Evening Boot Camp Fat Burning Exercises Video /
I didn't want to leave the eveing class without posting a video of them too.
The Morning Boot Camp Workout Video /
Here's a quick sample of how we burn fat in the morning boot camp class.
Lot's of Information from this Weekend's IDEA World Fitness Conference /
Over the next few days I'll be posting what I learned from over 20 workshops, lectures, and workouts that I participated in this weekend at the huge IDEA World Conference here at the LA Convention Center.
One of the most important main areas that I wanted to gain more knowledge was about eating, and most specifically how I can help my clients lose fat through the latest research and findings on diet.
One of the biggest challenges I see for my client-athletes is information overload and frustration when it comes to what to eat for fat loss and better health.
Dr. Kara MohrLet's start with some "Diet Dilemma" tips from Dr. Kara Mohr.
Dr. Mohr spoke about "riding the urge wave". She mentioned that our cravings for things ride up and down like a wave. If we can get past that "peak" of the wave oftentimes the craving will pass. She suggested substituting another activity for eating. Some good ideas are, painting your nails, taking a bubble bath, or taking a walk.
Eventually you can build up your resistance to these cravings. She gave a great example of a crying kid in the grocery store. You've seen this scene of the crying kid throwing a tantrum trying to get his way. As parents we know that giving in to the kid is most often not the best choice. If we do, the kid continues this pattern and uses it over and over to get his way. Dr. Mohr compared this to our cravings for bad foods. The less often we give in to these cravings, the stronger our will becomes.
Another tip is to have a "DEP". A designated eating place. I love this!
Create a table and a space that is special for you. Focus on your present mind while eating. This means shutting off the TV, the computer, putting down the distractions and focus on your meal and your conversation with your loved ones. Imagine how this one tip alone can transform your health!
Men and women think very differently. Unfortunately women "have a lot of stinkin thinkin", and lot's of negative thoughts.
She also suggests the "90/10 Rule". Meaning 90% of the time you'll want to eat clean, and 10% of the time you can splurge a little. For some clients she suggests this is a simple way to grade yourself on your eating habits.
The 10 dimes tip. For this tip she has clients start out with 10 dimes in their right pocket. For each negative thought the client has to transfer 1 dime to the left pocket. Think a positive thought, and transfer a dime to the left pocket. Then ask yourself "what time did you go bankrupt?"
So there you are...some great tips from Dr. Mohr to help you on your path.
Would you like to receive email tips like the one above? Join here.
Your First Day at Boot Camp /
9. Show up at least 10 minutes before your session begins.
10. Go at your own pace. Try not to compare yourself to the other boot campers. Many clients have been training with us for over 2 years. "Compete" with yourself. Drink water and take breaks as often as you need.
11. Give me your 100% during the session.
12. Have your post workout shake or meal ready to consume within 30 minutes after your workout.
13. Drink plenty of water during the day.
14. Use your foam roller and/or plan on getting a massage to help sore muscles.
15. Eat 3 - 5 meals today. Each meal should be composed of protein, vegetables, healthy fat, and maybe a piece of fruit (depending on how much weight you need to lose.)
16. Email me exactly what you ate and drank today. (You'll be doing this for the first 3 days of boot camp.)
17. Get plenty of sleep tonight.
The Night Before Boot Camp Begins /
The night before boot camp begins.
4. Know the location of our boot camp. Map it if necessary and plan your driving time accordingly.
5. Set out your workout clothes, shoes, water bottle, mat and beach towel.
6. Get enough sleep. You'll need anywhere from 7 to 9 hours. Don't skip this step as it will only hurt you with your chances of losing fat.
7. Plan you post workout shake or food. Don't let the next morning come and you have no clue what you are going to eat. You need to prepare to fuel your body properly.
8. Take your before pictures, front and side. Before weight, and before measurements. (You can keep these to yourself, but do it.)
Francesca will be subbing for me this Friday /
Note for Friday the 12th...
I will be attending a 3 day fitness conference here in LA so I will miss both sessions on Friday.
As you know most often Marie covers for me but on this occasion her employer would not let her off.
Francesca will be teaching both classes. Some of you may remember Francesca as she attended quite a few sessions in the beginning of the year. She is a well experienced trainer and has the same certification that Marie and I have.
I have gone over the program, and you are in good hands.
I'll see you back on Monday with many new ideas and the best of what I learn over the weekend.
for those interested here is a link about the conference, http://www.ideafit.com/conference/idea-world-fitness-convention-2011
Best,
Coop
P.S. If you haven't already, please let me know if you will be returning to the next camp. Thanks :)
The Week Before Boot Camp Begins /
The week before your new boot camp begins, you'll want to set yourself up for success.
Think of these things as a check list to complete. Do not skip these steps.
1. Put You in your schedule. This means do what ever it takes to book your exercise time with us. Decide who will watch your kids, and any other adjustments you'll need to make in your life. Don't fool yourself and think that exercise just happens. You have to commit, and keep your promises to yourself and to me. Do not miss any classes.
2. Clear out any junk food in your home, and in it's place shop for lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and healthy oils. Stick to this list and the results will follow. Don't stick to this list and you will remain frustrated and wondering why you aren't seeing results. (Once again take this seriously.)
3. Buy an exercise mat, water bottle, and large beach towel. This is all you need to bring to boot camp. We provide all of the equipment. You'll also want to buy a foam roller, but you will not be brining this to camp...you will use it at home to help with sore muscles.
What helps keep you motivated to workout besides that it's also your business? /
Question from a client..."What helps keep you motivated to workout besides that its also your business?"
My response...
I believe this has changed over time. When I first began lifting I was about 13 or so. During that time it was a great way to deal with family issues. I could train hard and my mind would become blank. My only focus was on lifting. As I lifted, my body improved and I began to get compliments...this fed my ego and it just felt good. So during this time I would say that it was easy to have the time to train and the pay off was that I got positive feedback.
These days my motivation mostly comes from three areas.
One, it is my job to be fit. I need to set an example for my family and my clients. I have to walk my talk.
Secondly, I want my body to be in top shape so that when I ask it to do something like run up a couple of flights of stairs, my body responds and it happens.
I don't want to be in a situation where I want to have fun and experience life to the fullest, but because I haven't trained sufficiently, I'm not capable.
Lastly, it just makes sense. I want to live a long and healthy life, and all signs point to exercise and smart eating to achieve this.
Another client made a good comparison the other day in boot camp. We may not be motivated to brush our teeth each day, but we want to avoid problems with our teeth and our health, so we brush, floss and go to the dentist regularly. We aren't necessarily motivated to do this, we just do it.
Fat Loss Goals...Keep It Simple /
As many of you know me, I keep my words to a minimum and like to keep my life simple.
When I make suggestions to you here or in class, I am passing along things that work in my own life.
I've come across something which I believe will really help with your goals here in boot camp. (For that matter you can use it in the other areas of your life too...any place you want to work on your goals.)
There's a neat little book originally created by Zig Ziglar, but most recently updated and curated by Seth Godin.
Goal Achievement Book by Zig Ziglar and Seth GodinThe thing I like about this book is that it is simple and right to the point.
You'll hone down your top 4 goals for the next 12 weeks.
Once you have those you'll write down the steps you took each day to get closer to your goals.
And at the end of the day you'll check off if you did enough or not. See, simple.
How will this help you with fat loss and your time at boot camp?
To get results here you only need to concentrate on doing a few things.
Eat clean, train, and rest and recover. Imagine writing these in this goal book.
It will be easy for you to keep track of your commitment.
Do it! And best of all let me know how it works for you.
You can get the goal books through Amazon. (No, I don't get paid for recommending these.)
Calendar Updates /
Just a reminder, Marie will be covering my classes this Friday and also next Friday.
This Friday I'm excited to be attending the first ever Ancestral Health Symposium at UCLA. I'll be meeting with our Registered Dietitian Amy Kubal, who will be assisting with the presentations.
The following Friday I'll be away attending the IDEA Fit World Convention.
I love going to these conferences. There is a geeky side to me that loves the research into fitness, fat loss, and physiology.
It's always fun to see my long time colleagues in my industry. Many come from all over the world, so this is our chance to meet up, share, and learn.
I'll be anxious to share with you all.
Eat, Sleep, and Train...is The Solution /
Years ago when I was working as a personal trainer at the Westin Hotel in Pasadena, I wrote out the "secrets to fat loss".
I wrote down exactly what you see in the picture above.
1. Eat
2. Sleep
3. Train
If I had to go into a little more detail I'd add
1. Eat clean 80-95% of the time depending on how much fat you need to lose.
2. Sleep enough so that you wake up feeling rested. Pay attention to your recovery, massage, foam rolling, etc..
3. Train. Train smart, frequently challenging your body with varied exercises.
Master these!
Don't look for potions, pills, supplements, TV infomercial gimmicks, fad diets, Celebrity endorsed anything...master the basics.
So the big question for you is...How many of these did you complete today?
None? One? Two?, or All?
How serious are you about achieving your goals? /
People who attend boot camp do so for many reasons.
Some come for general health reasons, and many come to lose fat and to tone up.
I realize that there are many different levels of commitment too. Some have more time and are more committed than others. No judgement here, it's just that each person goes at his or her own speed.
Each person is on an individual path with specific goals. I focus on these a lot. The times that I am not with you I am working on programs, educating myself, and trying to discover the "missing link" for you to reach your desired goals.
I'm ready to introduce a new level of accountability. (Free to current boot campers.)
This additional benefit is for those who are willing to put in the extra time tracking their workouts, food intake, body measurements, and whatever else I believe will help. In turn, I will be monitoring these and providing you feedback and suggestions.
You'll be able to enter this information via your iPhone (sorry no Andriod app yet), or through your computer.
I will only accept a handful of people who are really serious about this.
If you have the time and the desire to commit to this, please email me, or comment here. I will need to set up your account and password information.
Can I Make it Through Boot Camp? /
Clients come to me in various states. Some have done a little bit of exercise such as walking, and some haven't done anything for some time.
A new client recently asked me or shared with me her frustrations as she trained along side others in the camp. Her main concern was if she would "catch up" and improve. Here is my response to her...
"You are definitely burning calories. Your body is hard at work, so your muscles are consuming calories...that's a good thing.
Yes you will improve. Many of those who you see in the class have been with me at least one year.
Try not to compare yourself to the others. I know that it's human nature to see what everyone else doing...but focus on yourself. Let's say you can only hold plank for 20 seconds today. Next week it will build to 30, and eventually you will be strong enough to hold for the entire 60 seconds.
Everyone improves. It's a fact. I see it all the time. Show up, eat clean, and get enough sleep and you'll see your body get leaner (losing fat), your endurance will improve, and your body will tone up.
You've only spent 90 minutes training with me. Imagine professional athletes who have trained their whole lives. We see the outcomes of their training but often forget or don't see their tireless hours of committed training.
I'm not saying that you want to become a pro athlete, but their beauty and performance doesn't come without hard work.
Stick to it, and the results will come. I say this because I've had a lot of clients lose 20, 30, and 40 pounds.
P.S. Your's is a pretty common question, so don't feel that you are alone."
New Client Questions and Answers /
This is my response to answer questions from a new boot camper client.
By all means, ask questions. The more questions, the faster you will see progress.
Do we do cardio? The moves that we do are a combination of cardio and strength. Today's workout started with "mobility", then what I call a "dynamic warmup", then some "power and plyometric" moves.
Secret to getting lean- Most often we use big movements/big muscles to burn the most fat. Chest, back, legs (big muscles) arms shoulders (little). We hit the big muscles, core, and the little muscles are involved too.
I encourage you to take a before pic, and your before measurements. (These are for you to keep.) What I see time and again is clients don't do this in the beginning and then they achieve improvements, but they don't have something to compare to...so it seems like they haven't improved that much.
Get that foam roller too.
You may want to set up a time for a massage for tomorrow. If you are sore already, tomorrow could be worse. Just saying :(
The good thing is that Wednesday we will do different exercises and you won't be so sore...promise :)
Did you check out the shopping list of foods that I suggested for the boot camp? http://www.bootcamppasadena.com/blog/2011/7/16/get-lean-shopping-list.html
If you have any questions, etc., please contact me. Email, phone, iChat, etc., whatever it takes to help you see results.
Get Lean Shopping List /
In trying to set you up for success, I'm posting a very simple yet very effective shopping list. (courtesy of Tim Ferriss and the Four Hour Body)
You can print out a copy here and bring it with you...or here is the list:
Shopping List
Proteins
Egg whites with 1–2 whole eggs for flavor (or, if organic, 2–5 whole eggs, including yolks)
Proteins
Egg whites with 1–2 whole eggs for flavor (or, if organic, 2–5 whole eggs, including yolks)
Chicken breast or thigh
Beef (preferably grass-fed)
Fish
Pork
Legumes (optional, but not Paleo)
Lentils (also called “dal” or “daal”)
Black beans, Pinto beans, Red beans,
Vegetables
Spinach
Mixed vegetables (including broccoli, cauliflower, or any other cruciferous vegetables) Sauerkraut
Kimchee
Asparagus
Peas
Broccoli
Green beans
Beef (preferably grass-fed)
Fish
Pork
Legumes (optional, but not Paleo)
Lentils (also called “dal” or “daal”)
Black beans, Pinto beans, Red beans,
Vegetables
Spinach
Mixed vegetables (including broccoli, cauliflower, or any other cruciferous vegetables) Sauerkraut
Kimchee
Asparagus
Peas
Broccoli
Green beans
You'll notice that there isn't any fruit on this list. This is for hard core and faster fat loss. Fruit, even though very healthy can slow your fat loss. We will save fruit for your cheat day.
Get Ready for Monday /
Here's an email that I just sent out to a new boot camper...
"I try to keep things as focused and as simple as possible.
Feel free to contact me via email, (given to clients only)
or by phone, (clients only)
During the week, I am accessible 5:45a - 6p. After that and on weekends, I try to stay away from technology.
I may post to Facebook, but don't often see messages there...so do not leave questions or messages for me there.
For the latest tips and news please visit the blog. Check in once a day M-F to see if I've posted anything. Please comment there too. If you feel comfortable to share what's going on or have questions about the workouts, you can leave them here too.
Get your "cheat meals" or cheat foods out of the way this weekend...so you can prepare for clean eating come Monday morning.
What is "clean eating"? Eat protein, vegetables, some nuts, some fruit (preferably after your workout), and some healthy fats/oils. That's it!
Your goal is to eat like this 6 days a week. You can have one cheat day where you basically eat and drink what you like. Saturday's are usually good for this as there are parties or other events which you'll want to eat as you like.
Your other goal is to make all 12 sessions. Plan for this. Take care of things (meetings, kids, parties, etc.) so that you can fit in all 12 sessions. If you miss a day for some reason, you can come at any of the other times/days. You can use up your missed sessions however you see fit, as long as you use them by the end of this camp. I don't carry over sessions. (Unless for medical reasons.)
*Notice to returning boot campers too...since the summer classes are smaller you don't need to notify me if you can't make a class and want to show up in another. Just do it.
Plan your days to get enough sleep. "Enough" means that you wake up feeling rested and ready to train. Usually 7-9 hours.
Please trust me on this journey to better health and fat loss. What I suggest is purely in your best interest. I am committed to making this a great experience for you.
See you Monday :)
Brace for Impact /
"Brace for Impact".
Thanks to my mentor, Todd Durkin, for passing this along.
Exercise Can Be Fun /
I've posted this minute long video of some of the evening boot campers laughing as they exercise. Yes it's true, you can have fun and burn fat at the same time. If you'd like to more video lessons, you can view them here.
If you can't join us in person at our Pasadena/Altadena location, you can still get tips and ideas via our email newsletter.
"I Don't Have the Time to Exercise" /
Steph in one of our fat burning workouts.
As my experience grows as a trainer and coach, I realize more and more how difficult it is for most people to lose weight and more importantly, keep it off.
A small percentage of people are "exercise fanatics"...kinda like myself. I just thrive on pushing my body to uncomfortable limits.
I see it with my colleagues who have this inborn "push" to get active. We are different. (No jokes please.)
For so many others, it is always an uphill battle.
One of the major complaints I hear is that people just don't have the time. I completely understand. Having a wife, two kids (one going into college this year), 3 cats, and a dog, and running a couple of businesses keeps me busy.
When I started my boot camp a couple of years ago, I wanted to provide the best fat burning workout in 45 minutes. At the time the fitness industry had a standard 60 minute workout time. (Many still do.) I had been experimenting on my own for the past 3 years with workouts that burned the most amount of fat in 30 minutes or less. Clients saw incredible results in those 30 minute workouts.
I found that 30 minutes of the right type of exercise was just as effective or even more effective than one hour sessions. It was then that I knew I could incorporate these type of workouts into a group class.
So getting back to a lack of time...
It's a fact. No one has the time...BUT it's gotta get done.
Our lives are not going to get easier, and there will always be people and things trying to steal our time.
It's time to make the time for you. As I always say, you've got to have a strong base of good health to do whatever you want to in life.
Imagine losing 10 pounds or so, increasing your energy, and all the while toning your body.
You can do it.
Our next boot camp begins Monday July 18. I'd love for you to join us, and to see you make that commitment to yourself.