5 Steps to Maximizing Athletic Performance and Preventing Injuries among Young Antelope Valley Athletes
June 29, 2010 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles
So you’re looking to be a stud on the field, or maybe on the court, right? With summer here, there is a countless number of athletes out there working on their skills so they can come back the next season as the best athlete in the game. My question is however, how exactly do you get to become the best athlete you can possibly be? Should you rely on raw, natural talent? Let me ask you this? What is your training plan, do you have any direction, or are you winging it hoping that you land on the right path?
As an athletic development coach, my job has been to assist young athletes in training and developing their athletic skills to reach their full potential while minimizing injuries. Now isn’t that the goal of every athlete, coach, and parent? They want to be in the game, playing, winning, having fun, and growing into an athletic beast like Lebron James, or Adrian Peterson.
The problem is though; a lot of athletes are missing a key ingredient to a successful athletic career: appropriate aged based performance-enhancing programs that would help them increase their athletic strength and power, and would allow them to improve their game speed, agility, and flexibility. What’s most important to these young athletes is to implement a program that addresses their individual injury concerns.
In working with young athletes around the Antelope Valley, I have discovered that majority of the athletes playing sports today are just a hair line away from a season ending injury. According to a three year study conducted by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association from 1995-1997, two players on any team in America, no matter the gender will be injured during the season. It showed us that the most common injuries were sprains (44.6% males, 44.2% females). Moreover, the most likely place athletes were getting injured was in the foot/ankle complex (38.0% males, 36.0% females)
In information I gathered from the National Center for Sports Safety, (http://www.sportssafety.org/sports-injury-facts/) there were over 680,000 injuries in basketball in 2001. This was over 200,000 more than the injuries that occurred in tackle football! Excessive injuries in sports are due to lack of proper training, repetitive muscle strain, and inadequate flexibility and control of the body.
What makes things worse is the fact most athletes do not have access to Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement Coaches that could help these young athletes prevent injuries through sound training principles and proper education. And most head coaches just don’t have the skill, training or the time to address every athlete’s developmental needs. Most of these teams strength & conditioning workouts come from other coaches they know or from the internet and is not individually based, so there is really no way of knowing what each athlete’s injury concerns are.
The need for injury prevention programs is obvious: An athlete’s history of injuries will spur future injuries. This is especially true when the injury that has occurred is improperly managed. These reasons should lead us to focusing on “pre-habilitation,” (addressing a weaker muscle before we actually injure the muscle or muscle group) rather than rehabilitation. Some simple steps may help these athletes prolong their athletic careers throughout high school, college, and even at the pro level for the very exceptional athletes.
Here are five steps to enhancing your performance and prolonging your career in sports for long lasting success:
- 1. Individually based programs start with the assessment. This is better done by a professional, but with a good mirror and little education you can determine where your weaknesses are. There are plenty of assessments that can be done; one in particular that we use as sports medicine and fitness professionals is the Functional Movement Screen created by Sports Physical Therapist Gray Cook.
In using the FMS, we can see through simple, yet effective testing where an athlete may be prone to injury, thus allowing the performance coach the opportunity to develop a proper training protocol for that athlete.
- Begin a corrective exercise program. Now that you have determined where your weaknesses are, you must start with the corrective process. A corrective exercise program addresses concerns of overactive muscles versus underactive muscles and attempts to strengthen the underactive muscles while relieving the excessive tension found in overused muscles.
This validates the reason for having coaches who specialize in youth performance training and have vast knowledge in corrective exercise programming. No athlete likes sitting on the sideline, but with overuse injuries and improper training; this is surely what will happen! Plus, adding in the fact that most injuries are improperly managed, the athlete is almost guaranteed to re-injure the muscle or joint in the future.
A corrective exercise program is especially important after your season is over. Spend a good 4-6 weeks in the corrective exercise phase fixing your muscle imbalances and your body (plus your coach) will be thankful for it.
- 3. Always do a proper dynamic warm-up. No matter what! When you have tight muscles, they tend to pull the joints out of proper alignment. Couple that with enormous demands of sprinting up and down a court, cutting, jumping for rebounds and you have a recipe for disaster. I see so many people neglect to stretch properly and go through a joint by joint dynamic warm-up. This alone will go a long way into enhancing your game performance. A good dynamic warm-up should include exercises that will stretch and strengthen your muscles at the same time. It should also address hip and ankle mobility. This will help to prevent knee sprains, hamstring pulls, low back pain and shoulder injuries. It should also raise your core temperature and increase blood flow. Fact is, failing to take this step is a crucial mistake in athletic development.
- 4. Add some balance and stability training to your routine. In dynamic situations, an athlete is almost always on one foot. So improving an athlete’s balance is imperative for injury prevention and athletic development. Exercises like squats can be done on one leg to enhance athletic strength. Pushups with one leg up will help develop hip, core, and shoulder stability.
- 5. Focus on deceleration. A Ferrari going 160 miles/hr without good working brakes is a catastrophe waiting to happen. The same is true for athletes who run fast, but don’t know how to properly slow down from a sprint or a cut properly. This is a common reason for ankle and knee sprains. An athlete who cannot sprint and cut with good form is asking for a sidelining injury. Before working on your speed and agility you need to work on “hitting the brakes” first. The same goes for jumping as well; do you “stick the landing,” or are you falling on your butt every time your feet hit the ground. It is a must that you learn proper jumping and landing technique.
If you would like more info on proper training for athletes and how Ron help, he can be reached by email at capstonefitnessgroup@gmail.com or you can request a free consult online at www.capstonefitnessgroup.com.
Ron Kusek is an Antelope Valley youth performance coach and owner of Capstone Performance & Fitness LLC. He specializes in the athletic development of young basketball and football athletes’ ages 8-18 years old. He holds several certifications through various organizations such as the National Strength & Conditioning Association, the International Youth Conditioning Association, and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He has worked with athletes from the 3 time championship winning Lancaster Jets Junior Midgets team to athletes from all over the Antelope Valley.
His training programs which include speed & agility development, proper sprinting mechanics, and athletic strength training has helped a number of young athletes achieve athletic success through education, and sound coaching principles. Leaving no stone unturned, Ron’s goals are to help A.V. athletes reach the pinnacle of success in their athletic careers.
Antelope Valley Personal Trainer Shares His Top 5 Diet Tips for Fat Loss
EAT to Elevate Metabolism and Lose Fat (NOT Weight)
Have you ever heard that before? Most people tend to do the opposite. They eat once or twice a day with a bunch of random snacks throughout the day. There is no plan or consistency, no timing at all. This method doesn’t work for fat loss, which is different from weight loss.
Fat loss is the reduction of fat mass or better yet the reduction of that ugly flab that just doesn’t seem to want to leave. You know, like that cousin that no one likes, but always wants to hang around. In order to rid yourself of excess fat, you need to starve it out.
You starve fat by eating. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Eating properly balanced, well timed, nutritious meals every 2-4 hours feeds your muscles which is key to maintaining a high metabolism. Bottom line, you must EAT TO SHED FAT!
By following the tips below you change your body forever! No need to go on countless diets to keep your weight down. Just five simple tips that can rapidly shed fat and help you look your best for every occasion
Tip#1- Stay Hydrated:
- Drink at least 2-4 cups of water immediately upon waking and then drink at least 1-2 cups of water every 2 hours you are awake. A dehydrated organism cannot effectively lose body fat!
- Drink 1-2 cups of water for every 15 minutes of vigorous activity to maintain optimal performance and to prevent dehydration during your workouts.
- Consume at least 3 servings of antioxidant-rich green tea per day to boost your immune system and accelerate recovery from exercise.
Tip#2- Eat Early and Eat Often:
- Eat immediately upon waking and then again every 2-4 hours after that for a total of 6-8 feedings per day. This is a staple for any solid fat loss nutrition plan because it allows your body to starve the fat and feed the muscle, optimizes performance, and prevents your body’s starvation signals from going off- signals that will slow fat loss to a snail’s pace.
- The dietary breakdown is 3 total meals per day consumed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner time, 3 total snacks/day consumed between meals and before bed, and workout nutrition in the form of a protein or amino acid supplement consumed around your training sessions. Snacks are typically half the caloric value of meals.
Tip#3- Focus on the Essentials:
- Consume a wide range of organic lean proteins of animal origin at each feeding. A great rule of thumbs is to consume at least a fist-sized worth of anything that had a face or a mother and ran, fly, or swam at some point (sorry, doesn’t sound as appetizing this way, ha). Protein is not only the only macronutrient responsible for building and repairing that lean, sexy muscle tone but it also allows your body to best starve its ugly, unwanted fat stores. In addition, the sheer consumption of protein elevates metabolism and burns calories through the thermic effect of feeding since protein is more than twice as energy costly for your body to digest than fat or carbs.
- Consume a wide range natural fats at each feeding (olive oil, coconut oil, beef, salmon, whole eggs, avocado, mixed nuts, flax, full-fat cheese, etc.). Sufficient dietary fat intake is critical to beneficial hormone production, which allows for optimal fat loss. Furthermore, your body cannot optimally burn stored body fat without a sufficient amount of healthy dietary fat.
- Consume a wide range of fruits and veggies at each feeding (with a special emphasis on green veggies). A great rule of thumb when it comes to produce is to consume at least one green item AND as many other colors as possible at each and every meal to get the most health benefits.
| Sample One-Day Menu
|
|
| Breakfast- 6am | Scrambled Omega-3 Eggs, Greens, and Turkey Sausage or Bacon |
| Mid-Morning Snack- 9 am | Mixed Raw Nuts and Fruit/Veggies of Choice |
| Lunch- Noon | Chicken, Salmon, or Shrimp Caesar Salad |
| Mid-Afternoon Snack- 3 pm | Full-Fat Cheese and Fruit/Veggies of Choice |
| Dinner- 6 pm | Turkey or Beef Meatballs and Spaghetti Squash |
| Pre-Bed Snack- 8 pm | Wonder Bowl:
Mix of Full-Fat Cottage Cheese, Protein Powder, Flax Meal, and Raw Nut Butter |
Tip#4- You NEED These 2 Supplements:
- Take a daily whole food based multi-vitamin for your gender. Ensuring adequate intake of vitamins and minerals is essential for your body to function optimally, especially for people who struggles to get at least 8-12 servings of fruits and veggies per day.
- Take a high quality essential fatty acid (EFA) or fish oil supplement. Omega-3 fats found in fish oil are scientifically proven to increase metabolism and generate increased fat burning, besides having a host of other benefits like preventing cancer, reducing inflammation and joint pain, enhancing skin and hair quality, etc.
I am a proud partner of Prograde Nutrition; they have by far the best supplements based on my recommendations above. You can find them at www.capstone-performance.getprograde.com today!
Tip#5- Think Fiber First When It Comes To Carbs:
- It is critical to focus on carbohydrate quality first AND then quantity second. In terms of quality, all carbohydrates (outside of dairy) that you eat should contain AT LEAST 3 g of fiber per serving and offer LESS THAN 10 g of sugar per serving. In terms of quantity, we have found most people achieve the best fat-burning effects by limiting their total daily carb intake to 50 g or less, NOT including their unlimited daily fibrous carb intake from green veggies (fruit can be used in moderation) nor the trace carbs from protein and fat foods.
- Use The Carb Reduction Blueprint: Use the following step-by-step process in the exact order listed to breakthrough any plateaus in your quest to look absolutely awesome:
Step#1- Replace all white carbs with 100% whole grain carbs and all refined sugars with natural sugars found in food choices with ONE ingredient (e.g. fruit, honey, etc.). This will results in much more stable blood sugar levels, the key to maintaining high energy levels and burning fat.
Step#2- Limit all 100% whole grain starch and natural sugar consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout or immediately upon waking for breakfast. Your body best handles these types of carbs at these times without excessive risk of this energy being stored as fat.
Step#3- Replace all starches and sugars with fruits and veggies. Fruits and veggies are the most nutrient dense carbs loaded with tons of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and stomach-filling fiber, making them the staple of any good fat loss meal plan.
Step#4- Replace all fruits with green veggies (or any other veggies BESIDES corn, peas, carrots, and potatoes) to weed out any remaining dietary sugar (fructose- fruit sugar) that will prevent your body from maximally using stored body fat for fuel. Green veggies like broccoli, spinach, dark leafy lettuce, green beans, asparagus, etc. have the most figure-friendly benefits of any carbohydrate out there and can be consumed in an unlimited amount throughout the day to keep you full and satisfied.
Step#5- Use strategic carb and calorie cycling to take your body to next level (my clients and I have had great success with this but it is beyond the scope of this article).
Well, those are my top 5 diet tips to help you look your best for the rest of your life. When it comes to nutrition, keep it simple and stay the course. And remember, it’s not about weight loss- it’s about being as visually stunning as possible via losing inches in all the right places
Local Antelope Valley Personal Trainer Gives His Top 5 Exercise Tips for Fat Loss and Wellness
Ron Kusek is a local Antelope Valley personal trainer and corporate boot camp instructor specializing in fat loss, performance, and corrective exercise. Today he shares his top 5 exercise tips for local organizations.
Ron Kusek is a certified personal trainer in the Antelope Valley who specializes in fat loss and provides work-site fitness programs to organizations wanting a healthier group of employees and to lower health care costs. Today he shares his top 5 exercise tips for businesses ready to take action for a healthy workplace.
According to Kusek, the following guidelines are the exact tips he has used to help people burn off ugly unwanted fat and lose 1-2 clothing sizes per month. Many people who have worked with Kusek have seen both body and life changing improvements in their self-confidence and physique in just a short amount time.
Exercise Tip #1- Strengthen Up to Lean Up: Resistance training allows people to build strong muscles and bones that increases your resting metabolism, thus decreasing unwanted body fat much faster than ordinary cardio. You’re resting metabolic rate (or RMR) is the number of calories needed to live regardless of activity; by increasing this through strength training, your body will become a fat burning machine 24-7 365. For optimal results, aim for three total body strength days a week, with one day of rest in between.
Exercise Tip #2- Interval Cardio Burns Up to Nine Times More Fat than Ordinary Cardio: Interval Cardio is alternating bouts of high intensity effort with an active recovery period. By focusing on the intensity of the workout rather than the duration will lead to greater fat loss in a less amount of time than ordinary cardio. An example of intervals would be a 5min warm-up on the elliptical, following by 30 seconds of high intensity work, with a recovery period of 60 seconds. Aim for two-three days of intervals for up to 15-30 minutes each in between strength days.
Exercise Tip #3 Use Stubborn Fat Cardio to Accelerate Results: Five minutes following high-intensity exercise like strength training and cardio interval training, your body dumps stored triglycerides (fat) into your bloodstream, making it the perfect time to do some low to moderate intensity aerobic training to eat up that fat before it gets re-stored.
Exercise Tip #4- Always Use Whole Body Movements for a Quick and Time Efficient Workout: For maximum fat loss, use exercises that will train your lower body, upper body, and core all at the same time. Isolating each muscle during a workout is not as effective as whole body movements. Use this five exercise circuit using bodyweight and dumbbells that works your body in this sequence:
1) Squat to Shoulder Press
2) Squat Thrust to Pushup
3) Reverse Lunge w/ Bicep Curl
4) Bent Over Alternate Arm Row
5) Side Plank w/ Leg Lift.
Perform this total body circuit for 3-5 rounds on strength training days.. Doing this will definitely decrease cancerous fat, lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol, and increase the health of each employee, making them a more productive, happier employee for the good your business.
Exercise Tip #5- Have a Recovery Day: Everyone who is active should always spend at least one day out the week focusing on recovery. High intensity workouts are not easy by no means, especially for those who may be new to exercise and may have existing muscular and joint issues they’re dealing with, having a recovery day can help alleviate many muscular and structural issues through self massage and corrective flexibility. Pay particular attention to your hip, knee, and mid/upper back areas. You want to massage your muscles using a foam roller, follow up with corrective stretches for your problem areas; do this before and after each workout and on your scheduled recovery days. This helps to speed recovery, and reduces aches and pains resulting from sore muscles.
For more information on the Capstone Fitness Group program, a highly advanced work-site fitness boot camp, please contact Ron Kusek by email at capstonefitnessking@yahoo.com or by phone at 760.902.9721. This elite fitness program guarantees to help your employees feel and look their best while increasing your company’s bottom line. To decrease health care costs and improve the morale, health, and wellness of your employees please visit www.antelopevalleycorporatefitness.com
The Five Characteristics Fit People Don't Possess
October 18, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles
Hi there, Ron Kusek back again with another great post for you to help you get in the best shape possible in minimal time. Today I’m going to share with you my top 5 traits that will absolutely kill any chances of you getting into the best shape of your life.
These are the worst characteristics you can have and if you recognize any of these in yourself, you had better do everything you can to shake these habits as soon as possible if you aspire to improve your health, self-image, and muscle tone.
My top 5 fitness killers are listed as follows:
- The “Denier”- People who are in denial always struggle to lose weight because they can never face the music. They always overestimate their compliance with the exercise and nutrition plan set before them. They’ll never admit to overeating, skipping workouts, or anything else that will force them to accept responsibility for their lack of results. Recognizing where you fail is key to getting fit permanently. Admit where you are wrong and work to change it.
- The “Procrastinator”- This one is obvious. These people are always “getting ready” to start something, but can never get around to it. Procrastinators know they are overweight, out of shape, and unhealthy, but always find a reason to not to start their exercise plan. They are dreamers (another bad trait); people who want to be in shape, be attractive and have an extremely awesome body, but they never start anything to reach that goal. They constantly complain about their weight and how they can find clothes that fit, and that they feel so depressed about how they look. The problem is they can never get anything going, it’s always “I’ll start on Monday” or “I’ll start my diet in two weeks”, but when the time comes they have better things to do. If you want to make changes to your health and appearance you cannot fall into the trap of tomorrow. You’ll be getting heavier and heavier and your self esteemwill continue to dwindle down.
- The Follower- Followers allow others to influence them into doing things outside of their best interests. Instead of them worrying about disappointing themselves, they are more worried about what someone will say about them if they don’t follow the crowd. You must be resilient in accomplishing your fitness goals despite what others think. If anybody pressures you into falling off the wagon, they obviously are trying to sabotage you into being overweight and out of shape just like they are. STAY AWAY from saboteurs who want to see others fail.
- The Sometimer- The sometimer is totally motivated to start exercise program for all of but two seconds, then they suddenly become disinterested in anything that has to do with fitness. This hot-cold behavior will leave you frustrated, overweight, and just plain sad over time. Find ways to stay motivated and perservere through any of life’s struggles.
- The Needy- Needy people can never do things on their own. They always need someone to workout with, and to eat healthy with. As soon as their buddy gives up so do they. They will use the excuse that they don’t have a workout partner as a reason why they are overweight, but you’re not getting in shape for social reasons are you? If you depend on your friends you are in for a tough ride. Find your own internal motivation to continue and if your friend decides they want to give up then that’s fine, you’ll just look that much better when you hang around them. Always stay strong.
I would love to hear your opinion on this article. Please leave a comment about your own personal experiences, be sure to let us know which traits you possess and what you’re doing to break them.
Antelope Valley Personal Trainer Shares His Top 2 secrets for Getting Lean & Sexy
September 23, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles
Ron Kusek is a local Antelope Valley certified fitness professional and boot camp instructor. Today he will share with you his best kept secrets for getting lean and staying lean permanently.
Here is the secret:
Fitness is easy.
What?
Fitness will be simple if you allow it to be. Here’s what you need to do.
Train your body to work together as a unit- By training your whole body rather than individual muscles, you will prime your body to maximize fat loss and lean muscle. After your warm-up, perform this 5 exercise circuit cardio blaster doing each exercise for 30-50 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between each exercise:
-Speed Squats=Squat down as quickly as you can, swinging your arms back, then explode back up while pushing off on your toes. Then drop back down
-Front Planks=Hands to Forearm up and down
-Lunge Runs= Get into a lunge position with your right leg forward and your left arm forward with both elbows bent at 90 degrees. Lunge up and down while forcefully swinging your arms in a running motion.
-Cross body Mountain Climbers= Drop down into a pushup position. You are going to tighten your abs and squeeze your butt tight. While keeping your back straight, pull your right knee towards your left elbow. Extend your leg back out then alternate to the left leg back and forth for the duration of the exercise.
-Run in Place= Don’t trot! Swing your arms forcefully and punch your knees in a rhythmical fashion as fast as you can control.
Repeat this circuit up to four times with a 1 minute recovery between each circuit for an awesome cardio workout.
Eat nutrient rich meals every three hours- Having a small portioned well balanced meal every three hours will turn your body into a fat burning furnace. When you have regular meals every day your body is more likely to shed fat and build and maintain lean muscle. Have some lean protein, whole grains, and vegetables each meal and I can guarantee you’ll lose weight and fat consistently.
Alright, let’s get lean & sexy!
The State of Fitness in the Antelope Valley
September 9, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles, Blog
Local Antelope Valley fitness pro and creator of the Lean & Sexy Ladies Fitcamp Ron Kusek speaks on fitness and the one thing that has plagued Antelope Valley residents and lets them know how to get lean for life!
As a fitness pro, I spend a lot of time talking to my clients about self sabotage. Self-sabotage has got to be one of the worst things people do to themselves when it comes to getting into ultimate shape. We give in to our temptations with no regard to what it will do to our body, but then we scratch our heads when we gain five pounds.
We give to the donuts sitting in the break room at work. We give to the ice cream our significant other has brought home. We give in to the sweets, the soft drinks, and the high calorie meals at the fast food and sit down restaurants on a daily basis, but we still scratch our heads when we gain ugly fat.
We want the weight off, but yet we still eat the foods that have made overweight and obese. We want to look good, but yet we don’t want to sacrifice our comfort foods in return. We want a great body, a healthy body, but yet we do things that deter us from being healthy, and looking great.
Have you ever asked yourself why? Why do you continously stop yourself from reaching your goals? What can you do stop jumping on the merry-go-round and move forward in reaching your fitness goals?
Here’s my top 2 tips on getting fit and staying fit.
- Change Your Mentality on Fitness- Think of fitness as a journey and not a destination. Don’t treat being fit as something you do before a wedding or a cruise. Waiting two months before an event then doing a crash diet and burning yourself out with exercise is only going to make you miserable, and possibly injured. Make fitness a part of your lifestyle if you want to live longer and happier.
- Good Nutrition Can Save Your Life- By eating foods that you are supposed eat; things that were made from the soil of the Earth and not in a factory or a lab can improve your health drastically. Focus on eating a colorful diet full of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins sources. Each food source has different nutrients that serve a specific function to the body. So don’t be a picky eater. Every person that I have met who didn’t like vegetables or didn’t like one thing or another has always been overweight.
Has anything I said hit home? Take a good look at yourself and your life and make the necessary changes so you can look great, feel great, and live a great life.
Grocery Store Tour slated for Sept 19th at Trader Joe's in Palmdale,Ca
August 27, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles, Blog, Events/News
Top Antelope Valley fat loss expert and owner of Capstone Performance & Fitness Ron Kusek is holding a grocery store tour at Trader Joe’s in Palmdale. If you want to lose weight, flatten your tummy, and fit into your skinny jeans then you want to be there.
Slated for September 19th at 9:30am, learn the latest and greatest tips to maximize your weight loss efforts. When it comes to getting into awesome shape, everything starts with the foods you put into your body. Are you doing the right things to kickstart your metabolism into high gear?
Find out what you absolutely need to have in your fridge and in your cabinets, discover the shams and marketing ploys companies use to get you to spend your money.
Why should you be there? Why shouldn’t you? You need to be there if you really care about your health and how you feel. Discover my biggest secrets to success in weight loss.
Mark this down in your calendars right now: September 19th 9:30am at Trader Joe’s on 10st and Rancho Vista Blvd. Trader Joe’s has to be the most awesome place to find the best, most nutritious fat blasting foods around. Come find the highest quality foods money can buy.
Will you be there? I surely hope so. Invite your friends and let’s have a good time.
Oh, and did I mention it was FREE to attend
Your Trusted Fitness Advisor,
Ron Kusek, Certified Tummy Deflator
Capstone Performance & Fitness LLC
Five Super Simple Fat Loss Tips
June 25, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles, Blog, Recipes
Fat loss isn’t rocket science. I know we love to make our problems seem much bigger than they really are, but when you really look at them they’re typically easy to solve. And that’s often the case with fat loss.
To prove it to you here are five super simple fat loss tips you can easily follow:
1) Stop guzzling liquid sugar. Yes, I mean soft drinks and juices and bottles of iced tea loaded with high fructose corn syrup. For the most part, a 12 oz can of cola is 150 calories of pure sugar. Have a couple of those a day…
2) I’ve written it a gazillion times and I will continue to – eat breakfast! If you want to make fat loss easy then make sure you start your metabolism off on the right foot.
3) Eat more fruit. Aim for at least 5 servings a day.
4) Eat more veggies. Again, aim for at least 5 servings a day.
5) Stop eating so many processed foods. If it comes in a box from your grocery store it’s most likely processed. The fresher the foods the better.
* Bonus tip*
You can make tips 3 and 4 a breeze by using a whole foods based multi. Personally, I love Prograde Nutrition’s VGF 25+ http://capstone-performance.getprograde.com/vgfwomen) because it is made from 25 WHOLE veggies, greens and fruits.
Your Leader in Fitness,
Ron
PS – You know I take my nutrition seriously. And it’s why I ONLY recommend Prograde Nutrition’s Whole Foods based multi. They have a women’s formula at www.capstone-performance.getprograde.com
Delicious Chicken Stir-Fry, You need to try it
June 15, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles, Blog, Recipes

Good Evening Everyone, I bet you Lakers fan are having a ball right now. I am Chicago Bulls fan myself, my family all came from there so that’s what I grew up following.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you about a tasty stir fry recipe that I tried today and came out very well! My wife usually does most of the cooking, but she’s out of town right now so I’m stuck here fending for myself.
Luckily I have been working on my cooking skills for a while now. Which leads the recipe I was telling you about. I used chicken, but you can easily substitute with shrimp or steak.
It was very simple to cook and only took about 30 minutes to make and the best thing was it light and it was full of nutrients. Here is the ingredients.
1lbs Boneless Chicken Breast cut into cubes
Bok Choy Cabbage cut into shreds
Baby Spinach (put in as much as you like)
Green Onions
1 Roma Tomato
Fresh Basil
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
Sesame Ginger oil
Light soy sauce
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
Whole Grain Brown Rice
Cut Chicken into cubes and put in bowl. Marinate with Sesame Ginger Oil and Soy Sauce. Sprinkle some salt and garlic pepper and mix
Cut all vegetables and place them to the side while chicken cooks
Heat medium sized pan or wok and coat with olive oil at about medium-high
After pan is heated for a little, put the chicken into the pot and cook to no longer pink. Turn frequently and add more sauce if needed.
While chicken is cooking you can start on the brown rice. I like the Uncle Ben’s whole grain brown rice that can be cooked in 10-12 minutes tops. Follow the directions by adding water according to the serving size you are cooking and add a 1 tbsp of omega 3 butter.
Once chicken is cooked you can add the vegetables to the mix. Stir frequently and make sure vegetables are coated with sauce. You only need to cook vegetables for an additional 5 minutes.
Once the chicken, vegetables, and rice are complete you can mix in the rice and enjoy an awesome dinner!
That’s just one meal, there are plenty of other delicious, light, and healthy meals for you to choose from that don’t take up hours of your time.
You really don’t need any chefs to make your food and it isn’t that hard to step into the kitchen and whip something up for you and your family.
Now you have one less excuse to eat healthy and lose weight.
Do you have any go-to healthy recipes that you can share with everyone, please feel free to share with us.
Your Leader in Fitness,
Ron Kusek
What Does Being Lean & Sexy Mean to You?
June 13, 2009 by Ronald Kusek
Filed under Articles, Blog, Events/News
I have a question for you. What does mean to you when you think of being lean and sexy?
Can you visualize yourself a year from now, on a beach with a cocktail getting some sun in a two piece? Or can you just visualize yourself just feeling good when you’re getting dressed?
You have to believe it can happen in your mind before it becomes a reality. From there you must take massive action to make your dreams come true.
Your thoughts must match your actions. “Success is in your hands but sometimes your fists may be closed to tight to see it” Do you understand what that means?
I want to hear from you, for the future Lancaster members; what made you want to be a part of this?
Edwards members, I would love for you to chime in and let the Lancaster members know what you honestly think of what the class has done for you.
This is a powerful program that goes beyond just a simple workout. This a life changing fitness program focusing a steady fat loss, and improving your metabolism so that you keep the fat off for good.
No longer will you lose weight only to put it back on six months from now. What I will show you is how you can melt the fat off your body for good, but you must comply with the nutrition advice I give you.
I don’t care how much exercise you do, if you go home and eat a whole bag of doritos you are going to lose weight, I promise you. If you skip meals you won’t lose any weight.
Don’t you want to maximize your results. I won’t give you the wrong advice. You can trust me to deliver the best fat loss workouts you have ever tried and if you follow my lead in developing a nutrition plan that works for you, I promise you will reach your goals.
Be a part of the best fitness program in the A.V. it’s in your best interests to do you so. You’d be crazy to not want to do this.
What do you want from this?






