Exercise Training: Time for Action!
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I hope you enjoyed the women’s push up variation, I posted last week. Men, don’t worry I have something coming up for you, too. I’ll be posting it on the blog, so look for it. I happened to be watching “Lost” which is my favorite show on television and saw a trailer for the new movie , “Hot Tub, Time Machine”. Yes… I am going to go see it! It might be a bit cheesy for some, but I love to laugh and I know it is going to be a funny movie. After I saw the trailer, I couldn’t help but entertain the thought of what it would be like to go back in time. Hmmm…. I think I will do that right now.
The year was 1995 and two years prior, I had just finished up my college basketball career. I had been playing basketball since I was 10 years old and never thought the “air” would go out of the ball and I would stop playing. Basketball had been a part of me for most of my life and it took me to some wonderful places and introduced me to some great people. I couldn’t believe it was all gone. I knew I could still play for fun, but it is something about playing competively that brings out the best in you. I still liked to play, but I noticed after time my interest in playing became less and then something happened.
When I was in high school and college, I was significantly underweight for someone my size. I was 6’6 and weighed a whopping 170lbs and that was on a good day. I remember how I got pushed around under the basket, because I didn’t have any strength. It was through that experience, that I became obsessed with gaining weight. That’s right, gaining weight! I would consume weight gain shakes and eat loads of food just to put on pounds, and none of it ever worked. It just succeeded in giving me “gas” and frequent bathroom trips. I know too much info, right? ( smile) I finally gave up my quest to gain weight and just chalked it up to a fast metabolism, but one thing always sticks out in my mind. What was it? I remember people telling me as I got older I would gain weight easily and I thought, “nah that could never happen to me!”
Ok… fast forward to 1998 and the kid who couldn’t gain weight was almost 240lbs! I am 6’7 now but 240lbs was alot of weight for my frame and it took its toll on me. I had frequent back and knee problems and couldn’t understand why this was happening. I could only guess it had something to do with giving up the gym and exercise all together. I had this notion I would be forever young. Have you ever had the same thought? I remember my turning point vividly and it came during a pickup basketball game at the local “Y” in my hometown during a vacation. I use to dominate the court and not to brag or boast, but I had great leaping ability. I started playing and living on a memory of “ what was”, but here was the truth. I was overweight, slow, and could barely get down the court. I can remember all the comments from the guys I grew up with and all of them said, “ you are living the good life down there in Florida”. They were really telling me I had gotten fat but in a round about way. It hit me to my heart while I was sitting there with ice on knees and my heart beating faster than a hummingbird’s wings. What could I do?
I drove back to Florida a couple of days later, and I knew things had to change. How was I going to change them? I was determined to change and this was coming from a guy who stopped at just about every Burger King from South Carolina to the Florida border. I didn’t know it at the time but that would be my last fast food binge. I got home and started to do some research on the internet and came across the “Body for Life” website and dove into it. I wanted to buy the book and I remember it being 20 bucks, at the local book store. I was on a budget at the time, and couldn’t afford it, but I didn’t give up. I went to a flea market in South Florida and I remember going to a booth and saw the “Body for Life” book. I asked the guy in charge of the booth how much he wanted for the book and he replied, “a dollar”. I bought the book and went home and immediately dove into it. This was a Saturday and by Monday I was at the gym starting the program. I stuck with the program and got down to 205lbs and never felt better. I noticed my knee pain and back pain disappeared and I felt better than I ever did. I felt athletic again and it showed when I ventured back to playing “pickup” basketball. I guess you might be feeling that I’m “tooting” my own horn, but that is not the point. The point is to take action and quit waiting on the perfect time, the perfect day, the perfect training program, or even the perfect trainer because perfection doesn’t really exist. The important thing is to start where you are and expect help along the way. There is power in a made up mind. See you on lean side.
Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Exercise Training: Women’s Pushups
By · CommentsCheck out my new video! I am discussing women’s pushups and the philosophy behind why I do what I do with my clients. Pushups are a great overall body exercise but with the traditonal way women do pushups you don’t get much activation in the abdominal region. If you are a woman, do your pushups this way for more abdominals action and better results. I hope you enjoy the video. See you on the lean side.
Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Exercise Training: Only a fool doesn’t change
By · CommentsWhat’s up people? I happened to be watching a movie called Hurricane Season a few weekends ago. If you haven’t seen the movie, its a true story based on a basketball coach who coaches his team to the state championship after enduring Hurricane Katrina. I guess that doesn’t sound to amazing, but he does this after almost all of his players leave to go to other schools after the devistation of Katrina. How bad was the devistation of Katrina? It was very bad, and at one point this coach doesn’t even have a gym to practice in with the players. It is a very good story and I encourage you to watch it.
In the movie, Forrest Whitaker “plays” the coach of the basketball team. He manages to get enough players to have a team and a season. The players for the most part are new to one another and have to learn to play together as a “team”. There is one player who doesn’t want to play as a team but would rather play as an individual. He doesn’t want to pass the ball and thinks he has to score all the time. The guy is very selfish. At one point the head coach played by Forrest Whitaker goes to the boy’s house and is having a conversation with him and says, “ only a fool doesn’t change ”. This line really stuck with me and it made sense. Does it make sense to you?
I love fitness but I realize everyone doesn’t share the same love I have for it and that’s fine. But.. if I told you I had the cure for diseases and premature aging, would you believe me? I don’t think you would especially if I wasn’t on TV talking about some pill, right? I can tell you I do have a cure for what I mentioned above but its not in pill form, its in the form of diet and exercise. Yup… that’s the truth, but you have to make some changes to enjoy the benefits which most people aren’t willing to do, but like the movie said, “only a fool doesn’t change”. Until next time…see you on the lean side.
Exercise Training: Four Women Only
By · CommentsHey… its been a crazy week! I wanted to talk to my women today through the blog because ya’ll got real issues!!!! I have no idea why the same questions come up from women again and again, but it always revolves around 4 things hence my title, “Four Women Only”. I am going to run down these 4 things and get them off my chest and be done with them once and for all. I don’t know if you can detect my “tone” by my writing but if you can’t, then I’ll tell you I’ve had enough up to my eyeballs with answering these 4 things. Ladies, I am going to run them down to you right now, pay attention!
Diet- The cookie diet, oatmeal diet, cat diet, rat diet… whatever diet you are on stop now because I can tell you it is only a temporary “fix” and it won’t last. Most of the weight you lose on diets is unhealthy weight loss… you lose weight, but also muscle. Muscle is what keeps your fat burning oven going all day. Our society places pressure on women by telling them they have to be a certain dress size and certain weight to look good and diet companies feed off this. I don’t care if Dr. Seuss made your diet… it ain’t gonna work long term! The only long term solution is a change in eating habits and weight training.
Starving yourself– The principle of fat loss is burning more calories than you consume but you need to eat! The right foods can help your metabolism along but starving yourself only slows down your metabolism.You can strategically fast” to lose bodyfat and there are some obvious benefits to this, but just plain starving yourself is crazy.
Instant Gratification– Tell me why… why, why, why do I always get asked by a woman who hasn’t exercised in years ask me within 2 workouts why they aren’t losing any fat. It didn’t take you 2 days to gain all the fat you have, why do you think it’s gonna take you 2 days to lose it! This leads me to my last and final point.
Scale Watchers– Women by far are the most guilty of this. Quit watching the scale and worrying about weight loss. The name of the game is fat loss. Muscle is more compact than fat so as you start to train with weights etc., you’ll notice your clothes will start to fit better and you’ll look better naked. Yup I said it! ( smile) It may not necessarily show up on the scale but it will show in the compliments you get, and the added energy you’ll receive from working out. Always remember… you want to improve lean body mass.
Bonus Tip***** Women… please don’t be afraid to pick up a weight or a resistance band and start using it. You’ll transform your body quicker doing this. If you have the chance to weight train vs climbing on the treadmill doing boring cardio, go for the weight training. Ladies send me your questions/ comments I would love to hear from you. See you on the lean side.
Darren McDuffie
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Quick… Hurry… Fast
By · CommentsHere’s the secret to fat loss… burn more calories than you consume and add in some resistance training. It is just that simple. I am about to make it even more simple for you to lose fat. Have you ever heard of the term fasting? Nah… it doesn’t mean running around in a hurry all day. It means giving up food for periods at a time. You probably have heard of it in a religious sense, as many religions advocate fasting for cleansing the body and gaining spiritual clarity. Intermittent fasting can also help you with your fat loss goals and it can make it very easy. I have been using a program that incorporates fasting and have been enjoying some amazing results!
Brad Pilon pioneers a program called Eat Stop Eat and has helped many people reach their fat loss goals. I picked up a copy of Brad’s book out of curiosity and was amazed at what I found in it. In the book, Brad strikes down the myth that you will lose muscle if you don’t eat and your metabolism will slow down. On the contrary, the opposite is true. When you resistance train, your body goes through various changes but the biggest one is it starts to secrete growth hormone. Guess what your body does, when you fast? Yup…. it secretes growth hormone. In addition to this, because your body doesn’t have the constant influx of food it will then begin to burn fat as fuel! This makes it easier for you to lose the unwanted body fat you have been storing in various places.
I bet I know what is going through your mind right now. You are thinking, “ there is no way, I can give up food”. I thought the same thing when I started out. In this program, you only have to give up food for two non concurrent days. What does this mean? You might fast from 1:00 pm on Monday until Tuesday at 1:00 pm then you can eat a sensible healthy meal. You are not finished yet! You’ll need to pick one more day you want to fast in the same week.. since we picked Monday let’s do friday at 1:00 pm to Saturday at 1:00 pm. You are now finished for the week. What did this do? By doing this, you have just created a caloric deficit which is what you need to lose fat. It was just that simple. Oh, I forgot to tell you, you can drink water. I would advise you to drink plenty of it on the program. I can tell you this program works and I don’t endorse anything I don’t use myself. I have experienced my goal of losing fat but here are some additional benefits I have experienced with this program:
- Ability to get more done - did you know most of our time is spent thinking about what to eat, where we are going to eat, and what we are going to cook? For two days out of the week I don’t have to worry about doing this! I can concentrate on the task at hand and enjoy more free time
- Clarity - I am able to think more clearly
- Convenience – I don’t have to worry about packing lunch, making breakfast, or dinner.
Check out the Eat Stop Eat program details down below. There is some startling information in this report! See you on the lean side… with Eat Stop Eat.
Eat Stop Eat
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
