The entire point of exercising is to make progress toward YOUR goal.  So if you’re not getting a bigger, stronger, or leaner physique (or the phone number from the girl on the treadmill), chances are you’re just spinning your wheels- or worse regressing.  Fortunately getting back on the track to results is simple.  However, as they say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  It’s likely one or more of these classic mistakes, that with coarse correction TODAY will have you progressing back toward the healthy body you’ve been training for.

WITHOUT A PLAN YOU’RE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS.

Here are the top 3 of 10 (Part 1 of 3 in the series):

1. YOU HAVE NO GOAL

It’s not a real goal unless you have a deadline.  Too many people end up on a Stair Master of frustration because their program and “diet” don’t align with what they want to achieve.  Saying you want to “get in shape” is fine for getting you in the gym your first week, but you need to refine your plan.  Set a target to aim for, like losing 10 lbs or adding an inch to your arms.  Then give yourself a reasonable time frame in which to achieve it.  To be more specific position yourself for S.M.A.R.T. goal success- these details are found at feelfitastic.com or in my Fitastic lifestyle journal.

2. YOU’RE NOT TRAINING HARD ENOUGH

A muscle that’s stressed in small doses adapts by growing bigger, stronger, and faster.  Unless you follow a systematic training plan that includes progression and overload, you’re just going through the range of motions.  Progression and advancement is a critical component to putting intensity into your workout.  For example, it you curled 40 lb. dumbbells for 10 repetitions last week, take on (more…)

10 to 15 minutes: time it takes caffeine to appear in your bloodstream
60 to 90 minutes: time it takes to reach peak caffeine levels after you drink coffee
3 to 5 hours: time it takes your body to reduce caffeine levels by half
10 to 12 hours: time it takes to clear caffeine out of your system

This means that, if you’re a regular morning coffee drinker, each day you wake up in the middle of caffeine withdrawal.  If you drink coffee throughout the day, your body is essentially always under the physiologic effects of caffeine, whether you feel the buzz or not.

The Week that Wasn’t

Well god damn am I happy this week is over. Let me tell you my friends this week nearly killed me. Let’s see I started a new job that had training that took all week. Hours upon hours with little time to eat; I missed nearly every meal but breakfast and bedtime meal.  Not good, not good at all for someone who is only two weeks into prep. I was pretty much distraught all week and I felt completely overwhelmed. I had a sit down with Coach Steve on Thursday, filled him in on all the details. Needless to say he was just as unhappy as I was. We tried to come up with a plan but couldn’t. We found ourselves at an impossible situation. There is no way I could work a job for more than four hours without having a meal. Coach said the words I was dreading to hear “we may have to think about putting of competing until November” that just about destroyed me. I’m man enough to admit that when I left the meeting to drive home I full on cried the entire way listening to sad country music. Here I was only two weeks into prep and it looked as if it was all over. However…I knew I couldn’t just give up that easily. Those of you who know me know that I don’t like excuses I like solutions. Well on Friday, I got my solution.

I spoke with my new management and explained the situation at hand. Fun fact this was the first time any of them had ever met a person who was competing. I explained that I need to eat every 4 hours, that I need just 10 minutes to woof down some cold food. Luckily they agreed that as long as I (more…)

Week 13-Make the Time

Week 14 came and went. As I begin Week 13 I find myself in a difficult situation. In the course of one day I went from having all the time in the world to having virtually none. I am currently trying to juggle three jobs along with prep so really four jobs.  Let’s face it; prep is a job all in itself. Does this mean it’s time to throw in the towel and say well $#@! IT!! It’s over, it’s too hard, and I no longer have the time.  Can I get a HELL NO from the crowd? Of course I’m not giving up. It is when situations become dark or more difficult. That when we overcome them that truly tell us who we are as a person. What we are truly capable of. Just how bad we really want to make our goals come to fruition. Like the old saying goes when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

In my 29 going on 30 years in the life I have found that nothing in life worth having comes easily. It all comes down to how much you want it; and how hard you are willing to work for it. So this change in my schedule doesn’t really change anything. I just have to be cleverer in my day to day planning and my time management. I have to make sacrifices when it comes to education vs. entertainment. During this prep I won’t have time for all social engagements nor will I have extra time to sit and watch TV. I have to make every minute of every day count or I will not be successful. (more…)

Are you struggling to control your sweet tooth?

Sure most of us get Wide Eyes when mauling over a sweets table, but what are you consuming (or about to) and what are the effects?  Especially when you have or are borderline diabetic, including sweets in your diet requires careful planning.  Often a daunting task, it can be hard to just save sweets for special occasions.

Curb Your Cravings:

Foods and drinks that use artificial sweeteners are an option that may help curb your cravings for something sweet.

Sometimes low-calorie sweeteners are also called artificial sweeteners, sugar substitutes or non-nutritive sweeteners. They can be used to sweeten food and drinks for less calories and carbohydrate when they replace sugar.

The sweetening power of most low-calorie sweeteners is at least 100 times more intense than regular sugar, so only a small amount is needed when you use these sugar substitutes.

Also, with the exception of aspartame, all of the sweeteners listed below cannot be broken down by the body.  They pass through our systems without being digested (more…)

The Point of No Return

Good Day Everyone,

I am back! Ah it has been too long since I wrote to you all. Part 2 of the transformation gave me some serious writers block. The main focus was just growing and eating; nothing all that exciting to write about.  Put on about 15lbs since November 16th, intentional of course. But now…NOW…comes the fun part. Now is the point of no return.

The time has finally come for the #wildwilltransformation to come to its epic completion. 14 weeks of prep began this weekend for the Kevin

Weighing in at 225lbs. So you can see some weight has been put on. Again all intentional to add mass.

Noble Muscle Mania May 17^th. The next 14 weeks are going to be nothing like you have ever seen before. So many times you have just seen the before picture and the after picture. You’ve never been able to see the during pictures; the during journey; the struggles; the good and the bad. For most of you this will be the first time you have seen a full transformation from humble beginning to glorious end.

Last week I met with Coach Steve to go over the plan, let me share some of the secrets with you. First off is the meal plan, everyone wants to know about the meal plan. Well similar to Part 1 Coach Steve has created an evolving meal plan that will change based on how my body is responding. Protein is of course high, carbs are moderate and fat is low. Now in the next two weeks that could all change bases on response. I personally am not following a flexible diet plan (being able to eat whatever you want as long as it fits in your macros). That kind of plan doesn’t work for me; I require the kind of discipline it takes to consistently eat (more…)

We breathe every second of every day.  Our hearts perpetually pump blood, out bodies maintain constant body temperature, and many other involuntary functions are performed 24 hours a day.  These functions require calories to be expended, producing the energy our bodies need to survive.  The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the minimum amount of calories necessary to survive in our most restful state.  Put another way, the BMR is the minimum amount of calories needed for a person to remain asleep all day.  It accounts for 60-75% of total calories on a daily basis.  Every individual’s BMR is different because no two people have exactly the same genetic blueprint, are the same age, height or weight, have the same daily activity level, have the same body composition, or are the same gender.  These personal factors assist in determining your individual BMR, and therefore help determine the amount of calories required to lose, maintain, or even gain weight.

Some determinants lower your basal metabolic rate while others raise it.  Unfortunately we lose muscle mass as we age, which lowers our BMR because muscle demands more calories than fat to maintain itself.  This is why resistance training is important to maintaining a healthy weight as we age.  Also, fasting and crazy diets that require drastic calorie reductions lower your BMR because your body is likely to go into a state of starvation and cannibalize itself when it doesn’t receive the necessary calories from the food you consume.  That’s right, your body will eat its (more…)

Fitastic friends and family please join us in honoring our February Athlete of the Month, Ben Chimoski! Ben is a proud NPC National Competitor, Personal Trainer and Business Owner.  When you hear his story you’ll understand why we showcased him in our community and why he exemplifies the title Athlete of the Month.

Ben starting competing six years ago in Body Building while in college. After taking a 5 year break Ben came back strong as a Mens Physique competitor. Ben last competed at the National level in our home city of Chicago for Jr. Nationals.

However it hasn’t been an easy road for our AOTM.  If Ben were to tell you his short story, here’s what he would say:

“20 years old and barely 100lbs to 27 years old competing onstage at 155lbs. This is my transformation. From a sick teen struggling with Crohns

Progress. It takes time. It takes effort.

Disease and anorexia. Yes, a male physique competitor that used to struggle with self-image problems. I kept it a secret, but keeping secrets doesn’t help other with the same problem. I’ve transformed my body and my mind over many years and hopefully a lot more to come. If you have struggles, you’re not alone.”

As you can see Ben didn’t just wake up one day, put on a heavy spray tan, get up on stage, smile and win. Ben forged his path through hard work, discipline and consistency. For those not familiar with Crohns Disease, is a type of inflammatory l disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, causing a wide variety of symptoms. It primarily causes abdominal pain, vomiting, or weight loss. Knowing this you can see just how much Ben has had to overcome to get where he is today and to continue pressing on. There is no cure for Chrohns Disease; but as you can see that has not and will not ever stop Ben. So the next (more…)

Replenishing your glycogen stores immediately after an intense exercise session is just as important, if not more important than immediate protein consumption- Never to downplay the value of quality protein of coarse. Glycogen is a polysaccharide (carbohydrate, such as fiber rich, starch or cellulose) that serves as an energy storehouse and is found in the liver and muscles. Your muscles convert glycogen into usable energy and your body utilizes your glycogen stores throughout the day. This is why it’s imperative to maintain proper nutrition to keep those stores replenished. These stores are quickly depleted with exercise. Your body stores enough glycogen to last 12 to 14 hours of daily activity. That same amount of glycogen will get you through two hours of sustained exercise. While the body uses glycogen at the beginning of any exercise, the body will eventually use fat stores for energy, but glycogen is required to convert the fat into usable energy. Glycogen is the fuel in your gas tank that you need to keep going.

You should ideally replenish your glycogen stores within 15 minutes of completing your workout. If carbohydrates are consumed immediately after exercise, the body is able to retain up to 50 percent more glycogen. The consequences of not replenishing your glycogen stores (more…)