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10/25/07
When you were a little kid, did you ever do one of those paint by numbers? These paintings were pre-designed, with the numbers 1-10 correllating to a different color. You would paint the picture by matching the numbers with the paint color. These paintings were great because no matter how bad of an artist you are, when you were done with these paintings they looked pretty good. The only problem with these paintings was that you could not design them to look the way you wanted them to, you had to paint them just as the numbers said.
Today I had a new client come and talk with me about her goals and what she would like to achieve by working out at MPT. She suprised me when she told me that she is not worried about her weight, or about what size pants she wears, but she is instead worried about how she looks. She told me that she had done cardio classes previously and that she had lost weight, and even got down to a size two, but that she was not happy with the way she looked.
SHE GOT IT! She understood that numbers on a scale, dress sizes and body fat percentages, while important measures, were not her goals. Her goal was to look the way she wanted to look, which she verbalized with me and then we discussed a plan to help her get there.
Fitness goals are not paint by numbers paintings. One woman in a size two dress may look great, but someone else in a size two dress may look like skin and bones. Some men who bench press 400lbs may look like a god with their shirts off, but other men in order to bench press even 300lbs will look completely rediculous.
If your fitness goals revolve around what you want to look like then don't set those goals around some arbitrary number that a magazine tell you would look good. Instead, work based on what you want to look like. You will be happier that you did, because you will achieve the results you were looking for.
Make it a great day San Antonio!
Nicholas Wood
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(210)415-5934
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Success Story/Outdoor Activities |
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10/22/07
Today is the first day in six weeks that I am not training one of my favorite clients. I don't know if he would like his name printed on the internet for all to see, so I will leave him anonymous but I am confident he will know who I am talking about. This gentleman came to me six weeks ago and told me that he wanted help in changing his lifestlye in regards to both nutrition and exercise with the hope of losing body fat. He succeeded in this goal, by dropping 25-30lbs during this six week time period. Additionally, he also obtained many "small victories" such as the ability to sleep through the night, the ability to walk the beach with his family, and in general an improved quality of life. I am happy that I was able to help this man achieve his goals, but the reality is that he did all the work. I simply coached him on how to get there. His work ethic and discipline were outstanding, and that is what allowed him to obtain his goals. There were days when he had a sore back, or sore foot but instead of calling in and canceling the workout he would come in a few minutes early and warm up, and then we would stretch which would help ease the soreness and then he would proceed to have a great workout. He is now going to workout on his own and come into me once or twice a month to make sure he is still on track with his progress. Along with having a great client throughout the last six weeks, I have also made a good friend and while I am sad to see him go, I am very proud of the results he has seen and I am confident he will continue to have great success. Thanks for being a great client and an even better friend.
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On this blog I try to stress the importance of moving more and eating less. I often write that in order to be in better shape we have to improve our habits by going outside and doing something. Well I want to take this time to showcase a great activity that anyone can do, and have a great time with, not to mention the fact that you will get in a good afternoon of activity. This weekend my girlfriend Sarah and I traveled out to a cornfield just short of Hondo, TX (about 40 minutes west of SA on highway 90) and went through the MAIZE. If you are bored one day this week and need something to do with the family or friends, then take the short trip out highway 90 and go through the MAIZE. It is a lot of fun, takes about an hour and it is a great way to get outside and be active.
If you would like more information then visit: http://www.southtexasmaize.com/
Trust me when I tell you that you will have a great time no matter what your age!
Make it a great day San Antonio!
Nicholas Wood
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(210)415-5934
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10/19/07
This is the first morning this year where it feels as though fall has actually arrived. I was out the door this morning at 4:30 it was 62 degrees and is supposed to get down to 60 at 6:30am. It feels great...such a refreshing change from the 75-80 degree mornings we have been having up to this point.
Well enough about the weather! Let me answer a question that I think may benefit everyone and was asked to me a few days ago by one of my clients. If I could have only one piece of exercise equipment what would it be? For me the answer is a 20lb. Medicine ball. I would have a medicine ball because it is so versatile. You can do resistance exercises with it, as well as to use it for cardiovascular conditioning. Additionally, you can use a medicine ball in the house, in the backyard, at a park or even in a hotel room. Medicine ball routines are exciting to me, because there are so many things you can do with a medicine ball that each day of exercise is different than another. This is an important factor for me because as I have mentioned before I can get bored of a workout routine pretty quickly, and the medicine ball will always keep me coming back for more.
For you, a medicine ball may or may not be the answer. You may not like medicine ball exercises, or maybe you feel as though your not comfortable working with a medicine ball on your own. Perhaps you have an injury which prevents you from doing many exercises with a medicine ball. If a medicine ball is not for you, and you are limited to one piece of equipment for whatever reason then find what is right for you. I believe that the best piece of exercise equipment you can have is the one that keeps you exercising. Many people have treadmills as their only piece of exercise equipment. For some treadmills are great, they put it to use daily, and they do various exercises on the treadmill which keep things fun. Others however have treadmills in their house as their only piece of exercise equipment, but instead of using it to exercise, it sits there as a place to hang clothes. For these people, the treadmill was not the right choice, they should have bought something that would have stimulated their interest and kept them coming back for more than just a week.
Before you go out and spend big bucks on a piece of exercise equipment for yourself, be sure to know exactly what you are buying. Don't buy the universal gym, treadmill or medicine ball just because that is what someone told you that you should have. Instead, experiment with multiple pieces of exercise equipment and determine what fits you and what will keep you looking forward to your exercise.
Make it a great day San Antonio!
Nicholas Wood
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(210)415-5934
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10/16/07
So, you want an easy way to change your diet that will result in positive changes in your body? Pretty simply, cut butter out of your diet. Typically, I am not one of those trainers to cut out whole portions of your diet. I am not one of those guys who will tell you to completely go off carbs or to quit eating your favorite food, but this is one exception.
Eating butter is like eating a ball of fat. Do a search on google for "butter nutritional stats" and tell me what you find. You will not like the results. Butter will not only make you fat, but because it is a high source of cholesterol it also adds to the potential for heart disease.
The next time you are sitting down at a restaurant and they bring you a bowl of bread with a huge tub of butter, stop and think. The butter you are about to spead on that piece of bread is going to make you fat, it is going to keep you from your fitness goals, and it is going to hurt your health.
Do yourself a favor and cut butter out of your diet. You will be happy you did.
Make it a great day San Antonio!
Nicholas Wood
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(210)415-5934
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10/14/07
How many times have you heard someone say, "I am going to go out for a jog"? I am going to guess that you have heard someone say that to you more often than you have heard them say, "I am going to go out and do some sprints."
Why is that? I guess for some, they find jogging to be a release from the stresses of the world, and if you fit in that group, then by all means continue to jog.
I am different however. I find jogging to be BORING!! If I go for a jog, after about 10 minutes I am trying to talk myself into keeping running. It is not because I am winded, but simply because I am bored. In addition to that, I have been to several different distance races (mostly 5k's) and I see a lot of people that I don't want to resemble in physique.
What I do find fun, challenging and constantly different is to run sprints. Sprints, like jogging for some people, are a release for me. The difference is, I don't get bored with sprints, because at the max I will do sprints for 30minutes (if I am taking longer breaks in between sprints). Additionally, I can change sprint distances daily, which allows every workout to be different. I can also get sprints in quickly, which is important to me as an entrepreneur because I have limited time. Another advantage to sprints over jogging is that it forces you to contract multiple muscle groups to run as fast as possible, which provides you with the benefit of a better physique than joggers. Think about it this way, would you rather look like an Ethiopian marathon runner in the olympics, or the person who wins the 100m dash? For me the answer is easy!
If you are not a fan of jogging, you may want to try doing sprints to get in your cardiovascular workout. Also, if jogging is not giving you the results you want to see then you may want to try sprints and see if they help you get the results you want.
A couple of things you most certainly want to consider when doing sprints:
1) You want to warm up your body before you do your sprints! This means 5-10minutes of a dynamic warm-up. You don't want to do static stretches before doing sprints, but instead you want to do them afterwards. A dynamic warm-up will allow you to loosen your muscles as well as get blood flow going before doing your sprints.
2) You want to start off slow while doing sprints. For your first sprint workout, you may want to do only 10, 10yd dashes. If you rush into sprints without being ready for them you can hurt your muscles and/or joints, not to mention the fact that you can get pretty sick if you get your heart rate up and have your cardiovascular system working to hard before you are ready. After you have done some easier sprint workouts to prepare your body, then slowly increase the intensity of your workouts.
I hope all of you have had a great weekend and that you are ready for the week ahead.
Make it a great week San Antonio!
Nicholas Wood
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(210)415-5934
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San Antonio Fitness Blog 
