Success

 How do YOU measure success?

Everyone is different. My measure of success will vary greatly from yours. I personally believe that success is not about material things. Sure, it felt nice when I bought a brand new jeep and drove it off the lot.. . It feels nice when I buy new furniture, a new computer. .. but those feelings pass. My jeep is no longer a measure of success for me. I use it to get from point A to point B. My furniture has become nothing more than a seat for my arse. My computer has become a means for me to become more successful through studying and taking courses as a trainer.
 To me, success is about my career, my own self worth and the relationships that I hold with others. I don't want to pass away and have written on my gravestone, "Here lies Bryan Smith, he drove a nice jeep and owned some nice things." Now, that does not mean that I don't want nice things. I know what I want materialistically and am taking steps to get there.

 I want to be incredibly successful as a trainer. I don't mean I want to be the best in the gym.. or the best in the city. I want to transform this industry, get rid of the stigma around personal trainers and be more than just someone who screams reps and tells you not too eat so many chips. I am taking the steps now to become an expert in my field and make sure that people think of me when they think of a great trainer. I want to be recognized as one of the best. This is my measure of business success. Not to be the trainer driving around in the hummer with the nice gym who gets ridiculed by everyone in the city because there is no relationship with the clients, and the only goal is to make more money.

 I want to FEEL incredibly successful when I think about myself. I want to know that I am not wasting my life away watching sitcoms spending countless hours watching seasons 1-10 of a random show. I want to have confidence in where I am going with my life, and knowing exactly how to get there. I don't want to feel like I need someone else to rely on to get me to where I need to be. I I want to spend my youth honing my craft so that when I am older, I can reap the benefits of the hard work that I put in when I was young. This to me is a measure of my success when it comes to self worth.


I want to be successful when it comes to my relationships that I hold with others. We all know the person that talks about everyone behind their back. They come to you and talk about every one of your friends and enemies. They have gossip about everyone. That same person, talks the same way about you when you are not around. I don't want to be that person. I want to be someone that people can trust, and know that anything they tell me in confidence will be kept in confidence. I want to be a great father. I want to be a mentor for my daughter and a great friend to others. I want to hold the door for strangers and carry myself with respect. People will treat you the way you treat them, and if not, leave them behind.

  What do YOU consider success to be??

Embrace Change

 If one thing is inevitable in this life we live, it's change. Whether it be a change in careers, a change in a relationship, or even something simple, like a change in the route you take to work because of a detour - change is coming. It doesn't matter if you do everything right, change comes to all of us.
  In my experience, there are 2 different types of people that I have encountered when it comes to negative change. Those who fall apart and look for pity, wondering how something like that can ever happen to someone like them. They shut down and get a negative attitude. They wait for someone else to fix the problem and when it doesn't happen, out comes the blame.
 Then, there are people who embrace change. The people who have these life changing events happen to them and immediately look for the benefits. They dust themselves off, get back on their feet and become better than they were before. They learn from it and take the necessary steps to ensure that nothing like that will happen again.

  In the last 6 years, I have experienced significant changes in my life. I have moved across the country, I have changed careers - away from something that I went to school for, I have had a daughter, gone through a separation - and from all of these things I have learned a lot about myself. Many people have helped me along the way, and I want to thank every one of them from the bottom of my heart, but I wouldn't trade any of the things that have happened in my life because they made me who I am today.

 It's about comfort. People like being comfortable. I've been comfortable on many occasions. Life becomes routine. Months, even years pass... and when you look back you realize that you are the same person that you were that many years ago. You took things for granted, and life passed you by.

Well, to all 3 of my readers, I encourage you to produce your own change. Don't wait for the change to come to you - chances are it wont be good. Set goals, figure out what you want and MAKE that change. Take risks, live life and take nothing for granted. You never know when they things that you think will always be there, suddenly aren't anymore. It's never too late.

Hunh?

 Watch this video - then, we can talk.

 Are you serious? Like, are you really serious?

   I have been in the industry now for a while - and I can honestly say that there have been times where I have made clients do exercises that have been "outside the box" but I have never put originality in place of safety. This has to be the absolute worst example of poor programming that I have ever seen. The worst part is that the clients have NO idea what they are doing, or if they are doing it correctly.. And that is because they shouldn't have to. It is the sole responsibility of the "trainer", or in this case, "the woman standing with her hands on her hips saying, "Good! Get it up there!" to know the exercises before she prescribes them, and knows how to execute them with safety.
   This video has been around for a couple of months now, and I wasn't going to blog about it, but the absolute shock that I felt while watching it got the best of me. The more people that I can educate on proper form and exercise selection, the better.
  Now, in no way is this an attack on Crossfit, I've heard trainers say things in commercial gyms that rival the  retardation of this video. It's the fact that these people are paying money to come in to this location, have agreed to be on video with what looks like little to no prior lifting experience, and with that, they should be taught how to do these lifts properly. Never have I seen anyone do any sort of clean with a switch grip. It doesn't work. And resting the bar on your stomach, while producing some of the worst hyper-extension on the lumbar spine I have ever seen, all while under a load.. These people should be stripped of their certificates and never be allowed to give any sort of fitness advice again.

  What if you saw a video on youtube of a doctor performing surgery on a patient. Then, midway through surgery to remove an appendix, he says to the nurse, "Hey, I'm just going to try using my left hand for some incisions. Pass me that scalpel..  Actually, I want you to cover my eyes while I do it." That doctor's license would be taken away. He put someone's life in danger. These idiots are doing the same thing. On a smaller scale of course. Injuries like these usually don't happen on the first attempt. It's repetitive strain.

  This is what worries me about my industry. With videos like these, no wonder people think we have cookie cutter certifications. In reality, it does only take a weekend to become a trainer. 1 weekend, 20-30 hours of studying and a practical exam. Now, I've sat in on a few of these practicals, and I've seen some things. Let me tell you, I've seen some things. This isn't making pancakes, people.. you can't just try, mess a batch up, then try again. These are human beings. If you see an exercise that you think will "wow" your clients, maybe do some research. With every exercise I put in programs for clients, I can tell you the benefit, the muscles worked and how to focus on those muscles to ensure proper activation.

    I promise, the next blog post will be in less than 2 months!  




 

Implementing Phases into your training..

So, I have been MIA for the last little while. My life has been changing, and I am learning to make time for myself and a new special someone in my life. It has been great - but the only downside is that my training has taken a bit of a seat on the sidelines. It's my own fault. I have still been eating well, but my time is the gym is not what it was 2 months ago.
 I had been training heavy since the Warrior Dash and have seen significant increases in my lifts - but my waistline is taking a bit of a beating. Now that the "Train the Trainer" event is actually happening, I know I need to get myself in better shape anaerobically to be able to withstand the beating I am going to get in a few weeks.
 Ernie just started training an MMA fighter and is putting him through a fight circuit made by JC Santana at the Institute of Human Performance in Florida.
 I have always been in shape, and I kind of pride myself on my cardio. So, when I saw this workout, the old Bryan (pre-warrior dash) in me, decided that I could easily complete this workout and I would use weights even heavier than this 205lb fighter.
 Well, the new Bryan, accustomed to lifting very heavy and taking nice, long breaks did not agree. The first 5 minute round went great, my recovery wasn't as good as I remember... but halfway through the 2nd circuit is where I started to see the fog. I had to go lie down on the table out back, then run outside for some air, then get some emergency juice from the fridge. I had the shakes for a good 10 minutes and was very humbled... Needless to say, that was a depressing day and I went to the corner store and bought pizza pockets and wallowed in my own self pity all afternoon..

 Why am I telling you how terrible my workout went? Because we all do the same thing. I have runners that come in, bragging about how strong their legs are because they run, and I get them to do 2 sets of lunges and they walk around for the rest of the session like a newly born giraffe - then, they can't walk for 2 days. I get powerlifters in here, who brag about their numbers, and 10 minutes into a small circuit they are running to the bathroom.

 Well, that's what we do at ACF. We take you out of your comfort zone. We have phases to our training styles that take roughly 4 weeks at a time and make sure that your body does not adapt. You see chubby runners, you see strong fat guys - but the rule still stands.. "If you keep doing what you are doing, you are going to getting what you've got."
 Your body is very smart and will adapt to most any stimulus that you put on it. If you lift too heavy and your muscles can't lift the weight, then your body will recognize this and become stronger in case this stimulus is brought on it again. If you run and get very, very winded - same thing happens. Your body increases your cardiovascular fitness for the next time you run. Eventually though, your body becomes used to what you are doing to it, and the response becomes less and less.
 If you come through the door here and want to be a better runner, I am not going to run with you. You do that enough already. I am going to make you train like you have never trained before and your running will just get better. 6 months ago, I took 45 minutes off of a marathon runner's time in just 7 weeks. He changed nothing about his running prep. It was what we did in the gym that made the difference.

 All I am saying here people, is get out of your comfort zone. Try something new - whether it's weight training, Zumba, crossfit.. whatever floats your boat. Your body will become a stronger, faster machine if you just challenge it.

Question everything.

I am writing this post, not for the people that we train, but for the not so lucky people that are being trained by these "trainers" in commercial facilities. Now, let me preface by saying not all of them are terrible. I've seen more than a few trainers who know what they are talking about and can actually defend what they are doing.

 That has not been the case this week. For those of you who know me, I study a lot. I also put that study into practice and come up with (what I believe to be) the best programs that I can come up with for that particular situation. Everything is specialized, and I never write the same workout up twice. I use similar exercises, but your exercise selections are greatly dependent on your specific goals.

 Now, saying that - I have recently decided to get a membership at a commercial gym. I will not tell you which one as I don't want to step on any feet, but I did it for 2 reasons.

 1. I was getting distracted lifting here on my own. I have paperwork to do, filing, reports... a lot is on my mind here and it makes concentrating on breaking my personal bests kind of hard.

 2. I need to work out around people that are as strong or stronger than me. It's motivation. I am pretty happy with my lifts, but seeing the guy beside me toss up some heavier numbers is good motivation.

So, earlier this week I was in the gym, getting ready to do some deadlifts when I overhear a trainer tell a client who is roughly 225lbs, female and very nervous looking, that she should be doing these ridiculous step ups that required her knee to go into this weird rotation and he was MANUALLY FORCING rotation from her knee while her torso/hips were bouncing up and down in every direction.

 Anyone who has any basic anatomy knowledge KNOWS that the knee is a hinge joint and requires stability. It flexes and extends and has a *tiny* bit of eversion and inversion. His defense to her was that the reason people get these ACL and meniscus tears is that they don't have enough rotation in their knee. WOW. A real reason that people get these injuries is excessive rotation forced from the knee.. .the same thing he is doing to her on this bench. Your hips and ankles are the mobile joints and if they are lacking mobility, the joint in between does all of the extra work - and in this case, that is the knee, and I could tell just by looking at her that she had no movement in her hips and was really compensating by moving from the knee..  but that's what he wants her to do. This is almost guaranteed to cause an injury sometime in the near future. Repetitive strain movements like that take time, but I can assure you that bad things will happen to this woman's knee.

   I don't understand where these trainers get their cookie cutter programs.. It appalls me that they are allowed to work with the general public. The worst part is that I was at the gym for about an hour and a half that day, and I saw him doing the exact same exercise with 2 other people!

  So, my advice to you is that if you have any sort of reservations doing ANY exercise, get another opinion. Even if you are training with me, let me know if you have any questions about ANYTHING we are doing and I will be sure to have a smart answer. I get very frustrated with my profession as it is people like this that make me afraid to say, "Yeah, I'm a personal trainer." I watch people roll their eyes all the time.

  I believe that everyone here at All Canadian Fitness is different. We are smart. We are changing the way people get trained and I love my job.

  Just please be careful you moronic trainers, it's not a piece of clay you can just throw away if you mess up, it's a person's body. They have to live with these problems that you are creating. It's the only body they have. Turn them into a machine - don't destroy their gears.

                                      "Ok, ready? It's all you bro! The chicks are gonna love this!"

-Friday rant over-

More than just a warm up

Ok, I've been slacking with this whole "blog" thing. Time to get back on track.

The first issue I want to talk about is dynamic warm ups. I've been asked by a couple of people how to "correctly" warm up. Anyone can walk out on the gym floor and hit the treadmill up for 5 minutes. Sure, that will increase your body temp and get some blood flowing, but will it get you ready for your lifts?

No. It's pretty useless in my opinion.

I always start my clients out with some foam rolling. If you don't know what this is, don't worry - you aren't the only one. It has been around for a while, but only over the course of the last couple of years is it finally getting the recognition it deserves. If you don't have one, buy one. If you have one, use it.. . because I know you aren't using it as much as you should.

It hurts. But - it's a good hurt. Basically, what a foam roller does is decrease tissue density. It allows for the breakdown of scar tissue and adhesions that can occur in the fascia over time.

What does this mean to you? Well, depending on the quality of your tissues, it can mean a lot. I have seen knee pain disappear with the addition of foam rolling into a warm up, and the risk is injury is lessened as foam rolling tricks your muscles into allowing a more full range of motion while you are exercising. Now, it doesn't happen overnight, but there hasn't been a program I've written up in the last 3 years that hasn't started with foam rolling.

My advice is to begin with rolling your;

Quads (front of legs)
IT Band (side of legs - you know you hit it when it feels like hot needles. Don't worry, it get's better with practice)
TFL (small muscle right in front of your hip bone)
Mid Back
Adductors (inside of your legs)
Glutes (butt)
Lats (long muscles under your arms, that run laterally down to your ribs)

Next - mobilize the joints in your body. Another thing I hate about treadmills is that they are so linear. You walk in a straight line. Now, if you are warming up for an intense power walking session, then sure, walking is great. Our hips are a very complex joint providing a center where our upper bodies meet our lower. They are responsible for a multitude of movements. So, warm them up that way. I tend to always warm up in accordance to the workout I will be doing that day. So, if I am squatting or deadlifting, I start at my ankles and move my way up, spending a bit more time on the areas I am concentrating on that day. This is typically my general warm up.

I start out with my static stretching. I know, you have been led to believe that static stretching before exercise is bad.. but recent studies have actually shown it to be beneficial. I like to do it before my dynamic warm up.

Chest Stretch - Find a doorway. Bring your elbows up to a 90 degree angle against the frame (think getting arrested) now press your chest forward through the frame. Hold that for 30 seconds.
Hip flexor stretch - Get into a kneeling position. Bring one leg forward so that you are in a half kneel position. Keeping your upper body tall, lean forward with your hips, elongating that back leg. Squeeze your glute on that side and feel that stretch on the inside of your back leg.

Now, for mobility. I have stolen these over the years from multiple sources - I just took the ones that I felt were the best.

#1 - Ankle mobility drill - Notice how he is going in multiple directions here. Don't force the range of motion, the more you do this, the better you will get at it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H-wU5b5bWA

#1 - Split stance adductor mobilizations - now these start to work your hips through a natural range. .. even though it wont feel natural at the beginning as you have probably lost this movement over time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL64ceQfi_4&feature=player_embedded

#2 - Half kneel adductor dips - I also like these to promote a greater range of motion through the groin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaxG6hOj2pk&feature=player_embedded

#3 - Scapular wall slide - This is one of my favorite upper body mobility drills. It looks very basic, but does the trick, especially if your job requires you to lean forward over a computer, or drive constantly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k2kqyzz3Ug

These are very basic, as I didn't really want to write a novel, but I hope you begin to understand that hoping on the treadmill for a warm up isn't going to do anything for your performance, and may even hinder you or cause an injury.

If you have any questions, you know where to find me.

Majoring in the Minors

Ok, I am back to gaining weight. For those of you who don't know - I got bored with my training last year. I was 157lbs and could run like the wind. Unfortunately, I looked like Christian Bale in "The Machinist" . . . so I figured it was time to amp it up. My idea was to see how much weight I could gain in 6 months. I didn't care if some of it was fat, I just wanted to be bigger. My initial goal was another 25lbs. So, with the help of my Costco membership and their abundance of steaks, I put on the 25 lbs in about 3 months. Why stop there? So, I gained another 25 in another 3 months. I called it hibernating - everyone else called me fat. :) I hit 205lbs in January of 2011. That's almost 50 lbs! None of my clients understood what I was doing, and frankly, neither did I. I was stronger than ever, but couldn't navigate a flight of stairs without taking 6 breaks.

Now, it was time to cut weight. I knew I had put on some muscle, but I guessed about half of it was fat. So, what to do now? Count calories? Figure out my lean body mass, add in my daily activity expenditure, and figure out all of my macros? No. I just started eating better. I cut down on the bad fats I was eating, reduced simple sugars and ate more complex carbs. The result? I lost about 29 lbs in 3 months. I am now 176 and quite comfortable.
Why am I telling you this? Because I have seen it time and time again. I don't know where the term came from initially, but I love the phrase, "Majoring in the Minors". It can be applied to almost everything you see. Whether it be nutrition, exercise or relationships, society feels the need to make things more complicated than they really are.

Take my situation. I wanted to gain weight, so I ate more and lifted. Then, I wanted to lose weight, so I ate more supportively, and increased my cardio. I did no calculations. I knew what I had to do and I did it. I get questions all the time from clients and friends that are way beyond where they need to be. Not that I don't like the questions, but they usually aren't too impressed with the answer I give them. It's basic.

I see it in commercial gyms quite a bit. People flailing their limbs, trying to do this inane exercise that they saw on t.v last week - because they saw a celebrity doing it and it was supposed to get them "rock hard abz.." Meanwhile, that same person can't get on the ground and give me 1 full range push up with good form. Don't get too advanced with your training or nutrition. Take a step back and just try to figure out if you are over complicating things. Normally the solution is right there in front of your face. Our minds are very smart, but don't over-think. Simplify.