to discriminate against extreme bodybuilders, from a productive standpoint, that is really all you really need to do! It’s not that difficult to improve your physical condition. Eat right, show up at the gym on a regular basis, have a plan on what you want to accomplish, execute it as intensely as possible, then go home and get some rest.

Have a great workout!

Is Your Life Fun or a Funnel?

Take a moment and picture a large funnel. Notice the shape, wide at the top and then tapering down to a much narrower end. Now envision life as the shape of that funnel, the top as the beginning, and the bottom as the end. As you venture through life, you begin to discover and quickly accumulate many things.  It seems the more you have the better life is. As a young adult, you have unlimited opportunities to discover many things. The top of the funnel has a very big circumference, allowing you to travel about discovering all of what life has to offer.  There are educational opportunities, countless places to travel, you begin meeting many people, and job opportunities seem endless and exciting! It all seems wonderful, but there is a catch.

As you move into your twenties and thirties, there is a good chance you have amassed many things life made available to you.  You may have landed a great job, maybe even moved out of your parent’s home to be on your own.  And what about that nice new car you bought?  You and that special person in your life can really have fun cruising around now!  It’s all good but you are starting to move down the funnel. These acquisitions are narrowing your circumference, bringing you down deeper and limiting the freedoms you once had.

Now let’s jump ahead to your fifties and sixties, the end of the funnel is closer than the beginning. You now have a job you dislike, a family with children and possibly grandchildren, a spouse or ex-spouse, two cars, a house, bank loans, doctor bills, and countless commitments you’ve made, both business and personal. You are tied so tight to these things that your free time is all but gone, the dreams you once had will never happen, and your future is bleak at best.

STOP!!! Life does not have to be in a funnel!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting goals, accumulating material possessions, having families, or anything else you want from life, but life is meant to enjoy. There is never a moment when life should not be enjoyable. So the question is, “How do I make such a complex life enjoyable”? The answer is very simple, remember this; “Nothing in life matters unless you want it to”.

Next week I will follow up on this posting, giving you all the answers to help you create the life you want, and how to control the illusions of space and time.

Workout Programs – A Necessity for Weight Training

When you first walk into a gym, you are greeted with a room full of equipment, people of all shapes and sizes working out, the sound of machines and free weights, and quite a few mirrors. What you don’t see is a workout plan, because unless you know what to look for, it’s invisible.

If you walk into your health club without a workout plan, you might as well have walked into a department store, shopped around aimlessly from department to department, buying nothing and leaving with nothing. I see it every day in the gym, members walking from machine to machine without a workout plan, and without a clue as to what the equipment is for. Six months later, they have either quit coming or look the same as they before, or maybe worse.

Developing muscle, losing body fat, and sculpturing your body to reflect your hard work requires a plan. That is why I give all my clients a written workout plan to develop each of their body parts, helping them create an overall strong and shapely physique. Each piece of equipment has a particular function, and unless you know what it is, precious time will be lost not achieving your fitness goals.

Enjoy the Ride

It is the focus of many to look forward to reaching the destination of a vacation, or the day of an event such as a wedding, birthday or special holiday, leaving all the days preceding it just a blur. The same holds true in life, where the focus may be on attaining a certain level of monetary wealth or material possessions. Others spend many years looking to the day when their son or daughter is married and will start a life of their own. Working and preparing for those goals, looking forward to that destination or special event is what makes life fun and enjoyable. But that is not where all the joy and happiness exists. As a matter of fact, reaching the end is usually anticlimactic and often depressing.

Because you are the creator of your life and its events, every moment that you are conscious of what is around you, should be bringing you joy and happiness. What is important to help you achieve that continuing level of happiness, is not to make any one thing greater than anything else.  I will use an event in my life as an example. Recently, I had a birthday, a day which I truly enjoy celebrating. So in my mind, I made that day something special. Is it really a special day to anyone else, probably not. So in and of itself it is the same as any other day. But because I have dominion over my life, I have chosen to make that particular day special. But I didn’t stop there. I made the whole week prior to my birthday special, knowing full well that one day is not any more important than any other.

The point is, why limit yourself to just a few moments in time to truly enjoy. When looking forward to your next big event or holiday, give it a try. Are you looking forward to that time when your child goes to college, then spend as much time as you can with him or her now. If your next big event is a month away, why diminish the preceding days with anxiety, fears, or frustration preparing for that day. The days preceding also have something special to offer, you just need to look for it. Most times it’s pretty clear. Enjoy life!

 

High Protein is not for everyone

I was recently discussing nutritional options with a female client of mine who wanted to lose weight by reducing body fat. After discussing a few different meal plans, we settled on a traditional high protein, moderate carb, low fat diet, in a caloric range that would enable fat burning. After two weeks of documenting her meals, there was no significant weight loss. Although she felt great and looked as if she had lost weight, the scale did not indicate such. As we continued to discuss her dietary options, she said, “ About a year ago I was eating whatever I wanted and I lost a few pounds”. That evening,  I thought more about what she had said earlier, then it dawned on me. She most likely consumed more carbs and less protein. Most people enjoy eating carbs, not proteins. The next morning, I wrote up a dietary plan but now from a different food group.  I kept the same amount of daily calories coming in, but about 70% were now from carbohydrates, primarily vegetables. As this is being published, it has now been ten days since the meal plan change. The scale has shown a 2.4 pound drop. We will continue this meal plan until her twelve pound weight loss is achieved.

Nothing is worth worrying about because nothing really matters. Although one could argue, what about the bills I owe, or my sick child, I may be losing my job, the threat of terrorism, I’m getting old. Yes, the list could go on and on because there is no end to what people can worry about. That should be a clue as to why nothing really matters.

Most of what people worry about usually gets blown out of proportion. It all stems from fear, an underlying emotion that fuels most problems. Fear takes over as soon as you forget the spiritual power you have. Fear comes from forgetting that every event unfolding in your life is perfect, although it may not appear so on the surface. In time, because you are a spiritual entity, you will begin to see through the facade. Anything that comes your way which appears troublesome, will always also have a solution for resolving that particular issue. This is how you elevate your spiritual awareness. If you get angry or frustrated, you will not see the solution. If you accept the event as if you chose it yourself, the solution will be made very obvious.