How often do you stop and appreciate all that life has to offer?

 Well if you’re like me probably not much, at least not of late. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind for me. I have opened up a gym in a new city, am in the process of moving into a condo, and working over 12 hours a day.

Now don’t get me wrong, it has been an amazing journey along the way. Sure there were times where I felt like throwing in the towel, but my faith and awesome support system helped me prevail. I’ve managed to keep my nutrition and exercise in check during this hectic time, although it’s clearly not been easy.

I am a firm believer in establishing positive habits and following them on a consistent basis. My dedication to these positive habits has without a doubt kept me on track. Without them I would have not been able to keep my sanity and health over the past several months. It is so important to create daily habits to help you throughout the day, especially in times of turmoil.

The beauty of habits is after several weeks of practicing them they become second nature. I honestly don’t even think about them anymore, it’s just a given that I will follow through with them. I strongly encourage you to sit down and write down at least 3 habits that will help you become a better person. They can be anything you’d like, so long as it will have a positive influence on your life. I would like to share my 5 daily habits that have a positive effect on my life.

Some may seem so easy and simple that it seems silly. However, I believe that is why they are so great. It’s the little things in life that make the biggest difference. Contunue Reading

How often do you eat and feel like a balloon is inside you ready to pop?

 I know that is an odd question but I’m sure many people can relate. What could cause this type of discomfort? It could be various things but more than likely it’s caused by poor digestion.

Poor digestion is a serious issue many people deal with on a regular basis. It could be the primary issue that is holding you back from obtaining your goals such as weight loss and overall health. Whatever your goals may be-to improve physically, lose stubborn fat or build lean muscle, improve your immune system, or just feel better daily, it all starts with your “gut health”. Gut health is just another term for digestion.

Gut health is arguably one of the most ignored characteristic of your overall well-being. Think about it for a moment-virtually all diseases and viruses start in the gut. If you continually have digestion issues then how can you expect to perform at full capacity or obtain your ideal body? The answer is simple-You can’t!

Obviously there are a lot of factors that you must take into account with poor gut health. However, here is a simple yet effective list of several things you can do to improve poor digestion:

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Tis the season-for people to get lazy and gain weight. That might come across as being a bit harsh, but hey we all know it’s the truth. For some reason most people think that December is an excuse to stop exercising and eat like Santa Clause. Once the New Years rolls around (just like their belly)  they are perplexed as to why the gained the “Holiday15”.

Obviously this time of year is extremely busy for most. It often seems like there is at least 2 holiday parties every week and all kind of other holiday events. Speaking of holiday parties, just because you get invited does not mean you have to go. Learn how to say NO. Little Johnny and his wife will eventually get over it, I promise. Just don’t expect to get a Christmas gift for the next 2 years.

The gyms/fitness centers are always so quiet during the holiday season. Everyone goes into hibernation. This is the most important time of the year to exercise. Why you ask? Well studies have shown that people consume a significant more amount of calories during the end of the year. That’s the exact recipe (no pun intended) for weight gain-Consuming more calories than being burned.

Please remember that you can’t out train a bad diet. However, it is definitely a good idea to increase your activity level during these times. I know, I know, you don’t have time to work out for an hour each day. No worries!

All you need is 15 minutes 3 X per week to see some incredible results. Sound to good to be true? Well it’s not! Below are 3 challenging 15 minute workouts that can be done with minimum equipment. If you are not familiar with a particular exercise, look it up on youtube or drop me a message on Facebook and I will help explain. Hope you enjoy! Contunue Reading

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. I had a great time with friends and family, oh and of course some amazing food. This is probably the first Thanksgiving in over 5 years where I didn’t go overboard. In the past I’ve literally ate myself into a food coma. This year was much different. I made a promise to myself that I would enjoy all the food within reason. Thankfully I kept my promise and ate until I was full and not STUFFED.

Anyways, today I want to talk about finishing the year on a positive note. Sadly most people throw in the towel after Thanksgiving, vowing to get back on track in January. Rarely do you see people setting fitness/health goals for December. Some might blame Santa Clause or holiday parties for their fall-off, but really the only blame should go to YOU. Stop making excuses and feeling sorry for yourself.

Why not get a head start on your goals and go into the New Year with momentum. I guarantee you will be more likely to reach your goals if you start now and not procrastinate until January. So here’s what I want you to do: Write down 3 goals that you want to accomplish before the New Year arrives. It can be anything from losing 5 pounds to doing 20 pushups in a row.

You can share these goals with friends and family to hold yourself more accountable. Or you may keep them to yourself if you’d like. Write your 3 goals down and post them where you will see them everyday. You want your goals to be realistic and challenging. Contunue Reading

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday of the year. What’s better than spending time with friends and family in your humble abode? Not much, right? And to top it all off with lots of good ole comfort food is just icing on the cake (no pun intended!).

Since Thanksgiving (Gobble Gobble) is right around the corner I’d like to share some tips on how to enjoy this holiday without worrying about weight gain. I know it’s easier said than done but just follow along here with me!

It always seems like you have two different groups of people during this amazing holiday. On one side there’s those who have no control whatsoever and gorge themselves straight into a food coma. Admittedly, I’ve been there before; trust me it’s not fun.

Way on the other side of the spectrum there are those folks who make Thanksgiving miserable because they refuse to eat anything that is considered “unhealthy”. Sadly these people are missing out on what Thanksgiving is all about, a time to eat with loved ones.

We want to be right in the middle of these two groups. In other words, we don’t want to eat ourselves into a food induced coma, but we want to come pretty darn close. I’m kidding…well not really.

In all seriousness, don’t be that guy or gal who takes their own meal to the family Thanksgiving in order to “stay on track with your diet”. Trust me; one day of being a little naughty will not derail all your hard earned efforts. It’s only detrimental if Thanksgiving Day turns into a week or Month.

Let’s look at a few tips that can help you enjoy Thanksgiving Day while eating some of your favorite foods- mine happens to be mashed potatoes and green bean casserole! These are just some helpful guidelines you can use anytime a special event comes up where there’s an abundance of food. Contunue Reading

I am writing this post in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina. For those of you who don’t know I moved down here couple weeks ago to open and run a gym. It’s called 9 Round and it’s an awesome 30 minute total body kickboxing workout that burns some serious calories. Shameless plug => www.9round.com for more info!

Needless to say I’ve been extremely busy the past several weeks. Between marketing, the build-out, and 9 Round Training camp for 7 days there’s been little time for me to workout. As weird as it sounds I feel freakin amazing. Some of my friends and family might say I’m addicted to working out. Honestly, their probably right!

There’s no better feeling in the world than to go in the gym and leave everything else behind. I always leave the stress and all other B.S. behind before entering the gym. Once I turn my music on there is no stopping me. I’m in the ZONE BABY!!

Despite my love for training I realize the importance of rest and recovery. Trust me, it’s hard to not workout for several days in a row but my body sure does appreciate it. Some of my best days in the gym are after a long recovery break (usually a week). If you are not taking at least a couple days off every 6-8 weeks you are only hurting your performance in the gym.

Now mind you, I’m not saying sit on the couch all day. There are still plenty of fun activities to do outside the gym that will burn calories. For example  I took an 1 ½ walk on the beach today. Yea I know you’re jealous! Ha! I also have been doing a lot of stretching the past couple of days during my recovery break.

So don’t use recovery time to be lazy and eat crap all day. You can still stay active without going to the gym. After my recovery break I plan on starting a new workout program. Here are some tips I intend on using during my next workout phase. I suggest you use these as well for maximal results:

1. Follow a workout plan- The biggest mistake people make is not having a roadmap for their training. Don’t be the guy or gal who goes to the gym and does whatever exercises he/she feels like doing for that day.
2. Set Goals- If you are starting a 6-8 week workout program try to set at least 3 goals for that time period. Your goals could be anything from weight loss, to a specific weight for a particular lift, or even muscle gain. One of my goals for the next 8 weeks is to increase my deadlift to 350lbs.
3. Make No Excuses- It’s easy to say you’re going to start fresh and not miss a training session for 4 weeks. But when it comes down to it most people simply make lame excuses. Try your best to remove all obstacles that could prevent you from exercising. I always encourage people to workout in the morning so they have no excuses later on during the day.
4. Take a week off for Recovery- After you bust your butt in the gym for 6-8 weeks take a week off from training. As I’ve stated earlier your body needs an adequate amount of rest.

Hopefully these few tips will help you stay on track with your training. Don’t fall into the holiday excuse and gain weight. Stop telling yourself that you will start Next year to get in shape. Why not start NOW and have all the momentum going into the New Year!!!

Who says you can’t get strong using Turbulence Training…

Turbulence Training is known for being one of the most effective fat loss systems in the world, for good reasons I might add. Turbulence Training has helped thousands of men and women transform their bodies and most importantly given them new chance at life.

Craig Ballantyne is a mad scientist in the lab (his lab just happens to be a gym) putting together amazing fat loss workouts.

Many people don’t realize that Turbulence Training is also an incredible program for gaining strength. Everyone should want and try to get stronger. Yes even the ladies! Not only will getting stronger help you with your fat loss efforts, it also has a direct carry-over in everyday life.

One of the most important factors for gaining strength is progressive overload. What’s the best way to achieve progressive overload? It’s fairly simple even though most make it much more complicated. You simply increase the amount of weight used and/or increase the number of reps. This is why it’s so critical to keep a workout journal!

Keeping a journal with the number of sets, reps, and weights used in each workout is a MUST. I assure you will never reach your full potential if you don’t keep track of your training. You can’t consistently make progress without a roadmap (your journal). Sorry I got a little sidetracked there but I felt it needed to be addressed.

Okay so back to the main point of this post. There’s no reason you can’t lose weight and gain lean muscle at the same time using Turbulence Training. Rather you choose a TT Meathead program (my favorites) or one of the more traditional fat loss TT workouts you should still focus on increasing the weights. Trust me there is no better feeling than beating your previous workouts each week.

Speaking of beating previous workouts… I set a PR on the deadlift this past week. The deadlift is arguably the most awesome and fundamental exercise known to mankind. Unfortunately most people are too concerned about “pumping up” their biceps and triceps, only to find them deflate 10 minutes later.

Just a few day ago I pulled 315lbs for 3 reps. Keep in mind I’m around 5’4 (on a good day) and weight in at 140lbs. I constantly have men coming up to me in the gym asking what type of supplements I take. My initial reaction is the karate chop them in the throat. Seriously, just because someone half your size is lifting more than you doesn’t mean I’m on something. Instead of going Bruce Lee I just take a deep breath and say my only supplement is Turbulence Training. You should see some of the looks I get…Oh if they only knew!

So you might be thinking I must be spending more time in the gym to set this new deadlift PR. But that would be farthest from the truth my friends. As a matter of fact, I’m now spending less time in the gym despite the fact my strength is increasing steadily. By following the Turbulence Training principals:

• Training 3-4 days per week
• Using 4-6 exercises per session
• Focusing mostly on compound movements

I’ve been able get in the best shape of my life in the least amount of time spent in the gym. I love training just as much as anybody, but I want a life outside the gym. Thankfully Turbulence Training has allowed me to accomplish this feat.

Here’s my exact workout from this past week:

     Deadlift- 5/3/1 approach

    1a) DB Split Squat- 6 reps per leg

    1b) Kettlebell Overhead Press- 5 reps

• Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times for total of 3 set

     2a) Pull-ups- 6 reps

     2b) KB offset pushup- 10 per side

• Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times for total of 3 set

     3) Stability Ball Rollout- 12 reps

• Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1 more time

As you can see it’s the same principals found in the TT programs. I just focus on compound movements, short rest in between sets, and staying within the 4-6 exercise range per workout. Here’s the take home message from all my rambling:

• Always strive to get stronger (Male and Female)
• Keep a workout Journal to track of sets, reps, and weight
• Progressive overload is the key to getting stronger
• Turbulence Training allows you to lose weight and gain lean muscle at same time
• Focus on compound movements: Doing a few bicep curls and tricep extensions is completely fine, but don’t spend half your workout on these isolation exercises.
• Less is more: 3-4 days a week of training is all you need. Long gone are the days of training 6-7 days per week…RECOVERY is your Best Friend!!

What are you waiting for? Get off the computer and go Train Hard and Smart-The TT Way!!!!

What is the best type of crunch/sit-up to help lose body fat and obtain six-pack muscles?

Oddly enough I still get this question asked on a regular basis despite the fact that I haven’t done them in over 2 years! I won’t go into my whole spill on why crunches and sit-ups are not good for you on this post. But if you would like to hear my views on them just click here.

Too much of my clients surprise I spend very little time on direct abdominal work in my training. I have always been a firm believer that abs are made in the kitchen, only to be “seasoned” in the gym.

I probably spend 5 minutes 2-3 times per week on direct abdominal exercises. What do I mean by direct abdominal exercises? Well you see abs get trained much more than you might think from other exercises. For example squats, lunges, chin-ups, pushups, deadlifts and bent-over-rows all work abdominal muscles in an indirect way. They all require your core to stabilize the weight in order to maintain proper balance. Contunue Reading

Hey guys,

I just wanted to drop in and tell you about a fat loss report from my Canadian Turbulence Training buddy Craig Ballantyne. Craig along with this smart and funny fellow named Joel Marion put together this killer fat loss report that can be downloaded instantly.

How much does this fat loss report cost? Umm how about zip, zatta, natta…in other words NOTHING. Craig and Joel are so awesome that they are giving away this great info for FREE. There’s no catch, just put in your email address and the report will be sent to you in seconds. It don’t get much better than that…wow, I just used some really poor grammar.

  Click HERE =>Fat Loss Free Report

Now don’t just download the link and not read it. There’s 2 parts to this exercise: DOWNLOAD and READ!! If you don’t’ have time to read it right away than just save it and go back at a later time. Contunue Reading

How does your day usually start?

Thankfully I’ve always been a morning person. My most productive time of the day is early in the morning when everyone else is usually still sleeping. I realize this is not the case for many people though. Most people can’t even function until they have their 3 cups of coffee each morning.

I’m a firm believer in how you start your morning has a direct carry-over on the rest of your day. If you wake up and drag around all morning more than likely the rest of the day will be a drag. Conversely, if you wake up with a positive attitude you’re likely to have an awesome day!

Well I’d like to propose a little challenge to you for the next 7 days that will help kick start your day. This challenge will get your blood flowing, gain confidence, and most importantly create good habits. The challenge will only take a couple minutes each morning.   Contunue Reading