My Advice/Tips Included In New Fitness Book!

I'm excited to announce my involvement in the new book, "Top Trainers Answer Your Fitness and Nutrition Questions."

The 126-page book was just published by Regency Publishing.

I'm one of ten trainers from across the USA and Canada selected to contribute.  Each of us has our own chapter in the book, which follows a question-and-answer format.

The publishers requested my participation last fall and forwarded a list of questions to answer, including:

"Why do people have a hard time losing belly fat?"

"Is it true that it's good to have a cheat day where people can eat whatever they want once a week?"

"Do people really lose muscle mass as they age?"

I offer my perspective on these and thirteen other questions frequently asked by clients and prospective clients.

The chapters featuring the other trainers follow a similar format.  None of us were asked the same question, so the book really does offer a wealth of information to anyone looking for answers to basic questions about fitness, working out, and nutrition.

The back cover explains why this fitness book is different from others already on the market:

Each day, it seems like another book about getting in shape hits the bookshelves.  Among this ocean of information, it becomes difficult to navigate to the practical, useable information. Additionally, the endless volumes of information on working out and eating right often seem to be in conflict with one another.  How is the average person, therefore, supposed to know which advice to follow and which advice to ignore? 


The answer is that you have to go directly to real world experts, who spend their day-to-day lives working directly with their clients, on their clients' fitness and nutrition goals. The real world experts that we've interviewed in this book do not spend their days on book tours, at book signings, or producing the next DVD infomercial product. The experts in this book are real life personal trainers, who spend their days in the gym, with their clients.


Top Trainers Answer Your Fitness and Nutrition Questions asks the real questions that people really want to know.  Inside, we've grilled each personal trainer with the tough questions that the everyday person wants to know. If you're looking to gain some of the best tips and advice from the personal trainers who are "in the trenches" with their clients each day, you're going to love this book.

Here's the Amazon link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Trainers-Answer-Fitness-Nutrition-Questions/dp/1469980274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329784097&sr=8-1

If You Don't Have A Goal, You're Just Floundering

The vast majority of gym-goers grow disillusioned with their efforts and quit due to unsatisfactory results.

Let's be clear: While not everyone can attain the physique of a Greek god or goddess, anyone can significantly improve their fitness level.  Anyone can lose fat.  Anyone can get stronger and more muscular or shapely.

But doing so requires more than just showing up at the gym and diligently completing an exercise routine.  Your efforts must be focused, and your program must be designed for a specific purpose.  Just plowing through a random collection of exercises might elevate your heart rate and burn some calories, but it won't deliver dramatic long-term results.

Accomplishing meaningful results from your time in the gym  requires a solid plan... and the plan begins with proper goal-setting.

What, exactly, do you want to accomplish through exercising and proper eating?  Saying you want to get healthy and lose weight is too nebulous.  To be meaningful,  your goal must:

1) Be specific... "I want to lose 30 pounds of fat."
2) Have a timeframe... "I want to accomplish this in 2 months."

NOW we have something to shoot for, something to give us focus in the gym and at the dinner table, and the timeframe adds motivation by providing a sense of urgency.

There is, however, a problem: This goal is unrealistic.

Why? Because human physiology limits us to a maximum fat loss per week of 2 pounds.  Yes, when one first begins a diet, water weight loss can exceed 2 pounds, but after a few weeks 1-2 pounds per week is a realistic fat-loss goal.

The reality is, most people who apply adequate effort and discipline can expect to lose 6-8 pounds of fat per month.

So let's change the timeframe to 5 months.

And let's express our goal in a self-confident manner that reveals the power of our intentions:

"I will lose 30 pounds in 5 months."

The next step is to write your goal down.  Psychologists say that writing down your goal makes it more concrete, embeds it in your sub-conscious mind, and multiplies the power of your intention.

In fact, make copies of your goal and post them everywhere... on your mirror, on your refrigerator door etc.  Keep a copy in your wallet too.

Remind yourself multiple times daily of the importance of your goal.

So, a goal becomes a powerful tool for self-improvement when it:

1) is specific and concrete
2) is realistic
3) has a timeframe
4) is expressed as an intention, rather than a wish
5) is written down

But we're still not finished!

The problem with a long-term goal is the discouragement that can set in over the lengthy time required to  achieve the goal.  Taking five months to lose 30 pounds can seem like an eternity.  Plus, we need positive reinforcement throughout the process to keep us motivated.

Therefore, we break down the long-term goal into smaller, shorter term goals.  For example:

"I will lose 1-2 pounds weekly until I have lost 30 pounds."

Breaking a larger goal into smaller, manageable "chunks" serves several purposes.

First, it removes that self-defeating "It'll take me forever to get there" mentality. One-week or two-week timeframes are much more manageable.

Second, short-term goals provide positive reinforcement at regular intervals, making the journey much more fun.

Third, if for some reason we don't achieve the short-term goal, we can make adjustments to the program to keep momentum moving forward.  Working toward a long-term goal without keeping track of progress via short-term goals is like trying to catch a ball blindfolded.

So, what about you?  Are you blindly following some random exercise program, or are your sessions designed with a specific goal in mind?