Lean and Sexy...Great! But there's more to it than that...

I tell you guys all the time how great you look--because you do! But you know there’s more to it than that, right? Yeah, it’s great that you guys are all lean and sexy, but there are so many other benefits...I’m just going to jot down a few that come to mind...

You probably feel more relaxed. You probably don’t get sick as much as you used to. You probably feel better overall--and why wouldn’t you? Regular exercise can help manage or prevent high blood pressure. Exercise also boosts the “good” cholesterol while decreasing the bad! And the Mayo Clinic also says regular physical activity can help prevent type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer!

Obviously you’re leaner, which makes you look better, but you got to admit, you feel better having shed body fat. And I guarantee you carry yourself differently at work and other social situations as a result. Being fit gives you more confidence. There’s nothing better than feeling good about yourself. When you feel good about yourself, it shows!

And I bet all of you have more energy now! Think about it...we work not only your muscles, but your cardiovascular system too. We’ve made your body more efficient circulating blood and delivering oxygen and nutrients throughout your body. You probably have energy now like you did when you were much younger.

Surely you sleep better overall too. Putting your body through the amount of physical activity I put you through should directly translate into you sleeping like a brick at night. You should be falling asleep faster and sleeping deeper...especially exercising early in the AM like you do. I bet some of you have never slept so well.

I’ll just write the following two words: sex life. Remember the confidence and endurance things above? How you feel about yourself? How you feel about your body I wouldn’t be surprised if your significant other hasn’t said something like the following in the last couple of months, “You know honey, I was thinking I might start working out again.” I’ll leave it at that.

And how about FUN! I try and keep it entertaining with my singing, dancing, dorkiness, and inappropriate jokes. I switch the training up a lot to stop you from getting bored. And I’ve seen friendships build in class...hell, many of you have become good friends to me. I get sad when you sleep in and don’t come to class. Seriously. That’s how I feel about you guys.

So yes, all of you look amazing...and I mean AMAZING!, but the results from this class go more than skin deep. One of the best comments I ever received from one of you was as follows: “You know Bill, you’re not only changing the way we look, you’re changing our lives.”

Alcohol and Diet

Many of you may not realize that there is a very easy way to make big progress in your health and fitness—eliminate alcoholic beverages from your diet. Some of you may already know that alcohol is full of empty calories, and by “empty calories”, I mean calories that aren’t useful for the functions of the body but still have to be worked off just like useful calories.

Here is some less widely known information about alcoholic drinks: A shot of alcohol contains about 100 calories. So, lets put a night of drinking into perspective. If you have 6 shots of alcohol during a night of drinking that is 600 calories. Margaritas have significantly more calories than shots. A typical margarita has 300 calories. If you have 6 margaritas, that is 1800 calories! A woman that weighs about 130 pounds and exercises 5 times per week burns about 1700 calories over the course of a day. Depending on the drink you choose to imbibe during a night of drinking, you will have consumed between 30%-105% of your daily needed calories by the end of the night.

The following is a list of the other effects of a night of drinking:

1. In addition to having ingested many extra calories, since the drinks were consumed right before going to bed, very few of the calories will be used as fuel in the near future and instead will be stored as fat.
2. The next effect of consuming alcohol at night is the disruption of your normal sleep cycles. Since you don’t sleep well after a night of drinking, your body doesn’t repair itself as well as a normal night’s sleep.
3. Drinking alcohol dehydrates your body as well as depletes your body of vitamins and minerals that it needs to function. Until your body is rehydrated and supplied with the needed vitamins and minerals, it will not process food correctly. The process of rehydrating and replenishing your body with the needed vitamins and minerals takes a day or more.
4. Drinking alcohol slows your metabolism. The more you drink, the worse the effects are.
5. Many studies have shown that consuming more than three drinks in one sitting will halt all muscle repair for many days. This means that the muscles that you worked out earlier in the day will not repair themselves well, resulting in little strength and muscle gains from the day’s workout.

All of these side effects of a night of drinking add up to halt any weight loss for a number of days and possibly lead to weight gain. My suggestion to those that do drink is to cut down on the number of drinks you take in during one sitting and stick with drinks that are sugar free so that the calorie content is lower. Some people only drink one or two drinks at night to “ease the tension” and those people probably are wondering if all of these effects apply to them as well—the answer is YES. Obviously the effects aren’t as sever, but they are still there slowing/stopping your fitness progress. The moral of this story is, enjoy the company of your friends and your surroundings without drinking alcohol so that you can reach your goal of a healthier, sexier body.

Robert

Lower Back Pain Solution

So I was talking to Melissa the other day about ways to get rid of her lower back pain and since a sore lower back is a very common injury, I am sharing it with the group too. The lower back injury that I am talking about tends to come on suddenly and it's cause can usually be traced back to a strenuous activity or possiblely something as seeming simple as bending over to pick something up. The injury is a strain of the lower back muscles that occurs due to the large muscle in your core, the Transverse Abdominal, being weak. The good news is that this injury is easily treated by doing a few simple exercises that strengthen your Transverse Abdominal muscles.

The first exercise I suggest performing can be performed at multiple times during the day when you are sitting in a chair. You simply pull you stomach in, trying to touch your belly button to your spine and hold it sucked in for 10 seconds. Rest for one minute and then repeat 2 more times for a total of three repetitions. Perform this sequence a total of 3 times each day. In a few weeks your back pain should be gone. The key to keeping this back pain from coming back is using correct lifting techniques any time you bend over to pick something up. The correct way to pick things up is to keep your stomach sucked in and tight while bending over which activates your Transverse Abdominal Muscle (TVA) and protects your lower back. (Lifting things in this manner protects your lower back just as a weight belt does.)

This article has some other exercise to strengthen your TVA muscle.
http://www.exercise4weightloss.com/transverse-abdominal-exercises.html

This link discusses the relationship between the TVA and lower back pain.
http://www.banbackpain.com/main/whats_at_the_core_of_your_back_pain/

Good luck!

Robert

Robert's Meatball Recipe

The recipe includes the following ingredients:

• 2 pounds of 96% lean ground beef
• ~ 1/2 pint of egg whites
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal...
• 4 oz of tomato paste

Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a mixing bowl. This recipe should make about 10 meatballs at 4oz each for the ladies and 5 meatballs at 8oz. Divide the mix up into the appropriate size meat balls and cook on a cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 375deg. Cook the meatballs at 375deg for 24 minutes. If you want the meat balls to be a little juicier, add more egg whites to the mix and a little less oatmeal.

One meat ball will satisfy the protein requirements for one meal if you are eating 5 times each day. You can also substitute 99% lean ground turkey meat for the lean ground beef. It is important that you use the leanest ground beef. When you use the fattier meat, you add a huge amount of unneeded calories to the meal.

Robert

Bonking it NOT what some of you think it is...

So the other day in class, a couple of you “bonked.” While the definitions for the word range from hitting your head to sexual intercourse, the definition I’m referring to it as follows: (from Wikipedia because it’s easier to copy and paste than writing the same thing with different words): Bonk describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by precipitous fatigue and loss of energy. If we look at the hit-your-head definition...the word bonk in this case means to hit a wall. So basically, the bonk refers to that catastrophic moment when there’s suddenly nothing left in the tank; when the legs turn to jelly, and you are DONE!

The simple explanation for bonk is that long-endurance exercise depletes the body’s store of glycogen, which produces the energy required to maintain performance. When the glycogen depletes entirely, the body has no more fuel and instead burns fat, resulting in a surge of fatigue and a performance collapse. That’s the simple version anyway... (see below for a link to a longer version).

You can cure milder instances of the bonk with brief rest and eating or drinking food or fluids containing carbohydrates. “Carbs” is not a bad word. You need them! They are your fuel! To ensure your glycogen levels are high when come to class, eat some carbs. You’ve probably heard the term “carb loading”? (if not, a quick Internet search will provide you additional information). Carb loading maximizes the storage of glycogen (or energy) in your muscles. You clearly don’t need to carb load for class, but you do need energy!

Eat before you come to class. You need fuel!

Maybe Robert will chime in here about carbs and breakfast (your most important meal of the day!)...and why you need to eat!

If you want to read more on bonking, more than you ever wanted to know can be found here: http://tunedintocycling.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/cycling-nutrition-the-bonk/

I hope that helps...

Bill

Welcome to CST-X.com!

Getting physically fit can be a challenge--staying fit can be a struggle. I’ve heard it from many of my new students...they’ve tried other plans, other gyms, boot camps, the latest fads, etc....some work for the short term, most don’t work at all.

I can help you solve your fitness challenges. I don’t offer a “boot camp”...do you really want some muscle-bound jock yelling at you? Really? I offer “classes” and teach you how to change your life. I don’t YELL at you. I encourage; I lead; I demonstrate; I consult; I advise; I motivate; I listen; I understand; I entertain; I challenge; I help you change your life. Don’t believe it? Read what my students have to say.

CST-X gives you everything you need to meet your fitness challenges:

• Fitness professionals guiding you toward success
• Education on exercises and proper techniques to make you stronger
• Consultation and meal planning to help you get leaner
• Motivation to help you achieve your goals
• Structure and discipline to bring out the healthy, sexy body inside you!

If your ready to increase your energy, boost your metabolism, improve your endurance, burn off fat, and ultimately get lean and sexy, contact me and I’ll give you the fitness solutions to help you change your life.

I look forward to meeting you.