Get Your 8 Seconds Back

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.

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

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. 

Join Me in "The Rice Experiment"

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

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

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."

February Fitness Challenge

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

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

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."

Why we really don't know what to eat

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."

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

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

Can you really get a good workout in 5 minutes?

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?

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

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

Exercise intensity is the greatest predictor of fitness

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."

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

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

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?

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!!

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."

Active Personal Fitness Pushup Challenge

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."

Developing Your Healthy Holiday Plan

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….

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

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.