The path to fitness is a lifelong journey …

Are you at the brink of giving up on your New Year’s Resolution because of discouragement?  If so, perhaps you are training too hard and expecting too much way too soon.  Many people who want to adopt a healthier lifestyle are jeopardizing their chances by trying to emulate training schedules found in various magazines.  Not to say that they are all bad … it’s just that many of the workout schedules are designed for and used by seasoned athletes.  As the title of my blog states, “One day at a time, 60 minutes at at time.” Keeping it simple will produce incremental physical changes and promote long-term lifestyle changes for the better.  It as always been my suggestion to start with an efficient 20-30 minute full-body workout followed by 30-40 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, for a total of 60 minutes … 3 times per week.  Non-training days should be involve 60 minutes of fat-burning cardiovascular work. Again, this regimen is ideal for those who are out of shape and want to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  If your goal is to bulk up then the aforementioned is not intended for your consideration. The toughest part of anything NEW is getting into a groove with it.  Adopting a realistic schedule will get you into a groove and help you maintain that groove so as to promote positive and lasting changes.  Don’t give up … just stop wasting time.

GETTIN’ REAL WITH YOUR 2010 RESOLUTION

It’s that time of year again.  The new year has just started and the air is filled with brand new resolutions of hope and prosperity.  Of these hopes, the most popular one has to be one of better health and longevity.  But with most things in life, coming up with the great ideas is often times more ambitious than the cold hard reality of the hard work work and dedication required to make them realities.  A gym membership is still JUST another card, just as acquiring the services of a personal trainer is NO guarantee that you will get into fantastic shape.  It all comes back to you and only you, so listen up and learn how to make the right adjustments to get started and stay motivated in achieving a tighter, slimmer, stronger, healthier you.

For the past week since January 1st, I have been observing the popular gym trends of 2010.  Just as in past years, I still see a lot of misconceptions and poor planning that do nothing but doom New Year’s Health Resolutions.  Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing driven people hit the gym and filling the air with newfound hope and determination.  What i don’t enjoy watching is crappy lifting technique and/or a bunch of people congregating around gym equipment with all talk and no walk.  Consider the gym your “other” workplace.  You are there to produce results … YOUR RESULTS.

The right attitude starts long before you walk into the gym.  You need assess your strengths and especially your weaknesses to determine your plan of attack.  If your primary goal is to slim down, then you should focus the majority of your gym time on cardio equipment.  Make no mistake about it, I am not saying to stay away from weight lifting … just allocate at least 40 minutes of your training hour for cardiovascular activities.  I am not going to tell you what kind of cardio to do as it does not really matter.  Just get on something and stay on it for the duration of your time.  Sure you can mix up machines, but make sure you spend at least 15 minutes per machine.  Whatever you do, don’t lost sight of the fact that this resolution is a change for the duration of your life and not just a means to an end.  It is never too late so long as you are not late (pardon the pun).

Don’t try to do too much too early and build momentum sequentially.  For example, I think running or jogging are excellent ways of building cardiovascular endurance.  I recall taking up running after my second 25-pound muscular growth spurt back in 2003, and especially how much my lungs and muscles ached after just a 5-minute run.  As physically demanding and seemingly impossible running felt, I was able to gradually build up enough endurance so that a 3-mile run was achievable after just a short 10-week period.  Can you do this?  Absolutely!  Your body is highly adaptive to whatever it is that you wish to do so long as you are consistent with your training methods.

My recommendations are the same regardless of what your goals are and what you are doing inside and outside of the gym.  Nothing will discourage you more than hitting the gym so hard that the ensuing soreness makes you limp around like a wounded Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Start with 30-35 minutes of total training time and increase 5 minutes every week until you are able to efficiently train for about 60-minutes at a time.   Again, let your personal fitness goals determine how long you need to allocate to training.  If you need help determining this, don’t hesitate to shoot me an email (www.erykbui@scglobal.net).  Of course there is a charge, but if you are serious about your fitness resolution then the cost will be more than worth it.

“TWENTY-TEN” … the year to make it happen!

Listen up everyone … 2010 is “The Year of the Tiger.”  Simply put, this is the year to be aggressive and MAKE IT HAPPEN.  Last year with “The Year of the Ox,” it was about diligence and strength.  This played out to a “T” as many financial institutions continued to “writeoff” weakened assets, resulting in suppressed consumer confidence and spending.  While many would argue that the worse has yet to come, I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is time to have faith and aggressively pursue your dreams.  There is no better time to get back into school, or leave the safe confines of an unfulfilling job for the chance of a lifetime with a new industry.  I am going to do GREAT things this year and I want you to have the same attitude and approach to “TWENTY-TEN.”

As scary as it was for me to walk away from a decent income provided by professional bodybuilding, I knew that it would take me walking away from the sport to discover my lifelong fulfillment.  Although i am still uncertain about what God has in store for me in terms of my professional career, I am certain that it has very little to do with pro bodybuilding.  My brief tenure in the IFBB has given my name and words more merit.  This in turn has afforded me the means to directly impact the lives of everyone, including those who want to find health and others who want to take their physical fitness to a new level.  I don’t claim to know it all, but I can promise you that I would NEVER have you do anything that I have yet to try myself.  Those who are foolish enough to believe that I am somehow more gifted genetically or better than they are, I CANNOT and WILL NOT help.  I can’t help you if you are unwilling to believe in yourself.  I can and will help you find your way If you have the desire to want and expect more from yourself.  Woe to those who lack the faith from within to conjure the courage that excites the soul to great feats.  When the road seems rough, endless, or missing as a result of  any uncertainties, the one thing you can do and should do is make sure that you are ready and able to seize the moment … better yet, MAKE THE MOMENT!  Always remember that each stumble, each failure brings you that much closer to your success.  Quitting or not trying are the easiest things that you can do.  I don’t know all of you, but I am CERTAIN that we all have a burning desire to be fulfilled.  Don’t settle for mediocrity and have the strength and courage to find your happiness.