Sitting is killing you: learn how the couch, the car and the computer are destroying your health, causing pain and making you weak!

The Faces of Fatigue and Overcoming the Energy Roller Coaster

Robert Yang, nutritionist and strength coach from San Diego, taught an incredible course about stress and fatigue last week.  He had some interesting points regarding fatigue, stress and recovering your energy.  One of the most interesting points was the variety of signals that you may be fatigued.

Which one of these symptoms describes you?

• The Snoozer - do you hit the snooze button every morning?
• Mind Clutter – got a lot on your mind and unable to get anything done?
• Food Coma – need a nap after you eat?
• Napper – do you need to sleep every afternoon?
• Wired but Tired – tired but wired on caffeine to get stuff done?
• Low Blood Sugar – do you survive between sugar rushes?
• Can’t Recover – Are you sore for days after regular workouts?
• No Motivation – do you procrastinate tasks?
• Irritable – do you get irritable consistently?
• Anxious – Uneasy or anxiousness about things?
• Craves Sweets – need a little something sweet after every meal?
• Sick all the Time – do you get sick frequently or for long durations of time?

Did some of these symptoms sound familiar?  If you are suffering from multiple symptoms, then you may want to take action and help your body recover and rejuvenate.

There are 3 basic types of stress:  Physical, Mental and Emotional.  In order to combat and deal with various types of stresses, we need to address certain aspects of our modern lives.  Here are some basic tips that can help reduce unnecessary stresses and improve your body’s ability to rejuvenate, recover and function more efficiently.

1.  Drink more clean water.  70+% of Americans are dehydrated.  Chronic dehydration will affect your physically, mentally and emotionally.  Do NOT underestimate the power of drinking more water!

Check out this PDF about water and hydration.  Learn and share with the people around you.

2.  If you sit at a desk, you must improve the ergonomics of your work environment. People sit too much and it is ruining our bodies function.  Here are some tips to setting up your desk:  Ergonomic Desk Setup

3.  While most avoid exercise like the plague, other exercise too much. Overtraining is pretty common in most gyms around the country.  People tend to think that more is better and end up going nowhere, getting injured or just performing poorly.  The goal is to stimulate your body, not annihilate it.

For more information, check out this article:  Recover from your toughest workouts

4.  Eat more protein. Protein doesn’t just build muscle, it also helps with hormone regulation, speed of digestion and cellular function in every aspect of our body.  Most people would be healthier if they ate more protein throughout the day.

Wondering what an ideal day looks like?

Download our Lean Eating Plan

5.  Carbs have been a big topic for the past 10 years, and for good reason. Simplified grains, sugars, juices and other sweet treats have become the major source of calories in America.  I personally believe this is a major cause of obesity, emotional instability, sleep problems, learning disorders and more.

Check out 5 Worst Foods

For more info about healthy eating check out this article:  Nutrition Nightmares

6.  Get a better nights sleep. Our bodies should have a natural cycle of cortisol and melatonin that helps us sleep and recover properly, but modern lifestyles have thrown this off.  Computers, TVs and smart phones overstimulate our minds before bed.  Sugary snacks and/or alcohol stimulates cortisol and throws off our body’s cycle of melatonin, which helps us sleep.  There are many factors involved.

Check out this article:  21 Tips to a Better Night’s Sleep

Our bodies function well in a balanced environment.  This includes mental, physical and emotional aspects of our lives.  When any one of these aspects is taken to an extreme (ie: 150lbs of sugar consumed per year), then consequences occur.

Learning to balance our work schedules, personal lives, eating habits, exercising more, etc is essential.  While it may not always be convenient, it will yield dividends down the road to create a better life for you and the ones your love.

If you have more questions, or you would like to start changing your life today, give us a call and schedule a FREE trial.

Call us today 866.243.4472

6 Common Workout Mistakes that are Holding You Back

Gym memberships simply put you in the gym, but they don’t educate you on how to get the results you want.  Most people simply wander around and do stuff they have read in magazines.  Without the right knowledge, you can waste a ton of time and money…and still get zero results!

How Frustrating!

So, after 14 years working in health clubs and training people, here are 6 common mistakes that I see people make.  I don’t point these out to make fun of people or criticize, but merely to educate you and help you get the most out of your time in the gym.  So here ya go…

6 Common Mistakes I see in the Gym

Mistake #1: Doing isolated exercises

Exercises that focus on only one muscle group are great to help a lagging muscle or help rehab after an injury, but using isolated exercises as the base for your entire program is a mistake.  This type of thinking stems from old school bodybuilding routines.  The problem with this type of training is that is doesn’t create a synergy between different parts of your body.  Your body has hundreds of muscles, that work in a variety of angles.  Training should help make them work together more efficiently.

Mistake #2: Working out with machines

Most gyms are full of machines.  The problem with machines is that they do not mimic how you would move in the real world and the majority of them require you to sit down.   Since most machines guide you through movements and control the pattern, you are not learning to stabilize loads or how to move under pressure.  Plus, most of our physical ailments these days stem from sitting too much.  Why would you sit at the office all day, sit in the car, sit on the couch and then sit at the gym?  It makes no sense!

Mistake #3: Doing long bouts of cardio

“Cardio” is a term that was adopted in the eighties and it has evolved with large health clubs ever since.  Cardiovascular health is incredibly important, but simply doing low intensity, long bouts of “cardio” type exercises is not the best way to get in shape.  I still hear people talking about getting their “cardio” in and then sitting mindlessly on an elliptical all morning.  If that’s what most people think they have to do at the gym, then no wonder they don’t wanna go!

Mistake #4: Doing crunches and sit-ups to get 6-pack abs

Your abdominal wall is designed for support and rotation.  Your abdominal wall is an incredible design that helps connect our limbs together and helps our body function as one unit.  The old idea of doing thousands of crunches is ridiculous.   Get off the floor and start doing some compound movement patterns in various planes.  Use a variety of pushes, pulls, rotations while standing on your feet.  Move in different directions and use a variety of different tools, like kettlebells, ropes, sandbags, dumbells, bands and more.  Believe me, your abs stronger than ever!

Mistake #5: Repeating the same workout routines over and over

Major health clubs are full of people still holding onto a workout split that they used for the past 10 years.  Think I’m wrong?  Look at how many guys are waiting for the bench press next Monday.  If you want your body to change, then you have to provide new stimulus.  Try new things, use new pieces of equipment, move in different directions, increase the weights, decrease rest intervals, alter the tempo or get out the gym completely!  Thats right, sometimes its good to just get outside and have some fun.  Try a hill run, swim, hike, paddle board, surf, play football, etc.

Mistake #6: Doing long workouts

Unless you are training for a long distance event or have to train this way to survive, super long workouts are counterproductive for most people.  The goal when working out is to stimulate your body, not annihilate it!  Too many people these days think more is better and end up overtraining.  Go into your workouts with a clear plan that takes an hour or less.  Some of my most intense workouts may last only 10 minutes.  Are they effective?  Absolutely!

So there you have it…6 mistakes that are common in almost every gym.  If you are guilty of some of these mistakes, don’t worry, we are creatures of habit and tend to find a groove and stick with it.  While this can be a positive attribute in other areas of life, it can be our downfall in the gym.  Take some time to asses your current workouts.

How long has it been since you tried something new?

Are you making progress toward a goal?

If not, it might be time for a change!

Need some help with a new plan of attack?  Give us a call!

Innovative Results is the fastest growing gym in Orange County!  Come check us out and see why!

866.243.4472

Our Top 10 Fitness Articles of All Time!

#10 Top 10 places to get outside and workout in OC

#9 Hand and Forearm Strength

#8 Trail Running vs Road Running

#7 Is there a better way to get in shape?

#6 Should I focus on muscles or movements?

#5 3 keys to quick weight loss, gaining muscle and permanent fat loss

#4 11 simple tips to burn fat and boost your metabolism

#3 You’re never too old to get in amazing shape

#2 My 3 favorite battling ropes exercises

#1 I do crunches everyday, where are my abs?

Do you have a personal favorite?  If so, let us know whatcha like.

Also, if you have specific questions or topics you’d like us to cover, let us know and we will post a article just for you!

Are you Overtraining or Making Progress Toward your Goals?

Exercise is a stress on our bodies.  When our bodies are able to adapt to the stress, we make progress.  When we are unable to adapt efficiently, then our bodies begin to break down.  The goal of this article is to give you a brief overview of the types of overtraining that occurs and how to avoid it.

There are basically 3 different types of overtraining which include sympathetic, parasympathetic and central nervous system overtraining. What does that mean?  Well, here are some simple breakdowns of each category.

‘Type A’ Adrenaline Junkies

Not the sign of a good workout

Sympathetic overtraining is probably the most common type of overtraining these days and occurs from an excessive amount of strength/anerobic activities without proper time to recover between sessions.  Day to day mental stress also affects this system, so stress levels outside the gym have to be addressed and accounted for if you want to keep this balanced and healthy.  Common symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, disturbed sleep patterns, increased resting heart rate, irritability, decrease in performance and fatigue.

Cardio Junkies

Addicted to runner's high?

The second category is called Parasympathetic overtraining and is more commonly seen in endurance type athletes.  It is caused by an excessive amount of aerobic type activity.  “Cardio junkies, triathletes, runners and other distance athletes are most susceptible to this type of overtraining.   Symptoms can include depression, unmotivated and a general disinterest in things.

Olympic / Power / Strongman Lifter Types

The 3rd category in central nervous system (CNS) overtraining and occurs from excessive high intensity activities such as Powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, strongman and other power drills.  This typically occurs when the volume of these types of activities os too high.  Symptoms can include decrease in reaction rate, lower strength, poor motor skills, and decreased ability to focus.

So how can you avoid overtraining?

Planning your workouts is essential.   Assessments are key to figuring out where your ability level is and then goal setting to determine where you want to go.

These days there are lots of programs that throw people into high intensity workouts and run them into the floor every time they come in the gym.    Other people may jump right into plyos or running long distances.  This is a recipe for disaster which can lead to overtraining, injury and more. The key to long lasting success is the ability to vary workouts between stimulating and recovering, using all three energy systems and adjusting exercise variables to allow proper progression towards your goal.

At Innovative Results we use proper alignment, exercise progression and varying intensities as the foundations of our workouts.  Its not just about getting a tough workout!  Varying ability levels and goals dictate the exercise selection and intensity of each workout.  Over time, everyone makes progress toward their goals safely and efficiently.

Remember, there is no “one size fits all” program that works for everyone.  Each person is unique and requires slightly different programs in order to perform.  Taking the time to learn and apply these principles can mean the difference between positive results and frustration.

Recommended reading

You deserve more than just a great workout

3 aspects of movement that affect your workout

9 ways to renew, recover and feel your best

If you need help developing a program, give us a call.  866.243.4472

We work with clients all over Southern California and have helped thousands of women, men and athletes look better, feel better and perform better!

Resources:

“Ultimate MMA Conditioning” Joel Jamieson. 2009 Peak Performance Inc.

“Acute Exercise Variables” Tony Bruno.  AB&C Fitness.

You deserve more than just a great workout. IR’s NEW System for developing Incredible Fitness RESULTS!

I already have a gym membership…

Most gyms offer a place to workout, full of equipment, questionable music and maybe even some tvs but gym memberships are destined for failure. 

Did you realize that 80% of gym members, never attend their gym?

What about hiring a personal trainer??  Joining a boot camp??

Honestly, most personal trainers or boot camps may help guide you thru a workout, but is the workout right for you…or is it just tough?   Remember, the goal is to get you results, not just kick your butt and send you home.

Any fool can create a tough workout, but only the best trainers can heal you and make you work hard.

So, we have spent the last couple years learning, growing, adapting and working with hundreds of people to find the best way to get people RESULTS!  We realized that results don’t come from just working out.  Real, long lasting results come from a combination of proper mindset, movement and recovery.

Our bodies are incredibly complex and require a balance of these three categories.  If one aspect gets out of whack, then our progress/results will suffer.  Let’s briefly walk through each of these categories and discuss why they are so important and how they affect your progress.

Developing the right mindset is absolutely vital!  I’m sure you’ve heard that before, but what does that really mean.  Well, Innovative Results believes that mindset has 3 subcategories that include: Attitude, Motivation and Support.

1. Attitude – You control your attitude every day and walking into your workout (and the rest of your day) with the right attitude is the foundation of developing a better mindset.   What are your most dominant thoughts?  What does your speech say about you?   Do your actions speak louder than your words?
2. Motivation – “If a man is sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself.” Setting goals is great, but finding out “why” you want something is essential.  Do you know what you want?  Do you know why you want it?  What potential excuses may deter your progress?
3. Support – Having a support system elevates everyone’s game.  The very best athletes in the world have a supportive team of people that help guide them along the way.   So, if you are looking to make some lifestyle changes, where do you workout?  Who do you get information from?  How do the people you see everyday help you achieve your goals?

How does your mindset affect your day?

Take a few minutes and think about the questions above.  I guarantee that you could work on at least one aspect listed…I know I have to work on several!

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we’ll discuss how movement affects us and answer some common questions like:

What type of exercise is best for me?

How do I make progress without over training or getting injured?

How do I vary workouts to speed results?

and more…

5 Articles to Help you Look Better, Feel Healthier and Perform like a Champion!

I recently heard in a lecture that 90% of human movement involves rotation, but most strength exercises only involve the sagital plane of movement. Think about it, most bodybuilder type exercises are all forward backward or up and down, usually on a piece of equipment that guides you thru each movement. Here is a great article by Bret Contreras talking about the different ways we can include rotational work into our workouts.

Check out this article about Rotational Training

Joel Jameson has done a lot of research over the past few years working with elite mma fighters, which are chronically over training. Check out this article where he discusses over training, how to spot it, correct it and avoiding it in future training programs.

Are you Overtraining?

So many people, me included, stress out all week long in an attempt to strive, make progress and work towards our goals. It can be a positive and negative, depending on how much it consumes us. I thought this was a killer article on perceived control. How much do we actually have control over?

Great article on Control

Sometimes the gym gets old and we need a change of pace. Since, it is summer, I thought this was a cool article and series of videos giving us all a bunch of workout options using a playground. Nate Green has some cool ideas that help you get a killer workout using your local playground.

Check out this Playground Workout

It’s grill season and mearely throwing a bunch of hot dogs on the grill is laim. Here are a ton of cool recipes that will keep you and your party guests asking for more all summer long.

Here are Tons of Grill Recipes

Pieces of the Puzzle – Part 5 – Who’s got your back?

Over the past few weeks, we have covered healthy mindset, simple nutrition, basic exercise, and some recovery tips that are all vitally important. Today, we are going to cover the final aspect of fitness that we have used to help hundreds of people transform their lives and perform at their very best.

Coming together is a beginning.

Keeping together is progress.

Working together is success.

-Henry Ford

People call it support, guidance, team or family. At Innovative Results, we work hard to create a supportive, encouraging environment that allows people to grow, struggle, change, adapt and overcome. So many gyms are full of big meat heads, intimidating trainers and unfriendly (insecure…) people that can make most of us feel uneasy. The truth of the matter is that all of us need a little encouragement, an outside perspective and a guiding hand to keep us on point and working to our potential.

Every great sports movie has these characteristics:  team/family, goal, struggle, overcoming, and victory.

Have you ever been a part of (achieved) something great?

Who was involved?

What struggles did you go through?

What lessons were learned?

Maybe it was a high school team, college, church group, or other activity, but the key is that the team of people had a goal, a common vision, learned to play their part, supported the team, overcame obstacles, persevered and accomplished something great. Long lasting relationships are born is times of struggle and overcoming, not just when times are easy and everything is perfect.

Once you make a decision to get in the gym or to charge toward a world title, you have to have people around you to keep you accountable, push you, give you feedback and to pick you up when times get tough. Having a championship group of people there to support you can mean the difference between making progress or failing again.

Who do you have in your corner?

The IR Family

We talk about ‘The IR Family’ all the time in our meetings and discussions. The IR family includes trainers, clients and anyone else that is in our sphere of influence.  We are truly committed to helping people make the necessary changes to hit and accomplish their goals. Sometimes its fun and sometimes we have to hold people accountable and help them through habits that are holding them back. The bottom line is that we are committed to helping through good times and bad.

In addition to the trainers, the clients at our place work together, sweat together, bleed together (sometimes :/) and all strive towards something. The common denominator is that people come to our gym to improve their lives. Some may fight on television, while others fight off stress from a crazy week. Either way, people are improving and you can feel it throughout the gym.

If you are truly looking to make a change this year, then take the time to pull together your own supporting cast. Find a group of people with a common goal, willing to attack it consistently, that are committed to making something great happen. Maybe its a few friends, maybe its at your office, maybe its a team of people, or maybe you need to find a group that is already chasing something.

What’s your favorite story of success?  Leave a comment…

Need some extra support on your journey?  Leave us a comment and stay in touch. Iron sharpens iron and we absolutely love to hear about other people that are chasing a goal with intensity and commitment.

Another Year, Another 10lbs Heavier?

It’s coming up on the holiday season, which is my favorite time of year.  Unfortunately for most of our clients, its also a time of weight gain, distraction, over indulgence, and excuses.

People love to make excuses.

The old 80/20 rule is a hard pill to swallow for some people.  So many people think they deserve certain things or wonder why success or results seem to evade them.  The truth is, that most people are too lazy to get the results they want.  They are lazy or make excuses constantly, that keep them from achieving the results they desire.

Can you imagine Michael Jordan telling his coach that he wanted the day off because it was Christmas?  Of course not!  He was the epitome of a true professional.

How strange to use “You only live once” as an excuse to throw it away.  ~Bill Copeland

But its the holidays….is that really a good reason to let your health go to waste?

Staying committed to a goal, when you feel like or not, is a lesson that more people need to learn.  Will you always ‘feel like it’?  Of course not, but people we all admire stay committed, learn from mistakes, keep pushing ahead and never quit.

The reason you know Abraham Lincoln’s name:

1831 – Failed in business
1832 – Defeated for legislature
1833 – Again failed in business
1834 – Elected to legislature
1835 – Sweetheart died
1836 – Had a nervous breakdown
1838 – Defeated for speaker
1840 – Defeated for elector
1843 – Defeated for Congress
1846 – Elected for Congress
1848 – Defeated for Congress
1855 – Defeated for Senate
1856 – Defeated for Vice-President
1858 – Defeated for Senate
1860 – ELECTED PRESIDENT

Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.  ~Edward R. Murrow

So, here’s my point.  AS the years pass, I watch people every week sabotage their own efforts, allowing laziness and distractions become excuses for not working hard and staying consistent with their workouts.  It doesn’t matter if its a fighter or someone wanting to lose 30 lbs.  Both can make bad decisions, based on emotion, that keep them from achieving their goals.

Bottom line, I guess its human nature and there will always be winners and losers.

There are those that do and those that don’t.

Those that will and those that won’t.

In the end, I suppose that I have to come to grips with the fact that people make their own decisions.  It just pains me to see so many people repeatedly allow their old bad habits to dominate their lives and control them.

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”

Now, please understand, that I don’t expect people to be perfect.  There is always space and time for relaxing and enjoying yourself, but most people live like spoiled kids, unwilling to change their ways.

Think I’m wrong?  A little too harsh?  I don’t think so.  Look around.  People have become lazy and so many of their decisions are based on selfish emotion.  I want…but I….

Want to change?

Then grow a spine, learn to stay consistent and disciplined, change, adapt and grow up.  Change is never easy, but what is your alternative?

Do you really think Michael Jordan always felt like going to practice?

Do you really think that Winston Churchill felt like making tough decisions?

This is always an exciting time of year, but remember why and keep things in perspective.

Get excited about changing, growing and becoming a better person (mentally, physically and spiritually).  You will be rewarded so much more by staying consistent and teaching yourself that YOU CAN DO IT.  Believe me, shopping, eating tons of food and drinking like a fish will not leave you satisfied.  Those are bottomless pits that will suck your money, time and youth away.

Have fun and enjoy your holiday season!

Is it the holidays or something more…? 3 tips of beating your holiday vices

We have all experienced that oh so wonderful moment when we have left the table from our third helping of turkey and stuffing (no pun intended)

And we slowly crawl to the couch for a mid-day nap; many of us have also enjoyed what some like to call ‘The Nightmare Before Thanksgiving’ or the day before the holiday – when a large segment of the population goes out and celebrates their brief escape from reality and/ or the daily grind.

And there is nothing wrong with treating yourself; life is to be lived right?

Well, the question to ask yourself is, are you treating yourself on the holidays? Or just occasionally?  Are you enjoying that celebration of a wonderful time shared with family and friends?  Or, have you created a very intelligent and complex system of excuses for hiding a problem that could potentially hurt you in the long run?

I guess one way you can answer that easily is to look and see if the holidays are coming every week!  Ouch.

But seriously, it is not a question of right or wrong but rather becoming consciously aware of whether you are making choices that allow you to be healthy and happy or if you are getting buried alive in problems that are becoming less and less clear to the reason you doing them.

When we catch ourselves binge eating or drinking, in most cases it is because there is a problem that we have been choosing to cover up or ignore.  To overcome the bad feelings we search for something that makes us feel better and we choose our vice.
The problem arises when the vice has to be increased over and over.

So here are some suggestions that have worked for my clients in the past and may work for you too

1. Before you choose to have your second helping of food or your second drink – check in and see why you are doing it?  This is not only good for helping you address a potential problem, but it will also enrich the experience you are having
2. Set a limit (or make a plan) to what you eat, drink or whatever well before you put yourself in the situation. It’s like shopping when you are hungry…. This will give you objectivity
3. Have fun… Don’t take life too seriously but be aware!  The choices you make do make a difference and they shape you. Each one (no matter how little) adds up to equal your character

If you do find that you have a problem that feels too big to handle on your own, ask for help!  You can always email me at info@brettbaughman.com and I will be happy to speak with you.

I wish you happy and safe holiday season!

Brett Baughman is an author, success coach, public speaker and founder of The Winner’s Circle.  Learn more about him at BrettBaughman.com