Fall season approaching...

Things have been busy at the Garage Gym, which is always good. A few things I found myself thinking about today during this mini tropical storm. My goals and the path I am taking to get there...I reviewed some training stuff, and my nutrition to ensure the path I am on is leading to where I want to go. That poses a question to all of you. What is your goal? Do you have one? If no goal, are you in the process of putting some on paper, and if you have a goal (ie: lose 10 lbs) do you have the steps in order to accomplish this goal? Maybe no goals and no path, and this isnt a concern to you...my question to you...what is the fear holding you back?
As all clients here understand, its so much more than just "working out". Its a 3 fold path (mainly). And I like to think of them in this order.
1) How are you living? Stressed out? Finding time for yourself? Sleeping correctly? etc..
2) How are you eating? Real food, no processed junk, plenty of water etc...
3) Staying active. Are you following a program designed to make you healthier? Not just a program to make you feel exhausted after working out. A plan that is in place to ensure longevity, and a balanced fitness approach (ie: Can bench press 275+ and only 2 chinups)
Are you "running" because everyone says running makes you healthy, even though for most this is untrue. Are your skinfold caliper test for body fat percentages within the healthy range? We can say that science has proved and is continuing to prove that sites that fall outside the "healthy" range are key potential indicators for diabetes, adrenal fatigue, warnings signs of heart disease and cancer along with numerous other ailments.

Or are you just floating through each day, just functioning, performing task after task without stepping free, looking around and breathing. Are you truly happy and excited to start each day? These questions need to be answered by you, without it we are just aimlessly walking...

Our customized based approach towards your individualized prescription is the reason all of our clients are successful here. If you are patient, adopt a healthy lifestyle (small changes to start), and are positive in your approach, success is guaranteed.

Your ego

Here is an interview with Eckard Tolle on ABC.com
This is big stuff people...shut that voice off inside your head, that isnt really "You" talking, focus on being present at all moments. Your awareness of that "voice" will be enough to weaken it with time and allow you to LIVE IN THE MOMENT. Presence.
This may take time to reasonate but thats ok...you have a starting point

Eckhart Tolle: To me the ego is the habitual and compulsive thought processes that go through everybody's mind continuously. External things like possessions or memories or failures or successes or achievements. Your personal history. All these things, a bundle of thoughts, of repetitive thoughts that give you a sense of who you are.

Dan Harris: So our ego, this constant stream of thinking, the voice in our head is making us miserable?

Eckhart Tolle: Yes, that's right. And it prevents you from being truly alive. So I'm not saying we musn't think anymore. That would not be possible and it would not be desirable. Thinking is a wonderful tool if it's applied. Thinking however can not become the master. Thinking is a very bad master. If you're dominated by thinking then your life becomes very restricted. If you're able to use your mind instead of being used by your mind, that's a beautiful thing. To use your mind constructively.

Psychologists found that 98 or 99 percent of our thinking is repetitive. And also a lot of our thinking is very negative. People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgements, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on. Many people live habitually as if the present moment were either an obstacle that they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment, and imagine living your whole life like that, where always this moment is never quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one, that is continuous stress.

Tolle blames most of the ills of the world on our egos: broken homes, wars and our destruction of the planet. But according to Tolle, our ego isn't the only thing making us unhappy. He says we're wasting our lives by refusing to live in the present moment. He says he can teach people how to become aware of the voice in their head, and thereby tame it. He calls it "awakening," a fancy-sounding name for what he says is a very attainable state. Tolle's personal spiritual awakening came out of his own mental anguish.

Eckhart Tolle: It's a state of conciousness. The possibility of living in a more peaceful, more vibrantly alive state of conciousness. That's all. Not some weird belief system that we need to adopt. It's much more fundamental and much more simple.

Growing and coming soon...

Sorry I have not posted anything in the last 3 days, the Garage Gym client base is growing weekly and Ive been spending more time on Consultations and assessments. I wanted to remind everyone that time slots are filling up, especially key slots between 5-8PM M-F.
If you or anyone you know are tinkering with the idea of becoming a client I encourage you to schedule your consult as time slots are on a first come first serve basis.

Coming soon...
-I will be posting a video of another sample workout demonstrated by two clients
-A post on your pain body and ego, what that means and how this can change your life
-Details on the Garage Gym Games Sport Series

Sample workout

Here is a sample workout designed around a clients priorities allowing them to become a balanced, stronger, healthier athlete. I want to thank everyone for their continued support and willingness to "better" themselves. Our community is expanding, fast, and I dont plan on stopping anytime in the near future. My goal is to build an army of clients who believe, support, and demonstrate in what I BELIEVE IN. Health = Balanced fitness levels = Proper nutrition and lifestyle = Happiness

Questions about anything, email me, Im all ears





"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
- Howard Thurman

dinner/reading

My dinner last night consisted of,

4 oz chicken with an olive oil based honey mustard sauce
1.5 cups of Kale with olive oil, feta cheese and 1/2 sweet potatoe
1/2 gluten free pizza (yum)
1 square of 86% dark chocolate dipped in almond butter (yum again)
* This is high calorie- high carb content- remember EVERYONES NUTRITION AND TRAINING PLAN IS DIFFERENT)

My current reading is
A new Earth- this is an amazing deep read

Training for Saturday is (remember this is designed around ME)

Recovery day:
Row 60 sec at 50% effort
Row 60 sec at 80% effort
Repeat 10 times

Training vid...

Nice piece here.. http://crossfitmobile.blogspot.com/2011/08/fitness-is.html

Congrats to many this week at Garage Gym...this was a big week for some
Jess- smashing her assessment
Joe- 5 what?
Matt- 7:45 tester...well done, its just starting for you
Charlie- Deadlifting solid solid work
Jon B- Continually getting stronger each week
Erik- Ha here comes the airdyne my friend
Ben- 7 weeks
Adam- First session was great...
Russ- 27.5 weighted chin..for how many...niceee
Amanda- Amazing heart, great person, physical improvement each week
Mike and Stew- Making group class look easy
Bren- Assessment- be ready
Chris and Bonnie- Learning and learning more
Anthony- Training for GGG, u will be ready
David- pushups, ring pullups...onward and upward!

A good one

Satisfy Your Dreams

Have you become addicted to limiting beliefs?
Do those limiting beliefs soothe you and comfort you while at the same time holding you
back? In the short term, it can be much easier to tell yourself you can't do it.
Yet when you look at the big picture, it's much better to go ahead and do the work of
achievement.

You can comfort yourself today by believing that your lack of progress is not your
responsibility. However, you'll soon be paying for that short-term comfort with long-term regret. For your dreams are calling to you, and they'll never be satisfied until you do something about them.
You have what it takes to reach them, and they know it.
-OPT

Exercise Demonstrations Part 1

More to follow...

Full effort...

Rondax taking a break between bench sets

Full effort = Full victory.....everytime.
What does that mean?

Ever since I was a kid I always had the mentality (instilled in me by my dad at a young age), to never give anything less than 100% and never regret an opportunity that you could have pushed harder.
This holds true for EVERYONE in life. It means different things to all people. For some it may following your individualized nutrition prescription, following your training program weekly, or shooting for a new personal record on a workout or specific lift. It may also be for scheduling your first consultation (a huge step for many) Or working on getting a full 8-9 hours of sleep a night.
Stepping outside the realm of fitness, it may be going back to college, tracking a deer for hours in the rain, or switching jobs.
Discomfort equals growth. Everytime. Whether with fitness/nutrition/your life.

FULL EFFORT in anything you go after will NEVER produce negative feelings or regret, NEVER. I know this from first hand experience. There is a euforia that comes over you as you finish something that required full effort (a big speech, test, workout etc). That is GROWTH! and congrats to you for many never experience that feeling. You have 2 options in life...you can give everything you have, every ounce of effort towards something you believe in or you can quit. 99% effort is quitting.

Are you just going about your day to day activities, just "functioning" and not really thinking and pursuing something larger (Being and Will)_...there is that voice inside your head telling you what you need to do and then there is the voice talking to you telling you to not take a risk, not step outside your comfort zone, just keep walking like a zombie.
Listen to that voice thats screaming at you, to just GO FOR IT, whatever that may be, let go of your ego and emotions and give full effort. I promise there will be no disappointment.

Why I do this...

I love training and educating. I'm obsessed with human performance, movement and health. I see unbelievable potential in everyone and I MEAN EVERYONE. Give me someone with a heart and commitment and I will transform them. I am surrounded by positive people who are working towards goals and progressively getting better everyday. I have the privilege to train clients everyday that are striving to accomplish numerous different things.
Current clients-
1) Flexibility
2) Energy
3) Stress relief
4) Re-gain high school strength
5) Marathon
6) King Kong (look that workout up..coming soon Halloween 2011)
7) Weight loss
8) Crossfit Sectionals
9) Garage Gym games
10) First pull up
11) Better self confidence at work and in life
12) Improve body coordination and awareness around movement
13) Job preparation- be prepared for anything
14) General balance between strength/anaerobic and aerobic energy systems

I could keep going but you get my drift...


We make it happen at the Garage Gym....we are that little secret people have in their back pocket...if you train here, you are balanced, strong and confident.

Garage Gym Client wins Age Division Marshall Days Run

Jessica Lewis, finished first in her 19-29 age division at the Deansboro Marshall Days 4 mile run. Finishing time was 36:21. Over a 6 min record from her previous race.
If you were to look at her training leading up to the race you would notice she never ran any distance over 400m in her training and only ran 1 time trial at 3.5 miles.
Her goal was to run for fun, see if her training at the Garage Gym increased her running capacity. Her question was answered. Well done!

Embrace this...

Everyone needs a coach
(whats a coach?...mentor, educator, supporter, goal setter etc)
coaches need to be coached

From OPT and GG / our clients embrace this

‎"Losers quit when they're tired. Winners quit when they've won." -Author Unknown.

How about you??

Pullups in Iraq...broken bar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Mr60zkQ3k

John a client of mine in Iraq doing a set of pullups, after a few reps he finds out what happens when you mount a pullup bar to weak wooden beams...

New clients

Garage Gym wants to welcome 4 new clients to our family.

Chris, Bonnie(yup my parents!), Matt and Adam.
We are very excited for you and your journey here at the Garage Gym.

The August referral incentive went very well, and I am going to be extending that till the end of September!
Current clients that bring in a family or friend that commits to a 3 month membership will receive ONE MONTH free!

A smart step in the right direction...

First off...our new website is Live, www.GarageGymJourney.com

This sight was designed and built by Yuri Koester, yurikoester18@gmail.com, great friend and awesome website developer, and he wasn’t too bad of a soccer goalie in his day. Contact him if interested in building a great website.


Ok so where should I start this large and very important topic?
GRAINS....i know many of you just rolled your eyes...thats ok...just keep reading.

Throughout the past 6 years I have tinkered with, experimented, read, round tabled, prescribed many different diets. For MOST, but NOT all, I find that grains (with the exception of a few), should not be eaten. White flour, all wheat products, gluten.... not good stuff my friends. It’s ok if you are thinking to yourself, "geez isn’t that the biggest part of our food pyramid?". YUP it is. Maybe there is a correlation with skyrocketing disease and obesity in the US? Maybe, maybe not? They are also scientifically proven to be the biggest problem with the standard American diet. The following passage is taken from Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso, great read.
"Grains are gut irritants, especially grains containing gluten such as wheat and rye. When our gut lining gets irritated we are unable to properly digest our food, which leads to inflammation in our bodies. Inflammation is the source of a host of different health problems. If that isn’t a deterrent, eating processed foods screws with our hormone levels and our hormones control and manage just about everything important in our bodies."

This is a huge commitment for most, especially considering that 80% of the American diet is processed foods and grains. At the Garage Gym our clients SLOWLY make changes, they report back the positive findings they feel and experience per week and we GRADUALLY help them turn their food choices around.

If I haven’t lost you yet, hang in there. UNLESS YOU HAVE GONE WITHOUT GRAINS/GLUTEN for 4+ weeks, you do not have a credible opinion on this topic. You have to walk on both sides of the tracks. I just ask that you TRY, stay 100% committed. Reintroduce gluten and you see if you feel a difference. Bloating, energy levels, inflammation, muscle and joint soreness, digestion, mood, etc...you report back and let us know. It’s not an easy road by yourself without the help of a coach and mentor but if you have the will power, and you TRUELY want it, you will succeed. I have never met someone that has TRUELY wanted something, that hasn’t achieved it.

There are occasional exceptions with a few SELECT GRAINS (in my opinion and from what I have seen), but I will not discuss those today as they are not important at this point.

If you want to do some reading on this topic, research based readings, studies etc..i have plenty for you to read, just let me know!

Are you interested in some help along the way? Contact us, we'll make it happen
.

Coming soon....

These big boys are in the central NY area right now. My father in-law had one in his backyard in Waterville 2 weeks ago.

Garage Gym is currently working on the design of its new website. Be on the lookout.
www.GarageGymJourney.com

Also check out our front page article in the Waterville Times, that came out 8/3!

We are growing weekly! If anyone has any feedback on something you would like the Garage Gym to offer or for us to write about on the blog, please feel free to let us know!

The free ride

Bren Cotters wedding/great friend and client


Just last week a discussion with a client came up that I thought would be relevant in posting today. "The free ride." What's that? Most people in this world are given a free ride, normally between the ages of 15-50. A period of time where no matter how they treat their body they still feel "good". Often it's difficult for these individuals to understand the importance of staying active, dialing in their food prescription and simply taking care of themselves. Why? BECAUSE THEY FEEL GOOD....for now. In our discussion, we were comparing the human body to a car. The first 3-5 years of most cars run great, no problems, no matter how they are treated. The engine, brakes, external mechanical parts are strong, brand new. As this car ages, depending on how it was treated as a "new" car is a good indicator of how it will run for the next 5-15 years. Was it given the proper break-in period, engine fluids, rotor and brake changes etc...You get my point.
We are all going to die someday. No secret there I hope. The path we take getting there is up to you. We are given one set of organs, a heart, and lungs. These are living objects, made up of millions of cells. These organs like anything else need to be treated correctly in order to extend their healthy life range.
Our liver is the detoxifier for the entire body. It's like the air filter in a car- sort of a stretch there I know, but hang with me here. It filters dust, particles, etc from getting into the engine. Our liver takes the bad stuff out of our system before it has a chance affect the rest of our internal environment. Our liver is designed to process healthy, clean real food. Minimal environmental toxins. What does that mean? The chemicals you are getting in your daily diet, the alcohol, the poor water you are drinking, fumes, the pesticides, herbicides, and GRAS chemicals, are all making this work realllly hard.
Examples of "Generally Regarded As Safe" chemicals approved by your goverment that are NOT listed in the processed foods you eat.
--benzyl isobutyrate, ethyl nitrate, methyl anthranilate, phenethyl, valerbate, heliotropin along with many many more....
yummy..
Your liver must process all of this garbage! And guess what... the stuff your liver can't process because its overloaded is simply over-flowed into your body. Lacking energy, weird weight gain even though you are "exercising", mood swings, skin disorders? Weird, huh?

Your pancreas produces insulin. Insulin attempts to lower the amount of sugar in your blood stream after you have eaten too much. It stores excess carbohydrates as glycogen to be used for energy later. If there is an excess, then its stored as fat. Its a survival hormone that is one of the main reasons we as human beings are here today. Without insulin, our caveman ancestors would have never been able to survive the long winters with limited food. They ate lots of good foods when they were available, stored some fat for energy and were able to survive on root veggies and limited meat all winter. Our younger generation now happens to like sugar and processed carbs, a lot of them. Whats that mean? Type 2 diabetes at very young ages and super chubby kids- just look around. This holds true for adults too, your pancreas can only take so much abuse, if you ask it to produce too much insulin, you guessed it, your body become insulin resistant... that isn't cool.

Your heart. Yup, the main engine that runs your body. With a weak one your life isn't too much fun. Your heart gets weak if its not used correctly. Run up a short hill lately? Did your heart rate go up super fast, possibly making you walk? Thats a weak heart, not good. Now lets not take things to the extreme thinking this is a 2 mile hill with a 60 degree incline. Climb a few flights of stairs; same result? Weak heart. Your heart is designed to be exercised, daily. Not pushed to the limits everyday but exercised correctly. What's your resting heart rate? Many of our clients have resting heart rates anywhere from the 30's to 60's, cool stuff. Slow heart rate from excercise= super strong efficent heart.
Your heart actually GROWS new vessels due to exercise over long periods of time known as "collateral circulation." I like that idea...someday you have a heart attack, guess what.. you have other "additional" vessels fighting to keep you alive. And no you do not need to run to have a strong heart. I hate running and my heart rate last night was 38. We have multiple ways of increasing your heart strength.

I can go on for a while, with your adrenal glands, lungs and gut health but I'll save that for another time. Preserve the one machine you were given. Help it thrive. Eat clean, exercise correctly, and live life, laugh, smile and be PROUD of the changes you have made and the life you live!!!

I can promise this...if you work really hard for 3-6 months you can make an amazing transformation, and in 1 year you can feel at least 10 years younger. but remember you need to make these changes towards becoming healthier, a part of your lifestyle, to continue your quest for optimal health. How do I know this? WE SEE IT EVERYDAY AT THE GARAGE GYM!

ONWARD!

A good discussion

This past weekend I was at a good friend/long time clients wedding. I was chatting with another client of mine who happened to be there and he brought up the importance of keeping an active lifestyle throughout your entire life. This particular client had taken a 6 month "layoff" and had felt the negative effects of limited activity. Sciatic pain, muscle tightness, lack of energy etc. This sparked a nice conversation with both of us being on the same page. YOU CANT STOP MOVING, EXERCISING, or LIVING.
Your body is designed for physical activity, everyday. Whether its walking, exercising, playing, or following a structured fitness program. America isnt moving anymore. Thats no surprise, obesity is around 30%, diabetes is skyrocketing and if you step back and take a look around, how many people do you see with a healthy looking body, radiant with energy and excited to live life? I'll let you answer that one.
At the Garage Gym we stress the importance of staying active, following a structured exercise program that is safe, fun and built around progression and success. Put some goals on paper, stay focused, learn to eat real food and you will feel energy and happiness you never thought possible. The majority of our clients at the Garage Gym are great people looking to simply improve strength levels and energy. This may be just 3-4 sets of safe exercises for one client or 8-12 for another, with a multitude of different movements, based on a clients abilities, what they are comfortable with, their training age and goals. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT.

Are you ready to hop to the other side?

Contact us for your free consultation today.