Why You Don't Want To Lose Weight

The first thing I do with any prospective client is ask them what they'd like to accomplish with their training. After all, if I don't know what they want to do how can I help them? It's like giving directions to someone when you don't know where they're trying to go. Almost always the first answer is "lose weight". It's really almost reflexive at this point. Kind of like when you're looking around in a store and the clerk asks, "Can I help you?" Without even thinking, the usual response is "No. Just looking."

The funny thing is that no one really wants to lose weight. Losing weight is boring. Losing weight requires a bunch of work and forces you to make hard changes for nothing except a number. Who cares about that? I can adjust a scale down ten or 20 pounds just by turning a dial and you'll see the number you want. Big deal.

I know what you're saying. Adjusting the scale down might change the number but it won't help me fit into this outfit! It won't help me look the way I want! It won't help me get off this medication!

You know what? You're right! But here's the thing: You don't really want to lose weight. You want to fit into that outfit, look the way you want and get off your darn medication! Can you see the difference?  It might seem small but it's actually downright HUGE! After all, when you have a tough day and you just feel like picking up a pizza on the way home instead of sticking to your nutrition plan what mental picture is more likely to keep you on track: you standing on a scale or you fitting into that outfit and looking super hot?

I see it all the time with people. The ones who know WHY they want to lose weight (or accomplish any other goal for that matter) have much better success then the ones who don't.

Here's what I suggest. When you're thinking about your goals always go as deep as you can. Here's an example:

I'd like to lose weight.
Why?
Because I want to look better.
Why?
Because I'd like to be more attractive to my partner.
Why?
Because I want to do everything I can to make our relationship work.
Why?
Because I love them and it's important to me and my family.

OK. Do you see what happened there? We went from just losing weight to doing something important for their family. What do you think resonates more?

I know this is hard work. But the thing is that when you start something you're always excited. You see the future. You see the possibilities. You feel hopeful and optimistic. But let's fast-forward a couple of weeks. At this point the fact that to get the results you want is somewhat of a tedious process. It's not sexy to do some of the things you need to do to get results. It requires consistency above all, and how exciting is that? Not very.

Do you want to know what is sexy and exciting, though? Fitting into that outfit! Looking the way you want! Getting off that medication! Keep those things in mind and you're going to find that all the motivation you need is already in you.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!

Go Ahead. Eat What You Want!

Well, here we go again. Another year,  another round of holidays and holidays meals. What about your waistline? Well, if you haven't heard me on this topic before you might think this is going to be another one of those articles telling you that you should eat a little dry turkey and salad on Thanksgiving and be happy with that! Well, this isn't one of those articles.

I'm here to tell you this:

Eat to your heart's content on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! Go ahead and do it 100% guilt free!!

Everyone thinks that they have to gain weight during the holiday season but when you get down to it, it's three days. Maybe four or five if you have a couple of parties to go to. That's five days over six weeks. That shouldn't be a problem at all. For most of my clients I actually advocate a free meal a week so this isn't even that much. The problems occur when people take their five or so days and turn it into six weeks of mayhem. People start missing workouts, they start eating just a little more of those tasty baked goods at the office and before they know it here come the pounds!

Go at it like this: Plan your big eating days. Put them in ink. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Years Eve.  The office holiday party. DO NOT go off your workout schedule unless you absolutely have to! AND NO, being a little busy or stressed because of the holidays is NOT a legitimate reason. THAT IS THE BEST TIME TO WORK OUT!! Having said that, if you really do have to miss, make sure you schedule make-up days. Don't just say you'll do it. DO IT!!

OK. Let me break it down real quick and easy.

1. Eat all you want during the "Big" days.
2. Don't eat all you want during the "Non-Big" days.
3. Don't skip workouts.
4. If you feel stressed and busy during the holidays refer back to number 3.

Lastly, I just want to say that during this holiday season thank you for reading and have a wonderful time with your family and friends!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!

The Most Important Thing To Get You A Better Workout

I've had people ask me from time to time what is the one thing people can do to get a better workout. Is it more squats? Deadlifts? Pushups? That thigh innie-outie machine? (Just to be sure, it is most definitely NOT the thigh innie-outie machine.) Anyway, there is absolutely one thing that everyone can do, no matter how in shape they already are, to get more out of everything single thing they do in the gym.

Engage.

I see so many people just going through the motions. (Not to get too deep here, but in life as well as the gym.) Just one quick walk through your average gym and you'll see people doing things with such poor form that there's absolutely no way that they're feeling the exercise the way they're supposed to.

Take some time with what you're doing. A workout isn't a race to see who can get done the fastest, unless it's actually a race to see who can get done the fastest. In any case, yours probably isn't. A workout is supposed to be where you get better. Where you improve your movement, conditioning, strength. The old saying is "Practice Makes Perfect." But what if you're practicing it wrong?

The guy in the picture below has probably practiced this posture for hundred of hours. He's definitely got it down. He also probably has a bad back along with messed up hips, and is on his way to a nasty shoulder injury if he doesn't have one already.

Let me give you a quick list of the most common things I see.

1. Shoulder position. Far and away the winner of the "The Most Used Cue At My Gym" award is "shoulders down" or "relax your shoulders". Far and away the winner of the most common response to that is, "I didn't even realize they were up!" Engage! Feel your position. Feel how your shoulders are supposed to feel. Don't they feel better back and down with your chest and head up tall? Doesn't it feel tense and annoying when they're up by your ears? Engage! Take your time and feel each rep and make sure it's where it's supposed to be. Even more than that, take this engagement outside the gym! If you get it right for your 3 sets of 10 in the gym but get it wrong for your 1 million sets of 1 million outside, guess what matters most.

2. Stand up tall. This kind of goes along with number 1 but so many people just don't stand up! That hunched position just keeps inching into everything we do and it is not a good thing!

3. Talking. Simply put, if you can hold a coversation during a workout you're not very engaged with anything other than your conversation.

4. Hip movement. This one is a little tougher. What I'll have clients do to establish this is take a PVC pipe and stand with it on their back. It should have three points of contact: your butt, your upper back and the back of your head. From here you push your butt back as far as you can while maintaining all three points of contact. Check out the picture.

This move is called a Hip Hinge. Think of it like a door where the frame and the door itself never really move, but the hinge does all the work. 

It's not uncommon at all for people to be able to move only 2-3 inches or even less at first, but with practice (there's that word again) they can usually get a pretty good range of motion within a few weeks. I find that when clients get this along with their shoulder position, so many good things happen.

Overall, engaging in what you're doing may not be easy but it's more than worth it and it will get easier as you get more and more used to doing it. Let me know if you need any help.

Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!

What Does "In Shape" Mean?

What does being "in shape" mean? There's really no answer to that question. I think it means different things to different people. For one person it may mean the ability to run a marathon. For another it may mean having a "six-pack". For another it may mean being able to deadlift two times their bodyweight.
What I want to do today is give you a few of my ideas about being in-shape and what it entails.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and not everything on this list may be reasonable for everyone but it will give you a few things to shoot for and may even give you a few ideas.

1. Pick something up with a neutral spine. If you can't do this then nothing else matters because you'll soon be suffering from back pain if you're not already.

2. Squat to parallel while standing and facing a wall six inches away.

3. Perform a perfect pushup.

4. Be able to walk a mile at a decent clip.

5. Be able to help someone move without worrying.

6. Deadlift your bodyweight.

Let me know if you have any ideas and what you think.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!

Another Big Bang For Your Core

I love big bang exercises! Get your head out of the gutter, what I mean is exercises that work different things together. Last time we talked about the squat and today I want to talk about another exercise that forces the whole body to work together. I'm talking about the push-up.

Many people think of the push-up as an upper body strength exercise, and it is, but before it can be that it's one of the best core exercises you can do. Let's talk for a second about what our core is supposed to do. It's supposed to stabilize our body so that our upper and lower body can do what we'd like them to do. In the case of the push-up, the core acts as a coordinator between our upper and lower body as everything moves together. Once the core can do that effectively it allows the muscles in our chest, shoulders and triceps to enjoy the full benefits of the exercise. If the core can't do that effectively then what will usually happen is a combination of either sagging or elevated hips, a drooping head, and shoulders jammed up towards the ears.

Here are a few hints to help you get the most out of your pushups.

1. Get your position set first. You want to be in a straight line with your hands under, but slightly wider than your shoulders. You want your head looking down at one spot slightly above your hands. You should NEVER take your eyes off that spot. Take a few seconds in this position so that your body knows where it wants to get back to.

2. Be active with your hands. Try to grab the floor and at the same time try to rotate the floor outside your body like you're turning a doorknob. (You don't actually turn your hands.) This will engage your back which and rotate your elbows slightly downward and give you greater stability.

3. Concentrate on keeping your midsection and glutes tight. This will allow your whole body to work together which, after all, is why this is such a great exercise in the first place!

Let me know what you think and if you need any help.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!

Build Muscle, Burn Fat and Improve Your Mobility With One Exercise

Would you like to learn one exercise that can build muscle, burn fat, improve conditioning, mobility and strength and is one that anyone can do? It seems like this must be a magic exercise, no? Well, it's not magic. It's the squat!

Let's start by calming your fears. I've heard many reasons why people shouldn't squat from bad knees to tweaky backs and many others. Here's the thing though, if you can stand up you can squat. The trick is finding the right variation for you. There are many different ones from the box squat (squatting down to a box) to the suspension trainer squat (squatting while holding on to a suspension trainer such as a Jungle Gym or TRX) to the goblet squat (squatting while holding a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of you).  A good trainer will know which one fits your needs and your abilities.

Now why do we squat? Well, simply put, the squat works nearly every muscle in your body from your legs to your core to your back. That makes you stronger and gets your heart rate pumping.

The squat forces your entire body to coordinate with itself. Some parts of your body stabilize while others mobilize and it's all done in a sequential order that breaks down into a very important and fundamental movement pattern. That helps your mobility.

It's pretty amazing how much simple, good quality movement can help people feel so much better and i believe the squat is a crucial part of that.

Let me know what you think.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!

7 Easy Things You Can Do To Just Get Started

I saw an interesting Facebook post a few weeks ago. It said that most fitness professionals are always preaching to the converted. In other words everything we write or talk about tends to be focused on people that already know about exercise and nutrition at least to some extent. In light of that, I want to talk to the people out there who want to start but don't know what to do. Rest assured, it's really simple and I'm going to give you 7 easy ways to do it.

1. Walk. If you're starting from ground zero then the first step is simply get up and go for a walk. If you never walk, than start going for a nice 20-30 minute walk once a week. It is that simple. The key to all of this is to pick something that you know you can do and build on it.

2. Pick one thing and take it out of your diet 5-6 days a week. Notice how I didn't say to overhaul your diet completely? Notice how I didn't say to take one thing and get rid of it completely? Let's say you have a bowl of ice cream or one of those fancy coffee drinks most days. Choose one and pick one or two days a week where you allow yourself those treats and refrain from them the rest of the time. Again, make sure you pick something you know you can do and build on it.

3. Be honest and realistic about your goals. So many people think they should "lose weight" or "get in shape" just because they think that's what they're supposed to do. Take the time to figure out what you really want and why and you'll have much better chance of meeting your real goals.

4. Have fun. Figure out something you like doing and do that. If you hate walking then maybe that's not for you. If you hate lifting weights then maybe that's not for you. Remember, we're talking about just getting started so let's make it something you enjoy and will stick to.

5. Keep it simple. I know this can be overwhelming but don't let that get to you. It's not as hard as some make it out to be. As a matter of fact the simpler you make it, the better your chance of success.

6. Talk to someone. I don't mean to turn this into some commercial but there are people who specialize in helping people who have never exercised and getting them started in a safe, fun and effective way. Find someone you're comfortable with and that has worked with others like you.

7. Look for improvement, not perfection. Everyone wants, and should want, great results. Oftentimes, however, the feeling that you're so far away from your ultimate goal makes it more difficult just to get started. Just think about getting a little better on a consistent basis. That's more realistic and better for you in the long run. Also, if you do this you'll be shocked how quick results can be in coming. Remember, a watched pot never boils!

When it comes down to it, all of these suggestions have one thing in common: make it as easy as you can to get started. I've read that the success rate of someone who changes one habit at a time is between 70-80%. Two habits at a time is 30-40% and three habits is almost non-existent.

Let me know what you think.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach, FMS

2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

I Help People Discover Their Strength!