I recently read a blog by a very successful strength coach in Boston named Mike Boyle. He made a statement in that blog that most are conditioned to immediately act negatively to. He said, about thinking outside the box, that “there is a reason there is a box.” His implication that he made very clear in the rest of the blog post is that the box created a boundary that you want to consider before stepping over. “Thunking outside the box” had been a saying universally championed in almost all facets of life. It sounds good and implies creative thinking. Fair enough. The problem comes from thinking outside an area that most people don’t understand in the first place. In other words, thinking outside a box when you don’t even understand the basics of that box. In fitness, and in personal training  , this can be a relevant  idea. The box is there for a reason.

The box contains the fundamentals that must be MASTERED before exploring outside into unchartered territory. For many, the time it takes to master these sometimes very complicated fundamentals is not appealing.  Some opt for the newest, seemingly innovative training ideas without regard to the “why am I doing this?” question crossing there mind. Thinking creatively and developing innovative training techniques is a great thing, but make sure that the base in which these new ideas are stemming from is strong.

Trainers and trainees, UNDERSTAND THE BOX, however small it may seem, before blindly venturing out of it.
Matthew Pirtle, MA, CSCS  Emergefitnesstraining.com

CLICK ON PICTURE TO READ ARTICLE FROM ST. LOUIS SPORTS MAGAZINE

Nick Dudas CSCS

Have you ever gone to the gym and felt like you have hit a wall, and the progression you once experienced is gone. Most individuals have including myself before learning how to properly periodize. This is known as hitting a performance plateau.

When starting strength and conditioning program the physical adaptations and psychological adjustments can be tremendous. If the program is left unchanged the athlete or individual will experience decreased gains and possibly become over trained.

Periodization was introduced in the 1960’s by a Russian physiologist Leo Matveyev’s. His concept was to divide an overall training program into specific time cycles. The first of these cycles is known as a macrocycle, this consists of the overall program going from one year up to four years. The next is a mesocycle, which last anywhere from several weeks to several months. Last is a microcycle, this last anywhere from one to four weeks. It is detrimental for athletes to have a preplanned strategy consisting of all three cycles to promote long-term training and performance improvements.

As athletes go through out their sports careers the competition becomes more and more intense. Knowing when an athlete should peak in performance is everything. Over time this can only be done through proper periodization. As the microcycles begin you want to start with a preparation phase, it is important in this phase to establish a 1-repetition max on core non-power lifts. This would be lifts such as bench press, military press, back squat, and dead lifts. Once the 1 repetition max is established the preparation phase begins with hypertrophy and endurance. Hypertrophy refers to muscular growth from increasing the cross-sectional area of existing muscle fiber as well as increasing the myofibrils with in the fibers. This can be established from doing sets of 3-5 and repetitions of 10-12. It is important to have a diet that puts to athlete in a surplus of around 500 calories a day to be sure to increase muscle diameter. At the end of the week the athlete should gain a pound of muscle.

After 4-6 weeks of building muscle and endurance athletes want to focus on basic strength. The importance to building strength is to take the muscle the athlete has gained and be able to generate a maximal force at specific velocity. In the basic strength microcycle the volume will drop to 3-5 sets of 4-8 reps. Once the first two microcycles are complete the athlete will want to take a week of lower volume and intensity to recover and prepare for the first transition phase, this is know as a unloading week. Depending on the experience and conditioning of the athlete an unloading week may be used after the first microcycle as well.

Once the unloading week is over the athlete should be ready to begin the strength and power phase. This involves taking the strength gained in the last microcycle and making it explosive. The athlete here will exert maximal forces at much higher speeds. The power microcycle will include not only core lifts but power lifts as well, such as power cleans, snatches, and sports specific plyometrics. The athlete’s intensity will increase and the volume will drop to 3-5 sets of 2-5 reps for 4-6 weeks. This leads us right up to the competition phase where the athlete increases intensity and lowers volume one final time. Everything that has occurred during the training season leads to this point where we want the athlete to peak performance wise on the field.

As the competition period continues the athlete will want to train 1-3 times during the week to maintain strength and power gained in the training season. Athlete’s focus will be turned to more sports specific activities as well to sharpen skills. After the competition period is over it is vital to give the athlete 1-4 weeks of active rest involving recreational activity to allow them to recover from the long training season.

The goal of periodization is to improve the athlete’s overall endurance, hypertrophy, strength, and power throughout the seasons. This will keep the athlete focused at the task at hand, while maximizing their potential on the field. Properly transitioning throughout the cycles will keep the athlete’s workouts from becoming stale. Periodization will also keep them from overtraining or reaching the exhaustion phase. Remember that specificity and timing is everything for an athlete to reach peak performance.

Discipline is huge in the weight loss battle.  And you’re going to have temptations every day.  Someone is always going to want to go out to dinner, or have a drink, or there will be some kind of party, ball game, or BBQ.  It’s not going to be easy, and at times, its going to be really tough; but, it can be done.

Friday night, my parents came into town and they wanted to eat at Red Robin.  This is one of my favorite burger places. When I USED to go there, I would get a pretty basic gourmet burger with cheese on a wheat bun, and the endless fries, and I’d usually have a few onion rings as an appetizer.  I think my meal Friday night had fewer calories than the onion rings alone.  I had a bunless (and cheese-less) burger wrapped in lettuce.  Literally, it was a half a head of lettuce sitting over a plain burger.  I had a side of fruit.  My parents, who were eating burgers and fries looked over at me, and made a comment along the line of “that’s it?”  Yep mom & dad… This.is.it…  It was probably right at my caloric intake for a dinner for me, however, for the first time in my life, I left Red Robin still hungry. 

I was fully recharged Saturday morning when I woke up to see 2lbs down on the scale.  You get over the “I wish I had a real burger” pretty quickly.

That sums up my weekend. Whether it was the cookout or the movie theater, I had temptations, but when you know you don’t want it because you’d fail at the diet after 8 WEEKS, it’s easier to find a plan B.

I’m almost scared that my 60 day challenge is nearly over.  The blog has kept me very accountable on my actions.  I really hope to stick with this diet (after this weekend, and even then, I want 2 of my 3 meals to stay paleo). I have lost 10 lbs, and I FINALLY have a flat stomach… This is a first for me. Some people hold weight in their butt or thighs, others in their arms. I primarily hold it in my belly (thanks dad). I get my frame from him.  I noticed this weekend that my clothes do not fit right anymore, they are either comfortable, or just plain big on me.  Trying on last summer’s clothes is actually fun again.

I believe that my excitement over how I feel and how I look is trumping the fact that I can’t eat some foods I used to enjoy.  However, I do miss eating an actual burrito at Chipotle instead of the bowls.  And I was really craving pita chips and hummus the other day. So if I could keep things that simple and sporatically, I feel I would be ok.

It has been a learning experience the past 8 weeks.  And this time next week, I plan on getting back on track to see what my body can do over the summer…

By the way, I got my Vitamix last week.  I  made “Paleo Ice cream” over the weekend… VERY good… If you ever want recipes for the pancakes, ice cream, etc. Just let me know!

Kimberly,
Emerge Fitness Training

My weight is good, feeling good, sleeping REALLY well… All is good.

I had begun to think about what my “reward” for reaching my goal of this diet would be.  I thought clothes, shoes, a massage… Nada.. the clothes or shoes would be workout clothes.. Whoopie… A massage is something I do too regularly.. SO, I got something I’ve wanted for a while, yet will help me continue to this lifestyle of eating… I got a Vitamix.  If you don’t know what that is, google it… It’s like a blender/juicer/soup and ice cream maker, and several other things all in one.  =CONVIENENCE… Story of my life.

By the way, did you know that McDonalds has THE BEST unsweetened ice tea? I think it even gives QT a run for their money. 

Kimberly,
Emerge Fitness Training

I’m into week six.. By this time, I’m not only feeling a difference, but I’m definitely seeing a difference. I kicked up my workouts and the scale is dropping once again.  My new experiment in the kitchen this week were Paleo Pancakes… Almond Flour, eggs, Cinnamon, vanilla and I added raisins…It makes 4 pancakes, each containing about 18g of protein… I used a small amount of 100% pure maple syrup and they were amazing. I ate two each morning, and I froze the other two.  I’m going to try to pop them in the toaster on a morning that I’m in a hurry. They actually taste pretty awesome, especially without the guilt.

My Paleo diet has become such a normal thing now, that I really don’t think about what day I’m on, or that I’m “deprived” of anything.  It’s just a lifestyle now.  When I go out to eat, I still scan the menu and make clean choices, but I’ve never said that I can’t eat at a certain place because they have nothing for me.  It can be done.

The thing I’m noticing more and more is people are asking me how my diet is going because they see results.  They hear me tell them how great I feel.  It motivates them, and I have had a lot of people, especially when I started, say that they were going to do it too… I haven’t heard out of those people lately, so I’m assuming  they fell off the bandwagon.  Most people don’t like to report failure, only success.  Others have said maybe they aren’t going to try this diet, which is fine, but they are going to clean up their food choices because they want to lose weight. Again, two weeks pass, and not a word.  It’s a vicious cycle that we as trainers see continuously, and it has to be one of our biggest pet peeves… If you want to lose weight, and you’re serious about losing weight, then it is very simple… Either do it, or don’t.

When a client, friend, or even someone on Facebook mentions they are going to lose weight, I can immediately tell if they are going to succeed or fail.  I know in that moment if this “diet” is going to last a week, or even a day. It’s not a gift, it’s just a matter of listening to them.  I can sit for an hour with a client and listen to their “game plan” and hear how they are going to “get serious” and there are SO many times, I really want to reply saying “Not gonna happen.”  If I don’t believe them, how do I expect they believe in themselves that they can do it. Hence this is why trainers can have clients for years that either “yo-yo” with their weight or they just never change at all.

Let’s get one thing straight first… I’m a trainer.  I’m not a therapist and I’m sure as hell not a cheerleader. I can not personally drop the weight for you.  The best way I  can explain what I do as a trainer is that I’m your GPS for your fitness goals.  You tell me your goals, and I set up the best route for you to take to get there.  I can’t drive the car for you. I can’t be there with you 24/7 to tell you what to eat/not eat. 

Fitness goals are 90% mental. Until you’re mentally ready to start a path to your fitness goals, you’re wasting time.  Even with this Paleo Diet, I didn’t wake up one morning and say “I’m going to start this diet today.”  It took me months to mentally prepare for it.  When I go for something I want to go 100% at it.  No one is making me do this diet, I’m doing it for me.  And no one is putting a gun to my head telling me not to eat something off the diet.  I CHOOSE not to eat it because it’s not in my plan.  My “plan” is to succeed.  It’s not always easy.  It’s not always something I want to do at that moment, but I do it because I want to excel far more than I want to fail.

This past weekend Emerge trainers Nicole and Julie, and a few Emerge clients competed in a figure/bodybuilding competition, and they all did very well.  Over the past 16 weeks, if you have been in the gym, you could see their bodies transforming.  They were leaning out, they were showing more muscle definition.  I heard a lot of “I want to look like that” from other clients.  I’ve heard girls point out they want to be thin like me, or get as little as Angie, or be as strong and fit as Beth.  That’s all fine and dandy, but guess what.  If you want to look like that, you HAVE to ”WORK YOUR ASS OFF FOR IT”.  We don’t wake up every morning having the gift of looking like we do.  We diet, we do cardio when we don’t want to, we eat things we don’t always want to.  There are some mornings we have to get up extra early to get in a workout, or stay late after work to fit it in, but we do it because we’re mentally set to succeed.  It’s our priority to reach our fitness goals. 

I love clients who are mentally ready to lose weight.  When they come in for their first session, you know they are serious and passionate about being there.  It’s so exciting because they give 100% and they are so proud to tell you of their diet accomplishments.  They want to work harder and push further.  They are on a mission, and I make sure I’m not in their way because they will plow me over.  To see someone so aggressive with something they want so bad is so contagious.  Even us trainers get on board and it pushes us even harder for ourselves. We truly love helping people.  But I won’t lie, I really love helping those who are ready to help themselves. 

The next time you see a motivating picture on Pinterest, or you see someone with the body shape you’d like to have one day, think to yourself how badly do you want it.  How much are you willing to work to reach your goals.  Are you mentally prepared for good days and bad days, and does succeeding weigh out failure? Have you accepted that it isn’t going to be easy? The greatest risks lead to the greatest rewards. Anyone CAN do it, you just have to make sure your own self believes that you can. 

Kimberly Renoud,
Emerge Fitness Training

Distance runners: LIFT your way to a new PR. 

Jackie Pirtle Hall runs. She runs alot. 
Because she is among the elite in her sport of marathon running, the demands her training puts on her free time can be overwhelming. 

Hall typically runs around 80 miles per week. Unbelievably, this number is dwarfed by some of her peers who run 120-130 miles in a week. 

Running that distance, even really fast, takes a considerable amount of time.

Even if you aren’t at an elite level, running the distances required of marathon or half marathon training can be tough with a busy schedule. 

Hall recognizes this, as she is a high school teacher and a mom of a 3 year old. The time she spends in training must be as productive as they can be. 

As Hall puts it, “every single extra minute I spend training has to yield results, and I only have time for the most productive minutes.”

That means, at a certain point in her mileage for the week, any additional mile run would start to give back smaller returns. 

So, minute for minute, what will give a runner like Hall, after a certain point in her running training, an increased return (in terms of running faster, longer)?

Strength training will. Strength training for endurance athletes has shown tremendous results as far as running economy (how fast energy is burned) and stronger kicks when needed in a race. 

If youve ever witnessed the end of a long distance race, you will notice how most of the runners come in slouched forward with very short strides. This is because the demands on the muscles that keep them upright were beyond the capability of the muscles to do so. 

This posture is not conducive to a comfortable or energy efficient run. In fact, it will drain energy from you, quickly. 

Hall recognized this posture in herself and began a training regimen that focused on the back side of her body, along with the 29 muscles of the core that work together to stabilize her hips and spine. 

Hall also performs some of the classic strength training exercises with strength-endurance in mind. Squats, deadlifts, lunges, and certain power lifts are no stranger to her weekly training regimen. 

The result? Almost 26 minutes shaved off her marathon PR. 




Matt Pirtle, MA, CSCS
Emergefitnesstraining.com

I would like to share with you currect success of a client I have worked with since the start of my career as a Personal Trainer.  As you read you will find that the first half of this blog is written by Bruce Johnson himself, who has shown me and others that life will always throw uncontrollable curve balls, but that with the will and desire to change you can make a difference in the course of your own life.  You just have to be willing to step up and make the change.  So here is a little bit of background on Dr. Bruce Johnson of age 50.

In 2005 I was diagnosed with a stress-related health condition. It grew progressively worse that year and I became bedridden and I remained that way for the remainder of 2005 and all of 2006. The worst aspect of this condition was the neurological pain I experienced.

In 2007 I realized that this condition was not improving and neither was my quality of life. One morning I woke up and decided: I choose to live. I spent 2007 addressing my condition from the inside, reading self-development books that helped me learn the power of a positive mindset.

In February of 2008 I walked into Gold’s Gym and decided I was now going to work on my physical condition. I began working with Matt McCarthy and told him that I didn’t know if it were possible for me to workout but I wanted him to push me as if my life depended upon it. As you can see from the photos, I made some changes.

During 2009 and 2010 I continued working out, on my own, still living with the painful condition. The difference is that I am in control of my thoughts and feelings. I decided that I can and will achieve anything I set out to do. This condition, even today, will not dictate how I live.

In the fall of 2011 I was facing a significant milestone by turning 50. I decided it was time once again to work with Matt and to see how far I could physically progress. Matt has inspired me to work hard and through his careful guidance and expertise, I am on a new journey and perhaps one day you will see me compete.

“My motto: believe in yourself, believe that you can create and accomplish your goals, hold onto to that vision, and you will make it!!”

As a Fitness Professional you work with all sorts of individuals over the years who are inspirational not only to themselves or others, but to yourself.  Bruce has shown me as an indiviaul that there truly is never a goal to small or to large that one can not shoot for or accomplish.  It does take time and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears with great sacrifice to reach any goal in life.  I have enjoyed working with Bruce over the course of my career and seeing the transfermations he has made for himself and the happiness he has developed making him the successful man he is today.

Bruce is currently in the start of his 3rd week of an 8 week push to make make noticable changes towards his diet and his workouts.  Currently Bruce is weighing in as of April 13, 2012 at 174lbs., 16.4% body fat, 28.5lbs of fat mass and 146lbs of lean mucsle mass.  A week prior we took his measurments and Bruce has already dropped 4lbs of total weight, 0.7% body fat, 1.5lbs of fat mass and maintained his lean muscle.

Our goal during these 8 weeks is to build more muscle and to cut most of Bruce’s mid-line fat with the hope to one have hime enter into a Men’s Body Building Competition.  With the change in diet and the 4 days of personal training I have no doubt Bruce will reach his success point and one day be able to compete in a show.

I will keep Bruce’s success updated throughout the course of the next few weeks as he continues to push him self in every which way possible.

Matt McCarthy

Emerge Fitness Training

Due to my lack of exercise, my weight plateaued for the week.  I’m ok with it. I know my sodium has been rediculously high and my activity was minimal.  It will change this week.

I have started to eat out more the past week.  I have stuck to my diet, but talk about temptation… I went to Outback twice.  And I had to stare at the bread twice… The hot, yummy bread.  I won’t lie.. I was hoping that those who were eating it “accidently” cut their finger while slicing the bread.  BUT> The main thing is, I didn’t eat the bread. I stuck to the diet. Yay me.

I went to Qdoba for lunch Friday.  I eyed the sour cream.  All I wanted was a little something extra on my “naked burrito”.  Nope.. Just meat, salsa, veggies, and lettuce… It was satisfying but OH SO SALTY…

Last night, I went to Texas Roadhouse in O’Fallon (It’s better than the one in St. Charles.. Just a side note).  For the first time in 5 weeks, I felt like crying at the sight of food.  I had to eye not only the scrumptious hot rolls and the dangerously amazing honey cinammon butter, but also fried pickles.. I had unsweetened ice tea and am empty plate in front of me while  I had to sit across the table and watch the rolls and pickles be consumed. I wanted to cry because I couldn’t eat any of it.  I watched baskets of those darn things keep going by… The smell was enough to make me want to crawl under the table and hide.  Luckily my food came quickly. The ONLY two things that kept me disciplined was #1… I kept saying to myself, “You’ll be in a calorie defecit rather than a surplus after this meal.” and #2… I looked around… I saw people eating baskets upon baskets of the rolls, and salads with cheese and ranch dressing.  I saw burgers go by and fries and desserts.. But I noticed that 80% of the people in the restaurant were overweight or obese… I had to tell myself that is the difference between me and them.. I could eat that too if I wanted to be overweight, but that would make me more unhappy much longer than this one meal would last.  So I survived. 

Today, I went back to Texas Roadhouse… I didn’t have the rolls.. But I split an order of the fried pickles… I won’t lie, they were very satisfying.  I was content afterwards… No regrets… But I don’t want them anymore. That one time is plenty for me.

Friday I went on a baking craze and  I made a few of my “regular paleo” recipes, but then I attempted a chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Now, I’ll be honest, they are no Mrs. Fields cookies, by any means, but they are soft and fluffy and they do give the satisfaction that I ate something to kill my cookie craving. 

Speaking of cravings, I thought by now, I’d crave pizza, or lasagna, or ice cream or something.  Not at all.  Today, I said of all things I wanted at this moment, was a diet coke.  Just a quick trip fountain Diet Coke with crushed ice… That’s it… I didn’t get it.. I went with unsweetened ice tea…

I booked the hotel for my trip to Kansas City which begins the day I conclude with my “60 day challenge.” It kind of recharged my batteries, making me focus on the fact that I only have 3 1/2 weeks… 25 days left… I can do this easily.  BUT> I need to work on cutting down on my “sugars” (I’ve been consuming a lot of honey and raisins) and nuts and sodium.  BACK to meat and veggies… And frankly, I’m getting tired of meat… I really am… I never thought that I would, but it’s getting old.  There were two nights last week that I skipped dinner altogether because I’d rather eat nothing than choke down another bite of roast or chicken… I’ll snap out of it…

Here’s to a new week, with better decisions…
Kimberly, Emerge Fitness Training

I got back to IL, and the first thing I got to try were jelly beans.  The Starburst kind, AND they are so clever that they make “Only reds” bags… This has always been my weakness.  I had maybe 2 servings and I was already over it.  The sugar burned my teeth. 

We didn’t end up eating until 3pm and by this time, I was starving.  I sat down and I am no kidding, I did not carry a conversation the entire meal unless it was to say “Pass me the…” or “I’ll take more of the….” And I didn’t stop eating.  I took down ham, green beans, corn, a layered salad, Mac n cheese, homemade applesauce… I cleared the plate… Then I did it all again… Two servings… Then mom mentioned dessert and I was all over that. A dessert consisting of angel food cake, strawberries, jello, pudding, ice cream, and cool whip… I don’t remember eating it.  I knew it was a huge piece. and I stuck my fork in it, then I looked up and it was gone.  EVERYTHING tasted AMAZING (sometimes I wish my mom was a horrible cook.. It would help with portion control if the food wasn’t good).

Two things I did differently: I stuck with unsweetened ice tea ALL day.  Normally, I love sweet tea, but I’m so used to unsweetened that I didn’t want to change.  Two: Mom didn’t make her famous sugar cookies. This saved me 500-600 calories (and tons of sugar).

By this time, and after raiding some more candy I had hit a sugar high.  I even told my mom if I had on some running shoes, I could easily go run a mile in a couple of minutes.  I was ready to go… I felt skiddish and antsy. 

By the time I returned back down to St. Charles, I wasn’t feeling so hot.  I felt tired and heavy.  I wasn’t really hungry, but I brought home enough leftovers for one small meal.  I literally had to shove it down because I refused to have any of it in my apartment today. I had no problem falling asleep.

I woke up at 4 am this morning itching and sneezing, and then my nose was running.  My head was congested and I was puffy.  I finally got up and moving at 7am and I looked in the mirror and my eyes were black, my face was so swollen.  All over I felt awful.  The best way I had explained it was that I felt hungover from the chest up.  My allergies were in full gear to take control of me.  I ended up having to take allergy meds. I got on the scale, and I was 4lbs up.  I literally felt like a walking sponge.

The more I moved around this morning, the more I realized my knees were killing me.  I looked down and my legs were so swollen you couldn’t see much of my knee caps! Seriously, this was all from going back to eat dairy and grains?

By the time I got to work, my throat was scratchy and I had no voice, and I was sneezing, a lot. I feel as if I have no energy to work out.  My coworkers even noticed I wasn’t looking “normal.”  My immediate response was “I’m never eating ‘normal’ again.” 

Taking one “meal” off has me wondering how on earth I used to be able to eat like this so often?  No wonder I would drag my feet at working out, so the days I didn’t want to work out because I was thinking it was my seasonal allergies making me sick.  It was the food I was eating the entire time! 

I have never been so thrilled to go back on this diet.  I’m not sure if it’s the diet or just the allergy meds, but the sneezing has stopped and I’m not congested anymore.  I’m still swollen.  I have dropped one pound of water, 3 to go. 

I’m taking in so much fluids, and consuming so much fiber just to get my body “detoxed.”  I’m going to try to get in some extra “sweat sessions” just to get rid of some of this salt and water.  I’m just happy that there aren’t any more holidays in the near future so I won’t be enticed to indulge.

I will blog again this week once I begin to feel more like my healthy self. 

Until next time,
Kimberly
Emerge Fitness Training…