What is up my friends! I hope you are enjoying the Winter Olympics so far. I’m sure that many of you are rethinking your lifestyle choices, most specifically your activity levels…. or lack thereof.

Being physically active has always played an enormous and very positive role in my personal growth and development. I have said that if It wasn’t for exercise I’d let the injustices and sadness in the world turn me into an alcoholic… no, an obese alcoholic.

In my youth and throughout my teens, team sport provided me with a sense of direction and purpose. It taught me discipline and a respect for physical conditioning. Today my workouts and recreational activity still have the same impact and continue to provide the same benefits. Controlled exercise keeps you fit, youthful and strong.

Beacuse of the emphasis on losing weight or getting bigger muscles, most of these perks are forgotten in favor of the visual product. I can tell you, coming from the bodybuilding community, that there are many athletes who look amazing but are dead inside; shallow empty vessels from endless strife in the iron game. Few physique athletes attain any level of fulfillment from the way they look but cling to it because it’s all they have. Of course there are many exceptions too, but this is not what any of us aspire to be. Keep that in mind when you see someone with an exceptional physique.

The missing element for so many of us is lifestyle. By definition it is the state of affairs in one’s life, not  just part of it. When you want to lose weight you go on a diet or you have an exercise program that you perform a couple of hours a week. What about the remaining hours? Let me guess, you;re watching Dancing with the Stars and updating your inactive status to all your Facebook “friends”. Now that doesn’t sound like an active lifestyle to me.

The only way to lose weight and to feel great at the same time is to change your current lifestyle! No amount of dieting and time in the gym will save you from your lack of progress and being miserable then the failure to change the things in your life that are not conducive to your goals. This means less time on the couch, at the computer and in your car. This means playing sports, getting involved in social activities, walking more, standing more all while following an appropriate exercise program that suits your goals.

You see, athletic activity is 100% reliable and comes with a lifetime guarantee. Each time you work out or play a sport you make a deposit into your bank of health. If you don’t nourish your health you’ll be making deposits into someone else’s account. . . in the form of health care and pharmaceutical costs. It’s an investment of time and energy, but it pays great dividends and unlike the stock market, the return is always greater. Physical activity provides a distraction from the serious side of life.  There is no end to activities you can choose from and you can even rotate and change with the seasons, from golf in the summer to skiing in the winter.

We’re all standing on the edge of a gigantic canyon filled with ennormous opportunity. If you can share some or all of this information contained on my blog, together we can make a difference by helping others maintain, improve or regain their health.

How will you change your lifestyle?  Share your comments…..

I hope everyone is having a great day, especially if you live in Vancouver. This weather is amazing.  I wanted to bring you a preview on some research regarding the effect of napping on learning patterns.  Sleep has been on my mind lately because the Olympic celebrations downtown are forcing me to go to sleep about two hours later than I would like to.  I have always preached and practiced the importance of getting some midday shut-eye.

For me, the habit began as an infant and continued through my early school years.  My mother used to have to call my school to inform them I was not returning from my lunch break because I had fallen asleep at the table where I was eating.  I have a hard time believing I could ever fall asleep in front of food but a mother’s testimony is golden.  This apparently happened a lot until about grade two and I became conditioned to the social process of denying my basic need to rest.  I kept this up until college where I, once again, began napping during the gaps between classes.  Even today I have a job where I make my own schedule – one that allows for a nap in the early afternoon for an hour or so.  I do this almost every day, not just because it feels natural but because I’ve become keenly aware of the productivity that it generates throughout my day.  In fact I had a nap right before making this post.

This new research has found that young adults who slept for 90 minutes after lunch raised their learning power, their memory apparently primed to absorb new facts.  Other studies have indicated that sleep helps consolidate memories after cramming, but the new study suggests that sleep can actually restore the ability to learn.  Anyone who has the option, and takes advantage of strategically timed naps, already know this to be true.  I find that I am just as productive at 8pm as I am at 6am when I start my day.  How many of us can say that?  To master the art of rest is vitally important, not only to boost brain output but to keep motivation high and to boost recovery during periods of demanding exercise, diet or life issues.

Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own).  So you snooze button junkies are better off just getting up and saving it for when it counts.  The body needs seven to eight hours of sleep per day. Six hours or less triples your risk of a car accident.  Interestingly, too much sleep – more than nine hours – can actually be harmful for your health.  Recent studies show that those who sleep more than nine hours per day don’t live as long as their eight hour per night sleep counterparts! 

Sleep is cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next.  If you miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep deficit’, which impairs the following:

• Reaction time
• Judgment
• Vision
• Information processing

I have run into people who seem to be proud of the lack of sleep they get and I usually think . . . geez, your life must be really disorganized if you can’t find time to sleep.  Usually these are the same people who can’t find time to drink water . . . arrgh!

Take home point:  Get eight hours of sleep a night and nap for 30-45 minutes (if you can) when you need it and watch the quality of your life improve greatly.  You’ll never be successful on a exercise/diet program if you don’t take time to rest.

OK now for those that stayed awake so far, here’s a quick weight loss tip to help keep you on track . . .

Don’t diet on the weekends.  This may seem like unconventional advice but I  was recently able to lose 15 ponds (all it fat as my measurements proved) in just a few weeks without dieting on the weekends.  I found myself tired, depressed, and unmotivated if I tried to continue my diet into the weekend.  I felt that Friday and Saturday (my weekend) was a time to celebrate five days of dieting.  You may not find this necessary, especially in the first few weeks of a diet.  However, as time passed on my diet, the weekend  became a time for me to celebrate my weekly successes and get myself mentally prepared for another five days of dieting.  I considered it a mental recharge.  That doesn’t mean I went hog wild and ate everything in sight, it meant that I didn’t count calories or monitor my food intake as closely and allowed a myself treat here and there with moderate portioning (usually ice cream and brownies!!).  It helped me sustain the diet longer and I believe actually sped up the process.  I have seen similar success with some of my clients.  This is entirely optional but can be an effective tool if not abused.

Hope you enjoyed this post, please add your comments on the link above the post

Craig
Vancouver personal trainer

Good afternoon everyone, I have to warn you that this post is not going to make you a better person or help you on your path to fitness.  It will, rather, lighten things up a bit as I know I can be a little too serious sometimes…..at least when it comes to my job.

Many of us watch late night T.V and/ or the shopping channel from time to time.  One thing that has always reigned supreme is the late night infomercial.  It’s astounding how many anti-aging, weight loss and fitness novelties there are.  For me, I watch these for entertainment; and that exactly what I want this post to deliver to you.

So without further ado, lets take a look at the latest gizmos for you to waste your money on:

1) iGallop

This one came out a couple of years ago but they are still raking in the bucks from benighted buyers. The electric iGallop claims to target your core muscles by simulating the motion of a horse.  It shapes hips, thighs, and waistlines.  Well, there is no doubt that it stimulates your core muscles (from laughing violently) but there is no way this resembles being on a horse. First I should point out that I’m no horse rider, but my girlfriend who was an accomplished competitive equestrian has a few things to say about the subject….

. . . This machine fails to mimic riding a horse in several ways.  Firstly, riding a horse is not about tensing the muscles or gripping tightly in order to stay on.  Riding a horse is, first and foremost, about balance.  Each part of the rider’s body (hands, arms and legs) must move independently.   The lack of stirrups prevents the “rider” from putting the weight into their stirrups, which is an important component of maintaining that balance.  Secondly, it puts the “rider” into a “chair seat”, sitting back on the butt with the feet in front.  Most self-respecting riders (the English disclipine at least) work very hard to avoid this position. . . . 

 Ok so it isn’t a horse…but can it change your body into a leaner and more muscular one?  Now my intention isn’t to review this product but rather point out its misleading claims.  The fact is that most people could get on this thing and master it, on all of its levels, pretty fast.  Even if you find it challenging you’ll probably find that after you’ve used it a couple of times you now longer “feel the burn”- because you’ve adapted to the stress. Furthermore if you do find this gadget challenging you really need to stop horsing around and get on a real strength program because you are out of shape.  It should be obvious that this activity can easily be replaced with a more natural and enjoyable act that doesn’t involve being alone and it too has varying levels of difficulty, not three ( as this product offers)  but an unlimited number of options that your imagination can construct!

 
Look it’s even fun for your pets.

The cat’s expression echoes my sentiments exactly…..

[pro-player width='375' height='300' type='video']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWZKjtFUeco[/pro-player]

 2) Shakes weights- for men and women

 Now I’ve seen so many products over the years try replace or perfect the traditional barbell and why do they always fail? Because, used properly, the barbell will always offer the user the most bang for your buck.  The Shake Weight is one of the more suggestive exercise gadgets, and is available for men and women. The weight shakes and the user must hold it steady while the weight jerks.  Now there are so many problems with this that I’m unsure where to start.  I’ll spare you the exercise science lesson and stick to a few notable problems:

Problem 1 : Muscles are mainly built with high loading.  This product uses low loading.

Problem 2 : Low loads + no skill acquisition = little to no strength benefit

Problem 3:  The muscle are loaded unevenly and in some cases in opposition to the muscle’s line of pull = lack of potential to develop the muscle fully

Problem 4 : Offers only 1 type of muscular action; you will need many to develop your body fully.

Problem 5 : You are going to look stupid using them and feel stupid for wasting your money.

Believe me, these are just a handful of problems and I feel that I cannot waste any more time with such an obvious waste of money.  Why is it that these products always have sexual suggestions attached to them?  Because we love sexy things, we are almost hypnotized by images of lean, firm and attractive bodies.

 3. Taizo the robot.

Okay, now I know my job is in jeopardy. In late 2009 researchers from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) unveiled a new humanoid robot designed to lead the elderly in physical exercises.  He is dressed in a velvety space suit and sporting a goofy grin, the 70-centimeter (28-in) tall robot, named “Taizo” has a friendly appearance.  Although Taizo does most of its exercises while sitting in a special chair, it can also stand up to perform some activities.  I don’t think I have to say a thing about this one.  I have many seniors for clients and I can tell you that researchers don’t give them enough credit if they thought this would ever work.  This population needs personal attention more than any other…. enough said

These products and those like them only serve to distract you from what really works.  It doesn’t come from a machine or gadget, it comes from you understanding how to exercise and applying the principles to your own program.  Spend your money wisely and stick to time tested solutions, not quick fix, pie in the sky fantasies.

 If you laughed as much as I did or if you’ve used these products leave a comment and I’ll post some more silly gizmos next time.

I hope everyone is having an awesome week and managing to stick to their weight loss and fitness goals.  This is probably the most sedentary time for people around the world . . . watching the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.  Most people are glued to the T.V., living vicariously through their respective countries’ best athletes as they achieve the pinnacle of athletics.  Others are standing in line for four to six hours to see the Wizard of Oz I must assume.  As a personal trainer in Vancouver, many of my clients have opted to stay at home during the Games and consequently have let their fitness slide.  I know for sure that when the games are over they’ll be back and with a vengeance!

Motivation to change one’s health and appearance comes in one of two forms.  You aspire to look or be like someone else that you believe is the “ideal” representation of a human being or your doctor has made it mandatory for you to get fit or you won’t be around to see Canada win any more gold.  Both are strong motivations for most Canadians, and for those living elsewhere just replace Canada with your country.  I do hope that some of you have a third motivation . . . to best the best person you can be, inside and out.  What does that mean exactly?  This is the easiest and only realistic goal you can ever have.

When someone comes to and says I want to look like Brooklyn Decker or Angelina Jolie I immediately frown.  If they come to me because their doctor or insurance company sent them, I know we’ve started on a road to nowheresville.  What I love to hear when I meet a prospective client is “I want to be the best me that I can be.”  This individual is much more likely to experience success right from the start because they’ve established a realistic perspective on what they want to look and feel like.

You will probably never look like a celebrity model no matter what you do.  You can use her workout program, hire her personal trainer and even eat exactly what she eats but you’ll only be disappointed with the outcome . . . that is unless you are among the lucky few that actually possesses the potential to do so.  If you have always struggled with your weight then you should lower your expectations because it’s likely not in the cards for you to look this way.  If you’re a guy and you want to be huge like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but you resemble Woody Allen it ain’t gonna happen for you either.  Even if you follow Arnold’s weight training and diet regimen and employ a team of muscle building chemists it still won’t get you there.

So why  am I so pessimistic in an entry meant to be motivational?  Because without a proper perspective, you will be doomed to failure from the get go.  First, you need a reasonable image of how you want you body to look and this vision can only come from the mirror. There is nothing overly vain or narcissistic about wanting to change your body.  Desiring a healthy body, one that is attractive to the opposite sex, seems not only very natural but could be very productive . . . well if you want to reproduce anyway.

So maybe you want a smaller waist, leaner, tighter thighs or less baggage in the back of your arms.  Maybe you dream of making all of these changes; whatever it is you need to visualize how you will look when you reached your goal.  Imagine how your body will look and don’t reference some else’s body, especially someone with superior genetics.  There is nothing wrong with drawing motivation from someone else’s achievements as long as you maintain proper perspective.  If you exercise and diet only for your health, without a care for how you look then I say you’re not being totally honest . . . what I mean to say is when you are healthy, you will  look great and I’m positive you’ll take pride in that.  Either way your approach to diet and exercise will be relatively the same.

Once you’ve established your goal(s), you need to set a reasonable timeline to achieve them.  Have you ever read an ad that promises body transformations in record time?  It’s worked for hundreds of their clients and can work for you too?  Diets that don’t require exercise?  Exercise that doesn’t require dieting?  This is the kind of crap I want to filter out with this blog and my services.  My point here is that these types of false promises have completely warped most people’s sense of what a  reasonable timeline is.

Here’s a fact: the faster you want the results- the harder you’re going to have to work to achieve them.  Here’s another fact: less than 20%  of people have the discipline and tolerance to “pain” (from burning muscles and psychological strain) to achieve this.  So, that leaves the patient group.  Those that can go the distance and see a program through to the end.  The ones that see the writing on the wall- if you can’t change your lifestyle to be as conducive to your goals as possible than you will experience sporadic and short term results at best.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention . . . of our 80% remaining, only 10% will adopt this new lifestyle.  That leaves 30% of our group with the potential to reach their goal.  If only half of them set unrealistic goals then, that might leave 15% who actually succeed.  Pretty crappy number.  You won’t see any weight loss program admit those numbers.  They only focus on the 15%. This shouldn’t be surprising considering how much money is being made in this industry;  money reaped from failure.

Distorted perceptions and unreasonable timelines can make your dream of getting your best body a pipe dream.  If  it was so quick and easy we wouldn’t be fatter than ever as a society. But we are and until people can see through the smoke and mirrors and change their whole life, nothing will change.  I know, that because you read my blog and you’re a really smart person, that you’ll be in the that 15% and busy answering the onslaught of questions from others like ” What have you been doing? You look great.”  Did you hire a personal trainer or something?  This is the acknowledgement that you took control and did things the right way.

Let me know your thoughts by clicking on the comments tab at the top of the post.

Don’t worry I haven’t gone completely soft but I feel that Valentine’s Day didn’t get it’s due this year, taking a backseat to the Olympic Winter Games. With most people celebrating their country and not their relationship .

What does Valentine’s Day have to do with weight loss and physique transformations? As you’ll see…..plenty!  This isn’t a post reminding you to celebrate your lover (or lovers) but rather to point out the health implications for an individual blessed with finding love. What are the physical and psychological benefits of having that elusive and all too human emotion…Love?

Most studies that attempt to uncover the effect of love on people are usually performed on married couples but I think we can assume that any long term relationship; with a partner, parent, or friend would yield similar results. So without further ado….Here are 5 ways to boost your weight loss simply by loving another human being……

1. Better Stress Management

One of the most important components in any weight loss plan is the support. If you’re facing a setback and you’ve got the support of someone who loves you, you can cope better.  We shouldn’t forget that dieting and exercise are stresses on the body and they really can accumulate over time making you feel like your operating in low gear. A passionate relationship relieves tension, reduces negative energy and produces a sense of well being . There is also an increase in dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) hormone production from the adrenaline glands that act as a stress killer.

2. Lowerd Blood Pressure

Some people, especially those with weight problems can have high blood pressure and therefore must exercise at a lowered intensity to be considered safe. This can make losing weight a much slower process for them than those who have acceptable blood pressure levels. According to a study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, happily married people had the best blood pressure, followed by singles. Unhappily married participants fared the worst. Reis says this study illustrates a vital aspect of the way marriage affects health. “It’s marital quality and not the fact of marriage that makes a difference,” he tells WebMD. This supports the idea that other positive relationships can have similar benefits. In fact, singles with a strong social network also did well in the blood pressure study, though not as well as happily married people.

Good evening everyone. I hope you’re all doing well on the eve of the Olympic Winter Games. As I write this entry, the Olympic torch just passed by my building and, like moths to a flame, thousands of my fellow Vancouverites are running along with it.  Hopefully I can write something that makes sense with all the celebratory commotion interfering with my senses.

 2010 has rolled in, lugging in last year’s strain of scams and hoaxes.  This year, forecasters anticipate old scams repackaged with new themes and more sophisticated methods.

According to the Better Business Bureau, the lucrative trend for scam artists in 2009 was playing off of people’s emotions.  This year however, experts are predicting a rise in spam and email scams which claim to help you, but fail to deliver.  And with a recovering economy, experts expect the “get rich quick” and other financial relief schemes to linger in 2010.  This includes the overdone lottery scams, phony offers of employment, bogus debt assistance programs and mortgage foreclosure scams.  As we all know, the fitness or, most notably, weight loss industry has been scamming people for generations.  Miracle pills, formulas, routines, gadgets and gizmos all in the name of  a leaner and more muscular body.  Here’s an article that came out last year from a 20/20 investigation on weight loss and diet fraud.

Although not always blantant, most scams may in fact be the result of marketer’s promoting offerings based on misinformation rather than disinformation (misinformation is accidental, where the purveyor of the message is misinformed; disinformation is intentional).  Regardless of the intent, when flawed information and false promises accompany a product offering, consumers will be in a position to waste hope, money, energy, and time.   Allow me to share some fitness truth related to a few “hot” items on the slate for “big sellers” this year.

I’ve rounded down the top 5 Diet scams to beware of in 2010:

1.   Metabolism-boosting/calorie-burning pills:  At the top of the list of diet scams are pills based on herbal ingredients that promise to boost your metabolism and help you burn calories or fat faster.  Some examples of herbal diet pills that have caught the attention of the FDA as being dangerous are ephedra, synephrine and kava.  While they can result in short term weight loss, and even short term accelerated fat loss in individuals committed to eating right and exercising, they alter endocrine production.  Ephedra of course has been “banned” by the FDA so now supplement companies are currently promoting ephedra free products with” natural” labels.  Natural disasters are “natural” too.  So just understand that natural does not necessarily equate to “safe.”

2.  Fat- and carb-blocking pills:  The idea behind these kinds of diet pills is that you take them before you eat and they rush the carbs or fat through your system so they aren’t absorbed by your body.  At best, these compounds may prevent the conversion of a small amount of ingested carbs (glucose) into triglycerides.  To turn this into “eat anything without worry” requires wild exaggeration.  To suggest that it’s OK to eat high fat and high carb foods and cancel their negative impact with a pill is pure fantasy –  a fantasy without a happy ending.

3.   Detox Diets:  Fad diets are never a good idea for long-term health and well-being.  Detox diets are no exception.  There is no scientific proof that detox diets work to help you lose weight over a long period of time.  Typically what happens is that you lose water weight while on a detox diet.  The initial weight loss is encouraging for some dieters and it is a good way to kick start their diet and motivates them to continue to lose weight.  Common complaints from overweight people on a detox diets include: being tired, headaches, nausea, irritability, withdrawal symptoms, hunger, bowel problems, feeling deprived, vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

4.  Weight Loss Pill Free Trial Offers :   Ads offering trials of acai or resveratrol weight loss pills appear on many web sites including some respected national news organizations.  The marketing campaigns often falsely claim endorsements by Oprah, Rachel Ray and Doctor Oz.  Thousands of consumers have complained to BBB that the free trial actually cost them as much as hundreds of dollars, month after month

5.   Fitness Clubs:  Nearly 33 million people are members of some 17,000 health clubs in the U.S. today, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association.  Although many consumers who join health clubs are pleased with their choices, others are not.  They’ve complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about high-pressure sales tactics, misrepresentations of facilities and services, broken cancellation and refund clauses, and lost membership fees as a result of spas going out of business.

Before buying a weight loss product, service or system:

• Be wary of overblown claims and buzz words such as: No Diet! No Exercise! . . .  Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Days . . . Eat Your Favorite Foods and Still Lose Weight . . . Shrinks Inches Off Your Stomach, Waist, and Hips . . .  Scientists Announce Incredible Discovery! . . . Turn On Your Body’s Fat-Burning Process . . . Automatically Convert Fat to Lean Trim Muscle! . . . New Scientific/Medical Breakthrough . . . and the list goes on . . .
•  Remember spot reduction in your abs or butt is a myth.  You can’t lose fat in a specific part of your body alone.
• Be skeptical of testimonials.  People in commercials are paid for their participation.
•  Beware of “experts” spouting junk science or technical mumbo-jumbo.
•  Before-and-after photos are impressive, but those results are probably not typical and may be photoshopped.
• Look for a footnote hidden somewhere in an ad noting “diet and exercise required.”
• Try before you buy.  Testing a product is the only way to know if it’s right for you.

I’d love for you to share your comments or other diet or fitness scams that have impacted your life,

All the best in health and fitness,

Craig