We did this really fun workout last week that really challenged the entire core from top to bottom. Everyone loved it even though it was pretty tough.
Don’t have ropes and chains at home? No problem. You can drag anything. Just stay low and tight.
Posts Tagged ‘weight loss’
An Unusual Way to Work Your Core
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012I’m Back!
Friday, April 20th, 2012So much has happened since I lasted posted here. I’ve actually been busy with another blog, www.superstrongnana.com. I’m quickly approaching 50 and suddenly have a lot more interests in my life.
Out of all the stuff I’ve been into in the last few months, boot camp is still my first love.
We’ve really changed some things around and the first was for me to take a step back from teaching. This was very hard for me because I felt like I should be at every class since this is the business I started back in 2006. The worse part is not seeing all of the friends I have made over the years. I just couldn’t continue to run the business and get up at 3:30 am anymore to teach classes. The lack of good quality sleep effected everything from my personal life to the business.
I have now turned over the reins to Mike who has been by my side for almost the whole 6 years. Two of our clients have earned their Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification and one of those, DK is working with us “full time”. Becca will be helping teach Kettlebell classes along with Mike Munroe, another long term client.
So that leaves me with teaching a few classes, doing personal training and running the business.
We’ve changed things around and added some new classes. Some of the things we are offering are Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes at 9:00 am and 6:30 pm in addition to the classes we have always had.
We are doing monthly adventure race training with our new side business, Adventure Race Camps. We can do any type of adventure race training from 2 hour obstacle race training to all night Death Race training. Some people use our ARC to prepare for races and others use it as a gut check.
We are coming to the end of our boot camp transformation challenge that began the first week of January. So far our top male and female leads have lost over 25 pounds and that is without doing anything crazy.
We are also about to begin an on-site boot camp program for Killearn Lakes Elementary School. I am very excited about this opportunity. I think teachers today have one of the toughest jobs there is and to do something to help them improve their health is a blessing.
Now that I am not waking up in the middle of the night anymore, I hope to keep up this blog as well as all of my other projects.
I got this quick video on Wednesday of the 5:30 pm class wrapping up their workout with this human centipede ab workout.
My 4:00 am Wake Up Call
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012This morning I woke up at 4:00 am. Seems like every few months, I get insomnia. I fall asleep quickly but then wake up after a couple of hours.
After lying in bed for thirty minutes I decided to turn on the TV.
I was hoping to find something boring and doze back off to sleep. With blurry eyes I flipped through the channels. I thought my remote was stuck because it looked like the same show was on every station. It was nothing but infomercials. Three stations had weight loss gadgets, one station was some gadget to change your life in the kitchen and one station was showing something to change your life in the bedroom. At 4:00 am, the only change I want going on in my bedroom is some sleep!!
I decided to see what kind of crap was being sold at 4:00 am and what kind of ridiculous promises were being made.
First channel surfing stop was a product known as the Contour. This gadget is a belt that when worn around the midsection sends electrical currents to tighten and tone while you get to sit around and watch TV. I watched as they showed the user doing traditional sit ups. On cue, he made the squishy, contorted facial expression of a man in pain. He said the sit up hurt his back….poor baby, poor incredibly ripped, lean hunk of gorgeousnesses.
Enter the expert!
The expert showed a thermoscan of gorgeous male model’s muscles while doing sit ups and then while wearing the “amazing” Contour belt. Of course the Thermoscan lit up when that hunk of a man put on the belt.
Even in my sleep deprived state, I knew that this was a load of crap.
If you watch closely enough and take you eyes off of that hot body long enough, you will see a quick flash of print at the bottom of the screen, the same print that is on the bottom of the TV screen of all these stupid gadgets and that is that results are not typical….blah, blah, blah. Does anyone even read that or they already on the phone ordering, not one but 2? God forbid you ever get just one item from an infomercial. We all know that if you act now, they will send you another one for FREE!!
Ok, in case you missed the print at the bottom of the screen, here it is.
Regular users of the Contour device can generally expect modest strengthening and toning of abdominal muscles. Results are not typical. He lost weight on a reduced calorie diet and an exercise program.
Please do me a favor and read the above paragraph again, this time out loud.
This was just one station. The others were showing a Brazilion Butt Lift program and The Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis. Same crap, different delivery.
After flipping back and forth between several of these programs, I finally found and settled on an I Love Lucy marathon. Those were the good old days!
Insanity; Doing the Same Thing and Expecting Different Results
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012Obviously I thought this blog would write itself since it was dated December 12th and I am just actually getting to it.
I meant to get this done before the New Year but I guess January 3rd will have to do.
There is a huge amount of commercials on TV guaranteeing fast results with little to no work. Most of these products are worthless and some are downright absurd.
Let’s start with the Shake Weight. Have you seen the commercials? I seriously thought they were Saturday Night Live spoofs. The One featuring the guy is really funny..and obscene. I hope that actor made a lot of money for that. The Shake Weight promises toned arms in just minutes a day. I guess millions of people bought into the hype because whoever invented that made a ton of money. Just because it sold millions, does that mean it works? No!! The weight loss industry was around 40 billion dollars richer from the money that was spent. I just think how many people we could feed if we quit looking for a quick fix and just did the work required to lose weight.
Let’s take a closer look at this product shall we? First of all, they are paid actors. Do you really think the actors in those commercials look like they do from using a Shake Weight? Fitness models are paid to look like they do. They work out and diet for a living so that when a product comes calling, they are ready.
Secondly, I imagine that most of the people who buy these products are overweight or have higher than average body fat. Even if the Shake Weight did tone your arms, you wouldn’t see anything until you drop your body fat percentage into the lean category.
Getting your body fat low enough to show off toned arms takes some serious consistent changes in the diet along with regular exercise that includes weight training. There is no gadget that is going to get you there..unless that gadget happens to include a plastic surgeon. Even then, there is only so much they can do.
Next blog I will talk about another ridiculous product I saw last night. It’s a t-shirt for men that promises a 6 inch loss around the stomach. I bet the call centers were busy last night.
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
I’ve been dreaming about doing adventure race training since I trained Ricky and Megan for last year’s Death Race.
This past month it finally came into fruition.
Although planning the training comes easily to me, I was just lacking some of the obstacles needed to train people for the climbing that most of the races rely heavily upon.
Enter 2 wonderful guys from Tallahassee Police Dept’s SWAT team. They constructed a monster of a 12 ft wall designed for different types of climbing including various attachments for my 24 ft. cargo net.
This along with the many other pieces of equipment that we already have, I was able to officially start Adventure Race Training. Yes, the name isn’t fancy but it is direct and to the point. I don’t think anyone would mistake what we do.
My first group of trainees for November were people signed up for The Tough Mudder.
I explained that although I couldn’t replicate an actual race, I would give them the skills, strength and challenge that these type of races require.
We hold the workouts most weekends for 2 hours. I combine conditioning, upper body and core strength along with race simulations of climbing, crawling, getting wet and cold and lots of short distance running. The workouts change each week but keep the same elements.
The workouts can be designed for any type of group and for as long as someone wants to pay me. Our Death Race workouts lasted up to 12 hours and went through the night.
Here is a video of our ART (simple name but at least the initials spell something) and our clients at the Tough Mudder in Tampa and the Urban Disturbance here in Tallahassee.
http://youtu.be/bh0qDGMPMkc
Boot Camp Challenge
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011This week we did something a little different in our workout. Although our workouts are always different and very unique, we’ve decided to add some challenges. The military refers to these as Gut Checks. We divided the groups into teams of 2. Each team was given a Prowler (pushing sled), a pulling sled, a sandbag, a log, 2 heavy Kettlebells, an ammo can and a wheelbarrow full of heavy items. The goal was for each team to get these items up hill and around the block in the allotted time. Multiple switches were done throughout the 3/4 mile block so that everyone had a chance to use each item. We ended our workout with heavy Kettlebell Farmers Walks around the lot and up 3 sets of stairs. Not only were heart rates soaring but muscles that they never knew existed were put to the test.
Waiting for the 5:30 pm class
So if you get bored with your fitness routine and want a unique workout that is challenging and fun then join us. We have a FREE trial waiting for you.
My new favorite online food journal
Thursday, August 18th, 2011I have used many online food journals on my quest to become to hottest, most fit grandmother ever.
Studies show that people who keep food journals are more successful at weigh loss than those who don’t. I don’t know about you, but I want to be successful.
I love, www.loseit.com. I can track my exercise and food and add friends to keep me honest.
Most recently I’ve been using www.myfitnesspal and believe me, this site rocks! If you have a smart phone, esp an iphone, you can actually scan barcodes and automatically add that food to your journal. I’ve have added items with the Publix name brand and it found and added that food even though Publix is not a national grocery store. It also synchs with your computer.
I have to keep things simple and this site and app are a must have.
Client Success Story
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011We’ve had many success stories in the past 6 years of our boot camp program. Several really stand out and Cindy is one of them.
Cindy lost an incredible amount of weight and inches in her first session of camp. I have been traveling a lot and when I came in last week, I had to do a double take. I couldn’t believe it was her. She is in her 4th session of coming to boot camp only 3 days a week and has totally transformed.
When I post these kind of results, the first thing people ask is, “What is she doing?”. No one wants to hear the real answer. They are hoping it’s some new pill or some new gadget. No, it’s hard work and healthy eating.
Even though we see these results time and time again, we still have people complaining that they can’t lose weight. These are the people who try diet after diet, sticking to it for a week or 2 and then moving on to the next great diet/pill/gadget.
I’ve asked Cindy to write about what she is doing to see such tremendous results and this is what she wrote.
In three sessions (and one week) I have lost 41 lbs. and 49 inches. This last session I lost the exact same amount lb. wise as the second session but dropped 4 inches more than I did in the second session.
Diet: I don’t really feel as if I am “dieting”. The biggest change is counting every calorie I eat and paying more attention to portion sizes. I cut out regular sodas (still need to get rid of diet sodas but trying to only drink one of those instead of 2 - baby steps!) and white carbs (bread, rice, potatoes, etc.) but other than that I am just generally eating better with a well rounded diet. I’ve never been a big sweets eater. I’m more of a chips and bread, etc. snacker. I still will have chips with a sandwich, but I eat the baked ones and only have a few. I’m averaging 1500 - 2000 calories a day. Some days I can easily get up to 2000 calories a day, other days I have a hard time getting to 1500. One of the other biggest changes is I’ve started eating breakfast which I rarely did before. I’ve also just tried to be in the mindset of getting back to eating healthier rather than “dieting”. We have date night every other week and usually go out to dinner. I go out with the mindset that I’m just going to order what I feel like. If I feel like grilled salmon and veggies, I’ll order that. If I feel like a burger and fries, I’ll order that. Doing this, I don’t think there’s been a day in the last few months that I’ve felt like I’ve been on this restrictive diet and end up binging on crap that I’m craving. But, I’ve also been a lot more mindful of portions, especially when eating out. I rarely eat more than 1/2 a meal eating out (especially if I didn’t go with the healthiest option!) I don’t know if I’m doing this the right way but it’s working better than anything has in the past and feels like it’s more maintainable in the long run.
Exercise: In addition to boot camp I try to do a Zumba class once or twice a week (Mara teaches at her school) and I do an hour on the elliptical at the gym at least 5 days a week if not 7. The elliptical at the gym is more for my mental health than physical health. I go at night when everyone’s asleep and when I would just be sitting on the couch watching tv anyway. We have an elliptical machine at home but if I’m at home and one of the kids wakes up I have to deal with it. If I’m at the gym it’s an hour a day I can just relax and watch hulu tv on my phone. 
I’m up to 40 minutes at level 23 (out of 25) and the next 20 minutes going down 5 levels every 5 minutes.
The boot camp difference? Two years ago I dropped 40 lbs. (then had a bad year last year with a death in the family and put it back on). I did it doing the same thing I’m doing now (eating better though with a more restrictive diet then, zumba class twice a week and elliptical at the gym almost every day) but it took 7 1/2 months to lose 40 lbs. With boot camp, I’ve been able to do the same thing (and eat more!) in less than 1/2 the time.
As a side note: I had thought about trying BCTG probably a year ago and didn’t end up doing it. I never had a weight problem before I was about 26 (the heaviest I weighed before that was 135 / 140 after college) and was always pretty active but started putting on weight after working full time at a desk job, getting married, two kids (at 9 lbs. and 10.5 lbs! LOL). I knew I could do this on my own and thought it wasn’t necessarily worth the money having a trainer when I should be able to do this on my own even if it took longer. This past February, I read your January blog and that inspired me to go ahead and try this. That was the blog that you talked about having an eating disorder when you were younger. This was never an issue for myself but for my best friend. She was diagnosed with anorexia when we were 11 and spent 6 months in inpatient treatment. A month after we turned 14, her mom and dr. decided that she needed outpatient therapy for anorexia and she decided that she couldn’t go through that again and took her own life. It’s because of this that with my 7 year old daughter I am vigilant in the fact that “diets” and “losing weight” are not discussed in our house. When it comes up I talk about how we are eating better so that mommy (and everyone) can be healthy and I am doing boot camp in order to get fit and healthier, not skinny.
So, what’s your excuse?
Your Health is In Your Own Hands, what are you going to do about it?
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011I’ve heard so many people complain about the shape they are in. Lots of excuses and futile attempts at dieting and exercise.
Most of the ones who complain have been jumping from fad diet to fad diet for years thinking that this time, this diet is going to work. These are the ones who have been overweight most of their lives and yet are holding on to old behaviors and excuses.
It is mind boggling to me the amount of people who have treatable diseases like Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, knee and back pain due to lack of exercise and poor diet.
Yet they ignore the recommendations of their doctors and instead go on medications.
I’ve heard sad stories of obese patients being admitted to hospitals for obesity related diseases that can’t be treated because of extreme weight. Some lifesaving medications or measures will not work on the extreme obese patients.
This can change! We have control over our destiny. We make the choices to continue to live or to continue to die or worse, continue to live a life of quiet desperation.
I’ve had thousand of clients, many who have seen dramatic changes in their lives and many who leave exactly the way they came in.
Here is the difference
Successful client makes gradual changes to their current diet by eliminating the foods that are are unhealthy and have no nutritional value. They exchange soft drinks and sweet tea for water.
Unsuccessful client tries to eliminate everything from their diet, cutting calories too low and skipping meals and then going on extreme binges.
Successful client understands and accepts the fact that healthy weight loss will be anywhere from 1-2 pounds a week and that losing weight and getting in shape is a process that can take weeks to a year depending on the amount of weight they need to lose.
Unsuccessful client is looking for a quick fix hoping to drop 20 pounds in a couple of weeks, hence the jumping from diet to diet, program to program.
Successful client keeps a food journal so that they learn about their eating habits and see where they might need to make changes and more importantly see how many calories they are eating.
Unsuccessful client does not keep a food journal and makes excuses why jotting down the food they eat is too hard. They guess at the calories and are convinced that they are not eating that much.
Successful client eliminates processed food from their diet and instead begins to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and lean sources of protein.
Unsuccessful client continues to eat fast food, processed foods and non nutritious food because they don’t have time to eat healthy.
Successful client make time to exercise at least 5 times a week. Even though they are busy and have kids. They will carve out at least 15-20 minutes out of their day to exercise. They make themselves, their health and fitness a priority.
Unsuccessful client makes excuses and does not make their health and fitness a priority.
Successful client make healthy choices when eating out, eats smaller portions and brings home leftovers or shares large entrees.
Unsuccessful client eats out frequently, makes poor choices, chooses high fat food and alcohol.
Successful client accepts setbacks and yet continues to live a healthier lifestyle, getting back on track immediately.
Unsuccessful client will tell themselves that the program or diet is not working and will move on to the next fad and diet.
Successful client will challenge themselves in their workouts, making goals and striving to improve.
Unsuccessful client will do just enough to get by, skip workouts and make excuses.
Successful client will do effective full body workouts, lift weights that are challenging and push themselves out of their comfort zone.
Unsuccessful client will have a house full of exercise gadgets including ab rockers, ab circles, ab-o-sizer, shake weights, and a treadmill being used as a clothes hanger.
Successful client will be consistent over time knowing that losing weight and getting fit is a lifestyle change. They will choose an eating plan and exercise that can be done for life.
Unsuccessful client will get frustrated and give up after a week or two of not seeing changes. They will “diet” and eat healthy maybe a few times a week and then eat poorly the rest of the week. They convince themselves that they are in fact eating healthy and that this diet, this exercise, this program is not working. Again, they move on to the next quick fix, not realizing that wherever they go, there they are.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve trained thousands of clients, I’ve seen success and I’ve listened to tons of excuses but more importantly, I’ve been there myself.
Losing weight and getting in shape is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. If you can do the right things even 80% of the time, you will be well on your way to a fitter, healthier life. You will lose the weight in the safest possible time, you will be stronger, have more energy. You will be a better spouse a better parent a better employee.
Spending time doing the right thing will actually free up more quality time so that you can enjoy the life you’ve been given.
It’s up to you. Take inventory of where you are and where you want to be. Make goals that are doable and write them down. Put them somewhere you can see them through out the day.
Start keeping an exercise and food journal. Write down your excuses and then write the steps you ARE going to take when you start making excuses.
Accept the fact that this is not a quick fix but a lifestyle change.
Laurel
Kettlebell Suicides
Monday, February 28th, 2011Kettlebell class, Week 2, Day 1
Using 4 corners instead of a straight line we set the bells up from our lightest to a heavy bell we have not yet swung.
First set was starting with the lightest bell and doing 20 Swings
Run/jog to next cone and do 15 Swings with your normal sized bell and then return to cone 1 and repeat 20 Swings with the light bell.
Run to cone 3 and do 10 Swings with a heavier bell (1 size up from your norm), run to cone 2 and do 15 Swings, back to cone 1 for 20 Swings.
Run to cone 4 and do 5 Swings with a bell you’ve never swung before (or your heaviest), run to cone 3 for 10 Swings, cone 2 for 15 Swings and finally cone 1 for 20 Swings.
Rest
Second set we started on the heaviest bell for 5 reps and worked our way to the lightest cone.
We used the end of class to work on Cleans and Presses.