Xcelerated Training

Holiday Survival Guide Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 18:34:00 +0000

Last week I gave you the first 5 survival-strategies to make it through this holiday period untouched by excessive weight gain.

The first 5 were pretty dope, if I do say so myself.

But your arsenal would be incomplete without these next 5.

Strategy #6: Try An Appetite Suppressant

If you go back to the 4th strategy from Part 1, I recommended that you arrive at your get-together already full.

That would serve as a deterrent for gorging on junk food. We've all had the experience when we were so full that the plate of food that looked so delicious before, now looks unappetizing.

We want to have that full feeling where you can look at the smorgasbord and say, “I'll pass”.

An effective appetite suppressant will curb your appetite.

The key word is effective. There are a bunch of fugazi products out there. To help, I've provided a list of the ones shown to be effective.

Hoodia
5-HTP

These are relatively inexpensive and can be found at your local vitamin shop.

Strategy #7: Prep The Day Before

By prep, I mean a glycogen depletion workout the day prior to your feast.

Glycogen is basically the storage form of carbohydrates in your body. Your body taps into it for energy. It's stored mainly in your muscles and liver.

A glycogen depletion workout is designed to exhaust your muscles of glycogen. This kind of high-intensity workout consists of high reps (10-15) for each body part with short rest periods (30-60 seconds).

When you're done, you'll feel like you've just run a marathon, went 12 rounds with Floyd Mayweather, climbed Mt. Everest, or wrestled a sasquatch.

A depletion workout burns calories both during and after your session, making your muscles more efficient at using fat for energy.

Afterwards, your body will go into a phase where the priority is refilling glycogen stores.

Going into a big meal with depleted energy stores will lead to much of that meal refilling those stores, as opposed to being tacked onto your waist, hips and the ol’ gluteus maximus.

Strategy #8: One and Done

One plate, that's all you need.

I know it's easy to go back for seconds and thirds; the food is calling your name.

But going back would be like having a second and third meal.

So to keep your calories in check, take a smaller plate during your first trip and fill it up. But once you're done, you're done.

Strategy #9:Tell Your Friends

Many times you go into situations like this confident and decisive on your game plan.

You start off well, but the power of group-thinking creeps in and easily takes you off your path. Your friends are offering you food and alcohol. They mean well, but it doesn't serve your goals.

The best thing to do is let them know that you plan on sticking to your diet and moving closer to your goals.

People will respect that and have your back. It'll make the social situation comfortable and lift a heavy burden off of your back.

It’s extremely easy to resist going all-out once you give people expectations for you to live up to.

Strategy #10: Only Eat What You Love

The key word is LOVE, not LIKE.

You don’t need to eat everything that’s there. If we’re being completely honest, we probably don’t even really like everything that we toss on our plate, and include it just because it’s available.

If you don’t love it, don’t eat it. Stock up on the good stuff we talked about in Part 1 (protein), and then in addition to your favorites, take whatever veggies are available and pile them on your plate.

As you practice these 10 strategies, keep in mind that they are for the majority of meals and parties you'll be attending this holiday season.

A bonus strategy to keep in your back pocket is to FAST (only consume water, tea and coffee) the day prior. This is a great way for you to attend, eat liberally, enjoy, go back for seconds and maybe even have dessert.

Now you don't have to stress at a meal or party, and can use these occasions to accelerate your results!

Cheers,

-Rickey

Here's Your Holiday Survival Guide, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 19:14:00 +0000

Christmas is coming up and with that means parties, potlucks, spiked eggnog, etc.

Basically, all of the things you would usually save for the weekend are going to be tempting you everyday until the end of the month.

That's a big challenge when you're trying to maintain your pants size.

How about we take control this year and reverse that scenario?

Instead of falling off the wagon this season, let’s use the cookies, chocolate truffles, apple pie, mac n’ cheese and egg nog as a tool to lose a MASSIVE amount of body fat.

Here are 10 strategies for those periodic dietary deviances.

This is your Holiday Survival Guide, Part 1.

Strategy #1: Go Hard On Protein

So you're in line at a holiday party, holding your plate, scoping out the spread, contemplating what to eat. You see that turkey over there? Get some. And is that shrimp cocktail? Load up.

Boom. That's your first plate and you're full.

Protein is filling, by nature. And by filling up on lean protein, you’ll be avoiding other, potentially more destructive, food items at the buffet.

Now when you do decide to add some carbs, they'll be less of a threat since you're not as hungry.

Strategy #2: Don't Drink Your Calories

Beverages are the easiest source of excess calories. They don't increase your fullness, but they WILL increase your waistline.

So for your holiday shindigs, if a drink has calories, don't drink it.

Water, tea, and flavored water will do just fine. Just don't fall victim to consuming 500 calories off of drinks.

Strategy #3: Be Hospitable

Many times, the parties you attend will be in the potluck, buffet style, where each person is responsible for bringing a dish. This is a great opportunity for you to contribute a healthy dish to the spread!.

What you'll do next is fill your plate with YOUR healthy food.

You know what's in it and how it was prepared.

Even if the party isn’t potluck, bring something to contribute anyway.

Strategy #4: Arrive Full

Instead of showing up with your stomach growling and mouth salivating, take action to ensure you arrive in the exact opposite position.

How?

Easy. Eat a BIG, healthy meal prior to arriving at the party.

A bowl of leafy greens, grilled chicken, and veggies prior to the party will make the temptation of those desserts less of a threat.

Strategy #5: Go Non-Alcoholic

There's nothing wrong with having a few brews or a glass of wine from time to time, so I'm not telling you to give up alcohol completely for the holidays.

However, for get-togethers, make sure the majority of your beverages are non-alcoholic.

Not only are most alcoholic beverages filled with unnecessary calories, but alcohol creates a hormonal environment in your body that's very conducive to fat storage.

So if you're regularly getting tipsy, then you better believe that your physique is going to take a hit for it.

Enjoy a (non-sugary) drink or two when appropriate, but stick with zero-calorie beverages otherwise.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Let's do it.

-Rickey

Your Emergency Banging-Beach-Body-Ready Plan Is Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 17:15:00 +0000

You have a trip to the beautiful coastline of Negril, Jamaica coming up in six weeks.

This is a place that has a constant tropical climate all year round that stays between 80-90 degrees.

We're talking seven miles of golden sand beaches that are just calling for you to sunbath or take a dip in that warm, Caribbean Sea.

Adding to that are breezy nights where you and your boo can cuddle up on the beach while enjoying live reggae and a plethora of beachside lobster snacks. All your stresses rolling out with the tide.

Now that's paradise.

However, we have a problem.

You aren't in the best shape that you planned to be in before you leave.

Trying on your bathing suit in your 6ft mirror, you're reminded of all those happy hours and delicious meals that Nashville has to offer.

Sometimes your stomach was growling and you just had to have it. Other times you didn't want to be the party pooper of the group and avoid all social outings.

But either way, all those things have accumulated and now we have a problem to solve: “How can I drop 10-20 quick pounds and get sexy in time for my trip??”

Our biggest challenge here is time. I myself am a fan of the slower approach that involves adopting useful habits and losing fat over an extended period of time until you reach your goals.

But you don't have time for that. You've been slacking for the past few months and now time is of the essence.

Living in the real world, some of us want/need a quick jolt in our regime that's going to yield some nice results.

So what we need here is to do something that's a bit more extreme: crash dieting.

Yes, that thing that all the magazines discouraged.

For long term results, crash dieting cannot be maintained while keeping your sanity. But for short term results, it can be beneficial.

What we need is a big caloric deficit. Not from working out like maniac or eating only one-cracker-a-day.

In fact, if you follow the guidelines, you won't even have to actually count the calories.

You ready?

Step 1. You're going to eat 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of LBM each day. I'm going to leave it up to you to find out what is your LBM (Lean Body Mass). Google is your friend. All your protein should be from lean sources.

Step 2. All your carbs will come from high fiber, non-starchy produce. Again, put that into your search engine and out will pop a long list of options in that category. You can eat as much of these as you want.

Step 3. Have all of your fat intake come from Omega-3 sources like fish oil and krill oil. Try not to add a lot of oils to your meals.

Step 4. Drink a ton of water. Other beverages allowed are black coffee, teas, Crystal Light (sugar-free), and coconut water for electrolytes.

Step 5. Be sure to take daily multivitamins. This can come from capsules or whole food supplements.

And there you have it. You have the freedom of what exactly you will eat, as long as it stays inside the above guidelines.

Workouts? Not a lot because it'll be detrimental when doing something like this. Maybe 2x a week.

How long will you be on this? It all depends on how much fat you have to lose. Start with 3-4 weeks, and then take a week or two off to eat normally (not gorge on crap).

These are some rough guidelines but you can take them, apply them and see amazing returns.

It's not an exciting process, but some things aren't. At times you have to be willing to just do it.

Two days before you leave for your trip and you look back into that same mirror, you'll be aware of your accomplishments and proud of the that sacrifices you made.

Let's go champ,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | 8 Training Secrets

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 May 2015 21:57:00 +0000

We established that busting your butt is the “secret sauce” to all results.

That's easy to say but not so easy to do a lot of times. It's a daily, minute by minute battle.

You probably even get a little knot in your stomach whenever you think about it.

That scary, unknown feeling of, “What exactly am I supposed to working hard at everyday?”

You should be training each bodypart at least 2 times a week. You can do that by doing full body workouts 2-3x. Save the once-a-week training for steroid users.
When the numbers aren't moving, don't start adding more workouts. Instead, challenge yourself more in the workouts of the regime you're already on. The next time you workout, you should be working harder. That means more resistance, or a more challenging variation of an exercise, or less rest time.
More challenging stimulates change.
Weight is only loss when you eat less or burn more calories. The easiest and most efficient way is through cutting calories (eating less). That involves tracking. It's THE most effective way method.
Food quality matters. Ban a lot of that processed food from your diet. Don't let programs like Weight Watchers think that quality doesn't matter. Whole foods first, supplements second
Wait longer. As you get leaner, you're going to lose fat at a slower rate. Sometimes you may lose 1 lb a week and sometimes it's only .5 lb a week. Trying to speed things up usually ruins the recipe.
Do low-intensity cardio. I'm talking walking, cycling, frisbee, paddleboarding, etc. Depending on how much you weigh, you can easily burn over 300 calories by brisk walking for an hour straight.
As a supplement to help fat loss, try caffeine. Contrary to it's bad name, caffeine increase adrenaline levels, fat burning, circulation, and metabolic rate. NOT CALLING IT MAGIC PILL, but it's cheap, safe and easily available. About 2-3 cups of coffee is good. Caffeine is especially good before your workout.
Keep in mind that you must make a change and do it forever.

Everything else outside of that, including what I put out, are details on all the above.

Sometimes we have to tweak things. For example, in terms of of fat loss and fat gain, women tend to have it worse.

This is because of things like:

women (in general) being less active in day to day life outside of workouts
women's bodies prefer to store dietary fat (fat that you eat) into the fat cells instead of burning it off
in response to dieting and exercise, women's bodies fight back through appetite increases.
Due to stress, mentrual cycle, and plateaus, women's bodies are prone to water retention which masks true fat loss

Things like that have to be addressed, but only after you work hard on the above. Nothing else matters until you conquer the basics.

Let's do it.

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | The 2 Commandmants

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 May 2015 19:44:00 +0000

Hey hey friend. It's yours' truly again.

I first want to apologize for the hiatus.

I had to take some time off to apply some TLC to my work. Things were getting just redundant and draining, to the point that my growth became stagnant.

And that's exactly what happened. (Got a little fluffy in my midsection as well)

That's happened to you before too, right?

Your life becomes a roller coaster making that fire go out and your passion vanishes.

It's easy to become trapped in a state of, “I don't give a s*** ” and actually start going backwards.

Ever had one of those weekends filled with eating whatever and being a lush? No exercise, no water, no goal keeping. And then Monday morning rolls around, and you step on the scale expecting to see a huge, SCARY increase that would kick some sense in you to put you back on track.

And what you do see? Your weight didn't budge. “Whew! I dodged a bullet.”

But wait! Don't get too excited because that's something that can trick you into thinking that having those kind of weekends are actually OK to do.

It's not.

You feel like slug, have no energy and no desire to do anything.

It's time to get back to it TODAY. You can either go down with the ship, or fight for air.

It's the only thing we can control: pulling ourselves up through the sheer force of will.

There's no secret. The only secret is butt-busting work over a period of time.

But take it one day at a time and follow the 2 commandments in the meantime:

Thou shall not mess around.

Thou shall not be a wimp.

Thou shall not mess around.

Stop wasting time. Stop skipping workouts. Stop looking for shortcuts in the form of pills, pieces of equipment, or some special clothing.

Drugs are the only shortcut. But with that comes other baggage.

Value your time and take it seriously. You're only getting WORSE by wasting it.

Thou shall not be a wimp.
“But what if it doesn't work and I waste all that time and money?” “But I'll get all sweaty and tired.” And on and on and on.

Accept this truth: it takes time for a program to work, and most of the time in the beginning, it's going to take some tweaks to get it just right for you.

You may hit a wall and you will get uncomfortable. But in your consistant butt-busting, you WILL hit an oil well that will reward you exponentially with results.

But if you're just going to be a wimp and not get to work, you WILL be screwed.

A guy can't become a champion boxer if he's scared to get hit. Nor can he play football if he's scared to get tackled.

Getting uncomfortable is a part of this game. Let's start playing.

The Legend of You isn't going to write itself. So pick up your proverbial pen and begin writing today or pick up where you left off and continue your story.

Cheers,

Rickey

7 Questions You Should Ask Any Nashville, Tn Personal Trainer Before Becoming Their Client

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:30:00 +0000

When looking for a personal trainer, you obviously want the best care possible. It's critical that you ask these 7 questions of any Nashville person trainer before signing on the dotted line.

Are you certified?Unlike other professions like lawyers who have to pass the BAR Exam or doctors who have to obtain two degrees and a clinical residency, personal trainers aren't required to be certified. However, a personal trainer certified through a reputable and accredited institution demonstrates that they're serious about their profession and at least have a solid foundation for their expertise.
What results have you gotten thus far?The best trainers always and should have testimonials of past clients whom they have already helped get great results. This shows that their methodology has already worked for other people.
What should I eat before I workout?

If you're just getting into exercising, getting started will be a challenged. A trainer should let you know prior to your session what you should be consuming to help prevent nausea and dizziness that may occur. Also, the proper fuel in your body will ensure that you give your best during your training sessions.
How do my workouts correlate with my nutrition?If you're on a diet, too much high intensity training may hinder your results and interfere with the purpose of your diet. Also, there are times where you need to bump up your training if you're eating more.
What is your strategy for preventing and dealing with injuries?
Making sure workouts are safe should be the trainer's number one goal. But there may be a situation in which you injure yourself outside of training. A good trainer should be able to help you train around your injury, if possible.
What is your coaching style?
Some take on the drill sergeant style. Others may be easy going and more mellow. You should make sure that you are compatible personality wise.
How do you track progress?
Does the trainer take measurements like body fat, weight, inches, etc.? If so, how often? Does the trainer do fitness test to see how you're fitness level has improved? If you're not assessing, you're guessing.

Having an expert run the show and guide you to your goals in quickest and most safe fashion is good for you. But with more than 200,000 personal trainers in the U.S., and a ton of gyms around, it can get hard trying to find the one best for you. At Xcelerated Training, we make sure we offer the best to our clients and try to create a match made in gym heaven.

5 Ways Xcelerated Training is Different and Better than Other Gyms in Nashville, TN.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:30:00 +0000

There are 5 important ways Xcelerated Training stands apart from other gyms. These five things make Xcelerated Training different and better than any other gym in Nashville:

When it comes to health, we take a holistic approach- training, nutrition and mindset.I believe that you can't have one without the other, therefore, I take serious the condition of our clients mindset. Whether things go downhill or uphill, it all starts with your mindset.
Your nutrition is responsible for 80% of your body composition. No matter how much or how hard you train, your body won't meet your desire if nutrition isn't minded.
Losing weight through nutrition is great, but without a sound strength training regimen you won't be able to shape and get that sculpted, sexy figure.
Everything we do is backed up by science and not fads.There are so many solutions out there that are here today and gone tomorrow. That's what you call a fad. Unfortunately, many fitness professionals and gyms have adopted these unsound and unfounded fads and are leading clients on wild goose chase to their dream body.
We make sure that everything we recommend and advise is backed up by science, meaning that it has already been shown several times to be effective. We have no desire to waste our clients time and energy going nowhere and getting zero results.
The experience is more important than the amenities.

It's the equipment in the gym that makes is great and memorable. It's the people, environment, and methodology that makes it golden.
We don't do do-it-yourself fitness. The success of each client is a part of our business plan.
Our focus is about how much we can sell you, but is about how we can change your life.

Xcelerated Training is not to a cookie-cutter form of fitness. We try to be unique, give you something different, and make you fall in love living a healthy lifestyle. We wouldn't do what we do if we were offering the same as other gyms.

11 Reasons Why Everyone Should Tell Everyone About Xcelerated Training

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 03:22:00 +0000

We're results based and are all about getting you to your goals
Every training session is new and innovative each time.
Our programs guarantee results.
We're located in the heart of Music City!
Fun training atmosphere.
Money Back Guarantee
We offer easy to follow meal plans and nutrition coaching.
Our environment is very supportive and encouraging which makes it that much more fun than working out alone.
Everyone is kept accountable.
We offer cash and prizes for each person you refer.
We have the best playlist, hands down ;-)

At Xcelerated Training , we try to bridge the gap between gym membership and personal training. We create a place for YOU to gather and share an active and healthy lifestyle.

Nashville Personal Trainer | Ultimate Guide to Kicking Sugar Cravings

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 18:12:00 +0000

Ever since the BC era, the world's taste buds have been tantalized by this “sweet salt” called sugar.

Overtime, as sugar has become more readily available and inexpensive, it's over-consumption has become a

problem.

Our main sugar overloads these days comes in the form of beverages- espresso drinks, soda, store-bought juices, coffee, wine, margaritas, and milk.

Other sources are from office candy, breakfast bars, cereal, sauces, and pastries.

But let's be clear, sugar is not the single, worst enemy to our health. At one point it was fat, then trans-fat, and then carbs.

A narration is always created that makes you feel like if you eat it, you'll drop dead almost instantly.

All sugar is is a source for calories (energy). The problem is that with our constant thristiness for more flavor, we tend to over do it on sugar to the point where some of us become lightweight addicts.

Addiction is any behavior associated with craving or temporary relief, and long-term negative consequences, and loss of control.

The constant the craving and consumption of sweets leads to long-term, negative consequences.

Especially when you're working on getting lean but your diet is constantly derailed by your weakness for cookies and frappucinos.

Let's look a few solutions you can adopt ASAP to cut your cravings and a long-term solution to deal with a more serious problem.

Fast. Fasting is a great exercise for several health benefits, but in this context particularly, it's for self-control. If you can go without food in itself, you can conquer a craving for sugar. Try it for 16 hours to start with and work your way up to 24 hours. Consume nothing but water and tea.
Stevia. Stevia is a great sweetener alternative. It's 200 times sweeter than sugar, minus the negative side effects. Stevia works best in beverages, as far as flavor goes.
Manuka Honey. I like introducing new things. Honey, despite what hippies say, is not much different than high-fructose corn syrup. It's still sugar.
Manuka Honey is the Rolls Royce of all honeys. It's great because it's raw, loaded with enzymes and prebiotics. Make sure the bioactivity rate is over 12.
Gynema Sylvestre. Gynema Sylvestre is an herb that literally means “destroyer of sugar.” Basically, the molecules of the gynema plant block about 50% of the absorption of sugar in your body. It also decreases the unhealthy appetite for sugar. I think it's best in liquid form because it absorbs in the body quicker and more thoroughly.
Licorice Root. Just to be clear, the licorice candy you find in the store does not contain real licorice. Amongst all the benefits of it, licorice root is great at lowering blood sugar levels. Licorice has a nice, sweet flavor. You can get it in the form of an actual root which you can chew on like a toothpick, or in the form of tea or an extract.

So those are a few immediate treatments you can jump on for your sugar cravings.

If sugar consumption is big issue for you, you might want to take deeper look into why that is.

For instance, the African plant Tabernathe Iboga is the most powerful substance in ridding the addiction for every kind of drug.

However, even if you took the Iboga plant (which is banned in the US), you're still not getting to the root cause of the problem.

Cravings trigger natural opiates in our bodies called endorphins. Endorphins helps pain relief (like morphine), they give you a sense of reward, and a feeling of LOVE, comfort, pleasure, and joy.

The craving of things that have long-term negative consequences, stimulate endorphins while consuming them.

Sugar is not addictive in itself. If that was the case, then everyone who ever consumed it wouldn't be able to control their consumption of it. What actually becomes addictive is a specific feeling that you get while eating it.

So when you're mindlessly munching on those cookies or guzzling down that soda, ask yourself, “What does this do for me? What am I feeling when I'm consuming these things?”

Your answer will most likely be a feeling. After that, the key question is what was/is lacking in your life to the the point where you had to find that through over-consumption?

When that question is answered, the cured is found.

Cheers,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | Making Time for Getting In Shape

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 13:48:00 +0000

Nashville Personal Trainer | How To Handle Hunger When Dieting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:29:00 +0000

Nashville Personal Trainer | Dream Body Blueprint

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 21:22:00 +0000

Dream Body Prep from Rickey Taylor on Vimeo.

Nashville Personal Trainer | The Root of All Evil

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 15:26:00 +0000

Confusion is the root of all evil.

You see, the easiest way to control someone is through sophisticated ways of deception.

That's done by making something simple complicated. Mainly through tricky language.

Rather than just say 1+1= 2, they'll find some way so that it'll take 3 months for a person to even learn that.

And that is something that happens when you start on your body-improvement journey.

You're met with tons of so-called answers to your problem. This person says do this, but this other person says that this thing worked for them, meanwhile this “doctor” is saying recent studies show that that's wrong and that this thing over here is the key. And on and on and on.

Mass confusion.

What happens when you're confused? You fall victim to the evils: distraction, inaction, procrastination, haphazard effort, and zero progress.

I'm all about keeping things simple.

Anytime I read something, I'm figuring out what's the simplified message.

Calories don't count in terms of fat loss.

WRONG. The ONLY way to force the body to burn stored energy (bodyfat) is to create an imbalance between how much calories you put in your body and how many you expend.

There are different ways of achieving this, but nothing will happen until you take in less calories than you expend.

So does that mean all calories are equal?
Nope. For example, if you replace some carbs & fat with protein, it'll lead to a greater weight loss. Why? Because your body burns more energy (calories) in breaking down protein than it does carbs.

But I've already created a caloric deficit and dropped carbs and still nothing is happening.

Then you may be prone to water retention. This can be caused by the overproduction of the hormone cortisol. Are you stressed out? Tightly wound? Some extra snooze, R&R, dark chocolate, and prioritizng will help this.

What type of training should I be doing?
Your diet should determine what type of training you should be doing. This is a mistake that I've made in the past.

If your diet consists of a large caloric deficit and you're doing high-intensity training, fat loss will be slow and you may even gain. Too much activity with very little calories causes water retention and your metabolic rate drops.

That goes for a lot of cardio too.

So if you like high-intensity training or a lot of cardio, you'll need to either reduce your activity or increase your calories.

If you like dieting hard, too much exercise will be detrimental. Scale it down.

Those are just a few a things that get many people confused. What I'd like you to do is shoot me some things that you may be confused about and I'll try my best to make it plain for ya.

Deal? Cool.

Live easy,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | The Year of Pursuit

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:54:00 +0000

Hey, you. Yes, you.

Do yourself a favor.

This year, this once, it's time you used your New Year's resolution properly for a change.

Stop screwing around with your I'm-going-to-lose-10-pounds, join-a-gym BS.

If you haven't gotten it yet, I'm pretty sure that what you're doing is not working.

But you may already know that. So your next move is to find someone or something that give you the, “come on girl/man, you can do it” spill.

And that's great. We all need a little pep talk to recharge our battery.

But it's 2015. We're not getting any younger and it's time to snap out of it.

Let's deal with solutions.

This year's theme is PURSUIT.

There is no force as powerful as it is.

It's a gritty grind that you meet everyday that tests your doing, making, and being by guiding your life in pursuit of your vision.

What you'll need is:

Clear, specific goal and end point. None of that vague stuff. If it's not specific, then how will you know when you've arrived?
A challenge.
Sacrifice. You have to give up something of a lower nature to achieve something of a higher nature.
A purpose or mission
A series of small steps and incremental achievements toward your goal. “Life's a cinch by the inch, but it's hard by the yard.”

A poorly defined goal is like being lost in pathless woods. No matter how fast you try to go or however far or long you plod, you are always in the same place. It's where you were yesterday and where you'll be tomorrow.

So speaking to the first point, it's rather easy to get lost going towards a goal. Setting a goal should be like starting on a quest. It has clear a beginning and ending.

Now without the second point, this quest will be boring, miserable, and unfullfilling. You need a challenge.

What happens when children aren't challenged in school? They never blossom to their full potential.

It's the same with adults. You need a challenge or else you'll be stymied. You need obstacles. it's is the essence of a good quest. We're trying to become better persons which only happens by adapting to unexpected circumstances.

When you're met with your challenge, you will always have to sacrifice something in order to win through it. That may be your comfort zone, your tolerance for pain, current luxuries, convenience, etc.

Life demands that you make sacrifices in order to get to the places you are supposed to be.

And all of this is in vain if you don't have a strong reason why you're doing this. That is your purpose or mission.

Your reason why will guide you. You won't find yourself digging around for ambition or motivation. It'll push you out of bed in the morning even before your cellphone alarm goes off.

So what is this year going to be for you? Now's the time to get un-stuck and on to this next big chapter in your life called 2015.

Pursue it and be happy,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | The Answer to Your Cellulite Problem

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Nov 2014 22:37:00 +0000

Most women have it, but none wants it.

It's plays a BIG role in whether you feel comfortable in your bathing suit and short shorts.

We all know by now that that dimply, cottage cheese is just fat, but what makes cellulite different from other fat in your body is that it's separated by collagen.

As you're losing fat it still can be one of those target areas that's hard to get right.

To fight it, you should first set out to lose fat period. That means, speaking in general:

Cutting starchy carbohydrates
Cutting refined/processed oils
Doing resistance training 3x a week
Eat a boatload of vegetables
And perform cardio 1-2 times per week

Now if you've already slimmed down a bit and it still looks a little elderly underneath your butt, it may be a sign of a thyriod problem.

In case you didn't know, your thyroid is a gland located at the front of the neck. Women's thyroid is heavier than that of men's.

The thyroid's function is to regulate metabolism, body temperature, maintenance of skeletal maturation, and regulation of protein, carbs, and fat.

It does that by secreting a hormone called thyroxin. Thyroxin is made up of mainly iodine, making iodine vital for optimal thyroid health and functioning (remember that).

The thyroid of most of us Americans is usually sluggish or inactive (hypothyroidism), especially with women. This causes your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn fat) to drop by as much as 40%.

Your metabolic rate dropping equals weight gain.

But what does this have to do with cellulite specifically???

Well, an underactive or inactive thyroid is linked, amongst other things, to cellulite. Your cellulite is telling you that there's a problem going on with your thyroid.

So to combat cellulite, we must focus on strengthening the thyroid.

Your doctor's solution to fixing your thyroid is usually a prescription for some harmful pharmaceutical that's laced with radiation that, in some cases, kills the thyroid gland entirely.

I prefer the natural route.

Like I said above, iodine is vital for optimal thyroid health and funtioning. Therefore, you need to raise your iodine levels (along with potassium) through nutrition.

Iodine is a powerful mineral that doesn't get much attention.

For example, a pregnant woman who's iodine deficient, has a higher chance of her baby coming out with conditions such as dwarfism, mental retardation, and cretinism.

These things can be prevented.

Irish Sea Moss is number one for iodine. In fact, in terms of nutrients, sea moss and other sea greens are the best foods on the planet to supply us with nutrients.

Other great sources for iodine are white oak bark, kelp, seafood such as cod, shrimp, sushi w/ seaweed, and Greek yogurt.

For potassium, hands down moringa is the best way to go.

And for cosmetic treatment of the area, there are various sea salt scrubs you can purchase and apply.

So in a nutshell, to handle your cellulite problem, first attack fat loss as a whole. Along with that, supplement your diet and eat more iodine and potassium.

Cheers,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | 5 Tips to Take Your Results to the Next Level

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:54:00 +0000

5 tips to take your results to the next level before you go crazy.

Let's forgo the preamble & four play and jump right into them.

Raise Your Protein and Lower Carbs- specifically when you're not training.
When you raise your protein intake, your appetite will be more tamed, therefore, you'll eat less calories; hormones will be more balanced; also, your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn fat) while be greater while you're resting.
Perform fasted HIIT.
Counting calories and macros alone will put you at a disadvantage in the pursuit of leanness. What you want to do is combine that proper nutrition and training with someReal Deal, Holyfield cardio in order to use your fat as fuel first. Fasted HIIT can do that. However, it's not something to be abused. Start out at once a week: wake up, have some coffee or green tea, go to a hill or cardio apparatus and sprint as hard as you possibly can for 30 sec and rest for 60 sec. Repeat 7 times. Combine this with your resistance training and nutrition and you'll be looking like Superhero pretty darn soon.
Take Vitamin D.
Vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic. Fat gain, weak immune system, low testosterone levels, etc. are related to it. And with the cold weather coming, Vitamin D levels tend to drop even more due to lack of sunlight. One study showed female subjects who lost 6 pounds of fat in 12 weeks by taking VD without modifying any other part of their diet or training. To supplement, Vitamin D3 is your best option. 5,000 Iu every 1-3 days is the ideal dosage.
Stay Hydrated.
Mankind's #1 supplement is water. Ever notice that it's the supplement that you take with all the other supplements?
“Drink at ton of water” is something we all know, but it's probably the one we fall short of a lot of times...
Recover Faster From Workouts
You workout, the next day you're slightly sore. The day after that, you're in so much pain that you made need a Hoveround to make through work. Been there, done that. That soreness is inflammation from the breakdown of muscles during your workout. It means the body is still trying to recover from the workout. And the faster you recover, the quicker you see the results (the reason why people take steroids). What you need are antioxidants and lots of them. The best sources are blueberries, pomagranates, blackberries, raspberries, and dark green and purple vegetables. Consume a lot of those everyday and you won't have to walk around stiff, like Cornholio, from acute muscle soreness.

Take those 5 tips to the bank and watch your body change for best.

Toodles,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | Move Towards the Resistance

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 20:46:00 +0000

Hey hey- did you miss me??

I want to start by giving thanks to the Summer. We had a good time together and was able to shine bright at many points.

If you didn't get all you wanted to get done this Summer, then you still have an opportunity during this Fall Equinox.

For some of you, coming off summer can be a bit of a shock to your system.

With leaves falling from the trees, cooler temperatures, eventually shorter days etc., a few tired faces will appear.

On the flip side, fall is the time when everything produces its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.

And that's potentially true for you as well.

I can almost guarantee that right now you're staring at some kind of life changing goal, situation, or you at least have one in the back of your mind that you've been putting off for the longest as if you're deciding whether to opt for chemo or not (let's hope not).

But how do you approach it and squeeze out every bit of success that this year has left?

Well, one thing to NOT do is look or wait for an epiphany of some sort.

Life isn't a movie. Waiting for a eureka moment or for everything to be perfect- BOOOOOO!

That's the path of amateurs.

You have to understand that circumstances are always going to be unclear.

But you should embrace the limbo. Take risk and don't wait for certainty to act... because it isn't coming.

To this and come out as a BOSS, you'll need to go in the opposite direction of your natural tendencies.

Resist the temptation to be nice to yourself and recognize the things you aren't good at. Those are the aspects that you give priority to.

After that, resist the tendency of easing up on your focus.

For instance, when I'm training, I sometimes imagine that an MTV film crew is following me around and I'm being watched by millions of people. The pressure is on.

You can get creative and do something similar by giving yourself strict deadlines to push pass certain limits.

Soon enough strengths from within will be brought out that you didn't know you had and you'll be able to accomplish your deeds with ease.

So yes, eventually there will be a clear winter.

But until then, act before you are truly ready and go all in. On your path there will be bursts of “realness” that will straighten the course to your promise land.

Godspeed,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | The Key to Mental Toughness

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 15:25:00 +0000

I'm sure you've heard before that the biggest obstacle to getting success on a journey is simply getting started.

“Once you overcome the anxiety of getting started, the rest of the road becomes easy.”

That's a deceiving mindset IMO because when things get hard, you'll be caught off-guard, unprepared, and ready to quit.

Training sessions become challenging or you realize that the self-discipline needed to stay on top of your nutrition might be higher than what you anticipated.

The last thing you want to be in is a perpetual state of starting and quitting things.

The antidote to this mental toughness.

Mental toughness is simply how you internally deal with challenges.

Unfortunately, many of us aren't born with it or it has be diluted out of us by how we were raised.

There are are 4 key ways build up your mental toughness.

#1 Become Invincible

There's a problem when you give up too easily and shy away from painful, difficult endeavors.

How resilient are you in the face of adversity and challenges? Is your confidence at 100%?

Becoming stronger and more confident is done by going through tasks where you can't see a way out.

Periodically, perform a workout that's a gauntlet of hell. One where you'll have the choice of either quitting in the middle OR finishing and coming out stronger mentally and physically than before.

Try this: Find a hill that's about 20 yards. At the bottom, perform 20 pushups followed by a 20-yard sprint up the hill. Once you make it back down, take 5 deep breaths and continue until you're unable to complete even 10 pushups.

#2 Consistency

Nothing works until you are consistent.

Training and good eating works. Every. Single. Time. If something isn't working for you, and you're legitimately training hard, then most likely you just haven't been doing it long enough.

Prioritize your goals. If you want a freakin' awesome body, you're going to have to sacrifice a bit. The long term reward will be well worth it.

Yes, things do get boring and stagnant. But sometimes it's not about keeping you entertained; it's about results.

#3 Competitive
In the household that I was raised in, a competitive spirit was discouraged. I was taught that it birthed envy, jealousy, and divisions.

But when I stepped outside and got into the real world, I found competition to be a very powerful driving force.

Specifically, competition within myself.

It's a drive that's invaluable.

Whether you're competing against yourself or engaging in friendly competition with others, the periodical sting of defeat should spark a flame in you to get better and come back to open up a can of you know what.

If it doesn't, then you got served.

#4 Unyielding

Unyielding is defined is unable to bend or be penetrated under pressure.

Those who are unyielding continue to get back up from defeats and search for new ways to conquer their goals.

How you approach failure is what will seperate you. Simply don't accept it.

For instance, if you didn't meet your weight loss goals, chances are something was slightly off- calories, macronutrients, training intensity, daily activity level, etc.

Find a way to boost a weakness. Don't overhaul EVERYTHING. But look for obvious “chinks in your armor” that can be meted out.

Now go after it!

-Rickey

Nashville Training | When you don't feel like it...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 19:55:00 +0000

Those days when you soooo don't wanna go workout. You look for an excuse to do almost anything else.

When it's been a long day at work, you're tired and the last thing you want to do is cook. Drive-thru is much easier.

There will be those days when you don't feel like “showing up.”

And there will be “off days” when you do show up but your energy and morale are in the gutter.

These things are part of life.

But guess what?

Those goals and life tasks that you want to see through are still going to be there.

So what does it take to do the things that must be done when you don't feel like it?

The best solution is to attack it from 2 points: internally and externally.

Internal being the personal, psychological challenges, whereas external is the social and environmental challenges.

The internal concern is all about willpower. You have to use an indirect process to attain willpower. Examples of this would be:

Broadcast your commitment- tell your friends, post it on Facebook, write a blog about it, etc. By publicizing your goals, you leverage the fear of embarrassment of not excelling to push action out of you even when you don't feel motivated. The reality is that this works b/c the last thing you want to do is tell everyone that you didn't succeed because you didn't give your all.
Keep bad food out of sight- if you notice certain foods taking a toll on your mood or concentration, simply keep healthy choices out in visible areas and unhealthy choices hidden in inconvenient spaces. This'll help make healthy eating more likely, habitual and almost effortless. Out of sight, out of mind.

The second concern is external. Everything outside of you, entertainment and society, is designed to keep you idle, distracted and indulgent.

Our job to counter that is to devise a means within ourselves to prevent it from developing within.

Deaden all things that may have an effect on you:

Cell phone alerts
TV
Social media, etc.

Along with the above, just take immediate action even if it's not perfect.

A lot of times there are no internal and external obstacles but yet we still find an excuse to get out doing something.

All the stars will never be aligned. The circumstances will never be perfect.

As a result, imperfect action is always better than perfect inaction.

Motion creates emotion. Force yourself to get motivated and inspired by taking action even when you don't feel like it.

Never wait on your feelings to be right before you act. Throw some ice cold water on your face and get sh** done!

Live easy,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Training | 8 Tips to Feel Like A Champ

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 12:30:00 +0000

You walk into the gym.

After looking around the floor, you automatically become intimidated- there's a bunch of “fit people” training as if they can get even more ripped than they already are.

You have your workout in your hand but that social anxiety starts to kick in because you don't want to look like a fool doing everything wrong.

This egocentrism isn't anything strange.

The best way that I've found to combat it is to know what you're doing.

Confidence comes from trusting yourself. You'll trust yourself more when you don't have any unexpected (bad) surprises and can anticipate how everything will go.

To help you out with that, take these eight tips to your next training session to feel like a champ and anticipate success.

Religiously Practice Good Form
Rounded backs, squatting on your toes, overarching the lower back, partial pressing, etc.
You can't advance if the form you're using for the exercise is off. And if you can't advance, you'll be setting yourself up for below sub-par results. Take the time to learn or be taught the correct pattern of movement and attempt to perfect it with each session. Crawl >> Walk >> Sprint!
Know The Basics
Squatting, hip hinging, lunges, rows, presses, chin-ups, and dips are a MUST in building a great physique. Workout DVDs that are basically glorified versions of prancercise won't cut it. The above movements and variations of them should be the bread and butter in your training program. After you learn them and master them, that's when you can play with things such as rep range and tempo.
Do Full Range of Motion
When you squat, go deep. So deep that your butt goes pass your knees. For pushups, go all the way down and come all the way up. Muscle growth is greater when you use full range of motion. Coming all the way down in a movement is the stretching part. And coming all the way up in the contraction part. Going all the way with those 2 things give you the most out of the exercise.
Once you get that down packed, then you can extend your set by doing what I call half-reps. This is coming all the way down in the movement and coming up only half way.
What this does is keeps tension on the muscle which will make it sexier and stronger.
Flexibility
Your warm up should be time spent doing dynamic stretching and your cool down should be static stretching. Staying flexible will lessen your risk of injury.
Change every now and then
Now and then meaning every 4 or 6 weeks. You have to stimulate your body in different ways. Find out the different variations of an exercise and cycle through them. You'll progress and keep your workouts nice and fresh.
Be patient
Progress is a process. Staying consistent will bring about the greatest improvements. Improve by at least 5% every workout- more sets, extra reps, more weight, or an advance version of an exercise. When you look up, you'll be exactly where you want to be.
Train Hard
Whatever you're doing, you can do more. Trust me. You'll advance faster when you push your limits. This doesn't mean to kill yourself in every workout.
But sometimes you have to FAIL. By fail I mean working out to failure. Perform an exercise to the point where you can't get another rep in. That's where the magic happens.
Find a coach
Training with someone who can push your limits is priceless. Naturally, when you see someone do something better than you, it pushes you to to do better. Surrounding yourself with someone more knowledgeable will only force you to excel. There's always something new to learn and some way to improve. There's no other great use of your time.

Love, peace, & chicken grease,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Training | The Big A

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 May 2014 12:30:00 +0000

It's time you stop having one night stands with nutrition plans and get to the altar and marry 'til death do you part with a plan.

You see, you can lose weight/fat with almost any plan if that involves lowering carbohydrate intake and calories.

The magic, though, is in the big A- adherence. Adherence is the most important thing known to man when it comes to getting guaranteed results.

Instead of asking what's the best diet you should be doing, a better question is, “Will I be able to adhere to it consistently?”

Can you stick with this plan? Are you in it for the long haul or is it a hit it and quit it kind of fling? Will you be miserable doing it?

With that in mind, let's get right down into some standards you can use to know ahead of time whether you'll be comply with a plan.

Factors such as feeling full, the taste & texture of foods, body responses, food variety, food cost, availability, variety, and marketing determines how well you succeed in your nutrition plan.

We all are vulnerable and at any time, any one of those factors can catch you off guard and steer you off coarse.

But how can you prevent yourself from staying off coarse too long?

Generally speaking, diets that demonize certain types of foods or that tells you to eliminate a specific macronutrient may be more harmful than helpful.

You mean to tell me I can NEVER hit a U-turn when that Krispy Kreme 'Hot Light' comes on???

Whenever I recommend something that may seem a little strict for the average person's taste, I make it sure it's cyclical. That means you have periods of low calories/carbs with periods of high calories/carbs.

But before recommending any of that, I have them record their food. It's not to simply see how horrible they're eating but to look for eating habits.

From that, I can come up with what would be a realistic diet approach that isn't too much of a harsh difference from their current eating behavior.

And that's usually the one that they stick to for the long term.

Yes you want quick results, but they won't mean anything if you can't maintain them for years or even months to come.

'One-size-fits-all' always look outdated and out of style.

But that dress you get custom made will fit you like a glove and make you shine each time you wear it.

So make your nutrition work for you and don't try to fit a square peg in a round hole by forcing a diet that you know you won't be able to maintain for the long haul.

Cheers,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Training | 4 Hang Ups That Kill Results

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 19 May 2014 16:30:00 +0000

I found myself stuck in rut recently- frustrated, exhausted, and unfocused all at the same time.

When this happens, which can be often sometimes, I take it as a sign to step away and do something none-work related.

So I popped on Generation Iron to get refocused. It's a great documentary that inspires self-discipline.

Not saying you have to go lengths they those guys do, but there's something powerful in seeing someone put in the elbow grease and mental toughness to see a goal to fruition.

But I digress..

A lot of us get stuck frequently. It's usually paralysis by analysis- freezing up because there's so much info out there that you don't know what will work and what won't.

If that's you, I'm going to be your little helper and break down a few of the most common obstacles that might be what's standing in your way.

Some clarity.

“How often should I train for best (quick) results?”
I find that 3-4 days a week are optimal- 3 if you're a bit of a beginner and 4 if you're seasoned. To be clear, I'm talking about training for results, not pleasure. If training almost everyday gives you pleasure, knock yourself out. I do it sometimes. However, if you're mainly seeking some specific, body-transforming results, 3-4 days will give you better recovery and muscle development.
“How often should I change my workouts?”

Many of us have been watching the P90x commercial too much and have bought into this “muscle confusion” talk. Muscles don't get confused. It takes a while for them to adapt to a specific workout and stop growing. As a matter of fact, you need some stagnancy with your workouts in order for your body progress efficiently. So don't look over an exerice just because you did it last week. Think in terms of progress. Change by doing more reps, more weight, switching the tempo, etc. Only completely change after about at least 4 weeks.
“How long should a workout last?”

Something I try not to advertise is the length of our training sessions. It doesn't matter. “The workout lasts as long as it takes to get the job done,” is what I say. Sometimes that's 30 minutes, sometimes an hour. I'm not a fan of those fast food, get a lean body in just 20 minutes a week type of plans. However, if all you have is 15 minutes, then it's way better than doing nothing. Yet still, go for the gusto.
“How can I burn fat but keep my muscle tone? I don't want to lanky?”
There are two options here:
Get outside and sprint. Just fyi, sprinting is running as hard as you can. Don't like running? Try burpees, battling ropes, mountain climbers, KB swings, plyometrics, etc.
Option 2 is walking. Get in at least 60 minutes of walking with some resistance. You can walk hills, walk wearing a weighted vest, hike, walk holding dumbbells, etc. Do it on an empty stomach.
A combination of both options is excellent.

And the list goes on and on.

If you have any hang ups don't do yourself a disservice and settle for subpar results by getting confused by training “rules”.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Let's get better,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | My Top 5 Favorite Exercises

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 May 2014 04:28:00 +0000

Let's take a break from the mindset/motivational work get into some of the nitty gritty of getting results.

Namely, my top 5 favorite exercises right now.

I'm talking the the best movements that you can do RIGHT NOW for fat loss, rippness, sexiness, overrall strength, and more.

3....2....1... Go!

Hill Sprints
I know, I know, again with the hill sprints? Yes! You have one of the best pieces of training equipment at your feet. It's nearly impossible to hurt yourself (pull a hamstring) when you're sprinting uphill.
And because of the high demand that running up a hill has on your body, you can get an incredible cardiovascular effect from it in the least amount of time. You know this by how hard you're breathing.
If you're doing it right, you're swinging your arms crazy, driving your knees up, and using every muscle you have to get to the top.

Don't over-intellectualize it- go out and run up a hill, walk down, catch your breath and do it again 4-9 more times. It's a big investment to seeing those abs and just feeling better all around.
Curl, Squat, Press
This is what you call a high power production exercise. We're combining three separate exercises to work your entire body in a single unit. It requires a bit of coordination and mind/body connection but after you perform a few reps, you'll get the hang of it.

You're going to have a dumbbell in each hand; squat deep and curl the dumbbells simultaneously; as you rise from the squat, press the dumbbell to an overhead press. That's one rep. As you get the hang of the movement, to progress you'll want to increase the weight and try to make the movement more fluent.
RKC Plank
RKC plank is the plank done right. The regular plank pales in comparison to it. What you'll do is get into regular plank position, extend your arms out a little farther than usual and contract your glutes & quads as tight as you can. Hold it for about 20-30 sec max 3-4x. Anything higher than that would just be a waste of b/c your abs won't be working anymore.
With this move, you're hitting your lower abs 4x more, obliques 3x more and working the booty as well.
Military Press/Overhead Press
Classic exercise. Not only does it build strong, ripped shoulders but it also works a lot of muscles you wouldn't think of. If you have mobility problems in your shoulders, knock out some wall slides and band pull apart prior for best effects.
You can use a barbell or resistance band if you don't have access. Grab the bar or handles, tuck your elbows into your lats, brace your abs and squeeze the glutes and press the weight all the up until your arms are extended.
Walking Lunges
Lunges hit virtually all muscles in your legs in some way. The ultimate move. They're also one of the most difficult exercise you can do- if done right. You want glutes and Carrie Underwood legs? Add walking lunges to your regime. You can perform them with a bar on your back or high rep it with just your bodyweight.

There you go. This isn't an end-all, be-all list. I had to whiddle the list down to 5 but I definitely use a bigger variety than most folks.

Reading done, time to train.

Let's go,

-Rickey

Nashville Personal Trainer | How to beat 3 common failures

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 13:30:00 +0000

“If you could snap your fingers and change all the things that are keeping you from reaching your peak, what would you change?”

Finding the changes that would spark a domino effect of positive changes is the linchpin towards

accomplishing your fitness aspirations.

The devil isn't in the details or specifics- it's in the big picture.

To truly make a change for the better, to finally upgrade yourself and shine like a spotlight on center stage, address the following 3 problems as soon as possible.

Negativity

“If you could give the person who is responsible for most of your troubles a kick in the butt, you wouldn't be able to sit down for a month.”

Ever seem to notice that little voice inside your mind that always seem to direct your attention towards everything that's going wrong or might go wrong as you start devising goals and plans to upgrade yourself?

This usually leads you to saying something like, “Why bother?”

Sure, “Why bother?” Anything could go wrong at any time. Not to mention, life is pretty tough as is and adding this venture will only make it that more stressful.

If you own that belief, then you are trapped.

Your attitude has everything to do with your success. It's a chain reaction:

you create your attitude and your attitude influences the action you take.

On the surface, having a negative attitude may not seem to connected with the results you get, but please believe that your overall attitude about what you're doing is what's steering and fueling your actions.

To combat that, whenever any discouraging, self-defeating thoughts pop in your mind, make a conscious effort to eradicate them immediately.

Kill them early so they won't grow and have offspring.

Dogma

“Just because you believe something to be true doesn't mean that it is.”

Something I see that holds many people back are dogmatic health and fitness practices.

They have this closed system of beliefs that they refuse to come outside of.
Example:
“You have to eat breakfast”

“Paleo is the best way to go”

“Six meals a day is the best way to eat overall.”

“You should be moments away from passing out in order for a workout to be effective.”

There comes a time when you have to assess what you've been doing and simply ask yourself, “How is this working for me?”

As much as you'd like to be infallible, if what you're doing isn't yielding you the kind of results that you need, it may be time to become more tolerant and seek some solutions elsewhere.

Excuses

There is virtually no such thing as a valid excuse.

I don't have time to exercise
Healthy food is too expensive
I can't afford a trainer.
It's my genetics. I'm not meant to be fit.

It's so easy to look at someone who's doing the things you yearn to do and say, “They got to do that because they had this background or this thing, they have good genes...or they're rich, etc.”

In reality, excuses are nothing but children of fear.

Fear places you behind bars. It is the mind poison. It leads us into self-destruction by holding us back from our potential.

To combat that, you have to have a purpose for what you're doing. Like I pointed out in a previous email, constantly remind yourself of what you're fighting for.

Any risk you take to achieve that is well worth it.

Keep your purpose in mind and you will find that limitless power you already have to make your desire come true.

No excuses.

Live easy,

-Rickey Taylor

Nashville Personal Trainer | Summer Body Guide Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 12:30:00 +0000

Alright so in the last email we talked about developing a lower body that can cracked the sidewalk when stroll down the street and get you friend requests from Channing Tatum.

It's time to go up under shirt and do some construction on those ABS.

Ooohh you like the sound of that huh?

Something that many people don't like the sound of is me telling them to focus on fat loss more for a flatter midsection than doing a ton of crunches.

I'm all about getting fat loss from your diet and using exercise to mainly shape your body.

I'll go into more detail in the next installment, but the focus for your summer body should be 85% diet and 15% exercise. It's the best way.

Now does that me you're not to train abs? ABSolutely not.

Let's look at some of the best options for building bullet proof abs.

Crunches and situps are not the answer.

Neither is doing 5 minute planks.

We need to things that make for a strong, powerful core. We need to train it in its entirety.

In virtually every exercise you do- be it squats, pushups, or hip thrusts- if you have your abs braced and your butt clenched as you should, then you are hitting your core.

But to fill in the gaps and hit them directly, perform the following moves:

#1 Pallof Press

This is a favorite of mine that's performed in some way with all my clients.

What you're gonna do is grab the cable machine or attach a resistance band to a pole.

Take the free end of the band or handle of the cable with both hands and walk out until you have tight resistance.

While keeping your torso and hips straight, press the band out in front of your chest until your arms are locked out.

The key is to fight resistance of the band or cable and keep your hands directly in front of your chest.

Do about 10-20 presses each side 2-3x

#2 RKC Plank

The RKC plank is the plank done RIGHT.

Simply get into normal plank position and do two things: tug your elbows in towards your stomach and squeeze your butt as hard as you can.

Try to hold this position while squeezing the glutes and pulling the arms in for about 20 seconds at a time. Perform 2-3 sets.

#3 Hollow Rock

This is simple move that'll challenge like no other.

It's a staple in many gymnasts training.

All you do is lie on your back with your legs straight out and your arms extended out over your head.

From this position, slightly raise your legs and arms off of the floor while keeping your lower back press into the floor. Don't raise too high. If this is too difficult, bend your knees in a little.

You're going to hold this position for about 15-30 secs for 2-3 sets. To turn it up a notch, try rocking forward and back without your shoulders and feet touching the ground.

#4 Hanging Leg Raises

Hanging leg raises are bad ass.

If you don't have anything to hang from or if you just aren't strong enough to perform them, you can easily perform lying leg raises on your back or reverse crunches.

Which ever variation you pick, do about 5 sets of 10-15 reps.

Start off with your knees bent and work your way up to straight legs.

So there you go- some of the best abdominal exercises to use for your abs.

You don't need a million different exercises or to perform a ton of reps.

If have your nutrition set on fat loss and perform the moves I advocated above, your abs should develop easily.

Live easy,

-Rickey Taylor