Creative Health Challenge – Week 2

The week has been very productive for the challenge crew and I was looking forward to a great workout Friday morning. I get in here at 4:15 and I love the early morn before the day starts, it is the best time to think in silence and prepare for a great day.

So, I walk out of my office at 4.55 and see that no-one is here. I think to myself. What’s doing?

It was raining and we are 2 weeks in. Is it possible that there has been a revolt? Was I too harsh Wednesday? Where the hell is everyone? I walk in to reception and get my toothbrush to walk into the back to give the pearly whites a good rub and as I walk through the aerobic room to my complete amazement see all 10 participants in lunge position performing the world’s greatest stretch (forward lunge/forearm to instep). I had given them all the 8 movement prep exercises and lo and behold they were diligently cranking out the most challenging one.

Let me tell you, this group is STRONG. We spoke about staying solid as a group throughout the challenging 21-day period of "green faces" after our session Friday morn and I am confident all 10 will stick it out. Weigh-in is Monday morning, till then…

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Spring Challenge First Weigh-In - Monday 5 bells

With much anticipation we had our first weigh in with the new fitness challenge at 5am yesterday. Results are:

There were some very happy faces on the crew when they weighed in but when you combine 1 gallon of water a day, reduce your salt consumption, eat 5-6 small meals a day, and eat plenty of fiber a funny thing happens that isn’t rocket science, you drop plenty of poundage!

After giving them the entire “green Faces” nutrition plan on Wednesday before I left for Florida and returning yesterday it was very pleasing to see many already started on the famous nutrition plan. As of yesterday all 12 of em are off and running with the strict 21 day (protein, green veggies, healthy oils) and nothing else.

We have a great bunch who are very eager to learn and they have already formed some solid friendships. One person who I am very glad to see is Lori Drenkhahn who I trained 2 years ago here at Creative .She called me a week before starting pleading for a start. Lori, she will be the first to admit, was a lacking some dedication back then, but I am stoked for her because she dropped 10 pounds yesterday, and to see the look on her face was magic! Lookout for her to go gangbusters on this challenge.

We are hitting Beaver brook on Saturday for a fitness/run walk and we will be splitting into two teams and get the competitive spirit running

Until then

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Creative Lifestyle Challenge - The New Crew

Laura, Lori, Mary Ann, Monica, Patricia
Arthur, Corine, Debbie, Joe, Judie

Creative Lifestyle Challenge

This morning we kicked off the Creative Lifestyle Challenge with a group of 12 fantastic people. It will take on a little different feel this time with Sandra and I coaching them together. The bottom line for all is to lean up big time, and we have prepped them all to get started on the “green Faces” plan starting next Monday. Until then it’s 1 gallon of water a day, 25-35 grams of fiber a day and 5-6 meals daily. I will be posting photos of everyone and there will be bi-weekly updates on their progress.

Goal Setting

"The difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know."

Nutrition and exercise can be confusing subjects, so when you first get started, the initial challenge is that you don’t know what to do. Gaining knowledge is only half the battle. The far greater challenge for most people is applying that knowledge and taking action. There is a big difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know. Goals are the bridges that span this gap.

Goals, when properly planted in the subconscious mind, produce action. Goals create energy and motivation. Goals get you out of bed early in the morning and into the gym. The secret to staying motivated all the time is to set emotionally charged goals-in writing-and to stay totally focused on these goals day and night, without taking your eyes off them. A goal with a purpose is the fuel that propels you forward.

You might think that you’re in total conscious control of your behaviors, but it’s really your sub-conscious that controls your behaviour. If you know what to do, but you can’t seem to get yourself to do it, you’ve probably been giving yourself negative or conflicting images to your subconscious mind. The behaviours that are produced by subconscious conditioning are more commonly referred to as habits. Fortunately, you can re-program your subconscious mind with positive instructions and become a creature of positive habit, just as easily as you can become a victim of negative habits. It all begins with a conscious decision and written goals.

The most powerful goal setting formula in the world

Steps

1. set specific goals
2. set measurable goals
3. set big goals
4. set realistic deadlines
5. set long term and short term goals.
6. establish the emotional reason why you want to reach your goals
7. make sure your goals are not conflicting. Put all your attention on your number one most important goal.
8. Write out an extensive list in the form of affirmations.
9. read your affirmations (your goal list) at least twice a day and always keep your goals ''in front of you'' and ''on your mind''
10. read your goals with faith
11. as you read your affirmations, mentally visualize them as already achieved.

Some examples from previous clients;

I fit perfectly into the slinky black suit I bought this summer and I am wearing it to work.

I am so happy and thankful now that my body fat is in the single digits. I am now 9% body fat and I look great.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Out With The New And In With The Old.

There are hundreds of exercises that do little to enhance function. Many of you will no doubt recognize the exercises below as traditional bodybuilding exercises.

• crunch on floor
• crunch machines of all types.
• sit -up
• hanging leg raises of all types.
• leg press
• seated row machines
• shoulder press machines.

What has happened?

Only a few years back in the days of Bill Pearl, bodybuilders were building beautiful physiques with functional exercises like squats, lunges, barbell rows, cable rows, dead lifts and the like. Today, we are overrun by the machine era, the era of the aesthetic - an emotional hook so carefully used by the machine manufacturers to convince you that you will look better using their machines.

Our bodies were not designed to exercise on machines; they were designed to function in the wild. We are designed for three dimensional freedom, not two dimensional guided, unrealistic exercise that encourages muscle imbalance between those muscles used to stabilize and those used in a phasic manner for any given movement. To see many members here at Creative working their abs to oblivion on the ab crunch machine doing the same thing day in day out is a waste of time. The motor programs developed on machines are of little use to the body for anything other than pushing and pulling the levers of that machine during that exercise.

You can condition your posterior oblique system by standing to do a cable row and when performing a standing cable push there is a concerted effort by the anterior oblique system to produce the necessary leg and trunk stabilization and motion to support the smaller shoulder and arm musculature. 120% better than performing a machine row and machine press.

Medicine ball exercise, like free weight training was much more popular in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, than it is today. Great athletes of those decades used exercises such as the oblique medicine ball toss and push-pass, not to mention almost 100 other variations of medicine ball exercises.

Get on ya feet and exercise like the athletes used to do, back in the day. Machine exercises unless rehabbing a injury, should never be a part of your fitness arsenal.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Gassers

In the last couple of days I have been bombarded with questions about the notorious "gassers".

This is the drill:

• Set out two markers 20 metres apart (about 22 yards).
• Run to one end and back, that is 1 gasser. Do 5 of them as fast as you can go, SPRINTING.
• Rest 60 seconds and repeat.
• Rest 60 second then do 8 of them
• Rest 90 seconds then do 10.Thats right 10 which is 20 -22 yard sprints.
• Rest 90 seconds then do 8 to finish.

These are simple yet brutally efficient conditioning drills that can be done anywhere. We performed them in my class last night and yes everyone was blowing hard but they were not there for a haircut!

You want to stoke up your metabolic furnace and shake up your current cardio routine? Try Gassers, they are sure to put a rocket, right in your socket.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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I have been missing in action this past 10 days or so, and the action has been coming thick and fast.

My toe has finally healed and about the same time last week I received news from the AMNRL (American National Rugby League) about the impending season.

The www.amnrl.com in conjunction with Quakermedia and MY Entertainment (producers of Pros vs. Joes) is developing a 10 week made-for-TV series based on the AMNRL club competition and the USA Tomahawks quest to qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup IN Australia to be aired on Spike TV Network. The programming will be scheduled Aug/Sept/Oct this year with the final episode featuring the USA v Samoa RLWC qualifier broadcast live (and hopefully if we win the last qualifying match a week later) from England and beamed back to the USA.

In short the storyline will follow the challenges of our developing clubs (which my team the Connecticut Wildcats www.wildcatsrugby.com are national champs) in promoting a new sport in a busy sporting nation, and our amateur based USA players in trying to qualify for the RLWC against opposition that is stacked with fulltime professionals. Three two day mini camps will be assembled, pre, mid and post season to identify, evaluate, and select players to be considered for selection in the national team, which I am aiming to be a part.

The series will be called ''BALLS OUT" and examine not only the on field talents of our players but also follow the private lives of identified individuals and build characters and stories.

I came to the USA 4 years ago this May, and to see the great game of Rugby League finally getting some much needed media attention is awesome. The Wildcats are currently speaking to some big sponsors for the upcoming season which kicks off late May, and have some sponsorship spots left to fill, if you or your company is interested in National Champions let me know.

I am in talks with the New Haven Warriors about holding one of our scheduled matches in Milford this year. If you have never been to a game of Rugby League this one, is the game to see. Both teams have good mates on either team, but when that whistle blows it is absolutely brutal, no holds barred war!

This is our fist week conditioning, try it out, if you are game??

Gassers

1 gasser = 20 metres up and 20 metres back = 40 metres total

Plateau 1

5 gassers...........1 minute rest
5 gassers...........1 minute rest
8 gassers...........90 seconds rest
10 gassers..........90 seconds rest
8 gassers...........finish = total of 1640 metres

1. Warm up with a 5 minute jog before performing the above. Perform twice weekly.
2. Treat every one as flat out sprint, fatigue will eventually slow you down but you are aiming to run a fast as possible.
3. When turning you should only take 1 step to change direction.
4. Be absolutely strict with rest intervals.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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