Where to Start..

First and Foremost - Happy New Year!

2010 is going to be amazing, I can't begin to tell everyone how excited I am about this year. So many of my dreams are coming true, both professionally and outside of work, and I am only 25!! It's crazy. What a whirlwind 2009 was. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 12 months.


Second - My plan.. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. My initial plan was to gain as much as possible until next summer and make some considerable muscle gains by the beginning of May.
Then, I postponed that goal to get lean by my trip home, which I think I did pretty good for.

I spent 7 weeks doing at least 1 workout a day, sometimes 2, and increasing my eating frequency while decreasing portion sizes, which brought me from a "healthy" (haha) 13% body fat at 172 lbs, to a little under 7% at 164lbs in 7 weeks. It can be done, I had a couple of mishaps, and I'm pretty sure I could have gotten to 6%, but I am happy with what I accomplished. I did this mostly to show myself that I could do it, but also to show all of you that with a little hard work and dedication, you can completely change your body.

Needless to say, since I was on vacation in N.B, and since my return to Hamilton, I have put that back on and then some, and I believe I am now at 174lbs. I don't think I am going to test by body fat percentage until the end of this bulking phase, mostly because I know how much I CAN eat.. . and I am kind of scared to see that number. Unfortunately, my face always gets ridiculously fat when I bulk, much like a chipmunk, so you will all be able to make fun of me, don't worry.

So now, back to bulking. . which means for the next 2 months, I am going to be working out with one of my clients who also has some pretty intense goals over the next 4 months. We are taking on some intense volume training which has us doing 10 sets of 10 on opposing muscle groups for our sessions. It is going to be some of the hardest training I have ever done, but again, I love figuring out just how far the human body can be pushed, it is a LOT farther than we think.. .

I will keep you all updated, and I hope you have not gained as much as me this holiday season, although most of it was planned, the pounds and pounds of lobster and mussels (all dipped in healthy butter) couldn't have helped.

You can accomplish any of your goals if you figure out which kind of person you are and build your goals around that. If you told me that I could get big in 1 year, (which anybody definitely could) I would tell you that that would be a waste of my time. I love setting small goals, as I have incredibly severe ADHD (self diagnosed of course. . haha . . ha. . SHINY!) which makes me not be able to take more than about 2 months of training without dropping everything and switching up every aspect of my program.

If you don't already come to the Studio, get your asses down there, we can do things for you that you never thought possible.

I look forward to seeing the sweat in 1020!

N.B Bound!

Tis the Season!

---Christmas time is here. My girlfriend is kind of getting me into the spirit, listening to Gary Hoey - highly recommended if you like Christmas music, but don't like the gayness (I mean that literally) and would prefer some awesome guitar solos, and some sweet distortion.

---I pass the eggnog aisles in Fortinos all the time, and I can hear it calling me. There are 1100 calories in the 1litre bottles.. . Delicious.

---I found out from one of Sheila's former clients that my blog is RESTRICTED at her work! No one else's is.. I feel special. Must be all the words like "poop" and "booger" I so frequently use.

---I am going back to New Brunswick in a couple of weeks and I am excited to see my family and old friends. But the thing that excites me the most is a jar of pickled whelks from my girlfriend's hometown. Whelks are gigantic snails that taste amazing. Pickle them, and you have yourself a mighty treat.

---Training is going awesome, I will have the results posted before my trip.

Life is good.

Time for a rant.

My clients are all completely destroying their goals - which makes me happy and gives me faith in humanity. Unfortunately, not much else is. I was reading a post from one of my favorite fitness contributors, he writes for a website called tmuscle.com (which is an INCREDIBLE site for anyone interested in fitness, where some of the best minds get together and talk about EVERYTHING.) and he was talking about how he went to a certain pancake franchise in the United States to indulge a little bit. The man is about 6'2, 220 pounds and about 8% body fat. So cheat meals are ok. While he was waiting for his meal, he saw a family of 5, each weighing in at about 350 pounds, wheeling another woman, who was about 400 pounds, to a nice table in the corner. As they all wheezed into their seats, the woman in the wheelchair pulls out something and puts it beside her cutlery. Her favorite pancake eating fork maybe? Nope. A needle, full of insulin, that she can jab herself with when the juicy sugary pancake goodness hits her bloodstream.

Ok, maybe it's only me. .

#1 - If you are too large to successfully walk on yor own because your tiny bones cannot handle the immense weight you are focing upon them, maybe you shouldn't be at a pancake restaurant.
#2 - If you need a needle full of insulin to counteract the sugars that you are, for some reason, jamming into your gullet, maybe you shouldn't be at a pancake restaurant.
3# - There is no #3, you shouldn't be at a pancake restaurant.

Also, while I am ranting - I hate tiny dogs. I am talking about the useless, hairless, yippy, constantly urinating and trembling everytime there is a cold breeze, kind of tiny dog. Why did we engineer these things. We all know that there is no way these things would even survive one day outside in the wild. And if carrying them under your arm makes you feel somewhat like a celebrity, maybe you should move to Hollywood, because up here in Canada, you just look silly. I was at my groomers, getting my cat groomed because she had some neck knots, and I saw 2 of these dogs. My cat could fight these dogs at the same time and win... blindfolded.

I just don't get people. They are so caught up in fashion, television, FOOD, that they don't see the big picture. Maybe it's because their gigantic sunglasses are too big. Or maybe the be-dazzling on their Ed Hardy jeans is just too damn shiny. Either way, I'll stick with my comfortable shorts, t-shirts and runners, and when the flood or the locusts come, I'll be able to sprint and find the best place to hide. And you can only come in if you get rid of the dog...

Ok, I'm done. That felt good. Everyone needs a blog.

Short post today.

Just wanted to let everyone (ok, the 3 people that read this thing) know about m new goals. My girlfriend and I have decided we are headed to the east coast for Christmas and I have a lot of family and friends there who I haven't seen for a long time. so, instead of being one of those out of shape looking guys who is constantly in a "bulking" phase as they call it just so hey can eat whatever they want, I am going to lean out. So, watch out, after 6 weeks, nobody will recognize me.

Maybe pictures to come. I don't really want to post half naked pictures of myself on my blog, but we will see. You should just be able to tell by looking at my anyway.

Also, HUUUGE congrats to a client of mine, we will call her . . Tina. . .Tina Pinterle...

3 measurements

Hips, chest and waist and a total of 6 inches lost in all!

Now, Tina has been on the scale recently at home, checking to make sure this whole "gym" thing is working, with little to no results. She had only lost 2.3 pounds in 12 weeks. Terrible Tina, terrible...

But when she tried on clothes in her closet, they fit much better than they did 12 weeks ago.

But when we took her on the body fat tester, it turns out she lost 5% of her original body fat!!

RIDICULOUS!

Good job Tina, good job.

If you have 40 minutes to spare..

I think everyone should watch these videos. I call it the "Micheal Moore effect". Because this nun (former doctor) brings to light a few different things that we should all be aware of. Take it for what you will.

Start with 1/6. .. obviously.. and it's subtitled, so sorry all of you lazy folk like me, you are going to have to read. .. unless you are Spanish, maybe I should learn Spanish so I don't have to read subtitles.. yeah.. I'm going to learn Spanish, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=1ALISH&annotation_id=annotation_405898&feature=iv#g/c/0A9CF58121EA80DA

H1N1 and fat kids

I don't even know where to start with this. Everyone has their own opinion on this very touchy subject and I am the same way. I have read studies (I would say 'extensive' studies, but I couldn't find any) about the H1N1 vaccine and I have come to a conclusion.

My daughter will get vaccinated, and that's about it. And not against the seasonal flu, just H1N1.

I have talked to quite a few of my clients that are doctors and I have to say their feelings are mixed. I train 2 pathologists who aren't getting the shot and don't recommend it. A few of the family doctors I train believe the opposite. They are already vaccinated, and are hoping that I will get it too. But they all agree on one thing. EVERYONE is overreacting. Clinics are overcrowded and hospital waiting rooms are filled with people with mild chest congestion and a small cough who think that it's the end for them. I also don't agree with the way the government is portraying this influenza. They are scaring everyone, either into thinking that this is the next Spanish flu, or the people thinking this entire vaccine idea is a huge conspiracy theory, created by the "man" to inject humans with more "mind controlling substances" - these are usually the same people who think that the early childhood vaccines cause autism.

In my personal opinion, I think we are creating a generation of overweight, weak children, with no immune systems. Computers and video games are running our childrens lives, and we are sheltering our children from everything in the outside world. For example, I watched Pinocchio today and I can't count the number of times they talked about "killing" or the infinite number of scenes with children smoking cigars and drinking... not that these things are good, but I watched them all, and I turned out fine. Now, in children's cartoons, the bad guy's plans get foiled, and he is ready for the sequel. When I was younger I remember watching, "The Last Unicorn" and I am almost positive there is a vulture with three breats. And he DIES. . . Or she..

My point is that our playgrounds were amazing when I was younger, made of wood and 16 feet tall. There were no railings, and exercise was fun and not a chore. Ernie was telling me a few days ago that there is a computer game out for children now, that after a certain amount of play, FORCES you to go outside and preform some sort of activity, and you cannot log onto the game unless you tell the game what you did and for how long. Did the creators of this game think this was a good idea? To make children feel like they have to exersice in order to have more time on this game?

There are too many perscriptions for too many things. We are going to over medicate our children to the point where something as simple as the common cold is what is going to take them out. Their immune systems are going to just stop working for them, why bother? Everything that enters their bodies is going to be taken out by some sort of shot or nasal spray anyway.. .what's the point of having a natural defense system. Chicken noodle soup and some sleep was our choice of drug even just 20 years ago when I was young.

Generation Z, good luck to you.

Client Updates

It has been a while since I have written anything about my clients, and I figure, since my life is pretty boring, and they are completely changing their lives, it's about damn time.

To start, I have been training a 65 year old woman for about 7 weeks now, who, before starting with me, had never exercised in a gym setting before in her life. I had expected it to be hard for her at first, but she picked it right up. And she is surprisingly strong. In only 7 weeks, she has lost almost 8 pounds and 2 percent of her body fat. Her inches are dropping just as fast. People always seem to impress me. So for anyone out there who thinks it is too late, take it from me, it is NEVER too late, mind over matter. Anyone of any age or lifestyle can begin an exercise regime, no matter how "beyond help" you think you are.

I also have begun training my first blind client, which is quite the experience. Luckily, he is very co-ordinated and follows my direction perfectly. I have only trained him once so far, but I am sure he will do great. His heart is in the right place and I think his home workouts are going perfectly.

The range of clientele we have in this gym is amazing.

I am also training a young doctor who wants to put on the pounds over the winter months. He has given me some very detailed, slightly over zealous goals, and when I tell him that I am not sure if we can get to these levels in the next 8 months, he tells me that I have no choice, and there are grand repercussions for him if we don't reach them. I left it at that, and I am going to put all of my knowledge to the test and we WILL do it. I love the challenge. I can tell when I am in the back office with my client if they are serious about their training and nutrition, and let me tell you, this guy is serious.
He said by the end of our training, he is going to be trading clothes with Roger, (our gigantic trainer) and hey, there's always hope.

But all in all, I love my job, it is VERY diverse and exactly what I need, since I can pretty much get distracted by a piece of tinsel. This job keeps me on my toes and ready for anyone that walks in the door. I have noticed my nervousness going away when I have consultations and it is being replaced by excitement, as I anxiously await another client who is going to completely blow me away with his/her results.

Life is gooood.