Happy Holidays

I wanted to wish happy holidays to everyone as well as some good luck for the upcomming new year.  Its that time again that you should think about what goals you have for 2012 and begin strategizing a way to get there. More about how to plan ahead to follow.

Stay strong,
Russ

True Testimonial

1. Name:  Lou Brown
2. Trainer:  Russell Reeves
3. How long have you been a member at Brick Bodies Downtown?  1 year 

4. When you first started training what was different from how you are now?  I haven’t had much weight change but my energy level is much higher and I’m sleeping more soundly often uninterrupted through the night than I have in years.  I also have much greater flexibility and have greatly minimized my chronic low back pain.

5. What made the difference between now and back then? 

The biggest change has come from my exercise and personal training benefits I’ve received at Brick Bodies.   That combined with returning to regular monthly chiropractor visits has my back feeling about as good as it has in the past 20 years. 

6. What single thing has attributed most to your current change in health? 

My Brick Bodies membership experience has also helped me re-channel the daily stress of work, family commitments, commuting, etc. and manage my priorities but taking care of myself first through paying better attention to my health through nutrition and exercise.

7. What was your most difficult obstacle and what helped you overcome it?

Getting into a regular routine, regardless of how “imperfect” it might have been at first.  It was very important to me to take the time and make the commitment to prioritize my health and nutrition by making time for me.

8. What piece of advice can you give to others in your position?  Just make the decision to make the time for yourself to take care of your health and nutrition along with all of your other commitments.  If you don’t take care of yourself, then you won’t be around for very long to fulfill all of your other life commitments to others.

9. What are your goals now and how do you plan on achieving them?  Good news/bad news:  I have been selected for a new job (much more responsibility and higher stress) in Washington DC so I need to say goodbye to Brick Bodies.  I plan on finding a new gym close to my new job and continuing in the exercise routine that I started at Brick Bodies.  I also plan to continue Personal Training lessons at whatever gym I join.

10. Is there anything else you’d like to add in order to help complete your story?  I want to thank Russell Reeves, Melissa Clark, Angela Ware and all the other personal trainers I worked with over the past year at Brick Bodies for the knowledge and encouragement they shared with me during my membership.  Along with John Brick, everyone made me feel like they were really personally concerned and committed to assisting me achieve my health and fitness goals.  I couldn’t have done it without them.

100%

Remember...

  Anything worth doing is worth your 100%

  Nothing that is worth having comes easy.

Semper fi,
Russ

Make It Count

Hey fit people!

   Ask yourself this question: Am I going to make the most out of today? 

It's a simple question, but sometimes can be difficult to answer.  Between preparing for the holidays, the changing weather, busy schedules, etc... it can can be hard to make every day count. 

I strive for excellence in my research, my clients and in my training and the way I do it is by focusing on how I can improve by 2% each week.  If I can improve the way I work by becoming more efficient, perfecting different training methods or simply by getting a little stronger, faster or leaner, by 2% each week, then I can improve by 104% in the next year! 

I want you to make today count.  Even if it's only something small, I want you to make some improvement in your life and take another step towards the perfect you.  Take control of your life and make the most out of each and every day.  Stay motivated, stay strong and keep churning down the road to progress even if it's one step at a time.

   Take the next step today.

Russ

Thought of the Day

   It's always a good idea to take time out of your day to step back and determine what's most important to you.  Today, your assignment is to think about what motivates you to exercise? Take time to write the reasons down and keep them in a safe place.  It's good practice to come back and review your motivations and see if different factors have changed over time.


  Do you exercise because you need to stay fit for your job (military, sports officials, etc..)?  Do you exercise because you are conscious about your health?  Do you do it because it is something you truly enjoy? Do you exercise because it's something you know you "should do" or "have to do"?

  I exercise for a bunch of reasons:

1. I enjoy the rush of energy during exercise.
2. I like to challenge myself and see what kind of changes I can make to my body.
3. I want to have control over my health.
4. I exercise because I want to perform well during competitions in 2012.
5. I exercise because it's a social event for me to see some of my friends at the gym.
6. I do it because exercise is something I love to do.

   Now, I want to focus on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors for exercise.  Research has shown in many different cases that people who are motivated by intrinsic factors (personal motivation, achievement, etc...) out-perform and even perform longer than those simply motivated by extrinsic forces (pressure from others, social pressure, media pressures, etc...).  I know that in order for me to truly enjoy my time training and keep up quality workouts, I need to focus on my intrinsic drive!


  If you noticed, all of my reasons to exercise are intrinsic drives and that's the way I want to keep it.  Take your list of motivations and look it over carefully.  Find the intrinsic motivators on the list and stick to them.  You'll find exercise much more rewarding and stress-free if you pursue your intrinsic drives.

   What motivates you?

Russ

Metabolic Measures

Hey there die-hard!

   Every week I hear questions or comments regarding metabolism.  Everyone is posting, tweeting or blogging about basal metabolic rates, MET training, metabolism reduction during aging, etc...  While these are all hot topics, many people don't actually understand the different ways we can currently measure metabolism or even what one's metabolism really is!


   Metabolism is loosely defined as the combination of reactions performed by the body that both breakdown substances (catabolism) as well as build molecular structures (anabolism).  This can be seen as clearly as gaining or losing fat and or muscle!  Typically, catabolism is an energy generating process while anabolic processes take an input of energy to occur (there are some exceptions to this rule, however).

  The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy required for homeostasis (bare-minimum amount of bodily function for survival).  Typically, these processes (breathing, heart rate, brain activity, etc...) can use around 65% of the calories a person consumes.  That means that the rest of the calories are used during activities of daily living (ADL) or through exercise.

  There are also other important and useful metabolism measurements that a trained healthcare professional or trainer may be able to administer.  These measurements are aerobic threshold (VO2 Max) and anaerobic threshold.  An easy way to explain these two measurements are as follows:

   1. Aerobic Threshold: If you imagine that your body is an automobile, the aerobic threshold is the maximum miles per gallon that the car can achieve.  Physiologically speaking, aerobic threshold refers to one's maximum rate of oxygen processing to provide fuel.  This number is very important to have during training so that clients can have a benchmark to measure their progress as well as a reference point for how intense they should be training.

   2. Anaerobic Threshold: Using the car analogy, anaerobic threshold is the car's red-line.  Physiologically, anaerobic threshold refers to the body's ability to process energy when there is not enough oxygen being delivered to the tissue.  In this hypoxic state, a biproduct called lactic acid builds up and eventually causes fatigue.  The body's ability to deal with the accumulation of lactic acid ultimately defines the anaerobic threshold.

   All of these metabolic measures are incredibly important numbers for both controlling weight gain as well as for making exercise progress.  It's vital to familiarize yourself with the numbers and where you fall on the fitness spectrum.  Use these measurements as an aid to continued progress and feel free to post the improvements that you see!

  What's your benchmark?

Russ

Monday Motivation

Hey Fit People!

     December is almost upon us and with the month of December comes holidays, celebrations and even a few extra pounds of weight.  Studies have shown that weight gain during the winter months is a common and often expected occurrence.  This makes sense since most people reduce their activity levels as well as over indulge during the holidays.  Evolutionarily, it has also been to our advantage to store more fat during the winter months.  This fat adds to protection from the extreme cold temperatures as well as provides necessary fuel during times of food scarcity.  Unfortunately, we are no longer cave men and women!

   There's no reason that your fitness should get in the way of enjoying the holidays, as long as compromises are made.  I want to challenge you to make the following changes to this year's holiday celebrations:

1. Everything in moderation: Next time you find yourself loading up your plate with cookies and cakes, think for a moment, "What do I want?" and "What will make me filled and satisfied?".  Compare the differences between these two answers and decide what portion size is going to be appropriate to both enjoy holiday food as well as prevent any regrets later.

2. Pick up the slack in other ways:  Bargain with yourself.  Any additional caloric intake should have its countermeasure with some additional exercise or activity.  Now you don't need to go run a marathon if you have an additional glass of egg nog, but on the other hand, no crime goes unpunished.  My challenge to you is to include 30 minutes of brisk walking for any dramatic caloric increase.  Walking isn't going to stave off all the pounds, but it will keep your metabolism high during the temperature drop and it will help lessen the caloric damage that had occurred.  Better yet, you'll be much happier you had the walk when all is said and done.

3. Look for alternative recipes:  In the age of the internet, there are alternatives to just about any recipe! I've recently subscribed to a blog called, "Lean Body Lifestyle".  This blog is dedicated to taking everyday recipes and changing them to reduce calories, increase protein, increase fiber and increase micronutrients!  Something as simple as using apple sauce instead of oil while baking can create great shifts in the calorie density of foods without compromising great taste!

4. Enjoy the Holidays: Holidays are great times to rest and recuperate.  I love the month of December, because it is a time that my own training becomes less intense and I'm able to recover both physically and mentally.  This really preps me for January when I can set all new goals and really get to work at having the next best year of my life!

     Take these tips and run with them.  As long as you can give an effort to one or two of these tips, you'll be well on your way to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and not gaining any unnecessary pounds.  Keep at it and I'll see you at the gym!

Russ

Tough Thursday

     Today I'm focusing on all the training I love to do.  Every 4 weeks, I give myself a week-long treat where I mix up my training to make sure I hit all of my favorite exercises and iron out any imbalances I might have. 
    
      Some of my favoite ways to train include: TRX Suspension Training, Kettlebells, plyometrics, partner exercises, competitions, swimming, yoga, supersets with elastic bands and sprints.

     Find something active that you truely enjoy and do it today. You and your body will be happy you made the choice.

Monday Motivation

     What drives you?  Is it something external (fear of unemployment, etc...) or something from within (personal goals, aspirations, enjoyment, etc..)? Studies have shown time and time again that the best form of motivation is internal and not external.

     What does this mean? This means that the people who set their goals often achieve them and those who are told who the should be or what they should do, often don't get there.

     I challenge you this week to take time to think about what your goals are and where the pressure to achieve them comes from.  Is is something that you want because it will make you happier and healthier or is it something you "should do"?  Find the goals and explanations that are internally driven and stick to them.  These will help guide you and motivate you along the way.

     Find out those internal goals and I'll see you on the road to progress!

Stay strong,

Russ

5 Days Strong This Week

     So far this week I've been very productive. I've had 5 days of resistance training, 3 days of cardiovascular training and 6 days of flexibility training.  Even better yet: I'm going to get another workout in tomorrow!

     "How much is enough?"  I get this question all the time and the answer isn't as straight forward as it may seem.  Often times I can't give an accurate answer without asking some questions of my own:


What are your goals? 
What does achieving your goals mean to you? 
How much time are you willing to commit to exercise? 
What's at stake?


     After finding this out, the answer is simple: the more focused attention spent on achieving your goals, the better your chances of achieving them and the quicker you'll get there.

     With that being said, pay attention to your body and pay attention to your strength and stamina.  Rushing in head-first to a new exercise routine can easily backfire if you overtrain your body.  Generally, a good rule of thumb is to take a few days off and to change your routine if you see a decrease in performance by 15% or more for longer than 2 weeks.


     Some sure-fire minimums that you should shoot for each week are:


2 days of resistance training
3 days of cardiovascular training (30-60min)
Flexibility training after either resistance or cardiovascular training.


     Spend some time this weekend, determining what your goals are and what they mean to you.  Find the time to dedicate to exercise and I'll see you around the gym next week!

New Kicks & 10.5 miles down

As a part of my own fitness revolution, I've started running from one job to my other. I've started with only a 1.5 mile loop but am going to slowly increase it weekly until the snow starts flying!

Monday Motivation

    Statistically speaking, fitness centers see the greatest utilization of their facilities on Monday.  Whether this is because individuals feel guilty over a lazy weekend or invigorated by the time off, most people can find the motivation on Monday to go and workout.  This brings me to my big question: What about Tuesday?

    I've met with a wide variety of clients, fitness enthusiasts and athletes and the major distinguishing factor between the Tuesday crowd from the Monday crowd has been priorities.  For the next 8 months, my strength, endurance, fitness and overall health is going to be a priority.  I'm going to make time no matter the obstacles to workout on all of my Mondays as well as Tuesdays and I challenge you to do the same.

     Here are some tips to get motivated this week:

1. Take time to lay some workout apparel out so that it's ready (for your morning workouts, after work-workouts or even mid-day ones).

2. Pick 3 days on the calendar this week and circle them with a red marker.  Make it a short term goal to cross them out after your workouts.  Keep the calendar somewhere public so that your friends, roommates or spouse can keep you honest!

3. Reward yourself: Find something that you enjoy to do and make it a reward for your long week of exercise.  Involve someone else so that they can motivate you though the process.

4. Make a playlist: find music that gets you inspired and get moving to it. Use this as a tool to propel you through even the most agonizing sets of exercise.

5. Review your goals: figure out why exercise is important to you and give yourself that friendly reminder.  The first step is always the hardest, but the journey to your ultimate goals is like a steam engine: it's cold and slow moving at first, but once it's warmed up and moving, it's hard to stop!

     This week make your health and fitness a priority and I'm sure I'll see you on Tuesday!

Weekly Secret

Hey Fit People!

I wanted to share with you this week's fitness secret: Progress

     Progress refers to the continual increases in intensity of training. This could be anything from running longer, lifting more weight or performing repetitions.  This could even be a fundamental change in a routine such as running instead of swimming or adding some plyometrics between sets in the weight room.  The key to a change in body composition, strength and endurance is accomplished only through a progression in training.

    How much progress should you expect? A minimum of 5% weekly!  This means that if you can lift 100lbs for 10 repetitions this week, you should be able to do 105lbs for 10 repetitions next week. Another way of looking at it would be to perform 100lbs for 11 repetitions the following week (a 10% increase). Finally, while running for 30 minutes would become 31:30 after a 5% increase!

    Progress is key to making real physical changes and accomplishing your goals.  Fitness is like paddling upstream in a canoe!  If you paddle the same speed all the time, you won't go anywhere.  If you give up, you'll float downstream.  Only if you increase your speed and stroke will you make any progress!

   I challenge you this week to make that next 5% increase in your training and learn to expect progress weekly.  If you get to the point where you haven't been progressing, it's time to take a step back and change how you train!  Good luck!

Stay Strong,
Russ

It's almost November!

     November is a month of change.  The seasons have shifted, the temperature is dropping and most importantly, Thanksgiving is coming!  November is typically a month where activity levels decrease.  Sunlight is scarce after 6pm, the cold outdoors deter a brisk walk or working outside. This means that people spend more time indoors and often this time is spent being sedentary.  Less activity means fewer calories burned and with holidays such as Thanksgiving creeping around the corner, it is even more important to remain as active as possible.  In this post I want to go over a few ideas that can increase activity throughout the day so that the shifting seasons don't affect your overall activity level.

     1. Find indoor activities: whether this means joining an indoor basketball league, following an at-home fitness DVD or joining a gym, finding new and useful ways to burn calories while inside will help prevent holiday  pounds from sneaking up on you!

     2. Increase activity at work: This can mean something as simple as taking the stairs versus the elevator, or setting up an office workout regimen for 20 minutes during lunchtime.  My best advice is to set a timer for an hour.  Each time the timer goes off, perform 2 sets of body weight exercises.  Beginners can perform 20 body weight squats, whereas advanced exercisers can perform 20 push-ups.  Take a walk around your work building, using the stairs if possible.  Regardless of how small the activity is, the additional calories burned  will add up to big changes in the long run.

    3. Find a buddy: This could be a family member, roommate, friend or work associate.  Use this buddy to help you stay on course with your exercise and dieting regardless of what is happening outside with the weather.  If there is someone that is going to keep you accountable, you are much more likely to keep on track!  To make things more interesting, place a wager.  Make things fun and challenging.

    4. All things in moderation: With the holidays around the corner, you want to have an extra close watch on what kinds of foods you consume.  There is no need to completely avoid holiday foods, but it is extremely important that any additional calories that you consume must be balanced out somewhere else.  In other words, every crime has its punishment.  My advice is to limit sweets and fatty rich foods to at most once per day.  Also look for replacements for calorie-dense ingredients.  A great example is using apple sauce instead of oil in baked goods. The apple sauce has much fewer calories, greater micronutrients and fiber.  Best of all, you won't even know the oil was never added!

   Most importantly, keep in mind that any permanent change in body composition, fitness and overall health is achieved through dieting, exercise and change of lifestyle.  Be the change this November and follow my personal changes as the holidays approach!

Shin Splints

Ugh!  This morning, I woke up at 7:30AM and didn't even want to move.  I've been consistent with a new training regimen involving running, weight lifting and diet.  I'm already in good shape for strength but definitely need to spend more time working up my cardio.

  Three days per week I run from my one job to my second.  It's only 1.5 miles, but between traffic and stoplights, it is a lot of stop and go running.  I've started to develop shin splints because I'm so out of shape!  Shin splints can arise in two different forms: muscular and bone.  Muscular shin splints happen when your tibialis anterior (the muscle on the front of your shin) is out of shape and gets muscular microtears.  Bone shin splints occur when micro fractures form in the tibia (shin bone). 

    In order to cope with these shin splints, I'm going to freeze a water bottle and use it to rub out the soreness at night before I go to bed.  To make it much more bearable I'm going to wrap it in a paper towel so that my skin doesn't freeze!

First Blog

Hey Everyone, this is my first internet blog on my new fitness revolution.  Follow me daily to get updates on my progress, interesting new exercises in the field of personal training and motivation for everyday life.  I hope that by keeping this blog I'll be able to motivate myself as well as motivate my subscribers to make that next big change in their life through fitness!