The Power of the Mind vs. Fat Loss

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Get your mind right. Thats the only way to successful fat loss. Too many times people harbor negative thoughts that affect their ability to lose fat. Lack of mind control will leave you feeling weak, unmotivated, and without purpose. You must learn to filter out those negative feelings before they manifest into unhealthy behaviors.

While the benefits of consistent physical exercise are clear, we neglect to exercise our minds. My brother and pastor, Tommy Pickens has spoken about the power of the mind and I was listening to one of his cds this morning about your guarding your mind and it moved me to write to you about it.

I understand what he says about your guarding your mind of negative thoughts. Over the years of being a fitness coach I have worked with many emotional eaters that struggled with excess weight and the common denominator was a weakness of the mind. These people are in a battlefield of knowing that shouldn’t eat as much as they do, but negative thoughts are controlling their behaviors and they are losing the battle miserably. They try exercising, but to no avail, they try dieting, but the weight comes back with a vengeance.

Does this sound familiar?

They allowed every negative thought to lead them into overeating which led them to gaining more weight and this only added to the negative thoughts. Work to guard your mind of negative thoughts & feelings. You’re always going to battle with negative feelings, but you can learn to filter them out and win the battle.

A few ways to filter out negative thoughts is to replace those thoughts with positive feelings of thankfulness, being grateful, and developing a better relationship with God.

You must also cut out other negative people in your life who may reinforce the negative feelings you’re already having. Spend more time with people who are going to lift you up, not bring you down.

Wake up each day with the purpose to succeed in all you do. Yes, things won’t be perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be insistent on achieving your purpose. Learn to outweigh the negative feelings in your mind with positive thoughts and feelings. If you have a bad day at work, remember there is always something worse that could be happening. If you have lost a loved one or in the process of losing a loved one you should be celebrating the life they had, not mourning the life that is gone. When turmoil is all around you, don’t surrender.

Continue to fight.

When you win the battle of the mind, you will win the battle of fat loss

P.S. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Is this familiar to your situation? What do you think? Please leave a comment, I would surely appreciate it.

Also, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter on the website homepage.

The New Laws of Fat Loss for 2011

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Hi everybody, I hope you’ve had a great start to the new year. I’m sure a lot of you have renewed motivation into losing weight and getting into the best shape of life (finally, right?) and I have high hopes that you’ll succeed where you and others have failed in past. No more starting then stopping your fitness plan. It seems like every time you feel ready to get to work on shedding off the excess blubber something (or somebody) wants to throw a monkey wrench into your game plan, doesn’t it?  

But what I say you should do is persevere anyway; obstacles will always be there, it’s just a part of life. Plenty of things will stand in the way but only if you allow it to control your health. You are more powerful than you think. You have more control than you think.  

It’s time you realize that.

I challenge you to persevere through it all; loved ones being sick, stress on the job, finding time to exercise, etc. These are all things you should want to push through.   The past few years have been rough for a lot of people, but I believe that through positivity, support, and great health amazing things can happen. I believe that a positive mindset is contagious.   When people see you pushing past your own obstacles and making great things happen despite the roadblocks in front of you, they will follow suit. And since losing fat and transforming physiques is my specialty here are the laws that you need to set in place for your life in order to see the results you’ve been searching for.  

1. Have a positive mindset- This has to be number one. Look at your life and ask yourself what negative behaviors are creating obstacles that could be prevented. For example, stress eating is common cause of obesity and other health related issues, but it is preventable.

 If stress eating is a problem for you then try enforcing more positive behaviors like going for walk, prayer, reading a book.   Just do something that will allow you to relax. One thing I do know is that a negative mindset will stop anybody in their tracks from achieving anything. Want a lean physique, or even financial success, remaining positive against the odds will be key.  

It’s good to have a vision of what you want your health outlook to be and how having a leaner physique would improve your lifestyle. So write down what your vision is, then outline what goals you will accomplish to achieve your vision. Then write down the obstacles in your way and your areas of strength that will help you navigate your way through those obstacles.  

Without a a clear picture of what you want, how you’ll get it, and what stands in your way, it will be hard for you to achieve significant fat loss. You may see results, but they will be limited and they will be short lived.    

 2. A Supportive Nutrition System is Key- Without it, all is lost. You cannot out-train a bad diet, I don’t care how much you exercise. Achieving a lean body is next to impossible you believe you can eat whatever you want and expect to still lose weight. I can be the best fitness coach in the world and have the best training programs ever invented and still not be able to help you AT ALL.  

You don’t have to diet. The word “diet” to me just has too many negative connotations that come along with it. That’s why I prefer to use “supportive nutrition”, eating supportively just sounds for positive and healthier to follow. To eat supportively means giving your body what needs to live and function properly. I associate dieting with the word “restrictive” or “to go without”,   So eat supportively whatever your goal is, whether it be losing 20 pounds of fat (maybe more), or gaining lean muscle. The main principles of eating supportively are these:  

  • If you can’t grow it, kill it, or pick it, it shouldn’t be eaten
  • Anything that has to be processed with tons of unpronounceable ingredients is most likely bad for you
  • Eat more carbs around the time you are likely to be active. Today’s sedentary lifestyles just don’t allow us to eat carbs in excess and still lose weight.
  • Eating after 6 o’clock will not make you fat, over-eating will. If you’re hungry at 8pm then eat something, just keep the meal light. A piece of fruit, a protein shake, a colorful salad with light dressing are all great options to keep you full throughout the night
  • Food additives are horrible, so are preservatives and pesticides. Stay away from these as much as possible
  • Drink nothing but water throughout the day and nothing else (with the exception of green tea). Liquid calories are usually empty calories and empty calories are usually fat calories. Water in it’s purest form is the greatest thing for you, not vitamin water or anything else these companies try to past as healthy.
  • Eat more often for greater fat loss, at least 4-5 meals a day every 3-4 hours for an elevated metabolism and rapid fat loss.
  • Stop eating the same fruits and vegetables. Switch it up and a rainbow of colorful fruits and veggies. Each fruit or veggies has different, but significant nutrients that another will not provide, so being picky about your fruits and veggies is just a bad choice.  Keep a plethora of organic produce available for your consumption. The weight scale will thank you.

3. Logging in long hours of cardio is not the answer to fat loss. While low intensity cardio is certainly great for improving your health and reducing stress, is does not, however, do very well for reducing body fat. You’ll achieve more success in reducing excess body fat by doing shorter higher intensity cardio sessions at least 2-3 times a week. Try doing 15-30 minutes of 30 seconds of high intensity cardio work followed by 60 seconds of active recovery for the best results in reducing body fat and losing inches.  

4. Metabolic Resistance Training is magic for reducing body fat. You can’t create a leaner physique without some form of lean muscle training in place. MRT creates and afterburn effect which is technically called EPOC which stands for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. It is defined as the recovery of the metabolic rate back to pre-exercise levels. It’s like a fan in an automobile that doesn’t shut off right away after a long drive. It takes time for your body to recover from a hard workout, which means that after an intense workout, you’ll be still burning calories long after your workout is done.

In contrast, light workouts do not produce EPOC so once your done with your workout so is your body.   It order to accelerate fat loss you really want to produce the “afterburn effect”, otherwise you’ll be spinning your wheels, but not going any where. EPOC is great for fat loss, you’ll be burning calories for days after a good workout, combined with some high intensity cardio, a supportive nutrition plan, and a positive mindset, achieving your fitness goals in 2011 is very possible!  

Please let me know what you think by placing a comment. Is there anything you would add to the list? What do you feel helps you? I’m always learning and improving and I sure like to know how I can help you achieve your goals this year.

Your Fitness Coach,

Ron

Amazing Life! Amazing Body! Dedicated to those who want a fitness program that will add value, quality, and happiness to their lives. Results Guaranteed!

5 Steps to Maximizing Athletic Performance and Preventing Injuries among Young Antelope Valley Athletes

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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. 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.

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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. 

 

  1. 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. 

 

  1. 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, the Antelope Valley's Leading Performance & Fat Loss Coach

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

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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

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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

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

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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

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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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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

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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

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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

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