Motivational Monday’s

I came across this book and it’s leadership techniques when I was out in California at our annual Coach’s Summit.  Our team are so motivated to help people reach their fitness and nutrition goals AND to help other coach’s along their path to fitness, fun and financial freedom that we focus a lot on leadership and development.

The principles found in this “must read” book 212 Degrees by S.L. Parker and Mac Anderson are designed to help get you on the right track to success.  You can apply these thoughts and principals to just about any area of your life and that’s why I wanted to share this quick video with you.  Should you care to get a copy of this book, please visit their site at “Walkthetalk“.  I’m not an affiliate and I receive NO financial benefit from this referral.  My ONLY goal is to help you reach what ever goal you set for yourself.  And if that means I do it for free and you succeed, I count that as a win in my book!

Also, if you need a few other resources to help you, check out an earlier post, “Self Help Books To Get You There“.

Enjoy!  (And don’t forget to click on “SHARE” at the bottom and then a little “Tweet” up top).

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Turbo Fire is HERE!

Okay, the great thing about what I do is I also get to review NEW stuff!  SO……………  I actually got to do some of this in California with the none other than the author, producer and workout guru herself, Chalene Johnson!

Turbo Fire is one of those programs that comes around only once in a couple hundred years.  What?  Okay, a little stretch there, but it’s about to take this country by storm like her other  big hit Turbo Jam.

The moves, the cardio, the music, the class………….they’re all primed for you to get the best results of your life.  11,…count them, ELEVEN DVD’s that will have you stretching, punching, leaping, dancing and moving like never before!  You’ll go through intense Fire Drills so HOT sweat will literally be running off you.

But don’t take my word for it, WATCH the video !!!

So here’s what’s in the box.  Unless you go for the DELUXE version of course.  And always for more fantastic information on this, just click here “Fitness Programs“.

My last words to you today are “What are YOU waiting for?”  If not you, then please share this with a friend.  Just click on the SHARE button below and then give it a little “Tweet” up top.  Decide!  Commit!  Succeed!

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Smiling!

Even as we read the word and think of its meaning we smile inside.  It’s just the nature of things or the Spirit within us that yearns for a moment of happiness expressed in the simple, almost effortless movement of our face, especially when another person is doing it and directed at us.

It’s been said that it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown.  I’ve heard something like 43 to frown and only 17 to smile.  While most of us assume that’s a true statement, it’s not.  Opps, sorry did I just bust your bubble and make you frown?  I apologize for that and I’m giving you a great big warm smile to show you my sincerity.   With a little research we all can find out that there are only about 37 facial muscles, so the numbers just don’t add up.

As a matter of fact others have written much on this subject and a plastic surgeon by the name of Dr. David Song has been interviewed  and he concludes that it takes 1 more muscle to smile than it does to frown.  Hmmmm….  Very interesting.

So as I wonder about this and read much on the subject,  I’m convinced that there will never be a definitive answer for us.  So why do I even bring this up?  Well, for one thing I feel good when I smile.  I feel good when someone smiles at me.  And the opposite is true of course for the frown.  Now I have a vested interest in people’s lives, fitness, health and wellness.  The smile is one extension of what I’m about.  I like to think about that one extra muscle and whether a person knows it or not, that smile at me means all the more because it took more effort.

So let’s think about it for a moment.  You can see all over my site there is much about fitness, nutrition, workouts, energy, weights, cardio, exhaustion, sweat equity and the like.  I wanted for us to just take a moment and think about exercising those facial muscles, more specifically the ones that create the smile.  No barbells, no resistance bands (unless you count the ones in our braces) and no sweat pouring off  us.  Just good old fashion, think about it and do it!  Walk around all day today.  Smile at everyone you encounter.  Smile at your dog (of course we all do that), smile at your neighbor, smile at the checkout clerk, smile at the deputy giving you a ticket, just smile!

You will no doubt alter someone’s day and it just could be yours. So go exercise those muscles!

So let me leave this with you….If you found these musings about smiling worth a thought or two of your time today, please SHARE this post by clicking the Share button below and then tweeting it up top.  Thank you so much for stopping by today!

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Simple question right?  But let me tell you, it’s one that makes you really examine your day, your night, your week and your life.  How does the day come and go?  What’s it like, …your life?  What do you do after you wake up in the morning, shower, dress and go off to work, or meet friends or play?  What’s your day like?

If your  day is anything like mine, then you ‘ll have to get a few towels and mop up the sweat!  As my good friend Tony Horton once commented on a friend of his teaching him to ski, who  said “I only have three rules… Keep Up, …Keep Up, …Keep Up”.  That’s what my day is like.  Whew!  I’m tired just thinking about it.

Up at 3:50 am.  Down a bottle of water, pop in a workout DVD and huff and puff to some cardio or grunt and clink weights with some resistance training.  My friend, this is no fun that early in the morning.  Afterward, a quick shower…”thank gosh”…then in the car for an hour drive to work.  I can’t believe at 615 am the email is beeping at me, the phone starts ringing off the hook, the radio is squawking and people are literally streaming in the door for help, direction or a badly needed kick in the butt  .

Hours and hours later, I’m finally out the door for another trip home.  Arriving there, it’s time for another workout.  And usually my heart is not in this one!  Then Samson my dog keeps wandering in looking at me with those serious stares probably thinking “Are you EVER going to take me out?”.  So out the door we go for a 30 minute jaunt around the neighborhood.

By this time, SWMBO’d (She Who Must Be Obeyed) is home and we take a few minutes to cook and eat dinner.  We spend a few minutes talking then we both graduate towards something soft and cushioning to collapse on (That’s IF I don’t have a lot of work to do on the PC).  We either watch a bit of TV, read a book or chat.  But by this time it’s almost time to hit the hay and cry ourselves to sleep knowing that the cruel little box on the nightstand is going to shrill and scream at us all over again when we least want it to.

SO……What’s the point of all this rambling?

Take a moment today and examine your life, or just the day.  Plan a little down time, something special just for you or with your significant other.   Break the routine, refresh your mind, body and Spirit with something that your body knows it needs, but you’ve been unwilling to give it.

If you’ve been out of the exercise routine for some time, take this opportunity to try something to get your blood pumping and your heart going.  Plan 45 minutes to an hour of exercise with some proper warm up and stretching before and after.  There’s no better time to do this then now.

If you’re a workaholic or a couchaholic, break the routine.  Go home early from work one day, you know it’ll be there when you get back.  Stop by a lake or a park on the way home and sit on a park bench or watch a kid’s softball game.  Enjoy the moment, relax and breathe.  If you’re a couchaholic, see my paragraph above!

Life is way too short for us to let it pass by and our not even seeing it or experiencing what Joy there is all around us.  I admit, my life is way too busy and that’s why I’m writing this.  I’ll take my own medicine and do some of the above and check back in with you later on what I did, but my challenge for you today is……….Just do it!

AND …..please take a moment and click the SHARE button below and then give it a little ‘Tweet” up top……Just do it! 

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Hi There!

No Push-ups, No Sit-ups, No Lunges, No Cardio ….No Sweat!

Just letting you have a peak into my typical weekend morning waking up with Sam!

Well, I just wanted to bring you into my “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” so to speak, so I got my camera out this morning, whistled for my loyal buddy Samson, leash in hand and off we went.  Just a quick walk out the door to the dock and a view of my neighborhood that I wake up to every morning.  Well usually I’m out the door at O’Dark thirty, but you get the drift as I see it on weekends.

I’m still a little sleepy as I describe the view, but I hope you enjoy seeing the water, hear th birds and see what beauty is all around us, even my very furry friend “Samson”.  Enjoy…

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Hi Gang! Here’s part 2 of the Warm-Up and Stretching series I’m writing about. Keeping it short and simple so that I don’t go into too much boring detail and keeping it somewhat interesting for you.

So, we learned in the previous blog, Warm Up Before Stretching, to warm up first. Now after our body temperature has been raised and our muscles, tendons and ligaments are warm it’s time to stretch.

Stretching and flexibility go hand in hand. And as the word basically describes itself, flexibility is the degree of movement that a joint can make. I’m envious of those people who are born with a large amount of flexibility but for the rest of us, we all tend to have a limited amount of flexibility which may even decrease over time. The joints themselves also determine the amount of flexibility we have, but we can improve things by stretching our muscles, tendons and ligaments. Basically there are two types of stretching, Static and Ballistic. For now, just focus on the Static stretching. Move your arm, leg or whatever as far as comfortably possible, and hold it in that stretched position for about 15 to 30 seconds. I have to emphasize here, don’t bounce your way to this point.  That could cause injury which is the sole thing your trying to prevent.  Ballistic stretching can be OK, but just not right now.

Do this for all parts of the body and you’ll put yourself on the road to improved performance in sports and daily activities. Keep this routine up and you may just be able to bend over and tie those shoelaces once again.  If not, then maybe we need to talk about that mid section and getting rid of that.

I hope you found this article helpful and I would really appreciate your help in getting the word out.  Click on the “Share It” button below and you’ll have possible helped someone from getting injured!  Have a SUPER day!

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Okay, here’s why I love what I do!  Tony Horton is on Fox talking about his awesome at home workout program P90X.  It’s become such a phenomenon that is sweeping this country.  It you haven’t heard of it, then you haven’t watched TV lately and you’ve probably not been out of the house.  This is the main reason I got into being a representative of this awesome company as a “Coach” with Beachbody.

But I’m not here to promote my business, because anyone can just click on the Tab “Be A Coach” and join me, but I want for the man, Tony himself to share with you.  This morning he was on the Fox news channel talking about P90X and what it’s about.  I really got a kick out of Dave down on the floor doing some push-ups alongside Tony.  What a great picture.

I remember too when I was out in California with Tony Horton, sharing the floor with him as he pushed me through extremes I never thought I had in me.  We were moving and grooving and basically creating pools of sweat around us.  And if he’d been given more time here on Fox, I’m sure there would have been a pool of sweat there too.

Confusing the muscles with P90X is what really keeps people from reaching a plateau.  Tony’s correct term for this of course is muscle confusion.  He’s told me time and time again that there’s no confusion about muscle confusion.  He has that witty sense about him that I enjoy each time I pop in a DVD and workout at home with the P90X program.

Here he is on the Fox News Channel.  Take a moment and see what he has to say about it.  After wards, please click on the “Share It” button below so that all your friends out there who haven’t yet seen P90X can see what all the fun is about.  And with a small plug,…if you haven’t gotten your yet, it’s not too late, just find it here!

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Okay, I have to apologize here.  I’ve blogged about this and that and forgot to add in the great stuff about what “I’m about”…which is fitness, nutrition and health!  So here I just want to take a few minutes and talk about the all important “warm up” before stretching.

A lot of people think stretching is overrated, but I don’t.  I think it’s a necessary part of exercise or sports.  But I also have come to believe that warming up before the stretch is very important.  These two things may seem like the same thing to some, but actually are two different things.  Warm-ups do what they say.  They warm the body up, that’s to say they increase the bodies temperature.  You body temperature will rise and with that, your muscles, ligaments and tendons will also warm up.  You can just picture that more blood is flowing to these areas, to your muscles.  You become more elastic and less tight which has the added benefit of reducing the chance of muscle pulls or strains.

To do this, …warm-up, …you have to get your muscles moving.  I recently have completed several rounds of Insanity and this is where this technique really hit home with me.  For nearly ten minutes we do three sets of cardio interval work, 3 minutes each.  Slow at first, then moderate, then at a higher speed.  The variety in this warm-up for me includes, running in place, jumps, lunges, knee bend kicks, squat jacks and few others at different times.  The body is moving and the muscles are warming up.

After this you can feel free to do some stretching.  You will have broken a sweat during the warm up but not to the point of fatigue or breathlessness, so ten minutes is plenty of time for the warm up.

I hope that you consider this the next time you go out to exercise or play some kind of a sport and remember to do it “before” you stretch.

If you found this article helpful and enjoyed it, please take just a moment and click the “Share” button below and then give it a little “Tweet”.  Thanks for dropping by, and check back soon for more fitness, nutrition, health, inspiring or just plain goofy articles.

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You never know what’s going to happen as you place your feet on the floor in the morning and start your day.  Mine was typical until I got to work and started walking through the hallway to get some ice from the ice machine in the cafeteria.

I noticed in the hallway a large bird about the size of a pigeon hopping along one wall.  I could tell right away that the bird was weak.  I mean, if it wasn’t, then why wouldn’t it take off and fly away?  So it was there hopping away from me, and my heart really went out to this little bird.  I knew that it must have been in the building all weekend with no food or water or way out.  It looked dirty and afraid.  Now we do have pigeon problems and I’m not that much of a lover of these little fella’s when they leave their “mess” all over the place which is pretty hazardous.

But seeing this bird, out of its home environment, trapped with no food or water and literally close to dying, I couldn’t bear the thought.  I tried chasing the little guy down the hall towards and open dock door, but he wasn’t cooperating. And I felt bad that I was probably stressing him and scaring him more during the chase.  So I made the decision, leaped forward and swept him up in both hands.  I was expecting a few pecks and bites, but he didn’t struggle at all.  It’s as if he had given up or knew that he couldn’t get out on his own.

I walked over to the open dock door, leaned out and gently tossed him low to the ground near a patio.  There was water all over the ground from a dripping water spigot.  I eased back into the building, washed up and went to get my ice.

I decided to return and see what he was up to and as I peeked around the corner, the little bird was underneath the dripping water spigot.  I think he was getting a bath and drinking some badly needed water.  What an encouragement to me!  If I had left him in the building or he had been in an area where no one could have found him, he surely would have died.  It took someone intervening on his behalf,  someone to care about his predicament and take action.

I have someone who did that for me. He noticed my condition, saw that I would die and made the decision that He would save me.  I was scooped up so to speak, placed on a different path and set free.  He did it because He cared enough about my life and wanted me to live.  He didn’t have to do it, He wanted to do it!

So,… how are you going to go about your day today?  What or who will come into your life where you may be able to offer some help or receive it?  You just never know.

If you found this article interesting or it helped you in any way, please take a moment and forward it using the “Share” button below and then give it a little “Tweet”.  Have a super day!

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To all my friends out there I get a chance to share with you a short video on why I do what I do.  My inspiration came from a good friend of mine Dave Cook and his post yesterday about Bologna Juice.  Funny title right?  But a great post for any of you just entering into the business of “Doing business”.

Have a look and let me know what you think by commenting below and if you like what you heard, please “Share” it using the button below.  Enjoy!

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