Heavy Bag Training

NOPE!  I'm not talking about your traditional heavy bag 

training you might be thinking, boxing, kick-boxing, martial arts, etc.

I'm talking about a full body conditioning routine that will build overall strength and cardio all in one workout.

This past Thursday my body was STILL feeling pretty beat up from heavy lifting on Monday and Tuesday.  I typically take Wednesdays off and do recovery and mobility work.  When I went to train heavy this past Thursday my body was just not having it.

Nothing hurt, it was just the simple fact that my body wasn't responding no matter how much I pushed it to get going.

Not allowing that to deter me from a great workout I decided to pick up the Heavy Bag and get some aggression out.  Half way into the workout I decided to break out the video camera and record some of the fun drills I did.

Check out my Heavy Bag Training from this past Thursday... This one truly was a lot of FUN!

Watch it here!

Remember, you don't need a fancy gym or basement full of expensive equipment to get the job done.  I had one hell of a full body workout just by utilizing this one, old, beat up heavy bag.

No excuses right!

Get Work Done Maniacs!

Gym Comedy

Happy Friday Maniacs!

Murphy here and I'm getting ready to take Lori, Hunter and Penny to the beach for two weeks.  Yep, headed back to where I call home, Shallotte NC where we'll be spending lots of time with family, friends, the white sand and of course the gym...

What?  You think I'm going to take time off from my training - heck no!  And don't worry, I'll still be keeping in touch with you as well to help keep you on track with your fitness!

But, before I head off I wanted to share with you some great laughs.  If you're anything like me, you love stand up comedy - especially the classics like Bill Cosby, Gallagher, Abbott and Costello, you know, the greats!

However, it seems that the gym offers a lot of funny content for comics today and what I have here are some of the funniest skits about working out and the gym that I love to watch over and over and over again.

Check these out and if you have other videos that you enjoy, share them here!

ENJOY!

Justin Washington - Going to the Gym



Jim Gaffigan - Bodybuilders (my personal favorite!)



James Gregory - Gym Memberships




Stuff Women Say To Personal Trainers



Kevin Hart - The Bench Press



John Caparulo - Just for Laughs (Explicit)

June Highlights

Well, June is almost over... can you believe it?

Here at MXT it wasn't just the Summer weather that brought on the heat this month, our members at Mayhem Fitness & Cross Training really rocked it out with their hard training.

In case you missed any of it, here are some clips from this months training and special events, including the Tough Mudder and Open Gym where Lori got to practice her coaching skills.

June was truly a month that the Mayhem was UNLEASHED!

Check it out all the action and Fun times here!



Oops!  I thought I had included more clips of the Tough Mudder in here - ah well, you can see all the action from that day by clicking here!

Stay Strong, Dedicated and Focused Maniacs and...

Get Work Done!

What Weight Should I Use?

This is probably the MOST often asked question I get from the new members we train at Mayhem Fitness. 

Of course, it's a very fair question... I mean after all... they are there for RESULTS right. 

To me, choosing the right weight range to work with is just as important and critical as watching your nutrition.  You can go through the motions all day long and not get anything done OR you can challenge yourself and watch your body transform. 

I don't know about you, but I'd rather see all my hard work progress into something great so what weight should you use? 

I answer this vital question in this video here - check it out!


I hope this helps you out, especially if you're a beginner or looking to advance further in your training program.

For those of you who would like a further explanation of training percentages, keep reading...

You'll typically use this formula for your big lifts - 

• Bench Press
• Barball Squat
• Dead-Lift
• Olympic Lifts

...and so on but this can truly be applied to ANY weight bearing exercise that you want to improve on.

You'll start with your 1 Rep Max (1RM).  This is the Max weight you can handle for 1 Rep.  We really don't do 1 rep maxes at MXT but here is a cool calculation you can use that will determine your 1 Rep Max by plugging in your most recent weight and reps you accomplished.

Weight x Reps x .0333 + Weight = 1RM (this is courtesy of Jim Wendler and his 5/3/1 strength program).

So, for example.  If I did 225 on the barbell squat for 5 reps my max would be 262 pounds.  225 x 5 = 1125 x .0333 = 37.4625 + 225 = 262

Now, to help me advance in the squat, get stronger and ultimately burn more calories (as I said in the video, the more intensity you continue to add, the higher you boost your metabolic rate) I would use this formula.

262 x 60%  = 157 pounds - 10-12 reps
262 x 70% = 183 pounds -  6-10 reps
262 x 80% = 210 pounds (rounded up) 3-8 reps
262 x 90% = 236 pounds (rounded up) 3-5 reps

Working the lighter weights I would stay within the higher rep ranges of 10-12 and as I advance up in weight, my rep count would drop as low as 3-5 reps.

This system of using percentages and rep ranges is called pyramiding and is a great way to continue to excel your fitness program without just guessing your way through or wondering, what weight should I use.  Hence, another reason why its so vital to keep a journal.

It's important to understand as well that you won't always see your strength numbers go up every workout.  In general, it can be anywhere from 3 to 10 workouts, depending on the exercise.

Your strength can be affected by a number of things including the amount of time that has lapsed from the same muscle training, how much sleep you got the night before, your nutrition, etc.

Again, increasing your weight is only 1 way to add more intensity to your training.  For more tips, check out my post here on 5 Ways To Increase Your Intensity.

Use this information in your program Maniacs and... 

GET WORK DONE!

Men, Muscle and Mayhem - Chest Day

So yesterday, Josh and I hit Chest with a little vengeance.  After doing the Tough Mudder on the 14th I suffered a bit of a shoulder impingement - luckily it wasn't anything that one trip to my Chiropractor couldn't fix but it did make me miss my chest workout last week.

This week I was ready to UNLEASH the MAYHEM on my chest.

I'm changing up my training protocol just a bit to get myself more conditioned for competitions, but I don't want to lose any strength, in fact, I need to keep building my strength up as much as possible.

So I'm doing a little Hybrid Training by mixing it up with Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and Conditioning all in one workout.

I know I'll get a lot of questions about this style of training, you can't really focus on all of that at once, can you?

Joe Defranco would even say, there is a time for Strength and then a time for Conditioning and I agree 100% so most of my focus right now is still on raw power, however, throwing in a bit of bodybuilding and conditioning with this method will continue to take me to the next level in my training.

Today we hit Chest so I started with 5 sets of 5 on the Bench Press for overall Strength.

From there I moved onto 2 Bodybuilding cycles - 1st being the Incline Bench for four sets of 10 / 8 / 6 / 15 reps.  Then finished off with Decline Flyes for 3 sets of 10.

Finally, I hit 8 rounds TABATA Burpees making sure I got full range of motion with my Push-ups for my conditioning.  This workout took just under an hour to complete (including a 10 minute warmup) and it felt great to be up under the Barbell again.

Josh mixed it up a bit utilizing the War Machines for Cable Cross Overs (nope, can't do that on TRX) and hitting some Decline Bench work today.

Check out these video clips of Josh and I Getting Work Done!

5 KILLER Upper Body Exercises For a KILLER Summer Body

WOW!  Does the weekend move fast sometimes or what?  Here it is  Monday morning already and I am pumped up and excited to do work.

This past week I received an email from one of our Mayhem Maniacs who wanted some ideas on some great upper body strength training exercises that they could do from home.

With that said I wanted to give you some great tips to get your week off to a great start!

Here are my TOP 5 Killer Exercises for a Killer Summer Body!

1. Rope Climb / Pull-ups / Inverted Rows - Ok, I know Pull-ups aren’t doable yet for everyone so I have some different progressions until you can get your feet off the ground and body up to new heights.  Lets start with the lessor of these 3 exercises (although still very challenging) The Inverted Row.  You can use the Kitchen table or throw a strong rope around a low hanging branch of a tree in your yard.  Perform this exercise by getting up under your table and pulling your chest up as seen in the pic below.  From here you can move into the Assisted Rope Climb.  Essentially the same movement as the inverted row, you’ll start by lying flat on the ground and grasping the rope.  You’ll climb the rope hand over hand until you are almost in a full standing position.  Keeping your feet in contact with the ground at all times reverse the movement by walking hand over hand back down till your laying flat on the ground again.  Both of these exercises are great for beginners who can’t get their first pull-up yet or struggle to climb a rope.  
   
2. Push-ups - These are the most basic of all upper body pressing movements however many times folks get them wrong.  To execute the perfect pushup make sure you keep a tight core.  This means from the base of your neck all the way down to your heels you have one solid, straight line and from your chin all the way to the toes, same thing.  No bowing in the back, no sagging in the stomach.  Keep your elbows slightly back instead of flared out to the sides to protect your shoulders and come all the way down till your triceps (back of the arms), upper back and floor all make one parallel line.  Another tip you can do is place a tennis ball under your chest and come all the way down till your chest hits the ball, then back up to full extension.  Its ok to keep the elbows soft at the top and not lock them out.  I actually prefer this as to not put unnecessary pressure on the elbow joints.  You can hit many different variations of the push-up to keep up the challenge.  Choose from regular, close grip, wide grip, spider crawl, burpee, bear crawl, box, explosive, weighted, etc  - Check out this video of our members hitting different pushup challenges.  
3. Odd Object Throw - This one is as basic as it sounds but a heck of a lot of fun and will build tremendous strength and give you a great metabolic conditioning workout as well (cardio to burn fat!)  Execute this movement by finding any large, heavy object (Big Rocks, Bricks, Concrete Blocks, Weighted Medicine Ball, Sandbag, Even a Dumbbell) pick it up off the ground and heave it as far as you can with a variation of different throws.  Try doing this for time.  2-4 minutes will do the trick here :D
4. Sledge Hammer Chops / Split Wood - Sometimes, the ol’ fashioned household chores growing up were the best workouts I have ever done.  Splitting and sawing wood was definitely one of those winter chores that I never looked forward to because it was HARD WORK!  Dad would do most of the splitting but my brother and I would carry and stack the wood into nice piles to burn later in the wood stove.  If you don’t have firewood to cut, get out a heavy sledgehammer and “chop wood” by hitting it into an old tire.  The heavier the hammer, the better the workout :D
5. Farmer Carry - One of my all time favorite movements that’s pretty much the Ultimate in a Strength and Conditioning exercise.  Not only will you test your entire bodies strength and endurance from your grip, to forearms, biceps, shoulders, traps, upper back, core and even legs but you’ll also be huffing and puffing trying to manage the weight for more distance or time.  Of course once you get good at a certain weight, its time to take it up or increase your distance, time, etc.  Simply grab 2 heavy objects in your hands and start walking.  Keep your body as tall as you can (think tall spine) and try not to drop.  Don’t need anything expensive here, just grab a couple of 5 Gallon buckets and fill them with water or sand.  They’ll get the job done!

So there you go.  5 Great Upper body (and really full body) drills you can do at home with things you already have laying around.

Try these exercises on this week and let me know how you do!

Get Work Done!

Burn More Fat with Circuit Cycling!

Circuit Cycling - Get The Pump and Burn Fat With This Creatively FUN Routine

Happy Friday Gang...

Let me tell ya, after yesterday’s HOT and humid weather I sure am LOVING today at a nice and cool 78 degrees.  The gym’s A/C never stopped running yesterday and couldn’t get the temperature below 85, UGH.

It truly is nice when you can have the garage doors open and get one heck of a killer workout in :D

Speaking of which, I’d like to introduce you to a system that I implement from time to time that delivers quite a punch in your Fat Burning efforts.

I like to throw Circuit Cycling into the mix whenever I need a little bit of a lighter lifting day but still keep the intensity up.  This is something that I started doing years ago and I always get a great pump, my heart racing and my fat crying with this routine.

What is Circuit Cycling.

Circuit Cycling is something I developed many years ago and have used with personal training clients to help get them results stripping off fat and building a lean, toned body in as little as 30 minutes each session.

Simply put, its moving from one exercise to the next with little to no rest - like circuit training...

But not exactly... You see, I have a bit of a problem with traditional circuits.

You see, most times Circuits are targeted and used as a great Fat Burning workout, the problem is that they can be treated too much like cardio instead of focusing on muscular overload.

Often times traditional circuits take too long to get back to a particular muscle group, especially if you’re doing full body.

This allows too much rest time and in doing so the muscles never get broken down so once your workout is over, the body doesn’t burn any more fat.  

And if you’ve been training more than 3 months, you’re actually lucky if you burn any fat at all during a traditional circuit training workout.

Its like Boot Camp classes - once your body adapts to the training, it no longer needs to adjust to what you’re doing.  You NEED to constantly challenge the body with higher intensity.  If you want even more ideas on how to add more intensity to your workouts, read this Blog post here.

While Circuit training burns calories and possibly fat when your exercising Circuit Cycling training allows for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) to occur.  

Simply put, this means you’ll BURN FAT long after finishing your workout due to an elevated metabolism.

NOTE: Lifting Heavy is the best way for this process to occur, however, there are those times when heavy just isn’t cutting it and your body needs a little break from it.  That’s where Circuit Cycling comes into play.

Here’s How To Implement Circuit Cycling

Decide what muscle groups and exercises you are going to use during your training.  

You’ll definitely want to pre-plan these workouts and its best if you can set everything up before getting started to keep your rest intervals short and your training intense.  

If that’s not an option because of the gym you train at, use your set up time as your rest time and keep working with a purpose!

For today’s example I’m going to use a Full Body Routine with 5 different exercises.

Each exercise will be complete with 3 working sets for a total of 15 working sets in this training session.

Exercises performed will be:

• Pull-ups
• Barbell Front Squats
• Push-ups
• Inverted Rows
• Sprinter Step Ups

Start with the first exercise for desired amount of reps, rest 15-45 Seconds and repeat again immediately followed by the next exercise on your list.  

In this case after your second set of Pull-ups you’ll hit your first set of Front Squats.  Rest again 15-45 seconds and repeat starting with your third and final set of Pull-ups, your second set of Front Squats and now your first set of Push-ups.

Every time you complete your third and final set of an exercise, the first set of the next exercise on the list is added.  Complete this pattern until you finish off with 3 full sets of the final exercise.

NOTE: Your final exercise will be completed alone with its final set.

As you can see, you can still get a great full body Circuit without allowing the muscles to rest for too long between the working sets which will promote more strength and EPOC to occur!

So what rep range should you use?

For Body weight exercises I recommend Sub-Max effort with each working set, leaving a little left in the tank at completion.  With weight bearing exercises such as the Front Squats listed here, stay within the 6-12 rep range.

Listen, if 12 is too easy or if you’re going 12 plus reps, increase your weight and get serious about RESULTS!

Is Spongebob Sandbagging here?

There is a HUGE difference between completing desired reps and going through the motions!

You can most definitely work with heavier weight and rep ranges of 3-5 reps so experiment with what works for you and have fun applying this routine in your next training session.

Get Work Done!

TABATA Throw-Down

The Maniac crew is at it again this morning unleashing the Mayhem TABATA style.  This no holds barred approach to high intensity intervals is a sure fire way to blast fat and get a great conditioning workout in 20 minutes or LESS!

Today the crew did 4 different TABATA stations which consists of 20 seconds of all out effort followed by 10 seconds of absolute rest, then repeat for a total of 4 minutes.

If you’d like to try this Routine at home or in your own gym here is what we did:

1. Sprints
2. Flutter Kicks
3. Jump Rope (Jumping Jacks or Quick Box Steps can be used instead)
4. Dying Cockroach

Again, each drill is 4 minutes in length and completed for 8 full rounds.  We took breaks between drills to allow recovery and water before moving onto the next exercise.

Of course, any MXT workout wouldn’t be complete without a great BURN OUT which consisted of various drills and ended with Conveyor Belt Sprints as shown in the video below...

Ok, ok - for you technical folks out there, TABATA dictates that after a 10 minute warm you do a 4 minute workout and then you're done!

The TRUE Tabata protocol is to work at 170% of your VO2Max for 20 seconds (which happens to be the highest amount of oxygen your body can consume and use for energy) followed by the 10 seconds of rest to try and fully recover.  

The only way for us to test whether our members are even close to this is with the use of oxygen and carbon dioxide analyzers as seen here....

Ooops, sorry, wrong image....

Ah YES!  There's the right one!

Where did TABATA come from?

This system was developed and tested by Japanese researcher Dr. Izumi Tabata in 1996.  With the test subjects, just one 4 minute session burned as many calories as a 60 minute jog.

Over a six week period of 4 sessions per week (with a single session of long-duration cardio added in), Tabata was shown to be more effective at improving the bodies aerobic and anaerobic capacity compared to regular moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.

Since its popularity, there are many training facilities and gyms (like us) who have adopted a prototype of this training system used to give members a great challenge and improve their overall quality of life.

So can we truly call it a Tabata workout if we're not following the protocol of 4 minutes at 170% of VO2 Max - 

Not really... But we can say - OH WHAT A HELL OF A WORKOUT!!!

Give it a go and try to keep up, after all, you're only in competition with yourself when you give Tabata everything you've got!

Get Work Done!

Sleep Away The Pounds

Yesterday was one of those days were I really needed to catch up on my rest.  I took a nice power nap mid-morning and then went to bed at 8 pm last night - No need to fight it; I've learned that when my body tells me to rest, it REALLY needs it.

But how many of us are always on the Go Go Go and never allow our bodies to fully recover and take the rest that it NEEDS.

Do you realize that if you're trying to Lose Fat and aren't getting enough sleep that you could in fact be putting all your efforts to a screeching halt.

Keep dieting hard, keep training even harder - guess what, without the 3rd component, REST, you're not going to get anywhere!

If you're on Facebook or any other type of social media I'm sure you've seen a variation of this pic before...

And It's TRUE!  You know that I'm all about putting Intensity behind your Training and Eating Healthy but what you're probably missing is a 

VERY Critical component in this equation - SLEEP!

When you don't allow your body to recover and rest, you are allowing a couple of things to happen that will literally stop you from losing weight, in fact, you will find yourself GAINING weight, and I'm talking FAT weight here - 

I mean really, if the scale goes up and your clothes are fitting better, and you're looking awesome in the mirror then its muscle gain so who the hell cares what the scale says!

I think Arnold says it best here -

Here are the Top 5 BAD Things That Happen When You Don’t Get A Good Nights Sleep

#1 - You Raise Levels of Cortisol - You have undoubtedly have heard about the negative effects that Cortisol has on the body, especially if you are trying to lose weight.  

However, this hormone is necessary and a healthy function of the body such as regulating your metabolism, acts as an anti-inflammatory, helps control the body’s blood sugar levels, helps with memory and controls salt and water balances.

So as you can see, Cortisol is needed to maintain a healthy, functional body.  It’s when we have high levels of Cortisol that we see more weight gain.  Cortisol is generally high in the early morning and start falling throughout the day.  

However, stress can cause these levels to remain high which will eat muscle and increases body fat storage.  High levels can also mess with your cognitive abilities, leaving you feeling mentally drained and impair your memory.

Help keep your Cortisol Levels in Check by doing the Following:

• Avoid Stress - I know, in today’s world Stress seems to be a part of life so easier said than done but try to do this with your very best effort
• Keep your workouts Short - 45 - 60 Minutes, TOPS
• Don’t do excessive amounts of aerobic exercise
• Get 8-9 Hours of sleep every night
• Surround yourself with happy people and get away from negative people and negativity as a whole
• Meditate / Pray for 30 Minutes per day.  Get out in nature away from it all, take a walk, relax.  You need this time for YOU!

#2 - You’ll Eat More Calories - Especially Junk Food.  Research from the University of Chicago suggests that lack of sleep changes how the body regulates appetite, leading us to crave more food.  You may not only start eating more overall calories but more calories from high fat and comforting carbohydrate foods.

#3 - You’ll Exercise Less - Because of lack of sleep, you’ll skip out on your daily exercise due to fatigue.  This of course means less calories burned.  Couple this with higher Cortisol and Eating More Calories and it doesn’t take long for the waistline to expand.

If this wasn’t bad enough there’s more...

#4 - You’ll SLOW Your Basal Metabolic Rate - Now you’re really in trouble because you’ll be starting all over with your fat loss goals if you allow all that hard work of raising your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) to come crashing back down.  Why is this important?  Your BMR is the amount of calories your body burns just to perform its daily functions like breathing and maintaining your bodies normal temperatures.  When you raise this you are able to eat more calories, build more muscle and burn more fat - the reverse happens when it lowers!

#5 - You Don’t Build As Much Muscle - When you strength train you break down your muscle tissue (as in damaging it).  The body needs to rebuild that damaged muscle and strengthen back up so it can handle the same work load when placed under it again.  The only time it has to do this is when it is resting.  Rob the body of its sleep and you rob it of its muscle rebuilding capabilities.  End result, you become weaker instead of stronger.  

Here's how... More Growth Hormones(GH) are released during sleep than during waking hours.  GH is responsible for cell regeneration, reproduction and growth.  Again, these hormones are what are responsible for building muscle and as we’ve discussed, the more muscle you build, the more fat you burn due to an increased metabolism.

BONUS #6 - Your Strength & Performance Will Suffer - I already touched on this some in each of the other points but this is where it’ll hit home the most.  

Once you start to tire out, you’re muscles are more apt to small injuries, you will fatigue out and your performance will suffer.  

Ultimately you’ll have less energy and won’t maintain your goal of living a healthy lifestyle and the weight piles on.  

Point Blank - You Need to get adequate rest (SLEEP) in order to do everything else you want to in the gym, whether it is to lose weight, build muscle or perform at your very best.

OK, so this all sounds great right but maybe you’re one of those who has trouble going to sleep and staying asleep.

Here are some Key Tips To Getting A Good Nights Sleep!

• Set a Bed Time and Stick To It - Make sure you are getting an average of 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night.  Trust me, there is nothing going on that HAS to take your sleep time away from you, (unless you’re a Mother of an infant, I’ll give you that)
• TURN OFF THE TV, cell phone, computer and any other devices that could interrupt your sleep - do this at least 30-60 minutes before bedtime
• Wind down for 30-60 minutes before Bedtime - read a book, turn off the TV, meditate, write in a journal.  Practice calming the mind before lights out
• Keep a notebook on your nightstand - Ladies, I’m talking to you.  It seems when its bedtime is when you’re full of all kinds of ideas that you have to get done or the world is going to end!  Write down your To Do List for the next day and let it rest along with you.  Again, nothing is that urgent that it needs to keep you up or get done at this very moment.  Something great psychologically happens when you write things down as well... all of a sudden you’re able to stop thinking about that task and your brain can calm down and rest!
• Don’t have caffeine within 3-5 hours of bedtime, maybe longer is you’re really caffeine sensitive
• Finish your last meal 2-3 hours before bedtime.
• STAY HYDRATED and keep the room temperature cool.  You’ll get a much better nights sleep when your body temperature (which drops at night) matches the room.  Everybody is different so you may need to experiment with this.
• Get in a great workout regularly - Tire yourself out!  By leading an active lifestyle you’re body will want and NEED its rest!
• Wake up the same time every morning!  Don’t hit that snooze button or sleep in.  By establishing regular sleep patterns or a normal Bedtime and Wake Up time you’ll make it a routine for your body to get the required rest it needs.

I know an afternoon nap isn’t feasible for everyone (unless you have a really cool boss like I do) but listen to your body... when you need more rest, TAKE IT!  In the long run, it’ll do your body and overall health a world of good!

Get SLEEP Done :D

Penny Loves To Get Her Sleep On!

Tough Mudder 2014

So Hey Now Mayhem Maniacs, Murphy here and I really don't have the words to express the Tough Mudder event in Doswell VA this past Saturday - all I have to say is - IT WAS EPIC!

I'll just let this video do all the talking for me - 

OH WHAT A RUSH!!!!

Make sure you watch this thing to the VERY END - the only thing I wish we could of gotten on video was SHOCK THERAPY - I have no idea what we all looked like going through that crazy station.  All I know is that it felt like someone sucker punched me all the way through it.

Love Being a part of Mudder Nation!

Life BUILT Around Passion

Happy Friday Mayhem Maniacs...

You know, Friday's are kind of bitter-sweet for me; it means the beginning of the weekend, which is usually filled with some good down time spent with my son, Hunter, my girlfriend Lori and our crazy Dawg Penny.

This weekend will be a bit different as we are taking on the Tough Mudder tomorrow morning AND its Lori's Birthday so we'll be living it up a bit :D

Here's a pic of all of us at the Chancellorsville Battlefield taken this past fall.

But it also means the end to another Fun-filled week of training members at our facility, Mayhem Fitness & Cross Training.

For the typical person working a 9-5, Friday's are highly anticipated and the weekend can't come soon enough.  Then of course, the dreaded Monday rolls around and its back to the daily grind, trading their hours for dollars.  

I recall these days all too well...

I remember Sunday nights being filled with anxiety, stress and often depression... Monday HAVING to get up and work long hours to earn an income.

Now, don't get me wrong, it was never that I didn't appreciate hard work.  In fact, its only when I put forth the effort to Get Work Done that I feel good about myself and these days I work just as hard if not harder then ever before.

But there is a difference in my life between the past and where I am at now... The difference lies within my Passion!

At one time in my life, before I became a certified personal trainer, I was working for a trucking company in Fredericksburg VA and I truly loved the work.  I spent my days loading these freight trucks with various items that would be distributed to convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and Wal-Mart chains.  

The work was intense to say the least as everything was loaded by hand so I honestly got a great workout each and every day.

My co-workers quickly became great friends and through the help of Facebook I still stay in contact with some of the boys today even though I'm an hour away and its been over 10 years since I've worked there - Wow, has it really been that long.

I actually loved this job because of the work and the friends I made and because I was providing for my family.

But something was missing, I always had this burning desire to be more, to do more although I was very proud that I had a job that provided what we needed.  I knew however, that I wasn't in control of my destiny there and I didn't like the politics of upper management.  

I knew there was no room for growth for me because I never wanted to move up the success ladder they provided by becoming a team leader, manager, supervisor, etc.  I didn't like how the company used many of these "leaders."

I don't think these people were bad in any way and looking back I have a much greater understanding of why things worked the way they did in such a large company and I can appreciate it; but I still wouldn't want any of those positions, for much different reasons today though.  

My mind was made up, I would never be a sell-out so the way I saw it I had two choices; one, continue working as a truck loader and get paid what they told me I was worth or follow my hearts love, which was and still is, fitness.

At this same time that I was working for this trucking company I was also studying and learning more about working out and nutrition.  I was overcoming a back injury that I had sustained from the military and was a bit over weight when I first landed the truck loading job.  I actually used my workday as one tool for me to help lose the extra weight, which truly made the job so much more fun and rewarding.

My teammate and I would actually time ourselves on how fast we could load our trucks.  The typical truck took about four hours to load and we averaged 2 trucks per day... we loved to get each truck done in 3 hours or less.  

Of course, we needed to do a good job and load these trucks in a manner that wouldn't be unsafe to the drivers, so there was a little bit of a science to doing it right... 

Its funny, because every time I have to pack my truck up with stuff like groceries or for vacation I use the techniques of this previous job and it does take me back to the "good ol days."  

I can pack everything so tight that nothing moves around and every inch of space is utilized. Loading these trucks daily was like piecing together a giant puzzle.

Ok, so as I was losing weight and studying, my co-workers witnessed my transformation and began asking questions in regards to their own workouts.  I did the best I could with my rookie knowledge and we would have some fun conversations and even mini workouts in the back of the trucks doing pull-up and push-up challenges.

I would come home from work and train in my basement, just killing it with everything I knew to do.  I would use every exercise program out of the bodybuilding magazines.  My workouts would sometimes last 2 hours or more.  I didn't care, I was getting leaner and my back was getting much stronger so it was successful.

My workouts progressed out of the basement and into a gym setting and one of my good friends and co-workers, Kevin started working out with me.  It wasn't long before he said to me, "You really need to be doing this for a living."

At this point I had lost over 60 pounds of fat, could run 7 miles in under an hour, had no more back pain that prevented me from doing the lifting I enjoyed and was living the lifestyle of health and fitness. 

When Kevin said these words to me a lightbulb went off in my head... I love this lifestyle, I love how I feel and I want everyone to know this feeling!  In an instant I knew what I had been looking for!

I immediately took action on what today has become an extraordinary adventure and journey in my life. I had no idea at the time when I decided to become a certified personal trainer where that decision would lead me to and where I am at today.

I say this because there has been so many changes in my journey, all of which has molded me and enabled me to grow as a trainer, a coach, as a Father, a Business Owner and as a role model to others.

I wake up excited to do work (and have fun) each and every day.  I have been training men and women for over 13 years now and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will be in this industry Leading from the Front for the rest of my life.

I have no idea where this journey will continue to take me with years to come.

I had no clue that my journey would have its times of failures, hardships, victories and life changing lessons.

All I knew at that time is that I made a decision based on my Passion, stepped out of my comfort zone and followed my heart... which is exactly what I'm encouraging you to do right now no matter where you are in life.

Before you ask why you let me ask, why not you?

Maybe you've tried something before or maybe you've been too scared to step out and venture into the unknown.

Best piece of advice I can give you for that is, don't fall victim to circumstances, don't believe you're not good enough and certainly don't think you don't have anything to offer others.  

Believe it or not, you have a tremendous gift to share with your peers.  

What that may be I don't know but I do know that living a life built around Your Passion is the ultimate way to achieve a lifestyle on your terms, what ever that means to you.

I use to think it meant a life of ultra success, money, maybe fame and stature, with the exotic cars, multiple houses, girls on both arms.  Material things are nice, but they don't make me who I am. 

And hey, that stuff may be important and true to some but through the lessons I've learned along my journey I've come to discover, these kinds of things are just not what I'm in it for.  

What I have learned along the way is my life has so much more meaning when its based on serving, giving and being a positive role model to others.

It doesn't mean I don't strive to make a decent living this way, it just means that my values have changed of what living life on my own terms means.

How did I come to discover this?

I'll be honest, it wasn't an easy lesson and its one that I sometimes still struggle with today.  Yep, just like you I have my bad days too.

It all started once I decided to go into business for myself.  

After I received my personal training certification I went to work Part Time for the local gym.  I was still working my full time job at the trucking company and working on my own fitness goals so my day typically consisted of waking up early and going for a 2 mile run or completing a Tae Bo workout (remember those VHS tapes?).  

From there I would work at the warehouse from 6:30 am - 3 pm then go straight to the gym, do my second workout (or 3rd if you want to count my trucking job) of the day and then train clients from about 5 pm till 9 or 10 at night.  

I did this Monday through Friday and worked at the gym on the weekends as well.  The long hours didn't phase me as I was doing what I loved.

I loved being at the gym.  I was building a new career, making new friends, learning a hell of a lot, making lots of mistakes, asking even more questions and training hard with the guys that were way stronger and better than me.

At the point I was hired as a trainer I was a lean 185 - 190 pounds so my attention changed to building up muscle mass.   I trained with some of the local bodybuilders and thats when my training really took on a new meaning and focus.

I applied everything I learned from these guys and my growth was astounding... some were even asking if I using Steroids.

Nope, just lifting big, eating big and still doing my early morning running or Tae Bo because I enjoyed it.  At my best shape I weighed in around 215-220 at 8 - 10% body fat.

I was never the ripped guy and had absolutely no desire (still don't) to jump up on stage in my underwear.  I won't lie to ya, I'm that guy who still likes to enjoy life so its probably a good thing that I enjoy the Iron so much.

Here's a couple of pics of me from back in the day trying to look all Fly, GQ, Egotistical, whatever you wanna call it...

Sorry if I got a little off track there - my mind works that way sometimes and I'll be honest, I haven't talked about my old training days in a very long time and its fun to reflect on but lets get back to why you're here reading...

As my client base grew at the gym I was working at I knew my time with my full time loading job was coming to a close after being there for over 5 years.  But I wasn't considering a Full time position at the gym, instead I decided to open my own personal training facility with the help of a franchise.  

This decision was rather impulsive and I moved quickly to making this opportunity happen.

I won't get into all the details of opening my first personal training facility but I will say I learned a lot of business and life lessons along the way.  And the lessons of what not to do have helped me tremendously with everything I do today.

Here are some pics of that personal training facility...

I bought into the franchise model as I was influenced by some books that I read and the franchise itself that this would be the ultimate way to leverage myself as a leader in the industry; I bought into the short cut approach.  Was that a mistake?

That's probably the toughest question I ask myself today.  If I had it to do all over again, would I?  Meaning, would I of started with the franchise model or just go at it on my own if I had that decision to make all over again.

Even though the franchise failed, I took away so many lessons from it that I feel benefit me today and had I not learned these things I seriously doubt I'd be anywhere close to where I am as I write this.

The #1 Lesson I Learned was to Follow Your Heart - Do Not Chase Money!

I feel into this trap very hard even though I couldn't recognize it at all.  I had my Passion, Fitness and wanting to help others; however, I could of started building a business built on serving others through my passion rather than build an expensive place for people to come to.
  
The problem with this was if I didn't get what I wanted, MONEY, nobody was going to be happy.

Here's what I mean...

I had to chase money with my first gym because when I started up my business I had taken on loans (DEBTS), rent, business expenses (marketing, insurance, paychecks, electricity, water, phone, internet, etc) and I needed to provide a living.  

I HAD to do everything that I could to make sure all these things were met and that meant working extremely long hours, training people I didn't have a good fit for and turning away people who I wanted to work with but who couldn't afford my services.

Don't get me wrong here, I loved every single client I worked with - just some were suited for my style of training and coaching and some weren't.  Some got great results, the others didn't. Can you guess which ones did?

Here is the lesson I learned once I recognized the mistake I had made - I had became a SELL OUT!  I had done exactly what I didn't want to do in the trucking company and I had no one to blame but myself... very tough pill to swallow.

Remember when I said I dreaded Mondays... the Mondays I hated were the ones when I owned my first gym.  I was much happier in the days as a truck loader - go figure!

My days were long, stressful, filled with worry and angst.  I was drained mentally and physically, I started gaining weight again.  I was eating poorly, I was making excuses for myself, I started playing the what if game and the should of game with myself.  

My relationship with the girl I was dating suffered, my relationship with my son and family suffered.  I was a total mess and on top of it all, I WASN'T EVEN ABLE TO PAY ALL MY BILLS!

I was LIVING A LIE NOT MY PASSION!

Eventually, the franchise I was a part of closed me down giving me a cease and desist letter because I wasn't making the minimum royalty payments.  My dream had fallen apart and for the first time in 6 years I felt one thing that mattered most to me - RELIEF.

Now, I was extremely upset, disappointed in myself and the franchise, broke and wondering if I even belonged in the fitness industry.  By the way, this all happened during the biggest recession period of 2008 - 2010.  I was one of the 20% of gyms that close during the recession.

Wanna know how I know that 20% of gyms in America closed during that time frame?  Because I started to look for these types of statics to blame.
I blamed my location, I blamed the franchise, I blamed my marketing but I never put the blame on where it should of been placed, myself!  

And Hey, other gyms managed to stay open during the recession, and some were even able to grow so the truth is I can't put the blame there.

I had to OWN up to the fact that for whatever reason, this business model was not following my true passion and because of that my business failed, I failed myself and I had failed my clients.  Not a happy day.

I have another blog post about the way I was feeling when that time of my life hit me and the instant decision I made to take back my passion and start anew.  You can read that blog post here - When its time to fight back

Ok, so I said there was a difference between chasing money and chasing passion right.  Well here is where I changed things up, dramatically!

I still needed to make a living and I didn't want to do anything else but work with people and help them with their health and fitness goals - this Passion still THRIVED in me and it does today just as strong, if not stronger as it did the first day I started my personal training career.

The big difference was that I was going to establish MY OWN parameters (no franchise telling me what I could and couldn't do), I was going to work the hours I wanted to work and I was going to train the clients that were a good fit for me AND I was going to make it much more affordable so I didn't have to turn anybody away who truly wanted what I had to offer.

No longer would I be a slave and no longer did I need to take on everybody and anybody just to pay the bills.  Those who appreciate my skills and want to train hard are those that are members of the Mayhem family today.  

Those who aren't a good fit, are complainers and negative don't last long and I won't cater to them - don't want to, don't have to.

My energy is better spent on serving my clients and giving them what they need, not on gossip and negativity.  You'll NEVER see me feed this kind of monster.

This is one of my code of ethics I live by and I wrote that down as one of my core values when I started the new business model which is known today as Mayhem Fitness & Cross Training.

When I started this company I was once again pursuing my PASSION!  

I didn't worry about the money, still don't today.  When you chase your passion and LEAD from the FRONT people that appreciate what you have to offer follow.

I'll continue to pursue my passion which is to help as many people as I possibly can and is the main reason I started up this Blog - MurphysMayhem.com a while back.  

(Although, I have recently dedicated more time to it than in years past, the reason is simple, Passion will give you more time to do the things you want to do!)

I use this tool as my platform to help those who are looking for the kind of content I put out there.  And I do this for FREE!  Why?  

Because its what I LOVE TO DO!

When I receive emails, comments and Facebook likes, that lets me know that what I'm doing is helping and that people appreciate what I have to offer.

Does this mean I'm always right?  NOPE.  Does it mean I'm always happy with my word choices and rambling that I do often, nah... but I'm not trying to be perfect... I'm just trying to help with my best efforts.  

After all, thats all I can be, my absolute best... and for the haters... I love them too.  

Why?  Because like it or not, they are extra fans that I have.  They still follow what I'm doing.  Why would anyone who didn't like what I put out there follow me and waste their energy on negativity?  I don't waste my time hating on others, don't need to.  

I'm confident in my abilities and love what I do and helping men and women with their health and fitness goals is all I will ever do.

I encourage you to LIVE YOUR PASSION.  Find what you love to do, what you're passionate about and go make a difference in somebody's life.

You don't need to have any money to start.  When I started MXT I was broke and in a LOT of debt... in fact I'm still paying off some of those old debts today!  

I didn't have anything but my love for fitness and desire to help others.  

I found a way to make it happen and did it - No Excuses, No Blaming Circumstances or Others, No Bad Mouthing Anybody, No Chasing Money - Just Living My Code Of Ethics and Following my Passion.

Its the BEST Decision I have ever made in my life.

Are you Living Your Passion?  Whether its your own business, your job, volunteer work, blogging, your church, etc etc...

If so, I would love to hear about it in the comments box below.  Share your story with others as you never know who it may help!

If not and would like to, here is a Quick Checklist of my most important tips to help you get started

• Define what your passion is
• Be a LEADER and be true to yourself!
• Define who you want to help
• Write down your core values
• Get busy today working on your passion whatever those steps may be for you
• Follow Through, Always Believe, Don't Ever Give Up and Don't Give your time to the haters
• Inspire and Lead others with your Passion each and every day

Get Work Done!

PS:  Here are some Blogs I've written that talks about my journey, how I started, the steps I took, my feelings at the time, etc.  Hope this helps somebody today!

The Legacy of Mayhem Pt 1

The Legacy of Mayhem Pt 2

The Legacy of Mayhem Pt 3

The Legacy of Mayhem Pt 4

When Its Time to Fight Back

When Life Gets Heavy

PSS: And hey, maybe your 9-5 Job is your Passion and you're living it every day... this post wasn't to slam anyone or anything they do.  There are many who struggle with what they do and feel there is more to life, this blog post was intended for those individuals who want more out of life.

Love Hard, Live Passionately & Die Strong With No Regrets Maniacs!