Before the holidays rolled around I asked my campers/clients to commit to tracking their exercise and nutrition to stay faithful during this difficult time of year. Points were awarded for working out, eating vegetables, lean protein and healthy fat. Because they were tracking how often they exercised and followed their nutrition plan most clients did pretty well, while others cheated like Tiger Woods. Still others like Tammy Massey, Lynnette Wolf and Robbie Rainaldi killed it. Out of 115 points possible they scored 111.5, 101 and 96 respectively. They were the only ones to bring in their completed compliance records. They are all winners of the “Buckle Down” lifestyle transformation contest. They each get a Gym Boss interval timer and an awesome EXL performance T-shirt.
I’m sure some of you are holding out to really focus all your energy on this next phase’s body transformation contest, New Year…New You.
Speaking of the New Year it’s time make some New Year’s resolutions. Here are some basic tips to make it a positive experience and ensure your success in completing them this year.
- Be realistic. Choose a few, small, attainable goals. You’re setting yourself up for failure with a huge, insurmountable list of major life changing goals. Choose 2 or 3 goals and make them realistic.
- Visualize what your life will be like once you have accomplished your goal. Visualize what you see, taste, hear and how you feel, etc. Incorporate as much sensory detail, emotion and passion as possible. Then write it down and review it often. When you encounter adversity to your goal you can rely on your vision and passion to pull you through.
- Write your goals down and make a plan: Write down in detail what your goal is and when you will accomplish it. Once again incorporate as much sensory details as you can. No matter how big your goal is, come up with a plan incorporating little steps to guarantee your success. Realize, however, that your goal may not always come to fruition the way you initially planned, allow for some flexibility.
- Declare your goal to as many people as possible. By merely stating your intentions publicly social peer-pressure/support can help keep you staying the course.
- Reward or punishment: Either offer yourself a reward upon completion of your goal or a punishment for not attaining your goal. This simple act can all but solidify your success. Coincidentally most people are driven more by punishment than reward.
Realize that these tips apply whenever you’re making resolutions or goals. If New Year’s (being in the dead of winter) doesn’t motivate you to make some changes then choose a time that does. Springtime goal setting seems to make the most sense to me, rather than when the tripometer turns over January one. But, most of the western world chooses the birth of the new year to resolve to change. Whatever the season, prioritize your life and dedicate time and energy towards your goals. If your life is already too busy, then decide what you will “sacrifice” to attain your goal i.e.: watching American Idol, sleeping in, Sunday nap, surfing the net. Whatever the “sacrifice” utilize that “new” time to devote to your resolutions.
May you all have a happy and successful NewYear.
Mat “the trainer”
Mat Gover BS, CSCS and Pam Gover CPT are Orem fitness boot camp instructors, personal trainers, and real world fat loss experts. They also own EXL Fitness & Performance, a personal and group training studio. To book Mat to speak at your Utah Valley company, club, or organization please contact him by email at matthetrainer@me.com or by phone at (801) 836.7185. For a free two-week trial to boot camp and experience the best personal training in Utah Valley please call Mat or drop by the gym (1623 N State St, Orem right next to Costa Vida).
We just recently finished our Fit 4 Fall Body Transformation Contest. A no holds barred contest comparing total percent body fat lost and visual changes when comparing before and after pics. It was just a 7 week program but both our winner lost 4% body fat. I’ve never seen such a dichotomy with winners. In the men’s division Kelly Wilkinson lost close to 20 lbs with over 17 lbs being body fat. He did lose 2.5 lbs of muscle, but I’ll gladly trade 2.5 lbs of muscle for 17 pounds of fat any day. In two boot camp phases Kelly has lost 69 lbs. Way to go Teek!! In the Women’s division Angela Oakeson also lost 4% body fat. She started in the teens with her percent body fat which is considered lean already. Losing 4% is quite remarkable, she also lost 2 inches in her waist. Both win a free month of EXL Fitness Boot Camp.
I love to people watch. I mean who doesn’t? The other day I got lassoed into going to the mall with my beautiful wife and kids and while my wife and daughter were in the women’s only underwear store (which is kind of weird, guys don’t have a guys only underwear store??? But if we did it sure wouldn’t be called Victor’s Secret). Anyway while sitting outside Victoria’s place I had a chance to observe mall life. We’re talking all kinds of shapes, sizes, styles and ways of life a true slice of red, white and blue Americana. I don’t think it takes a fitness professional to notice the poor fitness level of todays Americans. (As a little side note: congratulations we are no longer the fattest nation on the planet. The Land Down Under, Australia, is now officially the fattest nation ever. So I guess we can relax a little…ya right, second place isn’t that cool either.) Anyway, aside from the spare tires and muffin tops I witnessed I was blown away with the severity of poor posture. From the elderly to the young poor posture knew no limits. Our relatively sedentary lifestyle does a number on our spine. For the most part we do a lot of sitting, even if we are recreational athletes and workout religiously we still sit a lot more than our ancestors. From the moment we get up we sit down to eat breakfast, then sit in our car as we drive to work, at work we sit at our desk, then off to lunch where we sit, drive home sitting in our car and when we finally get home instead of working on getting our recommended 10,000 suggested steps in a day we sit down on the couch and watch Dancing with Stars. This seated position leads to rounded shoulders and a forward head. Poor posture leads to shortened muscles which leads to inflexibility and loss of strength, performance decreases and the likelyhood of injury increases. Not to mention neck, shoulder and back pain.
Here is a full body, metabolism boosting boot camp workout with exercises I consider to be fundamental movement patterns. Most other exercises are some variation of these basic exercises. The advantage here is that it can be done virtually everywhere. The only piece of equipment required is the best piece of equipment you will ever own…your body. If you’re on the road traveling and don’t want to miss your workout or you can’t get away from the house to go to the gym. This 20 minute workout will really rock your world.
