Archive for May, 2011

Well it’s here – Memorial Day Weekend. The official start of Summer. The great “unveiling” – when the shirts come off, the swimsuits go on and the entire World knows exactly how good or bad your dieting and exercising was for the last 3-4 months.

My colleague Jason Ferruggia has called this weekend – Judgment Day!

Are you ready? :)

If not – you have two more BIG weekends this Summer in which to dial in your physique and make a huge difference. That’s right – it’s not over — you still have two more Judgment Days this year!

Goal setting is all about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals — and T stands for “Time line”. Athletes peak for National Championships, Trials and World events. Just because you’re training for fat loss or to look better naked – doesn’t change the fact that DEADLINES are extremely effective tools.

So we’re going to set two this Summer.

Your next goal is Independence Day (for my US readers) – July 4th – only five weeks away.

With a combination of a kick start plan, a solid workout and nutritional support program and a healthy dose of motivation – you could easily be 10+ lbs leaner by then.

Your next goal is the end of summer – the Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September). This is currently fourteen weeks away. So if you’re looking a little flabby this weekend or feeling a little embarrassed about your body — you can still make amazing changes. It’s never too late.

This is an opportunity for you to look great by Summer’s end.

But you still need to start now.

Here’s the fat loss basics (if you need more info see below):

1) You need to create a caloric deficit – no two ways about it – you must burn more than you consume. But that doesn’t just mean eat less – you will have to change the foods you eat.

2) The most effective way to create that deficit is to use a combination of diet and exercise

3) Your diet should consist of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables.
Keep starches and refined carbs to a minimum.
Keep your fluid intake high (water only), and try to eat at least 4-5 small meals per day.
This will help maintain blood sugar levels and keep you from blowing your diet.
Follow this plan 90% of the time (which will allow you to have some flexibility on weekends etc)

4) Exercise – interval training and metabolic resistance training will provide the most bang-for-your buck. Steady state aerobic training just doesn’t burn enough calories for your goals right now, and a bodypart training split will be less effective than total body training for fat loss.

5) Try to exercise at least four to six days per week – two to three days of resistance training and two to three days of interval based cardio.

6) Supplements: there is almost nothing that will make a difference. Sorry.
Certain supplements can boost metabolism, or increase your energy somewhat and these may be useful – but in terms of real world “pounds of fat lost” I have yet to see anything that really made a difference. A multivitamin and a fish oil supplement are vital though – but more for your overall health. A protein shake or meal replacement powder can be useful for convenience but are nothing more than high quality food.

Get started now!

–
AC
PS -All talk of fat loss aside – enjoy your holiday weekend. But PLEASE remember the point of this weekend – remember our fallen heroes and spare a thought for all the troops who are still fighting for us today. My thanks to all of you.

Designing Successful Semi-Private Training Programs DVD

Semi-private training is the hottest trend in the fitness business right now. This year for Perform Better I presented on the practicalities of designing programs for these small groups and tips for easy implementation -something that we have considered to have revolutionized at Results Fitness

We go over

• How to integrate assessments – including how we use the Functional Movement Screen at Results Fitness,
• How we select appropriate exercises based on the screen,
• Dynamic warm-up
• Corrective exercise, – how much and what to do
• Core training – the difference between top-down core training and bottom up
• Stabilization training vs Dynamic Stabilization
• Metabolic work – why traditional interval training is dead and rarely used at Results Fitness

The DVD also includes some footage of the hands-on sessions including practical examples of how to put into action the lecture material.

We managed to implement the semi-private system with 100+ participants in a one hour session.

“I’ve never seen a trainer control a room the way Alwyn Cosgrove does. At first glance it just looks like a great workout – but when you’re truly engaged – you see all the subtleties in what he’s doing with the programming”
- Fraser Quelch.
Director of Training and Development
Fitness Anywhere Inc.

You can pick it up here -

Designing Successful Semi-Private Training Programs

–
AC

The turning point in my career came when I realized that everything I needed to know about the fitness profession, training people and running a business was already out there.
All I had to do was read it or listen to it. I then started to invest in myself and I’ve never stopped.

I decided in 1995 that I would take one training session’s worth of income each week and invest it in my own education. At that time I picked up 2 books per week and committed myself to reading them. If there was a seminar or educational event I attended that. At that time there were no Perform Better events – really there were only certifications – so in a short time I ended up with I think 17 certifications from various organizations. Every week I disciplined myself to read 2 books or watch a video (there were no DVD’s then!) or listen to an educational audio.

It all started when I read this quote-

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations – we fall to the level of our training”
-Archilochus, Greek Soldier

- and believed in it so much that it changed my direction

My goal was to learn one new thing per day — so that in a year I’d know 365 more things. That progressed to one hour of study per day – so I’d spend nine full 40-hour work weeks per year by comparison fully immersed in education.

I also started writing a 100 word summary on every training session I did – results, coaching cues that worked, exercise modifications etc. I averaged around 35 sessions per week at the time – so at the end of one year – I had close to a 200,000 word thesis on training and coaching methodology. Then, different strength coaches and rehab specialists started holding seminars. I attended everyone’s events (and actually started hosting them for additional events).

Around about the time we opened our gym I had a realization. As a trainer, I could get anyone better results with my programming and my instruction than they could on their own. I recognized that I became a black belt martial artist because of my instructors programming and instruction, better than I could on my own.

“All wealthy top achievers have coaches”
– James Malinchak

So it hit me – it was time to move beyond self-education and actually hire coaches for my business. All aspects of my business. Coaches who could really fast-track my business progress and get me to the next level faster. And as a direct result of that decision – Results Fitness is one of the most successful fitness businesses in the country.

You see coaches help with a lot of things . Most goal setting programs work something like this (from the book: The Secret Code of Success):

1. Set goals (know what you want)
2. Take action towards your goals
3. Evaluate your progress
4. Adjust the approach based on your evaluation

The problem with that – is that’s not how it works for most people in the real world — here’s pretty much what happens:

1. The Fog (you have no clarity – no idea of what you truly want)
2. Treadmilling (you’re busy – really busy – but you aren’t actually moving forwards)
3. Feel like a failure (as you didn’t get any closer to your goals)
4. Try again (hoping that doing the same thing over and over wil somehow lead to different results)

Hiring a coach helps figure out EXACTLY what you want – and provides ACTION steps to get you closer to that.

Now it’s my turn to pay it forward – that’s why we launched our Results Fitness Business Mentorship and coaching groups. I don’t do motivational talks or pump people up – I establish clarity for them – and then provide clear implementation steps to get them to move forward methodically to exactly what they want.

The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone in this field is to continually invest in yourself. Education is the single biggest difference maker in any field. Investing in yourself never fails to reap big rewards.

Our last mentorship event is coming up soon: July 12th-14th. We currently, as of this morning have five spots still available. If you are serious about your career, make sure you sign up before the price increases: Results Fitness Mentorship

–
Alwyn
PS – if you’re a trainer or studio owner – make sure you sign up for the Results Fitness Biz newsletter (on the left of the page that link sends you to).
PPS – Early bird pricing is only good until June 1st, but we’re very likely to be full before then.

I’m speaking at a seminar in the UK soon. It’s a killer three day event. The hosts originally offered a ticket for the whole event for a very reasonable investment.

And then the usual emails started coming in….. Was there a ticket for just two days, if you can’t make the first day? I have to leave early on Sunday – is there a discount? I want to sleep late on Sunday morning – is there a discount if I miss the first two hours ? (ok the last one was made up….)

I can tell you that personally I’ve paid for a seminar (full price), flown there, stayed in a hotel, because of other commitments arrived late, also had to leave early, and in ONE session, got a 2500% return on my investment from ONE idea….

These people looking for a discount don’t have a financial problem. They see a seminar as an expense – whereas high performers see them as an investment. In other words, they have a MINDSET problem. And that may lead to financial problems if they don’t fix that…

The Principle of the Slight Edge

There’s an interesting fact about investing a penny, and doubling that investment every day.
So – day one – you have one cent in the bank. Day two – two cents. Day three – four cents. Day four – eight cents etc.

By day 28 – you’ll have over $5 million saved (go ahead – do the math).

The idea is that major change starts with a small investment.

Now obviously it would be pretty difficult to find a bank that would double your money for you every day — but the point is that seemingly insignificant investments (at the time) can add up to something very significant over time.

Recently I attended an excellent seminar, where I got to learn from James Malinchak and Brian Tracy. It was a four day event which covered a lot of ways to improve my skills as a speaker, and more importantly, it has already improved my business a lot.

I’ve stated earlier that I spend a lot of time travelling and teaching seminars – I did over 26 events in the last year . So why did I spend one of my few free weekends attending an event?

Because I spoke 26 times last year! It’s part of what I do – and along with giving formal presentations – it’s a big part of what most fitness professionals do, yet most don’t think of improving that side of their business. think about it – essentially, when you meet a prospective client or do an initial consult for a team – you are performing a public speaking presentation. It only makes sense to sharpen your skills in that area as well as working on your training skills. Every fitness professional should attend one of these events.

The main reason I attended however, was that I am a big believer in that idea of “Principle of Slight Edge”. Basically the principle states that small changes made over time can add up to big results. Or to put it another way – I only need to learn one thing from a seminar or book in order to gain a slight edge as my return on investment. And that slight edge can add up to huge rewards.

I heard Brian Tracy say that if you read one hour per day you’d be an expert in a couple of years. One hour is not a big investment. But when you add that up over the course of the year – that’s 365 hours. Or nine 40-hour work weeks.

One of the turning points in my career was when I invested one training session’s worth of income each week into education. In other words I invested in myself. I took the fee from one client, one session per week and consistently invested that into educational books, or CD’s.

That investment amounted to 2 books a week on average. 52 weeks a year. And I translated the information that I received into action — into more clients, better results, faster progress. After a year the return was so great that I then doubled my investment….

Close to sixteen years since that turning point I still make the decision to continually reinvest a significant portion of my income and time into education. All I need to get is one idea, a reminder of something, a different way of looking at something, or clarity on and it pays dividends. In fact just being in the room at these events with like minded people has me buzzing with energy.

Change your mindset. Get a slight edge.

–
AC

(I talked about kettlebell training for cardio previously – part one here and part two here).

I just recently read the results of a new study using kettlebell training:

Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011 May;37(3):196-203.
Kettlebell training for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health: a randomized controlled trial.
Jay K et al.

This study split 40 participants with a high prevalence of reported musculoskeletal pain symptoms, into two groups- a kettlebell training group and a control group (no exercise).

The exercise group consisted of “ballistic full-body kettlebell exercise 3 times per week for 8 weeks” The main outcome measures were pain intensity of the neck/shoulders and low back, isometric muscle strength, and aerobic fitness.

After 8 weeks the exercise group had reduced pain levels significantly in the neck/shoulders and low back and increased muscle strength of the trunk extensors but not the trunk flexors or shoulders. Aerobic fitness did not improve at all in the exercise group.

The pain results are great as we’d normally have shied away from high speed ballistic training in a clientele reporting pain – but why was there no improvement in trunk flexor strength ? Quite simply – they didn’t train trunk flexion at all. They only trained trunk extension…

From the study:

Each session lasting 20 minutes included a 5–10 minute warm up and a 10–15 minute interval training.

 

The interval training consisted of 10 intervals of 30 seconds with rest period of 30–60 seconds. The intervals consisted of constant work with participants choosing an appropri-ate progression level as follows: (i) unweighted swing; (ii) deadlift with a kettlebell; (iii) two-handed swing with a kettlebell; and (iv) one- handed swing with a kettlebell.

 

During the first 4 weeks of training, the rest between sets was one minute of active recovery. During the last 4 weeks, the rest was compressed to 30 seconds of active recovery

They only did deadlift or swing-type movements. That’s training specificity 101 – the SAID principle – specific adaptation to imposed demands – you improve what you train. If you want to improve the whole body, you need to train every movement.

What about the lack of aerobic fitness improvement? (as that contradicts earlier studies).

Same thing basically — it was 4 weeks of 1:2 work:rest using low loads, and then 4 weeks of 1:1 (using higher loading or more advanced exercises). So the lack of aerobic improvement may just mean that the routine wasn’t cardiovascularly demanding enough.

The researchers noted: “We attribute the lack of change in aerobic fitness to insufficient cardiovascular stimulation in the brief training sessions. The session duration of 20 minutes (consisting of 5–10 minutes of warm-up followed by 10–15 minutes of kettlebell training) does not leave ample duration to stimulate significant cardiovascular adaptations.”

Overall it’s a pretty cool finding though. This was one of the first studies to look at power training or ballistic movements and their effect on reducing pain. The researchers mentioned “Our study is the first to demonstrate that ballistic cyclic training with high peak forces markedly lowers pain symptoms in both the neck/shoulder and low-back region.”

My take home advice:

An earlier study showed that explosive training burns 13% more calories during training than slow controlled reps, and 7% more calories post training. The kettlebell studies I posted earlier in this blog show how this type of training can create metabolic demand, the following study-

J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Dec;24(12):3369-80.
A comparison of high-speed power training and traditional slow-speed resistance training in older men and women.
Sayers et al.

- recommends that training programs for older adults emphasize high-speed movements at low external resistances, I think it’s safe to say that training programs both for yourself, and for your clients need to include some form of ballistic or explosive training.

–
AC

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A little Saturday morning challenge for you…..

 

–
AC
PS – Click here to enter the TRX 28-28-28 challenge!

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