My First and most Important Client

     Well here we are. Almost at the end of a 3 month program of working with my first client. I'd like to take a little time to explain a bit about my client. First off, she is from Lebanon. She is a 34 year old mother of 2. When she started the program with me (Professional Fitness Consultant program) she weighed 168 pounds. She was also suffering from some shoulder pain and demonstrated a lack in upper body, and distal arm strength. She does have lower body strength, since she was a belly dancer in her home country. However she was also lacking in cardiovascular.

     Her goals were to lose at least 18 pounds, gain upper body strength, and increase her cardiovascular. I love the reasoning for her goals. She wants to be able to play longer with her children, and have the strength to play harder as they get older.

     Our plan of attack? Simple. Start off increasing her Cardiovascular. It is important to do this for a couple of reasons. First reason is it helps build endurance and increase the flow of oxygen to the system. Second is its a great way to help lose the weight.

     We have had some obstacles to over come. The first few weeks we had to take it easy, due to an issue of a personal nature of my client. At the start of Week 3, we started our assault on her system. First plan of attack was to improve her cardiovascular system,  and endurance. We did this by starting every session on a treadmill. She would start off walking for 5 minutes, to prepare her body for the workout ahead. After the 5 minute walk, we would increase the speed. At first she would last between 60 and 90 seconds. Gradually over the weeks, we greatly increased her time to the point where in a 1 hour treadmill exercise, she spends a majority of the time jogging at a fast pace. Congratulations to her and all her hard work. I am more than impressed.

     Second attack was on her upper body strength. I put my client through a short serious of machines from the Fit-Fix area in our gym to find what her base strength was. Since we had a rocky start, I didn't see the need for a mid point reference. On the first machine, she was able to do 1 set of 10 reps with 75 pounds. The last time i tried her on the same machine, she managed to do 3 sets of 10 reps with 115 pounds. An increase of 53.3%. Although not all increases were as great, they are still very significant. on average the strength increase is between 30 and 54%. I also have to take into consideration that not only is she able to lift more, but has also increased her amount of sets, and repetitions.

     Here is a chart to show the weight loss that was achieved.

 As you can tell by the graph. Weight loss was gradual. Slowly losing weight gives a higher probability of keeping the weight off. The following graph shows the gradual decrease in my clients Body Mass Index.

The final chart i wish to share with you, is my clients Fat Mass. As you can tell by the chart below, my clients Fat Mass has dropped by almost 10 pounds. 

     Although we did not exactly hit my clients goal of a weight of 150 lbs, we did come very close. For me it is a great success. Even though she is my first client, I feel very confident in saying already that she was my "Most Challenging" client.

Mental Training. The Hardest Workout You Will Ever Do!

So you're 180 pounds, and flabby. What are you going to do about it? Sign up for a gym membership, just to go a few times. Then start making excuses why you can't go? Statistics show an average of 40 to 50% of people who sign up for a gym membership, quit going shortly after. Up to at least 90% will stop going to the gym within the first 90 days. Why do you think that is?

     The #1 reason for this is the lack of mental training, or Mental Toughness. People sign up for the gym because they feel they have let themselves go over the years. They are unhappy with their appearance. So they sign up for a gym membership, go a few times, then start making excuses. Sure they want to be in better shape. Sure they want to feel better about themselves. Sure they don't know that mentally they are not prepared for it.

     Just going to the gym and working out isn't going to do a lot. sure you will hit your goal....Eventually! You have to mentally prepare to push yourself to your limits. To really perform at your best, prepare yourself mentally. Don't go into the gym doing primal screams, beating your chest, and slamming weights down when your done. That's just mental. Instead, train yourself to think "There is nothing I can't do.". Don't just think it. Believe in it, use it. Repeat it to yourself several times a day. The proof that it works is all around you at the gym.

     You see men and women of all ages at the gym, that are in very good shape. They have the mental toughness to realize the shape they wanted to be in, and stick with it. They didn't just wake up one day and decide they wanted to look and feel better. They mentally set themselves in their minds. They decided how they wanted to look, and kept working until they reached that goal. You can do it too.  We all have the ability. All we need is the right mental path to take. 

     I've read a lot of articles on mental toughness. A lot of quotes as well. The best I have found is this one "Mental toughness is not letting anyone break you." and that was by Jimi Mitchell, a football player. It's all about having an unshakable belief in yourself and what you can accomplish, to be more consistent and remaining determined, focused, confident, resilient, and in control under pressure. So focus on what you want to improve, then make it happen. Regardless of what happens or what people say. You also have to remember, your goals are yours. When you do have them set, you need to block out the people around you in the gym, and focus on you. You won't look like them, you'll just be a better you.

     Once you set your goal, and decide that your not going to let anyone or anything get in your way. You will notice a big difference. Not just in how you look, but how you feel. More importantly, how you feel about yourself. 

Training Philosophy

Absorb What is Useful, Reject What is Not: I actually took this one from Bruce Lee. The intention of this philosophy is simple. When you start training, don't just jump into 1 routine and stick with it. Try several routines and exercises. Choose the ones that give you the best results. Don't keep using the ones that have little to no affect. There is many exercises out there, its up to you and/or your personal trainer to find the right ones for you.

Stand on the Shoulders of Giants: Don't be afraid to take some criticizing comments from others who have been at it a lot longer than you. There is a lot of very experienced people out there. Try what they say. It obviously worked for them, maybe it will work for you!

Form is King: Keeping the proper posture and form during an exercise is a lot more important than how many repetitions you can do. Bouncing the bar off your chest while doing the benchpress, sure it helps you do more reps, but its not the proper form. To fully use your muscles potential, you should stop the bar an inch above your chest. Same as swinging your body or your arm while doing bicep curls. Your losing the effectiveness of the work out. Your elbows should stay locked by your waist, and you should keep your body as still as possible for each rep.

Assess Assess Assess: Every 3 to 6 weeks you should assess yourself and your routine. You need to do these assessments to insure your doing exercises that will help you reach your goal as quickly as you want.

Tweak Tweak Tweak: This one goes hand in hand with Assess Assess Assess and Absorb What is Useful, Reject What is Not. Assess your routine and find areas to improve an exercise, or use a different exercise with better results. A successful tweak will be one that increases your gains.

Keep Things Simple: This also includes over analyzing your workout routines. The closer we can keep to our basic movements, the less time you have to think about if your doing it right. You will get more out of your exercises.

More to come as the Experience Grows...

Dumbbell One Arm Tricep Extension

This exercise is one of my favourites. Mainly because it works on one of my favourite muscles to work on. The Tricep is the muscle on the back of your arm, and is the main muscle that makes your arms look bigger.

Preparation: Find a weight you feel comfortable using, but heavy enough to be a challenge. Sit on a bench with a back support, slightly lower than shoulder height. With dumbbell in hand, raise your arm straight over head, or slightly back. Make sure to keep your back pressed against the back support for proper posture.

Execution: Bending your arm at the elbow, lower the weight behind your head. Try to keep your upper arm as straight up as possible. After you reach the bottom of the rep, return your arm to the starting position. Repeat.

Incorrect Movement: Don't let your arm move away from your head. Moving your elbow forward will help you lift the weight on each rep, but will also lessen the focus on the Tricep Brachii.

Sidenote: Let the weight pull your arm slightly back to maintain shoulder flexion. Keep your elbow tucked in so it doesn't turn into an overhead press. Back support must not be high enough to stop full range of motion of the dumbbell. This exercise can also be performed without a back rest, or in a standing position.

Target Muscle: Tricep Brachii

Barbell Military Press

One of the easiest exercises to do, but can be ineffective if done wrong.

Preparation: Grab a barbell from the rack or clean from the floor. Should use an overhand grip, and hands should be positioned slightly more than shoulder width apart.

Execution: Press the barbell over head until arms are almost fully extended. Lower barbell back to front of neck and repeat.

Incorrect Movements: Do not lock elbows at the top of the repetition, you want to leave some flexibility in your arms. Never lower the barbell behind your head, this causes you to bend your head forward placing your spine in an incorrect position which could lead to spinal problems. Pressing the bar back up immediately on return to the bottom position. This can help you do more reps by utilizing the elastic energy stored in your muscle. However, it also robs your muscle from fully performing the way you want.

Tempo: The correct tempo for this exercise is 1-0-3-1. Which means a 1 count to push the bar up, 0 count at the top, 3 count to lower the bar, and a 1 count at the bottom. Ideally you want no rest at the top or bottom end of the repetition. A 1 count keeps your muscle explosive on the way up, and the 3 count on the way down really focus's on the muscle, and a 1 count at the bottom so your not using rebound energy to do the next rep.

Reps & Sets: 3 sets of 15

Target Muscles: Anterior Deltoid

Synergists: Pectoralis Major, Clavicular
                   Triceps Brachii
                   Deltoid, Lateral
                   Trapezius, Middle
                   Trapezius, Lower
                   Serratus Anterior, Inferior Digitations

To exercise, or not to exercise during Ramadan!!! That is my question

     Even though it isn't part of my religion, I understand why I should increase my knowledge of various reasons that may stop people from working out. Or rather being able to distinguish between a real reason, and a made up excuse. The first one I want to look at is Ramadan. Why did I pick this one to do first? Right now I have a client that is celebrating Ramadan. I also have a few friends that are also celebrating it. Naturally my curiosity has pushed me to explore it.

     During Ramadan which lasts for a month, those who celebrate it have to fast. No I don't mean any of the Fast and Furious films. Fasting is when you don't eat. Anyone that has had to go in for surgery have a slight idea about this. Its a medical requirement before surgery, not to eat for several hours. This is to insure that your stomach is void of any foods. Fasting for Ramadan is quite similar. With the exceptions that it lasts for a month, you can eat before sun up, or after sun down. It is said to void your spirit of impurities, as well as your body. I've also been told the reason some religions celebrate Ramadon, is so they get a better feeling and understanding of the suffering of hunger a lot of people in the world go through everyday of their lives.

     Now that we have a slight understanding of this celebration, it's time to figure out if we should or should not continue with our exercises during this time.

     There is a lot of people that do celebrate Romadan who are conflicted by this very idea, and with good reason. A lot of people don't want to stop their routine of working out. It's something they believe in almost as much as their religion.

     You can find several of the points I'm about to make from http://www.dailymuscle.com/2007/09/12/exercising-during-ramadan/ . This article was written by Shazly Khan and published by Noel Chelliah.


     It is recommended by Mr. Khan to avoid high impact sports during this month. Avoid over straining or ignoring the messages from our bodies. If you feel dizzy or light headed, slow down, relax and wait for it to pass. Cardiovascular exercise is good during this time to lose that excess fat. Again, don't over do it though. Most exercises should be performed with in a couple hours of breaking fast. Weight training should preferably be done with in a couple of hours after breaking fast. Weight training during fast can affect muscle development, since you don't have the protein in your system. After you break fast, and before you do your weight training, make sure you have a protein shake. Also make sure you eat easily digestible meals. You will need that immediate energy boost from the foods for your workout.


     Avoid doing exercises too early in the day. This is a dangerous time. Your body is already lacking protein to fuel your muscles. Cardiovascular workouts too early in the day can lead to dehydration. Weight training too early in the day can lead to your body taking its energy from your muscles, which can lead to muscle atrophy. So just remember, if you celebrate Ramadan; do your workouts, whether they be Cardiovascular or Weight training as late in the day as you can. Again it is preferable to do cardiovascular within a few hours of breaking fast, and weight training within a few hours after breaking fast. 


     Keep Exercising & Keep Fit

About me and this blog.

     When I started this blog, I was already 4 month's into a PFC (Professional Fitness Consultant) program at Medix school. It's a 1 year program. I also have to say that it's a very interesting program. There is 12 different modules that we have to do. Each module takes about a month. There is also a side module which we have to take, which is called PX2. PX2 is a very interesting module in its self. We learned how to re-program our minds to think more positively about our selves and our goals.
     The PFC program is also very interesting. We have to learn a lot of stuff in such a short time. Yes a year is a short time when you consider the information we have to absorb. If it wasn't for our instructor, Mr. Roburt Tranter, I don't think we would ever be able to do it. My classmates also make it very interesting. We're just a group of people with very different backgrounds and personalities, but we all manage to perform quite well with each other.
     At the time of me writing this, we just welcomed a new member to our class. We are also getting ready to say good-bye to the original 3 of our class. The first 3 people, the ones that set the standard for us to all strive to achieve, will be leaving us shortly for their externship. We're going to miss them, but we also know that our time is coming as well. When you think about our class, its hard to figure out, how does a 60 year old lady, a UFC fighter, a female body builder, a computer geek,  Kick boxer, Tim Hortons employee, a wonderful lady from Lebanon, a Personal Support Worker, a single mother, an ex-wrestler, and a columbian get along? Specially with a fitness guru like Mr. Tranter. Well we do it well. Head on, full speed, and lots of support for each other.
     When it comes to Fitness, I like to say "No Retreat, No surrender!" Although our moto seems to be SPARTA!!!!!!

P.S.
If you want to share in the experience, locate the nearest Medix school in your area and check it out. With any luck, your close enough to come to the London, Ontario Campus and learn with Mr. Tranter.