Got Passion?

18 08 2011

***This is an excerpt from a newsletter I wrote to all the EXL clients this last April, so it’s a little out of season, but the message is timeless.***

This time of year is challenging for me.  I find it hard to transition from winter to spring, from ski season to mountain bike season.  Because the snow has been so soggy I’ve forced myself to do a few spring bike rides.  Ya, I was slow.  A ride that normally takes me 90 minutes took me close to 2 hours.  I can probably chalk it up to being out of biking shape, but more importantly I contribute it to a lack of passion.  My heart just wasn’t in the ride.  Passion is what drives us to excel.  I will find my passion again for biking, it’ll probably take a few miserable spring ski adventures, but I will find it.

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be.  Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.” T. Alan Armstrong

Speaking of passion, I recently had the opportunity of training an individual that I believe epitomizes passion.  Some of you know him, he’s been a regular 6am camper for the last 3 or 4 months and he has gone through an amazing transformation.  His name is Stanton.  Stanton is a gym teacher at Orem High School.  He came to me at the end of last year asking for my help.  He told me he was going to win the Gold’s Gym Body Transformation Contest that would begin at the new year.  He told me he didn’t have the money to pay for my services, but he would once he won the contest (I believe there was a $1200 purse for the contest).  I was impressed, so impressed that I took him up on his offer.  I would train him and he could pay me later. For the next 3 months Stanton was the first camper at boot camp showing up early everyday.  Not only did he do the regular boot camp workout he doubled up his exercise by performing cardio intervals in the evening.  As far as nutrition went we worked on eliminating the bad habits for the first month, then we worked on eating healthy…lots of lean protein, veggies and healthy carbs. In month 2 we started rotating his carb intake.  Never once did he give me the excuse, “But, Mat, I can’t eat that much protein.” or “Mat, I’m so sick of cottage cheese and chicken.”  He was passionately chasing his goal.  I could’ve told him to skip backwards down State Street while shaking a shake weight would’ve helped him lose a few extra pounds and he would’ve done it.  Passion and compliance, it’s a magical formula for success.  Now, Stanton won’t know the results of the contest for a couple of weeks. To be quite honest, the results don’t matter.  In my eyes, Stanton has already won.  He is a champion.

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.  T. Alan Armstrong

My challenge for you is to find your passion.  What is it that drives you to workout?  To plan out your meals?  To skip dessert?  Is it to look good naked?  Or maybe you want to feel younger, healthier, stronger…?  Whatever it is find it, grab a hold of it, internalize it.  Write your passion down.  Write in down in powerful language that describes your fire within.  Post it in places  so that you will see it often.  And then share your passion with others.  If you can’t go through the simple task of writing it down or muster the courage to share it with family and friends, then how passionate is your passion?  Passionate enough to be a champion?

Passionately,

Mat “the trainer”

Not that it matters, but, here are Stanton’s before and after pics…and not only did he win the state wide contest he won his age division nationally and was runner up overall…Well done Stanton, my friend!!!

Drop the white socks, sport a smile and a spray on tan and you too can have a transformation like Stanton...oh yeah and a whole lot of sweat.


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Categories : Boot Camp, Competition, Fat Loss, Nutrition, Training

Think Skinny This Holiday Season

23 11 2010

The holiday season is upon us once again.  One of the reasons the American waistline is ever expanding is holiday weight gain.  Depending on the study, the average American gains between 3-11 pounds during the holidays.  Most don’t lose the holiday weight during the ensuing New Year’s resolution rush to the gym.  So year after year we Americans get fatter and fatter.

My approach during the holidays is…break even.  Don’t gain and don’t lose.  Enjoy the holidays, but don’t over indulge. The way I see it, you’re already ahead if you start the New Year even on your weight.  Use the ensuing months to hit your weight loss goal.

Here are 10 tried and true tips to help get you through the holidays with minimal damage and plenty of fun.

1.  ”Know thy weakness.” – Samurai Strategies.  This rule is king of all holiday rules.  Know thyself.  If you had a heart to heart with yourself you could probably figure out your nutrition strengths and weaknesses…and no it’s not all genetics.  Some common weaknesses: carb addict, skipping breakfast, sweet tooth, skip workouts, alcohol.  If you know you have a particular weakness then don’t put yourself in a situation to be tested.  Your will power will always give out.  Case in point, if you know you’re addicted to carbs, meaning you tend to go straight for the rolls and mashed potatoes on T-day, then eat all your protein and veggies first before you even indulge in making a castle of mashed potatoes on your plate.  Hopefully by doing so you will be less apt to eat too much of the fattening carbs.

2.  Don’t deny yourself.  Have you ever noticed that when you completely deny yourself of something you crave it even more?  This is the holidays and there is going to be plenty of unhealthy food around waiting to sabotage your fitness goals, my mom’s cranberry jello salad comes to mind.  Give yourself  a bite or a small serving and be done with it.  I have found that often times just a taste is all you need to satisfy that craving.  This rule, however, is contingent on rule number 1.  You don’t hire an alcoholic to run a liquor store.  Likewise, if you know that you can’t just have one bite or one serving without going ape crazy and eating the whole thing, then don’t tempt yourself by allowing yourself the opportunity.  Once again, don’t deny yourself, BUT know your weakness.

3.  Intense Exercise. Most of you hardly have time during the rest of the year for exercise let alone during the holidays, so drop the long cardio bouts and stick to short, high intensity exercise routines like boot camp style workouts, super sets, circuit training, or interval training. High intensity is the key here.  On a scale of 1-10 for exertion, you should be hanging out between and 9 and 11…yup 11.  Yes, your routine at the local Curves is circuit training, but the intensity is most likely lacking.  A big benefit to high intensity workouts is that they are over quickly…20-30 minutes, but your metabolism is lit up for hours.  Even if you only have time for 10 minutes, then by all means do 10 minutes.  You’ll eat better afterwards and you’ll feel better too.

4.  Stick to 1 serving.  No more going back for seconds.  One plate and done…enough said.

5.  Eat plenty of protein.  Fats and carbs are most easily stored as fat.  Protein, on the other hand, requires considerable calories just to digest.  Some studies suggest 30% of the calories consumed in protein is used in the digestion and breakdown of protein.  Most women should shoot for a palm sized serving of protein and men a whole hand sized serving.

6.  Eat breakfast and eat throughout the day.  Yes, even on Thanksgiving Day, eat your normal meals including breakfast.  This will help prevent overeating during the “big meal”.  If you know you’re going to a holiday party and you want to avoid overeating eat a small meal before you go.  A fast option is a protein smoothie on your way out the door.

7.  Eat protein and veggies first.  This little trick will help lessen the glycemic load of your meal.  Meaning it will hinder the hormonal response when eating carbs to store some for later.  Plus you will reach the point of  feeling full quicker.

8.  Drink plenty of water.  Often times we misread our body’s craving for water as hunger, therefore, we eat.  The next time you want to eat in between meals, drink some water and see if you’re still hungry in a few minutes.  Besides, our bodies just run better when properly hydrated.  Shoot for 0.5 ounces per pound body weight a day.

9.  Severely cut back or eliminate full fat or sugar foods.  I’m not a big fan of sugar-free or fat-free food options in normal routine, but on occasions where fat and sugar are plentiful like the holidays,  a low-fat or sugar-free option would be recommended.  Choose vinaigrettes for salads, sugar-free jello/cool whip for deserts.  Or if you can’t stomach the lower calorie options then opt for a smaller serving of gravy, whipped cream and jello.

10.  Avoid mindless snacking.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about eating small meals throughout the day.  But don’t skip meals because you’re constantly eating at the snack tray.  Peanut M&Ms just don’t offer the same nutritional value as a high protein/veggie meal.  Eat your meals every 2-3 hours (meal replacement shakes are extremely convenient during this hectic time of year) and then when you do snack choose healthy options like a relish tray with humus for dip or follow rule number 9 and choose a small helping, all the while remembering rule numero uno…know thy weakness.

11. (bonus tip) Stay active.  For heavens sake get off the couch.  Pass on the post T-day nap. And, you don’t need to see every football game; catch the highlights on ESPN.  Instead, go play a pick up game of ball, go snowshoeing or skiing, do a home boot camp workout.  Shoot, even play some Wii …your kids will love you for it.

There you have it some holiday words to live by.

Stay Fit

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 matgover@mac.com or by phone at (801) 836.7185. For a free one-week trial to his Orem boot camp to 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).


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Categories : Boot Camp, Fat Loss, Nutrition, Training

Time-saving, Fat-burning Cardio…NO Fancy Equipment or Gym Needed

24 09 2010

This week I’ve enlisted my EXL Cardio Boot Camp guru, Shawn Webb to tell us a little about cardio and more specifically interval training.  Shawn always has creative body-weight only exercises in his bi-weekly cardio boot camp to light up his clients’ metabolism and he doesn’t even need any fancy equipment. ~ Mat “the trainer”

Hello fellow boot campers!  Tell me if these are two common complaints that people have about cardio.

1. I do not have the time!

And, the excuse for those that actually do have time for cardio…

2.  I do my cardio, but I don’t see any results.

Does that sound familiar?  Well one great solution that resolves both of those common problems is INTERVAL TRAINING!!!!  Interval training involves alternating short bursts of intense activity with what is called active recovery, which is typically a less-intense form of the original activity.  So instead of running on the treadmill for miles at a steady pace, do sprints from 30 seconds to a minute as hard as you can, and then get off the treadmill and do a stretch for 1- 2 minutes, depending upon your time intervals for the workout that day. Repeat 10-14 times. You can apply these to a plethora of exercises.  According to research that has been done, a 20 minute high intense cardio interval workout is 9 times more effective than steady state cardio.  So that solves the time issue.  Who honestly doesn’t have 20 minutes a day to exercise???

What are the advantages that I mentioned about interval training?

Interval training utilizes the body’s two energy-producing systems: the aerobic and the anaerobic. The aerobic system is the one that allows you to walk or run for several miles, that uses oxygen to convert carbohydrates from various sources throughout the body into energy.

The anaerobic system, on the other hand, draws energy from carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen) stored in the muscles for short bursts of activity such as sprinting, jumping or lifting heavy objects. This system does not require oxygen, nor does it provide enough energy for more than the briefest of activities. And its byproduct, lactic acid, is responsible for that achy, burning sensation in your muscles that you feel after, say, running up several flights of stairs.

Another added benefit of interval training is the post exercise calorie burn, you will be burning calories for up to 24-48 hours after these high intensity workouts. Another nice advantage is that anybody, at any fitness level can do intervals.  You control the intensity and the amount of time per set.  A word of advice; when you are doing your work intervals you want to pretend you are running from Godzilla.  You need to be working like you are running for your life.  Your heart should feel like it’s about to jump out of your chest.

If this doesn't make you run fast, I don't know what will!!

How to set up your own workout

Despite its simplicity, it also is possible to take a very scientific approach to interval training, timing both the work and recovery intervals according to specific goals. I’ve listed the four variables to keep in mind when designing an interval training program.

  • Intensity (speed) of work interval
  • Duration (distance or time) of work interval
  • Duration of rest or recovery interval
  • Number of repetitions of each interval

You will get fast results by following these steps.  And another advantage is that you can apply interval training into any kind of fitness activity: biking, running, swimming, medicine balls, etc……Make it fun!!!

Here’s a basic interval program.  In fact, this is the same format we teach our rookie boot campers.

5 minute warm-up (the “workout b4 the workout is ideal”)

30 seconds- work interval (High Knee “T’s”=> see video)

90 seconds- active recovery interval (walking or even stretching…for you veteran campers/clients think “spiderman stretch” or “sumo squats”)

30 seconds- work interval (Frog Jumps)

90 seconds- active recovery

Repeat alternating work intervals with active recovery intervals up to 10 times for a 20 minute workout.  Follow that with a 5 minute foam rolling session and your golden.  You’ve ignited your metabolism, you didn’t need a gym pass and you can get back to your hectic schedule feeling good about taking care of your health.

If jumping hearts are happy hearts than your heart will be smiling ear to ear while it's jumping out of your chest with these exercises.

Always feel free to ask me questions about anything with intervals.  Also, if you haven’t tried my cardio boot camp on Tuesday and Thursdays mornings at 6:30am come see for yourself how effective intervals are.

Gain more time and get better results!

Until next time, DIG DEEP!!!

Shawn Webb


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Categories : Boot Camp, Cardio, Fat Loss, Training

Nutrition Tip #8 Fiber Facts

30 04 2010

Tip #8
Fiber Facts
by Dr. John Berardi

Shoot for about 40-50g of mixed fiber per day, but no more. The absolute lower limit is 20g per day. Your main fiber sources should be (in order of importance): vegetables, beans, nuts, fruit, and grains (like oatmeal). If you eat 1 oz of mixed nuts, 1 apple, 2 cups of kidney beans, and 2 cups of mixed vegetables each day, you’ll be getting 41g of fiber. Also, a small amount of supplemental fiber is okay. You can get soluble fiber from psyllium, guar gum, and apple pectin, and insoluble fiber from flax seeds.

SEE ALSO:
This tip is sponsored by Precision Nutrition – my pick for the best nutrition and supplement resource currently available. Containing system manuals, gourmet cookbook, digital audio/video library, online membership, and more, Precision Nutrition will teach you everything you need to know to get the body you want — guaranteed.

Order Precision Nutrition now and get $50 off!

Why fiber?  Fiber helps lower cholesterol, control blood sugar level, and aids in satiety and colon health.

Stay Fit,

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).


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Categories : Nutrition

Holiday Nutrition Tip #2

16 12 2009

Last week we discussed how crucial it is for you to have a PLAN to control your calorie intake during the holidays. In fact, on the Grocery Store Tour this last Saturday we really pounded home that if you “fail to plan, plan to fail”.

Today’s tip is even more simple and expands on the premise.

Plan on staying away from the booze.

Look, a drink or two isn’t going to be the end of the world. But when two turns to three…

I’m not getting on my soap box here. I’m just telling you something you already know:

Booze leads to bad decisions. And in this case, we’re talking about bad eating decisions.

When alcohol enters the equation even the best laid plans crumble. The extra calories from the cocktails is one thing. But really it’s the extra calories you chew that start to add up.

One piece of cake turns to two…

A handful of chips turns into a bag…

The dip sitting in front of you mysteriously vanishes…into your belly…

You get the picture. ;-)

Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Just be conscious of what alcohol does to your decision-making.

As far as calories go and alcohol, avoid sugary alcoholic drinks and beer.  Not only are they empty calories but, they spike you insulin which triggers your body to store those calories as fat.  Choosing hard liquor or wine will give you more bang for your buck with less caloric implications.  I have had very few clients able to lose wight and drink any more than a few beers or glasses of wine per week.  The bottom line:  If you booze, you won’t lose!!

coincidentally, even if you do not drink alcohol, there are plenty of other non-alcoholic holiday libations (virgin egg nog, wassel, apple cider) that can easily slip past your gullet and add inches to your waistline.

Stay Fit,

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).


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Categories : Fat Loss, Nutrition

Healthy Holiday Nutrition Tip #1

10 12 2009

Hey, I know you know this.

You know you know this.

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

You can’t just HOPE you’re going to behave yourself at holiday parties.

You can’t just do the same old things you’ve been doing.

You can’t just miss breakfast have a light lunch and then go to a party filled with temptation and not go a little insane on the cheese platter ;-)

You have to plan your meals.

You have to plan your workouts.

You have to set your goals in stone.

You don’t want to be the person that comes out of the holidays 5 to 10 pounds heavier, do you?

If you don’t plan your strategy from preventing it, well, you can PLAN on getting some new clothes that fit your new size.

This is far from doom and gloom. You can still enjoy your favorite foods at parties. You can still have a great time.

But what you can’t do is just have a free-for-all and stuff your face with everything put in front of you.  You know that.

Tell you what: Plan on taking a nice 30 minute walk this weekend and do some solid thinking about what your plan will be. And when you get back home, put it on paper and commit to it. And think about how great you’ll feel about yourself when January comes after you’ve followed your plan. Oh, and be sure to reward yourself to by doing something special for yourself.

Stay Fit,

Mat “the trainer”

PS – As a proud Prograde Nutrition partner I have to remind you Prograde is having a heck of a Holiday Blow Out on ALL of their awesome products. Everything you need, including the coupon code to save 15% on all Prograde Nutrition products is right here: http://exlfitness.getprograde.com/specials.html Hurry because this deal expires this Friday, December 11th at 11:59pm EST.

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).


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Categories : Fat Loss, Nutrition

Push Yourself Results and Eat Fat to Lose Fat

8 12 2009

We just wrapped up another EXL Fitness Boot Camp phase called “Push Yourself”.  The contest this phase was a push-up contest.  We maxed out on pushups at the beginning of the phase and then retest after a 1 week break 6 weeks later.  Campers were given a home program to supplement the pushup work already included in boot camp.  The results were amazing!  Every camper improved, including campers that did not do the home program.  Prizes were awarded for the most overall pushups and the most improved.  The biggest difference, however, was in technique.  The pushups at the beginning of the phase were as akward as breakfast at Tiger Wood’s house the day after his car crash.  By the end of the phase the pushups were as beautiful as snow on Christmas. BTW, pushups were performed on the toes with no rest.  The campers were required to go down and touch their chest to a tennis ball and then push up till their elbows locked.  They had 1 minute to do as many as they could, then rested 1 minute then tested again.  The final number was the average of the 2 tests.  Ask any of the campers, the first test wasn’t so bad it was the second that gotcha…can you say rubber arms?

Most Pushups

Men’s:  Shawn Webb  50

Women’s:  Nancy Carter 36

Most Improved

Men’s:  Jay Sherman 8

Women’s:  Chelsey Hood  13

Honorable Mention went to:   Sarah Stewart and Diana Andersen who both went from 1 ugly (don’t-know-if-you-can-call-it-a-pushup) to 4 strong pushups thats a 400% improvement!!  And Kurt Brown who couldn’t do 1 pushup from his knees at the beginning of the phase banged out over 12…WOW!!

Congratulations, they each win a white EXL Fitness Performance T-shirt and a Prograde Supplement of their choice.

If you are interested in taking your pushup max through the roof and you didn’t participate in boot camp check out this blog post for the “at home” pushup program and watch your pushups sky rocket.

This phase the contest is on compliance.  Points are awarded for exercising and eating vegetables at every meal, eating the right amount of protein and carbs, as well as taking the prescribed supplements.  One of the supplements that studies have found to improve fat loss is…fat.  More specifically EPA and DHA which are found in fish oil.

Tip #7
Eat Fat, Lose Fat
by Dr. John Berardi

To lose fat, sometimes you have to eat fat. Monounsaturated fats and certain polyunsaturates actually speed up the metabolic rate. Lipid researchers believe that the best of the fat burning bunch are the highly unsaturated omega 3s called EPA and DHA. A diet supplemented with omega 3-rich fish oil promotes losses of body fat with simultaneous gains in lean mass.

SEE ALSO:
This tip is sponsored by Precision Nutrition – our pick for the best nutrition and supplement resource currently available. Containing system manuals, gourmet cookbook, digital audio/video library, online membership, and more, Precision Nutrition will teach you everything you need to know to get the body you want — guaranteed.

Order Precision Nutrition now and get $50 off!

This flies in the face of the diet fads of the 1980′s where ‘low-fat’ and ‘fat-free’ were popular.  In fact, we are still conditioned to think that these claims are synonymous with “healthy”.  I remember growing up in the ’80′s and my mom counting her fat grams.  I remember specifically being told not eat too many olives because they were high in fat.  Wow, who would of thought back then that the exact opposite were true, eating a diet full of dietary fat is actually healthier and leads to a much leaner body.  Who would have thought that the fat-phobic ’80′s would lead to the diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity problems of this century.

Fat Free = Guilt Free....NOT

As you know I am a proud Prograde Nutrition partner and my fish oil of choice is Prograde EFA Icon, which is made of a more bioavailable oil from Neptune krill.  Because of its better absorption you only need to take 2 small EFA Icon capsules compared of taking 6-10 capsules of fish oil to get 6,000-10,000 mg of EPA/DHA.

Coincedentally, Prograde is having a heck of a Holiday Blow Out. It’s pretty obvious they don’t want you “shutting it down” the last couple weeks of December.

Believe it or not they are putting all of their awesome products including EFA Icon on sale this week for 15% off! I don’t think they’ve ever done this before, and they probably won’t do it ever again. Their products are so good and the company is growing so fast they just don’t have to.

So my recommendation to you is to get on over to http://exlfitness.getprograde.com/specials.html right NOW and stock up.

This deal expires this Friday, December 11th at 11:59pm EST. But don’t wait until later to order. You might get busy, you might forget…and trust me you WILL regret missing out on this if you do.

For all my campers, buckle down these last few weeks before Christmas.  Track your points and instead of finding excuses for not eating your protein or veggies or doing your cardio buckle down and find ways to get it in.

Stay Fit

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).


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Categories : Boot Camp, Competition, Fat Loss, Nutrition

The Organic Debate, Nutrition Tip #6

14 11 2009

EXL_RGBThis is another topic that came up on the grocery store tour: organic versus regular fruit and veggies.

Tip #6
The Organic Debate
by Dr. John Berardi

The average person should consume two pieces of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day as a minimum. Athletes probably need even more – I recommend 10-15 servings per day for each of my athletes. Expert often spend too much time arguing about organic vs. regular fruits and veggies. I agree that raw, organic fruits and vegetables are best since they have a higher micronutrient count, but any fruits and veggies are better than none! Get sufficient fruits and vegetables in your diet before worrying about whether they’re organic or not. Once you’ve done that, worry on.

SEE ALSO:
This tip is sponsored by Precision Nutrition – our pick for the best nutrition and supplement resource currently available. Containing system manuals, gourmet cookbook, digital audio/video library, online membership, and more, Precision Nutrition will teach you everything you need to know to get the body you want — guaranteed.

Order Precision Nutrition now and get $50 off!

This same reasoning goes with free-range chickens and cattle versus farm fed.  Just eat more lean sources of protein period.  Stick to whole foods and avoid the processed, pre-packaged crap that is so prevalent in our society.  Once that habit is engrained then worry about how much exercise your protein source received before it was slaughtered.

Stay Fit

Mat “the trainer”

PS- Please add a comment organic vs regulart fruits and veggies debate.

PPS- Pass this post on to anyone looking to improve their health, energy and physique.

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).


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Categories : Nutrition

The Grocery Store Tour

11 11 2009

EXL_RGBThis last weekend I took a number of my clients and boot campers through Sunflower Market for a grocery store tour and nutrition seminar.  Even though it was early for a Saturday morning we had a great turnout.  If you missed the tour we will be doing another tour next month which is free for all current clients and campers.

Most people recognize that nutrition is the key to good health, maximum performance and ideal body composition.  No matter your fitness or health goal it all starts in the grocery store.  If you fail to buy the correct foods you will fail to achieve your goal.  You’re fooling yourself if you think you can eat healthy and not buy and prepare your own food.  Even though it is possible to eat healthy while on the run, you can only eat so many grilled chicken breasts from Wendy’s before you go postal.  Take responsibility for your health and nutrition, make it a priority, not an after thought.

forn1301l

Look familiar?

During the grocery store tour we covered a myriad of tips and tricks including the 3 rules for grocery shopping.

  1. Quick: Your weekly stop at the grocery store should be a target event.  Drive directly to your local grocery store of choice, get in and get out!  I recommend making your trip to the grocery store it’s own event.  Meaning, don’t tag it onto a long list of errands so by the time you finish your other errands and finally get to the store you’re ready to chew your fingers off because you’re so hungry.  Speaking of shopping hungry, have you ever been to Costco on sample day?  You can practically get a full course meal of junk with all the samples available (great marketing on their part, not so good for your waistline).  Choose a store that you are familiar with and that is conveneint.  Women commonly do the food shopping in a household, so choose a store that is already in your existing routine.  If it’s not convenient it will become a headache which when it doesn’t get  done makes it more challenging to forfend the drive-thru.  While at the store stick to the periphery where you will find the produce, meats and dairy sections.  Venture into the aisles to get things like lentils, nuts, oils as well as whole grain products.  Enter and exit the same end of the aisle to avoid wandering through the entire aisle and be tempeted to throw extras in the cart.  Don’t linger, if you made an accurate list then the whole shopping experience should take less than 45 minutes.
    Idiotarod 2006 via YoungNa

    You don't need to be a super hero shopping for alligator to get your shopping done quickly.

     

  2. Efficient: MAKE A LIST!!!!  In reality healthy eating starts before you even get to the store.  It starts with the list you make before you step foot in the store.  Plan out your meals, and your week.  Think of things like: How many people are you cooking for?  How much and what kind of exercising will you do this week?  How active are you at work?  Are you a desk jockey or a construction monkey?  Will you be entertaining this week or eating out?  Write down your weekly menu or use the done-for-you meal plans from the Carb Rotation Diet or Precision Nutrition and construct your shopping list.  Don’t forget non-food items things like cooking spray, spices and baggies.sden136l
  3. Once a week: If you plan out your meals and make a complete list then you only need one trip to the store per week.  It’s the “quick trip” to the store to get the random carton of eggs where the covert pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream finds its way into your cart.  Plus, if you wait till your cupboards are bare before you shop you’re most likely not planning out your meals and probably not eating the freshest food.  Commit time each week to shop, just like committing to working out…it’s just part of your routine.

Stay Fit

Mat “the trainer”

PS- Please add a comment on grocery store tour or add a shopping tip.

PPS- Pass this post on to anyone looking to improve their health, energy and physique.

PPPS- Word of the Day: forfend (for-FEND) transitive verb.  1a. (Archaic) To prohibit; to forbid.  1b. To ward off; to prevent; to avert.

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).


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Categories : Boot Camp, Nutrition

Fit 4 Fall Body Transformation Winners

25 10 2009

EXL_RGBWe 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.

Other winners losing between 2-4% body fat include Lynnette Wolf, Jacci Miller, Jeff Rust, Steve Washburn honorable mention goes to Debra Durfey.  Each winning massages provided by Joan Mower and Monica Nardone and spa packages provided by Evolution Day Spa and Pampering Plus Mini Spa.  Free day climbing packages at Momentum Indoor Climbing Gym were also awarded.

We have just begun our Push Yourself Boot Camp phase.  This is a performance transformation contest testing push ups.  Awards for most improved and most push ups overall will be given out.  If push ups are the bane of your existence or you would like to improve your push up strength follow the push up program I posted last winter.

Now for our nutrition tip #5 sponsored by Precision Nutrition.

Tip #5
The 10% Factor
by Dr. John Berardi

If some people eat one food not on their plan, their failure to be perfect sets in motion a psychological chain of events that leads to frustration and the inability to get right back on the plan. The all-or-nothing mentality sets in and BAM, they’re back to nothing. But it doesn’t have to be this way. 100% nutritional discipline is never required for optimal progress. The difference, in results, between 90% adherence to your nutrition program and 100% adherence is negligible. So allow yourself the extra 10% wiggle room. This will allow you the freedom to eat a few extra things not on your menu without the guilt and subsequent crash.

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I am a firm believer in the 10% rule.  Not only does it allow you to eat some foods not on your nutrition plan, but it gives you a mental break.  Often times when we mess up on our nutrition program it sets in motion a cascade of feeling and emotions that can sabotage our progress.  Now, ideally I prefer you to plan your 10% meals, but life happens.  When it does, accept the nutritional breakdown and get back on the program.  Do not let it escalate into a whole day or weekend of nutritional weakness.  To put the 10% rule into perspective, I eat 6 times a day 7 days a week so 42 meals a week.  That allows me 4 meals a week to not follow the rules.  That does allow me some breathing room, but by no means is it easy.  That still means that 38 times in a week I followed the nutrition plan eating ample amounts of lean protein, a wide variety of vegetables and healthy fats at every meal.

I can already hear you out there, “Wow, 4 cheat meals a week!!!”

Let me clarify something here.  All 10% meals are NOT “cheat meals”.  And all “cheat meals” are NOT 10% meals.  Confused?  Let’s start by defining a “cheat meal”.  A cheat meal is an unplanned breakdown from your nutrition program.  A 10% meal is a planned wavering from the nutrition plan.  This can include an overindulgence of your favorite food…like hot dogs.

That's a lot of mystery meat

That's a lot of mystery meat

Or it can be just a small wavering from the plan.  Not all 10% meals are full on orgies of processed foods and refined carb gluttony.  A 10% meal can be eating long grain wild rice in a meal that usually mandates no starchy carbs.

Here’s a real life example.  The basic nutrition plan I teach has 10 rules or habits lovingly referred to as the “10 Habits of Highly Lean Eaters” or the “Healthy 10″ for short.  One of the rules is only eating starchy carbs (breads, pasta, rice, corn, potatoes, oatmeal) only within 1-2 hours after exercise.  Now I usually workout first thing in the morning, but there are days that my workout falls in the middle of the day.  I will occasionally plan a 10% meal on those days and have steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast.  Is that a cheat meal?  No.  Is it unhealthy?  No.  Am I following the program?  No and yes.  No, in the sense that I didn’t follow the aforementioned rule and ate carbs outside the workout window, but yes because it was a planned 10% meal, one of the 4 I have planned in a week.  I’m not saying I never eat pizza or I get veggies with every meal.  I am saying that I plan my 10% meals so i can enjoy other healthy foods like steel-cut oats or enjoy some not so healthy foods like pizza.  When life happens and I don’t plan accordingly  and I skip veggies in a meal or skip a meal altogether or while watching the game at a friend’s house I inadvertently eat half a pizza, then that is a cheat meal, unplanned and potentially triggering a landslide of guilt and regret leading to further mayhem and anarchy.  Hopefully, when I have a cheat meal it’s at a point in the week in which I haven’t used up all my 10% meals and my cheat meal will constitute a 10% meal and my quest for ideal body composition will not be squelched.

Planning out in advance your 10% meals gives you something to look forward to, helping you to stay firm in resisting nutritional temptation.  But, even if you have already maxed  out your 10% meals for the week and you falter and have another cheat meal.  All is not lost.  You still have made some great nutritional decisions earlier in the week.  Your fat loss goal may be delayed a little, but you have learned something about yourself.  Use what you have learned and apply it next week.  Figure out your emotional weaknesses and faulty nutritional planning and remedy them.  It may take a few weeks to figure out solutions, but the solutions will serve you better.

Not all nutritional breakdowns are remedied by just being stronger willed.  If one of your friends just had a miserable break up with their boy/girl friend don’t offer to take them to Coldstone Creamery and console their grief while downing a big ol’ fatty sundae.

How bout take your friend out for a friendly arm-wrestling competition instead of ice cream...LOL

How bout take your friend out for a friendly arm-wrestling competition instead of ice cream...LOL. My money's on the brunette.

Go for a walk or hike and talk it over.  We often times use food to “ease” our emotional hardships.  When in reality it furthers our dysfunctional, emotional connection with unhealthy eating habits.  Break the cycle!!  Either choose a healthier fare and foster an emotional connection to healthier food or choose another healthy, non-food alternate to help ease the emotional pain.

Likewise, don’t sabotage yourself by going to your friend’s house to watch the game on an empty stomach.  Which is like inviting a recovering alcoholic to a wine tasting.  Avoid the gaucherie of someone asking, “Who ate all the pizza?”  as you’re polishing off the last bite.  Be smart, don’t put yourself in situations that compromises your self-discipline.

Coincidentally the 10% rule also applies to exercise!

Stay Fit

Mat “the trainer”

PS- Please add a comment on the Fit 4 Fall Contest winners and/or your feelings on the 10% rule and emotional eating.

PPS- Pass this post on to anyone looking to improve their health, energy and physique.

PPPS- Word of the Day: gaucherie (goh-shuh-ree) noun.  1.  lack of social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkwardness; crudeness; tastelessness.

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 matgover@mac.com or by phone at (801) 836.7185. For a free one-week trial to his Orem boot camp to 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).


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