Right now, I’m changing my whole game plan.  I’ve decided to go from the general personal trainer, to being more a sport-specific trainer.  After training a few of the clients from the studio owners, I find that I enjoy turning people into athletes, or atleast becoming more athletic.  I feel when dealing with weight loss with clients, too much of it relies on the client’s willpower to stick to their diet, which is usually the first thing to slip.  I don’t like knowing that I’m out there busting my but to get someone to burn 600 calories in an hour when their going to consume 800 more by the end of the day in crap food.  When losing weight, I like to think of things as being 40% exercise, 60% diet.  Both go hand in hand and neither component can be done without the other, but emphasis on a clean diet is what really seperates results in 6 months from results in 6 years. And I feel like I failed myself and my client when they’re not seeing results because I can’t be with them every minute of the day to monitor what they put into their bodies.

Here in Tampa, it’s Golf Country.  I train out of 2 studios (or at least will begin training out of the second one once clientele pops up). The studios are about 18 miles apart door to door, and in between them and in the local area are at least 15 golf courses.  I’ve so far gone to about a third of them looking to promote myself, and just promoted over in Pebble Creek Golf Club this weekend.

I will be honest, I don’t know squat about the sport of golf.   What I do know, however, is that building flexibility, strength, and power inside the gym, translates to flexibility, strength, and power on the golf course.  And I fully believe that I can turn your avid run of the mill golfer into a powerhouse to be reckoned with.  Am I trying to turn average Joe’s into Pro’s? I can.  But if a couple months worth of sessions with me means that average Joe added 30 yards to his drive, gained the balance and coordination to improve his/her putting game, all while aleviating back pain through increased hip mobility (a post for a later time), then I’ve done my job.  And if they happen to listen to my diet advice, lose a couple pounds, and feel better about their physical selves, then that’s just a bonus on my part.

If anyone reading this is still interested in personal training however, I didn’t forget how to do that.  You just better be ready to commit to saying NO to french fries and cheese doodles.

What it does is have a sauce on the bottom tray with an upper tray of say white meat chicken and pasta, and you keep the plastic over it on.  As the sauce on the bottom heats up, it steams the upper tray contents, so the chicken and pasta have a steamed texture to it.  They’re pretty damn good.

Anyways, next time you guys go shopping, think about that when you pass the frozen meals section. Tell me what you think!

Okay bad example…let me just list 5 NEW reasons for a personal trainer (besides the obvious fat loss, muscle gain,  workout motivation, increased self-esteem, positive outlook on life, and overall health benefits).

Here are 5 tests you can do at home (preferably when no one else is watching…and please, perform these moves at your own risk):

1. Stand up.  Lift one knee up until your upper thigh is parallel to the floor and knee is bent at a 90 degree angle.  Now hold it there for 20 seconds.  Can you do it?? Now switch legs and try again!

2. Stay standing.  Both feet on the ground this time shoulder-width apart.  Now put your hands behind your head…and squat down until your butt is as close to the floor as possible.  Look at your feet now.  Are your heels raised off the floor? Do you lose balance when trying to place your heels on the floor?

3. Get into pushup position. Keep your torso in line, meaning your legs straight, level with your butt, level with your spine. Hands should be shoulder-width apart with fingers pointing forward and eyes looking at a point a foot in front of you.  Could you hold this position for 60 seconds if I timed you?

4.  Hold your breath.  Can you hold it for 60 seconds? (Cigarette smokers need not apply)

5.  Lay on your back.  Place your hands under your lower back for support.  Keep your feet together and legs straight and raise them until they are at a 45 degree angle.  Now rotate your legs drawing large circles in the air with your feet.  Look at your feet…do they look like circles? Or scribbles?

What you just tested was your balance/stability, flexibility, muscular endurance, cardiovasuclar strength, and core strength.  How did you fair?  If these tests are something you would like to pass in as little as 30 days by doing workouts specifically meant to challange these dimensions, then please, click on the “CONTACT” page on the side.  You might not notice in your everyday life that you are lacking in some of these tests, but when the time comes and a situation arises requiring maximal strength, endurance, and flexibility, will you be ready? Will your body be ready?

Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Mark’s Law of Momentum Results:

The results of actions tend to build momentum over time until an external force is applied.

Allow me to explain…

Have you ever heard of someone going into a “downward spiral” in life? Have you ever seen someone who seemed to start off on the right track, and as time went by, seemed like nothing could stop them from becoming a complete success? Let me tell you, both instances follow my law of momentum results.  In both scenarios, the mindset and things that people do over time builds momentum.

In the downward spiral case, say it starts off with bad grades in high school.  Bad grades in school leads to dropping out.  While all his classmates are in college, this individual is working full time at a grocery store.  After work, he hangs out with some of the other guys from the store and drinks with them.  If we were to fast forward ten years later, and that person never did anything to “change his swing of momentum”, where would he be? Chances are, he would be a 28 year old full time grocery worker with a high likelihood of starring on an episode of “Intervention” for alcoholism.

Now let’s examine Mr. Successful.  He starts out with good grades in high school. He does well in college while maintaining website design part time for small companies.  After graduation, he decides he loves website and graphic design, has the experience and skills to do so, and with a little help from some wealthier people he’s networked with, starts his own business in graphic and website design.  Ten years down the line, if Mr. Successful doesn’t get into heavy drugs or makes a U-turn in life, where can we expect him to be? On top of the world.

What is the constant in both scenarios that causes momentum to build? Time. Time never stops, never reverses, never slows. What it can do is take our actions, and throughout time, build and build and build until we almost have no control over them.  With time never stopping, that also means that doing NOTHING builds and builds and builds, and before we know it, 10 years later we are still doing NOTHING…except we’re now 10 years older!

Now I’m not saying that if you don’t start working hard you’re going to find yourself as a full blown meth addict.  No.  But what I am saying is this: If you don’t get up and start busting your butt and WORK TODAY, then you’ve already started the swing of momentum to DO NOTHING TOMORROW.  And by the time you tell yourself “Hey, I’m going to do it”, how many YESTERDAYS have already passed?

There is a popular ideology that basically states that anything can be done if followed for 30 straight days. Quit smoking cigarettes, start working out…anything.  Why this works is simply, because that action has built momentum for an entire month.  Say that’s not long enough…well guess what? I can personally guarantee you that anything you do starting TODAY and do for an entire YEAR straight, will become such a habit, you won’t know how to do without it if you tried to stop after that year was up.  The momentum that action has built over the course of an entire year, if not stopped by some external force, will be so strong, it will literally have changed your life.

So STOP PROCRASTINATING PEOPLE! STOP SAYING “OH, WHEN I’M READY” OR “MAYBE TOMORROW”. If anyone has seen “Kung Fu Panda” there is a great line in it:

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery.  Today is a gift.  That is why it is called PRESENT.”  Cute huh? Well it’s the absolute truth.  We have one moment to live for to change the course of our entire one and only life.  Why let it pass by just thinking about doing something, when you can go out and DO IT!

“You need to git up, git out, and get something.  Don’t let the days of your life pass by.  You need to git up, git out, and get something.  Don’t spend all your time tryin to get hiiigghh.”

-Outkast

If this is your first time here, I’d like you to do two things:

1. Click on the “Mark Lopez-NASM CPT” page on the right side.  If you’re truly interested in hiring a personal trainer, that page will give you a general idea of who I am and why I’m here. And I know it’s long, but please try to read the whole page.

2. Read some of my blog posts. They’re packed with helpful information you can use even today (some more of just a rant than others).

I hope that after you’ve gone through those, you get a better picture of what I have to offer you as an individual looking to get in the best shape of your life and keep it that way.

If after all that, you feel that I am qualified enough in your mind to try out, click on the “Contact” page.  There, you can reach me through the studio phone, studio website, or my personal e-mail.  We can set up a free assessment and training session to help finalize your decision.

Again, thank you, enjoy the readings, comment if you’d like, and have a great day!

Gone are the days of a commercial gym.  For $50/month, you get 3000 sq. ft. of expensive crap you’re never gonna touch.  You have a gym staff who doesn’t give a damn what happens, what you look like before or after, or if you ever even show up, as long as you don’t sue them.  And you have “personal trainers” who you see rotate every 3 months or so when they realize they’re working a sales job, not a professional offering a service.

And from a personal trainer’s standpoint (one that works in a private personal training studio), gone are the days that thinking a single-axis gym machine will do us any damn bit of good in the real world.

Gone are the days of thinking long hours of cardio is the best way to burn fat.

Gone are the days thinking high volume and low reps makes women look like bodybuilders.

Gone are the days thinking doing any amount of bicep curls will get your arms bigger than heavy deadlifts.

Gone are the days thinking crunches and situps builds six-packs.

And if you didn’t get it by now, all the above statements are false.

Basically, with the spread of information around through technology, we’re in a New Era of understanding how the human body works and how it functions in its most efficient state.  This is information no gym brochure or gym sales rep will show you.  Only a qualified, experienced, certified personal trainer.

Anyways, let me save all the good personal trainer gab for later posts.

Expect to see a lot more changes to this site in the next few weeks to months.  I expect to get a bit more traffic soon, and to those of you just tuning in…Thank you…you’ve got a bit of reading to do.

So I was at the community pool with my daughter this weekend (my first time at a pool/beach this year), and couldn’t believe what I saw.  It happened to be our community’s Easter Party, so all the children in the neighborhood where around being watched over by their parents, and maaaan was I upset.

What I saw was about 100 children from maybe 2 years old to preteen splashing around the community pool, with at least half of them overweight.  If not overweight, then with that “pouch” which used to be explained as the “baby fat” pouch, which I now believe to be poor diet choices on the parents’ part.  Why do I blame the parents? Because more than 50% of them were overweight! Do you know what kind of shock that puts on someone in the fitness industry to see a pool full of overweight children splashing around with their overweight parents watching them from afar?  Now I didn’t come to the pool to judge everyone around me, as I’m not exactly shredded muscle right now, but I at least look like I work out on a regular basis.  And at least when playing in the pool, I have the energy to play alongside my child.

And my lifestlye is reflected on my daughter who isn’t a little 3 year old meatball, but a lean, active child.  Now I don’t condone putting your child on a diet, as I don’t do that with my own.  But I keep her healthy.  Plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and sweets are rationed.  Plus, she is constantly snacking and constantly on the move.  My daughter (as I say this proudly) is the epitome of a fit being.  We don’t always need to overthink everything with our diet and cardio and workout, but stick to the basics.  Eat healthy and often, and stay active. Period.

Now, back to my pool experience…

While there, I had a realization. And it’s this: It’s not about working out and staying fit and eating healthy to have that pool/beach body.  I never have, or will, workout for the sake of impressing other people. I don’t wear uber-tight shirts or flex my muscles at the beach.  Because, in the end, the purpose (and purpose of this post) is to do it not for anyone else, but yourself.

When at the pool, I didn’t look around and say “Damn check out all these fat people who aren’t as fit as me!”.  It was more like “Look at all these deconditioned people. They have back problems from lack of exercise/weak core, they’re flexibility is severely limited, and daily routines become such an exercise, they’re in their bathing suits watching their kids play in the pool while they sit 5ft away in a chair!”

Moral of the story: don’t just work out, or find motivation to workout for the sake of looking better.  Instead, think of working out and eating right as a means to be as efficient as possible. Be healthy so you don’t get winded walking up stairs, or carrying groceries inside the house, or have problems touching your toes without bending your knees.  Work out so that by the time your 40, you don’t look 50.  Work out because your body was designed to be worked out.  And eat healthy because your body was designed to absorb healthy food and use it for energy, not fat storage.  Work out because it’s sooo easy not to.  The body of your dreams will come as a result of all this.

But in a sense, we all need to be competitive in something, if not everything.  Why not be better at doing your job than the guy/girl next to you? Or run a bit faster, or dress with a bit more class? All that translates to is you making a concious effort to excel in various aspects of your life.  And by competing against others (even if they’re not aware you’re doing so), you accomplish the feat of working hard and doing your best.  Is that something to be ashamed of?

After all, there’s the old mantra that goes along the lines of “Life is a sport. You’re either the player or the spectator.” Who the hell wants to be the spectator? Its the players in the game that do what they love and do best and make the money, and the spectators that hate their jobs and hand their paychecks over to support the players. People might complain about certain pro athlete salaries…well maybe they should stop buying their team jerseys and buying tickets to their games.  Don’t hate the player hate the game right? And its the players in the game (game of life that is) that get the most out of life.  They take what they love to do and try to be the best they possibly can at it.

Current research is showing that there is no such thing as natural born talent, but rather “talent” comes from thousands of hours of practice and mastery at a certain goal. I truly believe this research to be correct.  That in the war of “nature vs. nurture”, nature has maybe 10% influence while the other 90% comes from nurture.  That means if you spend your life doing what you love to do and make a conscious effort to be the best at it, you will be better than 90% of the people around you.  The other 10%? That goes to those with those God-given genetics to be in the top 10% of the world, which I only believe to be a factor in terms of physical limits.  LeBron James is LeBron James because he trains his ass off to be great, and was blessed with a massive 6’8″ frame that could probably outsprint your typical pro running back.

So unless you’re trying to be a professional athlete, then taking advantage of that 90% “nurture” will still take you to the top.  Look around at the people that you think are better than you in some way that ticks you off.  Go ahead…stop and think of that one person who no matter how hard you try to be better than,  seems to out-do you every time.   Do you know why? Two reasons: 1. they are either working harder than you or longer than you have, or 2. they enjoy doing it more than you, therefore leading back to number 1.

So in simple terms, if you want to be better than the next person at something, then you can.  But only if you want to be.  You have to work harder at it, day in and day out, and most importantly, you have to love doing it.  No one excels in something they hate doing.

But enough about me, let’s talk about us.  I’m here, keeping updated with a blog, making sure everyone I come across knows the services I offer, and back it up with what I consider to be a substantial workout.  A workout my wife has stayed on track with and has lost over 15 pounds since the New Year.  That’s 15 pounds she’s held on to since after our daughter was born that couldn’t be achieved from just healthy eating, or working out here and there, but from a consistent healthy diet and workout regimine.

With the first three months gone never to be seen or redone and beach weather already here in Tampa, what are you waiting for? And I’m not just talking about fitness, but everything.  There is one constant in life, and that’s time. It can’t be undone or changed, and all we can do is make the best decisions possible with what little time we have in front of us.  With the economy in shambles, my view is: I can’t change the economy or how it effects me, but I can change what I do for myself. I can get another job and work hard at it, I can work out and stay in shape, I can buy groceries in bulk and cook at home so I save money over eating out.  I can take what little extra spending money I have and invest it in things that will improve my quality of life, not degrade it.  Many people seem shocked at the price I charge for personal training, but in reality, if one were to cut down/quit some of their bad habits like drinking, smoking cigarettes and gambling, and started eating healthy home-cooked meals, the money they’d save from that alone could easily pay for the majority of training sessions per month.  And in a year’s time, when hopefully the economy is a little better, you can look in the mirror with a brand new body and whole new way of looking at life, and tell yourself that in these harsh times, you invested your money instead of spending it.