That Feelin'

I have to admit, I've not been consistent on the blogs lately, but today marks the anniversary run that kicked it off for me last year--the Ravenswood 5k. It's a neighborhood run, but it was my first event, and this morning as we've prepped (my wife Jasmine is running her first event today), I am excited as I realize how far I've come. Last year at this time I had a newly established fitness level and was supporting others and giving advice on home fitness. Now I have over 7 events under my belt including two half-marathons and a modest but decent 4:10:00 Chicago Marathon time. Add to that that I have almost worked a year as a personal trainer and am 15 days from my first promotion. I've learned so much, but I have so much to learn. And though my hectic schedule discourages a regular workout program, I am helping others achieve their goals by designing relevant programs and providing nutritional and lifestyle coaching for them. I am excited by my clients' excitement, and have truly found myself. So this morning as I cross the finish, I will be thinking of all of them as well as those who love and support me. What a great day to be healthy! Thanks for reading everyone, and have a lovely day

Been A While...

It certainly has been a while since I've posted a blog! Also, it may have been a while since many of us have ventured outdoors, no? Yesterday was a beautiful Chicago day, and as it turns out, the perfect day to kick-off run season officially with the Shamrock Shuffle 8K. I felt awesome although I would've felt better to shave another minute off my 32:57 time. To discuss running further, it is often the exercise of choice for the spring and summer. Many people decide to run to get in shape. There is generally little to no extra equipment cost, however if you do have money you can afford moisture wicking apparel, accessories, and even may register for some events. But don't lose focus here. Like any other sport, you should train for mobility, function, strength, and endurance to be more effective. If you are running and/or plan to join a softball or other team sport  to stay in shape, you are doing yourself and perhaps even your team a disservice. For one, you won't be performing at a competitive level, and secondly and more importantly, if you lack the proper mechanics, range of motion, stability, etc, you could find yourself sidelined sooner than you think. So consider cross-training with a personal trainer in a gym, at home, or invest in a complete home fitness program to follow in order to be at peak health and performance.

Don't forget that nutrition is the MOST important aspect of your health and performance, and here in Chicago it is often overlooked. The same principle applies here--if you are working out/training to be able to eat higher calories or to burn the calories you drank over the weekend, you are missing the boat. Not only is that irresponsible, it is simply not rational, and you will find yourself fatigued and discouraged and--oh yeah--you will most likely put fat pounds on anyway. If you are ready to train for health or to prepare for athletics or just look and feel better on the beach this summer, than give me a call and we can discuss a solution. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Welcome To Earth

You had to cancel yet another training session or workout. Why? The kids...the taxes...you forgot about...not feeling well...STOP. Welcome to Earth! You are officially a normal human being. "But that's not fair, I'm extraordinarily busy..." It's time to stop kidding yourself and time to start being more honest. You are prioritizing things, but you're not putting yourself first. Ask yourself this--"how bad do I want it?" Want what, though? That is the real question. What is your true goal? Some of us are training to be weekend warriors and want to better our times and athletic performance. But if you're like most people, when asked about your health goals, you say something like, "I want to tone up," or "I want to look good on the beach," etc. What are your real motivations though? Think about these things that seem to be keeping you from working out. Your job, your kids, your especially busy lifestyle. These are the same reasons why you need to keep your training a priority. After all, how can you keep up with your children if you are out of breath after a few stairs? How can you keep up with your job if your body's systems are in slo-mo? Your health should be your number one priority because without it, you will fail at everything else eventually. So wake up, smell the coffee, decide and commit to yourself. It is only then that you will succeed. The program is not the problem. You are your biggest obstacle.

Have you ever been to IKEA? You see a bookshelf you like. You buy it, which means you have a box full of parts and the directions to put it together. How useful is that bookshelf if you never open the box? Or, how well will it be put together without the directions? What if you skip steps or leave pieces out? This is the same thing you are doing by skipping training or not following directions. Anyone can build a bookshelf with the right tools, directions, and the motivation to get it done. It's that motivation part that screws everyone up. Make it a priority, get motivated, and do it! Same goes for your health and fitness. The benefits of paying the price for good health and being fit will far outweigh the costs of not doing so. Trust me. Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

Evolve Your Program

This past Sunday, I had the unique opportunity of watching one of my clients cross the finish line at the "Hustle Up The Hancock" stair climb event. Roughly 8 weeks ago, my client contacted me and said she had signed up for the event but was admittedly de-trained and out of shape. Her hope was to finish this climb and was not concerned with time. "Do you think I'll be able to do it?" was her mantra through our training period. She, like everyone, has had her own unique challenges physically, mentally, and emotionally and battling through was tough. Eight weeks is not a lot of time in the scheme of things, so we had to skip ahead and get into advanced endurance training. I certainly had my challenges in designing workouts and a program to bring her up to speed. Nonetheless, my client stuck to the program as closely as possible, and she finished the climb with a decent time. "I can't believe I feel okay" she told me after the race. I told her as I had told her many times during training that the actual event would be easier than most of our training sessions, and it was. After finding out her official time, she began speculating about her pace and her stopping to take a water break and whether she could have made better time. This brings up a good point about mindset.

You see, at the beginning, this individual, like many of us, have an idea to accomplish something. Once we get close to this or even accomplish it, our goals change and we evolve and learn in the process. In this case, she went from wanting to finish the race to realizing, through experience, that she could not only finish the race, but she could now be competitive against herself and others. This will take our training in a new direction, and my client now has the added confidence in herself which will apply to athletics as well as carry over into her personal and professional life. Success has no category, people. Your success in life will be determined by the smaller successes in different areas of your life. How can you be a successful teacher if you can't follow direction yourself? How can you be great at sales and be a horrible father? And how can you improve if you keep doing the same things? You may find some progress, but surely when you commit to strengthening the areas you are weakest at and find balance, you will be more successful all around. This is the same approach we take in personal training as well. If your stride mechanics aren't up to par, will your half-marathon time be as good as it can be? Probably not. Work on your weak areas and everything will be better. Think about the areas in your life-- fitness, nutrition, your personal relationships, your career, etc. What are you best at? What areas can you improve in? Work on it, and contact me for support and guidance. Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great day!

Power 30

"How does it feel to be 30?" This is a popular question I've been asked several times. Honestly, I feel the best I've ever felt in my life. I'm not saying I've got everything in order quite yet, but I'm the healthiest I've been, my family for the most part is healthy, and I am in a unique career that allows me to positively impact peoples lives every day! Praise and thanks to God for all of these blessings. We did let go a bit this past weekend. We set up a birthday party for both myself and Jasmine at a local bar and opened the invite to everyone. There was a great variety of people that showed--people we grew up with, people we work with both past and present, family, and friends alike. We really felt special, and it is thanks to all of you people who have and currently support us and are in our lives. Thanks to all of you for making this a great milestone event. Yesterday we got a chance to recover, and it's "back to the grind" today! Here's to you, and here's to making 2011 an unforgettable year! Please check out the pics of these event on my facebook page which you can get to by clicking on the title to this blog. Thanks again everyone, and have a wonderful day! As always, thanks for reading!