Fitness Ninja

It’s that time of year.  A time dreaded by youth all over the nation, and rejoiced (well, sometimes) by parents everywhere…BACK TO SCHOOL!!!  Often, back to school means a return to some sense of normalcy, at least as far as schedules go.  Those of you with children are forced back into a routine, whether you like it or not!!  I have found most people function MUCH better with consistency in their life.  (See where I’m going with this?!?!)  Yes, that includes exercise as well.  The most consistent clients I’ve had in my career are those that have made exercise part of their daily routine.  Not an afterthought, not something to try and “squeeze in” at the end of the day, but something that is a priority in their life.  Amazingly enough, those clients are the SAME ones who see the results they are looking for.  AND those are often the people who accomplish more and push further than they ever thought possible.  I love the look on people’s faces when they lift a weight they never dreamed of before, they do a couple hundred pushups during a workout before realizing how many they’ve actually done, they run a sprint faster than ever before, they do things that “other” people do…those are all a result of being consistent and being WILLING to push their own personal limits. 

Everyone typically has goals for weight loss, body fat loss, increased cardiovascular endurance, etc, and those are all great things to strive for.  But when people can DO more than before, they can function in everyday life more efficiently, they can climb a flight of stairs without being winded, they can play with their children and tumble around on the floor without throwing out their back…THOSE are the things that really matter.  And staying consistently focused on the bigger picture of overall health and wellness can many times keep you from falling out of your routine, no matter what time of year it is. 

Do you have an exercise routine? If so, fantastic!!  If not, what’s keeping you from it?? Lack of time? Most of you can find the time if you really want.  Not “feeling” like it?  Just commit, the feelings will follow.  Lack of knowledge?  That’s when you hire a professional to lead the way (hint hint).  Lack of motivation?  Guess what, we can handle that too!!  We really do provide no excuses to living a healthier life.  Call it a sales pitch, guilt trip, whatever you want…but at StaYoung Fitness we love what we do, and we are committed to helping anyone we can become a healthier, happier person. 

“If you don’t take care of your body, where else are you going to live??”

THE Fitness Ninja

Every Monday I have clients that come in and tell me how their nutrition is totally derailed by the weekend.  I’ve always wondered what it is about Saturday & Sunday that tells people it’s time to eat and drink and ruin all their hard work in the gym.  I’m not trying to be a Nazi about it, and I’m not against anyone having a drink here and there, or enjoying some Tex-Mex from time to time, but GEEZ!!  I watch these people work their tails off to get in better shape, and then they tell me they had 2 Mambo Taxis and an enchilada platter.  Some of those drinks have 500-700 calories EACH!!  For a lot of people, that’s more than they burn during a day’s workout!!  So a couple of drinks here and there, some chips and queso, and a chimichanga, and a person can effectively destroy everything they worked hard for during the week.  Someone on Biggest Loser once said “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”  And I think it’s SOOO true.  Everyone has SOMETHING they are working for in their exercise regimen, and it disappoints me to see someone ruin it so quickly.  It all starts in someone’s head though.  You have to want it, and I mean REALLY want it.  I’ve said it before, there are people who SAY they want to lose weight, and there are people who really DO want to lose weight.  If given the option, I would assume that most people who are overweight would chose to lose those excess lbs rather than keep them.  But the problem is people just don’t want it bad enough.  People become content and settle for the way they are.  Only those who make a MENTAL decision to change for the better ever achieve true, lasting success. 

So how bad do you want it?!  Bad enough to forgo that margarita?!  Bad enough to make a healthy decision when you dine out?!  Bad enough that you’re tired of the way those jeans fit and you’d rather be a few sizes smaller?! 

Bad enough that you’ll let the weekends count too???

“Fitness Ninja”

Well, you know how the rest goes.  But it’s oh so hard to resist sometimes.  There you are, 1am in the morning, flipping through the channels, and lo and behold, the answer to all your health and fitness needs are staring you in the face.  Chiseled pecs and rock hard abs.  Long, lean legs leading up to a firm backside.  “For only $99.99…$49.99…three easy payments of $19.99, you too can have the body you’ve always dreamed of!”  “Call now, and we’ll cut the price in half!!”  “This _______________ (fill in the blank with any of the following):  revolutionary new training technique, secret that the stars have been using for decades, program that people have paid thousands for, system once unavailable to the public…is now available to YOU!!”  Goody goody!!  So you hop on the computer, order right away, and 2 weeks later when the thought of actually DOING SOMETHING isn’t as appealing anymore, it shows up at your door.  Now what???

Can you really get the body you saw on the infomercial??  Did you pay any attention to the VERY small print at the bottom of the screen that flashed across for all of 2 seconds??  “Results not typical.  Results vary.  These results achieved along with a proper diet.”  I don’t know about you, but doing the Bowflex for 30 minutes, 3 times a week and looking like the people on the commercial seems awfully fishy.  You know why??

BECAUSE IT IS!!!  I think what many people fail to realize is that individuals we see on the commercials (along with magazine covers, etc) are more often than not PAID fitness models.  It’s what they do for a living!!  If that was your job, you’d look like that too!! But this is reality, and in reality, we have jobs and kids and other responsibilities.  I’m not saying you can’t have that amazing body you see on tv, I’m just saying it’s probably not gonna happen with the gimmick that is presented before you.  I know what will get you results.  You ready??  Wait for it, wait for it…

HARD WORK!!  The bodybuilders and fitness models you see in the media got their bodies from hard work and clean diets.  Hard work means hours (yes hours) in a gym, lifting weights, doing cardio, and pushing themselves to their limits.  And clean diet doesn’t mean only drink on the weekend, or I’ll just eat Tex-Mex once a week.  It means clean.  The clients I’ve had that made dramatic changes in their bodies didn’t do it overnight, and most didn’t do it in “only 6 short weeks.”  I’ve seen people get back their abs they thought were never attainable again.  I’ve seen people reach weight milestones they haven’t seen in a looooong time.  And it was all from consistently putting forth the effort to have a healthy lifestyle, no gimmick needed. 

So pull out that Thighmaster/Bowflex/Total Gym/Billy Banks Taebo video, put it up on Craigslist, and go do something REAL!! 

Aaaannnnndddd GO!!!

The Fitness Ninja

6/5/09

So it’s Friday, and Friday’s at StaYoung Fitness are what I like to call “FUN FRIDAY.”  It’s really no different than any other day because we ALWAYS have fun here.  (Although my definition of fun in relation to others may differ slightly, but I’ll get to that in a minute)  There is something about Fridays that makes people a little more at ease, a little more relaxed, and a little more willing to push themselves in the gym.  The weekend can do that for people, even though many people I know work on the weekends too, so the week never really “ends.” 

But I digress…do you have FUN during your workouts?  And not the “fake it till you make it” fun, but the real, genuine, “love to be alive and healthy” fun.  Do you truly enjoy working out and appreciate the process of getting (and staying) in shape.  CLICHÉ ALERT!! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t built in 30 days either.  Did you know that 80% of people who begin a new fitness regime stop within 6 weeks?  And 90% stop within 6 months.  So I think the problem lies in expectations of what is really going to happen when embarking on a new workout routine.  If someone’s goal is to lose weight, let’s say 70lbs, and they’ve had that extra 70lbs for a decade, why would they expect it to come off in 6 weeks?  Or 12 weeks?  And when it doesn’t fly off like it did on Biggest Loser, why do they quit so quickly?  If someone is consistent in making healthy, positive changes, there is always progress, even if the scale doesn’t always reflect it. 

If you are setting out to truly change your life, to LIVE a healthy lifestyle, then I think you HAVE to have fun.  You have to be able to take pride in the small accomplishments along the journey:  the first “real” pushup, the first jog with no knee pain, the first time you do something that you told yourself “I’ll never be able to do that.”  Those are the great things about getting a healthy body, and it SHOULD be fun.

I tell my clients this: EVERYTHING is fun, there are just different levels of fun.  So specific exercises can either be high on the fun scale, or low on the fun scale, but it’s ALL funJ  (I may have some opposing client views on that one, but they learn quickly to just agree and move on) 

Anyway…my point of all this incessant rambling is this, HAVE SOME FUN!!!  Whatever you are doing for fitness, keep it interesting.  Switch up your routine.  Do something you LIKE to do instead of just going through the motions.  Bring a friend with you.  (Because who doesn’t like to see a good friend suffering…um…I mean having FUN right beside them)  Enjoy what you are doing, and think about the great sense of accomplishment in just being healthy.

Have a great weekend folks, and enjoy my closing quote…

“It doesn’t have to be fun, to be fun”…go figure that one out

Fitness Ninja

It’s raining here in lovely Frisco, TX.  I love the rain, always have.  And there are so many clichés and sayings that come along with the rain:  “it’s raining cats and dogs” (which I’ve never seen, but I could possibly get a free puppy out of the deal if it ever did), “when it rains it pours” (usually true here in Texas), "don't rain on my parade" (I don't think wet balloons would be THAT big of a deal), and my favorite “that rain sure is coming down!!” (as opposed to…??, but I guess it does rain sideways here sometimes). 

One thing I do know, is that rain makes for a slow day in the gym.  I’m not sure what it is, but anywhere I’ve ever trained, if it’s raining, less people show up.  It seems strange to me.  People go to work when it’s raining (at least I assume they do, but we know what assumption can do), people go grocery shopping and run errands and attend other events.  So what is it about the rain that keeps people from working out? 

In my years of training, I find often that it’s constantly raining for some of my clients.  It happens to us all, and I am no exception.  “When it rains, it pours”, right?!  It rains financial troubles.  It rains scheduling issues.  It rains kids and spouses and meetings.  It rains poor nutrition, bad habits, and lack of motivation.  We all have our struggles, and I don’t know of too many people who don’t have SOMETHING raining down in their life.

BUT, remember when you were a kid and you wanted to go outside and PLAY in the rain??  Wasn’t that the best?!  Jumping around in puddles, getting soaked and dirty, without a care in the world.  I used to ride my bike through puddles to see how much water I could splash up.   It was great!!!

So when it rains, what do you do?  Do you curl up inside, waiting for the storm to pass?  Do you let the rain ruin your parade?  OR, do you frolic in the raindrops, taking what is given to you, and soaking up every bit of it? 

The sun is out now, which reminds me that there is ALWAYS a brighter side, but sometimes we have to make it through the rain to get there.

 

“Fitness Ninja” 

Have you ever lost weight?  Do you want to lose weight now?  How much would you want to lose?...

I was training some people this morning and we were talking about the yo-yo effects of “dieting” to lose weight.  Lose 15lbs, gain it back, lose 15lbs, gain it back again.  It happens all the time, and here’s the problem:  when you lose weight, you will lose some combination of fat AND muscle.  It’s almost impossible to lose just fat, especially without exercise.  When you gain the weight back, it’s all fat.  So you are actually increasing your body fat every time you gain weight back.  You may have started out at 140lbs, and let’s say 30% body fat…now you’re 140lbs and 35% body fat!!  I may not be a mathematical wizard, but my trainer math tells me that’s probably not a good thing;-)

So what’s the solution?  Well obviously I always recommend proper nutrition AND exercise for a healthy lifestyle.  BUT, instead of LOSING weight, try changing your mindset, and think of it as GETTING RID OF weight.  When you lose your car keys, you attempt to find them.  When Lassie runs away from home, you post signs around the neighborhood in hopes of getting your best friend back.  Have you ever lost 20lbs and gone searching for it?  Put an ad on Craigslist and waited for that email saying someone found your weight?!  Called up your friends and asked if you left your 20lbs at their house???  OF COURSE NOT!! (At least I hope not anyway, that’d be kind of disturbing)  I would like to believe that when anyone loses weight, they fully intend to keep it off.  Unfortunately, too many people FIND the weight they lost, and many times, they find weight that someone else lost too. 

Weight loss is always one of the top New Year’s resolutions.  And in my career, is a goal of about 95% of my clients.  I want people to think of it differently.  I want people to tell me how much weight they want to get rid of.  When you get rid of your old socks, you don’t plan on getting them back again.  Your excess weight should be no different.  So how much weight do YOU want to get rid of???  And what are you going to do to get rid of it FOREVER?!?! 

The Fitness Ninja

When you exercise, do you have purpose?  Is there a reason you are in the gym, running on the street, riding your bike, using that Total Gym you bought from Chuck Norris one late night?  I see it happen all too often.   People going through the motions, strolling on the treadmill, reading a paper while pedaling aimlessly on the recumbent bike, doing a set on the leg press machine then sitting there for WAAAAY too long before actually moving again.  We’ve all seen those people, and probably a time or two, have BEEN those people. 

There has to be something that drives you to actually DO SOMETHING when you go to the gym!!  In my opinion, there are people that exercise (the treadmill strolling, machine sitting individuals), and there are people that WORK OUT!!  Which one are you?!  Do you truly push yourself, trying to find the limits of your physical capabilities?  It’s a tough thing to do without someone standing over you “making” you do it.  But I always tell my clients, I don’t “make” them do anything.  They always have a choice.  And I have been fortunate to have clients that are willing to be motivated and pushed, and those people often achieve things they never dreamed of. 

Quick story.  Randy and I are currently training a guy with incredible purpose.  Wanna know what that purpose is?  To LIVE!!  His health was in EXTREMELY poor condition, and his doctor told him he could either manage his death, and hopefully live until he was 60, or he could do something about it.  (And let me just say that we need more doctors like that, doctors that understand there’s a world outside of medication)  Last week, this man lost his hundredth pound since last June.  But it’s been so much more than that.  He is off virtually ALL his medication, he can wear sizes of clothes he hasn’t been able to wear in years, and he FEELS great!!  He is literally a different man.  And it’s honestly nothing we have done.  It was him taking control of his life and deciding he wasn’t going to live in misery anymore.

So what is your purpose?  Everyone has something that motivates them to be better (at least I hope we all do).  Kids, grandkids, health, spouse, job, a wedding, a beach, a reunion, LIFE…whatever it may be, FIND IT!!  Then grab it by the throat and USE IT!! 

I’ll leave you with this.  It’s a motto we use from time to time.  I don’t know where it came from, and I probably stole it from somewhere, but I’ll claim it’s mine until I get sued.

“If you don’t take care of your body, where else are you going to live?!”

The Fitness Ninja

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of this blog from your very own Fitness Ninja.  I'd like to start by giving a brief background about myself and my business.  My name is Marc Zalmanoff, and along with my business partner Randy Young, we own and operate StaYoung Fitness & Performance Training, and StaYoung Foods & Catering.  As I tell people sometimes, we'll beat you and feed you.  How nice of us, huh?  Both of us have Bachelor's Degrees from the University of North Texas (GO MEAN GREEN!!), and have been in the fitness industry for all of our professional career.  So most of the time we know what we're doing;-)  I'll fill you in on more details as time goes on, but let's get to the good stuff. 

My clients will tell you this, I LOVE what I do.  I truly believe I was put on this earth to do exactly what I do.  I can't imagine sitting behind a desk for a living, or wearing a suit and tie everyday, or not being able to yell (encouragingly) at SOMEONE at least once a day.  It fires me up and it's my therapy.  And if there is anything you can take away from reading this, I hope you will be just a little inspired to take a bigger stake and claim in your health and fitness.  I want to be YOUR source of knowledge for any and all questions regarding exercise and nutrition.  Now, even though I do have a plethora of smarts (HA!!, I just like using the word plethora), I don't know everything, but I can always find the answer for you. 

I'd like to leave you with this today, my Rules of Training.  I should charge for this, I should write a handbook, I should have an infomercial and sell this with some crazy ab machine that guarantees you a six pack in only 30 seconds, 3 times a week (which brings up the point, if it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!!, but that's another day).  So here you have it, my Rules of Training I have instituted with my clients for years, now yours for the low, low price of $Free.99 

1.  There is no sitting down and resting, you have the other 23 hours of the day to do that.
2.  I do not understand the words "I can't."  I googled it, couldn't find it.
3.  I will never ask you to do something that I can't do, and do well.  If your trainer cannot demonstrate something efficiently, you might want to get a new trainer.
4.  If I'm not sure you are capable of doing something I want you to do, I will let you know.  But you WILL try.
5.  There will be no sitting down and resting.
6.  Be on time.  Being late simply means lest rest for you.  We WILL complete the workout.
7.  When you are on the treadmill, do not hold on.  That's cheating.
8.  Did I mention there is no sitting down and resting?!?!

There you have it.  I hope each and every one of you will become regular readers.  Have a fantabulous day!!

Marc Zalmanoff
"Fitness Ninja"