#njltraining

I got asked a very interesting question today and I thought I would share it with you. A dude who liked one of my instagram posts which you can view at @njltraining asked me "How did you become so successful?". Initially i thought to myself well im not that successful yet, I have such a long way to go till I consider myself successful and then as I pondered the question with more attention and I came to this realization. 

WHAT IS SUCCESS? I mean the term itself is to describe pursuing something and attaining that pursuit. So success to one person could mean attaining a certain amount of income, having a boat or some other material object or maybe its just the simple notion that if you wanted to buy a boat you could. 

For me personally I set a path for myself about 5 years ago that I would one day run my own gym, have no one to answer to (well other then my favorite lady) have the freedom to teach and learn what I want when I want. To be able to wake up every morning with the knowledge that I am doing exactly what I set out to do. And by the grace and support of family and friends I attained that very path. So is that success? I like to think so. Of course I do have a long way to go because as that 5 year path has been paved I have set new paths that need construction. And as I complete those paths I am sure there will be other paths that I want to pave along the way. 

I do feel as if our society has put a bit of a stigma on that word Success. As if success is soley judged on what you accumulate. The bigger better philosophy and I suppose for some that is what matters. I think thats ok to. I just know for me that money without purpose seems irrelevant to my own success. Though money plays an important role in running a business attaining above and beyond what is neccessary is a goal. And like all goals that we make some get accomplished and some don't. thats ok to. 

So to the guy who sent me that awesome question I can say this. I hope that what ever you feel is success you work hard for it and get everything you want. GOOD LUCK.

What does Success mean to you? Are you pursuing your passion(s)? Have you found that thing that drives you? When you do fight for it. 

Hello fellow fitness enthusiasts. I have to apologize for not really keeping up with my blogging. I find it pretty difficult to remember to post on all the different social media platforms these days. with new ones always coming out it baffles this semi old school brain. anyways we are over 3/4 through 2014 and I feel its time to get back on it. better late then never.

todays topic I want to talk about the meaning behind the word FITNESS. Maybe because I have a book coming out late 2015 that hopefully will shed some light for people on how to approach the whole fitness realm with more ease, including nutrition. And maybe part of me is tired of all the garbage that is out there, its no wonder people struggle to find some truth in an industry that feeds lies like a never ending movie reel. I swear that the second they come out with a new product someone else is coming out with something that is new and improved. it is enough to completely fuck with people. I suppose that is the purpose. If you feel confused and lost then you're more likely to buy into the crap their telling you.  

As a professional who has been this business for over 10 years, not to mention training for well over 20 years. I can honestly say that the way it is going has me worried. These extreme fitness workouts that the normal person should never do to these juice cleanses and however many companies that sell "lifestyle supplements" seriously, lifestyle supplements? what happened to just making better food decisions? you think buying healthy food is expensive try buying supplements from one of these companies month after month. not to mention what happens to your body when you stop taking all that crap. And yes you will eventually stop. IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.  It is time to awaken from this superficial approach that we have and begin to unravel the simplicity that is living an active life. 

Dont get me wrong if your a competitive athlete and you put your body thru rigorous training then by all means you need extra macro and micro nutrients not to mention the amount of prehab and rehab and maintenance you require to function. I am talking about the everyday joe and jane who have been convinced by so called health specialists that they should train like an athlete, putting their bodies through trauma that is just so unnecessary. Makes no sense breaking the body so you can just go sit behind a desk for 10+ hours a day. 

I am going to end todays rant with this: KNOWLEDGE is key to living the lifestyle you want. 

Keep these 3 words in mind 

WHAT-is your true want?

WHY-are doing it?

HOW-can you not only attain but sustain?

So. This topic that I am going discuss with you today will have an entire episode on my YOUTUBE channel (NJLtraining) soon, tune in and check out this and other great topics to help your gym time be more productive.

There are typically 3 stances that happen when lifting weights. The first is hip width, this is often confused with shoulder width. Unless you have a square body shape chances are your Hips and Shoulders are not the same width. Hip width is a more neutral position often used for  just standing or if your one of those who stands there to do tricep extensions, bicep curls and so on. The only problem with this stance is that any substantial knee bend and the Knee will be under a lot of pressure, resulting in potential injury and wear and tear.

The second position and the most common used in the CROSStrength training system is what I call the ready stance. The feet are slightly wider than shoulders(slightly)is the KEY. With the heels just outside of shoulder width the toes are turned out at no more than 30 degrees. The easiest way to find this for your own stance is to imagine a straight line going forward from your toes and another straight line going out to the side from your heel. Now open your toes to approximately 30 degrees. PERFECT.

Having the toes slightly open will allow your hips to hinge properly and your knees to naturally slide over your feet. Giving you more mobility and relieving stress off the joints. Remember that it is not normal to have your feet straight ahead. Take a look at any diagram of anatomical position. 

The third position is Wide stance. You have either seen a Sumo Squat or do them in your routine, this is a perfect example of wide stance. I never teach this stance nor advice anyone use it. That brings us to the next section of this BLOG.

We have gone over the 3 most common used positions and now I just want to briefly tell you what to be aware of when choosing your stance. The Adductor muscles of the Hip have to be the first thing you look at when it comes to movement and preventing injury. The wider the stance the more pull on the groin muscles. If you have ever had or know someone who has had a groin injury, it takes a long time to heal if you ever fully heal at all. Try this for yourself. Do a body weight squat using all 3 stances we have covered. Notice that when you do a wide stance squat the pull on the adductor muscles is much more noticeable. Imagine that under force of weight. OOOOuch.

Find a neutral stance that not only works for depth or mobility, it will also give you the stability in your joints to continue to increase strength. 

Foot position is vital when exercising for safety and for proper development. Stay tuned as I will tackle this topic on my next episode of  NJLtraining on YOUTUBE.

"FAILURE IS A RESULT OF NOT TRYING"

The foundation to being FIT is having a well rounded, balanced body that works in harmony so that there isn't one leg doing most of the work or one side of your back stabilizing through dynamic movement. Yesterday while I was with a small group during our M.O.L. portion of the session I began chatting with a guy who was working out on his own. And because I do this for a living it is hard for me not to notice when someone is doing something that may be ineffective or maybe the sequence of exercises is not in order (Yes this matters huge when you're training, to maximize the benefit pay attention to this). Though I try to mind my own business I do find that I converse with people because I do care about proper training, 

Even though my intentions are good it is still a bit of a flaw. And I continue to try and work on it so bear with me. Anyway back to it,

As we talked about what he was training for I learned that he was getting ready to embark on a test of not just physical challenge, he was going to experience mental and emotional challenge as well. Because of my background I can attest to the fact that when you have emotional and mental stress the last thing you want is to break down physically. This is one of the main reasons I choose to listen to classical music when lifting and japanese flute music when training Martial Arts, it keeps the mind calm so the body can just do what I want it to without questioning or distraction. Without much thought I started to tell him of my experience with this specific type of challenge starting with the long marches carrying a lot of weight, more if you had the pleasure of lugging around the C-6 or C-9 Machine Gun, The multiple days of No sleep and then having to function in exercises and listen and perform orders.

As I talked about how much Overhead stuff there is the look on his face changed as this was a part of training he acknowledged was a weakness in his training routine. I explained that if the shoulders cant hold up to the demand the back will give out. I then jokingly commented on the fact doing Tricep dips will make the arms look nice and that is about all. When I broke down the muscles that fire when doing Overhead walks using a Barbell he finished what he was doing and immediately began doing overhead work, throwing tires, doing stabilizing drills on the bosu with overhead weight and before he left, he told me he was going to implement the overhead walks into his next workout. 

When we talk about FUNCTIONAL Fitness I think we have gotten caught up in the flash of what some systems use, myself included. I watch someone doing a Muscle Up, let me rephrase that I watch what Cross-fit thinks is a Muscle Up and even though it looks interesting there is no function in what they do other than put a tremendous amount of stress on the joints. But because we see this every where we think it is FUNCTIONAL. I looked up that word and here is the true definition:

having or serving a utilitarian purpose; capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed: 

As we use this word to describe exercise, lets think about this for a second. It says serving the purpose for which it was designed, A muscle up was designed for Gymnastics and we know in my business that gymnasts have many growth and joint problems do to the high amount of stress the body is put under over and over again (pattern overload).

If you are a person who wants to be functionally fit so that your everyday is easier find movements that do this. Thinking that you have to train like an Athlete to be in shape is not FUNCTIONAL. It is specific and remember that all Athletes go through a tremendous amount of rehab and therapy during and after the season to just be FUNCTIONAL.

I do want to say that I believe that we are capable of a lot more than what we think, so my clients do work hard. The integrity of how I train them will never waiver. It is based on building balance and stability in the body from head to toe which will allow them to move freely and be FUNCTIONAL.

Like many things we hear about, try or just do research on there is always a sense of mystery and maybe even some scepticism on whether or not it works or what the quality really is. And this does remain true in the fitness industry with thousands of trainers from youth development to Sports conditioning and everything in between. You get some good and some bad, With really great coaches and then some really poor quality trainers who give no real thought on what they teach or how they teach each individual person. What you can hope for is that you get one of the good ones, with knowledge and actual hands on experience, unfortunately less than 10%. and not just someone who took a course or may have a degree yet has never worked out before.

The fitness world has changed drastically since I have been training and thank the Universe for this. The old school mind set of what is fitness and how to reach it has for the good been completely flipped. It is no longer go to the Gym, meet your trainer, run on the treadmill for 20 minutes while your trainer stands there and then go do some Bi-cep curls, Tricep extensions, and then do some exercises they claim is for core but in reality, do to your fitness level is actually just hurting you. Or you get a what we call "YOUTUBE trainer" who has no idea what the exercises do but they look cool so without any real knowledge have you doing something that could be causing long term injury.

 CROSStrength is a NEW breed of fitness. There is no other system out there, at least in #Calgary, that offers this type of training. The results that are attained are done so with In-Depth instruction of how and why the body moves the way it does for each individual person. YES, this matters. 

The first step is to build a rock solid foundation and this is done with the most tried and true exercises ever to be invented. I have spent years studying and working with some the best minds in OLYMPIC LIFTING when it comes to these exercises. As I Mastered these, I began to modify them so they could be trained by everyday people without the risk and yet keep the integrity of what makes these movements so effective. By training not only the main Lifts but also the Auxiliary movements the body goes through a full transformation, developing a complete and balanced person, with better posture and eliminating some pain and injury. This is called M.O.L.

The second step is to get the heart rate up revving the FAT burning stage, Circuit training as been around forever and regardless of what people call it, it is still circuit training. CROSStrength however goes the other way with Muscular Endurance Training. Because muscles need oxygen, 'FINISHERS' are designed to force the more oxygen to the muscles incinerating the stored fat that prevents the muscle from showing through. 

The third step is not dieting, it is guidance from a holistic professional who doesn't cut calories, instead increases calories with super foods which help balance out and steady our mind and body connection.

 THERE HAVE BEEN 6 PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST BETWEEN 15-25 POUNDS PER MONTH OVER THE LAST 2 MONTHS BY SIMPLY TRAINING THIS SYSTEM.

You dont have to struggle or be overwhelmed to transform your life. One thing at a time.

Todays topic is one of my favorite teaching points when with clients, the other being 'SET POSITION'. It is the most important aspect in any exercise. How to use the floor for Power in building both strength and explosiveness is not just key to Athletes, it helps everyday people understand how to develop proper movement patterns. 

Comments I get a lot pertain to the Back Squat, which as I have written on a lot because I am not a huge advocate for this lift is "I was taught to push thru my heels when doing this exercise and now you're telling me not to do this" first off I don't people what to do, I do however offer my knowledge for you to make your own decision.

It is simple, think of one thing you do in your life whether its recreational or for competitive sport. Are you thinking of something, good. If you can come up with one sport on the ground that we sit in our heels or anything you do in your everyday life where we do this, can you? its hard right. So then why would you teach your muscle memory to do this in the gym. Its the same principle as I teach the Golfers I work with.

Golfers have to generate power and speed from a certain position and because of this they do all of their lifts from GP. 

Try it next time you lift. Try keeping pressure thru the entire foot the next time you do a Back Squat or Deadlift. Watch as you are able to be not only more explosive, you will feel much more powerful.

TUNE IN TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL at njltraining for my next episode on