Archive for exercise
Exercise Training: Quantity vs. Quality
Posted by: | CommentsI happened to be reading a book the other day. The author said something quite interesting which I never gave much thought. He questioned the quantity of the food versus the quality. Have you noticed the quantity of food has gone up, while the quality of food has gone down? What does that mean? I don’t know if you have looked around lately but there are an abundance of places selling bad food. Oh yeah, I’ll be doing a review of this book I’m mentioning, so look out for it.
The idea of more is better 
When I was kid, I would beg my grand mother to take me to McDonald’s. I would usually beg her on Friday because that was the only time she would take me. I would “hound” her countless times until she finally agreed. Once she agreed, we would pile into our big yellow car nicknamed the “yellow goose” and off we went to Mickey D’s. I can remember going through the drive thru and within minutes we had our food. In the words of my good friend Riley from the Boondocks, “it was the best thing ever,” or was it? As I think back, it may very well have been the worst thing to ever happen. Why do I say that? In the old school days the burgers were much smaller and there was no “supersize it”, go large, or buy one get one free. Did that make the food worse? The food was already bad for you but now you just have more of it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see if you eat more you gain more weight, right? Is the idea of more really better?
From a boy to a man
Some of our food choices are dictated by the money in our pockets. Do you think that’s true? I certainly do. If I had ten bucks in my pocket in high school or college, I would more than likely be at the latest fast food joint getting the cheap stuff. I had done this countless times in my evolution from a boy to man, until I realized you have to pay for quality. Quality is the nutritional dense food your body needs to heal itself and get rid of disease. I never looked at food in this manner, until I became passionate about fitness. I always thought food was something I just threw into my mouth because my stomach was growling, and I needed to satiate it. I realize most people still think this way and this is why there is an obesity problem in America. There are far too many of us who think cheap food is better food. Is that solely based on the lint in our pockets?
Food observations
Do you realize you always get more cheap food? You can go to any fast food spot to prove it to yourself. If you have ever dined at an expensive restaurant, you know you don’t get a whole lot of food, but it tastes much better. You enjoy the food more, but you might get hungrier a bit sooner. Why? If you noticed, you get less food and its balanced with healthy things like salads! This seems to be a hard idea for our society to understand and many of us are paying for it with our health. What do you think?
Exercise Training: 3% Rule
Posted by: | CommentsI am sure you heard about the 80/20 rule, right? If you haven’t, I ‘ll lay it down to you from a sales standpoint because that is how I came to understand it. In case you’re wondering, I have been doing sales the better part of my life since graduating from college. Ok… here is what the 80/20 rules states: 80% of your revenue will come from about 20% of your prospects. I thought this was all a hoax, but in my years of sales it always holds true. Now…I mentioned that because I came across another rule the other day. I never gave this rule any thought, but upon reading more about it, it certainly holds true.
Welcome to the 3% rule!
I heard of the 3% rule some time ago, but it is just now hitting home with me. I’ll tell you my experience with the “3”% and see if you can relate. A long time ago, I bought one of those real estate courses from an informercial. It finally arrived in the mail and I was happy to get it because I thought this would make me a real estate millionaire! I had dreams of finally quitting my job, buying an expensive car, and “jetsetting” to a Caribbean Island. Sound familiar? “Yeah Mon,” I bet it does. I know I am not the only one who has had this dream, right? If I am, I’ll be very surprised. Anyway, after my daydreaming I jumped back into reality. I opened the course and began to read it. There was a ton of work involved before you made any money. The course expected you to negotiate with people and make deals to get the real estate with little or no money down. I thought to myself, “they made this look so easy on tv.” I didn’t know it was that much work involved to be successful with the course. I thought it had to be easy based on the testimonials and the number of people who succeeded with it. Was it believable or just a hoax?
What is 3%?
Do you know someone who’s an over achiever? You know what I am talking about, right. It is the person who graduated at the top of their class or that nerd who spoiled the grade “curve” in your algebra class. Everybody had one of those people in their class. Some of you reading this might still be in school, and have someone in your class like this right now! Please don’t ridicule them because you can learn something from these folks. So what is 3% because I know you are wondering, right? It means 3% of the population will be successful with any endeavor they undertake. When you view weight loss informercials guess what you are looking at? You’re looking at the 3% who were able to complete the diet plan and now they have the results to show for it. When you buy various fitness dvds out there right now, they advertise the 3% who were able to complete the plan. They never advertise the guy/gal who buys it and uses it once or twice, then ends up quitting after a week.
How do you become the fitness 3%?
Here is how to become the 3% in fitness and in life:
- Be Committed— Too many people aren’t committed. At the first sign of adversity they are ready to quit. You need to jump in the pool and swim or get out of the pool. There is no halfway. You are either in or out.
- Beliefs–- Change your beliefs. Some people think it works for others but it won’t work for me. It will work for you but you first have to think it will.
- Be persistent— Results might be slow at first but keep on keeping on, and you’ll get there.
What has been your experience with the 3% rule? I would love to hear your comments.
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Exercise Training: How do you know when you’re ready?
Posted by: | CommentsAs a trainer, I have people coming to me constantly asking questions. What do I eat? How do I get this physique or that one? How did the latest celebrity get in such great shape for that role? The list goes on and on. If I am allowed to be completely honest right now, I get really tired of answering questions because the answers fall on deaf ears. What do I mean by that? I’ll elaborate.
The Answer and then what?
I can provide answers all day to fitness questions. I love to answer them, but why don’t people take action once their question is answered? It drives me crazy! I am under the impression most people are
‘in love” with the idea of being fit, but few want to be fit. I can tell people countless times, “eat this” to lose weight or concentrate on this amount of reps to build muscle, but many never do. Why is that? I’ll be the first to admit its hard to change and I think it is the deal breaker for some. Am I right? I think I’ll quit giving advice to people until they are ready for it.
How do you know when you are ready?
How do you when you are ready? I can tell you right now:
- Working out becomes priority
- Eating right becomes priority
- No more excuses
Here is the difference between the people you see on weight loss success stories and those you don’t: Successful people do the things failures don’t like to do.
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Exercise Training: Happy Memorial Day
Posted by: | CommentsAre you cooking out or barbecue (ing) today? They are both one and the same. Have a Happy Memorial Day!!!
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Exercise Training: are you a MILF?
Posted by: | CommentsAsk yourself are you a MILF? Get your mind out of the gutter, until I tell you my definition of a MILF because it ain’t the version you might be thinkin’ of!
Man, “She must workout!”
I can count on one finger the number of women I see who have kids, and are in shape. I definitely take notice when I do see a MILF. I saw one just the other day, and she had three little kids in tow like duffle bags with her. The first thing came to my mind was, “she must workout!” You can really tell when someone puts an effort into their body, because it shows in their appearance and personality. She definitely had a “glow” about her and I don’t think it was from her being pregnant again! On the flip side, you can also tell when someone doesn’t take care of their body. I have seen the same type of woman, on the same day who instead of 30 looks 50 and is carrying around a ton of extra luggage and it ain’t kids! So, what makes one different from the other?
When Do I do Me?
I grew up amongst all women since my father was never around. I think this has helped me see things differently from the average male. One thing I noticed as a teenager was my mom was great at taking care of me, but bad at taking care of herself. She was at all my basketball games, band rehearsals, and awards ceremonies but she never took time to “do her”. I have spoken to many women regarding fitness and they neglect themselves for their kids and don’t take any “me time” and it shows.You have to dedicate time to yourself because the neglection you feel on the inside starts showing on the outside. What does that mean? You might be surprised, but whatever you are going through on the “inside” usually manifests itself on the “outside”. The majority of the time gaining weight is more of an emotional issue, than it is a physical one. Women seem to have more emotional issues as a result of the pressure placed on them in society to “be this or be that”, men just don’t seem to care or if they do, they let it roll off their backs like water on a duck. So why all the Emotion?
Emotional Rollercoasters
I read somewhere where men are more in their “heads” and women are more in their “hearts”. I think this is why women seem to be more susceptible to emotional eating. I am not saying men can’t do this, but because women are more emotional than men here in lies my theory. I’ll back that up by saying I have spoken to countless women who eat when they are worried, frustrated or having problems in their relationship. They rely on food for comfort. I am a guy, so I can tell you men just grab a six pack and watch the game. We say,” the hell with it” and life goes on. I guess it could be a curse but then again women are much better at expressing their emotions than men. I am certain this is why we are considered the Yin and Yang. If both sexes were the same in how we saw things and reacted to them, it would be screwed up! It’s nice having differences, but women go through some things a man will never experience.
I’m Preeeegggnant!
If you are married and have a spouse, these are words you might “wanna hear”. If you are getting ready to give birth to a child, but gave birth to a deadbeat dead also, then you have my sympathy. I won’t pretend to know anything about pregnancy, but what I do know is it changes your body. That is a fact. You can get your body back if you are willing to put in the time and effort to do it. This is the key. Are you willing to put in the time and effort? Many women seem to give up and accept the bodily change which comes along with pregnancy and before you know it, it gets way out of hand. I believe the saying goes like this,“ its easy to eat pieces of an elephant than eat the whole thing at one time”. I ‘ll put this in layman’s terms meaning its easier to deal with something before it gets out of hand. I have seen women who let it get way out of hand and then they are discouraged by the obstacle set before them. Nip it in the bud quick before it gets crazy.
The MILF on my terms
There isn’t any woman who is genetically gifted over another woman. There isn’t any woman who has more hormones or less hormones than any other. The women who takes consistent action such as eating right, exercise, and understanding nutrition can always get her “pre baby body” back. How bad do you want it? You need to make up your mind and then go for it. So are you a MOTHER I’D LIKE TO BE FIT?
Coming Soon —– FOURWOMENONLY.INFO
I will address the issues women go through in their quest to get fit such as pregnancy, diets, and crazy myths that just ain’t true!
Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
