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The biggest obstacle that we face in reaching our personal goals isn’t our genetics, careers, money, family or relationships… it’s ourselves.  If you want something bad enough you need to make it happen for yourself by following through with a game plan and remaining positive throughout its pursuit.  You need to shut down the voice in your head that speaks so negatively and doubts so loudly.  Reprogram that same inner-voice to say things that support your goals, endeavors and wishes.  Just remember… that the voice inside your head isn’t some unknown negative creature that has taken over your body without your permission… it’s just you being negative!  Change that voice to a more positive spin and follow through!

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Once you start moving consistently for over six-months you have become an athlete of some stripe and becoming an athlete of any caliber requires harmoney with your other myriad life goals such as family, work, education, recreation, relaxation, etc.  Being athletic is only one integral component of a balanced life and the size of this component varies from person to person.  How much do you want from it and where do you want it to take you in the future?  To be successful with your athletic goals requires honesty and careful balance.  Strive for the most success by balancing it with the rest  of your life’s goals, as well as the time and resources available for those goals.  You must know where you are going at some point to get the most from your athletic endeavors.  It takes time and adaptation… but you should continue to make goals, pursue goals, achieve goals and even modify goals as you manage your athletic success! 

Decide, Pursue, Adapt, Modify when necessary… and don’t forget to Enjoy the greatest hobby in the world!

Successful athletes (of all stripes and abilities) take full responsibility for their actions throughout each and every day.  They commit fully to their decisions (right or wrong in hindsight) accepting the results of their labor.  Being decisive and focused does not always lead to success… I admit that, although more times than not it will.  In my opinion, it’s better to fully commit to a bad decision, than to be uncommitted to the right decision; because more times than not you will get the decision correct when you are simply willing to act on instinct.  Commit!  With the right mental state you can pull off anything… but a weak constitution is almost always a sure loser.

This is an event that takes place from sun up (7:13am) on Saturday, December 5th - to sun down that same day.  You can ride it solo or in teams of 2 or 4 riders.  After coming off the Ironman AZ (triathlon) I’m going to be enjoying the simplicity of this event and the contrast of winter in the desert.  It’s a cool event and you should come out and check it out.  Bring a lawn chair and some drinks!    

http://dcbadventures.com/dcb/DCB/Dawn_to_Dusk.html

The Ironman Triathlon is this Sunday (11-22) and it starts at 7am for the age groupers; that would include me.  The professional triathletes start at 6:50am.   I will be out on the course for at least 11 hours and the pros will finish under 10 hours in case you’re interested in coming out and checking out this very special event.  If I recall there’s only about 30 official Full Ironman events world wide.  It’s a very labor intensive, time consumptive and expensive endeavor… so I plan on savorying the day.  I’ll be happy to be on the starting line that morning without any injuries!

We may not know why or how but we are here on this planet and that leaves us with two choices.  You either become productive and positive reaping the rewards of positive behavior or you become unproductive and negative reaping the consequences of your negative behavior.  The choices are minimal and the options are limited… I guess that makes choosing the correct direction just that much easier then, right?

I’m nearing 20 years of personal training and without a doubt the largest macro-nutrient responsible for the weight crisis in this country is fat!  Replace high fat foods with Vegetables, Fruits, very lean Proteins (NO red meat), various Grains and Legumes.  Simplify your food… the more complex and copious the ingredients in your meals, the more room for excess calories and fat to sneak into your diet.  Read your labels carefully, know the ingredients, eat out less often, keep your foods simple and as nature designed them.  Sacrifice the fat content to your weight-loss goals, exercise regularly with sound direction and you will be rewarded for your efforts! 

Remember… the greater the sacrifice – the greater the reward.

To exercise for a life-time with a balanced approach you need to learn the basics of strength training.  Strength training is required just like pouring a concrete foundation for a house is required for the house to last a life-time.  All to often we are inclined to simply start moving to whatever the latest infomercial is selling or local personal trainer is exhorting without realizing that the foundation of all movement is a strong and balanced body.  Learn how to strengthen your body correctly while adding motion exercise and you will be on your way to a life-time of health and vitality!

Human beings are fighters by nature… living and remaining alive is a tough job and we are often reminded of this when we hear bad things happening to good people.  We are faced with challenges from extreme weather, diminutive insects that spread diseases such as malaria and accidents we can’t even see coming.  When we were young we were often fooled into believing that life was safe and secure… but as we grew older we realized this was only an illusion projected onto us by those who loved us and cared for us.  To live is to fight for life – your life.  Are you fighting the way that you should?  Are you forcing father time to take from you… or are you merely giving your health away?

Remember… the Fitness Trainer you choose will and does make a difference in your success. Ask these questions when looking for a personal trainer: can you afford their price on a monthly to yearly basis? What’s the experience they claim to have? Will they still be a personal trainer 6 months from now?  Were they a personal trainer 6 months ago?  Do they have a degree “within” the field of fitness, as well as a personal training certification from ACSM or NSCA? (Important to note here: there are currently over 350 personal training certifications available and very few hold any credibility within the fitness industry). The prevalent “ACE” certification is one of the easiest and least expensive certifications available today within the fitness industry and is considered low quality within the profession. The letters “CPT” merely mean certified personal trainer… certified by whom? Do they have liability insurance? You see… there’s vast differences between personal trainers; please do your research. Typically, the larger the health club, the more inexperienced and less paid the personal trainers, while on the flip side, it’s one of the most expensive venues to receive personal training services; there’s a lot of overhead to cover and too many hands in the cookie jar. Effective personal training takes years to acquire; there’s a craft to this profession, as there is with most. An extended and varied education within the field of health and fitness, long term exposure within the industry, solid experiences and active (on-going) participation in athletics is very important within a quality personal trainer.

Pessimism has protective values… so when things don’t go our way it simply confirms what we expected would happen in the first place; but the downside to pessimism is it keeps us stagnant at best and it often leads to a boring and declining over-all enjoyment level in our lives.  Optimism on the other hand, comes from successes in challenges sought and eventually met - big or small!  So without the presence of mind to push forward with a new challenge periodically, we don’t even come close to performing at the best of our abilites.  Being a pessimist gives us the delusion of being safe and comfortable, but ultimately it robs us of our greatest successes in life which would have led us to greater confidence in our abilities and greater enjoyment in our lives had we challenged ourselves.  Think positive and challenge yourself… it’s worth the effort!

If you’re going to reach your goals in a timely and efficient manner you must be equipped with the right information; there’s a lot of confusing and conflicting health and fitness information cluttering up the airwaves and people’s minds.  A good fitness trainer will cut the path clear of these obstacles… making the path as straight and smooth as possible.  Notice that  I didn’t say easy?  There’s a craft to most activities in this day and age and this vocation is no exception.  Don’t waste money on fitness equipment sold through infomercials and supplements sold through fancy marketing.  There’s a right way to approach fitness that will last and be enjoyable for a life-time.