BE A SMART "SPRING CLEANER" WITH YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOALS

We are now officially 80 days within 2009 and a lot has happened. Most of us at the beginning of the year made a resolution or goal centered around weight loss or some body transformation. I would venture to say that probably some of you reading this right now have put those New Year's resolutions/goals back on the shelf to dust them off again next January 2010.

Well pull those goals, promises, resolutions, and commitments back out!!! It ain't over til the fat lady sing, and she's at the buffet line so it's gonna be a minute.

Since Friday was the first day of spring, and we are 3 months away from the bikini season, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect back on the last 80 days and get us back on track and rejuvenated for the next 80 to come.

I thought that we should do some spring cleaning and go through our personal closets to make some alterations to better our current circumstances before spring gets rolling and summer creeps up on us. Here are some suggestions with regards to the goals that you have set forth to see if they need to be adjusted, tweaked, or just flat out thrown out and started over.

As I posted on a previous blog entitled 10 Habits to Adopt For New Year's Resolution, the bottom line is that the most successful people in life are shamelessly goal driven. They know exactly what they want and have some sort of game plan to obtain it.

Let me repeat this last statement.

When you look at any successful person in life, rather sports, business, weight loss, etc. they are goal driven individuals. They know why they want to do something and harness that super motivation to figure out what and by when they want to go about accomplishing that. Furthermore, they plan and prepare for every possible roadblock they will encounter in their path to success.

With that said here are some tips to assist you with your spring cleaning with regards to your weight loss or body transformation goals. We want to be S.M.A.R.T. goal setters! This stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound/ tangible.

Specific- Your goals should never be vague or broad because it leaves out the accountability factor of goal setting. For example, a lot of people, including myself, have made goals wanting to lose weight. In theory, great effort, but no cigar! Tell them what they won, Johnny. It is too broad and vague. How much weight do you want to lose? Put a number on it or a measurement. Do you want to lose weight, tone up, or both? When do you want to obtain this goal? Next month? Next year? By the end of the summer?

That's where a lot of us fail as goal setters, we don't want to put the goal into too specific of terms because it forces us to have to work towards a deadline which if we don't meet, forces us to have to look hard at ourselves and examine why we failed. No one likes to fail, at least the clients that I train. Goals are means to an end. Remember the most successful people in life are goal driven. They set a goal so that it gives them directions on how to get what they are seeking and wanting.

Measurable- The previous tip goes alongside of this one. Make sure that your goals are measurable so that you can track your progress and keep a close eye on what needs to be tweaked or adjusted. The more measurable you have your goals, the more feedback you have in which to use and evaluate progress, stagnation, or regression. Again it's all about accountability and direction with yourself.

Attainable- Be sure that the goal that you have set forth, you can achieve. This doesn't mean sand bag your goals. Aim low, but don't waste your time on something that you know you can achieve without any challenge and effort. At the same rate, don't set the bar too high because you're doomed from the start. Make sure that you set up a goal that is achievable enough to where there is some struggle and challenge to it so that when you do obtain it, the reward and victory will be sweet!

Realistic- Never try to keep up with the Joneses! Let me say that again and then I will explain. NEVER TRY TO KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES! What tends to happen is you attempt to obtain a goal that isn't designed personally for you. Realistic means that the actions associated with your goal are things that you can do. For example, if your goal requires you to spend 2 hours at the gym each day, that may not be a very realistic assumption. What tends to happen when a goal is not set in a realistic manner, the person becomes frustrated and they tend to fall off or quit the goal before ever obtaining it. Success breeds success.

Time bound/ tangible- For goals that have a natural ending (like outcome goals- which are the ones that we are discussing today if you are wondering), establishing a clear deadline for them adds an element of urgency and motivation. Trackability should also be included with time bound and tangible. All goals should be trackable so you can see what your progress is, either in terms of results you are experiencing, or actions you are taking. Tracking your goals helps you determine if you are going in the right direction and make any necessary adjustments along the way.

In addition, to the tangibility, make sure that there are some consequences if you are not able to obtain your goals. Pain sometimes can move us towards what we most desire. Likewise, add a reward as well to the tangible section so that you have something that you will enjoy once you obtain the goal. Why work if you aren't going to enjoy the fruits from your labor? If you write a reward and consequence with your goal, then it adds to the sense of urgency.

And finally, write down your goals and post them in areas where you most frequent. This is great for many reasons. Researchers have done studies that suggest that the more senses (sight, feel, auditory, smell, touch) used the more of a lasting imprint it has in the memory. With that said, if you write down your goals and post them everywhere, the goals become more realistic and aren't easily forgotten. (And as an added bonus...if you write it down, post it all over, and say it out loud daily...it increases the potential to obtaining that goal by 100 fold)!!!

Now that we have discussed a SMART Spring Cleaner, go back and take a look at the goals that you have set forth either recently or pull out the ones that were made for New Year's (heck it isn't too late to start back trying to obtain those) and put them in this format so that when summer gets here you will be turning heads and bringing SEXY BACK! YEP!!

It's A Process!

A. Lamail Spain

Charlotte Personal Trainer and Boot Camp

The Best Kept Secrets: Exercises That Help Lose Fat Rapidly and Build Lean Muscle

Last night as I was sitting and watching the Super Bowl with my sister and brother-in-law, we began to reminisce about how much weight I had gained and then lost within the last few years of me coming home from grad school. Currently I am able to sit and laugh about how big I had gotten and joke about the clothes that I couldn't fit and the clothes that I got rid of but let me tell you it wasn't a laughing matter when I was going through the whole process. It was painstaking because it felt like a uncontrollable roller coaster ride with no end in sight. I can remember getting upset with myself, beating myself up, and feeling as if I was stuck and couldn't get back to how I looked when I was playing football. Truth be told, I have always been hard on myself when it came to my weight and the way I viewed the image that I had of myself, and at that time it didn't help that I was way off the meter/ chart with the expectation. I can recalled that I would stay away from mirrors and taking pictures because I was disgusted with the image that was in front of me.

Fast forward to present day 40 to 50 pounds lighter and a healthier self image of myself, I would like to think that I know a thing or two about exercise selection. Because of this I am constantly asked what the best exercises are to lose fat AND gain muscle fast.

I’ll keep this as simple as possible for you. The best exercises for fat loss are also the best exercises for muscle gain and visa versa. These exercises all have one thing in common: they provide a UNIQUE challenge to your body AND involve as many muscles in your body as possible.

Scientific research and real world case studies have shown that total body workouts are superior for maximal fat loss and muscle gain. But let’s take this one step further…

Let’s dramatically accelerate results by preferentially selecting TOTAL BODY EXERCISES within each TOTAL BODY WORKOUT!

What do you mean, you may ask???

Doing combination movements in one exercise versus single movement exercises.

For example, squats are well known for being one of the best muscle-builders with a serious a fat-shredding effect. However, the squat goes from great to UNSTOPPABLE for changing your body for the better when you make it a combination movement by adding a row or press to each squat rep. It’s obvious that you can reap more benefits this way since you have now involved your upper body into the king of lower body exercises.

It’s as simple as when you learned 1 + 1 = 2

Dream Body Equation below states:

Performing Total Body Exercises Within Each Total Body Workout=

More Muscles Involved =

More Calories Burnt + Greater Muscle-Building Stimulus =

Greater Fat Lost + Greater Muscle Gain

I must be honest in that I have a true love-hate relationship with the following movements I am about to share with you. Love because of the unparalleled fat-melting, muscle-building results they provide to help maximize my sexy. Hate because they break me every single workout by leaving me in tears while in a pool of my own sweat. In other words, these are not for the weak of mind, body, or soul!

Without further adieu, here is the official top 10 or more list of my favorite exercises in the world for fat loss and lean muscle gain:

Exercise#1- Power Clean + Squat to Overhead Press Combo

Exercise#2- Any Squatting Combination Exercise- Squat Thrust/Burpee Variations, Squat to Overhead Press, Squat to Row, Squat to Chest Press, Braced Core Squat, Single-Leg Squat plus Curl to Press, etc.

Exercise#3- The Swing- Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Med Balls, or Sandbags

Exercise#4- Any Lunge Combination Exercise- Alternating Lunge plus Curl to Press, Alternating Lunge plus Twist, Alternating Lunge plus Chest Press, Alternating Reverse Lunge plus Row, Split Jump plus Jerk, Split Jump plus Curl etc.

Exercise#5- Any Push-Up Combination Exercise- Push-ups plus Knee-Ins, Push-up Rows, T-Push-Ups, Spiderman Push-ups, Squat Thrust Push-Ups, Four-Way Push-up Crawl, etc.

Exercise#6- The Chop- Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Med Balls, Bands, or Sandbags

Exercise#7- Olympic Lifting Variations: Dumbbell or Kettlebell Cleans, Snatches, High Pulls

Exercise#8- Dynamic Back Pillar plus 1-Arm Dumbbell Chest Press

Exercise#9- Rear Foot Elevated Deadlift plus Curl to Press

Exercise#10- Med Ball Snatch-Slam Combo

Exercise#11- Dumbbell or Kettlebell Single-Leg RDL plus Row

Bonus: These exercises will not only burn thousands of calories but you have to mental right your mind right before doing them. These first two exercises are done within a predetermined amount of time with no rest between each exercise done.

Bonus Exercise #1: 300 repetitions 25 repetitions for each (pull ups, deadlifts, push ups, box/ squat jumps, toe touches, snatch and press with dumbbell weight, pull ups, crunches, burpees, push ups, deadlifts, squat jumps)

Bonus Exercise #2: Dead Legs Walking: do 25 repetitions for each without stopping (squats, dynamic lunges, squat jumps, and finish with lunge jumps)all of these exercises are perform within 90 seconds. Yes 1 minute and 30 seconds

Bonus Exercise #3: Water Fall: start with 1 power clean and 20 push ups working your way down the push ups and working your way up the power cleans until you finish with 20 power cleans and 1 push up.

Well I hope you take my expert advice and jack up your training with these 10 deadly total body combination exercises. I guarantee you better results in less time by regularly employing these movements into your workouts. Of course it’s now up to you to take your workouts, and your body, to the next level.

I’ll be sharing some more great exercises for those specific trouble spot areas (e.g. legs, butt, abs, chest, arms, etc.) that are holding your sexy back in the days to come

It's A Process!

A. Lamail Spain

Boot Camp and Personal Training in Charlotte, NC