Level of Information is Above Our Application

In today’s age of “information at your fingertips” I really believe often times it can be a detriment to our weight loss journey.

Just the other day I was having a conversation with someone who knew an overwhelming amount of information regarding various health related foods. The problem was, and she would tell you the same thing, was APPLICATION of all the INFORMATION.

How often have you started some weight loss plan, you are excited about the new path and then just a few weeks into the program you read about some new thing that is changing the fat loss world or some nutrient that you must have?

I’ll tell you, personally, it can be an easy trap to fall into. Let me take you on a little journey, back to when I finished playing basketball in college. (2001)

I had always been the “skinny kid” and when I decided not to pursue any kind of professional basketball career I knew my goal would be to put on a build as much muscle as possible.

So I read and consumed everything I could find on how to get bigger. Magazines, supplements, strength coaches at major colleges and anything in between. So I chose my essential supplements (amino acids, protein, creatine and something to help me recover at night). Which is what I should have stuck with pretty much forever and is the foundation of my diet now.

Workouts were called MMF and they came from the strength coach at Michigan State. Every set meant you pushed to absolute failure, the last rep of every move meant you “failed”. Boy did I burn through some workout partners… It wasn’t a really popular workout with anyone half-hearted about getting bigger and stronger.

So I’m making incredible progress (for someone who struggles to put on muscle) and that is where I went of course. My “Knowledge” was really high but it ended up being a detriment to my health.

I would read every muscle magazine in the industry, see some new product that was building muscle faster than ever before so I would change and go try it… Make some progress, then next month the same thing…

Only problem came when I began seeing some weird side effects… including “cramping, passing out several times (at random times) and ending up in the hospital with a bit of a scare that luckily was an enlarged heart…that was only because of being in great shape not a bad thing.

My knowledge was through the roof when it came to supplements and how they helped your body build muscle. Problem was my knowledge (and of course thirst for that muscle as fast as possible) ended up being a major detriment.

That is also why I stopped taking supplements for nearly 6 years and why it took my good friend Jamie Arion 4 years to even try the Advocare products. Safety was my main concern…

So, my question to you. Do you have a ton of knowledge about healthy foods (internally) and all kinds of ways to exercise, but struggle with consistency on the basics?

Well, as you can see, I can relate 100%. Here’s the thing, my friends, consistency and application are the keys to success.

Point in case… a program that we just finished called the “Inner Circle” was 8 elite clients and coaches of mine and we ONLY worked on FIVE exercises. I kid you not, for ten weeks all we did was five exercises (squat, swing, dead-lift, pull-ups and pushups) and you would not believe the absolutely incredible changes most of these people experienced in their bodies. Inches gained in the right places, inches lost in the right places and more strength gains than I have ever seen in 13yrs in the industry.

So, and finally, what can you do different today that will help you with APPLICATION? Is it;

  1. Finding an accountability partner
  2. Is it joining a group (like the running club)
  3. Or maybe hiring a personal trainer… I might know some people for you 🙂

Just work on consistent application, stop worrying about knowledge and focus on doing one thing different this week that can start you on the path to long term success!

It is my hearts desire for you, become everything you have ever dreamed about becoming and reach goals you have hidden away in your own private thoughts. Today is that day you APPLY and BECOME.

Your Coach,

Jeremy

 

Is Strength Cardio

This past week, we finished our first ever program called “Inner Circle” and I’ve been meeting with each person to discuss their thoughts, as well as how we can make it better for next time. One common theme that I’ve heard is “what about cardio”.

Many of them were doing more strength training days than normal and what was perceived as less cardio. In our follow-up private session, I was sharing something with most of them I thought would be of benefit for you.

Is strength training cardio? Answer is YES… When it’s done properly that is. If you finish a set of squats, for example, how is your heart rate? When done properly and with the appropriate amount of weight, your heart rate should be SKY HIGH.

Obviously, knowing how to do a squat properly is a big factor in that equation. If you aren’t doing them properly you will hurt yourself if you go too heavy.

Here is another question for you? What is the point of cardio training?

  • Is it for the calorie burn?
  • What about building endurance?
  • Is it for our Heart and to strengthen the ability to pump blood?
  • Or is it because its just easier sometimes to zone out and get on a machine? I know I occasionally find myself doing a run so I can zone out and not think much about form and reps, etc… (can you relate?)

Maybe it’s all of the above, maybe it’s because you heard Dr Oz say  you should do cardio X number of times each week. Whatever the reason, I’m here to tell you when you do strength training the right way you don’t need very much cardio in order to be healthy and change your body shape.

Ask my “Inner Circle” class if their heart rate was up after yesterdays “595” workout. Ask them if they felt like they strengthened their heart? Even though they would ALL say yes to that, the stigma is that when we say cardio people think immediately about things like:

  • Spin Class
  • Running
  • Elliptical
  • Swimming, etc…

While all those things are amazing, and I enjoy so many versions of “cardio” I want everyone to know the truth about Strength Training. Mostly how it can and does serve as cardio (when done properly). Next time you are in a strength class, pay attention to your heart rate when you finish a set of something (especially big muscle groups like legs, chest, back, etc). Is it high? It certainly should be.

So, on that same vein, what is “Strength Training”? I would classify it as, any time you are pushing or pulling against any kind of resistance.

With that said, isn’t swimming pulling against resistance and isn’t running up a hill pushing against gravity? So isn’t most cardio, strength training and isn’t most strength training, cardio?

YES they are! So why do we get so caught up in the when do I do this and when do I do that? You got me… All I know is if I/YOU need to choose one week between strength or cardio you should always choose strength.

Just keep in mind that when you have the proper technique and can push yourself in the right way, Strength Training is packed full of cardiovascular training.

Now, GO, and be STRONG.

Your Coach;

Jeremy

P.S. Here is another subject that’s recently come to the forefront, how long can you do back to back strength training days (when you train full body each time)? The answer, not long. Unless you are doing only 1-2 body-parts per day, you need to take some time to allow your body to rest from the damage you’ve done with the strength training. It’s okay for a few weeks at a time, but then you need to get back to an every other day routine for full-body strength training. Think – “Work, Recover – Work, Recover”

Pursuit of Happiness

239 Years ago one of the things our forefathers wanted was the opportunity for LIFE, LIBERTY and you know the rest… The Pursuit of Happiness!

Those 13 colonies, and the majority of people who occupied them, wanted freedom and the chance to live and become whoever they wanted. Regardless of birthright.

This week I want to issue a challenge for everyone reading this, go and pursue your happiness with your body. Don’t succumb to what the world is telling you is the new fit or strong. Some photo shopped picture of a celebrity who probably doesn’t look anything like that minus the cosmetics, air brushing and proper lighting isn’t even realistic nor accurate.

What does fit and healthy mean to you? Is it being able to get down on the floor and play with your grand-kids? Perhaps it’s putting on a pair of jeans you haven’t been able to fit into for a few years?

But no matter what, don’t let anyone else tell you what you should look like. Great Britain tried to do it to us all those years ago and it didn’t work then, don’t let the current popular SHAPE determine your pursuit. You know what feels right, you know what makes you happy and confident so go and PURSUE it.

Happy 4th of July my friends, and YES, it’s still the greatest country on earth.

Your Coach;

Jeremy

Father’s Day Wish

I hope you had a nice Fathers Day last week with your families!

After my wife Brandy made my favorite meal (and no I’m not telling what that was) we were sitting around discussing things we wanted for the future and you want to know what I wished for?

I wished for the opportunity to help more people achieve a healthier lifestyle and lead happier more fulfilled lives. Specifically, I hate when people miss out on all the adventures life has to offer because of either being self conscious or not in the best physical condition to do something like hiking a mountain with their family.

This is a big part of our mission statement at GTS and I just had a client share her success story of just that kind of event.

One of my clients (who requested to remain nameless) told me I could tell her story. I hope it motivates and inspires you as much as it did me;

My friend, came to GTS about 18 months ago feeling sluggish, defeated and nearly on the brink of giving up on regaining her fitness and pre-baby body.

I will never forget her emotional consultation on day 1 and how she shared with me the importance of being an example for her 3 small children. What brought her to us was the day that she was out of breathe after climbing her kids steps at school and was horrified that she would embarrass her kids in front of their friends.

So she made a decision that day that she would find an accountability partner, a workout buddy or just someone who would be honest with her, while still encouraging her to reach for her dreams.

She was still hesitant to do anything long term for fear or failure (which is such a terrible, but very real thing in our minds). She tried us out for a month, started to feel her energy come back and then on final weigh-in day she saw her first glimpse into her new future… one that was 17 pounds and 13inches lighter than just 4 weeks before.

Again the moment was emotional, but this time for a different reason. Exuberance and joy because she finally had hope again, hope that she could be that example for her kids and she could be energetic and active. She could even begin the process of healing her self-image.

I share this emotional story with you because she just recently sent me a picture of herself on the top of a mountain in Colorado where she had just hiked up nearly 2500 feet in elevation.

The smile on her face was motivation and a reminder that what we do at GTS is such more than helping people lose a few pounds. Our wish, is to see that same smile on your face.  Come visit us and take your first step toward climbing your own mountain.

Your Coach,

Jeremy

 

One Percent

1percentBelieve it or not, 1% of tweaks in your life can lead to the most profound changes in every area.

I know 1% doesn’t sound like much, but before you stop reading, let me explain.

Would you agree that we have hundreds of habits, that we practice every day without even being aware of them.

For Example

  1. Which shoe do you put on first?
  2. Which way do you drive to work?
  3. What radio or satellite station do you listen to?
  4. When do you eat each meal?
  5. When you kiss your spouse, which way do you tilt your head?

There are hundreds and hundreds of these habits that every single person on the planet follow without giving any thought to what they do.

So what if you changed just one of these? What if, instead of having a glass of wine after dinner you eat some greek yogurt? If you did that every day for just one year, could it have an impact on your body-composition? Of course it would!

I recently read an article by James Clear, you can look him up at jamesclear.com and see the article I’m referring to, I can tell you it had a profound effect on my thinking.

He talks about how a cycling coach from Great Britain. Dave Railsford became the coach of Team Sky (Great Britains professional cycling team) in 2010 and faced a challenging situation.

No Brit cyclist had ever won the Tour de France and when Railsford took over the team he declared that in 5yrs time they would win their very first Tour.

Railsford focused on the smallest of things (pillows they slept on, the best way to wash their hands to avoid infection, tire weight, seat ergonomics) the things that many performance coaches didn’t even think about.

This 1% changes added up to a Brit winning the 2012 and the 2013 Tour de France and the team dominating the gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.

So how does this apply for us?

Habits are hundreds and hundreds of tiny decisions made over the course of time that lead to either a positive or a negative in our life. We don’t suddenly change a habit and transform our life, but in the long run I believe these small nearly unnoticeable changes become who we are, how we feel and our overall happiness.

When we make the decision to lose weight and get into shape, we forget that the habits we have formed over X amount of time will also take time to change to the positive.

Just as easy as it can be to make a 1% change for the good, it is also just as easy (or easier) to allow one extra cheat meal or one more time to skipped workout to put an extra 10lbs of bad weight on.

So today, as soon as you finish reading this post, I want you to pick one thing you can improve by just 1%. Write it down, post it on your bathroom mirror (or somewhere else you will see multiple times each day) and begin to see the power of 1% compounding over time.

For me… I am going to make sure I get my third day of cardio in each week. Note is going up tonight when I get home. It’s too easy to say…ohh my knee hurts I shouldn’t run again this weekend, but you know what? I can ride my bike, take my paddleboard to the lake, do mountain climbers and other cardio exercises to get the heart rate up. The bad knee Ive been nursing is just an excuse.

Join me, lets do it.

Your Coach,

Jeremy

Haters Gonna Hate

theater of the mindEver felt like you were the healthiest, strongest and leanest you had been in years when someone tells you – “You’re getting too skinny…“?

How about this one, “Quit being so boring and have a drink with us”.

All I have to say is “Haters Gonna Hate” so protect your mental game and do not allow someone else to bring you down. Nine times out of ten, the person making the comment is just wanting to bring you down to their level. They don’t want to see you progress to the point of it shining a light on their own weight or body image issues.

Every summer I read a book called “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz and every summer I am reminded of the power of our minds. If you are not 100% rock solid in your vision for what you want your body to look like, it’s easy to allow a “hater” to throw you off course.

In order to be better prepared for these haters, you’ve got to fixate your mind on what you want to accomplish. If you want to reach 18% body-fat or get to a certain weight then think about it (often) and imagine what that is going to be like. Imagine the clothes you will wear, the confidence you will have, the happiness it will bring you, the things you will be able to do when you reach this level of fitness.

Maltz calls this the “Theater of the Mind” and I’ve done it almost every day for the past 5 years. Just one time per day (to start) close your eyes and pull back the curtain on the big screen of your future. You are the lead character and you can script a truly remarkable and inspiring “feature theme”.

Sounds corny I know, and yes, it does feel strange the first few times you do it. Just trust me on this, it is worth the couple of minutes each day to cast that vision for what you want.

In Kathy’s Motivational Monday email this week, she did a masterful job of sharing other concepts of the mind and how we can often times be our own worst enemies (or haters). Funny part is Kathy and I didn’t even talk to each other about what we would share this week, I guess great minds think alike!

Here’s a Simple Two Step Process to Start you Off:

  • Step #1 – Go to your theater, create what you want in your mind first and foremost. Then you are prepared for when someone makes a statement to bring you down.
  • Step #2 – Take action, all the theater of the mind in the world will not get you stronger physically or reduce your body-fat. Find a plan, stick with it and don’t allow ANYONE or ANYTHING (including any excuses about genetics) to cause you to stop.

For years I’ve wanted to have a training course on this program, to help clients strengthen their minds and practice the lessons I’ve learned to reach many of the goals in my life. If you would have interest in a free training session on this topic, please post on our blog or facebook your first and last name. If enough people are interested we will put a date on the calendar and prepare this course.

Your Coach;

Jeremy