Why Do You Workout? – Part 1

Hey Everyone
Rafael here,
GUEST POST TODAY
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I was going to title this “Why do you train?”, but since most of you reading this train people for a living, I didn’t want you asking a retrospective question regarding your current profession, but rather, what drives you and your clients to work out?

There is a great summary written by Eric Cressey where he goes into the difference between “working out” and “training”, but I won’t get into the semantics between the two, and thus will use the words interchangeably here.

So back to the question, why DO you train?   For every person reading this there will be a different answer, and that’s the point.  For athletes, particularly those on a team where their performance dictates their paycheck or scholarship, they train in order to earn money, either in cash or books.  For physique competitors, they train with more regard to how much weight it looks like they can lift rather than how much they can actually lift.  Powerlifters and Olympic lifters only care about 2-3 lifts, while Strongmen and Highland Games athletes do all kinds of weird shit (while lifting craploads of weight in the process).

For those who aren’t athletes, the goals can get blurry and vague.  The young and uninformed read colorful magazines with models on the covers and do the workouts inside, not realizing that the 20 exercise/gazillion rep workout they are about to attempt was only used for 6-8 weeks as the bodybuilder prepped for a show, and not what they do year round.  The other ten months of workouts wouldn’t sell magazines, they are boring and difficult.  The somewhat experienced but still uninformed rely on the internet for their information, and take everything they read as gold, (just as dangerous), and attempt every 6 week challenge they read about, but only make it through 2 weeks before they read about the next best thing.  The experienced and knowlegable still make mistakes, as they will follow programs, perform the lifts correctly, but falter when they fail to remove an old lift for every new one they inject.  They end up attempting to be masters at everything but eventually the house begins to collapse.

As a trainer, you could be training to prepare for a certification of some kind, and most likely your clients have weight loss goals.  Also, I’m guessing that if you are a trainer or a coach, that you entered that profession because you A) realized you excelled at working out (be it strength or cardiovascular exercises) and B) you glean some kind of intrinsic value from the workouts themselves.

Some people just like to lift weights, do circuits, take classes, whatever piques their interest.  But sometimes, people lose the forest for the trees, and start chasing too many goals at the same time.  It’s pretty much common sense now that you can’t make serious attempts to lose significant amounts of fat and gain significant amounts of muscle simultaneously.   I’m talking about attempting to set deadlift PR’s while training for a marathon, or going through a mass-building cycle while experimenting with intermittent fasting.  They just don’t work.

When we are young, this is common.  We want to excel at everything all the time.  But eventually, we have to take a step back, and askourselves “Why am I doing all of this?” and “Are my workouts actually getting me closer to my end result?”  Simply put, “Keep the goal, the goal” as Dan John has said.

Do you like to do things outdoors? Play pick-up games of various sports? Perform parlor tricks and feats of strength?  Or maybe you really just like working out?

Whatever it is, take a step back, and make a list.  Prioritize your activities, figure out which one is your favorite, and then figure out which activities either support or detract from your favorite.  This is just the beginning to being successfully active long into your years.

Tim Peterson

Chief FitRanX® Instructor

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That was AWESOME

Leave your thoughts and comments

http://fitranXsouthflorida.com 

Are You Setting the Right New Year Goals for Yourself ?

Rafael here with another post on New Year Resolutions.

At South Florida Fitness Bootcamp we are getting ready for everyone wanting to start the New Year with fitness on their mind.

There is a lot more to goal setting than just picking a goal and moving forward. While that is important, it’s also important to ensure that you are setting the right goals at the right time so that you can truly be successful. In order to ensure that you are setting the right goals for yourself, answer the following questions:
Are You Setting Specific and Realistic Goals?

It takes a little research to ensure that a goal is realistic. If you’re not sure if something is actually achievable then you’ve not done enough research. Once you’ve set a goal that is indeed realistic, then you need to be specific enough in your description of it so that it’s also easy to take the goal, and work backwards to create a schedule of actions needed to succeed.

Are Your Goals Multifaceted?

Focusing on only one part of your life is a bad idea. People live multifaceted lives and need to make goals for all areas of their lives in order to feel successful. If you have a wonderful business and career but your personal life suffers, then no matter how successful you are, you will not feel successful. Something will always feel as if it’s missing from your life if your goals aren’t inclusive. Therefore, make sure your goals include something from each aspect of your life.

Is Your Scheduling Representative of Real Need?

Once you create the schedule for yourself to reach each goal that you’ve set, you need to truly consider how representative it is of reality. Say your goal is to be healthy and reduce your cholesterol by 10 percent in six months. But, you haven’t set aside the time needed to exercise and eat right. If you don’t schedule in the time needed, you won’t succeed because something will always be in your way taking time away from you. It will be very frustrating to practice your schedule because it doesn’t represent reality.

For instance, if you are going to exercise 30 minutes per day, setting aside only 30 minutes isn’t going to be realistic. You’ll probably need to set aside an hour to account for getting ready as well as cooling down or getting cleaned up to go back to work.

Are You Learning from Failure?
Many times when setting goals and schedules, instead of learning from failure, people give up. Using the example above, once you implement your schedule to reach the goals that you have set, when you notice there are things you’ve forgotten to take into account, don’t give up. Learn from the failure and change the schedule to be more realistic.

You might find that in practice you have to rewrite all your goals and your schedule, but this is perfectly acceptable. Many people believe failure is something negative, but the truth is, if you don’t fail sometimes you’re not going to learn much and it’s likely your goals are too easy.

Do Your Goals Represent Your Needs and Wants or Someone Else’s?
A lot of people set goals that represent what someone else wants instead of what they want. This can really cause a lot of bad feelings and resentment which can derail the best laid plans. As you set your goals for your life, ask yourself if they’re really what you want for yourself or what someone else wants for you. Ask yourself if you’re okay with any goal you make being for someone else before you embark on your journey.

It’s okay to do things because of someone else, but it’s important that you are honest about that and make some goals for yourself too that don’t involve anyone else’s needs or wants.

Are You Checking in Often to Stay on Track?
Schedules are very important to the success of reaching any goal in life. To do lists pale in comparison to a well laid out calendar of tasks and activities that get you from point “A” to point “B”. Ensure that you look at your schedule every morning and every night and note when you succeed on sticking to your schedule and where you don’t. Noticing a pattern of activity can be helpful in fixing a poorly written schedule as well as staying realistic about whether or not you’re sticking to the plan.

Are Your Goals Focused Positively?
When writing a goal it’s important to write them in a positive way, or at least a way that feels positive to you. In the quest to improve your life, try writing down a goal and then changing the words to sound more positive to see if it isn’t more motivating. For instance, “losing weight” seems like a good goal, but for some people it might signify deprivation. So instead, the person might frame the goal as “improving my BMI by 10 points” or “improving my cholesterol by 10 percent.”

Do You Have Too Many Goals Set at One Time?
Just as setting too few goals can be a problem, so can setting too many. Everyone has a personal life and a career life and points in between. If you have set goals in too many areas of life at once, you might tire yourself out and get overwhelmed. Instead pick one personal goal, and one other type of goal to focus on until you reach them, and then you can add more goals as time goes on. You don’t need to do everything today. Slow and steady wins the race is a good motto to hang on to.

Setting the right goals for yourself takes some thought and consideration. Don’t try to set all your goals in one day - instead, set some goals in different stages and in different areas of your life and give a lot of thought to why you’re making the goal in the first place.

Take a look at our 6 week Body Transformation Challenge here <=

#itsnotjustbootcamp

Back to school Bootcamp tips

Happy Sunday Everyone

 

Back to school time!!

 

and for some of you this maybe a relief to get back to the routine and for other it might be a little chaos.

 

Here is a few things to make sure, your fitness routine does not suffer this week.

 

#1 Remember we have lots of options...6am, 11am, 5pm, 6pm and 6:30pm and 7:45pm

 

(Plan out at least 3 workout days, if you get more better, if not at least 3)

 

 

#2 Make lunches the night before school for the kids and prep all your meals to make sure you don't skip any meals, stay committed to your eating program

 

#3 Set alarm clocks for you and the kids....have enough time for everyone (YOU TOO) to have BREAKFAST

 

#4 After school make sure the kids have good (NON) sugary snack and make sure you have some for you...Our protein donuts are a great afternoon treat for everyone

 

#5 Extracurricular Activities...A lot of you have your kids in sports, martial arts and dance and a few other things....that is great...encourage them to be active

 

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How active are you? Have fit are you keeping? 

Remember you have to put the oxygen mask on yourself first!

You have 4 options to join bootcamp here: http://www.southfloridafitnessbootcamp.com/4-ways-to-join-bootcamp/

#6 Let's have a kick a$$ back to school week for the kids and for you at Bootcamp

 

Have a GREAT Sunday everyone

 

 

--

Master Trainer Rafael

 

 

 

 

Make sure you do at least 2 things today... 

1. Ask me your most pressing question on my Facebook Fan Page

2. Subscribe to my super cool INSTAGRAM PAGE

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (Today at South Florida Fitness Bootcamp)

In the last two weeks, the Ice Bucket Challenge has quite literally “soaked” the nation. Everyone from Ethel Kennedy to Justin Timberlake has poured a bucket of ice water over his or her head and challenged others do the same or make a donation to fight ALS within twenty-four hours. Between July 29 and today, August 12, The ALS Association and its 38 chapters have received an astonishing $4 million in donations compared to $1.12 million during the same time period last year. The ALS Association is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from those people who have been doused, made a donation, or both. Contributions further The Association’s mission to find a cure for ALS while funding the highest quality of care for people living with the disease. "We have never seen anything like this in the history of the disease,” said Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of The ALS Association. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humor that people are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative."

 

 

and it seems someone has challenge one of our ABF members

 

AND TODAY at 5pm after Bootcamp, Awesome Bootcamp Family member Julie takes The Challenge...so come support this afternoon in  Hialeah

 

 

 

With only about half of the general public knowledgeable about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, the Ice Bucket Challenge is making a profound difference. Since July 29, The Association has welcomed more than 70,000 new donors to the cause. "While the monetary donations are absolutely incredible,” said Newhouse, “the visibility that this disease is getting as a result of the challenge is truly invaluable. People who have never before heard of ALS are now engaged in the fight to find treatments and a cure for ALS."

5pm today in Hialeah ...ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Feeling Tired? Fatigued? Un-Motivated?

Hey there ABF (Awesome Bootcamp Family)

It happens to everyone...

You feel Tired, Fatigued, and Un-Motivated?

I have 21 people in our 21 Day Detox and most of them are feeling or have felt this. When changing your diet from a normal American diet to a healthy clean diet, you may experience headaches and fatigue and of course CONSTIPATION. I highly recommend supplements like Pro X 10 to help cleanse your body and organs so that your body absorbs more nutrients properly. Trust me, when you're all backed up, you'll be wishing you listened to me earlier..you can read more about Pro X 10 here

But those people are on the right path....they are eating better and exercising...the tiredness and fatigue will go away...

How about the ones not eating well...I can guarantee if you do NOT put quality food in your mouth...your body will NOT perform well

But did you know...the NOT exercising will cause ALL of these things too?

Here are 5 ways that inactivity increases fatigue.

1- Sleep difficulties. The relentless demands of modern life lead our bodies to produce excess cortisol, a stress hormone linked to insomnia. Excess cortisol comes at the expense of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates sleep. For a better night’s sleep, you therefore need to reduce cortisol and increase serotonin. The best way to accomplish both simultaneously is through exercise. But if you prefer to sit all day in front of your TV and computer screens, you might be up watching longer than you’d like! Your out of balance biochemicals will retaliate and give you (another?) sleepless night. When getting a good night’s sleep is difficult, feeling energetic the next day becomes one big challenge.

2- Frail muscles. When it comes to muscle mass and strength, the motto “use it or lose it” definitely applies. People who are injured and have a limb immobilized start losing muscle cells as quickly as 6 hours after immobilization. Since muscle is a powerful calorie-consumer, consuming between 50 to 75 times more calories than fat does, lower muscle mass easily leads to weight gain. More importantly, less muscle mass makes anything slightly physical require more effort. Imagine how difficult it is for someone who has excess weight and weak muscles to carry that weight around just to get in and out of the car, go shopping, carry the groceries up a few steps and into the house and unload the purchases into the fridge. Ouf! I’m tired just thinking about it!

3- Weak cardio-vascular performance. The heart is a muscle. Like other muscles, it atrophies with lack of exertion. A weaker heart pumps a smaller volume of blood with each beat, requiring more beats to do the same work. Sedentary people therefore tend to have higher heart rates and lower oxygen consumption than active individuals. Since the body needs oxygen to transform nutrients into energy, with lower oxygenation comes lower energy. Along with higher heart rates comes fatigue. It’s a lot of extra work for your heart!

4- Poor nutrition. Physical activity helps balance cortisol and serotonin. These two biochemicals have a lot to do with food consumption. Indeed, people with higher cortisol levels tend to look for quick feel-good boosts easily found in sugary and fatty foods. With low serotonin, cravings peak and are harder to control. In other words, inactivity combines two very important ingredients that can lead to overeating. In the short term, overeating will require a lot of your precious energy for digestive purposes. It will also bring your sugar levels on a roller-coaster ride that will leave you feeling depleted within the hour. Over the long run, overeating leads to weight gain, which increases fatigue by forcing you to spend more energy for everything you do.

5- Low morale. This one is quite intuitive, but let me explain it just the same. Through its impact on biochemicals, physical activity is known to reduce stress, depression, and anger. It simultaneously elevates mood, self-esteem, and energy levels. Comparatively speaking, sedentary people are therefore less likely to be emotionally healthy than active individuals. More and more research is showing that inactivity is likely to bring about feelings of emotional exhaustion, physical tiredness, and overall lousiness.

Not a member....more and more stuff happening at bootcamp everyday...

6am classes on Monday Wed and Friday start Monday June 9th

Bootcamp after Dark...on Friday the 13th

HOW DO YOU JOIN, if you are not a member? Well our unlimited membership is just  $197 per month and you can get that by Clicking Here<<, (*If you like math, if you are on this plan and workout 5 days per week, it’s only $10 per class 6 days per week $8 per class...some of our members do 2 classes in 1 day...save even more) but maybe that is not for you and all your schedule allows is 3 workouts per week...Well here is your chance to lock in our NEW membership option 3 classes per week that is 12 classes per month at $147 per month CLICK HERE TO JOIN << Any 12 classes per month Have a GREAT Thursday

-- 

Master Trainer Rafael

Make sure you do at least 2 things today... 

1. Ask me your most pressing question on my Facebook Fan Page

2. Subscribe to my super cool INSTAGRAM PAGE

3 Safe Tips For Abdominal Exercises For The Obese

Hey Everyone

Rafael here with 3 Safe Tips For Abdominal Exercises For The Obese.

One of the things that we do at our Bootcamp is provide you with as much information as we can. We want to make sure you are not only get in shape we want to make sure we educate.

Everyone wants the tight ab look that we see on movie stars and athletes.  When people think of how to get tight abs they almost always think of sit ups or crunches.  That is only half of the equation though.

The truth is that no matter how strong your abdominal muscles are, if they're covered by a layer of fat no one will see them.  To get great abs you need to combine exercises that will tone your abdominal muscles as well as help you increase your heart rate and lose fat.  If your are obese you will have added challenges, but there are some abdominal exercises for obese people that can help.

It's important to keep in mind that your abdominal area consists of several different muscle groups.  You have lower muscles, upper muscles, and oblique (side) muscles.  To get a really hot midsection you'll need to do different exercises so that you are targeting all these areas.

If you are really overweight it may be difficult to get down on the floor and work your abs.  Not to worry, though, there are easy ab workouts that you can do standing up, you won't lose any effectiveness but you will save a lot of wear and tear on your back and knees.

Here are some ideas of standing ab exercises that you can try today, just make sure you talk to your doctor first to make sure it's ok:

1. The first standing ab exercise you can try is to stand with your feet shoulder width apart, raise your arms straight above your head, slowly lower your arms while simultaneously raising one of your knees, keep your leg and arms at a 90 degree angle, put that leg down while raising your arms back up and alternate the same thing with the other leg.  Do at least 30 sets on each side.

2. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart, take a step forward with one leg, carefully lift the leg that is forward a few inches off the floor, slowly make circles using just your foot -  try to keep the leg still and straight, make 20 circles in one direction then (using the same foot) circle 20 times in the other direction, than alternate with the other leg.

3. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart, hold a 10 to 20 pound dumbbell in each hand, slowly lean to one side keeping your legs straight - this move should only involve your obliques (side abdominal) muscles, after you've completed 20 reps on one side, do the other side.

It's not that easy to learn how to do an exercise just by reading an article, but these standing abdominal exercises I've listed above will give you an idea of where to start.  Just remember that even if you are very overweight, there are still abdominal exercises for obese people that can help you tone those all important ab muscles.

Talk to your doctor before you start any exercise plan and if possible find yourself a personal trainer so that they can watch you and make sure you are using the proper form, otherwise you may injure yourself and that will only slow down your weight loss efforts.

Leave us your thoughts and comments

Master Trainer Rafael

Fitness Is More Than a New Year Resolution

One of the most common new year resolutions is to get in shape. You've probably heard countless friends and family talk about how they're going to join a gym or start a new weight loss routine for the new year.

 

But fitness is too important to just leave it to a new year resolution. It is important to have a year-round fitness routine which adapts to the changing needs of your body and lifestyle. Starting a fitness routine now is the best way to set yourself on the right path. It's not just about making promises to yourself that come the new year things will change, it's about getting actual results from a properly planned routine of exercise.

 

It can be all too easy to put off starting a fat loss plan and it takes real willpower to make that change today. There can be many excuses that pop into your mind about why you can't start changing your body and losing weight immediately. But your health is too important to leave to chance. The quicker you start a well-planned fitness routine, the sooner you'll see real results. These results will spur you on to push harder, eat better, and increase the amount of effort you're putting into your weight loss routine.

 

"Many people have tried different ways to get in shape, and one of the most effective is a fitness bootcamp" says Rafael Moret, the owner of Rated "R" Fitness bootcamp. This kind of environment provides not only the right equipment to help your fitness routine, but also the motivation, encouragement, and fun. Instead of a solitary exercise routine in a corner of the gym, you can be training with properly qualified bootcamp fitness instructors on a purpose-built facility with other people who share the same goals as you.

 

You can push your body a lot harder when a professional is setting your targets, because you'll be safe in the knowledge that they're not only medically sound for you to take part in, but also realistic for your fitness level. After starting training, you will find you lose fat and increase muscle tissue. And this increase in muscle tissue means your body will burn more calories when you're resting, making it easier to keep fat off your body.

 

It's possible to burn far more calories in one bootcamp session than in a standard low-intensity gym workout. You benefit from seeing the results faster, which will improve your motivation and determination to stay in shape. Bootcamp workouts have been shown to lower stress and help people enjoy their lives.

 

It will come at a much lower cost than a personal trainer, so there's no worrying about the cost of getting involved and starting right now. It's a surprisingly low-cost way of getting fit. When scheduling bootcamp sessions, they can fit around your work commitments. It is the fastest way to get in shape and see some serious fat loss. Many people have tried a lot of different ideas from fad diets to low-intensity gym sessions before trying the bootcamp approach. But it's this type of exercise that has sen them lose weight and increase the strength of their heart.

It's a good idea to speak with a bootcamp instructor about your fitness history and future goals so your targets and activities can be set appropriately. Instead of just making a new year's resolution you should start a bootcamp routine today!

 

 

 

 

You can get more information and details at http://www.ratedRfitness.com

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