Mike Alves

Who do you recommend?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:26:00 +0000

Happy hump day to you!

Often times I get asked who I recommend for this and that and since I've been in the Newton / Boston area for almost 12 years I've begun to learn who's great and who's not for different things. The most common question I get is, "who do you recommend for a sore forearm" or "can you recommend a massage therapist", to which my answer is Chris Larson of Joint Ventures Kenmore Square, Boston, MA.

The reason I like Chris is because he is great with a Chinese technique called, Gua Sha, in which he uses a tool, to break up soft tissue restrictions in tough spots like Tennis Elbow. He's also strong enough to provide deep tissue massage, which many times you need if you've been training hard or have stubborn knots in your shoulders, back or quads. I also like the fact that he personal trains people, has a great library of books and videos at his office, he's fit, he goes to similar conferences that I do and that he trains in an awesome environment, which is Joint Ventures.

Joint Ventures is a great physical therapy place because they see their patients 1-on-1 vs seeing multiple patients at once. I went there when I did some knee rehab and loved the high energy location, the free parking (they have 3 spots), the owners (Dan & Dave) are very cool which helps create a cool & fun working / rehab environment and on their 2nd floor training area, they have 2 top notch strength & conditioning coaches (Keith & Ally) who write great programs and use cutting edge equipment. Not only do I get my issue addressed when I visit Chris, but I have a fun and energizing experience when I go.

Power Block U90

Power Block U33

TRX Pro Suspension Trainer

Another question I get asked a lot is where do you get your equipment. For this I have 2 answers. Locally I go to Gym Source-Newton on Needham Street because they have great prices, great equipment and they have Norm. Norm is perennially #1 General Manager for all Gym Sources everywhere and has helped make his Gym Source the #1 Gym Source store everywhere. Because he & the store are #1, they get to test things other stores don't and they get equipment and have special leverage or "pull" that other GM's and stores don't have. This is where I bought both of my Power Block sets and one of my TRX's.

Change Your Body Boot Camps Equipment Bundle

Perform Better, 3-Day Functional Training Summit

Perform Better is another place I recommend for equipment. If you can love stores or businesses other than CYBBC, this is one place I heart. They have the best equipment and for most everything, the best prices especially for rollers, superbands and mats. Perform Better is located in Providence so regular shipping almost always arrives next day to the Newton area and has transitioned from just a track & field company to a functional training equipment company and now to an education company, which hosts arguably the best functional training conferences in the world. You won't find a better price on rollers or superbands than you will at Perform Better.

Now that I shared 4 of my favorite and most common recommendations I was wondering if you could share yours. Please click here to share your recommendations for different businesses and categories if your in the Newton/Boston area.

Thank you for reading today.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

p.s. I believe Chris and Gym Source both offer a discount to my customers, so let them know Mike Alves from Change Your Body Boot Camps referred you and Perform Better created the special bundle package in the picture above so if you don't already have your gear or need to upgrade get the bundle.

p.p.s. click here to share your recommendations if your in the Newton/Boston area.

p.p.p.s. feel free to comment if you have something to share.

Fighting the Freshman 15 / Getting Real World Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:00:00 +0000

60 lbs in 6-months

Way back in the early 2000’s I was honored to get to train a forward thinking high school graduate that was looking to get in his best shape for college. This young man who is now a strong adult, desired to lose weight, get strong and get lean, which I assume would only compliment his great personality as he moved forward. His result was 60 lbs of weight loss in 6-months. I’d like to take some of the credit for his success, but I can’t because we both know he was super motivated to change and his nutrition was dialed in. Plus I know that my programming then vs. my programming now was far inferior, so it really was a super motivated person, training 4x/wk/1hr each with me on strength and then doing additional cardio on his own. He made the time for both training and in the kitchen and had an outstanding first semester and college experience. If you’re reading this, way to go AC!

30 lbs Gained in 24 weeks

Also back in the early 2000’s I was honored to get to train another super motivated high school kid, we’ll call him J. Flavor, who was tired of being skinny and wanted to get strong, put on muscle and increase his body weight. After his first, 12 week program he had put on 20 lbs and after his second 12 week program he put on at least another 10 lbs. Again, it was this young man’s desire to change and get better that earned him results. He could of have done it with anyone, but I was the lucky coach he chose.

Peak for Sports Seasons

Also back in the 2000’s I had the honor of co-starting a high school strength & conditioning program called Pride Sports Performance (Pride is the Team Name for Springfield College, my alma mater) and volunteering at Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning, where I had the opportunity to train super motivated high school and college athletes that either wanted to peak for their upcoming high school / college season, to get noticed by college recruiters / pro scouts or to prepare to play at the next level. I can’t again take credit for any of their successes, I was just lucky to work with them, but each of these kids went on to have improved seasons.

Body Changes = Increased Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence

And there were numerous handfuls of other awesome, smart and motivated high school and college kids who I’ve had the pleasure of working with privately over my last 12 years as a coach, who hired me not only for body changes, but for what those changes could do for their self-esteem and confidence. How they would feel more secure in meeting new people while living away from home for the first time or entering the “real world” and becoming fully independent. How they would walk taller and not second guess themselves when speaking or taking action, which allowed the life skills instilled by their parents, the education they’ve worked hard to accumulate and their own personal life experiences to shine through without hesitation.

1st Impressions

If you’ve graduated from high school and had the new / scary / exciting experience of being a college freshman as a dependent / independent or if you’ve graduated college and had the new / scary / exciting experience of entering the real world as an independent (or maybe still co-dependent), you know that there are some big butterflies and that you wanted to make a great impression.

From 147 - 185 in 1 Semester

When I graduated from high school, I weighed 147 lbs. and was a ½” shy of 6 feet. I was SKINNY! I knew that when I got to college, I wanted to be more attractive to the female co-eds and if I put on some muscle and weight so I wasn’t skinny anymore, I’d have the confidence and self-esteem to go with my already outgoing personality (my blog, I can boast). What happened? I trained every day from Monday – Friday following the good ole body building / body part routines that were sadly too common then, with next to no cardio and an occasional weekend day of shooting hoops. I made time to get to breakfast at 7am before my 8am classes (what college kids make time to get up these days), always went to lunch and dinner in Cheney Hall (the cafeteria) and stocked my dorm fridge and cubbies with food (thanks mom & dad) so I would never have to worry about being hungry, plus I was a partier then so I had my share of pizza and beer. Result: I went home for winter break and weighed 185 lbs. That’s 38 lbs of mostly muscle with some fat gained in 1 semester. I had to get a bunch of new clothes because I outgrew a lot of things. My waist went from 30” to a 34/35” waist and my shirts went from M-L to L-XL. It was cool. Academically I was kicking butt, socially I knew everyone’s names even if people didn’t remember mine (I’m great with names) and I was definitely more attractive to and confident with the females on campus. Life was great.

Lost & Found: Self Confidence / Body Weight

When I finished my internship (I graduated college upon completion) with the Boston Red Sox’s minor league affiliates the Sarasota / Fort Meyers Red Sox, I had lost a bunch of weight and with it some confidence. This time I arrived to Spring Training weighing 195 lbs and when I returned up north 6-months later, I was under 180 lbs and my primary responsibility was to be the Strength & Conditioning Coach for my teams, so it’s not like I didn’t have access. My clothes were hanging, I was tired and I wasn’t happy and I had to prepare for my boards, my National Athletic Training Association Certification. After I passed my exams (first try), it was time to get my confidence back and my weight back, by getting in the gym and training. This time I was at Umass Amherst as an assistant strength & conditioning coach working with their Division 1 athletes / teams. This was awesome, I got right back into shape fast and only had to lift weight 4x/wk now to make fast gains. I was ready for the real world and good karma had followed me once again when I had the confidence and high self-esteem to believe in myself and let my talents and work ethic shine through.

Special Offer for 2011 Grads ONLY

Circling back to the present, I now want to provide an opportunity for motivated, 2011 high school and college graduates (New Customers Only), who are looking to change their bodies, get in their best shapes and increase their self-esteem and self-confidence so their natural talents can shine through without hesitation or second guessing. From now until midnight on Memorial Monday, I’ll be offering the following Grad Bootcamp Packages for the summer:

Grad (3-Month) Summer Bootcamp Package (June 19 – September 3)- $97/month (Typically $246/month)

Grad (1-Month) Bootcamp Package (Month Start Date of Choice: June 19, July 17 or Aug 14)- $137 (Typically $268/month)

Fighting the Freshman 15 / Getting Real World Ready

If you know a motivated 2011, high school or college graduate, who would like to be proactive and fight the freshman 15 and/or would like to enter the real world with peaking self-confidence, please refer them to me or contact me through my website, bootcampboston.com/contact or mikealves.com/contact.html.

Yours changing lives,

Mike Alves

Newton’s Best Boot Camp

Newton’s Best Personal Trainer

Online Personal Training

p.s. this is a huge deal for those looking to make a change now!

p.p.s. 2011 grads only

p.p.p.s. last day to order is Midnight, Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2011.

p.p.p.p.s. order now at: bootcampboston.com/contact

Bra Flab vs. Man Boobs

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 24 May 2011 21:36:00 +0000

They might not be life threatening epidemics, but they certainly can be a self esteem threatening epidemic.

What is bra flab?

Bra Flab

Bra flab is the "soft" tissue found above and below the bra material just below the posterior axillary fold (arm pit). It's the cousin of arm flab,

Arm Flab

which is when your triceps or back of the arm gets soft and hangs loose like in the picture.

Most people know about the arm flab, but many haven't seen the bra flab and bra flab occurs when the muscles on the axillary border of the posterior upper back become atrophied from lack of use and often in conjunction with overeating.

What do you do?

Pulling more and eat less for starters. What do I mean by pull more? Do horizontal and vertical pulling exercises against resistance either from an external load and/or your own body weight.

Sample Exercises:

1. Vertical Pulls

a) TRX Chin Up Progression

b) Band Resisted Reverse Grip Pull Downs

2. Horizontal Pulls

a) TRX Inverted Rows Regressions

b) Seated Band Rows

Adding the above exercises to your strength training routine will help to tone and shape the muscles that make up bra flab. They’re not the only exercises that can improve the area, but their the biggest bang for your effort exercises.

Fellas. Man boobs are no bueno and you certainly want to fight getting soft and droopy up top.

What are man boobs?

Man boobs are when you’re chest muscles or pectoralis muscles become severely atrophied and begin to sag.

What do you do?

Pushing more and eating less is usually a good start. What do I mean by push? Do horizontal and vertical pushing exercises to strengthen and shape both your anterior thoracic wall (chest) and your upper trap muscles to give you the dominant beach muscles that you once had or always wanted.

Sample Exercises:

1. Horizontal Pushing

a) Push Up T Progressions

b) DB Bench Press

2. Vertical Pushing

a) Band Resisted Overhead Press

b) DB Overhead Press Progressions

Now men or even ladies, if you want to get rid of the saggy boobs and get hard and tight pec muscles, add the above exercises to your exercise routine. These are also not the only exercises you can do to firm up your chest muscles and give you great traps, but they’ll get you started.

So now you have potential cures to the self-esteem epidemics known as bra flab and man boobs. Give the exercises a try and you’ll immediately feel them beginning to start the change process. Incorporate the exercises into your weekly routines and before you know it you’ll have created a habit, eliminated a problem and gained increased self confidence.

Yours changing lives,

Mike Alves

p.s. want a coach, a team and a program to help you get in your best shape this summer and not next? Click here to try out Newton’s Best Boot Camp for 1-month at a killer price.

p.p.s. here’s the link: https://www.spafinder.com/sparahrah/Boston-MA/Change-Your-Body-Boot-Camps/14268/index.htm

Imagine what you could do if you had 2 legs!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:32:00 +0000

Life can be cruel sometimes. You could be born with a disadvantage, make a mistake and be at a disadvantage or just be unlucky. Either way, what you do when you realize your at a disadvantage is what makes a difference. Anthony Robles was born with 1-leg, a certain disadvantage to those of us lucky enough to have 2 legs. His parents didn't let him make excuses and Anthony didn't make excuses. He just did what normal kids do. He played sports.

In high school he played defensive end for his football team and was a champion in wrestling. When he had to cut weight for football or wrestling he ran...with crutches. He doesn't like to be called handicapped or disabled, he just wants to be treated normal, so he goes out there and does his best.

Anthony just capped his senior year of college at Arizona State by defeating the defending National Champion from Iowa, Matt McDonough and finishing his year with a record of 36-0.

The guy has only 1-leg and he beat 36 other guys who had 2-legs. Whatever your excuse, whatever your "lemon", use Anthony's inspiration to find a way to turn your disadvantage into your strength. Maybe you'll even end up a champion.

Yours changing lives and with no excuses for excuses,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp
Newton Personal Trainer
Online Training

p.s. Anthony plans to retire from wrestling on top and not pursue the Olympics. He is going to get a prosthetic leg and aspires to become a motivational speaker.

p.p.s. If you're ready stop imaging and start realizing what you could do with your 2 legs, and getting in shape will help you get there faster, take the first step now and decide to do it. Then get a coach, get a plan, get a team and get your dream.

p.p.p.s. Change Your Body Boot Camps' Phase 4 begins Sunday, March 27. Deadline to register is midnight, Thursday, March 24. Sign up now at http://bootcampboston.com

Do you know of a good massage therapist?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 02:30:00 +0000

I've been asked a few times recently who I recommend for a good deep tissue massage, specifically for Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis), the pain one feels on the outside of the elbow from repeated or strenuous pulling activities and for shoulder discomfort resulting from a combination of poor posture and overhead activity.

Here is my recommendation:

Massage Therapist: Chris Larson, NCTMB, NCPT, A Deep Tissue & Muscular Orthopaedic Rehab Specialist.

Chris works out of:

Joint Ventures,

Kenmore Square

654 Beacon Street

Boston, MA 02215

and

Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning

29 Draper Street,

Woburn, MA 01801

Regressing vs. Progressing: What are you doing?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:31:00 +0000

Today began Record Week with my Newton boot camp clients. It’s a week in which they strive to set a personal record with most every exercise / activity we do in class. This benefits them in many ways, 1 of which is the instantaneous self-progress report they receive by pushing themselves to do more reps, sets, rounds, use more weight, choose a higher level of exercise, finish faster or take less rest. If they are able to do more “work” on this day (e.g. at least 1 more rep) compared to the previous weeks, then they know they’ve progressed forwards. Sometimes there are exercises and/or activities in which they do not progress forward right away, but overall during each and every class this week, they set a personal record. It feels great to know you’ve progressed forward and gotten better, especially when you compare it to the depressing thought of not getting better or regressing. When you look through the window of hope and realize that you can choose between getting better each day in every way (progressing) or getting worse each day (regressing), you feel empowered and excited.

Here’s a story from one of my new and fast becoming superstar clients Carol G who sent me this wonderful email and graciously allowed me to share it with you now.

From: Carol G
To: Mike
Sent: Fri, December 31, 2010
Subject: Thank You…

So - yesterday I turned 51. The day before yesterday I skied down The Chute, a
black diamond trail at Mad River Glen, a trail I've skied many times over the
years. Except this time - at age 50 + 364 days - I skied down from top to
bottom without stopping once - and without panting and without burning thigh
muscles. I've NEVER done that before, never - even in my 20s. (And not many
other people do either.) I've skied my whole life, down many different black
diamond trails and have never been so strong. It was so exciting and I was so
psyched! And I realize it's all due to you and boot camp so THANKS!!

Carol G, 51
Writer

Newton, MA

Well first off, let me make a public thank you to Carol for this wonderful email. It made my day much sweeter. Second, thank you for choosing Change Your Body Boot Camps. You made the decision to make a change and get in your best shape AND you blocked out the time on your calendar so it could happen. Kudos and high fives to you!

The last thing I want to do, my clients want to do and if you’re reading this, then you want to do, is to regress. Regressing means you’re just waiting to kick the bucket while progressing means you putting it off for as long as you can because there’s too much life to be lived.

So get on the floor right now and bang out 10 push ups. You can do them on your knees or your feet, but you gotta touch your chest when you go down and I don’t care how you get up as long as you touch your chest on the way down. Do this and there’s a good chance you’ve just set a personal record by doing 10 more push ups than you did yesterday. And that my friend is progress.

Our next phase of Change Your Body Boot Camps begins on Jan 30, 2011. To apply to try us out, go to bootcampboston.com to learn more.

Yours living the active lifestyle.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Trainer

Online Personal Coaching

P.s. reply below and let the world know you just set a personal record by doing 10 more push ups than yesterday.

11 Reasons Health & Fitness Should Be Part of Your New Years Resolutions / Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:38:00 +0000

Good day to you! If you're like me, you may also be reflecting on the good & bad from the past year and what you'd like to do in 2011.

Resolutions are what many people make at the start of something new and fewer stick to them as time goes by. I prefer to think of goals vs. resolutions, but whether you say, "I resolve to get in the best shape of my life" or "I will nail, 20+ perfect hand stand push ups", the meaning is understood.

Here are 11 Reasons Health & Fitness SHOULD be a part of your New Years Resolutions and/or Goals for 2011.

#1 Darwin said "Survival of the Fittest"!
#2 How do you want to respond to the question, "How was your day?"?

"My day was (AWESOME, Kick A**, GREAT, EXCITING, want to hear a GREAT story, etc...)!"

"My day was (OK, boring, average, mediocre, the same)".

#3 Got a family history of disease? So do I. Start reducing your risk by living an active lifestyle.
#4 Love yourself more. Just do it in private. (wink)
#5 Be more attractive to others. Specifically attitude, personality & energy, not just appearance.
#6 Start talking about what you CAN DO, vs what you CAN'T or USED TO DO.
#7 Want kids? Exercise makes you fertile and improves your libido.
#8 Got kids? Get ENERGIZED and BE the parent that does "stuff" with their kids.
#9 Produce more! "Remember when" you used to get more done in less time. Active living will get you back there.
#10 Be a minority and get RICH in health. The majority of Americans are not fit and have poor health. Join the minority by getting fit and becoming RICH in health.
#11 It's social, it's free and it's a positive gift that keeps on giving.

2011 is right around the corner. Its a great time for a fresh start and a new beginning. If you make a health and fitness resolution or goal and you take action towards it, 2011 will most certainly be an "AWESOME" year for you and if unfortunate things come up, exercise will help you weather and manage the storm.

If you want help like Cindy did, just ask.

Change Your Body Boot Camps starts up on January 2nd with Measurements and Orientation (M and O).
1st classes begin Jan 3rd.
Deadline to register is Thursday, Dec 30th.

Yours changing lives,

Mike Alves

p.s. I'm one coach, so spaces are limited. Reserve yours now. Click here to change your body and transform your life. http://bootcampboston.com/1weektrial

Newton Boot Camp
Newton Personal Trainer
Online Coaching

"Boot Camp has changed my life!"

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 22:48:00 +0000

Many times people ask me what I do for a living, and often times I reply, "I change lives". It's bold, confident and very uncommon, but I do. Here is a wonderful testimonial from one of my new superstars, Cindy, that makes "changing lives" arguably the best contribution to society one can do.

from Cindy

"I’ve been overweight more or less my whole life. My weight would fluctuate up and down 20-40 pounds each year, so I had three sizes of clothes in my closet at all times. Disgusted by how I looked, I would often avoid having pictures taken of me and adopted a shy personality so I would not draw attention to myself. I felt gross all the time, which in turn would get me depressed, and then I would eat – a vicious cycle.

I still remember the day I decided I needed to make a change. Last February, one morning when I was getting dressed for work, I could barely button my “fat pants.” I actually contemplated staying home from work that day because I had nothing to wear that was comfortable. I recall thinking – how pathetic, I’m going to have to “call in fat.”

I’ve worked with personal trainers before, had gym memberships where I’ve gone and maybe cranked out 30 minutes on the elliptical before getting bored and leaving, I’ve even lost weight on my own before. But nothing, NOTHING, has proved more effective for me then Mike Alves and Change Your Body Boot Camp.

I can honestly say, Mike Alves and Change Your Body Boot Camp has changed my life. Since joining 10 months ago, I’ve lost 61 pounds, 4 dress sizes, and I’ve never felt better. I’m in the best shape of my life, both strength and size-wise. I walk taller (friends have actually commented about this), my wedding rings no longer fit, I’m happier and I’m more confident. I can walk into any store and buy something off the rack. (When I used to go shopping with friends I only bought accessories and shoes because I didn’t want them to know what size I was.) I no longer have to worry about fitting into tight spaces or turning down invitations to do things, like skiing, because my size made it hard. I’m able to participate in life instead of watching it from the sidelines.

Following Mike’s boot camp and nutrition program isn’t easy. Nothing worth attaining in life ever is, but if you are willing to put in the work and have the discipline to follow Mike’s plan YOU WILL see results. Yes, there were some times when I’ve wanted to give up, when I hit a plateau or when a certain routine pushed me out of my comfort zone, but that is where the Mike factor kicks in. Mike is always there to be motivating, encouraging, and help you tap your inner strength to push through. He wants so much for each of his clients to succeed. And the group atmosphere of the boot camps lets you build relationships with people in the class who also help to motivate and push you along.

I’m not at my goal yet, but I know I will get there. And more importantly, I know I’m never going back to the old me. Mike and his exercise and nutrition plans have taught me a new way to live where I am able to work hard and then play hard. He’s a life-changing trainer and coach! If you want to feel the best you’ve ever felt in your entire life then contact him today!!! Thanks Mike!"

WOW! Cindy, you rock! You've earned everything that has come and is coming your way. Congratulations and I look forward to your continued success. Cindy runs now. She's the first to come to class and the last to leave. She's always picking my brain about what to do for cardio, how I manage social settings and dining out, what to do if this aches or that hurts, etc...She's an achiever, a doer and an action taker. Cindy is some who is exciting and vibrant to be around. Cheers to you Cindy.

If you want to change your body and transform your life and you're ready to start now. Go to http://bootcampboston.com/1weektrial to sign up.

Yours changing lives,

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Trainer

Online Training

Post Measurements

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:06:00 +0000

Saturday is Post Measurements (PM) and will conclude both our Change Your Body Boot Camps’ 6-week Phase 9 and our 2010 Change Your Body Boot Camps year. It will be followed by a 2 week holiday / winter break.

The PM will serve 3 main purposes: (1) to re-measure and compare your body changes to the beginning of phase 9, (2) to compare your measurements to the close of 2009 and (3) to record a “before” winter break measurement to track your active lifestyle efforts while practicing do anywhere workouts away from class.

Since you have a reason and hopefully a desire to be there, here are some ways I’d prepare for the big day if I was you.

Umm, No!

PLANNING BACKWARDS

First I’d plan my week backwards. I’d save my splurge meal for Saturday night and I’d plan something special. I’d choose between pizza, beer and a ball game with the boys

or a fancy Italian dinner, a bottle of red wine, and some dessert with my Queen.

That should serve as motivation to save my splurge until the weekend.

MORNING OF

Then I’d plan my morning. Whenever my PM appointment is scheduled for I’d plan to wake up shortly before it. Use the bathroom, put on something I want to be weighed and photographed in and head out. No food or drink, I’ll save that for after measurements. Once I arrived, I’d use the bathroom one last time if needed. Then have my measurements recorded until the next time.

NIGHT BEFORE

The night before, I’d have a calm and relaxing evening. I’d wrap up work for the evening. Have a lean dinner; maybe some grilled salmon, a garden salad with olive oil & vinegar and some asparagus. Watch a movie, wash up and go to bed early, so my body could relax and distress.

WEEK PRECEDING

Tuesday through Friday would be normal days. I’m hit all of my exercise goals, keep my appointments to myself and maybe do a little extra just because Saturday mornings gonna be a great day. I’ll be sure to have a protein, a fat and carbs at every meal, except the carbs will be a lot of high fiber one’s

to clean out my system, at least 1 green veggie per meal and I’ll drink only water or it’s derivatives (ice, tap, flat, bottled, sparkling, mineral, seltzer and club). I’d plan to go to bed each night at the same time and aim for and hit 7-8 hours of sleep each night. I’d smile, laugh and have fun each day and be grateful for all I have.

REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

That’s what I would do to prepare for Post Measurements. If I did my homework

the previous 5 weeks, it’s sure to be a great day. If I didn’t, then it’ll be exciting to see what happens from a week of discipline. If I did neither, personally I’d still show up, just to get a baseline and if it was less than great, I’d be ok with it, forgive myself and use it as motivation to do better.

What would you do? Please comment below.

Yours living the active lifestyle.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

p.s. The majority of Americans enter the new year, sick, overweight and overstressed. Lucky for you, there’s a chance, albeit a limited one, to cure your holiday hangover by joining us for our 1^st phase of 2011. The body transformations begin on Jan 3^rd.

p.p.s. The mental transformations can begin now. Reserve your spot today. Go to http://bootcampboston.com/1weektrial to sign up.

2010 Turkey Workout for Charity

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Gobble, Gobble Turkey Toss, Give to Hungry Learn Fat Loss, Turkey Workout

6pm-7pm, Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Mackenzie Center, 1337 Centre St, Newton Centre, MA 02459

Anyone who is currently pain & injury free, appreciates sweating and being strong.

Here’s the deal:

The fall holiday season is in great need of some new traditions to combat or compliment the existing ones and Burn & Earn, Do Anywhere Fat Loss Workouts are just the trick.

Sure there are 5k road races before and after many holidays, but not everyone can run, so you can’t bond with all your peeps. What most everyone can do however is a total body fat loss routine (listen, I’m a coach and I’ve worked with a lot of people who have this or that issue…and have worked around the, “what about this…scenarios”?)

Come learn a total body, do anywhere fat loss routine using a back pack filled with whatever you want (books, dumbbells, water bottles, etc…)

Use this workout to do with your family & friends before during or after the Thanksgiving Holiday, for any day or to just have in your workout library for when you need a change of pace.

ACTION STEPS

Admission: Bring a frozen turkey to donate in a cooler you’ll keep.

What to Bring:

· frozen turkey

· cooler,

· water bottle,

· back pack,

· hand towel,

· waiver form,

· buddy

What You Get:

· your strength workout in,

· expert coaching,

· a routine you can teach / do with others,

· a story to share

· feel good about feeding others even if you don’t like to cook

Download: and complete this waiver form (unless you’re a current customer)

300 Families were fed by the Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen last year. If you have a place to celebrate Thanksgiving and food to put on the table, then you know what it means to feel grateful. The Bristol Lodge only has enough Turkeys to feed ½ of these families so far. Come join us for a Pre-Thanksgiving Burn & Earn Turkey Workout and/or donate a Frozen Turkey to a good cause. You’ll be glad you did and so will the family you help.

Yours living the active life.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Trainer

Do Anywhere Online Coaching Programs

p.s. It’s tomorrow, Wednesday, November 17, from 6-7pm @ the Mackenzie Center

p.p.s. Here’s the link to download the waiver form.

Teammates, Partners and High Fives: The Missing Ingredient for Great Training Environments and Results

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 21:50:00 +0000

TEAMMATES

Hopefully you’ve experienced the benefits of training in a group or as I call it with a team or teammates vs training by yourself. There’s going to be many times when you’ll have to train by yourself, but the more often you can train with someone who also wants to get better, get results AND is willing to put in the effort, the faster you’ll get there.

Your program with CYBBC creates this for you. Not only do we pre-screen applicants (you have to apply to be considered), but then we let them try us out (while we’re also trying them out) and even then sometimes people who get in, are asked to leave. I don’t do this for any other reason except to create an empowering culture of change. I want you to be successful. I want you to feel like this is your training sanctuary, where you’re not a mother or father, daughter or son, boss or employee, leader or follower, just you. Escape, be yourself, do your best and associate fun with exercise, hard & consistent effort and sweating.

Mike Boyle, one of my mentors, accidentally stumbled upon partner training with his BU Hockey Team during the year they won the 2009 National Championship. (He’s always trained the team as a group and broke the team into smaller groups for certain stations, but not assigned partners). He introduced partner training for some of his circuits in a“you go, I go” fashion. He did it to save time, build in rest periods for his guys and to share equipment, but what he got was so much greater.

He discovered that the guys started to push themselves to do better. Their strength gains were changing dramatically each workout versus each phase. It wasn’t just among the competitive people either, but among the people who coasted by because of their talent. The reason was good natured peer pressure within the pairs.

(If you ever hear Thomas John and Vinay Mehra chatting in their native tongue while smiling, you’d probably guess right if you thought they were talking trash to one another, which is a macho guy way of cheering one another on through peer pressure. Peer pressure usually gets a bad rap because of sex, drugs and alcohol, but when channeled in appropriate manners it can produce beneficial outcomes.)

Boyle then took it a step further. He paired the competitive & motivated people with the less competitive and less motivated people and saw his hypothesis of the 1^st group getting more effort out of the 2^ND group come true.

Phase 9 is special in many ways and one of which is Workout C, the Partner Training Day. Hopefully you’ve already felt the benefits of training with a partner and noticed that the up front time I spent teaching you HOW to do the exercises resulted in your partner and you being able to better execute the exercise and experience how productive they are. I feel confident that James Glanville, Mike Martsen and Katy Coughlin who I partnered with during this workout “felt” the effects of having a good, motivating partner to work with. Whether they’ll want to work with me again is still unknown. J

To compliment this teammates article, I did a little pub med searching and came across 2 recent articles on teammates training. The 1^st article published by Leahey, ET AL in the July 2010 issue of Prevention Medicine, wrote ”These findings are the first to suggest that team members influence individual activity outcomes in team-based statewide campaigns. Future research should explore ways to use social network factors to enhance team-based physical activity program".

The 2^ND article relates more to the high fives or touching we do in class. Kraus ET AL (Emotion. Oct. 2010) provided the following abstract in the Oct 2010 Journal Emotion.

“Tactile communication, or physical touch, promotes cooperation between people, communicates distinct emotions, soothes in times of stress, and is used to make inferences of warmth and trust. Based on this conceptual analysis, we predicted that in group competition, physical touch would predict increases in both individual and group performance. In an ethological study, we coded the touch behavior of players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) during the 2008-2009 regular season. Consistent with hypotheses, early season touch predicted greater performance for individuals as well as teams later in the season. Additional analyses confirmed that touch predicted improved performance even after accounting for player status, preseason expectations, and early season performance.”

What this means in your situation is the high fives and partner training exercises we do in class should improve performance even after accounting for your results-oriented (both research & practical experience based) strength, conditioning AND nutrition plans.

So keep the Jameila Jumps, high fives, low fives and burn & earns coming and relish in the fact that you have a team (and coach) who’s got your back both in class, outside of class and online.

Living the Active Life.

Your coach,

Mike Alves,

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Trainer

Online Coaching Programs

REFERENCES

Leahey TM, ET AL. Effect of teammates on changes in physical activity in a statewide campaign. Prev Med. 2010 Jul;51(1):45-9. Epub 2010 Apr 13.

Kraus ET AL. Tactile communication, cooperation, and performance: An ethological study of the NBA. Emotion. 2010 Oct;10(5):745-9.

"...I eat broccoli in the morning"

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:41:00 +0000

It's Saturday night, the night before Halloween, I've got music playing in the background, my costume hanging up and in a few hours my girlfriend and I will be meeting up with friends for a fun Halloween night out of dancing and socializing. (I'm Maverick!)

Before I get to that though, I can't help, but be excited about Monday. Why?

It's A NEW PHASE OF BOOT CAMP BABY!!! A big one. 6 weeks in length and at a very critical time: HOLIDAY SEASON. Sure holidays are AWESOME. I won't doubt that, but when you're in the transforming lives by changing bodies line of business, the holidays in many ways work against you.

Why?

The overeating, the sickness, the stress, the win-lose traditions, ...BUT...I'll save that soap box for another day.

The reason I wanted to write you today is because I wanted to share the inspiring, funny and insightful answers of a recent survey I gave my clients asking them, "What results, body and lifestyle changes, have you experienced?".

Here goes:

1. My body is stong. I stopped drinking. Feel very healthy.
2. I feel like I am becoming a stonger runner. I want to do a 10 K in October.Thu,
3. Running became more effortless. Although my eating has not been great, still was able to maintain weight because worked so hard in classes.
4. My children now ask if I'm sweaty before they hug me...and I eat broccoli in the morning.
5. I went from never having run a mile before May to doing a series of road roads all summer and then my first triathlon in September, and in a faster time than I'd hoped too!
6. Less tired
7. Have not seen huge weight loss but have had people comment on how fit I am looking.
8. from this phase not much but that's because of where I am in my season.
9. I definitely have more energy,
10. More stamina, more toned, trying to eat better because I'm working so hard during workouts.
11. weight loss continues. I am strong, look noticeably better at new year.
12. Although it's torture for me .... I am looking forward to the next class ;-)
13. Lost weight, more energy
14. I've lost about 25lbs, gone from a size 8 to size 2, I get compliments all the time. I feel good about what I can do. I never ran before, now I can, though it's still not my favorite cardio exercise. I feel lighter, faster and stronger. I feel more energized and that transfers into my karate training and teaching Thanks Mike
15. Continuing to try to eat healthy, exercise more frequently and spread the word about living an active lifestyle.
16. Lost weight.
17. I feel great, and look great. Thank you!!!!!!
18. More conscientious of what I am eating; when I am resting; what physical activity plans I have made.
19. More energy, happier, more accomplished.

I don't know if this will inspire you or not. It certainly gets my juices flowing, as does Eminem's "Till I Collapse", which is playing in the background, but I am pumped up for Monday and if you're one of my clients and you're reading this YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE AN AWESOME MONDAY, AN AWESOME WEEK AND AN AWESOME CLOSE TO YOUR QUARTER. It's GREAT TO BE YOU!

Happy Halloween!

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton (Boston) Boot Camp

Newton (Boston) Personal Trainer

Guinea Pigs Needed!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:15:00 +0000

Guinea Pigs Needed!

Okay folks. Here’s the deal. My good friend Ben Petitpas and I are working on a new fat loss program with a January 2011 release date and we need some people to test it out and that’s where you come in.

The program has been written for a while now and we’ve been using similar aspects of it with our local personal training and boot camp customers, but we need to test it out with people we don’t see everyday and we’re hoping you’d like to get in shape with us and prove our programming does what we expect it to do.

Before we get 100’s of email applications, here are a few things that “qualify” you:

1. You must be healthy – or at least very close to it! Some aches and pain in the past aren’t a big deal, but we’re not going to be taking on anyone who is currently dealing with any injuries.

2. You must be at least 18 years old, with a desire to get in better shape.

3. You must have access to certain fitness equipment such as a pair of dumbbells (5-15lbs for women and 10-30 lbs for men; just 1 pair to start, not all pieces), exercise tubing with handles, a stability ball, an exercise mat, a door anchor for tubing or a pull up bar, a medicine ball, an adjustable bench or a chair, a stop watch with interval timers and a phone app or internet widget with interval timers.

4. You would have trained with us at some point in the past or at least exercised with free weights in the past.

5. You need to be able to train for 3 uninterrupted months for a minimum of three times each week and can not skip workouts especially during the holiday weeks (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years). You of course can take the days off if you choose.

6. You must be willing to take before/after pictures plus some performance tests.

7. Both men and women are welcome to “apply.”

8. You must have $199 to devote to this, because it is going to be a ton of work on our end to give you tech support for 3 months! That’s only about $67/month for 12 weeks of full-on programming, coaching, and support – which is markedly lower than our online consulting rates or local coaching services.

If you’re interested, please click the link below to go to apply with your name, age, gender, a brief background on your training history and why we should choose you. We’ll only be accepting 12 guinea pigs for this project, and all decisions will be made by Wednesday October 13th. Those who are selected will be notified by Friday, October 15, 2010.

http://www.changeyourbodychallenge.com/new-program/

If you are interested make sure you register early because once we reach our limit of 12 participants we will be closing down the registration and you will not be able to get the program until we release it to the public in January of 2011.

We look forward to working with you.

Thanks,

Mike Alves, CSCS, LATC

Ben Petitpas, CSCS, CPT

PS - You won’t receive notification unless you’re selected, so please don’t take it personally if we don’t reply to your posting; we’re just trying to save our self some extra work!

p.p.s. Here’s the link again to apply:

http://www.changeyourbodychallenge.com/new-program/

Dr. Thomas L. Halton: Feature Article: Artificial Sweeteners: A Lesser O...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Dr. Tom has a new website and blog and as such is providing some really informative content. If you have a family history of disease, desire to reduce your disease risk, are looking to lose weight, want to maintain your weight loss or work with people who are looking to lose weight, check out his latest article and sign up for his mailings. You'll be glad you did!

Dr. Thomas L. Halton: Feature Article: Artificial Sweeteners: A Lesser O...: " Artificial sweeteners, also known as non-nutritive sweeteners have been the subject of controversy since their inception in 1879. ..."

Yours living the active life,

Mike Alves

28 Tips for An Active Lifestyle

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:03:00 +0000

My brain is flying right now (awesome workout) with creativity from a great start to my week (new phase & success stories from superstar clients) and many exciting things to look forward to (birthdays, weddings, date night)

Without further ado, 28 Tips in honor of Sally Babigian single handily launching my 9am boot camp on September 28, 2009.

Everyone must exercise (period)
What your Body Mass Index
(BMI) is, represents more than just disease risk.
Body fat %, (see ACE's Body
Fat Guidelines), is secondary to BMI if disease risk is your concern.
Win-Lose #1: Smoking. You use, you lose. I know
because I did.
Win-Lose #2: Drug use. You use, you lose. I know
because I did.
Win-Lose #3: Alcohol Abuse. You use, you lose. I know
because I did.
We’re all impressionable: we differ only in what we allow to impression
us.
Whole Foods’ Salad Bar and prepared foods are great places for recipe
ideas.
Lime juice makes foods look pretty longer, but makes most foods taste
gross.
Lack of Nutrition Knowledge is liking being illiterate and unable to
count.
Healthy Food = Veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, animal
protein & water.
Unhealthy Food = Most pre-packaged or bottled consumables that are refined,
processed, fortified, and/or include trans fats or hydrogenated oils.
Food = Both Healthy Food and Unhealthy Food.
Healthy Food ≠ Unhealthy Food
Obesity used to be a sign of health, wealth, social status and
education.
Leanness is now the sign of health, wealth, social status and
education.
Audiobooks make commuting less painful and more pleasurable.
Applied learning makes life more exciting.
Eating proteins, fats and carbs at every meal and drinking water can
dramatically change most everyone’s life for the better.
Selection and timing of starches can take line 19 followers to the next
level.
Splurge meals per week, if limited, makes 19 & 20 sustainable for
life.
Do anywhere workouts are a must learn and a must do activity for all.
Community is for everyone, but the scope and definition of it varies.
Timed work periods lets people of different fitness levels train
together.
Weekly date nights, keep the romance sharp.
Planned workouts with your s.o. to kick off date nights, make date nights
electric.
Coaches can get you to your goals faster. I use them and so do my
people.
Halloween Treats kick off the holiday season weight gain, sick days and
stress.

I could have continued as I was on a roll, but 28 seems like enough. What do you think about these? Got a favorite? Respectfully disagree on something. Comment below.

Yours living the active life,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

p.s. Halloween Tricks can fight off holiday season weight gain, sick days and stress.

p.p.s. Want to learn tricks? Attend the Freaky Fat Loss Pumpkin Workout.

p.p.p.s. The Freaky Fat Loss Pumpkin Workout is coming up next month. If you want to learn how to fight holiday season weight gain, have fun burning calories while in costume and turn the magic pumpkin into your portable health club, stay tuned for an announcement.

Obesogenicity: Environment vs. Weight Loss

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:04:00 +0000

Do you want to be skinny, fit, in shape and lean? Surround yourself with skinny, fit, in shape and lean people.

Do you want to be overweight, tired, out of shape and well, not lean? Surround yourself with people who are overweight, tired, out of shape and not lean.

It reads simple right? It’s common sense, no? BUT it’s much easier said than done. True? True.

Listen. If you want to lose weight, you’re going to have to change your environment. Foods you keep in the house, where you exercise and with whom you exercise can contribute to rapid changes just like initial weight loss, and where you live, work or socialize can be slower to change, like a sustainable weight loss program.

According to Lake and Townshend,

“The obesogenicity of an environment has been defined as 'the sum of influences that the surroundings, opportunities, or conditions of life have on promoting obesity in individuals or populations'. Prevention and treatment of obesity has focused on pharmacological, educational and behavioral interventions, with limited overall success.”

Environment is the area that has been less researched according to Lake and Townshend. They hypothesize and I agree with that if you’re environment is structured for high energy intake and sedentary behavior, you’re setting yourself up for failure and relapse. Everyone has strong days and weak days and on the weak days is when you’ll need to count on your surroundings the most.

Hence, the subtitle environment vs. weight loss. If you don’t create a supportive environment, your weight loss won’t be sustainable and you’ll be living the definition of obesogenicity. Change Your Body Boot Camps creates a supportive and empowering culture of change (read environment). We pre-screen our members to make sure they're a good fit and we started online communities for fans who "like" facebook and fans who like privacy to compliment our offline communities. Our programs teach you principles to live by that yield reduced risk for disease, body changes and transformed lives while having a great time getting in your best shape. To learn more visit bootcampboston.com

Yours living the active life,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

Works Cited

Lake A and Townshend T. Obesogenic environments: exploring the built and food environments. J R Soc Promot Health [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2010 Sep 9]; Nov;126(6):262-7. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=historysearch&querykey=8

"You look skinny!"

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:25:00 +0000

I'm busy getting ready for Dr. Tom's wedding (he's the author of The Weight Loss Triad and a very great friend of mine)

and I received this email from one of my boot campers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Cindy H
To: Michael A
Sent: Thu, August 12, 2010
Subject: Re: Bonus Week Cardio Minutes

Hi Mike,
Summer break is awesome. I dropped another size so I went out and bought a bunch of new clothes and had five people tell me I look skinny this week - that's definitely a word I'm not used to hearing...

Have a great weekend.
-Cindy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was great and timely to receive this email from Cindy. Great because her body changes have been visually noticeable, she's been consistent and committed to the plan. It was timely because Dr. Tom just gave me an autographed revised copy of his book and I use his principles to help Cindy with her changes.

Anyways, if you're looking to lose weight, grab a copy of Dr. Thomas Halton's book, The Weight Loss Triad and do everything he says. It'll be the best $15.95 you've ever spent and you'll get the exact plan, a guy with 2 Master's Degrees and a PhD from Harvard shares with his private clients.

If you're looking to have an awesome summer, drop another size, have to buy new clothes because nothing fits and have 5 people tell you, "you look skinny", like Cindy just experienced (results not typical), apply to join Change Your Body Boot Camps. You better believe we use Dr. Tom's principles for weight loss and we've got the ultimate "X" factor. A super empowering environment.

Phase 7 begins, August 22, 2010
Phase 8 begins, September 25, 2010.

Go ahead and answer these 8 questions now and see if you're a good fit to join Cindy and the rest of our team.

Living the active life.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

p.s. here's the link to apply: bootcampboston.com/1weektrial

Disclaimer:

Results mentioned here are not typical. The system and plan to change your body works, but it requires consistent and committed effort, it's difficult and requires you to change your habits and your lifestyle. If you keep doing the same things you've always done, you'll get the same results you've always had. If you follow the Change Your Body Boot Camps plan in it's entirety you will get body changes.

7 Must Training Components of Effective Exercise Programs in the Sedentary Age of the Information Revolution.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:56:00 +0000

If someone said she wanted to get in her best shape, what 2 main things come to mind that she’d need to address? Go ahead and think about it for 10 seconds…

There are many, but if you said, “exercise and nutrition”, you’d have a great starting point.

If we look from the exercise perspective there are 7 Must Training Components of an effective exercise program. Without looking down the page, name as many components as you can to an effective exercise program. Components being categories of things you’d do or address while you were exercising in an exercise program or workout.
Go ahead and write down or say out loud now, as many components as you can in 20 seconds.

What did you come up with?

If you said, “arms, abs, cardio, stretching, warm up”, you’d be close.

If you said, “lifting weights, cardio, warm up, core, stretching”, you’d be even closer.

Here are the 7 must training components of an effective exercise program in the Sedentary Age of the Information Revolution.

1. Warm Up
2. Corrective Exercises
3. Core
4. Power
5. Strength
6. ESD or Energy System Development
7. Regeneration

When it comes to getting in your best shape exercise and nutrition are 2 main keys to getting you there. In the age of laptops, 3D TV’s, Wireless 4G Internet, quick foods, smart phones, online learning, working at home, sitting at a desk and commuting great distances, weight bearing upright activity is less and processed, high calorie food consumption are the norms. To counter the trend of returning to the days when people walked on all 4’s, modern exercise programs need to address side effects of our current information revolution, hence the need to include corrective exercise and power to the average person’s exercise program.

Most everyone has a muscle, bone or joint issue they need to address and that is where the corrective exercise comes into play and most people lose power or the ability to do quick explosive movements like getting off a toilet seat, climbing a staircase or getting up from a lying position. These are power based actions taken for granted by all until we become gray and worn and can no longer do them without assistance.

Change Your Body Boot Camps’ next phase begins on August 22 with Measurements & Orientation. If you’d like to experience first hand how an exercise program uses all 7 of the above components to counter the effects of today’s conveniences and helps you get into your best shape while summer is still here and/or get a jump start on the return to school/work fall season, apply now by visiting: bootcampboston.com/1weektrial/

Living the active life.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

p.s. here is the link again to apply to try us out for a week: http://bootcampboston.com/1weektrial

Trainer survives 1st visit to girlfriend's family.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:31:00 +0000

What do trainers think about the 1st time they visit their girlfriends family?

Sure, there's the obvious:

"Will they like me?"
"I want to make a good first impression."
"Don't be an idiot, be yourself, unless you are an idiot, in which case you're screwed."
"Be nice to their daughter."
"Use your manners, be courteous, be helpful."
"Engage them and make them laugh."
"Get to know them, ask questions and listen."

But there's also the:

"When will I be able to workout?"
"Do they workout?"
"What kind of workouts should I do?"
"How long should the workouts last?"
"What are we going to be eating?"
"Should I workout with them or get up early?"
"Should I even workout?"
"How long am I going to be there?"

“Should I plan on making the trip a recovery weekend / no workout weekend?”

I visited my girlfriends family for the 1st time this weekend. They're from the Pittsburgh area and people from Pittsburgh very much love their Steelers, Penguins and Ketchup like we love our Red Sox, Patriots and Fenway Franks.

Since it was my 1^st visit, I left the roller, valslides, superbands and jungle strap at home so I could be more in the moment and get to know them while they got to know me.

For activity, I walked with her sister all over town, stretched on the carpet with her 2 year old nephew (your routine Jack), successfully pitched the after dinner “Alves Family Walk” (hint: use their last name) and walked all over Pittsburgh as a tourist. Roughly 320 min of cardio over 3 days.

When it came to meals, I used the “when in Rome…” philosophy and as such I sampled everything, but loaded up on lean proteins, good fats and vegetables. I’m not much of an alcohol drinker so I pretty much drink water. Not sexy, but it keeps my energy high, my thoughts and words clear and my waistline tight.

In closing:

Trainers 1^st think about making a good first impression and then think about how to fit in their training and nutrition.

Her family LOVED my creative gifts (inquire below with a reply and I’ll share the story).
They liked me because they told me so and invited me back.
I scouted a playground, basketball courts, a pool and a giant hill to train at during my next visit.
I’ll go to bed early, to get up early and train before everyone stirs.
I’ll pack minor food items to supplement my meals with.
Her nephew used the bathroom for his 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th times while we were there.

Living the active life.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp

p.s. We’re in the heart of summer right now. Do you know what to do to look and feel great? I’m sure you do, but if you want a plan, an environment, a team and a coach to help you get there faster, safely and with much fun, sign up now for our phase 7, Newton Boot Camp beginning August 22.

p.p.s. Forward planners get your back to school / back to work jumpstarts by joining us August 22 to solidify your habits and routines before the “rush returns”.

Scandalous Reports About Protein Powders

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:00:00 +0000

As you know, I have partnered with Prograde Nutrition because I truly believe in their company.

So I'm not surprised at all to see them release this amazing report on what's really going on with Protein Powders these days.

Being that you're into fitness you've probably seen some of those crazy reports about protein powders being dangerous.

Well, I can't speak for all companies, but I can tell you:

1) Prograde has passed with flying colors.

2) Those reports in the media were entirely misleading.

3) Go to this page to find out the truth about the whole thing: http://mikealves.getprograde.com/specials.html

4) You'll also find a coupon code to save 10% on all Prograde products with protein. But that deal only lasts through Friday, so get a move on ;-)

Yours in health,

Mike Alves

PS - Seriously, you cannot miss this one. You need to be an educated consumer so you can make the best decision possible. http://mikealves.getprograde.com/specials.html

Recovery Week

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:06:00 +0000

There are 2 main ways to recover: actively and passively.

Active Recovery is most any physical activity performed with manipulation of one or more of the following variables -intensity, frequency, duration, tempo, volume, load, routine, mode of exercise and/or nutrition consumption- with an objective to allow the spirit, mind and most important in regards to boot camp, the body, to heal, recover and regenerate so as to return to a stronger and more fresh state of being.

It can be the same activity or a different one.

It can be a different activity, mode of exercise or routine, but use a greater, the same or a less intensity, frequency, duration of time, tempo, total exercise volume (sets, reps & load), load and nutrition consumption (what, how much and when) as your normal activity.

It can be the same activity (strength training and/or conditioning) with a reduced intensity, frequency per week, total time duration, speed or cadence of movement (tempo), total exercise volume, reduced load or weight used, same or different routine, same or different mode of exercise (regular push ups vs. close grip push ups vs. kneeling push ups vs. supine dumbbell chest press) or nutrition consumption (what, how much and when).

Passive recovery is when you do zero active physical activity and mainly focus on sleep, rest, massage and nutrition consumption.

How do you know what is best for you?

The simple approach is to go by how you FEEL.

Do you FEEL like you need a break from physical activity?

If yes, choose passive recovery.

Do you feel like you need to be active, but you need a break from your current routine?

If yes, choose a different activity, mode of exercise or routine and manipulate the variables.

Do you feel great and don’t want to break your momentum and want to keep training hard?

If yes, choose the same activity and manipulate the variables.

The more introspective approach is to consider or ask your hired coach:

· What your training age is?

· When was your last break or vacation from training?

· How long have you been following your current program?

· What your goals are?

· Is there a goal deadline coming up?

· Did you just achieve a goal or reach a deadline?

· What training Mesocyle or phase are you coming off of

1. E.G. peak volume, intensity or taper as contrasting examples or maybe off season, preseason, in season or peak championship season for athletes?

· What is your home / work stress level like?

1. High stress at home and/or work requires greater passive recovery and manipulation of active recovery variables.

Simply put: do as much as you can as often as you can, so long as it does not add to or increase the level of your home/work stress, but rather allows you to feel refreshed, somewhat energized and renewed for another day of battle.

*Also, if you regularly face high stress at home and/or work, then the short term approach is to learn how to manage it better through manipulation of exercise, nutrition, sleep and recovery, while the long term approach is to build up your physical and mental work capacities and toughness so that home / work stress becomes more tolerable or best case un-felt while “cowboying up” for your workouts is the most challenging AND best part of your day.

2. Low or moderate home / work stress could require less active recovery and more passive recovery, but is less often the case and is dependent on how much physical stress from activity you've been enduring and for how long.

In summary, there are 2 main ways to recover, actively and passively. You can combine them or separate them. The simplest way to decide what is best for you is to go by how you feel. The more introspective approach is to ask yourself or your coach some deeper questions. The main objective is to allow the spirit, mind and most important in regards to boot camp, the body, to heal, recover and regenerate so as to return to a stronger and more fresh state of being.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Change Your Body Boot Camps

Newton’s 1^st Fitness Boot Camp

Change Your Body Boot Camps IS NOT for everyone, nor is it a high turnover, run ‘em to the ground, workout centered, gimmick focused, substance free, stale, disempowering, teamless, corporation run, franchise in box or personality based boot camp. Visit bootcampboston.com to learn more and if you’re ready to apply to join

The Fresh Prince Believes. Do you?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:12:00 +0000

We've just finished our 1st challenge day and we have 12 days left on the "Drop A Dress Size or Pant Size in 21 Days".

My job as a coach is to get you in your best shape.

My clients job is to execute the plan.

People change at different rates.

Will Smith, America's golden boy/man, has a mindset that enables him to do anything
he wishes.

Check out this video of Will sharing his thoughts. See what you can learn and use in your life.

Are you inspired? I was.

Now, keep it simple. If you want to lose weight, move more and eat less. That's it.

If you want to get better at a skill, then read, watch, get a coach, join a team, practice, be challenged, do it and get better.

Decide. Set your mind to do it. And go. Don't look back. People & life will get out of your way.

It will be worth it. You'll be glad you did. What do you want? Decide. Set your mind and go.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp
Newton Personal Trainer
Change Your Body Challenge

Drop A Dress / Pant Size in 21 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:43:00 +0000

Phase 3: March 28 - April 18

Would you like to drop a dress or pant size in 21 days?

Do you want to have a great time while doing it?

Change Your Body Boot Camps gets you in your best shape, fast. So fast, that if you join us for the next 21 days, I guarantee if you follow our plan you will drop a dress or pant size if that’s your goal.

“I lost 8lbs and 2 dress sizes in 4 weeks!”

Ellen Kelley

Time to shed your winter layers and sharpen up your self confidence.

You’ve got places to go, new people to meet and life goals to get done. You’re going to need the energy to be your best and the fast twitch thinking to be on top of your toes. Quit hiding behind baggy clothes, turn the lights back on and start committing to social events instead of making excuses.

I’ve been changing lives by changing bodies for over 10 years now. Our programs are effective because we’re convenient, we offer multiple class days and times each week while providing you flexibility if you have to miss a class.

All programs are results oriented, backed by research and real world tested application. I’m not sure if you love what you do, but boy do I love what I do. C’mon. Who doesn’t want to be around excited people buffing up their “shrines”, turning frowns upside down with overflowing happy hormones.

You’ll train with motivated people, who desire to get in their best shape and have been pre-screened like you'll be.

This won’t be easy. Training with Change Your Body Boot Camps may be the hardest thing you’ve ever done physically or at least in a long time. Mentally, you’ll be required to work even harder if you want both immediate and lasting change. If you can accept this in your heart, mind and spirit and step forth with great fortitude and determination while focusing on your end goal, the results and the rewards will be unlimited and worth it.

Apply now to join an exclusive culture of change and drop a dress or pant size in 21 days. We start March 28 with or without you.

Spring is here. Get moving!

Yours living the active life,

Mike Alves, ATC/L, CSCS

p.s. here’s the link to learn more.

p.p.s. here’s the link to apply.

p.p.p.s. let’s GO! This is your time for change!

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Trainer

Change Your Body Challenge

Pains, Pleasures, Costs & Gains

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:06:00 +0000

Record your screencast online

Pains, Pleasures, Costs and Gains

Based on Tony Robbins, Personal Power & Get The Edge CD’s

By Mike Alves

2 summers ago I found myself w/o a job and in need of an attitude check. I was lost, frustrated, sad, confused, lonely, angry, basically many unhappy adjectives that were very much unlike me.

It was time for an attitude check. I needed to look myself in the mirror and ask myself some tough questions. Why? Why was I doing the things I was doing? Why did this happen to me? What was I doing wrong? What wasn't I doing right? Etc...

A friend of mine, who also likes self improvement things, had Tony Robbins, Personal Power and Get the Edge CD's. I didn't know much about him or what the cd's were about, but I needed to do something because I hated how I felt, so I borrowed them.

Tony's a pretty awesome guy, with a humble and quirky personality. It seemed like he was talking directly to me and that I had many of the problems his examples had. This was very frustrating, awakening and necessary for me to hear. I hated it because it was true, but I knew that great change always came from uncomfortable situations.

During every cd he gives you a homework assignment and sometimes during the cd, he'll ask you to do something; he'll even stop the "tape" and tell you to do it now. So I did. It was hard, it made me think, but sometimes it was pretty cool. Heck, I met my current girlfriend because he made me write down what I wanted, what I didn't and who I needed to become to be with her. It's helped me start a business, by re-sharpening my confidence and it helped me understand my clients psychology by 1st understanding my own.

Here's where it can relate to you:

He asked me to name an action I've been avoiding.

Then he asked me to answer 4 questions:

1) what was the pain associated with taking the action?

2) What was the pleasure associated with avoiding the action?

3) What was it costing me by not completing the action?

4) What could I gain if I completed the action?

This was a very interesting experience. The first thing that happened was I ended up completing / taking action on all 4 tasks.

The 2nd thing that happened was I realized that 1 of the tasks on the list wasn't that important to me so that's why I had procrastinated in the first place. 1 task involved me buying something I needed, but when you're out of work every dollar gets scrutinized over & over and 2 tasks were opportunities that I was letting pass me by.

Those last 2, the opportunities, were the keys. Had I not asked myself those 4 questions (pain, pleasure, cost & gain); I wouldn't have realized what I was doing. It got a fire burning pretty quickly, so quickly I took action.

The last topic I'd like to share with you today, that Coach Robbins taught me, was forgiveness. I used to hold grudges and was proud to say, "I can hold a good grudge", but like Will Smith says in 1 of his songs, "hate in your heart, will consume you too" and it did. Tony not only reinforced my decision to forgive people for their short comings or mistakes, but he got me to forgive MYSELF. This was HUGE.

I am my toughest critic. Nobody expects more from me than I do. Many times I've made mistakes. Some big, some small, some huge. Thing was, I didn't allow myself to forget because I wanted to learn the lesson, but I didn't forgive myself for being human either and making a mistake I could learn from. This was big. It allowed me to release a lot of self induced pressure and move forward with a clear conscious.

Since learning is useful only when you apply it, go ahead and write down an action you've been avoiding in a personal journal. Be sure to leave some space to answer your pain, pleasure, costs and gains associated with the action. Remember what motivated you and use it to your advantage later.

Yours living the active lifestyle,

Your coach,

Mike Alves

p.s. did you like or dislike this blog post?

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Trainer

Change Your Body Challenge

Mediocre Efforts yeild Mediocre Results

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Alves) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:48:00 +0000

Record your screencast online

When it comes to Changing Your Body and Getting in Your Best Shape here are some things to think about.

Mediocre efforts yield mediocre results.

Pacing yourself means you won’t have to change for a long time.

Choosing to be average or normal says, you’ll never realize your potential.

Following your plan guarantees you’ll get the same results you’ve been getting.

Picking and choosing from my plan guarantees, that my plan won’t work either.

Living to eat shows you lack discipline and you like spinning your wheels.

Wanting to do more “ab work” tells me you’re eating poorly, drinking too many calories and still not doing the right cardio.

Look, I’m far from perfect and I don’t get it right every time, but there are some certainties. I don’t want to be average, mediocre or to pace myself. I hate spinning my wheels and I don’t like wasting time.

I do love getting results and getting them fast. Splurging like I’ve earned it and eating so much food that people are taken aback and probably turned off. I love not having to do crunch work or ab work to get a great stomach.

I’ve followed other people’s plans to a “T” and received awesome results. I’ve picked & choosed from other people’s programs and I’ve gotten mixed results. Life’s too short, way too short. I’m not too proud to let someone tell me what to do, nor am I afraid to let experts do what experts do and I stick to whatever it is I know best.

My people are getting Spring Break Ready. Some of them have already bought new bathing suits that they didn’t fit into, but are determined to make change happen. Some are getting ready to have banner performance years and changing their body will get them there faster. Of course, some are choosing to pace themselves because they’re not fully ready to change.

In any event, if you want to get in your best shape, change your body and pursue your genetic potential, then be prepared to do everything that normal and average people won’t do. You have to get uncomfortable.

Change Your Body Boot Camps is a very special and empowering culture of change. We hate being mediocre and we love getting better.

If I offended you, I’m sorry, but you’re just not ready to hear this yet. Unsubscribe until you are.

Yours living the active life,

Your coach,

Mike Alves

p.s. Sunday, March 28 begins the Drop A Dress Size (or Pant Size) in 21 Days spring kickoff. If this interests you answer our 6 change questions to see if you’re a good fit for us.

Newton Boot Camp

Newton Personal Training

Change Your Body Challenge