Everyday I see the same group of people come walking through the gym in the morning and evening. They are usually in flipflops, and carrying rolled up mats. It's our yoga crowd. For years I have heard of all the different types of yoga. Hot yoga,cold yoga, hatha yoga, ashtanga yoga. And that's just the ones I remember. I think the impression has always been that I don't appreciate yoga. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only do I like yoga, but I encorporate yoga into my own personal workouts as well as those of my clients. I think I have 10 books about yoga. I love yogas fluidity and harmony. I know what I've said..."I don't take yoga classes because I can stretch at home for free". Well that mindest would put me out of business in a heartbeat. I want people to find an inner connection with their own bodies. Don't laugh, I'm serious. When your body and mind gel into fluid motion there is no greater feeling. Remember resistance training is essentially completely stretching your muscles out and then adding varying resistance to that muscles contraction. The more you stretch, the more you contract. How can I get more flexible? I used to be able to do the splits. My back is always sore. My hamstrings are tight. What do I do?STRETCH! Take a yoga class. Every morning most of us have a daily routine. Wake up. Pot of coffee. Breakfast. Brush teeth. Shave. Comb hair. As part of everyones daily routine , we should all do an assortment of stretches. Nothing to fancy. No headstands. Just some daily stretches to keep our bodies flexible. Every morning I stretch for about 10 minutes. If I didn't, I'd never be able to stand up straight. To help with this video I called up my favorite yoga instructor Gioconda. Gio is performing some basic yoga stretches and transitions. I will hopefully add some more sport specific routines as the months progress. Please feel free to contact her at http://www.giocondayoga.com/ she is amazing.

When I decided to pursue personal training as a career all I really wanted to do was spend most of my days in shorts, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt. I loved working out and I hoped people would want to workout with me . To this day, I love walking in any gym. I get a little excited still. I knew I'd meet all kinds of people. What I never counted on was the relationships I would develop. I had been personal training for about 3 months when an older man named "John" came in to the gym. As we talked he revealed to me that he had AIDS.  I immediately did as much research as I could about his condition. I talked to his doctor and he informed me that John needed to stay as active as possible. Within  a few months John was hospitalized for the flu. He died 4 days later. I went to see him the day before he died and what affected me the most was that he was alone. No family. No friends. I bought him some flowers and a balloon and told him I would check in on him. When he passed away I was devastated. 

   As the years passed I would meet clients, who would become friends. I watched people go through the loss of loved ones, births of their children, marriages, divorces you name it. I developed very strong connections and attachments. When my clients were upset or hurt, it affected me. 4 years ago when I went through my own divorce, the same people that had confided in me over the years were now there for me. One family in particular gave me so much guidance, love and support. Patti  and Maurene(sisters) always believed in me. They told me to fight for my son and never give up. As grueling as my divorce was , I pushed forward. It was the support of my close friends that got me through those times. The day before Halloween last year, I got a phone call from Patti. She wanted to tell me that she had cancer and she wasn't going to make her thursday appt. My heart sank. I drove home, canceled the rest of my day, sat on my bed and cried. My Aunt had died of cancer. She was the one person in my family who told me to believe in myself and do what I love. Patti and her family had always meant so much to me. I was heart broken. It was hard to look at her. Why do bad things happen to good people? Patti has two beautiful children and the most amazing husband. I often told her that I strove to be like her and her husband Michael. They always seemed to "do it right". I would have fallen apart. For all my talk, I'm just not that tough. As the months passed, Patti endured 5 chemotherapy treatments. She struggled at times, but made it to every workout. She always smiled. Always made me laugh. She doesn't know this, but after each appointment I had to break down a little.  What moved me was her determination. This thing wasn't going to define who she was. She walked in that door with so much love, strength, courage and honor. She left me inspired everyday. Tomorrow Patti endures her final chemo appointment.  True champions push themselves. True Champions fight. And true champions get up when they have been knocked down. Tonight I'm sending much love to Patti, Michael, Ethan, and Zoe. 

   Patti, you are a true champion, and I am honored to call you my friend. 

 

When I first started personal training I always regarded classes as the easier way of working out. Step aerobics? I made fun of it. circuit classes? They were silly. If you realy wanted to workout you needed to man up and lift some weights. Right? Wrong!!! The concept behind the circuit class is pretty simple. Take several exercises, different body parts, varying weights, and string them together in a "circuit" to optomize the overall burn. These circuits can be done so many different ways. Bodyweight workouts:

20 pushups

20 squats

20 crunches

20 jumping jax

20 supermans

with dumbells:

20 dumbell shoulder press

20 dumbell squats

20 dumbells curls

20 dumbell stiff legged dead lifts

20 dumbell chest flies

or even machines:

20 chest press

20 lat pull down

20 leg press

20 tricep extension

20 cable bicep curls

Of course you can mix and match all of these and even throw in some 5 minute spint intervals on the bike and/or treadmill to realy spice it up. For many of my clients I start with a simple circuit of 3 exercises (1minute each exercise) and then add an exercise at the start of each new set. By the end I have strung together 7 to 10 exercises performed back to back with varying intensity. These exercises can be anything from the above to heavy bench press, dead lifts, and /or kettlebells. Crossfit has become the flavor of the month lately, and for all points and purposes all Crossfit is, is circuit training. No more, no less. Just because you lift sandbags, kettlebells, medicne balls, and heavy ropes doesn't mean you are doing anything other than circuit training. I do suggest that you get some guidance on kettlebells before you start throwing them around. Jackie is shown demonstrating a very basic circuit.

coordination. Not my strong suit. I've been working out for years and coordination just doesn't always work for me. Take something as simple as jumping rope. I've had kickboxing instructors pull their hair out trying to figure how I can be so ungracefull. I was training a 12 year old boy about a year ago for soccer and his parents biggest concern was his footwork. They knew he wasn't going to be a phenominal athlete, they just didn't want him to seem like he was falling all over himself. Most kids go through an awkward phase. We all know what it was like. Some of us, like myself, will always have a problem with certain things. For this particular young man I brought out an agility ladder. I had him do some basic footwork drills over and over again. Twice a week we worked on footwork and it gradually improved. When I first started using the agility ladder, I thought it looked very similar to hopscotch. I have used the agility ladder in my personal training to help "mix it up" as well as help improve clients footwork and speed skills. There are a ton of things you can do with these ladders. I've let Kristen demo a few simple maneuvers. To make this miserable put a resistance band around your ankles. Or even try doing these movements with your hands. Pure misery. Good luck.

One of the first things i did when I decided to start Austin Fitness Extreme was look at the growing trends out there in the fitness world. Many years ago, when I was stationed in Everett, Washington while in the Navy I had the good fortune to spend a weekend with three Russian MMA fighters. They had just opened up a new fitness facility that had these horrible things called Kettlebells. Up until then the only pictures I had ever seen of kettlebells were in old bodybuilding books and magazines. The circus strongmen were using them. I was more sore than I had ever been after an hour with these "bowling balls with handles" . 7 years later here I was trying to look for something new and the only thing I could think of was kettlebells. The ironic thing is that kettlebells have been around since way before the first americanized fitness facility. When I bought them I had to order them from Pro Performance and have them shipped here. Now they are everywhere. Target sells them. At Academy I saw a rubber kettlebell for women just yesterday. Who knew. The gym I work at, gave me crazy looks when I started bringing in kettlebells 3 years ago. Just 2 weeks ago they bought a set for the gym. Again, who knew? Much like any resistance based exercise, I have a number of women that ask me if doing kettlebells will make them get bigger. Like I've always said, you have to eat a certain way, and lift a certain way to get "big" Kettlebells done in a circuit can give you an amazing cardio workout. One of my favorite beginning circuits is:

2 handed kettlebells swings 45 seconds

right arm kettlebell swings 45 seconds

left arm kettlebell swings 45 seconds

alternating arm kettlebell swings 45 seconds

jump with and jump without the kettlebell 45 seconds

try that on for size.

If Kristin can do it, you can do it.

What do you do when you've hit a plateau? It happens to all of us. We've reached the a sticking point. We don't feel we're improving anymore. It's happened to me. What do I do? I mix it up. I change tactics. For myself I try to train 4 days a week. I keep my workouts pretty intense. I tend to take 3 circuits and perform them three times through during any given workout session. As I've gotten older I've realized it's more about the quality of your workout than the quantity of your workout. You need to be efficient. I like to do cicuits that encorporate my upper and lower body. I realized I can keep my overall heartrate elevated while I move from one body part to another. For instance I'll perform 10 reps of side to side pushups on a medicine ball and than go straight into plyometric box hops. If I'm feeling real sadistic I'll throw in a set of pullups, kettlebell swings, bicep curls, and dips. All done back to back no break. What I've found is that my overall conditioning goes up and my 1 rep max turns into a 3 rep max. I do put several of my clients through similar workouts. I tend to subscribe to a "time" based way of training. Rather than count reps, I watch the clock. 1 minute last exactly 60 seconds no matter how you cut it. You can't rush the clock. My circuits tend to run 3 to 5 minutes from start to finish. At the end I've been running at a 12 incline for 5 minutes on the treadmill. When I'm done, I am completely spent.

If you feel like you've hit a sticking point try mixing it up as much as possible. Do all body weight exercises for an hour. Mix up the order of your sets. Take one day to do nothing but plyometrics. And thank God that you're aren't Dan is this video. I'm telling you, I'm sick. Dans a little bit of a freak anyway. And can you believe, he's actually a gamer. Dan owns Red Fly Studio and makes video games for a living. Go figure.

I get so many groans when I tell my clients "TOYS R US  hill tomorrrow" It is by far one of our more miserable days. Behind Toys R Us  is a (1/4 mile) hill that even cars have a tough time getting up. On the days that I feel twisted, I bring Austin Fitness Extreme to this hill. We start off with 10-20 minutes of full body conditioning and then go straight to the hill. Sprint,jog,run backwards,lunge,suicides you name it we do it all. By the end, we're completely wiped.  Like I said before, I hate running, but I love the misery.

     With this misery comes the ever present muscle soreness. I have always been a big proponent of stretching. When asked if I do yoga I always say that I stretch for free. My body takes a hell of a beating on a daily basis. Between grappling, getting hit, and working out I usually look like a 80 year old when I get up in the morning. I usually take about 30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening to stretch out. I use a foam roller to help push out my back muscles and roll out my IT band. 

   So, is stretching good or bad? I believe stretching is very good for your body in general. I don't believe you should ever bounce when you stretch. Post workout is a big concern. In theory, your muscles will be pumped full of blood. Your body has been fatigued. Stretching could push your muscles too far and your joints could be stretched to far.  There has been recent studies that have raised this very arguement. I can't say that I disagree with this. I am a big believer in stretching at the end of the day. Before you go to bed get a good long stretch. Massages are great.  Yoga, while I don't do it myself, is very good for the fluidity. I love the transitions in yoga and incorporate those same movements into my morning and evening stretches.

So I always get asked these two questions: "what is the best way to lose weight?" and "is running good for losing weight?" Well lets start with the first one.

   In My opinion the very best way to burn fat (with regards to exercise) is to do high intensity intervals. Let me give you an example. Say you are on a 1/4 mile track. Jog half a lap, sprint half a lap. Repeat for 4-8 laps. "Sprint intervals", as I like to call them can kick you butt. The thing I always tell my clients is that you can take that jog/sprint principle and apply it to any exercise. I repeat ANY EXERCISE!  Take bench press. You do a bench press with 1oo lbs  for 20 reps. You then do abdominal crunches for 20 reps. Repeat 4 times. As your chest,shoulders and triceps fatigue, you give them a break with crunches. You are still keeping your overall heart rate up and your exercising another body part. Just as you chest has started to recover you hit it again for another 20 reps. By the end of 4 rotations your entire body feels fatigued. Again you can take this "sprint interval" system and apply it to any exercise. Spin Class, a very popular form of group exercise, is essentially one big sprint interval class. Austin Fitness Extreme incorporates the "sprint interval" system.

Running! BLLAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH. I hate running. With a passion! I would rather have my nose hairs pulled out with flaming tweezers than run.................but, I still make myself run.  I love to run in the heat. If I'm going to be miserable , I may as well just be full on miserable. I'm a little sadistic. I have run 3  half marathons and 2 full marathons(one of which was Pikes Peak marathon) and I still dread the trail.  I must admit running is a wonderful form of exercise. With that said , I am a firm believer that you can over do it and injure yourself. While our legs are designed for travel, our joints need a break from time to time.  The pounding that your body takes from running can cause a multitude of problems as time goes on. Knees,back,hips,feet can all suffer from constant running. Not to mention those nasty blisters. My suggestion for you runners is to periodically take some time off. Try swimming to keep your cardio conditioning up. Swimming will increase your cardio and never give your body the pounding that running some times can.

What if I want to do both? Try this. Grab a pair of 15lb dumbells. Now bring those to a treadmill and set them down next to the treadmill.

run at 5.0 speed and 5.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

shoulder press with dumbells  for   1 1/2 minutes

run at 5.0 speed and 5.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

pushups                                          for 1 1/2 minutes

run at 5.0 speed and 5.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

squats with dumbells                   for 1 1/2 minutes

run at 5.0 speed and 5.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

curls with dumbells                      for 1 1/2 minutes

run at 5.0 speed and 5.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

squat and press with dumbells  for 1 1/2 minutes

run at 5.0 speed and 5.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

mountain climbers                       for 1 1/2 minutes

run at 6.0 speed and 6.0 incline for 1 1/2 minutes

squat thrusts with dumbells       for 1 1/2 minutes

Good Luck