WAKE UP!!

This article is long overdue, both in terms of my writing it, and your reading it. You can call it a sound off, a call out, or a reality check. Or you can call it the cold, hard truth. For some, it's something you already know. For others, it's something you know but choose not to regard. Either way, this article is going to tell you EXACTLY why you are not getting what you want in life. When people use the old adage "the only thing keeping you back is you", they are 100% right. The only way you will get anything you want, is by using your BRAIN.

The more people I encounter both in the gym and on the street, the more visible this truth has become. I constantly hear people complaining about why they cannot start a fitness program or how they are not hitting their goals (and I'm not just talking in the gym either!) The bottom line is this: if you are not getting what you want, it's nobody's fault but your own.

In our industry today, it is now more clear than ever before that the mind and body are connected as one. Everything we do is the result of a thought process. We are all the same human organism. We're all made up the same way. However, in studying Neuro-Linguistic Programming with Master Practitioner and Coach Pamela Rigden, I've personally learned that although we are made up the same, our experiences are vastly different.

Any one event that two people see is represented differently in their mind. Certain information is deleted or distorted, it is generalized and then filtered through memories, experiences, beliefs and values, decisions, language and attitude. It then creates an internal representation in our minds which affects our state at the time and our physiology which then forms our behaviour.

What does this have to do with the article?

Although we all have different internal representations of any event, we also have the power to control our behaviour through the action of decision. I know you are doing the best you can with the resources you have available. But that is my belief system about you and I may not even know you. The question is, do YOU truly believe that you are doing the best you can, or do you know that you could be doing better? Have you made a conscious choice to do that one thing better, or have you deemed it too hard, or unimportant?

What we're talking about here is RESPONSIBILITY. You and only you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Any decision we have made and any decision we will make acts upon what Anthony Robbins refers to as the "Pain Pleasure Principle". Any decision we make is made either to avoid pain (ie. not lifting weights, procrastinating, not going to the gym period!) or to elicit pleasure (ie. working on your fitness, eating foods we know are not good for us but we enjoy and sex!).

Undoubtedly, you have experienced something in your lifetime which has forged your decision making abilities to create mass generalizations about certain things. If you've ever had just 1 near death experience swimming, you may never go into a pool again. Do cookies make you feel better after a long day at work? That's been conditioned. Maybe you had one bad gym class when you were a kid, or maybe you were picked last and have been turned off exercise altogether. Do any of these sound familiar?

I'm here to let you know that IT STOPS HERE. You do have the power to do anything you want, as long as you claim responsibility for it! You must CHOOSE to be the cause in your life, and not be the culmination of the effects in your life! You can choose to eat the unhealthy food that you enjoy, or you can find a healthier alternative that will give you the same pleasure. It really is as simple as it sounds. Even as you read this, you're making a choice whether to take it seriously, or consider it just another trainer sounding off on something he doesn't understand. Think I don't have hardships in my life? Think again.

When you become the cause in your life, you empower yourself to do anything. A fellow colleague of mine and I shared a conversation along these lines not too long ago and he emailed me a excerpt from a book. I'll share that excerpt with you now:

So many people out there aren’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary to be in the best shape they could possibly be in. As a result, they assume everyone else must be cheating. People often make comments about me like “Oh, he must be doing steroids” or “He must be on some type of drugs”. That’s a self-esteem issue – for them. I’ll tell you what they’re really saying: “I don’t have the where-withal to endure the pain that it must take to get into that kind of shape. Therefore, he had to cheat. Because if he didn’t, that means that he’s more focused, more determined, more ambitious, and more aggressive than I am, and I can’t accept that. So I’d rather say he cheated”.

That is such a cop-out. It’s like saying the class valedictorian had to have notes written on his shoe, that there’s no way someone could have studied all night and skipped sleep and crammed and gone on the Internet and researched everything in order to get those grades. He had to cheat. That’s unfortunate because people who excel academically really do put in the work, the same way I rock the weights.  Before sitting down to write this, I trained for 45 minutes in the gym at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. That may not be remarkable – only I was up at 4:30 this morning, in a car by 5:00, on a plane by 7:00, flew 6 ½ hours goin’ back to Cali, had two important business meetings once I arrived – and then did that workout, which had my heart rate racing from beginning to end. And in a few minutes I will head over to Jimmy Kimmel Live to perform five songs on national television.

Would I have rather gotten some sleep and bailed on my workout? Are you kidding me? Of course! But the key to this whole thing is doing what you’re supposed to do even when you don’t necessarily want to. That’s discipline, and discipline creates consistency, and consistency breeds success. That 45-minute workout I just did means nothing if it’s only done once, but think about how you’d look if you did that every day for 6 months. Just that! And just ate halfway decent. So are you willing to put the cake down, the ice cream back in the freezer, and the fast-food burger back form where it came? I’ve never seen a single person with abs of steel eating a doughnut, have you? When you’re no longer willing to tolerate what’s in your life, you can get it out of your life. Taken from - LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout, 2006

Make a decision right now for yourself. Choose to stop making excuses! Choose to stop playing the blame game on everyone but yourself! Get rid of that victim mentality! Stop making reasons and excuses for things that have gone wrong in your life and realize that you made a decision somewhere in the past that led to it! Choose to take responsibility for all of your actions and choose to finally have the power and the ability to do whatever it is you want in this life! I made mine a long time ago and to this day, I dictate my destiny.
Try this formula for success. First, know what it is that you want. Do you even have an idea right now? What are your fitness, financial or relationships goals? What is this want going to do for you?

Now envision it clearly in a big, brightly coloured box exactly how you want it. Take in any audio you may hear. Turn the volume up. Notice how you feel in this moment. Feel how just this power of THOUGHT is already making your pulse heighten! Is there a smile on your face? Your brain just changed your physiology and state!
Next, figure out how to start and maintain this course. Can you do it by yourself? If not, then with whom, and how? What resources do you have available right now to get you what you want? What is standing in your way? How do you break that down? What do you need to go out and get in order to get those resources? Figure out when you want your desired outcome and set a deadline. Write it down! It becomes real when you do!
Figure out what you want to keep from your current behaviour. These are the things you are absolutely not willing to change. If some of these are things that hurt you, think of alternatives that will give you the same outcome, but without the negative effect.

It is so easy in our day and age to just "go with the flow". Many times, we just let our environment dictate the decisions that we make. The media has a massive effect on us, but you can change that! Open up your eyes and your ears for clues!

The world around us is constantly giving us little hints as to how to get what we want. Ask yourself, is this worth the cost to me? Do I see the value behind what I want? Do I understand the benefits of what I will get with what I want? Is it congruent with my beliefs, my values, my sense of self or identity?
If you've done all those things, you've now forged a brand new path ahead of you! You've made a decision towards pleasure! Think of it like a car: it's pretty hard to see where you're going if you're always looking back. Instead of saying "I want to lose weight", say "I want to be slimmer!"

Know what you want. Figure out how to get it. Make a decision and finally, ACT NOW!

Nothing worth doing ever came easy. Nothing worth having will just be given to you. It may be a long, hard road, but as long as you keep your mind focused on what it is exactly that you want, you will find that your mind, like the great leader Hannibal once said, will either "find a way, or make one."
This is your wake up call. Take responsibility for your life. No longer will you play the victim. No longer will you blame others, make excuses or give reasons.

No...not anymore.

You now have the power. You now have the control. You now have the ability to do WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU WANT!

Because whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.
- AK

Adam has completed a 4 day introduction to NLP programming and is currently working towards becoming an NLP Practitioner through the INLPTA. To date, he has helped clients lose weight, reduce inches, increase strength and muscle, reduce depression, get off blood pressure medication, prepared women for motherhood and changed entire lifestyles. His style of training is holistic, meaning you will reap the benefits of training with him in body, mind and spirit. Catch Adam on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ackania

Reframing and the Transformation of Meaning

I tend to read a lot of books. Typically, I’ll read 2 or 3 at a time to give myself a little variety, like changing the channels on a TV. One will be a book I’ve chosen for entertainment, and another will be one on how to improve myself or help my clientele out. Passing over this section in Introducing NLP: Psychological Skills for Understanding and Influencing People by Joseph O’Connor & John Seymour, I felt it was something that would be appropriate to share with you on I Will Act Now. The following is a word for word excerpt. See how it can apply to you, in any and every aspect of your life:

Reframing and the Transformation of Meaning

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

- William Shakespeare

Mankind has always searched for meaning. Events happen, but until we give them meaning, elate them to the rest of our life, and evaluate the possible consequences, they are not important. We learn what things mean from our culture and individual upbringing. To ancient peoples, astrological phenomena had great meaning: comets were portents of change, and the relationship of the stars and planets influenced individual destinies. Now scientists do not take eclipse and comets personally. They are beautiful to see and confirm the universe still obeys the laws we have made up for it.

What does a rainstorm mean? Bad news if you are out in the open without a raincoat. Good news if you are a farmer and there has been a drought. Bad news if you are the organizer of an open-air party.

Good news if your cricket team is close to defeat and the match is called off. The meaning of any event depends on the frame you put it in. When you change the frame, you also change the meaning. When the meaning changes so do your responses and behaviour. The ability to reframe events gives greater freedom and choice.

One person we knew well fell and injured his knee quite badly. This was painful, and meant he could not play squash, a game he enjoyed very much. He framed the accident as an opportunity rather than a limitation, consulted a number of doctors and physiotherapists, and found out how the muscles and ligaments of the knee worked. Fortunately, he did not need surgery. He devised an exercise programme for himself and six months later his knee was stronger than it had been, and he was fitter and healthier too. He corrected the postural habits that had led to his knee becoming weak in the first place. Even his squash improved. Hurting his knee was very useful. Misfortune is a point of view.

Metaphors are reframing devices. They say in effect “This could mean that…” Fairy tales are beautiful examples of reframes. What seems to be unlucky turns out to be helpful. An ugly duckling is a young swan. A curse is really a blessing in disguise. A frog can be a prince. And if whatever you touch turns to gold, you are in big trouble.

Inventors make reframes. There is the well-known example of the man who woke up one night with the sharp end of a rusty spring in his old mattress digging into him. What possible use could an old bedspring have? (Besides depriving him of sleep.) He reframed it as a stylish egg-cup and started a successful company on the strength of the idea.

Jokes are reframes. Nearly all jokes start by setting events in a certain frame and then suddenly and drastically changing it. Jokes involve taking an object or situation and putting it suddenly in a different context, or suddenly giving it another meaning.

Sleight of Mouth Patterns

Here are some examples of different viewpoints on the same statement:

“My job is going badly and I feel depressed.”

Generalize: Perhaps you’re feeling down generally, but your job is OK.

Apply to self: Maybe you are making yourself depressed by thinking that.

Elicit values or criteria: What is important about your job that makes you think is going wrong?

Positive outcome: It could make you work harder to get over this particular problem.

Change outcome: Perhaps you need to change jobs.

Setting a further outcome: Can you learn something useful from the way your job is going at the moment?

Tell a metaphor: It’s a bit like learning to walk…

Redefine: Your depression might mean you are feeling angry because your job is making unreasonable demands on you.

Step down: Which particular parts of your job are going badly?

Step up: How are things generally?

Counter examples: Has your work ever gone badly without you being depressed?

Positive intention: That shows you care about your job.

Time frame: It’s a phase, it will pass.

Reframing is not a way of looking at the world through rose-coloured spectacles, so that everything is “really” good. Problems will not vanish of their own accord, they still have to be worked through, but the more ways you have of looking at them, the easier they are to solve.

Reframe to see the possible gain, and represent an experience in ways that support your own outcomes and those you share with others. You are not free to choose when you see yourself pushed by forced beyond your control. Reframe so you have some time to maneuver.

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Be the Positive Influence!

Once and awhile, you'll come across a person and have a conversation on a topic you know deep down in your subconscious makes sense, and it will enlighten you in a way that makes you want to share it. That conversation happened today with a member who I'll refer to as P.

As I was finishing up a series of footwork exercises on the agility ladder, an elderly gentleman began talking to me from the chest press machine. He asked what I was doing, and what it was for. I told him it was an agility exercise that I've been doing for years, specifically for football training. He figured that's what it was. After mentioning that I no longer played football, he asked me why I continued to do it. I told him that I simply wanted to stay agile and athletic, even if I no longer needed to use it for football itself. It made sense to P, who at 75 years old, still acts and moves as if he was much younger.

P told me that he himself had been a football player in the CFL back in the 50's (before my parents were even born!) He recalled doing footwork drills such as the ones I was doing to keep himself fast as well. When football ended for him, he moved to warmer climates for a number of years at which point he fell ill. But did a diagnosis stop him? No sir. P continued working on his health and has not allowed an illness to beat him to this very day.

He mentioned that he had friends down south who owned houses on the beach (houses, not condos) and who worked far too hard for far too long. For most, their health declined immensely due to their inability to balance work and play, as well as their inability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Even though they had accumulated a large sum of money, to quote P: "What good is all that money if you don't have your health?"

It was at the end of that sentence that it clicked for me. Here was this gentleman, 75 years old, had lived a long life through various illnesses, still plugging away and working on his longevity and quality of life. It truly amazed me, especially when I think of some of the people in my life who absolutely need to get into the gym to work on their own health (family members included).

There are a plethora of us out there, both in the gym reading this article or reading it online at home or work, that are guilty of taking our health for granted at times. Yes, you may work your butt off in the literal or metaphorical sense, but you know as well as I do that there are people in our lives who simply do not share the same work ethic. These are the workaholics, trying to climb up the corporate ladder at all costs or some just barely trying to stay afloat. These are the lazy, who have never worked out a day in their life, either because they don't know what to do or are afraid to try something different. Even though these two descriptions are seemingly at opposite ends of the spectrum, they are walking along the same path hand in hand towards a short, illness filled life.

Take a moment and think about whether you have people like this in your life. Maybe it's mom or dad, a brother or sister, husband or wife, children, friends. Think about the work you put in and how it makes you feel. For some, you may be frustrated with a lack of results. But the point is, YOU ARE HERE AND WORKING TOWARDS YOUR GOALS. You've made that conscious decision to take a stand against a life of laziness and work towards a long and healthy life.

Don't you want the people you care about to do the same?!?

As a holistic fitness professional, I focus my attention both for myself and for my clients to a) get them towards their goals, whether it be aesthetic, rehabilitation, weight loss or muscle gain and b) exercise my professional and, more importantly, MORAL OBLIGATION to give them a happier and healthier lifestyle. I love my job because each and every day that I wake up, be it 5:30 in the morning or later, I know that I have chosen a career in which I help people drastically change their lives each and every workout, and that makes my job easy. I love what I do. I love the gym I work at and the people I work with and I strive every day to get better at something, be it physical, mental, emotional, social or spiritual and I work to instill that same fervent attitude in my clients.

But now you are thinking so what? What does you loving your job have to do with me? Simply put, you don't have to be a fitness professional to be a positive influence in somebody's life. You know your capabilities in and out of the gym. You know how working out makes you feel. Pay it forward. Go to that loved one and encourage them to do the same. Break them away from the shackles of the desk and walk them through their first workout. They'll be comfortable with you and not as nervous the first time around. Show them how to work intervals, and help them create an uplifting playlist to get their throughout their workout. Help them setup a routine if you are in the know, or point them in the direction of someone who does. Bottom line is, be the positive influence in that person's life and watch how they become better as a person each and every day.

All it takes is that initial endorphin rush for them to get hooked. And when they do, they will remember you as being the positive influence in their life that helped them drastically change theirs to one of health, fitness, longevity and fun.

Stress: The Good, The Bad

It’s been a long day. You woke up, hit the snooze button. You stay curled up until the alarm goes off again. After moving in a zombie-like fashion through your bathroom routine, you head downstairs and make a quick breakfast. For some, you prepare the kids for school while drinking a cup of coffee. For others, you’re grabbing all your personal belongings and running out the door. Some of you take the QEW to work, which means you have to leave another hour and a half just to move two kilometers ahead of whatever every other rubbernecker is looking at. You get to work and sit at your desk for 8 hours; your posture declining in the process. Lunch is bought, more coffee is drank. Let’s not forget the hour drive home on the same QEW. You get home and prepare a quick dinner, probably something that’s not very healthy. Oh, and you haven’t got to the gym yet. You’ll do it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow then the weekend. Rinse. Repeat.

Sound familiar? Or does this sound relaxing compared to what you actually go through. Even if your day isn’t this chaotic, we all experience some degree of stress. Stress is very often the root of many people’s problems, whether they recognize it or not. You’ll often head that someone is “under too much stress”. You, too, may feel this way. How can some withstand more stress than others? Is stress always a bad thing? Let’s take a look.

What is Stress?

Once again, we turn to Paul Chek and his book “How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy!” for the answer. The following is a selected excerpt from the book. Stress is not always a bad thing. Just as bones and muscle need exercise to stay strong, we also need certain amounts of stress to stay healthy. A complete lack of stress would not be a good thing. Let’s visit the six types of stress.

Physical Stress

The Good: Movement and exercise is very beneficial. The actual stress comes from loading the muscles and bones of our body under the influence of gravity. Adequate movement and exercise also helps us to maintain an optimal metabolic rate (the rate at which all physical and chemical processes take place within your body), keeping us from becoming overweight.

The Bad: Over-exercising can be every bit as bad as not exercising enough. While under-exercising can contribute to becoming fat and sluggish inside, over-exercising can cause immune system suppression. This can lead to increased incidence of upper respiratory infection, chronic fatigue and a number of other maladies. Another form of adverse physical stress is poor posture. Posture has a significant influence on breathing, muscle function, joint health, circulation and internal organ support. When the body structure is out of balance, the rest of the system follows.

Chemical Stress

The Good: Our bodies are full of chemicals – naturally produced chemicals that are essential for health. The work of producing these key chemicals is a necessary stress for the body. For example, when your body systems are working correctly, exercise results in chemical adaptations in the form of hormonal changes that alter your biochemistry to increase protein synthesis, energy production and myriad other chemical reactions. The action of sunlight on the skin results in the production of Vitamin D and the regulation of the hormones melatonin and cortisol – both chemical reactions (see previous article). Plant and animal foods are made up of organic chemicals – vitamins, enzymes, proteins and fats that we need to survive.

The Bad: Today we are bombarded with thousands upon thousands of chemicals that were not around one hundred years ago. Many of these chemicals are synthetic, and our bodies do not have mechanisms to neutralize them. Synthetically manufactured medical drugs, such as aspirin, are among the most common form of unfavourable chemical stress. Other examples of dangerous chemical stressors include pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and certain fertilizers. These chemicals are often made from the same formulas used to make biological weapons, yet nearly two billion pounds of these chemicals are sprayed on our foods. Many health problems have been linked to this form of chemical stress.

Electromagnetic Stress

The Good: Sunlight. Without sunlight, we wouldn’t be alive. The electromagnetic field of the earth is also a good form of this akind of stress. This invisible field helps control the rhythm of our hormones and other physiological functions. A common example of the earth’s electromagnetic effects can be experienced when weather patterns change. At the onset of thunderstorms, many people feel changes in their joints, muscles nd even their moods.

The Bad: The most obvious is over-exposure to sunlight which results in a sunburn. Most people know that overexposure to radiation such as medical X-rays can also be harmful to your health. Often overlooked is the extremely low frequency (ELF) pollution emitted by electronic devices such as computers, cell phones, microwave ovens, electric motors, your TV and even an electric blanket. Many of these forms of stress are insidious, causing dysfunction in your hormonal and autonomic nervous system.

Psychic or Mental Stress

The Good: Thinking and using your mind productively represents good psychic or mental stress. Having a plan or setting goals in your life and doing the work to achieve them is also a positive form of this stress. Other examples include overcoming adversity to become a stronger, better person. Without psychic stress, our minds would not develop fully.

The Bad: A common form of bad psychic stress is focusing on things you don’t want in life instead of what you do want. Other forms include verbal abuse from others, studying so much that your mental faculties begin to diminish, and challenging religious or spiritual beliefs that are imposed upon you – even if self-imposed. Being rushed or taking on more work or responsibility than you can manage will also produce unhealthy psychic stress.

Nutritional Stress

The Good: Eating in accordance to your metabolic type (see much earlier article) and not over – or under-eating are all representatives of good nutritional stress. In these instances, the term stress is used to indicate the stress of digestion, assimilation and metabolizing of foods. For example, your body must be stressed with the challenge of extracting nutrition from food or it will become lazy, much like a person’s muscles become lazy if you put them in a sling or cast and don’t use them.

The Bad: Eating too much, too little, or eating the wrong food proportions for your metabolic type are unhealthy forms of nutritional stress. I love bananas. Always have, but they are not the best fruit according to my type. When I stopped eating bananas, I noticed an immediate change in my body’s composition.

Thermal Stress

The Good: Maintaining your body temperature at 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees Celsius) is the most obvious of the good thermal stressors. When it’s hot or cold outside, the thermoregulatory system is stressed in order to keep your internal temperature constant. It’s good to stress this system now and again to maintain its dynamic capacity.

The Bad: Anything that burns you is a form of adverse thermal stress! In addition, the opposite thermal stress would be anything that brings your body temperature too long for an extended period of time.

What Stress Does to Your Body

External Stressors

External stressors are things that stress the body from the outside, such as sunlight, physical pain (caused by injury or other external forces) emotional trauma and toxic chemical exposure.

Internal Stressors

Stress is perceived or interpreted by key control systems of the body – limbic/emotional, hormonal, visceral, nervous, musculoskeletal and subsystems. Internal stressors come from within the body and are most often the reaction of external stressors. Chronic stressors cause elevated stress hormones in the body, leading to immune suppression, the inability to heal and eventually to disease.

CHEK Points for Managing Stress

1. Identify your primary stressor: Focus on reducing stress in the area that is causing you the most stress. Generally, these include security, sustenance, and sex. Alleviating the chief stressor in your life often creates a domino effect wiping out or dramatically reducing other stressor in succession.
2. Make a plan: Make a realistic plan to address your biggest stressor and a set a series of achievable short-term goals, allowing you to clearly recognize progress as it’s made. Look for current books, videos or audio tapes that address issues related to your key stressor and how to overcome it. Another effective method is to find someone who has already been successful at overcoming the challenge you now face. There is no better teacher than experience.
3. Eat and drink right: Internal stressors only serve to magnify external stressors! Regardless of what your primary stressor may be, if you aren’t eating according to your metabolic type, you will not be able to effectively replace the stress hormones you’re using on a daily basis, which only causes more stress to the body. Dehydration is a common cause of internal stress. A reduction of as little as 1% of water content in your central nervous system can cause significant psychological disorders. Reducing your intake of coffee, tea and sodas, plus drinking more high-quality water, is an easy way to start reducing the internal stress on your body.
4. Move and exercise: Regular exercise can be a major tool to reduce stress. When performed correctly for your particular needs, exercise in the correct dose stimulates an anabolic (tissue growth and repair) environment.
5. Mental exercise: Many successful individuals give credit to the power of positive thinking. Try harmonizing your thoughts, words and actions with your goals and you may find that this will help decrease stress. Doing so is a good example of beneficial mental stress. Make sure you’re talking and thinking about what you do want, rather than what you don’t.

It’s one thing to actually read this article. It’s another to implement the things this article and the previous ones have suggested into your current lifestyle. As a trainer, I know from experience (both my own and my clients), that these methods work and have allowed everyone involved to live happier, healthier lives. One male client has lost 60 lbs. and is forced to buy a new wardrobe. Another has reduced over 20 inches on her body and is fitting in clothes she wore in her 20's. Both are reaping the benefits of a controlled, thoroughly planned out fitness regime. They are working to their goals one day at a time, and you can too, if you act now.

Email your questions or setup an appointment with Adam at adam.kania@goodlifemakesiteasy.com or leave a message at the front desk.

Sleep/Wake Cycles

How many of you can earnestly say that you get to bed by 10:30 every night? In a world with late night TV and bright lights at the flick of a switch, we as humans are able to stay awake for periods of time much longer than our ancient ancestors. I'm sure by now you have all heard that you have to have 8 hours of sleep to reach optimal health, but perhaps you have not been explained to the reasons behind doing so. Further, did you know that when you go to sleep is vital to your health?

It's called the circadian cycle, and it is a natural physiological cycle of about 24 hours that persists even in the absence of external cues. World renowned holistic health practitioner Paul Chek dedicates an entire chapter of his book How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy! to Sleep/Wake cycles in an effort to help the reader understand the scientific and biological aspect of getting to bed on time.

Understand that the cycles of light and dark that result from the movement of the sun and planets affect nearly all living creatures. Even though humans had the ability to use fire thousands of years ago, our activity and sleep schedules were still very much in tune with the sun and our environment. Whenever light stimulates your eyes or skin, regardless of whether it is the sun, a lightbulb, TV or computer monitor, your brain and hormonal system think that it is morning. In response to the light, your hormonal system naturally releases cortisol which is the activating hormone that is released in response to stress (electromagnetic). This activates the body and prepares it for movement, work, combat or whatever may be necessary for survival. Chek says to remember that "our physiological systems were well developed long before we even began using fire, so as far as your body is concerned:

Light = Sunshine = Cortisol release = Daytime activities.

Our cortisol levels rise and peak between 6 and 9 am when the sun rises. In the afternoon, as the sun begins to drop, so do our cortisol levels. As cortisol decreases, our bodies begin to release melatonin and also increase the levels of growth and repair hormones. "If we follow our natural sleep/wake cycles, we start winding down as the sun sets and should fall asleep by about 10 pm. Physical repairs mostly take place when the body is asleep between 10 pm and 2 am. After 2 am, the immune and repair energies are more focused on psychogenic (mental) repair, which lasts until we awaken."

Disrupted Sleep/Wake Cycles

A brightly lit house, late night TV and working late into the evening will keep the levels of stress hormones high past sundown. This includes computer screens which flicker on and off between 60 and 120 cycles per second which your brain interprets as morning sunlight. Since cortisol can take hours to clear your bloodstream, this will prevent the release of melatonin, growth hormones and important immune factors, cutting into your immune system's valuable repair time.

Going to bed after midnight means you've already lost over two hours of your physical repair cycle. People that do shiftwork or parents getting up in the middle of the night to tend to their kids regularly have their psychogenic repair cycle disrupted. This can cause musculoskeletal injuries, an increased incident of headaches, sagging personality and even neuromuscular disorder.

A disrupted sleep/wake cycle can also result in adrenal fatigue, which occurs when more cortisol than normal is produced and can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome, viral infections,bacterial and fungal infections and headaches. In order to overcome this, it is very important to respect your natural circadian rhythm and allow your adrenals to rest.

Factors that Can Disrupt your Sleep/Wake Cycle

- Stimulants: Caffeine, sugar and tobacco are all stimulants, which excite your sympathetic nervous system. This triggers the release of cortisol! Note that coffee, and specifically the caffeine inside it has a half-life of about 6 hours. "If you have a coffee at 3 pm, you'll still have 150 mg of caffeine in your blood stream at 9 pm. Six hours later, well into the psychogenic repair cycle...you'll have 75 mg of caffeine stimulating your adrenal glands to produce cortisol. ideally, you should not drink anything containing caffeine after lunch or throughout the evening."

- Electromagnetic Pollution: Power lines, electric circuits in walls, ceilings and floors and electrical appliances such as electric blankets and TV's all emit electromagnetic energies.

- Entrainment: Physiologists and medical doctors have found that you can be entrained, or synchronized to a dysfunction schedule in as little as 7-21 days. This means that if you stay up until midnight for one to three weeks in a row, your internal body clock will become trained to wait until midnight to start reducing cortisol output and increasing melatonin production.

CHEK Points for Optimizing Your Sleep/Wake Cycle

- Get to sleep by 10:30 pm. If you need time to wind down your sleep, make the appropriate adjustments, Getting in bed at 10 pm and reading until 11 defeats the purpose.

- Minimize exposure to bright lights, particularly fluorescent lights, for at least 2 hours before going to bed.

- Sleep in a room that is completely dark.

- Avoid consumption of stimulants after lunch.

- Drink plenty of water. Our bodies have very little water reserve, and once dehydrated, the body responds as though it's experiencing stress.

- Exercise! Some type of exercise or physical activity during the day will generally help you sleep better at night. However, be aware of the time that you are training. You may find that sleep patterns are disrupted if you exercise after dinner, particularly if the exercise is intense. Intense exercise or cardiovascular activity, particularly when performed for longer than 30 minutes, can increase cortisol levels, making it hard to go to sleep.

- Try unplugging all electrical appliances in your bedroom, including clocks, tv's and lights. If your sleep quality improves, rearrange your bedroom so that all electrical devices are as far from your bed as possible.

Following Chek's advice personally in regards to getting to sleep by 10:30, sleeping in a completely dark room, avoiding coffee and sugar past noon, drinking plenty of water, exercising in the morning and avoiding bright light before bed time have not only improved my own sleep quality, but has also helped in the reduction of body fat and increase in energy levels. After applying the same principles with my clients, within as little as one week, they have more bounce in their step and more energy for their workout.

Working on your sleep/wake patterns is just another example of how the things you do outside the gym affect what you do inside the gym by a considerable amount. Sleeping properly, eating properly and exercising regularly are all components to living a healthy lifestyle. Apply Chek's tips for yourself for one week, and see how you feel.

Next Post: A Look at Stress: The Good and the Bad

Fore the Love of Your Game

Unfortunately for you golf enthusiasts, our Canadian climate around this time of year typically signals the beginning of the end of yet another golf season. With it, leaves what for many turns out to be another frustrating campaign. Whether you are a scratch golfer or a weekend warrior, everyone can relate to the same frustrations one may experience on the course (poor shot distance, accuracy, consistency, back pain, overpriced cart beverages etc.) The thing is, you can have the best golf professional teaching all the little intricacies of the game, the best bag of clubs and top notch balls to hit, but if you do not take care of the most important piece of equipment you own, you might as well save your money for something that will get you a better return on your investment. That piece of equipment is your body.

Teeing Off: Stability vs. Mobility in the Spine

The question begs to be answered: Is your spine stable and strong where it needs to be? Consequently, is it also mobile and flexible where it needs to be? A powerful tee-off puts a very high stress demand on various joints in your body such as your knees, hips, back, shoulders, elbows and wrists. Has there ever been a time when you have finished a game only to find yourself writhing in pain at the clubhouse or at home? Lower back pain is typically the most common site of acute and chronic pain from the recreational golfer to the professional alike. One way to combat this for the upcoming season is to get a jump-start in understanding how your body should be performing.

In terms of needs, your body “needs” to be stable throughout the lumbar region (lower) of your spine and mobile throughout its surroundings: the hips and thoracic spine (middle). If a golfer’s hips and thoracic spine are too stiff, what happens is the body naturally forces the lumbar to become mobile, contributing to the lower back pain one may feel after a round. As such, golfers “need” to develop the surrounding muscles of the core, which is the power center of your swing, and also the key to performance and longevity. Thus, another “need” becomes to improve the rotational ability of the body to enable the transference and production of power from the ground, up through the core, down the arms, through the club and onto the ball.

Birdie or Bogey?: Strengthening and Conditioning Your Core

Working on core development off the course is the fastest way to improve your next round. Your swing largely depends on balance, posture and having a neutral spine (one that does not round out). If you are a novice in the gym, the simplest form of strengthening your core is by eliciting the benefits of the pronated plank position.

Starting on your forearms and elbows, keep your back as straight as you can by lifting up your hips at the same time that you bring your midsection in as tightly as possible. Beginners will shake at first as the brain works with the body to understand which muscles are being stressed and for what purpose. A good way to challenge yourself once you have been able to hold the position for at least ninety seconds is to increase the demand of the exercise by introducing a piece of equipment, such as a stability ball or the TRX. At the same time you strengthen your midsection and lower back, you should also use the side plank variation, targeting your obliques and developing 360 degrees of core strength. Strengthening your abdominals will immediately increase your posture when you step up to the tee and help transfer the above mentioned rotational force.

Closest to Pin: Back and Legs

Equally as important as strengthening your core is strengthening your back and legs. A golfer’s back is so incredibly important to their game. If a golfer has weak muscles between the shoulder blades (rhomboids), this will cause shoulders to be more mobile than wanted, thus creating a rounded back, poor posture, and an uncontrolled swing. A pull exercise such as a variation of a row will immediately strengthen the muscles of the back in order to control any unwanted motion. Also, developing the muscles of the rear deltoid through Y’s, T’s, and I’s will ensure that muscles do not become tight after the game and are available for a great range of motion.

As pull exercises are essential in developing power and maintaining posture in the golf swing, another target area to focus on is the latissimus dorsi, which are connected to your arm and is used when lifting your arms to initiate your swing. The strength throughout your lats must be thorough in order to be able to produce a smooth, controlled movement. Exercises such as a lat pull down or chin-up/pull-up (with assistance if necessary) works to promote the strength needed to help with the swing.

In order to truly reap the benefits of greatly conditioned body, the golfer needs to learn how to do a proper squat. The inability to perform a proper squat on one’s heels will see the golfer rise from their stance before they connect with the ball, forcing the club to be released early, affecting the shot in the process. Learning how to squat on one’s heels not only promotes great leg strength and balance, but also helps to strengthen the stability of the lumbar spine, increasing posture as the outcome.

Often Left Behind in the Clubhouse: Flexibility Training

Finally, a word on flexibility training. As a fitness professional, time and time again I see people finishing an intense workout, only to pack up their things and leave without going through a proper cool down. Stretching after a workout not only makes your muscles feel good by releasing tension, but it also helps to improve flexibility, posture and range of motion in many of your joints. There must be a revolution in the fitness industry to help the common gym-goer understand that our bodies are interconnected entities, and as such, are not simply isolated masses of soft tissue. When one muscle aches, it is not an isolated area of concern, for the surrounding muscles now have to work twice as hard to make up for the lack of action.

Muscles and joints work as chains in unison to create movement. As a trainer, I get my clients to do various multi-joint exercises to severely increase the demand of the body but also, to help the body develop these chains. As such, stretching, or not stretching embodies the same principle. There is a state of interdependency between muscles from our heads right down to our toes. Like the progression of a golf swing, we too are connected throughout are entirety and as such, need to stretch in a manner which promotes functional ability.

Conclusion

Implementing the philosophy written here of creating a stable lumbar spine and mobile thoracic spine and hips, along with strengthening the muscles of the core, back and legs with a proper flexibility routine will do wonders for your game. Whether your play for fun or have a competitive nature, the benefit of having a finely tuned body will instantly shave strokes off your next round and impress friends and business partners alike so get ready to tee up to a higher caliber of sport! And while you now have the ability to use your body to the utmost of your ability, unfortunately the prices of beverages on the course are out of your control.

Q & A: Training for Endurance Athletes

Q: "Hi Adam, I've been following your column through the articles you post in the gym and I find them very helpful. I'm planning on running in the GoodLife Marathon in October. I've been running outside a lot as the sun has cooled down in the evenings, and while my endurance is good, I'm wondering if you could provide me with a few tips on how to help me get better?" - Katie G. via email

A: Thanks for the email Katie. I appreciate your kind words. It's funny that you should mention training for a marathon because I recently took part in last Saturday's Underwear Affair for cancers below the waist, organized by North York General Hospital. I should also preface the rest of the blog by saying that for the last ten years, I have NEVER trained for endurance. My sport was football, and the typical play lasted anywhere between 3 and 10 seconds (if it was a broken play). Thus, I was consistently training for quick, short bursts of power and intensity in order to provide my body with the best possible chance to explode when the play began. However, in terms of training for endurance, this is simply not the case.

The first thing you need to do is train your body for endurance with weights. This is a high repetition, low weight combination which prepares your body to undergo stress for an accumulated period of time. And no, "just running" is not considered to be an acceptable leg workout for your week. Strength and conditioning coach Michael Boyle identifies that you need to create mobile ankles, thoracic spine and hips in your pre-workout warm up. Then, focus on working on a stable lumbar spine and knee joint through very specific strength work. This means utilizing an array of single leg exercises (squat, leg press, anterior reach for hamstring) in order to strengthen one leg at a time. After all, when running, the amount of force applied to each of the above mentioned joints is not only continuous, but also, you are basically hitting the ground one leg at a time and that one leg is keeping your entire body intact! I would suggest working with a partner at first, and having them spot you at all times.

Secondly, if you do not already own one, purchase a foam roller and do not skimp out on the cheap ones. I took Boyle's advice and learned how to work on my muscle tissue quality using the foam roller at least twice a week either after running, or after a lower body workout. Boyle states, "The key to understanding foam rolling and stretching is in understanding the qualities of muscle tissue. Muscle tissue does not just get short, it also gets dense. Dense tissue must be manipulated (rolled or massaged) prior to stretching to get maximum effect. In fact, stretching without rolling is like pulling on a knot in a shoelace. It only gets tighter." Schedule an appointment with me to go through a free session using the foam roller and see the benefits as early as the next day or, simply Google "foam roller" and you'll find a plethora of exercises and videos on how to.

Finally, if you are running long distance, the quickest way to improve your VO2 Max (how your body utilized oxygen during training), is to train using INTERVALS as opposed to steady state running. A 2006 study from McMaster University in Canada illustrated this beyond a shadow of a doubt. The study compared 20 minutes of interval training (30 sec sprint/4 min rest) with 90 to 120 minutes in the “target heart rate zone.” The results showed the same improvement in oxygen utilization. If you could get the same benefit from one hour a week, why run four and a half to six hours a week? Utilize interval training twice a week on non-successive days and watch as your running becomes easier. Note, however, as race day draws near, I would do a long distance run, after improving your VO2 Max, simply to adjust to the mental aspect of continuously running for an hour. One of my colleagues gave me a tip to look around while running, and at all costs avoid tunnel vision. Program a specific playlist on your iPod that has positive, upbeat tracks to keep you happy, motivated and moving.

In preparation for my 10K race (my first ever), I did all the above things. For my strength workouts, I utilized my TRX Suspension trainer for 10 weeks prior to the event working on single leg squats, single leg lunges, and sprinters starts. My legs burned like crazy, but I credit the use of this piece of equipment in combination with training hard prior to the race for making race day so easy (If you're interested in purchasing one, click here). I finished the race in 51:30 (unofficially). Not bad for a football player!

You have about 6 weeks until the GoodLife run. Take these tips and good luck with your training. If you're finding a running session hard on a particular day, at least now you have a visual of a 235 lb man after a 10K run in his underwear to shift you back into neutral! Or, at the very least take your mind of the next kilometer.

Send in your questions to adam.kania@goodlifemakesiteasy.com

Part 3: The Vital Importance of Water

Like me, you're probably wondering what has happened to our summer weather. Unlike the picture on the left, it hasn't exactly felt hot enough to be yearning for a bottle of water to quench a needed thirst. What you should be aware of is that you should never allow your body to ever reach that state in the first place. Allow me to explain.

For starters, our body is compromised of about 75% water (relative articles will give differentiating numbers). That is still an astronomical amount when you think about the complex machine that is our body with all of its systems working together to help us function. That being said, water is a vital element in functioning such as regulating digestion, transportation of nutrients, elimination of waste products, circulation of blood, lubrication of joints and internal organs as well as regulating body temperature to name a few. It should come as no surprise then that research has shown that the average body needs half its body weight in ounces of pure water daily as a minimum to maintain adequate hydration.

Dr. Batmanghelidj reports in his study "Your Body's Many Cries for Water" that "this amount may shock some of you [and] it's not difficult to comprehend how at least half of the American population has been estimated to operate in a chronically dehydrated state for the majority of their lives."

To further put things into perspective, refer to this list of symptoms of dehydration which have a high rate of success by simply drinking more water:

• Hypertension/High blood pressure
• Heart burn/Indigestion
• Peptic ulcers
• Asthma
• Allergies
• Type II Diabetes
• Fatigue
• Loss of Mental Clarity and Focus
• Inability to Perform

These symptoms are simply the various signs of the body's water rationing system during periods of dehydration and thus have often been mistaken for disease! Rather than providing the body with water, medical practitioners have resorted to treating these easily reversible symptoms with drugs rather than simply instructing their patients to hydrate and re-hydrate appropriately to avoid dehydration!

If you've ever felt "dry mouth", not only are you needing some water immediately but it is a sign that your body has gone well beyond moderate dehydration and is actually is a very serious dehydrated state! Remember that pure water is the key (not coffee, juice, soda, tea, milk etc.) The other liquids mentioned actually need much more water than they actually contain to pass them out of the system, acting actually as agents of dehydration (your mind has been programmed to process the opposite...time to reprogram!)

How to avoid this: Invest in a solid aluminum water bottle, one that can keep your water cold and one that serves as a visual reminder that you need to keep replenishing yourself, even when you are not thirsty. Drinking half your body weight in ounces each day can steadily improve your well-being...and you do not have to pay a visit to the doctor! Did I mention that it will keep you feeling full and thus, lead to weight loss??

The bottom line is, water is free and accessible to everyone. Take advantage of this beneficial opportunity!

Part 2: Zzzzzzz......

If you take anything out of these blogs, remember this: it is what you do outside of the gym that will ultimately benefit you the greatest inside the gym. Three of the most overlooked and ironically most important aspects of optimal health, vitality and disease prevention are sleep, water and food. While I have previously talked about food in my Metabolic Typing article, the focus of this article will be on sleep.

For starters, lets remember that any gains (or losses) that we see as a result of doing cardio and working with weights happens when we are at rest, and not when we are actually partaking in the activity. Essentially, we are breaking our bodies down during exercise and it is during our period of rest that our bodies are recuperating. The paramount importance of nutrition has already been mentioned in a previous article, so we turn our attention to sleep.

As reported by Dr. T.S. Wiley and Dr. Bent Formby, believe it or not, we are often sick, diabetic and suffering from heart disease and cancer due to a lack of sleep. "Mammals are hard wired to store fat, become insulin resistant and get high cholesterol during the long days of summer and then to sleep (hibernate) or at least starve for a while, become insulin sensitive again and drop cholesterol levels when the days are shorter (winter)...Electricity and the light bulb brought endless light, which the body interprets as endless summer. Now, we don't sleep (hibernate) and we don't starve (for carbohydrates). We are fat and getting fatter."

Literally, the later we stay up at night, the more our brains force us to seek energy for storage by eating sugar (carbohydrates). In addition, Wiley and Formby report that this leads to "light toxicity" which is a direct cause of excessive paranoid, aggressive, hysterical and urgent behaviour also known as stress (anyone see Al Pacino in "Insomnia"?) In this state, blood sugar is elevated, taxing the insulin response, increasing cortisol levels in your blood stream which has powerful blood sugar mobilizing effects. In other words, stressing yourself out too much, whether it be work, personal life or a lack of sleep will actually lead to exercise making you fatter and keeping you fat!

In order to combat this stress, you need to take advantage of your rest time. I've had many clients who have not been able to maximize their own sleep time, but with the help of these few tips, many of them have now reduced their total body fat, dropped weight and are on their way to happy and healthy lives. Try these tips:

• Your sleeping environment has a great impact on your ability to fall asleep and to stay asleep. It's not easy for many people to fall asleep because we are surrounded by more lights and more noise than in times past. While it is almost impossible to fall asleep in a perfectly quiet and perfectly dark environment, it is important to try to achieve as close to this ideal situation as possible.
• Sound - noise - also affects your ability to fall and stay asleep, because even though you may fall asleep, your brain can still process sound while you are sleeping, possibly waking you up in the middle of the night in your deepest and most anabolic sleep stage. Therefore, do your best to eliminate light and noise from your immediate sleep environment. Doing so will help you fall asleep faster, and stay asleep until morning.
• Establish a regular sleeping pattern by going to bed at the same time.
• Reduce your physical activity two hours prior to sleeping.
• Avoid alcohol and/or coffee for several hours before going to bed.
• Skip large meals before bed.

Try this for a week. Stay zealous about it. See how you feel.

Check back in a few days where I will complete this three part series by focusing on the importance of water.

The View from Atop Your Plateau

One of the most common things I hear as a personal trainer from people around the gym is that their workouts seemed to have stalled or "plateaued", specifically when speaking about cardiovascular training. The problem is simply that the bodies of those who have plateaued have become accustomed to the same workout routine that they have been participating in for weeks, months...sometimes even years! What these people need to understand is not only do they need to change what they do for their cardiovascular workouts, but also how they do it.

World renowned strength and conditioning coach Charles Poliquin has uncovered six major reasons why aerobic (depending on air, or, steady state cardio training) is counterproductive in the gym. Written by Keith Alpert, a respected strength coach from the Boston area, they are:

• Continuous aerobic work plateaus after 8 weeks of training so anything more is counterproductive. From strength coach Michael Boyle: "A 2006 study from McMaster University in Canada illustrated this beyond a shadow of a doubt. The study compared 20 minutes of interval training (30 sec sprint/4 min rest) with 90 to 120 minutes in the “target heart rate zone.” The results showed the same improvement in oxygen utilization. If you could get the same benefit from one hour a week, why run four and a half to six hours a week?"


• Aerobic training worsens power locally and systemically - in other words, it can make you slower. If you are an athlete or a "weekend warrior" who likes to participate in athletic events or team sports that require speed and jumping ability, this is the last thing you want from a cardiovascular training program. Poliquin: "The more lower body aerobic work you do, the more your vertical jump worsens. The more upper body aerobic work you do, the more your medicine ball throws worsen."


• Aerobic training increases oxidative stress which can accelerate aging. Oxidation is a process that forms free radicals in the body. Normally, free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants, but when there is an excessive build-up of free radicals, then the body cannot neutralize them. This leads to changes in your metabolism which can speed up aging.


• Aerobic training increases adrenal stress which can make you fatter and produce other undesirable health consequences. Too much adrenal stress leads to adrenal fatigue. Symptoms include: tiredness, fearfulness, allergies, frequent influenza, arthritis, anxiety, depression, reduced memory, and difficulties in concentrating, insomnia, feeling worn out and most importantly - with respect to this article - the inability to lose weight after extensive effort.


• Aerobic training increases body fat in stressed individuals by contributing additional stress. If you are already stressed out in your life, this is just like adding to the pile, which will add more body fat, making it harder for you to reach your weight loss or body fat goal.


• Aerobic training worsens testosterone/cortisol ratio, which impedes your ability to add fat burning lean muscle. This in turn hampers weight loss due to the inability to produce lean muscle in the name of increasing calorie expenditure.
  

Alpert asks you to figure out who has more body fat: a sprinter, or a marathoner? Most times than not, the answer is a marathoner (when in actuality the answer is a sprinter!) How is this possible, if sprinters do almost no aerobic work??

Alpert mentions that the reason is rooted in the intense nature of their training. "The higher the intensity (percentage of maximum heart rate), the more calories per minute burned during the workout. In addition (and more important), caloric expenditure is increased for 24-48 hours post workout."

So where to go from here? The answer lies in the benefits of interval training. This type of training alternates between bouts of high intensity exercise (ie. run, sprint, increase in speed or resistance on machines) with low to moderate intensity exercises (ie. walk, speed walk, decrease speed or resistance). The best part is, this should only take you about 20-30 minutes total, and you only have to do it 2 or 3 times a week.

So for those of you who hate coming in on cardio days, engage yourself in some interval training. You'll not only save time, but you'll really feel the burn and reap the benefits it has to offer.

Part 1: Discovering Your Proper Fuel Source

No doubt you have encountered numerous magazines, books and television advertisements about what foods to eat to lose weight, what foods to eat to build muscle, and the like. With this information overload (especially on the internet), it is not a great surprise that many of you are still far from reaching your personal fitness goals. Even though lifting weights to promote muscle growth and working on your cardiovascular health are both important aspects in leading a healthier lifestyle, nutrition is a topic that is often read up on but misunderstood. Not to say that this particular suggestion is the answer, but it is definitely one to consider.

Metabolic typing is a system that identifies an individual's genetically-based nutrition and diet requirements. There is no "one diet" that is right for everyone. How does a magazine know what you need as an individual? It doesn't. Therefore, to achieve optimal health, you must determine what is right for YOU.

The concept was first introduced in the 1960's by a dentist, Dr. William Donald Kelly, but since has been developed further by the likes of William Wolcott and strongly advocated by holistic health practitioner Paul Chek. It suggests that foods that are beneficial for one group of people, may actually be detrimental to others. Therefore, by answering a series of questions, you may be able to direct yourself to a diet plan suitable for your body's functional needs.

Questionnaires found online or in a variety of typing books are available and designed to help you determine the optimal macronutrient (protein, fats, carbohydrates) ratio to begin fine tuning your body's feedback mechanisms. To put it simply, Paul Chek explains, "If the food comes from something that has a set of eyes, it is going to be higher in fats and proteins; fats and proteins most often come together in nature. For example, cows, sheep, birds and all fish have eyes and all provide higher protein/fat foods. Foods like vegetables, fruits and cereals do not come from a source that had a set of eyes and are generally much higher in carbohydrates and lower in fat and protein. There are a few exceptions to this rule such as nuts, seeds and avocados, which have no eyes, yet are high fat foods."

There are a number of factors that influence your optimal macronutrient ratio at any given time. The best part of these questionnaires is that you can answer freely without judgement. By that I mean, you should answer the questions by what best describes the way you feel, not the way you think you should eat!

For further reading on these factors, you may want to refer to Wolcott's book, The Metabolic Typing Diet. For a more in depth look at metabolic typing, feel free to approach or email me to learn more about this subject. You may also choose to click here for a free online questionnaire to help you identify your type.

You wouldn't put diesel fuel in your car if it didn't call for it. Why would you do the same to the most complex piece of machinery you own: your body?

Exercise of the Week: Single-Leg Straight Leg Deadlift

As mentioned in the previous post on Suspension Training, life does not happen sitting down. To build on that, life also rarely happens on two feet all the time. Take walking for example. One foot is planted, while the other is in motion. When utilizing double leg exercises in the gym, we are most definitely working on our primary muscles such as our quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings. However, stabilizing muscles rarely get involved. When shifting to a single leg exercise, these stabilizing muscles are forced to come into play.

If you are tired of the leg curl machine, or possibly feel like your deadlift needs a challenge, try the single-leg straight leg (also called Romanian) deadlift. This variation of the traditional exercise helps develop the entire posterior chain (namely, your glutes and hamstrings) while also incorporating a balance challenge. Best of all, it is entirely safe for a beginner to try and extremely beneficial for strength training.

If you have weak hamstrings (or glutes for that matter) and have never attempted a single leg exercise, perhaps the first thing to realize is that technique is everything. That being said, you can perform the single leg deadlift without weight in order to ensure your technique is perfect.

PREPARATION: Begin by having both feet together (slightly narrower than shoulder width apart), chest up with your back slightly arched. Place one foot slightly in front of the other, as if you have taken a half-step. The woman is the first image is using a medicine ball as resistance in the ready position.


ACTION: Engage your core by contracting your abs, and proceed to lower your weight (or hand for beginners) by pushing your glutes back and hinging at the hip forward. Make sure to have a slight bend in your planted leg. Remember to keep your arms straight. If using a single weighted apparatus, aim for just in front of the foot. If using dumbbells, lower one to either side of your foot. While the emphasis is on the hamstring of your planted leg, your other leg should hinge backwards for balance, resulting in a position such as this:

Once you've reached a position near mid-to-low shin level, proceed to flex your front hamstring and push your hips forward, bringing your body back to the same starting position. Remember to always keep a bend in your knee of the planted leg and to keep your back flat throughout.

The beautiful thing about the single leg Romanian deadlift is that it does not require heavy loads to be beneficial. Unlike other double leg deadlift exercises, this means that the possibility for back injury is almost non-existent. During the exercise, besides the great amount of work being done on your lower extremities, realize that your spinal erectors, lower trapezius and rhomboid muscles are also working to stabilize the spine and shoulder girdle. Even though your hamstrings and glutes get the majority of the attention in this exercise, you will also work on ankle stabilization. Factor in that you are now using more muscles for an exercise, and realize that you are burning more calories, thereby helping shed fat from your body.

I would encourage you to begin with no weight, until your brain and muscles connect to understand the movement, and proceed to slowly implement the use of weight. Once you have mastered this exercise with dumbbells, challenge yourself by doing the same exercise with a weighted barbell, and watch how the balance challenge increases.

Hang on for a second! Let's talk Suspension Training

How's your workout going lately? Bored with the weights? Need to change it up a little? Need to challenge yourself in a new way?

There's a good chance that you have seen a few people working out with a contraption that looks to be two handles attached by an elevated bar. This piece of machinery, known as the TRX© (Total Resistance eXercise), is a 2 lb. piece of equipment in which you have the option to push your limits using your own body weight as resistance. Developed by Fitness Anywhere, it is a type of training intended to promote strength, balance, stability and athleticism. Think this is just a new fad? Think again.

Suspension training has been around for over 150 years, says Fraser Quelch, Director of Programming and Education at Fitness Anywhere. "Generations of acrobats and gymnasts have used their own body weight and gravity as resistance - suspended by rings, ropes, and trapeze bars - to generate tremendous strength and the astonishing physiques that are a hallmark of these athletes." However, during the 60's and 70's when training shifted its focus to the more traditional bodybuilding approach, suspension training became a rare sight in the workout community. People were no longer so much concerned with how they moved and felt, as opposed to how they looked from an aesthetic viewpoint.

The truth is: life doesn't happen sitting down. We as humans move sideways, forward, backward and diagonally. How would the use of linear machines help us improve our way of life? While they may strengthen certain aspects of our muscles and help our them grow from a purely aesthetic standpoint, these machines simply do not mimic everyday movements. How is an ab curl going to strengthen your entire core? It won't (and many people who do use it, don't do it properly).

Lets take a moment and define what the "core" really is. The "core" is essentially your abdominal muscles as well as your back muscles working in unison to stabilize your spine in everyday movements. Having a strong core is the only way to ensure the prevention of injuries, improve one's posture and promote overall strength. How suspension training works is that it creates an element of instability that calls on these muscles to provide balance and coordination. With the variety of exercises the TRX allows you to perform, you'll have the ability to bring a total muscular balance to your body, increasing performance and reducing injuries.

This past Tuesday, a friend and I headed over to Central Park on a gorgeous day to go through our workout. Aside from having the ability to go through a total body strength workout in less than 45 minutes (and still getting a good sweat on), training outdoors proved to be a wonderful change from the sometimes over-populated gym (you've been around at 5 pm on a Monday...you know what I'm talking about). Our workout consisted of single leg lunges, single leg squats, hamstring curls and glute raises, suspended chest press and elevated rows, a shoulder circuit, an arm circuit and a massive ab circuit that had us begging for air. To see our workout in it's entirety, click here.

Now I know that this may seem like something intended for elite athletes, but the truth of the matter is, the TRX can be adjusted to suit your level of fitness. Wherever you are at this point in your training, the incorporation of suspension training with your routine will absolutely increase your strength, balance and most importantly, improve total core strength. I repeat this again: this will prevent injuries, improve your posture and build up a massive foundation of strength. In other words, it will make every day life easier.

I've already implemented the use of suspension training in some of my clients workout regimens.

E. strengthens her back and arms via suspended row.


T. works on his hamstrings with an elevated hamstring curl.

The bottom line is, suspension training is a highly effective functional workout, which will strengthen you from head to toe, right through your entire core. For more information, click here to read an article by Fraser Quelch on the effectiveness of the TRX on strength, balance, stability and athleticism.

Interested in trying out the TRX? Email me at adam.kania@goodlifemakesiteasy.com, leave your information at the desk, or come up and ask me for an absolutely free trial workout. You (and your body) won't regret it.

In the meantime, consider the way you've been approaching training prior to reading this article. Is it helping you prepare for the rigors of everyday life, or are we just concerned with the way we look? If looks is all you're going for, all the power to you. As long as you are happy, confident and working to improve yourself everyday, that is what's most important. The old saying goes "To each their own." My preference to train myself and my clients in a functional manner is simply to help promote overall improvement in everyday life. The results speak for themselves.

As for suspension training, I think this new "fad" will be hanging around for quite some time.

Working on my back and core with an elevated row against a soccer goal post.