- We all have a desire to better ourselves, and constantly pushing our own comfort zones to achieve this (at least you do if you read this journal)
- We all have weaknesses that we must work on to achieve our goals
- We all want to look better to some degree
- Thirst for competition (against others or against ourselves)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Your Athletic body awaits....
Motivational Quote of the Week
If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.
William Arthur Ward
Basal Metabolic Rate vs. Calories In
Thursday, November 27, 2008
if you feel the your bootcamp is the best!! Go to this site and vote. It's in the Etobicoke Guardian "Best of section". under bootcamp
Thanks for your support.
www.tcnreaderschoice.com
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I have no time for exercise???
Motivational Quote of the week:
Does Weight Watchers work??
Good question...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Stay away from elliptical trainers!!!
hard.
Now I know elliptical machines are often the only option for people
with bad knees, but if your knees are healthy, think twice before
using the elliptical machine for these three reasons.
First, on page 52 of the December, 2008 issue, Men's Health warns,
"Never trust elliptical machines".
They quote a study that found elliptical machines over-estimated
the number of calories burned in a workout by 31%!
Ouch.
So if your "elliptical cardio workout" burned 400 calories, the
truth is you really burned closer to only 300 calories.
Second, later in the Dec. issue, Men's Health magazine interviewed
Biggest Loser contestant Ed Brantley. Ed lost 73 pounds on the
show, but had this to say about elliptical machines, "I hated the
elliptical. It was too easy, I didn't feel like I was doing
anything."
Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.
But that's EXACTLY why elliptical machines are so popular...
You see, the third reason elliptical machines are inferior for fat
loss is because they fail my "human nature" test.
Put it this way...
Take 100 people and put them in a gym with 100 treadmills and 100
elliptical machines.
Tell them they have to exercise for 30 minutes at a hard pace, and
they have the choice to use either the treadmill or the elliptical.
Guess where 90% of folks are going?
The elliptical!
Why?
Because it is human nature to take the EASY WAY out. And that is
why elliptical machines are so busy at the gym and you rarely see
anyone doing intervals on a treadmill or bodyweight circuits in the
corner of the gym.
Often I see folks using the elliptical machine only to say they
"worked out", but without getting any REAL work done.
So if you are stuck at a fat loss plateau, and you've been counting
on the elliptical machine to help you out, then forget it.
To burn fat and get more out of your workouts, do interval training
or bodyweight circuits.
Bodybuilding vs Fat Loss Functional Training
Hey bootcampers,
Bodybuilding is a fantastic sport. I mean the competitors are intense and the dedication and discipline they must have to be successful is not easily paralleled in society. Those who participate in bodybuilding have the tenacity, dedication, and time, not to mention the genetic predisposition to be successful.
Do you and I have that ability? I mean do we have 6-8 hours in the day to do nothing but eat and train? Do we have the genetic make up to be successful in this sport (maybe some of us do). Do we have such a strict eating schedule that we can not enjoy a slip up from time to time? In truth that is a body builder world. It is their profession to eat and train, and they spend a lot of time doing it.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, we don't have that luxury. We have jobs, families, and other obligations that take up almost all of our time. Often the last thing we think about or make time for is for exercise, and when we do make the time we only have small windows in which to train. So we better make them count.
So why do so many gym goers still train like body builders? Maybe some of them have aspirations for big things in the sport, then that is great. But many gym goers are training just to stay in shape or are training to lose belly fat. But they aren't to blame they take the programs they get out of the latest muscle magazine and hit the gym.
Bodybuilders don't train to lose belly fat. They train to be the most blown up and biggest and most ripped of anyone else on stage. For the average person, that isn't the goal they have in mind at all. Many people just want to see their abs, or fit into the same size clothes they did in high school.
The reality is that bodybuilding routines and fat loss routines are two very different things but many use them together thinking they will still yield the same result.
A typical body building routine will have you training one body part per day or a split routine of two body parts on separate days. You will train all of one muscle group first before moving on to the next muscle group. Often you will do several exercises for the same muscle group and will rest for a few minutes between sets. Your typical body building routine will take at least an hour and a half to complete. You will train a lot of single joint movements and a few multi joint movements but your goal is to get a really great pump in the muscle.
A typical fat loss routine will have you training either full body or also in split body routines. You will alternate between muscle groups or movements and will have little to no rest from one exercise to the next. This is more like a circuit format where you will rest at the end for a short time before starting a new round. Your typical fat loss routine will take less than an hour to complete. You will train a lot of multi-joint exercises as your goal is to boost the metabolic demand on the body which means you are increasing how much oxygen you need and how quickly your heart can pump blood. The higher the metabolic demand the higher the fa.t loss effect (afterburn-calories burned after exercise).
As for the nutrition, these are two very different animals. In bodybuilding there is a huge calorie amount taken in to help build bulk and build muscle. So your calorie intake is going to be much more than what you are used to if you want to see results (about double depending upon body type and previous experience). Your carbohydrate intake will also be very high. With fat loss programming, your calorie intake is cut so you are at a deficit from your normal intake, and your carbohydrate intake will be restricted to an extent.
As you can see they are at two very opposite ends of the spectrum when you look at nutrition. As for exercise there are some similarities but also some glaring differences.
So before you go into the gym and start training from any program you find in a magazine, make sure it has your goals in mind and it is the most effective training program for those goals.
yours in fitness,
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Exercise can kill you!
But it can inflict a whole lot of damage if your nutrition isn't supporting your exercise habits.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The building blocks of nutrition
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Motivational Quote of the week
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I have a new teammate!!
First off I (Michael) have to say Sharon is one of the most determined and committed athletes I've ever trained. She is extremely passionate about fitness and a perfect match for Intrafitt style of training.
Sharon's Bio:
Sharon is an inspiration to anyone looking to become healthy and active. She is a welcome addition to personal training. Her infectious energy, and encouraging approach stems from her own personal journey towards wellness.
Sharon’s own personal struggle with weight loss began in childhood. She ate whatever she wanted and was very inactive. It wasn’t until high school when Sharon, a high achiever, realized that this excess weight was literally weighing her down. She took control and began exercising and eating well. With this approach, Sharon reached a healthy weight and excelled at school and in various ‘activities’.
This confidence led her to aspire for more. She was accepted to Carlton University as a economics major and decided to pursue a career in modeling. She was signed immediately with a modeling agency but was told that she must lose 20lbs, well below a healthy standard. Poor eating habits ensued as she ate very little to compete for work in the super skinny industry. She continued with her modeling and poor eating habits for one year after completing her degree.
Sharon left modeling for a desirable position in the financial industry. During this time, she received her Canadian Securities Diploma. She joined gyms and focused on cardio to maintain her svelte, model-esque physique. She continued to eat what she though was healthy.
Sharon married her husband, Michael, a professional athlete and had two beautiful girls in the years that followed. It was the addition of weight training, in conjunction with cardio and healthy eating that helped Sharon return to her pre-pregnancy form although she continued to struggle with her mommy-tummy.
Sharon joined Michael Grayer’s Intrafitt Bootcamp. After following his meal plans and exercise regimen, she lost 20lbs of pure fat and said goodbye to her muffin top. She is newly educated on the importance of fueling your body, and how to eat healthy. She was so inspired by Michael Grayer’s style of training and fitness etiquette that Sharon decided to become a trainer herself. Sharon is ready to inspire others who are willing to work to achieve their wellness goals.
Sharon 1 year ago
Sharon today
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The food industry has no interest in how you look
Any trick they can find that will get you to buy their product, you can rest assure they will use it. That includes adding ingredients to once thought healthy foods to make them more desirable to your taste buds. This also allows them to lower the price of foods giving them the perceived affordability factor. In their mind there are two scenarios they are expecting to happen: you will be in a rush to grab the cheapest food available and not look at the nutrition label; or you will look at the nutrition label and not know what all the ingredients are (or be able to pronounce them) and will become frustrated and buy what looks like is healthy.
Deciphering a nutrition label can be a science in itself. However, there are three ingredients which you want to watch out for and avoid as much as possible. These foods are lethal to your fat loss goals and I call them the anti-fat loss foods.
Anti-Fat loss food #1: Hydrogenated Oils Anti-Fat loss food #2: High Fructose Corn Syrup High Fructose Corn Syrup is a sugar substitute that registers as zero calories. Sounds good doesn't it? It's not. High Fructose Corn Syrup actually shuts off the satisfaction switch your body usually gets when consuming food, so you never have that full feeling with foods that contain this evil ingredient. So while you may think you are eating less, your body will begin to crave more and more food, thus increasing your chances of eating unsupportively. Unfortunately High Fructose Corn Syrup is found everywhere. Some of the obvious sources include: candy, ice cream, cereals, soda, and fruit juices. But it is also found in less obvious sources such as: low fat dressings, low fat options of most foods, fat free options of most foods, breads, condiments, diet sodas, and many low calorie alternative foods. Anti-Fat loss food #3: Enriched flour Bonus Anti-Fat loss food: anything ending in ose Once you start to look for these foods in the ingredients list, they will start to pop out of the list and signal an alarm in your head to step away from that food. It can be quite eye opening and a bit frustrating as you will discover actually how many foods have these ingredients. But by eliminating one food per week that contains just one of these ingredients, will yield tremendous results in your energy levels and in your physical appearance. If it will do that, a few extra minutes spent making sure your food choice is supportive is definitely worth it.
These oils are saturated fats, plain and simple. You have heard of saturated fats I'm sure. They are responsible for obesity, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and the list goes on and on. There is nothing good about this food and should be avoided at all costs. Hydrogenated Oils can be found everywhere too, not just in obvious areas; breads, condiments, wraps, cereals, and peanut butter are some of the lesser thought of sources. They can also be found in potato chips, desserts, and candy.
Enriched flour is a fancy word for flour that has been stripped of its nutrients for processing then nutrients were infused back in. Enriched flour is masked sugar when it comes to what it will do in your body. It takes nothing to digest this food and if it isn't used instantly as energy, your body will store it as fat. You can find this food in pastas, cereals, breads, crackers/chips, cookies, and most other foods that required dough to make.
Sucrose, fructose, galactose, glucose. These are all fancy words for sugar. Added sugar can be considered instant fat when it enters your body. Fruit juices, cereals, desserts, breads, canned fruit, salad dressings, and packaged deli meat are a few sources of this processed sugar.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
fail to plan... plan to fail
I've been helping people transform their bodies for over ten years now.
And I can tell you the #1 problem I see over and over and over.
You're not going to like it, but I'm going to tell you anyway.
You FAIL to plan your meals.
All the little clich?s are true. And in this case when you fail to plan,
you plan to fail.
Here's just one scenario:
You wake up knowing full well your metabolism will be firing on all
cylinders the entire day IF you eat a proper fat loss breakfast.
But you can't do that because there's nothing to eat in the house.
Or maybe there's some sugary cereal or pastry.
You get the point.
So you skip breakfast and off to work you go.
Congratulations. You have just sabotaged your metabolism
for the day. All because you failed to plan out your meals.
Yours in fitness,
,
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
This time of the year gains you an average of 12 pounds of fat...
Canadians gains an average 12 pounds of fat between
Halloween and January 1st.
This was a statistic that a fellow fitness professional
pulled from a magazine article.
Now I don't know if this is true or not, but when you
think about it this could be very true.
You eat a little candy on Halloween then the holiday
parties start appearing.
Your life gets busier with holiday shopping and parties
and then there are the holidays themselves.
Needless to say your focus on proper exercise and nutrition
has been pushed to the wayside.
So I don't know if the 12 pound average is accurate or not,
but it makes a lot of sense and quite possibly is accurate.
So what are you going to do about it?
Don't wait until the first of the year to make those new years
resolutions.
Don't wait until mid-december to start complaining about
gaining weight.
Act now and make sure that when everyone else is complaining
about their weight going up you are losing weight and creating
different new years resolutions instead of the normal
"I am going to lose weight" resolutions.
Take action and get these types of results before January 1st.