Monday, August 24, 2009

The one that plans.....Wins!!

One of the most common questions asked of me is this, "can you show me some exercises that will blast my abs and give me that six pack"..... How many times have you asked that question or thought about asking that question yourself? And, my answer is always the same.. "I will be happy to crush your abs, and show you how to crush your own abs!........ but it is not really gonna matter if you continue to shovel that crap into your mouth, you will have strong abs, but never see them!

I think it is very conservative to say that 80% of your success in an exercise program will be determined by how you eat. Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain mass, or just maintain your current weight, I can promise you that achieving your desired result will be very difficult if not very improbable if you are not eating well. And when I say "well", that can mean many things. Eating to much, not eating enough, eating high fat foods, eating to many white starchy, processed foods, fried, covered in sauces and gravy, you name it, there are many ways to eat improperly.

The cool thing with nutrition is that it is really not to difficult.... as a matter of fact when I talk to people about nutrition I find out that they already know what they should be doing, what to eat, what not eat, etc. The hard part is actually doing it!!

People often give us a hard time at the gym when they see the personal trainers coming to work. Most of us are carrying 2-3 bags over our shoulders. We will have our brief case, our workout bag, and then usually a big lunch box or mini cooler full of food.

Planning your day is really the key to having a successful exercise plan. We live in a society of convenience. It is to easy to grab a snack out of a machine or run down to a fast food joint, and fill our bodies with toxic foods high in fat, sodium, and void of good nutrients that our bodies need to function efficiently.

Now, I don't always agree with bodybuilders in terms of training the body, but one thing you cannot deny is their discipline when it comes to nutrition. Bodybuilders literally take there food with them everywhere because they know that to achieve the desired body that they need to compete competitively they need to eat right and often, all the the time.

That same dedication and discipline needs to be applied to the "normal" everyday person as well. Here is where you will need to sit down and devise your own strategy that will work best for you. But, what I would recommend is sitting down Sunday afternoon and plan your meals and snacks for the week. Some of the meals can be pre-cooked on Sunday, stored in Tupperware, and then ready to pull out of the fridge and put into your lunch box.

Taking your lunch will not only save you some money in this tight economy, it will also insure that you have the proper meals and snack available to you so you will not have to resort to making a quick trip to a convenience store or fast food joint!

The take home message here is nutrition and getting in shape is an easy formula, but it is very very hard work!! I work in a gym environment where a lot of us are in very good shape and we work very hard to be that way. I hear people comment all the time that they want to look a certain way, but very few people want to hear that you have to bust your ass to get in great shape and then maintain that. You can look all day for that magic pill but you will never find it!! Nothing replaces discipline and hard work!!

Plan your week, execute your plan, be consistent ,disciplined, and work very hard and you will be successful!

Keep Moving
Scott

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"Life Is Motion"

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