One of my favorite MOTIVATING quotes! Proof that most people "Work Out"

"There's working out and there's training. Training is when you have a progressive plan with measurable goals and continual challenges. Working out is anything that makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily bigger or stronger because it lacks consistency, direction and specificity.

I used to work out.

Now? I train."

John Wooden Talks Success

Solid "Grip Circuit" with Martin Rooney

One of my favorite strength coaches reviews a killer grip circuit in the above video. Get creative and try to develop one on your own. I've used "Plate Pinches" and "Dumbbell Farmers Walks" with clients with great success.

Health Club Stats

I'm a big stats guy and was curious as to some of the basic health club numbers. I checked with The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the fitness industry's only global trade association. IHRSA represents over 9,000 for profit health and fitness facilities and over 650 supplier companies in 75 countries.Here are a couple stats I collected:

• The national average age of a health club member is 40.7 years old
• The avg. # of visits per year a person goes to their health club is 102

4 Reasons Why You're Still Not Lean

We all have different training goals, but I will disclose that 90%+ of the time when I meet with clients, I continue to hear "lose weight, tone up" when I ask them about what their training goals are. In "my world," that means I want to get them as lean as possible (i.e. improve their "body composition" by way of increasing lean muscle and minimizing body fat levels).

I have one client now I've been working with who, like many others, didn't have a lot of pure weight to lose, but needed to improve her body composition. I'm happy to say she's doing that quite successfully. Total weight is down, while lean muscle mass, muscle "tone," - and STRENGTH- are ALL up. Love it!

Speaking of "getting lean," Coach Mike Robertson has a FANTASTIC article featured today on "T-Nation." Check it out by clicking the following link: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/4_reasons_youre_not_lean

KFC Is At It Again

I was telling participants in my Boot Camp class this week about the "generous" act Kentucky Fried Chicken is currently involved in. Buy a HALF-GALLON of soda – with 800 calories from 56 spoonfuls of sugar – for $2.99 and a buck goes to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Check out the full scoop here: http://selfishgiving.com/causerants/kfc-doesnt-give-a-cluck-time-with-juvenile-diabetes

Running & Reading- Will Smith

Eating Fat Doesn't Make You Fat- read on...

Fantastic article on T-Nation.com today all about fats and the health benefits. A few of the selections may surprise you. Check out the full article here: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/fats_made_simple

Your Best Female Body

I'm in the middle of Rachel Cosgrove's best seller, "The Female Body Breakthrough." As promised by Rachel when I met her in June, it's a good read. There's a lot of before/after shots of her clients over the years and it very specifically lays out how each client achieved her "new fit body" (hint: hard work and plenty of strength training play critical roles). In the book, Rachel comments on the whole notion that specific activities will give you a specific body type. It's actually pretty comical.

She states, "Just as running won't give you a runner's body, dancing won't give you a dancer's body- neither will Pilates. The goal is to get your best body, which most likely is not a runner's or a dancer's body but your own fit body"

I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of the book this week. I'll have a review in an upcoming newsletter. And to the others who LOVE Heather Mitts, I say You're Welcome :-)

25 Ways to a Fitter Summer

Core Performance had an article this week with a list of 25 ways to make this summer your healthiest ever. I'm a man who LOVES lists so I, of course, had to check it out. It including some very realistic options including the following:

• wearing a pedometer to track your daily movement
• keeping your workouts efficient
• running with a friend
• trying a new stretch

Check out the full article here: http://www.coreperformance.com/daily/live-better/25-ways-to-make-this-your-fittest-summer-ever.html

Nike Football with Dr. John Berardi

Good stuff with Nike Football featuring my favorite nutritionist, Dr. John Berardi. His Precision Nutrition program is still the top resource I recommend to people when it comes to eating healthier.

Moving Closer to Your Dream

Motivational Coach Dr. Rob Gilbert has a 4-step plan towards achieving goals that I was recently reading about and wanted to share with you:

1. Make the commitment
2. Make it public
3. Make it happen
4. Make no exceptions

So simple, yet SO effective! While Step 3 is all about actually getting it done, I think Step 2 is extremely underrated and typically ill-executed. That is, many people may THINK of a goal, but how many actually take the time to MAKE IT PUBLIC. I engage in this with my clients as I often share my personal training goals with them. Additionally, I have goals I have had written out on the whiteboard in my office since the beginning of the year. SEEING THESE GOALS EVERY DAY improves my success rate.

Take the time to make your goals public and jot them down in a place you will see them every day. Additionally, be sure to lay out the specific steps that must be undertaken to achieve these goals. "I want to lose 10 lbs. by the end of the summer" is a nice goal, but laying out the steps as to the daily/weekly activities necessary to achieve these goals is the most important part of it all.

Where do American Men Get Their Calories?

Curious where American men get their calories from? It turns out the #1 source of calories in the American male diet is none other than beer! Breads, sweets, cakes, soda, and sports drinks finished a close 2nd. The average consumption of calories/day from beer in American men is 162.

Berry Your BP

A new Harvard study recently confirmed the benefits of blueberry consumption. It turns out the "Anthocyanins" in the blueberries aid in the reduction of blood pressure. Those who consumed blueberries presented with blood pressure scores 12% less than their counterparts. This summer, choose blueberries as a healthy addition to your Greek Yogurt and salads.

Education...not Medication

I had a chance to see this movie over the holiday weekend on Netflix Streaming. It was very good. It talked a lot about using nutrition as medicine, a topic that interests me. A few key points from this documentary that stood out for me were the following:

• Less than 6% of graduating physicians receive formal training in nutrition
• Good health makes a lot of sense, but it doesn't make a lot dollars
• 2 handfuls of cashews give you a therapeutic dose of Prozac
• What's going on in the mind can be influenced by the nutrients in foods

Check out the movie here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B3XZAW?ie=UTF8&tag=pccon-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B001B3XZAW

Glass Containers to Replace Plastic

With concerns about the chemicals from plastics, I was pleased to read this article in today's Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2011/06/29/ziploc_versaglass_a_new_alternative_to_plastic_food_storage_containers/

High Intensity Interval Training

Good article in today's Wall Street Journal discussing intense training sessions. studies to date suggest that intense interval training improves the ability of the body in at least some patients to transport and use oxygen—which is generally associated with living longer—more effectively than a steady, moderate workout. The technique is also being studied in people with hypertension, diabetes and other conditions.

Check it out here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303627104576411633459906142.html?KEYWORDS=fitness

Air Dyne Tabatas

STILL the hardest thing I've done for conditioning, check out my colleague Ben Bruno performing Air Dyne "Tabatas" (:20 work/:10 rest x 8)

Healthy Pantry

Stocking your pantry with healthy ingredients is essential when you're looking to quickly put together a healthy meal. The following food staples represent a few examples of what you should have on hand:

• canned tomatoes
• quinoa
• black beans
• low-sodium chicken/vegetable stock
• extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• sweet potatoes
• garlic
• onions

Metabolic Circuits

To build work capacity, I've been engaging many of my clients in some "metabolic circuits/finishers" recently. The above is an example of one, performed by Strength Coach Nick Tuminello.