ActiveBlog

Get Your 8 Seconds Back

2012-01-15T15:06:00.001-08:00

Saturday afternoon I watched the last hour of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Qualifier. It’s pretty simple, be one of the top 3 male or female finishers and you qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team and compete at the London Games.

I’ll admit, watching a marathon is a bit boring but the storylines were compelling and tactics were interesting. Plus, I have incredible respect for the amount of hard training that these competitors put in. To compete at that level you have to devote your life to your sport. The 26.2 mile race was done at about a 5:00 minute mile pace for the men and just over 5:00 minutes per mile for the women. Personally, I can’t run one mile at that pace so I’m in awe.

Many of the 6 qualifiers set personal best times for the marathon. The women’s winner, Shalane Flanagan, was running only her second marathon ever after a sucessful career running the 10,000 meters (just over 6 miles). The men’s winner, Meb Keflezighi, is a storied American distance runner who also set a personal best and could have set the event record but he chose (correctly, in my opinion) to grab an American flag and celebrate over the last half mile when he knew the race was won.

But this blog is not about the winners from Saturday. This blog is about 8 seconds. It’s about Dathan Ritzenhein. Dathan is known as “Ritz” and wears that name on his race bib.

Ritzenhein was a high school track legend. He carried that success through college and his professional career. In 2008, he finished 9^th at the Beijing Olympics in the marathon. He was the top American finisher.

Yesterday, at the U.S. Olympic Qualifier he finished 4^th. Nothing is worse than finishing fourth. No medal, no headlines, no Olympic team. Ritz was part of a group of 4 men that separated themselves from the field midway through the race. Around mile 20 he began to lose touch with the leaders. He quickly fell 45 seconds behind Meb, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahman. But Ritz is a true pro. He kept running his race and began to make a move over the last 3 miles. Abdi had fallen back a little and the race for third was on.

Ritz kept closing the gap. 25 seconds behind. 15 seconds behind. 10 seconds behind. He kept coming strong. Abdi was hurting but still had that coveted third spot.

When Abdi crossed the finish line you could see Ritz about 100 meters back. Meb and Hall were already draped in American flags. Tears of joy were streaming down their face. Abdi joined them. The Olympic team was set. And 8 seconds later, Ritzenhein crossed the line. 8 seconds in a 26.2 mile race. That’s it.

I’ve been in that position before albeit on a much lower profile scale. You know a certain time will qualify you for an event, catching someone on the course will get you into the top 3, a goal you've set your sights on appears to be just out of reach, or you are 8 lbs toward that 10 lbs weight loss and you just can't seem to make it. I know what was running through Ritz’s mind. He was replaying every workout, every prep run, every training meal, every chance he had to go faster in training that may have given him the 8 seconds he needed.

We all have fitness goals. If you don’t, you should. Read this blog for tips. And sometimes we fall short of reaching them. That’s your 8 seconds.

Ritzenhein probably thought about workouts where he didn’t give it his all. Keep that in mind as you approach your next workout. Do you want to give away those 8 seconds and miss reaching your goal? Or do you want to grab more weight or stay on the treadmill another 10 minutes or add another workout to your week so that you don’t have to wonder what if?

Like I tell my Spinning class every Sunday morning. Your goals are reached through the work you do when no one is watching.

8 seconds.

Every second counts.

But It's Not Berry Season

2011-11-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

Today we have a guest blogger, Chris Rosenbruch. Chris is a client of mine and during a recent session we were discussing the perception that it is hard to eat fruits and vegetables during the "off-season". I quickly realized that Chris is an expert in this area. Here is her advice for buying produce over the winter months. Also, check out the resources she lists at the end of the article.

BUT IT’S NOT BERRY SEASON!

Last week I stopped in the local supermarket. It was a clear, crisp fall day. As I approached the store, I admired the colorful display of some of nature’s bounty of the traditional autumn harvest; pumpkins, gourds, and cabbages surrounded by chrysanthemums. My expectation was to find the continuation of that bounty inside. Instead, front and center of the store’s produce section, I found….Berries? Yes, a full display of strawberries, blackberries, and red raspberries! They were labeled, ‘Made in USA’. Well, at least they didn’t say ‘Made in China’. Even though the presentation was beautiful, I was suspect. How would they taste? After all, it isn’t berry season. Not here anyway, in Bucks County. As it turns out, they had been shipped from California so there really was no telling just how fresh they were. I hesitated only long enough to consider that their purchase wasn’t worth it. I was confident that they wouldn’t taste like the ripe, sweet berries I had eaten this past June when they were abundant at the local farmer’s market.

The new government food pyramid guidelines suggest we now load our plates half with fresh fruits and vegetables…preferably locally grown. Why? Mainly, because fresh picked produce means the fruit or vegetable is ripe and ready for eating. Ripe means not only will it taste and smell good, it also means that the plant food, picked at its peak, is the most nutrient dense.

We now have access to a global multitude of produce. ‘Variety’ has greatly expanded to the point where we need a mobile dictionary to identify some of the uniquely shaped and textured food forms with the gourmet names found in the produce section of our supermarkets. It’s easy to get lost in the ‘cornfield’.

We live in an agriculturally rich area with an abundance of fresh, ready-to-eat produce grown by farmers who are happy to share their knowledge of each variety of fruit and vegetable. In our area, there are over 60 farms, orchards, and markets cultivating more than 45 different plant foods!

Even though we’re nearing the end of the 7-month fresh fruit and vegetable growing season here in the Northeast, don’t panic. There are still plenty of choices. Here are some of the delicious options:

Fruit: Apples, Cranberries, Grapes, and Pears

Vegetables: Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage (including Brussels Sprouts), Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Kale, , Mushrooms, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Radishes, Spinach, Squash (including Butternut, Buttercup, Delicata, Kaboucha), Swiss Chard, and Turnips (including Rutabaga).

ENJOY!

Sources:

USDA’s MyPlate – www.mypyramid.gov

BucksCountyTaste.com – great website for foodies interested in supporting local businesses

Fresh from Bucks County Farms- A guide to roadside Markets and PYO Farms – call 215-345-3283 for your free brochure.

Winter Sun Farms CSA – offers frozen produce during the 5-month winter season. www.wintersunfarmsgp.com

Cascadian Farms organic frozen produce – www.cascadianfarms.com. Their produce is frozen 3 hours after it’s been picked!

In Defense of Food – an eater’s manifesto – Michael Pollan

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – a year of food life – Barbara Kingsolver

Your Own Reality Show

2011-11-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

Your Own Reality Show

Over the last 15 years reality TV has provided you with endless hours of guilty-pleasure entertainment or completely ruined the medium of television, depending on your point of view.

From the early days of MTV’s Real World (yes, I watched the first season) to the Kardashians (never seen it and probably couldn’t pick Kim out of a lineup if I had to) we have been provided with 24x7 access to EVERYTHING. We’ve seen Jessica Simpson ponder Chicken of the Sea and The Donald fire countless B-listers.

If a reality star has done it, we’ve seen it.

Imagine if you were starring in your own reality TV show. What if the eyes of the world were on you all day long? What would you do with your leftover Halloween candy? Would you sneak that late night bowl of ice cream? Would you tell your personal trainer about your cupcake addiction if you knew he/she could see it on TV later that night?

The answer is you might do those things, but if you did you would own the action and the consequences much better than you do now.

Here are a few tips for reaching your fitness goals by playing the part of the reality star:

1) Communicate your weight loss and fitness goals to all your friends. Let them know what you are trying to accomplish. Some won’t care but enough of them will that you will get energy from their encouragement and they will hold you accountable by regularly asking how it’s going.

2) Imagine that there is a live feed camera in your kitchen. When you select your foods from the fridge think about that camera. Would you want everyone to see you eat your poor food choices?

3) Journal your workouts online through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Let your friends know what you did for your workout today.

4) Log your food journal on a public site like a blog. Own up to your goals and what you are doing to fulfill them.

5) Start doing it this week!!!

Be well,

Paul

Paleo Part 3 - The Good, the Bad and the Great Bonk

2011-09-26T12:55:00.001-07:00

Paleo – The Good, the Bad and the Great Bonk

It’s been about two months since I began eating Paleo. Eating what?? If you missed the first two blog posts about this, check them out here.

I’m Going Paleo: What, How, Why?

Paleo Eating: The First 10 Days

So how is it going? I’ve been getting this question a lot from clients, boot campers and friends.

Let’s look at this in terms of the good, the bad and the ugly (or the Great Bonk).

The Good. Always start with the good stuff. I switched to Paleo and immediately saw significant positive changes in my body composition, physical appearance and energy.

I dropped 9 lbs in the first few weeks. It was all fat loss. My body fat % dropped from about 13 to around 8.5%. Most of it was in the lay around my gut.
That change in body comp led to a leaner, stronger look that was noticed by my colleagues and friends. It was without a doubt the leanest and strongest I’ve ever looked.
My energy level improved as did my sleeping habits. No more late night carb binges and no more bloated feeling throughout the day. I woke up ready to go.
And without getting into too much detail, my digestive system profoundly changed for the better.

The Bad. Any significant change to your eating habits is accompanyied by challenges. For me, the nutritional changes were not too bad. I thought giving up sweetened drinks would be hard but it wasn’t. Unsweetened iced tea became my drink of choice. Eliminating dairy was easier than I thought as well. I replaced milk with almond or coconut milk. No problem. My grain and processed carb consumption was also low.

But there are challenges that have made it tough to stick to Paleo.

Weight loss is not a goal of mine. Losing the 9 lbs put my under 200 for the first time in 20 years. There is something about being under that number that concerns me. Even though I felt fine I thought I needed to eat more or add more carbs to up my weight.
My friends are not necessarily eating Paleo. I have determined that keeping granola and ice cream in the house for my girlfriend when she visits is not something I can do. If those two items are around I eat them, plain and simple.
It can be expensive to buy whole foods all the time. I found about a 25% increase in my food budget. I believe it is worth the investment but it is something to be aware of.
Meal prep takes time. My schedule permits me time to prep meals on some days and no time on other days. I have friends who do all their meal prep on Sundays for the week. I have not gotten to that level of nutritional organization yet. Still working on it.

The Ugly (or The Great Bonk). I tend to do a lot of endurance events. 5+ mile runs and 50+ mile bike rides can be weekly things. On one of my first Paleo-fueled training sessions I learned an important lesson.

I was prepping for a Run/Canoe/Bike/Run event with my training partner Michelle. One of our early training sessions was a 40 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run. The ride started well. We did the first 25 miles at a strong pace. I had fueled up on bananas and other fruit in the morning but I was not taking any energy bars (lots o’ carbs) or energy gels (even more simple carbs) because they weren’t Paleo.

Michelle challenged me to do the last 8 miles at race pace. That’s where the trouble began. We rode hard and with one mile left I felt some weakness in my legs. I stopped at a grocery store and grabbed two pears and quickly downed them to get me through the run.

The start of the run was ugly. I was slow and had no rhythm. A mile in Michelle recognized there was a problem and suggested we turn back. “Nope, let’s keep going.” Bad idea. I bonked (athletes term for running out of energy) bad. In one fell swoop I got light headed and the world began to shimmer like an impressionist painting. I slowed to a walk. Michelle stuck with me. And for the two miles back to the car I was walking slowly. Any effort to jog lasted only 10 seconds. My body was desperately looking for my energy to burn and I had not been giving it enough. I had never experienced a bonk like that before. I knew that going forward if I expect to do long efforts I need to change up my Paleo plan.

The Bottom Line. I have made some tweaks to my Paleo eating. I keep a supply of natural energy bars on hand and take energy gels with me on longer events. I also have become less rigid with my Paleo eating to help stop the weight loss. I am not opposed to an occasional pasta meal or some desserts. However, that has led me to be a little too laxed lately. I am still trying to strike a balance.

Look for more updates in the future.

It’s what you do on the tough days that matters

2011-09-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

It’s what you do on the tough days that matters.

Saturday I participated in my favorite event of the year. It is a two-person team triathlon that features a ¾ mile run into a 1.5 mile canoe into a 14-mile bike ride into a 5K run. Both partners need to stay together throughout the race.

The weather was accomodating considering the massive amounts of rain we’ve had in Philadelphia the last two months. Skies were clear, the course was cleaned up, temps were mild. My partner and I were well rested and ready to go. As were several of my other friends who were doing the race. We were all ready to post our best times, maybe get a good result and possibly be on the podium for our division.

But you never know what might happen. Did the weather change? No. Did someone get dumped out of the canoe? Maybe, but not that I saw.

No, my good friend and former race partner sprained his ankle a quarter mile into the ¾ mile run. Not sure what happened but with a large group running down a narrow path it doesn’t take much to turn a perfect day for a race into a dissappointing day where you and your partner can’t finish.

The thing is, the “can’t finish” part doesn’t come into my friend Mike’s vocabularly. At 63, he is as fit as the fittest 30-year-olds I know. I can’t keep up with him on a bike. I’d like to think I can out run him but secretly I never enter running events with him so he doesn’t have the opportunity to prove me wrong.

Mike and his partner finished the run to the canoe, proceded to paddle to the 8^th best time and then got on the bikes and worked their way up to 6^th overall. They averaged 17.4 mph. And one of them had a sprained ankle.

Then came the 5K. 3.1 miles of running. That just wasn’t going to work. So they walked it. It took them almost an hour. One team after another passing them. Teams they knew they would have beaten.

Mike hid the pain long enough to run the last few hundred yards to the finish line with his partner. They would have finished in the top 5 if it weren’t for the injury. They finished 50^th.

The point here is not “gut it out no matter how bad the pain.” I don’t believe in that. There is no need to risk permanent injury. Mike assessed the issue and decided to keep going. He knows his body. His partner stuck with him.

The point is anyone can have a great day when the conditions are perfect and there are no obstacles in your way. Sunny skies, well-paved roads, nice bikes, etc. The question is, how do you respond when something doesn’t go according to the perfect script? Do you pack it in and say “wait till next year”? Do you let it ruin your whole race? Or do you just work harder on the canoe and the bike knowing that the run is going to suffer?

The sweet justice is that they still qualified for 2^nd in the Masters Division and collected a medal. Goes to show you what happens when you finish.

Popeye, Olive Oil and Roger Federer

2011-09-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

The last major tournament of the professional tennis season is concluding this weekend at the U.S. Open in New York.

Roger Federer has made his way into the semi-finals. That is no surprise. Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player of all time. His 16 major titles including 6 Wimbledon championships and 5 consecutive U.S. Opens have made him a familiar name even to tennis newbies.

Take a few minutes to watch part of a Federer match this weekend. Not just for his grace, quickness, agility and total command of the sport. No, I actually want you to look at Federer himself. In case you can’t see a match this weekend, I’ve included a picture below.

What I want you to notice is the massive difference in the size of his left arm (bicep and forearm) and his right arm. His right arm is muscled and thick like Popeye’s. His left arm is thin and wiry like Olive Oil’s. You would never think the two arms belong to the same person.

Federer is right-handed, meaning he hits all of his shots with the racket in his right hand. For a professional player that means he is hitting literally thousands of shots every day with his right arm and doing little, if anything, with his left arm.

Federer has a huge muscular imbalance. In general, muscular imbalances are a bad thing. They cause a person to rely on the stronger muscle set and that can lead to problems in other parts of the body. For example, a person with a muscle imbalance that favors their right arm will tend to carry heavy things (a briefcase or a piece of luggage) with the stronger arm. This forces core muscles to be overused to support lifting with the right side of the body, it causes muscles in the upper back and neck on the right side to be overused and it can lead to shifting of the hips while walking. All of these can create muscle imbalances throughout the body.

For many professional athletes, imbalance is common. Baseball pitchers, golfers and others repeat the same motion over and over throughout the year to the point where they couldn’t possibly spend enough time using the opposite arm to correct the imbalance.

As a non-professional athlete, however, you need to work to keep your muscles in balance. Here are some simple tips to keep your body evenly strong and looking symmetrical.

1) Use dumbbells for strength exercises. Using machines or barbells permits one side of the body to push harder than the other. Using dumbbells isolates the same amount of weight in each hand and forces symmetrical movement during the exercise.

2) Practice performing exercises standing on one leg (once you’ve mastered the exercise on two legs). This forces each leg to strengthen and improve balance independently of the other leg.

3) When doing an exercise like a lunge, make sure you are completing a full range of motion with each stride. Many people will limit their range of motion on the weaker side.

4) Always choose an equal amount of weight for each arm when using dumbbells. Do not increase the weight until you are able to do a full range of motion with great form on each side. The strong arm may be ready to progress to a heavier weight but in the long run it is best to keep both arms progressing together.

5) Take some time off from your sport during the off-season. If you do participate in a sport that requires emphasis on a one-sided motion, make sure that during the off-season you work to bring your body back into balance. Baseball pitcher Barry Zito begins working on exercises to get his body back in balance immediately after the season ends.

If you have questions please contact Active Personal Fitness at 267.626.7478. We offer in-home personal fitness training and group exercise classes throughout Central Bucks.

If you are an area tennis player, make sure you visit 40 Love Pro Shop in Doylestown. You can earn a $75 gift certificate for our classes or personal training if you become a regular at their shop!!

Be well,

Paul

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

Join Me in "The Rice Experiment"

2011-08-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

This week's fat loss tip of the week has to do with the messages and energy we put out to the world.

Ok, this is going to be fun. Fun for me, fun for you, fun for your whole family. Start it today.

A couple of colleagues of mine have done "The Rice Experiment" at their homes and offices and replicated the results. I am skeptical. But I am going to try it and you are going to try it with me.

It is simple to replicate and the results are astounding. All you need is rice (make it white rice because you shouldn't be eating it anyway) and some patience. Here’s how it works:

1. Place 1 cup of Cooked Rice into two separate containers. Place a lid on each.

2. Mark one container with a positive phrase. I used “Happy Rice”

3. Mark the other container with a negative phrase. I used “Stupid Rice”

4. Place them in your kitchen (not the fridge) at least 12 inches apart.

5. Once or more every day say aloud to the rice container the phrase written on it. I know this sounds nuts but just try it. For example, every time you go into the kitchen say “Thank You Rice” to one bowl and “Stupid Rice” to the other. Try to say it from a place of gratitude (thank you) and a place of anger and frustration (stupid). And don't be afraid to really let loose with praise or pent up anger. But direct it to the correct bowl.

Do not open the containers for 21 days.

I am not going to reveal the expected results to you. I'll let it be a surprise.

Remember, focus positive energy and phrases to the Happy Rice and negative energy and phrases to the Stupid Rice.

You fat loss tip of the week is to use positive energy and phrases when talking about your weight loss and fitness for the next 21 days as part of The Rice Experiment.

Rather than:

"I can't lose weight" say "I am having a hard time losing weight." (One of my clients has a family rule that "I can't" is not allowed.

"I can't run a mile" say "It is a challenge for me to run a mile."

Now don't get me wrong. I am not an advocate for "The Secret" or just say positive stuff and life will be great. My experience is that a positive attitude helps but working your ass off is far more beneficial when it comes to getting the life you want.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

"Work harder, get stronger, go faster....everyday."

267.626.7478

Paleo eating -- First 10 days

2011-08-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Getting Started with Paleo

I’m 10 days into my paleo way of eating. If you missed it, I decided to begin eating ‘like the cavemen/cavewomen’ in order to improve my health and workout performance. Basically, it’s meat, fish, vegatables, fruit and nuts for me from now on. Check out my earlier blog for more details.

I’m happy to say that one week in I am still standing upright, getting in good workouts (with one exception), and have lost 5 lbs. More on that later.

First off, I should explain a few things that make this transition easier for me than for most people. I am a fitness trainer by profession. I spend a lot of time reading and talking to people about health, fitness and nutrition. The knowledge I gained from this industry already had me part way to paleo. For example, I cut down on pasta years ago, I also experimented with many different fruits and vegatables that I never ate as a kid (corn and green beans in my house growing up – most likely from a can), but I still had some problem areas.

Let’s dig into those problem areas now, shall we.

Sweetened beverages – mainly iced tea which I drink all the time. Over the years I went from sweetening with splenda to sugar to eventually a tablespoon of honey when I make it on my own. I also would stop at the local convenience store and buy sweetened tea sweetened with ‘real sugar’ (as if that somehow makes it better) to the tune of about 36g per serving.

Dairy – Since I was a kid I have been addicted to milk. I could drink it non-stop all day. Unfortunately, I always felt milk was better if paired with a cookie, brownie, muffin or granola. I have to admit that the main reason I ate sweets up until a few weeks ago was because of this milk/sweet pairing I loved so much. I ditched milk for soy milk a couple months back and the addiction got worse. I was drinking a half gallon a day. And chocolate soy milk…it might as well have been a million dollars.

Legumes – I ate beans, mostly black beans, as a protein source. I’m a big fan of Mexican food so a wheat wrap with beef or chicken, salsa, and black beans was a staple. They are gone now but I can still make a great burrito paleo style.

So how did the first 10 days go

Armed with “Everyday Paleo” by Sarah Fragoso I went to the local Wegman’s to fill my pantry and fridge with the essentials. My next blog with talk about the essentials and what I did with the non-paleo stuff I had in the house.

Breakfast has been easy. In the past I would eat 3 eggs for breakfast or granola with milk. The granola and milk are gone. Now it is 3 eggs, an avacado, maybe some virginia ham, a banana or other fresh fruit and coconut or almond milk.

Lunch is usually leftovers from a prior night’s dinner (beef, chicken, fish and veggies). I also add in some almonds or peanuts. If I’m not in the mood for leftovers I go with a burger loaded up with fresh tomato, onion, greens and spices.

Dinners have been awesome. Sirloin Dijon, Moroccan Chicken, Asparagus-stuffed Chicken Breasts, Coconut Shrimp. I love them all (although I overcooked the sirloin a little.) What I have noticed most is I am not hungry in the evenings any more. If I do get a sweet tooth and satisfy it with an orange or cheeries or strawberries.

Did I ‘cheat’?

I ate 95% paleo for 10 days and I expect to eat 90% paleo over the long haul. I don’t believe in restricting foods. I do believe that once you eat clean and realize how certain foods make you feel lousy you will voluntarily say no to them. Over the first 10 days I had a scoop of ice cream at Freddy Farms after mini-golf, a few handfuls of chocolate granola, and a small slice of strawberry cheesecake….all guilt free.

In my upcoming blogs you’ll hear:

How to setup your pantry and fridge for paleo eating
My brutal bike ride and why paleo for endurance athletes might be troublesome
What changes I am seeing in my workouts and body composition

Fat Loss Tip of the Week - Write it down

2011-08-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

This week it is simple and straightforward. The single most important thing you can do if you have a goal to lose weight is to write down everything you eat and drink. Everything. Even better, show it to someone on a regular basis to help hold you accountable.

One of my boot campers was frustrated because she was getting stronger and more fit but not losing weight. My suggestion was to start a food journal. Three weeks later she is down 6lbs and looking great. As long as she keeps going the weight will keep coming off.

So right now take a blank piece of paper, create 5 columns, label them "day", "time", "food", "amount", and "why I ate." The "why I ate" column should be filled with terms like "hungry", "bored", "stressed", "post-workout", "watching tv". This will give you an idea of what activities cause you to eat.

Send me an email at getfit@ActivePersonalFitness.com and I will email you a food journal for you to fill out. Get after it.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Two Deep Breaths and Belief

2011-07-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Two Deep Breaths and Belief

Do you believe?

Some people believe in magic, some in God, some in ghosts. Some believe this is the year their team will win the Super Bowl. Some people believe this is the week they’ll win the lottery.

But that’s not what I’m talking about.

I want to know if you believe in yourself.

After 5 years as a personal trainer I can tell you that many people don’t believe in themselves. They begin a lot of sentences like this….

“I can’t…”

I can’t lose weight.
I can’t find time to workout.
I can’t jog.

This may be you. This may be someone you know.

As a trainer it is my job to get the most out of my client’s potential. The best way to do this is to make them BELIEVE in themselves. The process can be slow.

Some people think they “can’t do pushups.” We give them a version of a pushup they can do. Some people think they “can’t walk briskly for 10 minutes.” We get them to walk for 11 minutes, then 12, then 15. Some people think they “can’t lift a 10 lb dumbbell” because “Jillian only has me use 3 lb weights on her DVD.” Then we have them pick up 5 lb dumbbells, then 8, then 10, etc.

Why don’t they believe in themselves? They don’t believe because they’ve never tried it before or they tried it once and failed. So how do you begin to believe?

The first step is TAKE TWO DEEP BREATHS. Really, this works. Breathing can help you calm down, clear your head, and refocus on what you need to do.

If you are ready to start minute 11 of your walk and you are tired and think you can’t go on, stop and take two deep breaths and continue.

Two weekends ago a group of 8 of my boot campers did a 5K Mud Run. The run was over a hilly course and featured 8 obstacles including scaling a 5 foot wall, climbing over an 8 foot high cargo net and Army crawling through several deep mud pits.

Before the event I heard…

“I can’t run 5k.”
“I can’t scale that wall.”
“I can’t trudge through the mud.”

Yet every one of us tried. Every one of us finished. And most of us are ready to do another one.

Every one of us knew it would be tough but with two deep breaths and a belief that we could do it we finished. Now all of the sudden “I can’t” is replaced with “I did.”

I’m Going Paleo – What, Why and How?

2011-07-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Your reaction to me saying “I’m going paleo” probably falls into one of four categories.

“Really, that’s interesting, tell me more.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“What or where is a paleo?”

“Who cares?”

This series of blog posts are aimed at all of you. The “who cares” contingent probably won’t read for long but might learn something when they do read. The rest are likely to have your questions answered while you learn about the how’s and whys of choosing to eat paleo.

I will be learning along with you, in real time, while experiencing what if any impact it has on my health, strength, mood, endurance, stress, speed, outlook on life and many other factors. My intent is to share with you what it means to eat paleo, from shopping to cooking to the inevitable 'cheating'. I hope you enjoy the read and, if it is right for you, join me.

Let’s get the first question out of the way. What is paleo?

It is a way of eating that mimics our hunter-gatherer ancestors based on the notion that humans have, over the millenia, genetically adapted to eating meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. Our modern diet, just a blip on the historical timeline, based primarily on grains, legumes, dairy products, processed foods and refined sugars predispose us to sickness. Basically, our bodies are used to us eating like a caveman/cavewoman so we should do so.

Why am I choosing to go paleo?

In February I will be going to the C.R.A.S.H. B World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston. My goal is a top 100 finish in the Open category and a top 10 in the Masters Division.

Primarily paleo is an experiment for me. Some of the fittest people I know are strict paleo followers. They choose it to stay lean and fit but they probably would be that way anyway given the amount of effort they put into their workouts. More importantly to me, eating paleo improves their results. Whether it is strength, cardio capacity, or race times…by most measures they get better, stronger and faster.

I believe eating paleo will give me greater capacity to go faster and finish better at the event. As a by-product, I want to see and feel the health benefits of paleo eating.

In upcoming posts I'll discuss my pre-paleo nutrition and let you know how I got started. This isn't the first attempt, just the first serious attempt at "going paleo". Wish me luck.

The Push Away Diet

2011-07-10T18:43:00.001-07:00

The Dukan Diet

The Atkins Diet

South Beach

Nutrisystem

The Zone

and now....The Push Away Diet

What's the difference between them. It's simple. The last one works for everyone and lasts a lifetime. The secret...before you feel full push yourself away from the table.

You can't buy a book about the Push Away Diet. You can't download an app for it. The diet is just a way of being.

I read this approach from Mike Boyle, one of the foremost authorities on strength training and nutrition in the industry. Here's how you do it (borrowing liberally from a blog by my colleagues Chris and Kara Mohr):

1. Get out of the habit of cleaning your plate. Always leave some food on it.

2. When you eat out, ask for half of your meal to be put in a doggy bag BEFORE they serve the meal to you.

3. At a party or social gathering, don't stand around at the buffet, grill, or kitchen.

Three simple steps. Start today.

Do you need motivtation? Accountability? Some one to nudge you? Claim your complimentary fitness consultation and evaluation (an $87 value) today. Visit our website to sign up.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonal Fitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Oh no, this is going to be my toughest client yet

2011-06-14T14:25:00.001-07:00

It can be unsettling when a routine doctor visit produces a stern warning. That's what happened last week. The problem: the patient is overweight. The doctor said "overweight", I heard "chubby". The patient needs to lose 2 pounds and he's not happy about it.

My dog Lou is a 10-year-old bichon-frise (see pic attached). He's about 14" tall and weighs in a 27 lbs (I'm not sure what his BMI is or if that even matters for dogs). Bichons are normally under 16 lbs but he and his brother Armstrong were always bigger than the rest of the breed. But Armstrong, named after Lance, is the athlete. His 27 lbs is muscle. Lou....not so much...I'll admit he's a little squishy.

We offered all the normal protests:

"He's just big-boned."

"We really don't eat too many treats."

"We watch our portion sizes."

"Maybe that scale is wrong."

But, alas, the vet saw through our excuses. She stood firm. Lose 2 lbs.

The advice from the doctor is pretty straight-forward. You have heard this before. Reduce the number of treats and get in more walks. Basically, reduce calories in and increase calories burned.

I love Lou and I want him around for a long time. As a family member I know he needs my support to get trim.

Here's the plan:

- Reduce his treats to two per day.

- Make sure he is not getting more than his prescribed portion at breakfast and dinner.

- Increase the frequency and length of his walks.

If you have someone in your family who needs your support to make a positive change in their health then step up and help make it easier for them to achieve their goal. We offer in-home personal training programs with male and female trainers. We also conduct a great boot camp in Chalfont for all ability levels. Check us out at www.ActivePersonalFitness.com or call 267.626.7478.

We'll keep you posted on Lou's progress.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

So you don't want to be overweight

2011-06-12T04:42:00.001-07:00

According to research by The NDP Group, a leading market research company, only 24% of households plan all of their dinners in advance while 71% plan some dinners in advance.

That means a majority of you have no idea what you're going to eat until mealtime. Then you get home late, you're rushing to a kid's game, you have an errand to run, etc. and you throw together the quickest meal you can with nothing ready.

So what happens?

You reach into the freezer, pull out the frozen, processed, chicken nuggets with all the calories and sodium and pop it into the microwave. Or worse yet, you order take out. (Actually, I'm not sure which is worse.)

Three actions can help you avoid the extra weight gain from grabbing whatever is available for your meals.

1. Plan - Have a list ready of 10 easy meals you can choose from and determine which night you will have which meal. 10 gives you the opportunity to add variety and change things up.

2. Shop - Go to the grocery store and make sure you have fresh, easily prepared foods on hand.

3. Prepare - Spend some time on Sunday preparing meals ahead of time. All the meals for the week can be created in advance saving you time and still keeping the great flavor.

Plan, shop and prepare will save you time, money and keep your waistline right where you want it.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Ladies, you won't look like Arnold

2011-06-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

"I don't want to look like a man."

I have heard this statement from every female client I have worked with in 5 years as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor .

After years of using nothing but 5 lbs dumbbells they come to me to help them get lean, toned arms. As soon as I start to introduce 10 and 15 lbs dumbbells I get the look. Then I hear, "I don't want to look like a man."

Here is a short video from CrossFit Obsession.

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/WOD110606_AllisonNYC_SnatchBalance.wmv

Allison has been CrossFitting for several years. In the video she starts by pressing her body weight (@ 119lbs) over her head using a lift called a snatch balance. By the end of the video she is using over 170lbs.

What "looks like a man" is very subjective. You may think she is too muscular. But I think we can agree she is not muscle bound and certainly does not resemble Arnold. And if you met her in street clothes you would likely say, "I wish I had arms and abs like that." Unless, of course, your arms and abs already look that good.

Take a couple minutes and see the results of hard work and proper technique.

Disclaimer #1: A snatch balance is a highly advanced lift. Do not attempt this lift without professional coaching. The type of exercise is not the point. The point is the amount of weight she is able to lift.

Disclaimer #2: Allison is NOT a client of mine and I am not affiliated with CrossFit Obsession.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

CrossFit Level 1 Instructor

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

The First 5 Bites

2011-05-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

Dining out can be a pleasurable experience. No preparation, no cleanup, wonderful food prepared in ways you've never considered. Throw in good conversation and the night is perfect.

A recent trend in dining out can tell us a lot about how we should eat. Tapas-style eateries are increasingly popular. Featuring small plates of creative dishes, these restaurants deliver amazing combinations of foods in small quantities to satisfied patrons. It is common in these popular places to share 4 or 5 dishes with friends over a long, slow eating experience.

So what does this tell us about how we should eat? Grant Achatz, chef at America's best new restaurant Alinea in Chicago, built his restaurant based on "the flavor of the first 5 bites." Research tells us that after the first 5 bites of a food we experience a diminishing taste sensation. Your taste buds grow numb to the flavor you are experiencing. Your food physiologically doesn't taste as good after the first 5 bites. Beginning on bite number 6 you are simply eating for calories, not for flavor and enjoyment.

Lessons for You

Eat smaller portion sizes and savor the flavor of the 5 bites
Eat a variety of foods within one meal but only a small amount of each
Use fresh spices and rubs to bring your food to life with flavor without adding additional calories.
Eat with family or friends sitting around a table (not on a couch), without a tv blaring in the background and converse. It will slow down your eating and promote proper portion control.
Learn to cook even if it is just 3 or 4 dishes. It is very hard to lose weight when you are not responsible for the food preparation.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

How much should I eat?

2011-05-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

How much should I eat each day?

My clients frequently ask me how much I should eat each day. They are typically framing the question based on the number of calories they should consume.

Calories are only part of the story. Yes, calorie restriction can aid in weight loss and physiology tells us we must create a 3,500 calorie deficit (through reduction of calories consumed or an increase in calorie-burning exercise) to lose one pound. But if you’ve read my blog long enough you know that I am much more concerned with what types of macronutrients (carbs, fats and proteins) you eat than how much of them.

I try to follow The Zone as my nutrition guide. The general concept is to balance each meal with 30% of the calories coming from protein, 30% from fat and 40% from carbohydrates. Several meals (5-6) should be spread out every 3-4 hours throughout the day.

So how much should I eat?

We base this determination on how much protein you should consume each day. Once you know your suggested protein consumption it is easy to determine how much fats and carbs to consume. To determine how much protein you should eat do the following:

Weight yourself and record the number.
Determine your body fat %. Contact me for a complimentary fitness assessment which includes a body fat measurement or contact your physician or wellness provider.
Determine your lean body mass. If you weight 200lbs and you determine your body fat % is 20% then your body is made up of 40lbs of fat tissue and 160lbs of lean mass (muscle, plasma, skin, bones, etc.) The formula is:

Lean body mass = Weight – (Weight * Body Fat %)

Determine your activity level and assign it a value between 0.7 (moderate daily activity) and 1.0 (serious athlete). If you are not sure lean toward the 0.7.
Calculate the amount of protein needed as follows:

Grams of daily protein = Lean body mass (from step #3) * Activity level (from step #4). So if you have 160lbs of lean body mass and do moderate daily activity then you need to consume @ 112 grams of protein per day.

Thanks, Paul, but could you give us another example?

Sure. We have a person who weighs 125lbs with a body fat percentage of 23.1%. Her lean body mass is 125 – (125 * .231) which is 125 – 28.9 which equals 96.1 lbs of lean body mass.

As a mom of 2 kids and having a full time job she fits in 3-4 intense workouts per week. I would put her activity level at 0.8.

So, 96.1 * .8 equals 77. She should be eating approximately 77 grams of protein per day. A gram of protein is 4 calories so about 308 calories a day should come from protein.

This also means she should be consuming 77 grams of fats and that translates to 693 calories from fat per day. There are 9 calories in each gram of fat.

Finally, because carbs should be in a 4:3 ratio with protein and fat, her carbs consumptions should be 103 grams per day. Carbs are 4 calories per gram so her calories from carbs are about 412.

Total daily calorie consumption is about 1413.

These numbers are exact to show you the math but remember they are just guidelines and should be rounded off and approximated. Don’t become a slave to weighing your food or counting every last calorie all the time. Focus on getting more protein in your body and hitting your protein number each day. You’ll start to see the results you want.

First and foremost, start each meal or snack with protein as the main visual and add healthy carbs and fats around it.

And don’t forget….

The most important thing is WHAT you eat. Your carbs should be low on the glycemic index. That means limit rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Fats should be the good fats you get from avacados, olive and canola oils, and most nuts.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Final Prep for the Broad Street Run 10-miler

2011-04-26T10:21:00.001-07:00

My favorite race is coming up on Sunday and several of my clients are giving it a shot. Today I am sharing with you the final instructions for them as they prepare for Sunday. Remember, if you have an upcoming distance race I can provide in-person or online training plans to help you reach your goals.

I hope you had a good final long run this past weekend. For the rest of the week you should do moderate total body workouts until Thursday and one last relaxed run on Friday. No more than 3 miles. If you want to do a light run on Saturday that is fine to but that is just to stay loose. None of your workouts this week are going to impact your overall fitness or time enough to make a big difference on Sunday. You really just want to continue to feel “ready”. That means well-stretched and active.

Things to remember for Sunday.

Eat something small in the morning. A piece of fruit, energy bar like a Clif Bar, or a small portion of yogurt/granola. It should be something you eat before other runs. Rule #1 – you don’t want to try something new on race day!!
The weather looks good for Sunday. High of 68 but you’ll be done before that kicks in. Better to underdress. You’ll warm up soon enough. If you go long sleeves make sure it is breathable and comfortable.
Arrive early. Packet pick-up should be the day before so you’ll have all your stuff. But you want to get there early enough to find parking, your corral and get warmed up. There is a suggested warm-up below. Also, the porta-potty lines are LONG so you want to make sure you save about 20 minutes to stand in line if you need to go before the race.
30,000 people is a lot. You will be moving slowly the first mile and a half through no fault of your own. If you are really focused on your goal time then try to start at the beginning of your corral or in the corral before your assigned one. That way you “should” be with people who are faster than you and they won’t hold you up. If you start too far back you’ll have a frustrating beginning.
There are digital timers at every mile marker. Remember to note the time as you go under the start line (if you start in a middle corral it could be 15 minutes before you get under it). Subtract that time from the time on the digital display to know how you are doing.
Run toward the center of the road. Running on the side of the road for long distances can cause your knees and ankles to hurt because of the slant in the road.
After you settle in to your rhythm and your goal pace, find 4 or 5 people up ahead who are at that pace and either match them or if you’re feeling spunky try to catch them gradually. Every mile maker find a new group of 5 people up ahead to follow. If you pick the wrong person and they are not going fast enough just pass them by and find someone else up ahead.
Don’t wait to eat and drink. Get water within the first two miles and continue throughout the race. It is hard to over hydrate with the little cups they give you but it is easy to under hydrate and then you can’t catch up. I don’t drink well while running so I step to the side, drink and then start up again. It only takes 5 seconds to do that.
When you enter the Navy Yard you’re not done. There is still a quarter to a half mile to go. It’s easy to get the feeling that you are finished but resist the urge to coast.
Enjoy the atmosphere. There will be people lining the streets, bands playing, the mayor will be out near city hall. Take it all in. This is the funnest 10 miles you’ll ever run!!

I hope you have a great run! I’m excited for you! Let all of your energy out. Broad Street always feels easier than any other distance run. I’m going to be in New Orleans for the Jazz and Music Fest or I would be running too. I’ll text you later Sunday to see how it went.

Warm-up

I suggest a full body warm-up prior to the race. You should get your heart rate elevated a little and open up your lungs before your first stride. Go through this once when you get there and then a couple more times as the race approaches.

10 arm circles forward and back

10 torso rotations with your arms out to the side

20 body weight squats

25 jumping jacks

20 high knees

20 pushups (yes, you’ll be the only one doing pushups to warm up but we need to get your heart rate up, your upper body moving and your core muscles activating)

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Fat Loss Tip of the Week from Active Personal Fitness

2011-04-19T18:54:00.001-07:00

This week's tip talks about a short cardio interval workout that will burn calories, amp up your heart rate and give you a great post-workout calorie burn. All you need is 10-15 minutes and some room to move.

Head outdoors to a park or a local track. You can also do this on a treadmill, elliptical or indoor rower.

1. Start a clock.

2. At the beginning of every minute go as hard as you can for 30 seconds.

3. Rest for the remainder of the minute.

4. Begin the next round at the start of the next minute.

5. Repeat for 10 to 15 rounds.

You can measure your progress on a track or at a park by stopping your run and restarting at the same spot. The more distance you cover the more work you've accomplished.

If you are a beginner, then power walk for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds each round.

If you are advanced, then sprint all out for 20 seconds and rest for 40 seconds each round.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."
Facebook | Blog | YouTube

Your Pushups For Charity questions answered

2011-04-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

We are less than two weeks away from the Central Bucks Pushups for Charity Challenge. If you haven't registered already now is the time to reserve your spot.

When is the event?

Saturday, April 16th at 10am

North Branch Park on Park Ave. in Chalfont

(adjacent to the New Britain Township Bldg)

Who does it benefit?

All proceeds go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project, a national organization that provides assistance to severely wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. WWP is a designated 501(c)(3) charity by the IRS and your donation is tax deductible.

What do I have to do?

As many pushups as you can do in 90 seconds. That's it...90 seconds. We don't care if you can do 2, 20 or 50. The top 5 scores from your team will determine the winning team. If you're not in the top 5, no problem, you won't hurt your team's score.

Do I have to ask my friends for money?

No. You need to donate or fund raise a minimum of $50. We do want to raise as much money as we can so we encourage you to raise funds by asking your friends, family and co-workers to donate on your behalf. But if you want to put up the $50 out of your own pocket then go for it.

How do I signup?

What if I just want to donate?

Donations can be made online at http://wwpproudsupporter.kintera.org/pushupsforcharitycentralbucks. Click "Sponsor Participant". Search for the name of the person you want to sponsor (use my first and last name if you want to make a general donation to event) and then fill out the information requested.

Or write a check made out to the "Wounded Warrior Project" and either hand it to the participant you want to sponsor or mail it to Paul Dziewisz, 645 Patrick Place, Chalfont, PA 18914.

What can I win?

The winning team will receive a $150 gift card for a team party at Skyline Tavern in Chalfont. The second place team will receive a $100 gift card to Skyline Tavern. The prizes for the top fundraiser and the top individual pushup champion have yet to be revealed but think dinner for two at a great local restaurant and you'll be close.

I'm out of town, how can I participate?

No problem. Take a video of yourself doing pushups for 90 seconds and post it to YouTube. Send us the link at getfit@activepersonalfitness.com. Your pushups will count for team event and we'll gladly accept your donations.

What if I have more questions?

Call Paul at 267.626.7478.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Me and Serena Williams

2011-03-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Serena Williams tweeted “bad day” to her Twitter followers.

Serena has won 13 major tennis championships. She is a successful business person in the fashion industry. Her endorsements contracts are huge. What could be so bad?

“It’s a blood clot in your lungs.” That’s what they told me in the spring of 2006. The medical term is pulmonary embolism but at the time it didn’t register in my head. It should have. My father-in-law had died from a post-operative pulmonary embolism ten years earlier.

For me, it started with what felt like an upset stomach at noon on a Friday. It was uncomfortable enough that I left work early that day (I was a corporate cubicle dweller at the time). By 6pm I thought I had pulled a muscle in my left rib cage. It was plausible; I had worked out that morning and could have strained something.

By Friday evening I had tied the pain to my breathing. Deep breaths equaled searing pain in my ribs. Shallow breaths meant the pain wasn’t so bad. Being the stubborn, indestructible guy that I think I am, I went to bed.

By morning, at the urging of my wife, I headed to the emergency room. Every moment ratcheted up the pain level. In at 10am, put through a battery of tests including x-rays, blood tests, physical exams, more x-rays and finally six hours later a CAT scan.

Even after the CAT scan the nurse came into my room and prepared to release me. They hadn’t found anything. It must be a muscle strain.

Then 30 minutes later things changed. A small embolism was found in my lung on the last scan. Quickly I was put on a blood thinner and whisked up to a hospital room where I spent the next 5 days bed ridden while the Heparin dissolved the clot.

“Bad day” indeed.

Serena was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism last week and is likely to face a minimum or 6 months on a blood thinner, perhaps a lifetime. This is not good news for an athlete. The regular intense workouts, the hours spent on a hard court surface and the occasional scrapes and falls that go with it are not great for someone who, once cut, can’t form a clot due to their medication.

Add the endless travel of a pro athlete and she has many obstacles to overcome to regain her footing as a great tennis player. (Airline travel was likely the cause of my clot. If you don’t move around regularly your blood will pool and the risk of a clot increases.)

However, I'm proof that a fully active lifestyle is possible. Six months of blood thinners and I was allow to stop taking them. I had no family history and no risk factors for forming clots. I get up and walk around on any flight that lasts more than an hour. I ride my bike fast, mix it up on the tennis court occasionally, hike with the dogs and stay moving like I did before. That clot changed my life in other ways.

That small clot is largely responsible for a dramatic turnaround in me. I used that bad day as a wake up call. My life changed significantly over the next several months. I chucked my corporate career, re-committed to be fit and healthy, and started my personal training business. I’ve never felt better and never loved what I do as much as I do today.

Hopefully Serena's bad day is just that, a single day that she will fully recover from.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

The Cycle of Quitting

2011-03-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

I ran across an article yesterday by Suzanne Evans, a business coach. I don't know Suzanne but her article resonated with me. Her "Cycle of Quitting" doesn't just apply to the business world. It also applies to people trying to lose weight, get lean and get healthy. I've gently re-written her article below to talk specifically about fitness but the crux of it is hers. You can see more of Suzanne's articles here.

There are two types of quitting:

1) Giving up

2) Walking away from something harmful or hurtful

I get a bird's eye view of - THE QUITTERS. I know some would say we should talk about the winners, but I must say I probably learn more from the quitters. The winners show up, suck up, cry, stomp, celebrate, and then rinse and repeat over and over. Every successful person who has lost weight or gotten fit that I have EVER worked with, mentored with, or been a colleague to has had the exact same formula.

The quitters are a bit more interesting. They are very creative and it is interesting where and how "quitting" shows up. Now remember the #1 reason exercisers fail is they stop- yep-stop. I have been watching the 'quitters cycle' for a long time and I know when it starts to creep up on people and kick in. I think it would be useful for people to see a lineage of how it starts and how they might stop themselves, as well as see the difference between something needing to come to an end and just quitting.

It usually appears like this...

Second guessing ~ fear ~ blame ~ projecting ~ overwhelm ~ blame ~ action ~ (the quitting) ~ relief ~ second guessing ~ fear and over again

Fascinating, right? I am using it as a paradigm for myself to catch me and where I am falling into the cycle - you can honestly use it for anything - the gym, your business, a relationship, etc. So, I don't want you to be a quitter...frankly, seeing people give up on their dreams daily can sometimes overwhelm me and blind me to the people actually living theirs, but I know you are out there. I know you are striving and working and living your gifts.

Here are a few tips to stay in the game, even when you would rather throw in the towel:

1) Have a clear vision of exactly what you want - relationship, money, freedom, environment, and spiritual. If you have a clear vision in writing and in your view, it is harder to let that vision go or the dream die.

2) Get real. One of my mentors says... "It is simple, but it is not easy." Success is hard work. No one ever won the Oscar, Gold Medal, Nobel Peace Prize, or lost 50 lbs by half ass showing up. And don't fool yourself....are you thinking you are working hard or are you spending a lot of time around thinking about succeeding and processing your next step.

3) Get good advice. The people around me won't let me quit. Surrounded yourself with a circle of influence. I have a tribe of tough and loving go-getters who want the same goals as you and will hold you accountable. When you want to stop, take a moment and remember that giving up on yourself is also giving up on them.

4) Care. I know you have gifts to share. Your life experience has value and people are meant to be transformed by your connection and your talent. Care enough to keep going. Care enough to share and keep going.

If you do what you love and you love people while you do it there is no reason to quit. Stopping is not an option. See you at the finish line!

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Why Your Workout is NOT Working Out

2011-02-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

Are you getting the results you expect from your exercise routine? As a trainer I ask prospective clients this question all the time. Many of them respond “no”.

I’m not one of them. I get the results I want. My fitness level has soared over the last two plus years. In fact, I am nearly as fit now as I was when I was on the rowing team in college 22 years ago. And in many areas I blow that scrawny kid out of the water. How do I know? I measure my progress all the time (I even blogged about self-assessment).

My 2000 meter row is close to my college time and my squat, deadlift and overhead press are far better now then they were back in the day.

“But you’re a trainer, that’s why you’re fit.” I hear that all the time. The assumption is I hang out in a gym all day and do pushups. Actually, that’s not even close to the truth. I’m a small business owner so on the days when I can make time to workout it has to be short and sweet (I’ve also blogged about my workout routine).

So how did the 180 lbs college guy add 27 good pounds without the help of supplements, vitamins, or drugs (legal or illegal). I figured something out. Effort = Intensity = Results.

And I learned to get uncomfortable.

More than that, I determine that every workout must give me 4 distinct feelings; humbled, exhilarated, defeated and triumphant.

Why humbled? If you do not feel inferior in the face of your workout (even if it is just momentary) then you are not choosing a workout that is challenging enough to get results. At some point during every workout I say to myself “I’m not sure I can get through this.” That is not a sign of weakness. That needs to be a fact. You have to doubt your ability to finish. That’s when you know you’re working out hard.

Why exhilarated? In the face of feeling humbled I rise up and keep going. Do I take a short break, catch my breath, curse at my list of exercises? Yes. Do I continue to work until I am done? You bet. Sometimes the workout beats you up. That’s the humbling part. But when you beat up the workout you’ll get that overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration.

Why defeated? I measure every workout. How long did it take? Was I faster than last time? How many circuits did I finish in 20 minutes? Was it more than last time? And just when I feel good about myself I make sure I find out how long it took the elite athletes and how many circuits they finished. I think I’ll never reach their numbers.

Why triumphant? In the face of a challenging workout that you are not sure you can finish, in comparison to elite athletes who crush your times and results, I am able to see steady progress. I completed the workout. I did it faster than I ever had before. I am stronger, faster, more agile and healthier than last year or last month or last week. And that feels AMAZING!!

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
NASM - Certified Personal Trainer
Website | Facebook | Blog
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Lessons in the 'Fierce Urgency of Now'

2011-02-16T11:51:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, President Obama awarded 15 people the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor our country can bestow. I watched the ceremony and was moved. These noble people picked themselves up and then helped others do the same. I've pulled some short bios from the President's remarks. Find some inspiration....

As President Obama said, these people are "the best of who we are and who we aspire to be.”

John Adams – In 1970 he and a small group of unpaid attorneys and law students setup an environmental law office with some old desks, chairs and file cabinets. The group became the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Sitting at the same desk for 36 years he said “if people want to protect the environment we’ll support their efforts…if not, we’ll play hardball.” With more than 1 million members they have acted as the planet’s lawyer.

Maya Angelou – As a girl she suffered trauma and abuse that led her to literally stop speaking. She found a voice in poetry and writing and inspired millions with her words. She taught us “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived. And if faced with courage, need not be lived again. Lift up your eyes upon the day breaking before you. Give birth again to the dream.”

Warren Buffet – At age 11 he invested all of his savings in 6 shares of City Services Perferred at $38 per share. The stock dropped sharply but he stayed the course. 70 years later he is not only one of the world’s richest men but one of the most admired and respected. He now devotes the vast majority of his wealth to those around the world who are suffering, sick or in need.

Gerta Klein – She spent 3 years in concentration camps enduring a 360-mile death march and weighing only 68 lbs when she was found by American forces. Now an author, historian and champion for tolerance she said, “I pray you never stand at any crossroads in your own life. But if you do, if the darkness seems so total, if you think there is no way out, remember to never ever give up.”

Rep. John Lewis - “If not us then who? If not now, then when?” is the sign posted above a doorway in Nashville where students refused to leave lunch counters 50 years ago. Now a civil rights leader and considered the conscience of the U.S. Congress, he understood change could not wait for some other person at some other time. His life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now.

Tom Little – An optometrist from New York he spent 30 years with his wife Libby in Afghanistan serving the children of the region and giving them sight amid the horrors of warfare and repeated invasions. Amid the recent conflict he was ambushed and murdered last year in a senseless act of violence. He was a true humanitarian.

Silvia Mendez – As a young schoolgirl in California her parents fought a landmark school segregation case to allow Latinos into public schools. That case in 1946 paved the way for the historic Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Constantly told by her mother that she is every bit as good as anyone else, she has made it her mission to spread a message of tolerance and opportunity.

Stan “The Man” Musial – A Hall of Fame baseball player who lost one of the prime years while serving in the U.S. Navy. Musial was the first player ever to earn $100,000 and then insisted on a pay cut when he did not perform up to his own high standards. He remains an untarnished pillar of the St. Louis community to this day and happens to be one of my dad’s favorite ballplayers as a kid.

Bill Russell – Cut from his basketball team in junior high, he led the University of San Francisco to two NCAA championships and in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics his team won 11 NBA titles. He stood for civil rights and marched with Dr. King and stood by Muhammad Ali. He became the first African-American to be the head coach for any major sports team. I his words, “I am not a basketball player. I am a man who plays basketball.” Bill Russell was the consummate teammate and defined what it meant to be a winner.

President George H. W. Bush – His 70 years of public service included being a decorated Navy pilot, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., CIA Director, Vice President and eventually the 41^st President of the United States. A champion of service to others and to country he continues to lend his efforts to aid Haitian earthquake relief. His humility and decency reflects the very best of the American spirit.

All of these people took a stand for themselves first and then took a stand for others. All I ask you to do is take a stand for yourself. What are you waiting for?

Be well,

Paul

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

An amazing and heartfelt testimonial from one of our boot campers and friends

2011-02-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

I received an email last week that I want to share with you. After reading it you will understand 1) why I do what I do and 2) why you need to make exercise a priority in your life.

Paul

*******************

Hi Paul,

I wanted to share this with you, if you want to use it for a testimonial that's great, but really I want you to know this because I appreciate what you do.

First of all, I always love your boot camps (regardless of how much I whine). But I always came sporadically because I would have a hard time finding time and I would feel guilty for spending the money. (It's a mom thing I think). When I started coming with Bridget, it gave me the incentive to keep going. (If she wanted to keep going, I should too. I can't abandoned her now.) And I do actually love the classes.

As it got closer to my birthday it really made me think. My mother was only two years older than me when she had her first heart attack. A little history of my mom, she was an amazing athlete. I mean amazing! She played golf, field hockey, bowling and even had a contract to play professional baseball for the Fort Wayne Daisies. Any sport, she was amazing. (not hereditary).

In her 20's she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Her sports were limited. In her 30's she could still bowl and play golf, but that was about it. In her 40's just golf. Because of her pain, she didn't move much. She certainly didn't do excercises to get her heart rate up. And then her heart attack. I remember her making a few attempts at exercising (Dancing with the Oldies with Richard Simmons) but truly it didn't last.

The older she got, the more pain she was in. It was sad. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers at age 60 and died before her 61st birthday.

To say this isn't always in the back of mind would be a lie. When I want to give up, I think of her and have made a decision that I am going to do whatever I can control to prevent this from happening to me. Exercise being the most important. Diet right beside it.

I had a physical a couple of weeks ago. My cholesterol is perfect, instead of giving me an EKG, they did a test for inflammation which can predict heart issues. I was told my asthma would probably screw those results. It did not. It was again at the perfect level. (Inflammation is also something that every Alzheimer patient has). I have to attribute that to running and I have to give you credit for that.

With your encouragement, and just telling me "yes, you can do this", as much as I hate it, I run 5 days a week. Now I feel like I can breathe real breaths. I never realized how shallow I used to breathe, I feel like my lung capacity has grown significantly. I may never run a marathon, but that isn't really the point for me. No signs of arthritis. Essentially, I got a gold star.

I decided that paying for boot camp is cheaper than paying for medication for not exercising. It's cheaper than liposuction and I feel so much better because of it. That is how I need to look at spending the money on myself.

So I want to thank you for making it fun and challenging. I have gotten so much stronger since I started and I forgot how much I miss feeling this way. I look forward to class and it keeps me motivated. It is obvious how much time you put into your classes, I can honestly say, I never left class feeling like I didn't have a great workout. So thank you for helping me, you have no idea how much.

Joanie

Weight Watchers Gets It Right

2011-02-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

I’m a fan of Weight Watchers.

I know many of my wellness colleagues are rolling their eyes reading this but Weight Watchers' simple approach of portion control, recording what you eat, and providing group support just works. Millions of people have shed tens of millions of pounds by counting points, keeping food journals and showing up for weekly weigh-ins.

So why do my colleagues make snide comments under their breath? Well, for one, Weight Watchers never really cared WHAT you ate. They assigned points to every food under the sun and as long as you stayed within the point range you could eat any combination of foods your heart or stomach desired. (You see, my personal trainer friends tend toward organic and paleo eating, avoiding all things processed. A 2-point bag of WW cookies will send them into a 2-day cardio binge).

But now the venerable weight loss company has taken a bold step. Their famous Points system, introduced in 1997, just got an overhaul. They have recognized that the idea of “a calorie is a calorie is a calorie” is not the optimal way to approach nutrition.

“Calorie counting has become unhelpful,” according to the company’s president David Kirchhoff as quote in Time Magazine. “When we have a 100-calorie apple in one hand and a 100-calorie pack of cookies in the other, and we view them as being ‘the same’ because the calories are the same, it says everything that needs to be said about the limitations of just using calories in guiding food choices.”

The new Points Plus system assigns NO POINTS to fruits and vegetables (except for the most starchy varieties). That’s right, you may now eat bushels of apples, bunches of bananas and all the mango you’d like.

Basically, if the food is high in protein and fiber it gets a low point rating so you can eat more of it. If the food is high in processed carbs, it will be accompanied by a high point total.

So the mantra I have been instilling in you for several years, “eat meat and vegetables, fruits and nuts, few starches, no sugar” has now been confirmed by the most popular weight loss program on earth.

The lesson, try every fruit and vegetable you can find, list out 5-10 that you like, keep them on hand at home and eat them at any point in time.

Be well,

Paul

10 Most Important Things for Establishing a Healthy Lifestyle (Part 2)

2011-02-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

I was asked by an author this week to submit the 10 things I think are most important to a healthy lifestyle for a book he is writing. Earlier this week I shared the first 3 tips. Here are numbers 4-6. Stay tuned next week for the final four.

4. Good health begins with nutrition. Even if you exercise religiously, failing to eat foods that offer usable energy from proteins, complex carbs and, yes, healthy fats will prevent you from achieving optimal results. Choose your foods wisely. Lean toward meats, vegetables, fruits and nuts and away from starches and sugars.

5. Followed closely by exercise. Similar to #4 above, if you eat pristinely but do not move you will not achieve optimal results. Make a list of 10 exercises you like and 5 that you don't. Include body weight and strength training exercises along with traditional cardio (walk/run, bike, row, jump rope). Intermix these exercises in different sequences as often as you can. Very often people don’t like an exercise because they are not good at it – yet.

6. Regularly evaluate where you are in relation to your goal. Setup some simple fitness tests and perform them regularly to provide accountability and motivation. Here are some examples.

- Maximum number of pushups (elbows come to a 90 degree bend and no more than 3 seconds of rest between pushups)

- 100 box jumps (10" step) as fast as possible (two foot jump or step up and down)

- Move your body (walk, jog, run) 1 mile as fast as you can

- Row 2000m as fast as you can

- Maximum number of jump ropes in 2 minutes

Check in next week for tips 7-10.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

10 Most Important Things for Establishing a Healthy Lifestyle (Part 1)

2011-02-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

I was asked by an author today to submit the 10 things I think are most important to a healthy lifestyle for a book he is writing. I rattled off my list (a good list if I do say so myself) and thought it would be useful to share with you.

Here are the first three items. Stay tuned for items 4-10 in the next few days.

1. Establish a measurable goal. Always have something that you are working towards. It can be anything from participating in a fitness event to losing a specific amount of weight to working out x amount of times a week. A goal shines light on your progress and helps you adjust your habits regularly.

2. Get buy-in from your family and friends. Each January I publish my fitness goals to everyone I know (whether they want to hear them or not). Let everyone know what you are trying to accomplish so they can help you through the struggles and celebrate your successes. If you establish the importance of your health to everyone around you they will respect you for going to the gym, out for a run, or turning down an extra piece of cake. Heck, they may get inspired to join you!!

3. Consult a professional. Fitness trainers, nutritionists and wellness coaches are invaluable assets to helping you establish healthy habits. They will motivate you and hold you accountable. Yes, this may sound a bit self-serving but it is also undeniably true. We hire accountants to do our taxes, dentists to fix our teeth, headhunters to find us jobs, I.T. guys to fix our computers, all because they live and breath the details every day.

Stay tuned for the rest of the list later this week.

Be well,

Paul

February Fitness Challenge

2011-01-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

It's time to dust off your jump ropes. This month's fitness challenge is all about the age-old piece of rope that has been used by fitness enthusiasts and little kids for decades.

Don't have a jump rope? Go get one. They cost less than $10 at your local sporting goods store. Avoid the cheaper plastic ropes and go with the beaded or leather options. Since the chart at the bottom of this post to determine what length you should use.

Why Jump Rope?

Jumping rope is an excellent total body exercise. It strengthens your legs and builds muscular endurance in your arms while provide an elevated heart rate. It is easy to learn and you will get better at it every time to do it. I have countless clients who couldn't jump at all when they started and now they are easily doing 200+ in 2 minutes. Our Boot Camp record is 296 in two minutes if you want something to set an aggressive goal.

Where to jump rope?
Don't let the excuse of cold weather stop you. You can jump rope 1) at your gym, 2) in your garage, 3) in your living room (if you want to protect your carpeting put a small throw carpet down), 4) in your basement.

The Challenge
Here is your month-long Jump Rope challenge to get you to be a superior jumper.

Feb 1 - Feb 4
Tuesday - Do as many jumps as possible in 2 minutes. Record your result. A jump only counts if the rope passes under your feet. If you catch the rope on your toe and it does pass under your feet it doesn't count. I don't care if you jumped.
Wednesday - 10 rounds or tabata jumps. Do as many as you can in 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds. That is one round. Repeat for a total of 10 20sec/10sec sets.

Thursday - Maximum jumps in 2 minutes. Record your results. If you are under 100 you are a beginner, under 200 you are intermediate, and over 200 you are advanced.
Friday - Beginner - Do 100 jump ropes, Intermediate - 250 jump ropes, Advanced - 500 jump ropes.

Feb 5-6 - off days
Feb 7 - Do as many jumps as you can in 5 minutes. Record your total.
Feb 8 - 5 minutes of Jumping Jack Jump Ropes. Move your feet out and in like a jumping jack alternating your landing on each jump.
Feb 9 - 10 rounds of tabata jumps. Record the fewest number you get in any one round as your score.
Feb 10 - Do as many as possible in 2 minutes. Record your total.
Feb 11 - Beginner - 150 jump ropes, Intermediate - 400 jump ropes, Advanced - 750 jump ropes

Feb 12 and Feb 13 - Off days
Feb 14 - Happy Valentine's Day. Do as many jumps as you can in 5 minutes. Record your total.
Feb 15 - 5 minutes of single-foot Jump Ropes. Jump on one foot for 25 repetitions then switch to the other foot.
Feb 16 - 10 round of tabata jump ropes doing the odd numbered rounds on your left foot and even numbered rounds on your right foot.
Feb 17 - Spend 5 minutes trying to do cross overs or double unders.
Feb 18 - Beginner - 200 jump ropes, Intermediate - 500 jump ropes, Advanced - 1000 jump ropes.

Feb 19 and Feb 20 - Off days
Feb 21 - Do as many as you can in 2 minutes. Rest one minute. Do another 2 minute test.
Feb 22 - 5 minutes or single-foot Jump Ropes. Jump on one foot for two repetitions then switch smoothly to the other foot for two repetitions and continue.
Feb 23 - 10 rounds of tabata jump ropes using the alternating two repetition method from the previous day.
Feb 24 - Off day.
Feb 25 - Beginner - 250 jump ropes, Intermediate - 600, Advanced - 1200

Feb 26 and Feb 27 - Off days
Feb 28 - Do as many as possible in 2 minutes. Record your result. Compare to the Feb 1st result and celebrate your awesomeness!!

What Size Should You Use?

Under 5 ft tall = 7' jump rope

5' to 5'6" tall = 8' jump rope

5'6" to 6' tall = 9' jump rope

Over 6' tall = 10' jump rope

If you have questions, email me at paul@activepersonalfitness.com.

Happy jumping,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Why a stopwatch is the most important piece of fitness equipment you can own

2011-01-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Your workout.

If you pay any attention to my blog and Facebook posts you already know what you need to do. Learn how to do squats, pushups, pullups, deadlifts and sit-ups and then run, row, jump rope and bike. When you master these movements then learn some of their advanced variations. Do these at a high level of intensity.

Intensity. It's in bold so it must be important. Why? Because speed equals intensity and intensity equals results.

How do you measure intensity?

That's where the stopwatch comes in.

Regardless of your fitness level, you can do some form or squats, pushups, pullups, deadlifts, sit-ups, running, rowing, jump roping and biking. If you need ideas on how to pick an alternative that you can do just visit my website (www.ActivePersonalFitness.com/videos.html).

"Running" a mile can look many different ways. As can doing a defined number of squats (let's say 1 set of 30). Moving your body a mile is a defined amount of work. Running that mile in 12 minutes is a different level of fitness than running it in 8 minutes. Covering the distance in less time indicates better fitness for that event. Basically, doing the same amount of work in less time means you are more fit.

That is why the stopwatch is so important to your workouts. My pet peeve is hearing people say they worked out for an hour but when I watch them I see them resting half the time. The BEST way to improve your workouts is to limit your rest time!!

For some people 1 set of 30 squats comes easy. I know people who can do 30 body weight squats in 30 seconds. For others, the set may need to be broken up into sets of 10 with a short rest in between. The people doing 30 in 30 seconds are more fit. They can do the work in less time. The key to improving your fitness is to constantly try to do the exercises FASTER WITH PERFECT FORM.

Here are three straight forward workouts you can use to measure your fitness. Use the stopwatch. Try to get better every time you try it.

Workout #1

15 squats

15 pushups

25 jumping jacks

10 lunges on each leg

15 dips

Workout #2

4 rounds of:

Move 0.25 miles

25 squats

Workout #3

50 sit-ups

40 walking lunges

30 squat jumps

20 pushups

Set your stopwatch. Record your time. Do it again in a few days...faster.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

2011 Fitness Goals -- A Call to Action

2011-01-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

This Year’s Fitness Goals -- A Call to Action

One of the keys to accomplishing anything in life is to set goals and hold yourself accountable to them. The goals could involve career, relationships, travel, education and, yes, fitness.

Setting a specific goal and communicating it to family, friends, co-workers and peers will help hold you accountable to achieving the goal. It will also inspire many of them to see you accomplish what you set out to do.

In December of 2009 I published my fitness goals for the world to see. They included indoor rowing competitions, running races (including my first marathon!), a team triathlon and a series of aggressive CrossFit WOD goals.

I hit many of my goals. First marathon – check, first rowing competition – check, Turkey Trot and Patriot Games – check. I did these because many of you held me accountable without even realizing it. You asked me about the events, encouraged me, trained with me, cheered for me and that made all the difference.

And I want to hold you accountable to yours. Post your fitness goals in comments and update us throughout the year as you achieve them. Don't worry if you think they are not challenging goals. If they are a challenge for you then they are the right goals. Remember, I am a trainer, it's my job to be able to do this stuff.

Here are my fitness goals for 2011

The Main Line Slide (Indoor Rowing) - Saturday, February 5 -- Villanova University (Philly)
Goal time: 6:45 for 2000m Previous Best : 6:47

Center City Slam (Indoor Rowing) - Saturday, February 12 -- Drexel University (Philly)
Goal time: 6:30 for 2000m Previous Best: 6:47

Gettysburg Getaway (Biking) – Memorial Day Weekend
A two-day, round-trip, 180-mile ride from Doylestown, PA to Gettysburg, PA with a group of friends. No slackers allowed so the hammer will be down.

Bucks County 5K Series - 7 race series March through June -- Bucks County, PA
Goal: Compete in 3 of the 7 races and earn points in my age group in each race (7^th place or better)

Broad Street Run (10 miles) -- Sunday, May 1st -- Philadelphia, PA
Goal time: 1:11:00 Previous Best: 1:15:18
www.broadstreetrun.com

Patriot Games (run/canoe/bike/run two-person team triathlon) - Saturday, Sept 10 -- Chalfont, PA
Goal: Top 10 overall team, Win Coed Division Championship

Buffalo-Niagara Turkey Trot 8K (4.97 miles) -- Thanksgiving Day -- Buffalo, NY
Goal time: 35 minutes Previous Best: 35:42

CrossFit Goals (This will only make sense to my CrossFit friends)
Complete an uninterupted "Fran"
21 full pullups
21 95# thrusters
15 full pullups
15 95# thrusters
9 full pullups
9 95# thrusters

CrossFit Total (Back Squat + Shoulder Press + Deadlift)
Goal: 750 lbs

Filthy Fifty
Goal: 23 minutes (the pullups will kill me) Previous Best: roughly 35 minutes
50 Box jump - 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings (35 lbs)
Walking Lunge
50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press (45lbs)
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots (20 lbs med ball)
50 Burpees
50 Double under jump ropes

"Cindy"
Goal: 18 rounds
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Body Weight squats

Max rep pushups (full range of motion)
Goal: 75

That's it. I better get my butt to the gym.

January Fitness Challenge

2010-12-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

Start your new year off right with a fitness challenge designed to suit your level of fitness. The theme is pushups. Can't do 'em. Don't worry, by the end of the month you'll be an expert.

Here is January's Fitness Challenge:

Every day in January do a number of pushups related to the day of the month based on your fitness level. You do not need to do them all at one time. Break them up throughout the day as you need to.

Beginners (new to doing pushups)

The number of pushups equals the day of the month. For example, January 5th is 5 pushups.

Restarters (have done pushups before but it has been a while)

The number of pushups equals 2 times the day of the month. January 5th would be 10 pushups.

Former jocks (it has been a while but you don't think it has)

The number of pushups equals 3 times the day of the month.

Avid exercisers ("I do pushups while I brush my teeth")

Add a "0" after the single digit days and do 4 times the two digit days. January 5th is 50. January 17th is 68.

Personal Trainers ("You call this a challenge?")

Do the following using the avid exercisers prescription above.

Pushups

Body Weight Squats

Dips

Walking Lunges

Ready, Set, Go!!!

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

2010-12-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

It is time to make your New Year's resolution for 2011. Our buddies discuss the most popular resolution...losing weight and getting in shape. See how Active Personal Fitness can help you finally reach your goal.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Healthy Holiday Plan

2010-12-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

It’s here....mid-December. The two week stretch leading into Christmas and New Years. Where did the year go? How am I going to get ready for the holidays? How much weight am I going to gain? We all ask ourselves these questions every day.

Stop. I have the answers.

The year moved along at the same speed it always does. You’re going to get everything ready for your holiday season, you always do. And no, you’re not going to gain any weight at all. Here’s how. Below is a simple suggestion that you can implement and follow. It will let you enjoy the holi"days" and still stay on a fitness plan.

Be realistic with your expectations. The holidays are filled with obstacles to healthy eating and exercise. Food is plentiful, we are surrounded by a gluttonous mentality, we are forced to make changes to our regular routine due to travel or bad weather. This is simply the reality.

Think maintain, not gain. By gain I mean, making progress toward your fitness goals. We want you to maintain your fitness level and your weight through the holidays. Leave December with the same fitness and weight you had at the beginning and everything will be ok.

Create a Holiday Calendar <<===== Do this right now!

Part of the difficult with avoiding holiday weight gain is the mentality that the entire month is one big holiday. How many times have you said “Oh, I can eat this cookie, it’s the holidays.” The key is to learn to enjoy all the treats of the season while keeping in mind there are only a few holidays. Take a moment right now and circle every day that you know will be a “bad” eating or exercise day. Include days where you have parties, big family dinners, travel days, etc. Try to limit the list to 4 or 5 days between now and New Years.

These will be days you set aside to enjoy all the food and fun of the season. The key to your success is sticking with your healthy eating and exercise on all the other days. Commit to those workouts, commit to avoiding the treats, commit to working harder at staying healthy on all the other days so you can sit back, relax and enjoy all of your favorites.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Lessons from a (new) baseball Hall of Famer

2010-12-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

Pat Gillick's lifetime devotion to baseball was rewarded this week when he was elected to the Hall of Fame. For 27 years he served as General Manager for 4 major league teams including guiding my beloved Toronto Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series victories in the 90's and my hometown Philadelphia Phillies to a championship in 2008.

Pat Gillick understands what it takes to be a champion.

So what did he learn over his career?

"When I started out in this game, I thought it was 70 percent ability and 30 percent character, and the longer I've been in it, I think it's 60 percent character and 40 percent ability," Gillick said.

To me, character is made up of many things. When it comes to competition, I list a willingness to work hard, put in the time, commit to the workout, and not giving up are the top character traits.

This applies to your workouts as well. All of us put limits on ourselves based on our perceived ability level. We look at someone who can do 50 pushups or walk on their hands or deadlift 300 lbs or run 10 miles and say "I wish I was a natural athlete like they are". We tell ourselves we're too old, too fat, too out of shape, too tired, too sore, too stressed to achieve great results.

But remember what Pat Gillick said, "60 percent character and 40 percent ability."

You can achieve great results if you choose to display the right character traits. Work hard, put in the time, fully commit to the workout and don't give up. The results will follow and others will look at you when they are in need of some fitness inspiration.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Three fitness gifts for that special someone

2010-12-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

The airwaves are overrun with infomercials during the holiday season. Most of them offer you fitness in a box. For 4 easy payments of $49.95 you can give the gift of fitness to your loved one in the form of a fitness DVD, a wacky contraption that will give you sculpted arms like the model in the commercial, or electrodes you attach to your stomach to shock yourself into having a six-pack.

It's tough to decide what should you buy as a fitness gift? I'm here to help. Below are the three gifts you can count on to help get you or your loved one in shape.

#1 - Personal training sessions

The personal trainer wants you to buy personal training as a gift. Shocking, right? Yes, I do, because knowing what to do and how to do it, being regularly motivated to workout, and being held accountable are the three things everyone needs to establish a fitness habit. A personal trainer can meet you at your home, design a personalized program for you, show you how to do the exercises and set the proper intensity. Your trainer should leave you with homework to do between sessions and offer you a new set or mix of exercises each time you meet. Sessions can be 30, 45 or 60 minutes to fit your needs.

One caution, however. Don't give personal training as a surprise gift. Talk to the person who you are gifting the sessions to beforehand and get them excited for it. Remember, all you have to do is buy the sessions. They have to show up once a week and actually work their butts off so you want them to want the gift.

#2 TRX Suspension System

TRX is hard to explain until you see it. http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/ It is not a gadget or a gimmick. It is a method to do total body workout that challenges everyone from the novice to the pro athlete. Consisting of two straps that attach to a doorframe, tree branch, backyard swing set, the TRX provides 10 standard full body exercises for the beginner that can be expanded to literally 100s of different exercises. It is portable and lightweight for travelers and easy to use.

I am a reseller of TRX, the only piece of equipment that I resell. Contact me if you are interested. The cost is approximately $180.

3. P90X

The popular infomercial workout program is great because it focuses on full body exercises and an ever-changing mix of workouts. It does require a lot of time and commitment to follow the program but the results are there at the end. See my previous blog posts with my reviews of P90X.

http://activepersonalfitness.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-i-like-p90x-and-why-i-dont.html

http://activepersonalfitness.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-i-like-p90x-and-why-i-dont-part-2.html

Try to stay away from other infomercial junk. The equipment typically works one isolated muscle very well but neglects the way the body moves as a unit. You will not get a six-pack by simply working your abs in one repetitive motion over and over. You need to do total body exercises at a high-intensity to see those kinds of results.

Enjoy your holiday season!!

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
NASM - Certified Personal Trainer

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267.626.7478

Why we really don't know what to eat

2010-11-18T07:27:00.000-08:00

Why can I eat 3,800 calories a day, workout 4 times a week for 30 minutes each and not gain any weight? And then turn around and train for a marathon, eating less calories and working out more and not lose any weight. Why am I always between 205 and 210 lbs no matter what? For years I have been trying to understand how to eat and how it will effect me.

The most important book you can read this year is Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". But you don't even have to read the whole thing. Pick it up and turn right to the chapter entitled Bad Science (part 1, chapter 9). (The link will take you to the chapter available on Google books.) These 10 pages succinctly sum up the problems with the science of nutrition in a way I have been trying to articulate for several years.

The fundamental issue according to Pollan is that nutrition science, and all science for that matter, must isolate a variable to determine how changes to that variable impact the subject of the research. Nutritional scientists isolate the nutrient. Unfortunately, that approach "takes the nutrient out of the context of the food, the food out of the context of the diet, and the diet out of the context of the lifestyle."

Isolating the nutrient ignores its interplay with other nutrients, chemical compounds, and the human body that is processing it. All of which can create subtle or not so subtle changes in the nutrient's behavior.

Are you familiar with the glycemic index? Many popular diets are based on the principle that some foods have high impact on blood sugar levels than others. In isolation, that is true. A banana will spike your blood sugar level higher than a carrot. But when we start to combine foods (after all, we rarely eat one food at a time) some of the glycemic index science gets blurry. Eat a bagel by itself and those carbs will be processed quickly. Spread some peanut butter on that bagel and the absorption of carbs slows dramatically. The bagels glycemic index number has been altered by the peanut butter.

The supplement industry regularly claims they have "isolated" the enzyme or anti-oxidant responsible for preventing this or that disease. The problem is when the chemical or compound is extracted from the FOOD it rarely has the same impact has when it is left in the food. The reason, the interplay of all the elements of the food is erased when the chemical is processed into a supplement, AND THE INTERPLAY MATTERS. In a test tube, the science works. Beta-carotene in its native food source eats up free radicals. When beta is extracted and placed in a supplement, it just doesn't act the same way.

We don't understand these food interactions very well because our nutrition science doesn't look at food as a whole and doesn't address the uniqueness of our bodies. Eat a steak and you will absorb its iron. Drink coffee when you eat that steak and you won't get much of the iron.

What we do know is that eating real foods in their whole form will provide us with nutrients that help our body function. Continue to eat fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry. Choose organic if you so desire. But be ware of claims about how some part of that food will make you bigger, smaller, taller or smarter. Food is way more than the sum of its parts.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

What's the difference.....

2010-11-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

One of our readers sent in the following question.

I was just reading your blog from Sept. 28th and I have a question based on your commentary. In terms of Fitness, what would be the difference between Stamina and Endurance, Power and Strength, and Flexibility and Agility? I'm just curious. - Christina

The Answer

Great question. First off, thanks for taking the time to join my newsletter and for reading the past blogs. I hope you find them informative.

Not knowing your level of fitness I will try to define the terms and give examples from everyday life and from an athletic perspective.

I think the easiest of the three distinctions is between flexibility and agility. Flexibility is the ability of your body to move through a full range of motion without restriction due to tightness in the muscles or joints. Having adequate flexibility in everyday life may show itself by a person who is able to reach their hands fully overhead to grab a box off the top shelf of the pantry and then bend down and place that box on the floor without feeling tightness or pain in their shoulders or legs. In athletics, flexibility is best displayed by a gymnast performing on the uneven bars or on the floor routine. They are able to contort into improbable positions without restriction from muscular or joint tightness.

Agility is the ability for your body to move quickly but in a controlled manner through a variety of directions and planes of motion. Agility for the average person is demonstrated by being able to “catch” your balance when you trip on the curb by quickly placing your other foot into position without even thinking about it. For the athlete, agility can be seen in an NFL defender moving sideways at full speed, leaping over a blocker, turning and running toward the ball carrier without losing balance or control.

The power vs. strength distinction is a little more subtle. Strength is the ability to supply force against an object. Lifting a heavy box off the ground is an example. In athletics it is displayed by a football player pushing on his/her opponent for the length of a full play. Power is the ability to exert maximum strength in minimal time. It usually involves one good forceful movement. Power is the shove you give to a child on a swing when they want to go really high. In sport, it is the hard swing of a home run hitter.

Stamina and endurance basically mean the same thing. Except when I refer to them I am referring to cardiovascular endurance and muscular stamina. Endurance is the ability to process and deliver oxygen to the body. Stamina is the ability to process and deliver energy to the body. Endurance is displayed by someone who can walk up 5 flights of stairs and not be winded at the top. Stamina is displayed by someone who can carry 20 boxes of books out to the car without stopping to rest their arms. Marathon runners have tremendous endurance. And if you ever tried to throw punches for even 30 seconds it would be very clear that boxers have extraordinary stamina to keep punching over the course of ten 3-minute rounds.

I hope that helps. I would be happy to explain more or differently.

Thanks again for the question and keep reading the blog.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

"Light weight" is an oxymoron

2010-11-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Not many things bug me. I'm pretty easy-going and even-tempered. Usually, that is.

Then I walk into my local gym and see someone doing an exercise using the same 5lbs dumbbells they have been using for the last 3 years. Most of these exercisers are women. Their argument, "I don't want to look like Arnold." So they continue to use their "hand weights" (that term is a dead giveaway...they are dumbbells, not hand weights) and they continue to look the same year after year.

"You won't" is my standard response. Women, and most men for that matter, do not have the genetic makeup or the hours to devote to lifting weights needed to create bulking muscles. Furthermore, lifting the same sized weights over and over again for weeks, months, and years is not doing ANYTHING to make you more fit.

No one ever got stronger lifting light weights. You should not do any exercise where you intentionally choose to use light weights. Yet glance at a group exercise class at your local gym and count how many people are doing bicep curls with 5 lbs weights.

What do you pick up in your day that weighs 5 lbs or less? A gallon of milk weighs 8 lbs, your purse or briefcase is over 10 lbs, your toddler is 20+, a shovel full of snow is 25+, a full suitcase...forget it. Lifting light weights is not making you stronger; it's not even preparing you to perform your daily activities.

How to chose the right weight?
The right-sized weight is a personal decision. The important thing is to choose the right weight for you and continue to choose heavier weights when your body is ready.

If you are doing 10 reps of an exercise, choose a weight where the 8th, 9th and 10th reps are challenging and fatiguing. If you finish 10 reps and could immediately do 10 more then you need to use more weight.

Once you've gotten strong enough to complete 10 reps with the weight you are using it is time to increase it. Using progressive resistance will make you stronger, give you more LEAN muscle, and give you the arms, legs and torso you are looking for.

Arnold will never show up in your mirror. I have two friends who do female physique competitions. They train for hours lifting weights and rigidly adjust their nutrition to look lean and strong for their competitions. And even then, when you see them in street clothes you would never say "hey, look at Ms. Arnold". More than likely you would say, "wow, I wish I had those arms".

For more information on how to put yourself on the path to fitness and the body you want, contact me at 267.626.7478.

Be well,

Paul
Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Change is gradual but SOOOO worth it

2010-09-29T07:59:00.001-07:00

Here is some motivation for your day.

Swim, Bike, Run, Swim, Bike, Run

2010-09-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Swim, bike, run...is this the extent of your workout?

If you are a triathlete or endurance athlete these three modes of exercise probably define most of your workout.

Most triathlete hold up the elite of their sport as the best athletes in the world. After all, they can run uber miles, swim for an hour and bike endlessly. Who could be more fit than Chris McCormack, Normann Stadler and Michellie Jones, the most recent winners of the storied Kona Ironman?

On the flip side, power lifters and NFL lineman are lifting 300+ lbs of weight and building muscles on top of their muscles. Aren't they the most fit?

I strongly argue that neither the Ironman winner or the NFL lineman are the fittest in the world. The elite triathletes are notably weak when it comes to moving any weight around and, as NFL All-Pro lineman Albert Haynesworth proved during training camp this year when he couldn't run a 1/2 mile, NFL lineman don't have endurance.

If your workout consists of swim, bike, run, swim, bike, run, you need to change it up....even if you are training for an event.

Total fitness comes from a balance of speed, endurance, strength, flexibility, stamina, balance, coordination, power, and agility. The athlete that achieves this or at least regularly works toward it will have more complete fitness.

This training involves total body, functional weight lifting, body weight exercises for muscular control and endurance, traditional cardio exercises done as fast-paced intervals and more.

If your in need of a boost to your fitness program. If you want to be faster on your bike or in your run. If you want to beat people at everything, not just your specialty event, then contact me to discuss using my Interval Strength Training program to get results.

We're here to work

2010-09-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend two of my favorite clients finished their first 100-mile bike ride. We call that a "Century Ride." 100-miles on a bike is impressive for anyone, but slightly more impressive for this husband and wife team.

You see, she just turned 60 years old and he is clinging to 59 for a few more weeks. (He reminds her about the difference in that first number about every 5 minutes!)

They are not hardcore triathletes or longtime athletic competitors. They are parents, home owners and have careers. They get aches and pains, overcome obstacles, and sometimes do more than they should. But THEY GET IT!!

For the three years we've worked together their mantra has been "we're here to work." He had a long day at the office, her shoulder is nagging, they both did a long ride the day before. All of those possible excuses present themselves every week. But they stick to their world view...."we're here to work."

And work they do. We meet once a week at 8pm to do a total body workout that includes short cardio intervals, lots of full body exercises, dumbbells, medicine balls, TRX straps, etc. They want to leave feeling like they made a difference in their health. They want to be faster on the bike, strong for their kayak, and feel good about themselves.

Do you think you will be able to do a 100-mile bike ride when you reach 60? If not, start doing something about it now. Contact me for a complimentary fitness consultation and a fitness assessment. Let's see where you are with your fitness and get you moving more.

Remember my Elevation Boot Camp in Chalfont runs M/W/F at 5:45am and M/Tu/Th at 6:15pm. Come out and get the first week of classes for free.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
NASM - Certified Personal Trainer
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Constantly varied functional movements done at high intensity -- huh?

2010-09-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

Doing constantly varied functional movements at high intensity is the key improving fitness and getting the healthy feeling and looking body you want.

Notice I said it is "the key", not "the secret". There is nothing secret about constantly varied functional movements at high intensity.

But you may not understand what I mean.

In this blog we will break each phrase down and give you a basic understanding of how to approach your exercise. Future blogs will dig deeper.

Let's start with functional movements. Functional movement has been a buzz word in fitness for the last 5 years. Functional movements are natural body movements performed on a daily basis in the course of living your life. The classic example is a squat which is an exercise that mimics sitting down into a chair and standing up from that chair. That is an activity you perform 50 times daily without thinking about it. Similarly, when you drop a pen and bend down to pick it up you are performing another functional movement, a deadlift. Learning how to perform functional movements efficiently with weight improves your ability to move on a daily basis.

What does it mean to constantly vary these functional movements? Traditional strength training programs prescribe a set of standard exercises with a fixed number of sets and repetitions performed in the same sequence with slight increases in weight over a 4-6 week period. I believe this is not optimal if you want to be fit as you face your daily life. Is there any part of your life that remains constant and unchanging over a period of 4-6 weeks? I didn't think so.

Your workouts will be more effective if they exercises, sets, repetitions, and sequences are randomized to a degree. If you could envision a PowerBall lottery machine where the numbers on the ball are replaced with a exercise and you pulled out random balls and executed those exercises as they appeared you would improve your overall fitness and prepare your body for living daily. Will talk about how the randomness can be given some structure to improve it's effectiveness in future blogs.

The results you want are driven by high intensity. How much work can you do in given period of time? The more work (weight moved) you can do in given period the high your intensity level. The intensity of your workout should be constrained only by your physical and psychological tolerance. Try to lift 40lbs over your head 100 times and you will likely hit a physical limit (you have to rest because your muscles are fatigued) or a psychological limit (oh my God I have 60 more to go!!).

Combine functional movements with constant variation and high intensity and you will achieve the level of health you want and get all the fringe benefits (lean and lovely body) that go along with it.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
NASM - Certified Personal Trainer
267.626.7478

The fastest, hardest one mile you'll ever run

2010-08-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today's workout was all about intervals. My friends at CrossFit suggested the following workout. It turned out to be the fastest, hardest one mile I've ever run.

After a full warmup (see below)
Sprint for 20 seconds
Then rest for 40 seconds
Repeat for a total of 15 sprints. Total workout takes 15 minutes.

Do this workout at a track and start each new sprint precisely where the last one left off. I carried a stopwatch in one hand and a playing card in the other. When the stop watch hit 20 seconds I dropped the playing card and then walked back to it during my recovery period so I knew where to start the next one.

That is a total of 5 minutes of running and 10 minutes of resting.

The challenge is to go all out during the sprints and then recover hard during the rest time.

Based on the results I saw posted online I set my goal for 1 mile total over the 15 sprints. I reached 1 mile and 20 yards.

Benefits of this workout
1) Intervals are a great way to optimize your cardio workouts. It improves your bodies ability to work at a high or even anaerobic heart rate and improves your ability to recover faster from intense efforts.
2) For distance runners, running at a faster pace rather than a steady slower pace will teach your body the mechanics needed to run faster and help you improve your distance times.
3) This workout can easily be used as a benchmark workout to see how your fitness has improved over time.

Remember, all fitness levels can do this workout. If you can't sprint then run, can't run then jog, can't jog then power walk, can't power walk then walk. Just go as intensely as you can within your fitness level.

Suggested Warmup
2 sets of:
15 body weight squats
25 jumping jacks
15 supermen
15 pushups
15 walking lunges
30 second plank

Can you really get a good workout in 5 minutes?

2010-08-11T20:18:00.001-07:00

Monday was crazy busy for me. Starting with an adult boot camp at 5:45am and ending with my last one-on-one session at 8pm with all sorts of sessions and meetings in between, I literally had 10 minutes to get in a workout. But you can't really get a workout done in 10 minutes so why bother, right?

Wrong.

I warmed up for 5 minutes with body weight squats, lunges, jumping jacks and jump ropes. 2 rounds of about 30 seconds each just to get my blood flowing, muscles warm (not hard on a 90+ degree day) and lungs open. Then I hit it hard.

Here is the workout I did:
3 rounds of:
100lbs barbell ground to overhead - start with the weight on the ground and end with it overhead using any method you choose (snatch, clean and press, clean and jerk, squat/reverse curl/press, etc)
200 yard shuttle sprint (50 yards out, back, out and back)

5 minutes and 15 seconds.

Is this really an effective workout? Really, what can be accomplished in 5 minutes?

Yes, it is a great workout. Here's why:

1) Something is always better than nothing. Raising your heart rate and contracting your muscles will always have a health benefit over not using them.
2) The exercises chosen utilize all of your muscles. As a general rule, the more joints moving during an exercise the better that exercise is. Multiple joint exercises are called compound exercises. Moving a weight from the ground to overhead requires movement at your ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and elbow joints. You can't get more compound than that. Compound exercises are the most efficient for getting a total body workout. Use them frequently and definitely when you have limited time.
3) Short workouts done at high intensity (repeat....high intensity) will improve your anaerobic conditioning. You know when you're in a rush and forget something at the office and the elevator is taking too long? You have to run up 4 flights of stairs and you're out of breath at the top. You are likely using your anaerobic system. Your body is operating in oxygen deficit. It can only do so for a short period but the more you train in your anaerobic zone the longer you can sustain a high intensity effort.
4) The workout establishes a benchmark for you to try and beat the next time. I recorded my time so that when I do that workout next I have a time to shoot for. Always try to better your best on benchmark workouts.

Here is another suggestion for a short workout. Use the Tabata method. Choose an exercise. I suggest body weight squats, lunges, pushups, pullups, situps or running sprints. Perform as many of that exercise as you can in 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds (just 10 seconds) and repeat that sequence 10 times. That is a 5 minute workout. Remember, when doing the exercise don't sacrifice form for speed but do focus on doing as many reps as possible. I can hold at 21 body weight squats for 10 rounds. I can start at 24 pushups but my numbers tail off as the rounds get higher.

I guarantee you will feel a Tabata workout the next day.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
http://www.activepersonalfitness.com/
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Childhood Obesity: A Matter of National Security?

2010-08-04T12:15:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday morning I was part of a group of wellness professionals from Central Bucks who were tapped to spearhead childrens' health programs for Congressman Patrick Murphy's district. The group included fitness trainers, nurses, nutritionists, school administrators, chefs, community leaders, etc.

Among the points made at the beginning of the meeting by Rep. Murphy was that physical fitness readiness is one of the leading reasons for rejecting military recruits and that the percentage of recruits rejected for not meeting military fitness and weight standards is soaring dramatically along with our childhood obesity problem.

So we have young people who want to join the military but they are too overweight or too out of shape or both.

This issue is close to the Congressman's heart as he is a member of the House Committee on Armed Services and was the first Iraqi War veteran elected to the House.

So let's look at the current situation. Mission: Readiness, a a D.C.-based organization of retired generals, admirals, and civilian military leaders released a report earlier this year entitled "Too Fat to Fight." The group reports more than 27 percent of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24—that's more than 9 million young men and women—are too overweight to join the military.

What does it mean to be too overweight to join? The military has defined standards for weight, body fat percentage, and a physical fitness test for all new recruits. Below are links to the standards. Here are some examples.

A 5'8" male between the ages of 21-27 can weigh up to 170lbs.
A 5'5" female between the ages of 21-27 can weigh 145lbs.
A 22-26 year old male must be able to do 31 military pushups.
A 22-26 year old female must be able to do 11 military pushups.
A 22-26 year old male must be able to run 2-miles in 17:30.
A 22-26 year old female must be able to run 2-miles in 20:36.

Most of my Boot Campers, all of whom are well beyond that age range (sorry, but that's the fact, Jack), can complete those standards. But 27% of our kids cannot.

Take a look at the links below and see if you have what it takes to get into the military.

Weight and body fat standards

Physical fitness test standards

Be well,

Paul

How to get your kids fit for life

2010-08-02T12:56:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning I will be part of a small group of wellness professionals meeting with Congressmen Patrick Murphy (D-PA). The meeting was setup to discuss ways to implement wellness initiatives for children in the Congressman's district. As you know, First Lady Michelle Obama is championing the fight against childhood obesity. This initiative created the Let's Move program.

Tomorrow we are talking about how to implement community-based healthy kids programs. I intend to work hard with my colleagues to create a meaningful difference in the way kids in Central Bucks County think about fitness and nutrition. What are some things you can do to improve your child's health and wellness? Here are a few suggestions:

1) Be a role fitness model. Kids will follow your example. If you make exercise a regular part of your day, talk about it openly (brag about it even), and involve your kids you will see that they take on some of those traits.

Two examples, one of my clients needs to get a walk/jog into her regular routine but works full time and has two pre-K children. So she gets one in the stoller and her son on his bike and off they go for 20-30 minutes. It is healthy for her and gets them to understand how important fitness is to their health. Another friend of mine brings her pre-K daughter to the gym regularly but before putting her in the gym's day care she takes her to the Spinning room and out to the fitness floor so she sees where mommy is going. This routine will stick with her.

Check out my article from an issue of the Bucks County Womens' Journal for more about being a fitness role model.

2) Be a Nutrtion Role Model. Make your food choices a part of the daily discussion around the house. It is ok to say, "should I have a bowl of grapes or should I have ice cream?" and let everyone know you are choosing grapes. If they see that you choose healthy over harmful it will become part of who they are.

3) Pack Your Child's Lunch. School food is dreadful. Terrible, pre-packaged, processed, microwaved gunk that they call eggs, pizza and cheeseburgers. Thankfully, many schools have gotten rid of their soda machines but there is so much work to be done on school menus. Don't have time? Yeah, your parents probably didn't either but most of my generation went to school with a bagged lunch. Include some lean meat, fruit, yogurt and a healthy drink and they will not only get better nutrition, they will be more alert for class.

4) Let Your Children Try Different Activities. Kids don't need to "be a future star" to enjoy multiple sports/activities. It is not just organized sports that give you exercise, let them play in the pool (supervised, of course), take a hike in the park, rent a canoe or kayak or paddle boat, play frisbee or tag. Just MOVE!! In addition, try some of the more traditional and less traditional sports, baseball and soccer are popular but how about skateboarding or BMX riding. All movement counts.

Off to see the Congressman,

Paul

The Importance for Standardized Testing

2010-07-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yikes, standardized tests. Those two words draw out a few possible reactions from most people.

Those of you who are 40ish like me cringe at the thought of filling those bubbles with your number 2 pencils in middle school. Admit it, you had a rule, when in doubt go with B.

For others, the thought of standardized testing gets your blood boiling. You may believe that standardized tests improve student and teacher performance and they are necessary for the future of our education system. Or, conversely, you may believe standardized tests drive the wrong behavior and that our kids are better off learning how to learn rather than learning how to pass a test.

Trust me, I'm not jumping into that debate.

For the purposes of this article, standardized testing is good...for your fitness.

Yesterday I did one of my benchmark workouts. A workout that I do every 3-6 weeks to see my fitness improvements. I was ecstatic. For this particular workout I made a 10% improvement over my last attempt. That's huge!!

What this test showed me was that my commitment to 5 workouts per week (4 of them are 30 minutes or less) over the last two months is paying off. My results rarely show up on the scale and body fat percentages are an inexact science. I need personalized fitness tests to tell me if I am improving my fitness.

When I begin working with a client we do a series of benchmark tests (weight, body fat, measurements, core strength, flexibility, cardio capacity and basic strength). Every 4-6 weeks we revisit these tests. Everyone should do these basic tests and track their progress.

It's when we get past the beginner stage with my clients that we start to add personalized benchmark tests. In boot camp we do these every 6 weeks. Below are some of the tests we do regularly in boot camp:

- Maximum number of pushups (elbows come to a 90 degree bend and no more than 3 seconds of rest between pushups)

- 100 box jumps (10" step) as fast as possible (two foot jump or step up and down)

- Maximum number of jump ropes in 2 minutes

- 40 - 10foot side-to-side shuffles as fast as possible.

How to perform your standardized tests
The most important thing about the test is that it must involve a repeatable exercise done with a specifically measurable range of motion. If you choose to do squats, put a chair behind you and make sure your butt hits the chair on each repetition. If your butt doesn't hit the chair then the rep doesn't count. Similarly with the pushups listed above. If your elbows don't hit a 90 degree bend then the rep doesn't count.

Secondly, the exercise must be done for a defined number of reps or a defined period of time. If you choose to do jump ropes make sure you pick a number or jumps or do as many as you can in a given period of time.

Thirdly, choose tests that measure all aspects of your fitness. Your tests should involve exercises that measure your cardio capacity, maximum strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and core strength.

Lastly, perform these tests as part of your regular workout at various times. Don't set aside special days and don't do any specific preparation for them. In other words, don't rest for two days beforehand or change your routine in any way prior to your tests. Just make them a normal part of your routine.

Here are the benchmark tests that I use to measure my progress regularly.

CrossFit's Fight Gone Bad: 5 exercises done for 1 minute each with a continuously running clock. I move from one exercise to the next without stopping the clock, performing as many reps as possible in the minute. After getting through the 5 exercises I rest for one minute then repeat the 5 exercise set two more times. Grand total is 17 minutes. The exercises:
- Toss a 20 lb medicine ball up to hit a 10 foot target
- Sumo deadlift with an upright row using a 75lb barbell
- 20" box jumps
- 75 lb overhead push press
- Row for one minute
I count the total reps for the first 4 exercises and the total calories on the row to get my total score for each round then add them up for a grand total.

Maximum weight deadlift, back squat and overhead press: Deadlift increasing amounts of weight until I hit my maximum using good form. Do the same for back squat and overhead press.

Tabata pushups and squats: Do as many pushups as possible in 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds. Repeat that for 5 rounds and add up your total number of pushups. Do the same for squats.

Run 5K as fast as possible

Filthy Fifties:
50 reps of 12 exercises done as fast as possible with good form
Box jumps, 24 inch box
Jumping pull-ups
Kettlebell swings, 35 lb kettlebell or dumbbell
Walking Lunges, 50 steps
Hanging straight leg raises
Push presses, 45 pounds
Back extensions
Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
Burpees
Double unders jump ropes

Your tests should reflect your current fitness level and should be made more difficult the more fit you get. Fight Gone Bad and Filthy Fifties are a real struggle for me but they are getting better.

If you need assistance with assessing your current fitness level or if you would like help setting up regular tests for yourself please contact me at the number below.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

More on my marathon training

2010-07-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

My training plan for the Philly Marathon in November has gotten some significant criticism from friends and clients. I think it is time for me to publish what I have done over the two weeks of training so far and also reiterate why I am choosing a less traditional training methodology.

Let's start with the two key reasons why I am not running long distances 3-4 times a week like a traditional training plan requires.

First, I don't love running. Traditional plans are extremely running intensive. Runner's World magazine provides a standard 4-month training plan for "beginners". The total amount of running over the 4 months is 347 miles. That is the equivilent of 13+ marathons. That is for beginners.

They recommend an intermediate plan of 5 runs per week with a range of total mileage between 562 and 610 miles and with 4 straight weeks of 45+ miles of running. If you love running, by all means, have at it!!!

If not, my plan calls for a approximately 300 miles of running in 5+ months of training. No week will cover more than 30 miles of running and my focus is on building up the leg stamina for the long runs. Each weekend includes a long run, beginning at 10 miles in late June and building up to 22 miles in late October.

The second reason I am constructing a less-traditional plan is that I don't like what endurance training does to my overall fitness. I work with many triathletes and distance runners. They simply are not as strong as I want to be. I refuse to sacrifice overall strength and function to be able to do a marathon. My plan calls for a lot of continued strength training and power workouts to improve my leg, hip, lower back, core and upper body strength to help prevent overuse injuries.

The long weekend runs will be supplemented by my Interval Strength Training workouts throughout the week. To the extent that those include running they are typically short, hard, fast interval runs. But for the most part, those workouts are total body strength and high-intensity cardio workouts lasting between 20 and 40 minutes.

Here is what I have done over the last two weeks. For those of you who are new to my blog, I personally follow the CrossFit Workout of the Day with modifications away from some of the gymnastic and olympic lifting movements.

June 14th
Row 500 meters
30 body weight bench presses (done on a chest press machine)
Row 1000 meters
20 body weight bench presses
Row 2000 meters
10 body weight bench presses

June 15th
Row 2000 meters
50 Wall ball tosses with 20 lb ball
Row 1000 meters
35 Wall ball tosses with 20 lb ball
Row 500 meters
20 Wall ball tosses with 20 lb ball

June 16th and 17th - Rest Days

June 18th
10 - 100 meter sprints with 90 sec rest in between each

June 21st
5 rounds of 50 foot walking lunges with 45lb barbell overhead, and
21 burpees

June 22nd
5 rounds of:
hard 1/2 mile run, and
50 pushups

June 23rd
3 rounds of:
15 dumbbell thrusters with 2-50lb dumbbells
30 situps on the glute-ham developer

June 24th - Rest Day

June 25th
5 rounds of:
40 double under jump ropes
30 - 2' high box jumps
20 - 55lb kettlebell swings

June 26th - 10 mile run

that is just a two week overview. Notice that running is combined in with a lot of rowing and other high-intensity aerobic activities that build stamina, strength and functional movement.

Stay tuned,

Paul

Exercise intensity is the greatest predictor of fitness

2010-06-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

Those of you who follow my posts know that I believe the most important factor in getting fitness results is the workout intensity, not how frequently you workout or for how long.

Here is a repost of a short article by Mike Boyle, one of the leading fitness trainers and fitness researchers in the industry. Occasionally I agree with his positions.

Article by Mike Boyle....
"It's amazing how much marketing affects truth in fitness.

I remember when machine training was all the rage because it was thought to be safer and more effective.

The problem with this "truth" is that it was a lie or at least a misconception promoted by the manufactures of machines and often backed up by industry-funded research.

Nautilus was advertised as a 12-machine, 12-minute trip to the Promised Land. Today it's Curves.

Tomorrow, who knows?

The Cooper Clinic told us that aerobic exercise was going to change our lives. Suddenly everyone was a runner.

I think the real beneficiaries of the aerobic training boom were the doctors and physical therapists who made millions caring for all those who were injured on the road to the Promised Land.

The aerobic training boom made us aware of things like plantar fasciitis, iliotibial band syndrome, and patella-femoral dysfunction. It gave us RICE (rest, ice, compression, and
elevation) and made sports medicine a household word.

Next came the group exercise phenomenon, the aerobics shoe, and aerobics classes. More marketing, more injuries. More money for the doctors and PT's.

Some of these ideas were well-intentioned attempts at wellness promotion, others flat out lies propagated to make money. In either case, we still don't get it. The truth is that exercise needs to be smart and safe. but it also needs to be hard if possible.

Very little in life was ever achieved without hard work. Fitness is clearly not the exception. Some doctors try to say gardening qualifies as exercise.

Ask yourself this question. "How is kneeling in dirt exercise?"

Others say walking is great exercise. The truth is that something is always better than nothing, but why aim so low?

The reality is that we should be exercising as hard as we are physically able. In fact, the medical professionals themselves said that in 2002 but the information got little coverage.

The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 346:852-854 March 14, 2002) published a study and an editorial titled "Survival of the Fittest" that said "...the peak estimated exercise capacity achieved during the test (graded exercise treadmill) was the strongest predictor of the risk of death among patients with cardiovascular disease and among patients without cardiovascular disease."

The study went on to say, "Greater fitness results in longer survival." The study said nothing about duration or frequency, it only mentioned performance. The people that lived the longest were not the ones that exercised the most frequently. They were the ones who lasted the longest on the treadmill test.

The key variable that related to life expectancy was fitness, not total time or number of days per week. Those that were able to exercise the hardest lived the longest.

Think about that next time you take a walk or work in the garden. If that is all you can do, fine. However, healthy people need hard work."

End of article.

Post your thoughts to the comments section.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
http://www.activepersonalfitness.com/
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

10 miles with the help of two angels and Bob

2010-06-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs help to keep on top of training for your goals. I'm no different.

Saturday was my first longish (10 mile) training run in prep for the marathon in November. I had to use all the tricks in the book to motivate myself and some of the tricks weren't even planned. I got help from a few friends. I am grateful for it, sore, but grateful.

I started my plan by arranging to meet one of the boot camp clients, Bridget, at Peace Valley Park at 6:30 am for the run. We run at different paces but the point was we would hold each other accountable by meeting for the start of the run. Both of us think we would have stayed home and skipped the run if we hadn't agreed to meet up for the beginning. Mission accomplished. After a warmup we began the run at 6:35. Angel #1 did her job. Lesson learned: Find a friend to help hold you accountable to your training sessions.

This was without question the worst run I have ever done. Physically and mentally I was a wreck. The first loop of the lake is 6 miles and I stopped at least 4 times to walk and give myself a pep talk. All I could think about was how I could ever do this for 26 miles since I dread 10 so much. As I completed the first loop I was going to simply stop and pack it in. Stomach troubles, a tight left calf and some mental weakness were steering me back to the car. Enter angel #2.

On my walk to the car, my friends Bob and Lisa pulled up. Lisa was starting an 18 mile training run and Bob was going for a bike ride. Nothing can kick start your mental toughness more than knowing someone else is going to run twice as far as you and probably faster. After talking with them for a couple minutes and a needed trip to the restroom I headed back out for a 2-mile out and 2-mile back run to complete my 10. My mission, DO NOT let Lisa catch me (at least before the 2-mile turnaround). Mission accomplished. I barely beat her to the turnaround and headed back. Lesson learned: Draw inspiration from others who are accomplishing the goals you want to achieve.

Then I stopped again. Ugh. Mental breakdown #50. Enter Bob.

Bob was riding his bike on his way to meet up with Lisa. He listened to me whine for a minute about my calf, how I can't get a rhythm, blah, blah, blah. Then he just said, "I should send you a link to a blog I read yesterday about persistence". This happened to be a blog I had just written and posted. Nothing like having your words thrown back at you 24 hours later. Lesson learned: Even if you don't have it that day, push through and finish your workout. A crappy workout is generally better than none at all.

I'll be posting some of my other training session shortly.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Landon Donovan, two anonymous tennis players, and the lessons of persistence

2010-06-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Persistence.

It is the single most powerful quality to have if you want to achieve a goal or dream. It was never displayed more overtly than yesterday.

Yesterday was an epic day in sports. Whether you follow soccer and tennis (most Americans have no more than a passing interest in either) or you don't, you have heard the news from South Africa and London.

In South Africa, the USA Soccer team, robbed of victory in the previous match by a referee's poor decision, faced a must-win situation to advance to the "knockout" round of the World Cup. This is a big deal. So big that hundreds of millions of people worldwide watch every game. The Super Bowl wishes it got this much attention.

They dominated play in Wednesday's match with Algeria but could not score. The team hit goal posts, missed easy scoring chances, and yes, had another goal disallowed by a referee's poor decision. As the end of the scoreless game neared it seemed as though the team could not overcome the bad calls and mistakes. It was not meant to be. As they entered extra time (the four minutes added on at the end of the game) they were in full attack mode, needing to score, desperate, 4 minutes from failure after 4 years of preparation.

Then magic happened. A key save by the U.S. goaltender, an aggressive pass to leader Landon Donovan, a flurry of passes and a bouncing ball in front of Algeria's net, and then Donovan ran on to the ball and calmly kicked it in. "It was like time stopped for a moment", Donovan said afterward.

The goal was an epic moment in USA sports. A memory for everyone who watched. A moment of national pride that sports can bring to a country. Denied a goal in a match they dominated until the 91st minute, the USA team worked even harder, pushed the pace, became more agressive and intense until they broke through with the goal. Memorable. Inspired.

A couple continents north of South Africa, two guys no one ever heard of played a lot of tennis yesterday. A LOT of tennis. 10 hours worth. And it's still not over. American John Isner and Frenchman Nicholas Mahut are still playing. The match began Tuesday, played all day Wednesday and continues today. The fifth set is tied 59 games to 59 games. For those of you who don't follow tennis, 59 total games is considered a very long match. They've played 118 games in the last set alone and they're still not done.

This is the longest match ever played. No one would have watched this match if it were not a record setter for length. Neither of these guys is famous. Neither of them will win the tournament. And yet, neither of them will quit. How easy would it be to just quit and let the other guy win. They have gained instant fame with appearances on the Today Show and other media outlets. Why not just stop now? But Isner and Mahut battle on. One will eventually win and one will lose but they have made a mark in tennis history.

My clients are regularly confronted with the fear of not reaching their goal. A few pounds of weight gain one week, a day where a 2 mile run feels like a marathon, and the feeling that someone else in boot camp is stronger, leaner, and fitter than they are.

At those moments of doubt (we're not going to advance to the knockout round or I'll never win this marathon match) is when you need to dig the deepest.

Landon Donovan and the US squad showed us that it sometimes takes effort in every moment to reach your dream. Isner and Mahut showed us that sometimes it takes a effort behind what you could have imagined to achieve your goal.

The next time you are faced with a workout where you just don't have it and don't think you will finish it. Take a moment and realize that all of the effort you put in will pay off big one day. And when it does, go out and set another goal.

A first hand look at marathon training

2010-06-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

I’m jumping in with both feet to do the Philadelphia Marathon this year. But I have a few obstacles to overcome, obstacles common to many budding runners.

My most basic obstacle is I don’t like to run. More accurately, I don’t like training runs. I like races. If I could show up at the marathon and crank out 26.2 without the big training runs beforehand I would be a happy man. Marathon runners and other endurance athletes call these volume runs. The more volume, read miles, you put in prior to the race the better prepared you’ll be. We’ll address this later.

My second obstacle is I don’t have the time to do a traditional marathon training program. There is no magic or secret to these programs. Every other issue of Runner’s World or Triathlete magazine contains 6-month, 4-month, beginner, etc. plans for completing a marathon. A general summary of these plans goes something like this. Run 3 or 4 times a week, the runs during the week start short and get longer as you get closer to the marathon, the run on the weekend starts long and gets longer as you get closer to the marathon, build up the weekend mileage to 22-24 miles a couple weeks before the event and taper your training for a week or two leading up to the big day.

A traditional training program could take 10-15 hours per week. That doesn’t work for me. And in my conversations with other people who have used traditional training plans in the past, it doesn’t work for them either.

I should add that I believe in maintaining total body fitness which includes not only endurance but strength, flexibility, agility, stamina, balance, coordination, power and mental toughness. Dedicating your fitness program exclusively to running tilts the balance towards endurance, stamina and mental toughness. Ask a marathon runner or distance triathlete to deadlift their body weight and you’ll see how that training impacts their strength.

So how am I going to overcome my dislike for long training runs, lack of training time and desire to maintain strength, power and agility while building my endurance?

I will be using a hybrid of my Interval Strength Training (IST) program and long distance run training. In part 2, I will lay out the plan in general terms and then continue to post updates as the November event gets closer.

June Jump Rope Challenge

2010-06-01T05:18:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and it's time to be a kid again. Dust off your jump ropes or if you don't have one go out and drop the $10 that will change your body.

Jumping rope is an excellent total body exercise. It strengthens your legs and builds muscular endurance in your arms while provide an elevated heart rate. It is easy to learn and you will get better at it every time to do it. I have countless clients who couldn't jump at all when they started and now they are easily doing 200 in 2 minutes. Our Boot Camp record is 293 in two minutes if you want something to set an aggressive goal.

Here is your month-long Jump Rope challenge to get you to be a superior jumper.

June 1 - June 5
Tuesday - go buy a jump rope. If you have one then do as many as possible in 2 minutes. Record your result. A jump only counts if the rope passes under your feet. If you catch the rope on your toe and it does pass under your feet it doesn't count. I don't care if you jumped.
Wednesday - Maximum jumps in 2 minutes.
Thursday - 10 rounds or tabata jumps. Do as many as you can in 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds. That is one round. Repeat for a total of 10 20sec/10sec sets.
Friday - Beginner - 100 jump ropes, Intermediate - 250 jump ropes, Advanced - 500 jump ropes.

June 6 - off day
June 7 - Do as many jumps as you can in 5 minutes. Record your total.
June 8 - 5 minutes of Jumping Jack Jump Ropes. Move your feet out and in like a jumping jack alternating your landing on each jump.
Jun 9 - 10 rounds of tabata jumps.
Jun 10 - Do as many as possible in 2 minutes. Record your total.
Jun 11 - Beginner - 150 jump ropes, Intermediate - 400 jump ropes, Advanced - 750 jump ropes

June 12 and June 13 - Off days
June 14 - Do as many jumps as you can in 5 minutes. Record your total.
June 15 - 5 minutes of single-foot Jump Ropes. Jump on one foot for 25 repetitions then switch to the other foot.
June 16 - 10 round of tabata jump ropes doing the odd numbered rounds on your left foot and even numbered rounds on your right foot.
June 17 - Off day.
June 18 - Beginner - 200 jump ropes, Intermediate - 500 jump ropes, Advanced - 1000 jump ropes.

June 19 and June 20 - Off days
June 21 - Do as many as you can in 2 minutes. Rest one minute. Do another 2 minute test.
June 22 - 5 minutes or single-foot Jump Ropes. Jump on one foot for two repetitions then switch smoothly to the other foot for two repetitions and continue.
June 23 - 10 rounds of tabata jump ropes using the alternating two repetition method from the previous day.
June 24 - Off day.
June 25 - Beginner - 250 jump ropes, Intermediate - 600, Advanced - 1200

June 26 and June 27 - Off days
June 28 - Do as many as possible in 5 minutes. Record your result.
June 29 - 10 rounds of tabata jump ropes.
June 30 - Do as many as possible in 2 minutes. Record your result.

If you have questions, email me at paul@activepersonalfitness.com.

Happy jumping,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478

Should I do [fill in the blank] exercise? YES

2010-05-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

I get this question all the time, asked in many different ways. What exercise should I do to lose weight? What exercise should I do to get toned? Should I do Pilates? Should I do Spinning? Should I use dumbbells? Should I use machines? Should I....?

The answer (almost universally) is YES, DO THEM ALL!

Varying your exercise routine is essential for getting results, avoiding boredom, improving total body health, and losing weight. The first thing I do when I meet with avid runners or cyclists is to get them focused on other activities (swimming, body weight exercise, yoga). This mix of activities will help them run/bike faster than if they simply ran or biked more.

Challenging your body in a different way each day helps you avoid plateaus in your results. A plateau is a leveling off of your progress which happens when you perform the same exercises in the same way over an extended period of time. Many people talk about their "workout routine". If you have a "routine", it's time to break it.

I recommend creating a master list of types of exercises that you will do. Not just the ones that you like, but also include ones you don't like so much. Your list might look like this:

Yoga, Spinning, TRX suspension training, Dumbbells, Elliptical, Machines, Play Basketball/Tennis/Soccer, Jog or Run, Swimming, Abs, Kettlebells, Boxing, Pilates, Step Aerobics, Fitness DVD, Walking....you get the picture.

Write each of these on a piece of paper and place them in a bowl.

Determine the number of days you can exercise each week. Make this a realistic goal that you know you will work to achieve.

Pull a slip of paper out of the bowl and that will be your focus for that day. I workout 3 days in a row then take one off so I usually workout 5 days a week. If those days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday then I would pull a slip out for each day at the beginning of the week to set my schedule. It could look like this, Monday - Spinning, Tuesday - Play Tennis, Wednesday - Dumbbell workout, Friday - Run, Saturday - Dumbbell workout.

Of course you may have to place restrictions on some of the slips of paper. For example, you can't take a step class unless there is one offered that day. In that case, just draw another slip of paper out of the jar.

Variety is the key to total body wellness. Start to mix it up and keep your exercise exciting!!

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

A must-read for parents of young athletes

2010-03-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

This is a re-post of a Mike Boyle article. Mike Boyle is one of the world's leaders in developing workout programs for athletes including several NHL, MLB and Olympic athletes.

He received a question from someone about how to structure an off-season workout for a 9-year old hockey player. This is the response.

"Step 1- play another sport. Lacrosse is highly recommended as it has similar skills to hockey although baseball is fine. This does not mean another sport in addition to hockey. Summer is the off season.

Step 2- Cancel all hockey camp registrations except 1 week. Pick your favorite that has the largest number of your friends attending and go to that one. Ideally look for a camp that only has you on the ice once a day. No need to get blisters. You won’t get better in a week anyway.

Step 3- Cancel any summer hockey leagues you are scheduled for. The best players in the world never play summer hockey and, they never have.
The only conceivable exception would be a weekly skill session lasting one hour. Another exception would be "play". If ice is available and the kids can play, let them. Please remember play means NO COACHES or COACHING.

Step 4- Reread steps 1-3. Acknowledge that the key problem in youth sports is applying adult values to children’s activities.

Step 5- Go to the nearest bike shop. Get nice bikes for everyone in the family

Step 6- Ride the bikes, not in a race. For fun. Maybe put a few hockey cards in the spokes to make noise.

Step 7- Head to Walmart and buy fishing rods.

Step 8- Take the fishing rods to the nearest lake and fish.
Now That is an off-season plan for any nine year old.

Step 9- repeat steps 5-8 while continually rereading steps 1-3"

My comment......Finally a reasonable message to parents who are over training their kids at a young age. Children need true off-seasons and variety so that they physically develop into their bodies. Regular exercise including supervised weight lifting is encouraged but that is all part of a well rounded active lifestyle including bike riding and, gasp, fishing. Thank you Mike.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

What's your excuse?

2010-03-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this short video from the 2010 Crossfit Games Qualifier event in Georgia. You only need to watch about 10 seconds to get the point.

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Games2010_AgainFaster_GAKyleHighlight.wmv

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Victoria checks in with GREAT Results!!

2010-02-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

I started working with Victoria in April 2008. At the time she was 205lbs and barely keeping herself in a size 16. Her goal was to reach 175 lbs and get down to a size 8 again while making exercise a part of her life's habit.

We worked out twice a week for some time with slow steady progress. It wasn't until Victoria took my advice and began "doing her homework" that the results really popped. Her homework was to add two additional workouts per week when I was not there, workouts which I provided to her based on exercises and intensity levels we used in our one-on-one sessions.

Where is she now? 162lbs and into a size 6. She just came back from 7 weeks away in Houston and not only kept up her workout routine but lost additional pounds. Awesome results, Victoria!!

Before - 205lbs, size 16

After - 162lbs, size 6-8

Do you want to remake your body, improve your health, feel better and more energetic? Contact me at 267.626.7478. More picture testimonials on the way.

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

An Approach to Achievement - Will Smith

2010-02-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

Enjoy this video compliation of Will Smith's thoughts on dedication and skill development. Pay particular attention to what he says about running on a treadmill.

February Lunge Challenge

2010-02-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

It's time for our monthly fitness challenge. Determining this month's challenge as a tug-o-war between jumping rope and lunges. Read below to see which one won out.

But first, I relaunched www.ActivePersonalFitness.com last weekend. The new look and feel will make it easier to find information about all of our programs from in-home personal training to Elevation Boot Camp to our new Central Bucks Challenge for weight loss to our brand new Central Bucks Runners club. Take a look at the new layout and let me know what you think. You can always reach me at 267.626.7478 or at paul@activepersonalfitness.com.

February Lunge Challenge

Ok, here goes....

Mondays - Stationary Lunges
Tuesdays - Reverse Lunges
Wednesdays - Walking Lunges
Thursdays - Lateral Lunges
Fridays - Squats

Week of Feb 1 thru Feb 5 - Do 30 of each exercise on each leg.
Week of Feb 8 thru Feb 12 - Do 50 of each exercise on each leg.
Week of Feb 15 thru Feb 19 - Do 70 of each exercise on each leg.

Then.....

The week of Feb 22 thru Feb 26 do the following:
Monday - 100 walking lunges
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 200 walking lunges
Thursday - rest
Friday - 300 walking lunges

What are you waiting for? Go!!

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Active Personal Fitness Pushup Challenge

2010-01-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

Join us for our first fitness challenge of the year.

Every day in January do a number of pushups related to the day of the month. You do not need to do them all at one time. Break them up throughout the day as you need to.

Beginners (new to doing pushups)
The number of pushups equals the day of the month. For example, January 5th is 5 pushups.

Restarters (have done pushups before but it has been a while)
The number of pushups equals 2x the day of the month.

Former jocks (it has been a while but you think it hasn't)
The number of pushups equals 3x the day of the month.

Avid Exercisers ("I do pushups while I brush my teeth")
Add a "0" after the single digit days and do 4x on the two-digit days. For example, January 5th is 50. January 17 is 68.

Personal Trainers ("You call this a challenge")
Do the following using the avid exercisers prescription above.
Pushups
Body Weight Squats
Dips
Walking Lunges

Ready, Set, Go!!

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
Elevation Boot Camp
www.ElevationBootCamp.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Set Your Fitness Goals for 2010 -- A Call to Action

2009-12-05T10:13:00.001-08:00

One of the keys to accomplishing anything in life is to set goals and hold yourself accountable to them. The goals could involve career, relationships, travel, education and, yes, fitness. Exercising more and losing weight are a close second and third to spending more time with family as the top New Years resolutions for Americans. Recent surveys have found that more than half of all Americans made resolutions involving exercise and weight loss.

Setting a specific goal and communicating it to family, friends, co-workers and peers will help hold you accountable to achieveing the goal. It will also inspire many of them to see you accomplish what you set out to do.

I've been telling my clients this for years. This time I am the one that needs to be held accountable. And I am asking you to join me. Below are my fitness goals for 2010. Several of the items are brand new territory for me (rowing competitions and marathons), they are agressive and the times will all be personal bests for me. But I will do them. If you hold me accountable.

And I want to hold you accountable to yours. Post your fitness goals in comments and update us throughout the year as you achieve them. Don't worry if you think they are not challenging goals. If they are a challenge for you then they are the right goals. Remember, I am a trainer, it's my job to be able to do this stuff.

Center City Sprints (Indoor Rowing) - Saturday, January 30 -- Drexel University (Philly)
Goal time: 7:00 for 2000m Previous Best: 6:47

The Main Line Slide (Indoor Rowing) - Saturday, February 6 -- Villanova University (Philly)
Goal time: 6:45 for 2000m Previous Best : 6:47

Tour of the Battenkill Bike Race Pro/Am - Saturday, April 10 -- Salem, NY
Goal time: Just finish respectably Previous Best: First attempt at this race
http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/

Bucks County 5K Series - 7 race series March through June -- Bucks County, PA
Goal: Finish in top 10 in my age group (40-44) for the series as a whole. Best four out of seven races count toward overall standings. Previous Best: 17th

Broad Street Run (10 miles) -- Sunday, May 2nd -- Philadelphia, PA
Goal time: 1:11:00 Previous Best: 1:15:18
www.broadstreetrun.com

Univest Cyclosportif Pro/Am Bike Race (60 miles) - Saturday, Sept 10 -- Doylestown, PA
Goal time: TBD Previous Best: First Attempt

-or-

Patriot Games (run/canoe/bike/run two-person team triathlon) - Saturday, Sept 10 -- Chalfont, PA
Goal: Top 5 overall team, Win either Master Division or Coed Division Championship

Philadelphia Distance Run (13.1 miles) --Sunday, Sept 19 -- Philadelphia, PA
Goal time: 1:35:00 Previous Best: 1:40:41

Philadelphia Marathon (26.2 miles) -- November 2010 -- Philadelphia, PA
Goal time: 3:45:00 (8:30/mile pace) Previous Best: This will be my first marathon

Buffalo-Niagara Turkey Trot 8K (4.97 miles) -- Thanksgiving Day -- Buffalo, NY
Goal time: 35 minutes Previous Best: 35:42

CrossFit Goals (This will only make sense to my CrossFit friends)
Complete an uninterupted "Fran"
21 full pullups
21 95# thrusters
15 full pullups
15 95# thrusters
9 full pullups
9 95# thrusters

CrossFit Total (Back Squat + Shoulder Press + Deadlift)
Goal: 750 lbs (Don't laugh Steve)

Filthy Fifty
Goal: 23 minutes (the pullups will kill me) Previous Best: roughly 35 minutes
50 Box jump
24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings (35 lbs)
Walking Lunge
50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press (45lbs)
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots (20 lbs med ball)
50 Burpees
50 Double under jump ropes

"Cindy"
Goal: 18 rounds
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Body Weight squats

Max rep pushups (full range of motion)
Goal: 65

That's it. I better get my butt to the gym.

Paul

Developing Your Healthy Holiday Plan

2009-11-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

Having a Healthy Holiday Plan is more than just about avoiding weight gain. For most of us this coming month is about avoiding bad habits. Bad exercise habits and bad nutritional habits. There are several studies that suggest creating a habit and making it stick as part of your life can be done in 21 days; just 3 simple weeks of repeating a behavior and it will be part of you. The sad thing is that those studies are talking about how to create a positive behavior (things like doing weekly and daily planning, getting into an exercise routine, or quitting smoking). Those are habits that take some effort to establish.

Bad habits are much easier to establish. From now until January 1st we have about 5 weeks of time. And for a lot of us it is a time where we typically create bad habits. You know what they are; eating too much, eating too often, skipping exercise, making bad food choices.

Five weeks. 35 days of temptation. 35 days of people not judging you for taking a second piece of pie. 35 days of there being a second piece of pie just hanging around.

For many people it is that time between now and New Years Day where they not only disrupt their healthy lifestyles for a month but they set themselves up for continued struggle into the New Year. And we all know that once you have taken a step back in your progress it becomes very difficult to get your healthy habits back. The key is to set yourself up for a healthy holiday by having a plan, not a plan that prevents you from enjoying time with family and friends or a piece or two of pie. I am talking about a realistic, sensible, simple plan for approaching the holidays. You need to establish a mindset that will guide you into the New Year.

I need you to start by asking yourself 4 simple questions.
- Are you having company to your house or are you travelling?
- How many people will be at your destination?
- What is on the menu?
- Where will everyone be exercising?

It is not unusual to have no answer to that last question. You know where you will be, who will be there and what you will be eating. But you have not thought at all about where you will exercise. Most of us want to avoid weight gain and loss of energy over the holiday season. But what happens is we spend hours planning all the details about how we WILL gain weight and no time planning the details of how we will AVOID weight gain. If you have a plan for gaining weight and no plan for not gaining weight, guess what is going to happen. You’re going to execute on your plan and your going to gain weight.

Keep an eye open over the next week for the remainder of my Healthy Holiday Plan series. The next blog posting talks about setting realistic expectations, determining your “cheat days,” and creating the PLAN. Stay tuned….

Why I Like P90X and Why I Don't (Part 2)

2009-11-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Last week in ActiveBlog I walked you through some of the benefits of the P90X workout system. We talked about providing the convenience of working out at home, a structured program that provides significant variety to your workouts, and measurable, documented results that are posted all over the internet and in numerous "look at me now" YouTube videos.

This week we look at some of the downsides of the program so you can determine if it will work for you.

The Downside of P90X
There are no “off days” in P90X. The 90-day program requires 6 days of intense workouts and 7 days a week of rigid adherence to their nutrition plan. The workouts are not only intense but long. They are typically 60 to 90 minutes in length. Darrell remarked, “At first it seems like an hour a day for 90 days isn’t bad. For someone that hasn’t exercised in years it started to get pretty intense. I worked very hard the first 30 and felt great.”

The nutritional plan is heavy on supplements. If you read back in my blog you will see my thoughts on supplementation. It should be possible for everyone who follows a sensible eating plan to get all the macronutrients, vitamins and minerals they need from a well balanced diet. I have been in the fitness industry long enough to realize that pushing supplements is simply a profit machine for the companies and trainers who do it. P90X is no different. When I met the founder of Beach Body last year at a small fitness industry meeting it was clear to me that their next profit line was the development of more supplements. In fact, that was the essence of the presentation about what was “coming up” for P90X.

P90X requires additional investment. To do the workouts properly at home requires about $500 worth of dumbbells, bands, balls, etc. Unless you have equipment at your home already you will need to outfit yourself with a mini-gym. In addition, you will need to invest in the supplements that go along with the nutrition program.

P90X is not sustainable. Deirdre points out, “This is not a program that you can sustain for a lifetime.” Having worked with many people who have done specific exercise programs and rigid eating patterns it eventually isn’t able to be sustained. There are some program options beyond the first 90 day transformation but maintaining the results will be challenging. For most people their lives are not setup for long term high intensity training like this. It is similar to The Biggest Loser in that it becomes very hard for the losers to keep the weight off when they stop working out for 4 hours a day at a fitness ranch and have to go back to their jobs, families, and daily stresses.

In part III of my P90X blog I will discuss in-home personal training and how it can be used to supplement/compliment a program like P90X or vice versa. Stay tuned for next week's blog.

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
Elevation Boot Camp
www.ElevationBootCamp.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Will You Go “All-in” to Get What You Want?

2009-11-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

The last two World Series are near and dear to my friends here in Philadelphia. In 2008 the Phillies prevailed over Tampa Bay in five memorable games. And this year the Yankees took the title. Both series turned on a single memorable play made by an outstanding player who took a moment and decided they were going to make a difference…THE difference.

The recent popularity of professional poker has made many of us familiar with the term “all-in.” That one moment, faced with an opportunity to win a big poker hand, when the player chooses to bet all of their money. Win the hand and collect your riches, lose the hand and you are not only out of the game but flat broke.

Chase Utley and Johnny Damon chose to go “all-in” at a key moment. Their split second decision could change the series in their favor or turn the tide against their teams. We’ll discuss the result of their decision in a moment. The point is their mindset at the big moment. They choose to go for it, push in all their chips, and make the difference for their team.

For Damon, he stepped to the plate with the score tied in the crucial game 4 of this year’s series. After a fantastic at bat Damon reached first base with two out in the top of the ninth. But it is what Damon did next that turned the tide of the series. In the process of stealing second base Damon realized in a split second that no one on the Phillies was covering third. With the player holding the ball only one foot away from him, Damon went “all-in” and began running to third. If he made it the Yankees would have a great chance to take the lead. If he made an out the Phillies would come to the plate with the game tied. One moment, one decision, be a hero or be a goat. Damon outran Feliz and was safe at third. He scored shortly after. The first of three runs the Yankees would score in the top of the ninth on their way to a decisive game 4 victory.

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7113113

Last year it was Utley in the spotlight in game 5. In a tie game with two out in the 7th inning Utley fielded a difficult ground ball up the middle. He could not get the runner at first, but rather than settling for stopping the ball he decided to fake a throw to first. The runner coming around third base went for the fake and ran home. Utley unleashed a perfect throw to get the runner at the plate. There should have been runners on first and third with two out. Instead, Utley got the third out and the Phillies took the lead later in the game and went on to win the World Series.

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=3653322

Most of us are satisfied to steal second base. Most of us would be happy with just stopping the ground ball. And most of us won’t be world champions because of it.

These lessons apply to your exercise and fitness as well. I’ve talked a lot in the past about people who “mail it in” during their workouts. Their intensity level is low; they are going through the motions; they are satisfied with just being at the gym. They are okay with stopping at second base. They wouldn’t think to throw the runner out at home. Why would they when it is so much easier to only bet a few of your chips?

The problem is that the less you put into it, the less you get out. Damon and Utley made THE difference, not just for one play, but for the whole championship. They put themselves on the line; they pushed in all their chips; they reaped the greatest reward.

You can do the same, you should do the same. When you show up at the gym, make the decision to go “all-in.” Put in the most effort you can. Seize the moment and burn more calories, run faster, lift more, reduce your rest time, learn a new exercise, up your intensity, go to third base, throw the runner out at home. Give yourself a chance to get great fitness results.

Why I like P90X and why I don't

2009-11-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

It is one of the most popular fitness infomercials of all time. Thirty minutes of sexy bodies (and their less sexy “before” shots), cool looking exercises, high spirited trainers, and sleek looking videos all stand in front of a well-conceived fitness program.

P90X sells 10s of thousands of copies of their fitness and nutritional programs all over the world. They claim they can transform your body in 90 days. They tell you it won’t be easy (nothing worth doing ever is). They tell you if you work hard you can look like the testimonials they flaunt from beginning to end. They talk about “muscle confusion” and high intensity training (though they didn’t really invent any of those concepts). But they did package them nicely.

If you have followed my postings long enough you know I am not a big fan of fitness infomercials. Usually they deliver an overpriced gadget that is only a small part of your fitness solution. The electrodes you attach to your body will not shock you into getting a six-pack. The Gazelle is a way to do cardio but not the only way, and certainly not the most effective.

So does P90X work? I reviewed the program and interviewed two people who have used it. Here is what I found. We’ll start with the good, move to the bad, and then talk about using personal training to help keep you motivated and accountable.

The Good Stuff
P90X first and foremost provides convenience. It allows you to workout in your own home, avoid the travel time to and from the gym (and all the social distractions that happen when you are there) and gives you the flexibility to do it where and when you want.. I’ve built my in-home training business around this very concept. Many people need convenience and flexibility in their workout programs due to the demands of their kids, careers, etc.

P90X will get you results….if you commit to it. It is a plan for working out that cannot help but get you results based on the amount of time it requires (see “The Bad Stuff” in my next blog post). Darrell from Buffalo, NY reports that the first 30 day cycle helped him “lose his gut”. “I look great, I lost 7 lbs, my abs are starting to show and my situps, pushups and pull ups are off the charts compared to day 1.”

P90X provides variety. Regularly varying your activities is essential for fitness results. The constant changes in workouts from yoga to kickboxing to strength training to plyometrics will keep you interested and challenged. According to Deirdre from PA, “For those who were athletes, this is a fantastic program - it will put you back to the days of practice.”

P90X gives structure. Many people need guidance to know what to do and when to do it. The program provides this with strict guidelines on what to do each day. If you are someone who benefits from a structured program this can keep you on task to your goals.

In my next blog post we will look at several drawbacks to the P90X program including the significant amount of time required, the heavy role supplements play in the nutritional program, and the sustainability of this type of approach over the long term. Stay tuned….

Strategies for Surviving Halloween Setbacks

2009-10-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

The costumes are under final preparations, trick or treat bags are at the ready, little ghosts, witches and Hannah Montanas begin to appear at your door. All are in search of candy.

Today is a day filled with memories from our youth and traditions we pass down with glee to our children. One tradition we have to let go is the Halloween candy family free-for-all that occurs between October 31st and Thanksgiving. Americans consumed 23.8lbs of candy per person in 2008. And much of that is digested in the three weeks around Halloween.

Here are some tips for helping your family enjoy Halloween without establishing permanently bad eating habits.

Every thing in moderation. Halloween is fun and eating candy is a big part of it. Candy can be part of a healthy approach to eating if it is not allowed to take center stage. Avoid allowing candy to be consumed before meals or bed time.
Halloween is a single day. Like so many of our traditional celebrations, sometimes they last longer than the day on the calendar. If Halloween is going to be a day where you let your kids eat a considerable amount of candy then make sure you return to sensible limits beginning the day after.
Determine which candy makes the cut. Sit down with your kids and help them to eliminate candy they do not like or that you do not want them to try. Throw away the candy that doesn't make the cut. If you keep it around, someone will eat it.
Set some guidelines. Make an agreement with your children about how much candy they can have each day. 2-3 pieces of candy per day should be enough for most kids. Create some individual baggies of candy that contain the limit for a day. Rather than leave the whole candy bowl available all day long, only put out that day's baggie. Use smaller pieces to include in your child's lunch over the next week.
Role model for your kids. Your kids will follow what you show them. If you are regularly in the treat bowl and not following the guidelines than don't expect them to. Rationing the candy will also help you avoid those extra pounds.
Throw out your excess give-a-way candy. Your children are coming home with bags of candy and you still have 50 pieces you didn't give away. Throw it away. Having large amounts of candy available will only help you rationalize your desire to eat it. "I have to eat it to get rid of it."
Write down how much candy you gave out. Help yourself prepare for next year. Make a note of how much candy you gave out and then adjust next year's candy purchase accordingly. You'll save money and have less leftovers.
Don't pass it off on others. Taking your candy into your workplace to "get rid of it" just helps set others up for nutritional failure. You know first hand the temptation of snacking when you see someone's leftover apple pie on the counter. Don't tempt them by bringing in Halloween candy.

Have a safe Halloween. Drive careful and keep an eye out for the children.

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
Elevation Boot Camp
www.ElevationBootCamp.com
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

What You Should Expect from Your Personal Trainer

2009-10-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

You realize hiring a personal trainer is a great way to get optimal fitness results. But the process of selecting one is challenging. You have some questions that you want to ask but you are not really sure what answers to expect. In this post I give you a guideline for what to expect from a personal trainer. Use this as a primer so that you can better understand what a trainer has to offer.

Complimentary initial meeting. This first meeting is to discuss your fitness goals, motivations, current lifestyle, habits (good and bad), time commitments, available equipment and for you to get a first impression of them. At the end of that session ask yourself a few questions. Did they listen to me? Did they make notes? Were their suggestions specific to me or did it sound like I was going to get the same plan as everyone else? Many of these are judgment calls but they are worth making up front. In addition, make certain you ask them what degrees and certifications they hold, get references of three current or former clients, and Google them to see what people are saying about them on the internet.

Initial Fitness Assessment. There are many fitness tests and protocols that a trainer can use to establish your current fitness level. At a bare minimum a trainer should offer to record your weight, measurements, BMI and body fat. Additionally, benchmarks should be established for your cardio fitness, flexibility, core strength, and upper and lower body strength.

Personalized Workouts. Taking into account your goals and your current fitness level as determine in your initial assessment, your trainer should come prepared with a written program specifically for you. The first couple few workouts the trainer should pay keen attention to how you are responding to the exercises and make adjustments to the plan for the day as needed. It takes a few sessions for the trainer to understand all of your limitations.

***Important*** Fitness Program ***Important*** - Your trainer should want you to workout when they are not there. This means you should expect direction from them on what you should do between sessions. If a trainer is not providing you with “homework” assignments to get you familiar with working out on your own then they are not working in your best interest. I often tell my clients “I don’t want to be your trainer for life.” A great trainer wants to put you on a path to wellness that you can sustain on your own so they can move on to help someone else. There has to be an exit strategy and providing a fitness program is the only way to make that transformation happen.

Nutritional Consultation. There is much debate in the trainer community about the appropriate level of nutritional advice a trainer can give a client. Some in the industry believe if a trainer is not a certified nutritionist they should not give anything but the most basic advice. Others feel that nutritional advice is within a trainer’s scope of practice. At a minimum your trainer should ask you about your food and beverage intake and make suggestions about appropriate food choices for your fitness goals.

Regular Re-assessments.
Every 4-8 weeks expect a re-assessment of your fitness level. Tracking your progression or regression on the assessment is a key to understanding what is working in your fitness program and can be extremely motivating. Whether you lost weight, lower body fat, or improved cardio capacity, it is amazing to see it on paper compared to where you began.

Paul

Paul Dziewisz is founder of Active Personal Fitness. He started his personal training business 4 years ago after a 15+ year career in Information Technology because I wanted to make difference in people's lives. Paul works with clients throughout the Delaware Valley region who face all the common struggles around weight loss, conditioning and living a healthy lifestyle. He understands the stresses of fitting exercise into a busy schedule with work pressures and chauffeuring kids. Active Personal Fitness works with clients to give them realistic goals and strategies to make permanent lifestyle changes and get RESULTS.

Paul is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer.

How to Choose Dietary Supplements

2009-06-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

As you may have read in my newsletter (available at http://www.activepersonalfitness.com/), the recent FDA warnings regarding the use of the popular fat loss supplement Hydroxycut and its subsequent recall have dietary supplements in the headlines. It is important to keep in mind supplement manufacturers don't need to register a product with the FDA or get approval before selling a supplement.

11 things to consider when choosing a supplement (adapted from the American Cancer Society's guidelines)
1. Consult your doctor or other health care provider prior to taking a supplement.
2. Find information on the product written by recognized medical experts or government agencies. Bring this information to your doctor's attention. You can start on the Web by visiting the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ipg.asp?sitename=National+Institutes+of+Health&url=http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/ and clicking on "Health Information."
3. When you shop for supplements, look for USP-NF on the package label. The USP is an non-governmental, not-for-profit public health organization who is the standards–setting authority for all prescription and over–the–counter medicines and other health care products manufactured or sold in the United States.
4. If you are shopping for a botanical, make sure to find a product that uses only the effective part of the plant. Avoid botanicals that have been made using the entire plant, unless the entire plant is recommended.
5. Remember that a product described as "natural" is not necessarily safer or more effective. There are many lethal substances found in nature and many "safe" substances that may be harmful in combination with other substances or when used at a high concentration. Try to avoid mixtures of many different supplements. The more ingredients, the greater the chances of harmful effects.
6. Consider the name and reputation of the manufacturer or distributor.
7. Does the label provide a way to contact the company if you have questions or concerns about their product? Reputable manufacturers will provide contact information on the label or packaging of their products.
8. Avoid products that claim to be "miracle cures," "breakthroughs," or "new discoveries," to have benefits but no side effects, or to be based on a "secret ingredient" or method. Such claims are almost always fraudulent, and the product may contain potentially harmful substances or contaminants.
9. Avoid products that claim to be effective treatment for a wide variety of unrelated illnesses. If a supplement claims that it can diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease, such as "cures cancer," the product is being sold illegally as a drug.
10. Avoid products that claim to be safe or effective based solely on testimonials.
11. If the supplement is being recommended by the person selling it to you make sure to carefully question why the supplement is necessary. Also ask them if they take the supplement personally. I view this as a conflict of interest and do not sell supplements for this reason.

I personally take only a whey protein mix after strength workouts. I recommend my clients take a multi-vitamin daily and Omega3 fish oil. I do not recommend additional supplements to my clients except in specific circumstances.

How can I workout in my home?

2009-03-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

How can I workout in my home? I get this question regularly. When I first meet with potential clients I explain the benefits of in-home personal training: saving time traveling to and from the gym, comfort, freedom for leering gym rats, using your own shower, etc. Not to mention saving money on gym membership. The comment I always get in return is that the person does not have a "home gym".

In this post I will give you the best way to outfit yourself for a home workout. If you've trained with me you know my philosophy is to do total body exercises, use a circuit format, do a lot of repetitions, do them in rapid succession, basically be efficient with your movements and your time. Many of my clients work primarily with their own body weight doing differing versions of the four base exercises: squats, pushups, pullups and lunges (more on these in an upcoming ActiveBlog post. Even many of my athlete clients do complete killer workouts without touching a weight. I have trained several clients to reach or maintain their body weight on the bench press without ever doing bench presses.

But it isn't realistic to think that you can reach all of your fitness goals without some resistance training using more than your body weight. So what equipment do you need. Here are the basics:

- Set of adjustable dumbbells. These resemble one single dumbbell but can be adjusted in increments of 2.5 or 5 lbs starting at 2.5 lbs and going all the way up to 100 on some models. They are made by Bowflex, Nautilaus, Weider, etc and come in sizes between 20lb max and 100 lb max. The beauty of these is that they have the footprint of one dumbbell so they can be stored under the sofa very easily. They are also easy to adjust. The 20lb variety are approximately $100, the 50s are $500 and the 100s are about $700. Keep in mind that 20lbs can go along way to building a solid fitness base for most people.

- Stability Ball. You've seen these large, brightly colored, inflated balls at your gym. Have you used them? The stability ball, or Swiss Ball, can replace an expensive bench in almost all situations. Using a ball rather than a bench forces your body to utilize muscles to support itself rather than letting the bench do the work. It makes for remarkable improvements in core strength which leads to strength gains on all exercises. Plus the ball costs about $25.

So how do you do cardio? That can the tough part. Having grown up in Buffalo I know the problems with getting cardio in during the winter months. Running, walking or biking are tough with snow on the ground or a howling wind blowing. And snow shoveling, while effective cardio, is no fun at all.

Many people I meet with have a treadmill or elliptical in their basement gathering dust. I could start a museum with the stuff I have stumbled upon. But the reality is that a properly structured workout routine can encompass cardio benefits and calorie burn without using an expensive treadmill or stationary bike. Don't believe me. Try this out for size but only do it if you are an established exerciser. Remember, it is important for you to have a doctor's clearance before performing any exercise routine that involves vigorous activity.

Perform the following circuit in sequence with no rest between exercises (rest only as needed):
5 Burpees (start standing straight up, place your hands on the ground and kick your legs back into a pushup position, perform a pushup, jump your legs forward, stand up and jump)
10 Turkish Getups (Lie face up on the floor, pull your feet toward your butt and crunch your upper body forward, use one hand to help push yourself up to a standing position)
15 Pushups
20 Chair dips
25 Full Military Situps
30 Body Weight Squats
35 Jumping Jacks
40 Walking Lunges
45 Jump Ropes

What about resistance bands?
I am not a fan of bands at all. The resistance is far too variable. Generally the tension is much to light at the beginning of a movement and much to heavy at the end. They are great for rehab but not for serious strength training.

What other types of equipment do you use at home? Add your thoughts to comments.

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
www.ElevationBootCamp.com
267.626.7478

iFitness on the iPhone

2009-03-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am not always a huge fan of the much hyped iPhone applications. We have all seen the commercials. A hip new song booms in the background as a fresh-voiced narrator whisks us through the latest thing that the iPhone will solve in your life. Among the apps I have downloaded and ultimately deleted are a restaurant finder that was great at finding Wendy's and Subway but not so good at finding any place where food is not served on trays.

So when I looked at the iFitness app which is billed as a replacement for personal trainers I was skeptical. How could the info on this little device replace me?? I will argue that it can't, but it does a lot of good in its effort.

iFitness at its best is an extensive exercise library with an easily searchable database of exercises broken down by body part. The navigation is simple, the pictures are crisp and clear, and the descriptions are thorough without being verbose. The app allows users to record the number of sets and reps they performed, the weight used, and provides graphs to show progress.

As a reference tool for remembering exercises it is outstanding. In addition, the exercises go beyond the basic and gives users a chance to get new ideas for exercises. Where the app comes up short is in its suggested workout routines. All "static" or "pre-packaged" workout routines are lacking in the specification necessary to get an individual their optimal results. It is common for people to get workouts from a magazine or steal a friend's routine. That is fine but not optimal. Each person has unique goals, body types, strengths/weaknesses, postural or movement inadequacies, and health and injury concerns that a static program cannot speak to.

An effective personal trainer will work with their client to define a set of specific goals and measure their client periodically to determine weight/body fat, cardio conditioning, flexibility, core stability and overall strength. All along the way providing the client with a program specific to their unique needs to get the most results from their efforts.

The iFitness app is excellent at giving people a reference tool for learning new exercises but it is not complete in its ability to give a targeted fitness routine.

Being a Fitness Role Model

2009-03-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I want to share the highlights of an article I authored that is appearing in the April/May issue of the Bucks County Women's Journal.

How to “Walk the Walk” of a Fitness Role Model
Here are a few simple behaviors you can use to influence others about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

Make a choice before your feet hit the floor. Every morning when you first wake up before your feet hit the floor; make a conscious decision that today you will make healthy exercise and eating choices. Encourage your family and friends to follow your lead.

Use positive language when talking about your exercise and nutrition. Phrases like “I can’t wait to get to the gym today” or “I had an incredible workout this morning” will have a positive impact on the people around you.

Dress and act the part. No, I don’t mean wearing bike shorts to the office. But be proud of your fit body and don’t be afraid to look lean and fit as you walk around everyday. Stand tall, shoulders back, and head held high.

Be knowledgeable about health and wellness. No one likes a know-it-all. But people appreciate an informed opinion. You can easily become the family’s “go-to” person for exercise and nutrition suggestions.

Set a fitness goal and share it with your social network. Having a stated goal and achieving it can be inspiring to others. Talk up your fitness goal whether it be a 5k run or charity bike ride and let everyone know when it will be. They will pull for you and be impressed by your results. And better yet, they will help hold you accountable for completing the event.

Who are your fitness role models? Post a comment to this blog and let us know who inspires you? I've got a couple to get you started. My fitness role models are Lance Armstrong and Laird Hamilton. Laird is a champion extreme surfer (30-50 foot waves). His workout regime is epic.

Check out the full article in the upcoming issue of Bucks County Women's Journal available throughout Bucks County, PA.

Check out www.ActivePersonalFitness.com for information on our personal training and group exercise classes.

The Blog begins....

2009-03-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to ActiveBlog. Active Personal Fitness provides in-home personal fitness training and cutting edge group fitness classes in Bucks County and Montgomery County in Pennsylvania. We use proven, practical, sensible exercise and nutritional programs to help you make positive changes to your health and fitness.

At Active Personal Fitness our slogan is "you give us the effort...we'll get you the results." Positive life changes take effort. We will use this space to help you get the absolute most out of your effort with exercise suggestions, nutrition tips, wellness strategies and attitude checks. If you read this blog and feel more educated about fitness, motivated to make a change and determined to hold yourself accountable to your wellness goals then we have done our job. And YOU will surpass your fitness goals and achieve great things.

I am not a gimmicky, quick fix or fitness fad type of guy. I believe in giving intense effort, mastering basic movements, using your whole body rather than isolating specific muscles, being efficient with your time and honest with your abilities. As this blog unfolds you will see my ideas for helping you succeed and you'll see me share ideas that others have that make good sense. If you are reading this to find out how to get the body of your dreams in 12 days or less you are in the wrong place. But if you have read this far then maybe you have stumbled upon a few words that will contribute to your success. Read on!!