STOP! The EXCUSES NOW!

Hey YO!  Watch this...

As a personal trainer and someone who has worked with literally hundreds of clients I get it all the time...

EXCUSES!

The NUMBER 1 thing that will STOP you dead in your tracks to realizing your health and fitness goals.  No matter how motivated someone may be, life always has a way to interrupt and throw challenges in the way and it seems that daily exercise is the first thing that will get sacrificed.

In FACT, when the economy took a turn for the worse in 2009, one of the first things people cut from their budget was their gym memberships and personal training sessions.  Trust me, I know this one all too well!

We all know the benefits of exercise and good nutrition.  If you don't know these then I suggest you read every post you find on this blog!

But even with this "knowledge," I still beg the question, "Do people really get it?"

Do they truly understand the BENEFITS of staying active VS the RISKS of being dormant?

What if I told you that those who canceled their gym memberships and slacked off of daily exercise actually found their entire daily lives suffer from those that didn't.

They found themselves with higher stress, LESS money (research by Vasilios Kosteas of Cleveland State University), poorer health, mentally fatigued and of course less fit.

That excuse of "I can't afford my gym membership or my personal trainer anymore," set them up for even greater costs!  I can guarantee you there were other daily expenses that they could of cut out before their gym membership that contributed to lowering their quality of life... TV, eating out, alcohol, etc.

Now, as I write this we have an election coming up and it seems that we forget that this Nation is in the same shape (or worse) as it was in 2008.  People just aren't talking about it anymore but yet the health and fitness industry continues to be a necessity for people - which is great for my line of work 

My point is this... There will always be obstacles and frustrations in life.  

I used the above example as an illustration of one of the worse case scenarios... no extra money to exercise.  

But really?  Even if you did have to cut out your gym membership it doesn't cost a thing to go outdoors and run, hike and swim.  Get on the living floor and do some pushups, crunches, lunges and squats.

The fact is I'm calling you out on your excuses for not exercising!

You have no time: Do you have time to sit and watch your favorite shows? Take a long hard look at your schedule and find the time. It's there if you just look for it.

You have no energy: This excuse will be a non-issue once you've been exercising regularly for a couple of weeks. Your energy will build as you become more fit and active.  Use SPARK!  It's what gets me going first thing in the morning!!

You have no motivation: Read the many articles in this blog and subscribe to our mailing list to receive daily motivations!  Find the reason that WILL motivate you to exercise.  Do you want to look better? Do you need to fight disease or aches and pains? Find your motivation and run with it.

You've failed in the past: I get it; past failures are painful to face. But you haven't really failed until you give up. Don't give up on yourself! Go out there a do it.

You don't know where to begin: No problem. I do know where you should begin. Call or email me today and together we will get your workouts back on track.

STOP the EXCUSES!!!

Embrace your situation, get motivated, and get started!

There will NEVER be a perfect time to start or perfect schedule with no obstacles.  RIGHT NOW, TODAY is YOUR perfect timing!!

Sean "Mayhem" Murphy

Lesson in Over-Zealous Training...

Ok, so I’m on this topic today because of my own training mistake I made yesterday.

As you may of seen I have re-vamped my personal fitness after having a bit of a lay off from intense training and solid nutrition.

So, for the simple fact that I was re-energized and motivated to once again get my body back in prime shape, I jumped in rather abruptly and ended up over training my calves.

What happened?

Because of my enthusiasm I pretty much jumped back into a routine as if I had no time off. I started my day with 30 minutes of stairs and jump rope. Now, this was a great cardiovascular workout but what I didn’t intend was how much of a calve workout this was going to be.

Of course, I knew better.

My calves were burning about half way through the workout but I pushed on wanting to complete the goal I had set for myself for that mornings workout. And so 30 minutes later, after completing 5 rounds of stair climbs along with 500 jump ropes my training for the morning was complete... but not without penalty.

Now today I have a case of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) like you wouldn’t believe in my calves. Its excruciating pain just to walk. Which means there will be no cardio for the next couple of days like I had originally planned for the next few mornings this week. Not until the muscles have completely recovered.

And my plans to train lower body today? Forget it.

I changed up to Chest and Biceps which is fine but it completely throws my planned training off schedule.

Now, on the plus side of this my calves did in fact get a hell of a workout. I’ll definitely be including this type of training to help develop them (with much smarter training) so stay tuned for those write ups.

What can you take away from this?

First, let me address progressive overload - something I completely disregarded during yesterday mornings workout.

Progressive Overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during training. It is a fundamental principle for success in various forms of exercise programs and physical therapy. The common goal of progressive overload is to stimulate the muscles with new stresses in which the body must cope with.

Being that the human body is a very adaptive organism it will respond to strength training by developing stronger and denser muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and cartilage. Now it will be able to handle a once stressful situation much easier the next time it is placed under that same load.

The trick here however is to overload the muscles over time. This will help to prevent injury and maximize results. Progressive overload requires a gradual increase in volume, intensity and resistance. It is very important not to just jump into an intense exercise program without this gradual approach.

That was the mistake that I made.

My calves have not been under that much stress in a very long time and to go all out on day one of my training was overzealous. Had I skipped out on the jump rope I would probably be A - Ok, still had a great cardio workout AND be able to continue with my training as planned for the rest of the week.

But, because I’m paying for that mistake I’ve had to change up my game plan. Even though I didn’t damage the muscles to the point of no return (although the central nervous system can only take so much) my point is training smart over training aggressive will always be proven more beneficial to your overall results!

Let me interject here that it is perfectly normal to be sore after an intense workout (especially for the beginner or if you have pushed through a new plateau). However, the soreness should not be so great that it is extremely painful to flex or move a muscle.

Members of MXT and my friends are all laughing at how I’m walking around like an old man right now. It is humorous but again its a great reminder and lesson of why its important to know your limits and train smart.

If you have any questions about Progressive Overload and how to make your training more effective without making this same mistake I did, leave your comments / questions below!

Happy Training and Keep Driving Towards Your Goals Champion!

Warrior Dash - 2012

Our Mayhem Maniacs did it again...

Together we ran through treacherous trails, crawled under skin piercing barb wire, jumped and crawled over tricky obstacles, scaled up mountainous walls, swam through rivers, made it over fire and YES - Got Extremely MUDDY all in the name of FUN!

This was the Warrior Dash on Saturday, September 29th, 2012 and the common feedback was - "Can't wait to do it again!"

Our group was a mix of veterans and first time runners. Our run time was scheduled for 1:00 PM but as we neared the event we quickly learned that we weren't going to make that time.

With only 2.5 miles to the parking lot we waited in traffic for over 2 hours.  Hunter said it best - "This is the first obstacle, testing your mental fortitude."  

As we got registered and ready to run however, the thoughts of the long car ride were soon behind us - our adrenaline kicked in and we were amongst thousands of other Warriors ready to seize the moment!

The horn blast sounded as fire shot up from the Earth to the Heavens and we set pace through the muddy trails into the woods not knowing what to expect first.

Shouts and cheers came from the spectators as battle cries carried from the Warriors off into the distance... it wasn’t long before we found ourselves at our first obstacle low crawling through mud under the barbed wire.

That set the tone for the rest of the race. Our Mayhem Maniacs teamed up and tackled the course with vigorous ambition and strong will, not allowing this course to defeat them physically or mentally.

Teamwork was used throughout the course and amongst the grunts, sweat, mud and even some abrasions and cuts - smiles shown through as each Mayhem Maniac accomplished the Warrior Dash’s obstacles.

And each time a teammate smiled or you heard a loud battle cry you knew that was the sign of another small (or sometimes BIG) victory each person felt as they continued to press on to the next challenge.

We all made it through to the end with a triumphant feeling of PRIDE and VICTORY and the common feedback we heard from the veterans and virgins alike was -

“This was awesome! Cannot wait to do the next one!”  

It truly was a blast and we even made some new friends on the way 

So, if you’re ready to take on the NEXT challenge along with us, get ready for the Rugged Maniac coming up in May of 2013. (I’m sure we’ll have more runs between now and then but right now that is the next scheduled event for our Mayhem Maniacs).

Check out the many pics (and more to come) of the Warrior Dash 2012 posted right here!

And for those of you who dared the Dash - share with us your FAVORITE part of the Warrior Dash in the comment section below!

Congratulations to EVERY Teammate!

Amanda Abul-Husn, Robert Shown, Amanda McDaniel, Genise Whitehurst, Bruce Whitehurst, Cameron Whitehurst, Jennifer Hupp Northern, Lila Goodman, Ron Cooper, Brianna Baldwin, Stephanie “Rock Star” Ward, Christine Taylor, Heather Walczak, MaryKay Carstensen, Lori Willis, Stacy Cook, Debra Surak Johnson, Alan Lacey, Charles Kanary, Chuck Colfax, Sean “Mayhem” Murphy

And special thanks to our photographers and cheering squad!

Charles Ward and Hunter Murphy!