Does drinking water help with fat loss?

I've recently seen the merits of drinking large amounts of water and it's effects on fat loss being mentioned in a lot of places. In one day I saw it mentioned in Craig Ballantyne's blog, Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com forum and in two newspaper articles.

Time for me to add my 2c.

Overall - the research seems mixed. Whether drinking extra water has an effect or not remains to be truly proven. The original research showed that drinking two liters of water raised metabolism about 100 calories. That would definitely add up. The latest research says the old research was wrong and that although cold water does raise metabolism -- it's a very small effect.

So last year cutting edge trainers recommended additional water for fat loss. Now they don't.

I guess the research next year might show the opposite and water will help again. Until the next research project shows differently and that water doesn't really help- etc etc etc.

As much as you should always study research, you have to learn to apply it in the real world.

So regardless of the research - I work in the real world with real clients. Scientists and internet forumites can debate amongst each other. I'm interested in real world fat loss, what works and what doesn't - so here's my take.

Dehydration inhibits fat loss. This I'm convinced of. In fact dehydration will eventually kill you , and fat loss slows down a lot at that point!

So before we worry about extra water intake - we need to worry about minimal and optimal fluid intakes.

Let's look at a typical beginner clients fluid intake per day before they come to see me (and EVERYONE tells me they drink A LOT of water by the way).

Wake up: A cup of coffee
Mid morning: coffee,
Lunch: Diet soda
Afternoon: Coffee or diet soda
Dinner: diet soda, occasionally wine or a beer.

So you could make the case that the average beginner is not adequately hydrated anyway - never mind hydrated for training/fat loss/dieting etc.

I have rarely seen a client come in drinking more than about 16-20oz a day in the beginning stages.

So here's what we did at our gym: we bought half gallon jugs and slapped our logo on it.

Every new client gets one - and we tell them : fill it up first thing in the morning - make sure it's finished when you go to bed. Most clients don't have a problem with that -- and some start drinking more water on top of that.

This seems to do two things - adds much needed pure water to their systems, and eliminates the crap they were already drinking.

So does it have an effect on fat loss? I think in the early stages - it does. But the effect is more becasue we're going from dehydration to optimal hydration than anything else. I don't think the "super-hydration" stuff that is being preached really amounts to anything.

But as usual – in the real world most of us just aren’t drinking enough pure water – I think there can be a ton of benefits to increasing water intake in general. Is an extra glass or two of clean water be likely to hurt you much?

--

AC

PS - a worthwhile book to pick up is Your Body's Many Cries for Water by Fereydoon Batmanghelidj

Program Design Systems

Check out what elite coach Brian Grasso had to say about the Professional Fitness Coach Program Design manual that my company launched one year ago today.

"If a fitness professional cannot take this information, improve their own programming skills, and make AT LEAST TEN TIMES their initial investment - then they are in the wrong field. This is like a license for a trainer to literally print more money..."

Brian Grasso
Executive Director
International Youth Conditioning Association

This manual is one of the key factors behind the financial success of our gym - - yes it's about training programs - but the bigger picture is that it's just the development and execution of systems that we are talking about. Here's what Fitness Business Consulting Group's Pat Rigsby had to say:

"When it comes to delivering consistent results to our clients, the Program Design Manual is the equivalent of our Bible. We based our own program templates on what Alwyn put together. It's kind of like my "training security blanket." If I want a new staff member to understand the right way to deliver results - I hand them the Manual"

Pat Rigsby
Fitness Consulting Group
Fitness-Riches.com

This manual actually began life as the program design portion of our staff training manual. We expanded it, and added a few sections and some exercise descriptions and made it available to the public last year. It very quickly became our best selling product ever - for more information - click here

If you decide to invest in the manual - put anything you learn to work immediately and start thinking about a "return" on your educational investment. More on that tomorrow.

--
AC

The Leg Matrix

I get a lot of emails about the leg matrix that I mentioned once in an article.
Here's the routine:

24 bodyweight squats
12 lunges each leg
12 lunge jumps each leg
24 jump squats

And it's way harder than it sounds! For a visual of how difficult it can be - check out Steve Shafley's Video Blog :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDvXX4hBkVU

This just goes to show you how effective bodyweight training can be. We use the leg matrix as a "finisher" - a forgotten term for an exercise that literally "finishes you off" when training!

Normally we use the leg matrix as a timed circuit. We do one round, and rest for twice as long as it took before repeating. Once the athlete is conditioned enough to go under 90s (quite a feat) we start with two circuits back to back. The best performance I've ever seen in our gym was from a D1 volleyball player who did two circuits, back-to-back with no rest in 2mins 45s.

--
AC

PS Incidentally, Steve's video training blog's are excellent - check them out at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SShaf

Pissed Off Trainers

Wow.

I guess I opened up a whole can of worms with my post on Friday - the Business of Fat Loss.
I received about a dozen emails from pissed off trainers - here's an excerpt from one:

"I work about 10 hours a day, 6 days week with a wide variety of clients. My schedule is swamped, and I haven't had a vacation in about five years I'm so in demand. How dare you suggest I'm not successful, just because I don't make $100,000...."

This lady definitely needs to re-read my post. I did suggest that if you can't make $100K in a multi-billion dollar industry then you probably aren't doing everything right. And I stand by that.

But let's break it down a bit.
Are you successful if you haven't taken a vacation in five years?

I don't think so.

Are you successful because you're working 60 hours per week.

I don't think being overworked, and killing yourself six days a week is "success". ESPECIALLY when you aren't being compensated.

Let's say this lady makes just less than $100K - $90,000 (just guessing as she didn't say)

Let's do the math - no vacation so that's 52 weeks per year: $1730 per week.
6 days per week?: $288 per day
10 hours per day? : $28 per hour. (this must be one-on-one)

(I'm assuming she has no staff under her).

Let me reiterate -- working 60 hours a week, with a "wide variety of clients", making $28 per hour and never taking a vacation? You are NOT doing "everything right"(as my original post said).

Seriously, if you are that much in demand, you can definitely start doing semi-private training, hire staff to train the clients you can't handle, design programs for people you can't work with, sell products etc etc.

The fat loss industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Junk supplement companies and infomercial companies are making more money than this trainer! Working 6 days a week 10 hours a day, clearing less than $100K, and never taking a vacation is NOT success.

It's like being a realtor and only selling one house every six months. You suck! You're NOT good at what you do.

Let's see another example:

Trainer makes the same $90K
Works 48 weeks a year (one month off): $1875 per week.
Has 5 staff who do 12 sessions a week each @ $20 cut (semi private - $10 per person): -$1200

Trainer has to make $775 per week.
Works only 4 days per week: $193.75 per day

Charges $35 per semi-private session.
At 2 people per session she needs to do less than 3 sessions per day, or about 12 hours per week.

Ask yourself who is the most "successful" (same income) - the person we described first, or someone who works 12 hours a week with clients, has staff under her, has a month off each year and never works nights or weekends?

It's not just about the money.

--
AC
PS - If you are in the position described above and are looking for the FIRST thing to do to turn your training business around - it's purchasing Fitness Riches.

More on the business of fat loss

As regular blog readers know about three weeks ago I presented at the Ryan Lee Bootcamp on "Real World Fat Loss"

One thing I found 'interesting' was comments from the audience after my presentation at the event. I showed that:

a) Weight loss is a multi-BILLION dollar industry in the US alone
b) The number one reason for hiring a trainer in the US is still weight loss
c) Most trainers are not making even six figures TOTAL (never mind from the weight loss market alone)- so they are not delivering the fat loss results people demand.

I then outlined the science and practical application of how to get excellent fat loss results with your clientele - the actual programming.

Yet almost 100% of the trainers who heard me speak came up and said "thank you for validating what I already do with my clients". Really?

Now I'm not saying anyone is lying to me - but I guarantee you that most of the trainers who came up to me were making signifcantly less than $100k.

If you're making less than $100k and you're a part of a multi-billion dollar industry then you aren't doing everything right are you?

Which means it's unlikely that these trainers are delivering excellent results to their market.
Which means it's unlikely that these trainers actually ARE doing everything I outlined.

It's a no brainer right?

If you are getting great results with all your clients and aren't making six figures then you need work on lead generation and sales (although if you are really getting great results - people seek you out).

If you have 30-40 clients but you don't have at least 25 -30 great before and after pictures or testimonials then your programming and coaching skills need work.

If every trainer is doing everything right then where does all the BS and crappy recommendations for fat loss come from?

Why are most trainers broke?

What am I missing?

I guess it's one of those things that make you go hmmm.

--
AC
PS - keep an eye out for 'Real World Fat Loss' - it will be on sale soon!

PPS - If you want to learn more about our fat loss programs NOW - check out Afterburn and Human Inferno.

Another nail in the "aerobics for fat loss" coffin!

At the Ryan Lee Bootcamp I presented research that showed optimal fat loss training should not necessarily include steady state aerobic work. (this presentation will be available on DVD soon and we are also releasing Afterburn II and a "Real World Fat Loss" training manual in the next month).

I just came across a new study that further supports what I've experienced.

Basically the results suggest that 3 x 20 mins of intervals for 15 weeks (8s on 12s off) resulted in significantly greater fat loss than 3 x 30-40 min of aerobics at 60% V02 max for the same time period.

About 3 x as much in fact.

Fat loss following 15 weeks of high intensity, intermittent cycle ergometer training
Trapp EG and Boutcher SH
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Previous research has shown that five bouts per week of intermittent high intensity exercise (HIIE) resulted in significantly greater fat loss compared to continuous steady state (SS) exercise (Tremblay et al., 1994).

Purpose: This study examined the effects of three bouts per week of HIIE on fat loss among sedentary young women.

Methods: A total of 45 females, (19–26 years) were required to undergo pre- and posttraining testing including a VO2max test and DEXA. Subjects were randomly assigned to HIIE, steady state, or control groups. Exercising subjects exercised three times a week for 15 weeks under supervision. The HIIE group did 20 min of exercise (8 s sprint, 12 s recovery), whereas SS exercised at 60% VO2max for 30–40 min. Dietary intake was regularly monitored through food diaries.

Results: Mean change for the HIIE group was: total body mass (1.51 ± 3.6 kg), fat mass (2.5 ± 2.6), %body fat (2.6 ± 2.3%), trunk fat (0.14 ± 0.21 kg), and VO2max (0.43 ± 0.16 l/min).

Mean change for the SS group was: total body mass (0.1 ± 2.3 kg), fat mass (0.4 ± 2.1), %body fat (0.6 ± 2.9%), trunk fat (0.1 ± 0.2 kg), and VO2max (0.35 ± 0.06/min).

The control group did not change on any variable.

Conclusions: Twenty minute of HIIE, three times a week for 15 weeks led to significantly greater fat loss compared to steady state exercise.

Anyone who is still using steady state aerobics as the cornerstone of their fat loss program are woefully behind the times.

(thanks to Adam Campbell of Mens Health for forwarding me this research)

--
AC

Your "circle of influence"

It has been said that your income is the average of the total income of the five people you spend the most time with.

I think I agree with that. I'd say in general that "birds of a feather, flock together" etc etc, insert cliche here, blah blah

I think it's also important to think about your "circle of influence" in all aspects of your life.
it's not a huge leap of faith to realize that your way of thinking, your attitude towards success, your relationships, your business and pretty much your life are all essentially influenced by the average mindset of the people you converse or interact with the most.

Sports psychologists call it "levelling" and "sharpening". Levelling refers to when the average person in the "circle of influence" has less skill than you - then your skills tend to diminish and "level" out. If the average person's skills are above yours - then you tend to "sharpen" your abilities. It's one of the reasons why finding a good training partner or crew can elevate your workout. And why surrounding yourself with successful people is one of the fastest ways to ensure success.

For example - here's who i've either spoken to on the phone, or had at leat an in-depth email exchange with in the last 48 hours:

Craig Ballantyne
Jeremy Boone
Adam Campbell
Zach Even Esh
Jason Ferruggia
Brian Grasso
Bill Hartman
Josh Henkin
Ryan Lee
Pat Rigsby
Dave Tate

...quite a list eh? And I'd venture to say that all of the names on that list are smart guys, and are all making well into the six figures. My abilities can only be elevated by the influence of people like those guys. I'm not the most skilled at training or business, or the highest earning amongst that group -- so I'm being "sharpened" - just by knowing these guys.

So how is your circle of influence looking? Are you surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals with similar goals and mindsets? Does your circle contain people who earn more, and know more than you do? Are you learning every day as a result of your interactions?

Or are you surrounding yourself with negative people - who tell you that "you can't do that" or who's entire life consists of looking forward to Friday night Happy hour - you know what I'm talking about. Get a picture in your head of the people you associate and interact with the most. Is that group something that most would aspire to be part of? Or are you being "levelled" by association?

Make sure that you are in a position to "sharpen" just based on who you associate with. This is a little concept that will reap big rewards for you.

--
AC

Fitness Business Fundamentals

My wife Rachel, and our office manager just got back from a Thomas Plummer Company seminar. Thom has been one of the single biggest influences on how we run our facility.

He's the best there is. Period.
If you own a facility you NEED to pick up BOTH of Thom's books and at the very least - attend one of his seminars. It will completely change your way of thinking as regards the fitness business.


We owe Thom a lot and he really helped us to think differently about everything we were doing. He was the first guy to help us really transition from a "barely making it" personal training studio to a fully fledged profitable gym that we operate today.

Interestingly, one of the attendees was operating a personal training studio - with ONLY one-on-one training. He tried to debate Rach and our staff that personal training was superior, and offering sessions instead of a membership was definitely the way to go.

Incidentally, the attendee in question has ZERO receivables and is grossing about $7-8K a month with a similar base operating expense. In other words - a guy who should have been listening to Thom and asking questions instead of debating and defending his (extremely weak) position.

Anyway, pick up Thom's books if you are interested in learning from the best consultant in the gym industry:

The Business of Fitness: Understanding the Financial Side of Owning a Fitness Business

Making Money in the Fitness Business


--
AC

Are you a bodybuilder?

Today I'm running an entry from someone else's blog - Anthony Roberts
My comments are below....

====
I’m not a Bodybuilder…and neither are you…

Now, this brings up an interesting point….out of an average thousand people who consider themselves bodybuilders, only a few dozen out of that thousand actually compete. If you don’t compete, you aren’t a bodybuilder. Now, I hear what you’re saying “But I eat like a bodybuilder, train like one, etc…”

Ok….yes…but that doesn’t make you a bodybuilder. See…just training like a particular type of athlete doesn’t make you one. I shoot hoops a few times a week, but I’m hardly a basket ball player, even though that resembles the type of training they do. Get it…? The thing here is competing….if you don’t compete in bodybuilding event, then you can’t say you are a bodybuilder. If you dropped your reps down to the 3-5 rep range today, would you magically be a powerlifter now?

No. Not even if you “train westside” style.

No…you’re a guy who goes to the gym to look better, but you’re not a bodybuilder. Even if you diet, tan, shave yourself, workout, etc…it doesn’t make you a bodybuilder. If I go practice basketball or running, or whatever, every day…I’m still not a basket ball player. I’m just a guy who shoots hoops or who runs, or whatever.

In fact, just going to the gym doesn’t even make you someone who “trains”…”training” means you’re actually training for something, while just going to the gym is working out. Most people who use steroids workout, but just aren’t bodybuilders.

Nothing’s wrong with that, but honestly, just because you can name the tenth place guy at the Mr.O, doesn’t make you a bodybuilder. And guess what? Just because you did one contest a few years ago, you’re not a bodybuilder now. I used to wrestle in high school. I’m no longer a wrestler. Get it? Good.

Anthony Roberts
====

I agree with Anthony 100%. A lot of people seem to have lost focus on 'who they are' and it's causing them problems in their fitness programs.

In a recent article I suggested that the majority of athletes looked better than the majority of gym goers, and as most people would prefer the look of an athlete (e.g. Jon Drummond, Roy Jones etc.) than the look of a pro bodybuilder - that the average gym-goer would probably get better results, even aesthetically by following a more performance based program.

Now, none of the athletes I've mentioned train for aesthetics - but they definitely look great. So it's clear that a bodybuilding routine isn't the only way to look better.



Note - I used the terms "majority", "majority" (again) "most"and "average".
I did not say "ALL".


I'm SURE that for a competitive, drug-using (or not) professional bodybuilder who trains full time, that a bodypart split is probably effective.

But for a typical gym goer, who is drug free, and gets to the gym 3, maybe 4 times per week - they will respond far better, even aesthetically to an upper-lower or full body performance based split. (Even with full body workouts I don't like only using one workout routine).

However, if you ARE a bodybuilder (and I agree with Anthony's definition - i.e. you step on stage) then quite possibly you do need a bodybuilding program that includes a bodypart split routine.

But what percentage of gym goers are that well developed that they solely need to focus on their 'outer quad sweep'?

I mean, how much real world difference will there be in one's development if they keep the exercise selection very simple and stick to compound movements MOST of the time?

Is poor bicep development in gym-goers REALLY the result of a lack of doing 4 different types of isolation curls? I see way more guys doing curls than I see doing chins - in any gym.

Is there really a shortage of curls in most people's routines? Or is it more likely a lack of hard training?

For 80-90% of you, 80-90% of the time - a performance based program, focused PRIMARILY on hard training and compound lifts (with some isolation work) will be superior.

And as John Berardi said:

"Even at an elite level of athleticism, there are only 10% of people who need to stress over the details. Most people think they're there when they're not. You have to understand whether you're a part of the 90% or the 10%."

--
AC

The Metabolism Advantage

The Metabolism Advantage: An 8-Week Program to Rev Up Your Body's Fat-Burning Machine---At Any Age is the latest product to be released by Dr John Berardi.

If you think of metabolism as a fire - for years individuals wishing to lose bodyfat have tried to burn fat by supplying the fire (metabolism) with less combustible material (food) in a hope that it will burn stored body fat.

If you can imagine a big forest fire, you understand that it doesn’t just burn for an hour and then burn out – it gradually burns out so that over time there is no fire anymore. The “peak” of the fire may have been hours ago, but there are still flames burning for a long time afterwards. For fat loss (remember that fire is 'metabolism' - we want to keep that fire going as long as we can. We’re interested not in how many calories we can burn during a workout, but in how many calories we can burn every minute of every day. We want a raging inferno.

So a better approach would be to crank that fire up - and turn it into a massive raging blaze - that quickly eats up all the fuel around it and keeps burning excess fuel for hours afterwards.

This is the basis of every fat loss training program I have ever written and is the basis of John's latest work.

For clients - this is a great book that explodes the whole "deprivation" myth. Why give yourself less food and have a small deficit, when through careful nutrient manipulation, meal patterning and exercise programs you can just turn the flames WAY UP!

For trainers - this is a great book that explains, in real laymans terms how to rapidly induce fat loss by working on increasing metabolism instead of depriving calories.

An excellent, well written piece of work. Add it to your library.

--
AC

Project Management - the future of personal training?

Let's throw an idea around.

We are both personal trainers.

Both of us charge $100 per session. We are hired by two identical twin females who want to drop 20lbs of fat.

You train twin one, three times a week for ten weeks (30 sessions) and succeed in reaching your goal.

I train twin two, twice a week for five weeks (10 sessions) and we also reach the goal.

Under the current billing model for personal training - you would have made $3000.
I would have made $1000 - or significantly less - despite delivering the result in half the time you did, and with a third of the sessions (effort).

In other words I get the same results, in half the time, for a third of the effort -- therefore I HAVE TO BE worth more.

Yet under normal billing, I'd get paid less.

This represents the problem in fitness training as I see it.

Most trainers are getting paid for their time - not for their results. I think the future will be short term project management.

A client wants to lose 20lbs of fat? The fee is $2500, whether it takes me ten weeks or four weeks. Client wants to bench press 200lbs and is currently at 150lbs? The fee is $1500, regardless of how long it takes.

Doesn't it make sense? Why should a trainer, who can get better results in less time, not be paid more? If it takes Trainer A 8 hours to train a client and get a result, and Trainer B writes a better program, and gets the same result from 2 hours of training - isn't Trainer B better? Absolutely. AT LEAST four times better! But under normal billing - he or she would make less than Trainer A.

A client asked me how much it cost for me to design a program for them. I told them and then they asked how long it took. I replied "17 years of intensive study so far".

They got the point.

At this point in my career I can write a better program in 15 minutes than most trainers could write in three hours. I literally spend 1/12th of the time they would. Doesn't that make me worth more, as opposed to less?

I think the future of billing in our industry will be project management. The fee is based upon the clients goal, and when we achieve it -- not based on a "per hour" "dollars for time" arrangement.

If you can get a result faster than anyone else - you are worth more. Same reason a cross country flight costs more than a cross country bus ride - it gets people to their goal faster.

Just something to think about.

--
AC

The Psychology of Fighters and Fighting

Having been at one time a competitive fighter and having worked with several fighters over the course of the years - I am often asked for conditioning programs that I would use or recommend.

My approaches to the strength and conditioning of fighters can be found here and in an article here.

However - Psychology trumps Physiology in this case. In order to make a difference in a fighters performance - you need to understand the psyche of a fighter.

There is a certain' je ne sais quoi' that accompanies training as a competitive fighter that is a little different than working with athletes of other sports. Truthfully it is largely understood by most as the "darkside" - the mentality of a warrior I guess. If you've never fought - it's hard to explain.

But it is the "darkside" -it's just that -- raw brutality and grit. Nothing fancy – just one man against another. No superfluous movements or philosophies or equipment. Life at its most Darwinian: Either you have the killer instinct, or you're dead.

And only a certain kind of person has it – honestly it's a mean, cutthroat warrior; a man who instinctively knowswhen overwhelming force or cruelty or simply rolling with the punches will move him ahead.

This is the long way of telling you about the best book I've read this year - the biogrpahy of Teddy Atlas. GREAT book. If you want to understand the psyche of a competitive fighter - pick up this book.

Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man

This has been one of my favorite books this year, and I'll probably go back to reading it again and again.

--
AC

The Business

This is an excerpt of an article called “The Business” that I co-authored with Jason Ferruggia. I have updated this in a couple of areas. The entire original article can be found at elitefts.com

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Here is our plan of attack to take your career up a notch. The top ten tips are:


1. Set benchmarks of success that you want to hit. For example - if you work in a club, maybe you want to become the head trainer or the busiest trainer?

Perhaps you just want to have a full client load or charge more money?

Maybe you want to go out on your own or open your own place? (Keep in mind that although it seems like a goal, opening your own place or even working for yourself is maybe not the way you want to go. There are some GREAT trainers who have made a name for themselves working for someone else. Martin Rooney and Stephen Holt come to mind.)

If you're just starting out, seek out a mentor to help you. Offer to assist them for free or even pay them for their time. It will put your experience and education on the fast track to a level far beyond any financial investment you may make.

But in any respect – in order to hit those benchmarks – you need to identify where your strengths and weaknesses lie? Is it in programming? Coaching? Communications ? Renewals? Sales?

The information is out there to be studied. Quick tip: I’ve found that as programming and coaching skills increase, usually demand for your time, and your services will increase. Typically, improving your training ability and client results by 10% - usually increases total revenue by about 20%.

2. Establish a level of excellence in everything that you do.
How's your exercise technique?
How's your client's exercise technique? What if you're not there?

Your client's exercise form, without your supervision, is a window into your abilities. If you took a vacation and Dave Tate or Mike Boyle was supervising your AVERAGE clients' squat workout (not your star client – we ALL have those!), would you be proud of their form, or would you have the excuses lined up?

3. Create a replicable system of program design. There has been a backlash against formal program design recently. The attitude has been "I don't know what I'm doing exactly until I get to the gym."

This might be acceptable when it comes from an experienced trainee, but in business,
systems are everything. Client progress is far too important a factor in your business to just wing it. All your clients should be performing workouts that are part of an already designed overall program. And the system of program design needs to be written down and put into an operations manual.

(For the operations manual to my program design system - click here)

We should be able to write a program exactly as you do, without your input, by merely following your directions. A hamburger from McDonalds is the same all over the world – a perfectly replicable and executed system.

Systems are the first step to be developed - before hiring staff or increasing your business.


…for the full article - click here

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AC

Sporting Upsets

I've always been a huge fan of the underdog - and especially in sport.
I love movies like Rocky, Rudy, Visionquest, the Karate Kid - where the underdog confronts the odds. And wins.

It's even sweeter when you actually want the underdogs to win.

Which brings me to todays' big sporting upset.

European Football Championship 2008 Qualifying Round.

Scotland 1 - France 0.

For my US readers - a little background. Scotland are, shall we say, NOT one of the World forces in football. France were the runners up in this years World Cup (remember the infamous Zidane incident?) and in their last game - defeated Italy (the World Cup winners) 3 goals to 1.

Scotland is a nation of around 5 million. France is a nation of around 61 million.

Should have been a one-sided beating. Seriously. But it wasn't. Someone obviously forgot to tell the Scottish team that they had no chance. They believed in themselves. And they pulled off a MAJOR upset today.

It's the same in your own training - or your own business. You have to start with a success mindset. Where the mind goes - everything follows.

So here's to the underdogs, wherever you are and whatever you face. I'm in your corner.

--
AC

PS - Interestingly enough, none of the French team tried to headbutt any Scots players :)

Inside Out Warm Up DVD - they screwed up!

I was recently sent an advanced copy of a new upper body warm up DVD and manual - the Inside-Out-Warm-Up DVD by Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson.

My first instincts?

I know Bill and Mike and told them they completely screwed up with this DVD.

BIG TIME

Don't get me wrong - it's a FANTASTIC resource. Both these guys are among the best in their field and they have really raised the bar on this product.

But an upper body warm up DVD?

It's WAY more than an upper body warm up DVD. It definitely delivers warm up advice but that's not the whole story.

I think a better title would have been "Inside Out - A guide to optimizing and maximizing all upper body training". But I guess these guys are happy to undersell their product - go figure.

If you get into the exercises featured in this product, and actually implement them on a regular basis -- I can expect that every single upper body workout will be enhanced - whether it's through an enhanced 'activation' of the working muscles (more load or more reps), or just a "smoother" rep execution (you'll know what I mean once you try it).

Or even better - every single workout is pain and injury free.

Basically if you trained for a year - how much would you pay to instantly improve your results by 10, 15, 20% or more?

More than this product costs right?

So buy the product now and experience all the benefits.

Again - don't think of this as a warm up DVD - think of it as a tool to improve every rep and set of every upper body exercise you do.

2 upper body workouts per week? 10 sets per workout? 10 reps per set? That means you are doing over 10,000 reps a year. Can you imagine how much better your progress would be if you could improve every rep by even 0.5%?

The Inside Out Warm Up DVD. This one's a no-brainer guys. Buy it.

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AC

Spot Reduction?

Q: At the Ryan Lee Bootcamp you presented some research that shows that spot reduction is in fact possible. How do I best implement this with my clients.

A: Ok - you stopped listening after i said that huh?
What I continued to say was - that although this study demonstrates that the mechanism for spot reduction does in fact exist, in the real world the difference (although statistically significant) wouldn't amount to anything.

My point was - "question what we have been led to believe".
I looked at that study and the difference ends up being an average of about 1.2 mg of fat in 30 minutes of reps per 100 g of adipose tissue.

Or to burn off an extra 1g of fat per 100g would take several hours of continuous localized exercise. So in the real world - this is an irrelevant finding.

The fact that the mechanism exists though is of interest to me. For decades we have been told that spot reduction was impossible. Apparentlythat was wrong -- it is possible. Perhaps further research will show some practical applications that we can use.

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AC

Returned from the Bootcamp

I just got back from the Ryan Lee Bootcamp which once again reaffirmed it's spot as the undefeated, undisputed champion of fitness industry events.

If you were there - congratulations on being in the top 1% of your industry.

I'll go over all the presentations and speakers later - but as usual EVERYONE delivered top notch information.

Summary:
Mike Boyle is probably the best strength coach there is. Check out Mike's Functional Strength Coach DVD Set.
Lee Taft has in my opinion surpassed everyone in terms of speed development. Yep - including that guy. Yes seriously.
Brian Grasso is the most passionate individual when it comes to youth conditioning that I have ever met.

and Ryan Lee continues to innovate and lead from the front. The guy is an amazing business mind and I'm proud to call him a friend.

And it was great to finally meet in person, Craig Ballantyne, Pat Rigsby and Nick Berry who I consider to be the among the best in the field right now.
I also want to take the time to recognize Susan Hill (www.fitnessforgolf.com) who is the NEW Fitness Entrepreuner of the Year. Congrats to Susan for a great year.

The only thing that sucks is saying goodbye at the end of these events. BTW - why do they call it GOODbye? It's not that good when you're talking about friends and family.

Interesting

One of the more interesting questions I was asked from attendees was "how much should I spend on educational products?".

Huh?

I don't see education as an expense. I see it as an investment. If you gave me $999 and I gave you $1000 back - when would you stop? Never right?

That's the same way I feel about education. Everything I study enhances my value and my income.

There really is no limit to the amount that I feel you should invest in yourself. This question is really "how good should I become?"

Marketing

A lot of guys talk about marketing and sales copy and headlines etc. I think that's great and is an important part of the business.

But have you heard of Mike Boyle? Mark Verstegen? Juan Carlos Santana?

I'm sure you have. But tell me this - how did you hear about them? A flyer? An email newsletter?

No.

You heard about them because they are good. In fact they are among the best of all time.

PR, sales copy, networking and web design are all wonderful and important things in the development of a business... the crux of it all though, is to BECOME THE VERY BEST YOU CAN BE IN YOUR CHOSEN AREA OF EXPERTISE.

Become the very best option to the customers and potential joint venture partners in your niche and you will be able to bank on an abundance of opportunity in the near future.

Money follows value... Become as valuable as possible and never stop improving and the money will never stop flowing.

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AC