Do You Offer Bootcamps?

We always get e-mails asking if we offer bootcamps or group classes. This is our usual response:

Because of our training model, and due to the main goal of our business to be based on quality and effectiveness, we do not offer bootcamps or classes or any group training period (we did them early on but found they weren't effective in helping people reach and keep their goals and it discouraged people with injuries).

So because of the decrease in quality, when we do group classes, we offer it to our current clients for free.

As entrepreneurs we don't make as much money doing this, but keeping it individualized gives us the most reward and results. If one day we can figure out how to offer a group class model without sacrificing quality, we will be sure to do it. Until then it's all one on one and all out effort.

Workouts Make You Hungry?

Notice how sometimes you workout and it makes you really hungry? And then do you notice how sometimes you may workout differently and you're not hungry at all? What did you do different?

Mimic the workouts that didn't make you so hungry.

Epic Pizza

AOE Filming A UFC Parody

AOE Free Sunday Training

What Is The Best Trainer

A trainer friend and I were having a discussion about training. I asked him a while back, what's the difference between a trainer who wants to get rich, a trainer who wants to help, and the best trainer? 

He said he's been thinking about that a lot and had been trying to figure it out.

The trainers who wants to get rich will do all the things that will get them rich. Market, get people in, take lots of pictures, make themselves look as good as possible because it sells. A good looking fit trainer will do exponentially better than one who doesn't look that way. It will also show in the client experience what they are about as well. Cancel sessions to pursue other opportunities, show up late, not stay up to date or be educated with science at all. Training just a tool to get money. A widget, a gimmick, and they are just a good salesman and/or spokes model for a widget. Whenever I talk to trainers like these, we end up only talking about how to get more clients and maximize money.

The trainer who wants to help, may be overly educated. Know everything about fitness and the human body. I have trainer friends who wouldn't know what periodization was from a piriformis. But I have a few, okay one trainer friend who reads every sports science book out there. But why are they not the best? They may over talk or try only to talk to the smartest person in the room, to help a lot of people, they need to get in front of a lot of people. If you spend all your time at clinics and in front of books but aren't doing your job getting people in the door, you aren't going to be the best. Whenever I get into a conversation with this type of trainer, we end up talking just science, the best way to rehabilitate a knee that has a torn LCL, the effectiveness of self myofascial release, etc.

The best is someone who does all the right things. Keeps up to date but can explain everything simply. Wants to help people and doesn't fret over money as long as the quality training experience is there. They also make sure they are accessible to people, and their information is easy to find. And ultimately that they are passionate, and if you are passionate there should be a buzz around you. We end up talking about how we can spread our message. Because we have one.


About the Author:

Coach Sam Y. is a Master Personal Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Coach, Certified Nutritionist, Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, Pilates and Yoga instructor, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook and Pinterests.

50 Body Weight Exercises And Dumbbell Exercises

Source: http://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere-030612/

Who needs a gym when there’s the living room floor? Bodyweight exercises are a simple, effective way to improve balance, flexibility, and strength without machinery or extra equipment. From legs and shoulders to chest and abs, we’ve covered every part of the body that can get stronger with body resistance alone.

Full Body

1. Inchworm:
2. Tuck Jump
3. Bear Crawl
4. Plyometric Push-Up
5. Stair Climb with Bicep
6. Mountain Climber
7. Prone Walkout
8. Burpees
9. Plank
10. Plank-to-Push-Up

Legs

11. Wall Sit
12. Lunge
13. Clock Lunge
14. Lunge-to-Row
15. Lunge Jump
16. Curtsy Lunge
17. Squat
18. Pistol Squat
19. Squat Reach and Jump
20. Chair Squat Pose
21. Step-Up
22. Single Leg Deadlift
23. Quadruped Leg Lift
24. Calf Raise

Chest & Back

25. Standard Push-Up
26. Dolphin Push-Up
27. Donkey Kick
28. Handstand Push-Up
29. Judo Push-up
30. Reverse Fly
31. Superman
32. Contralateral Limb Raises

Shoulders & Arms

33. Triceps Dip
34. Diamond Push-Up
35. Boxer
36. Shoulder Stabilization Series (I, Y, T, W O)
37. Arm Circles

Core

38. L Seat
39. Rotational Push-Up
40. Dynamic Prone Plank
41. Flutter Kick
42. Bicycle
43. Crunch
44. Segmental Rotation
45. Shoulder Bridge
46. Single Leg Abdominal Press
47. Double Leg Abdominal Press
48. Side Plank
49. Sprinter Sit-Up
50. Russian Twist

How to Shed Those Love Handles

From one of our featured writers:

Summer is inching closer and so is the time of year when people are showing a little more skin. Like many people, you may be interested in losing those love handles. While this is one of the more challenging areas of the body to lose fat, it can be accomplished by developing healthy lifestyle habits. Here are some guidelines on how to shed those love handles:

• Diet The old adage "you are what you eat" is quite true. The quantity and quality of food that you eat is reflected in your physical appearance. Cut your calories by eating only what is necessary. Eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Reduce your alcohol intake. Cut your sodium intake. Drink plenty of water.
• Exercise The great thing about exercise is that one can achieve noticeable improvement with even as little as 20 minutes per day. There are several exercises that are very good for helping to get rid of love handles. These include crunches, dumbbell side bends, and back exercises. Also, you can build up your upper body and create a "V" shape with your body as a whole. This helps give the illusion of a smaller midsection. It is also important to burn off calories with cardiovascular exercise.
• Guidance If you are looking for some extra guidance in your exercise regimen, you might want to consult your doctor and consider hiring a fitness trainer. You can also take it a step further with education and training in a fitness training degree program, particularly if you are very passionate about fitness.
• Healthy Mind Your mental behavior has an impact on your physical appearance. Develop a positive mindset to give you the confidence and willpower to maintain healthy lifestyle habits. The body often responds to stress by storing fat in the body. Incorporating stress reduction techniques, such as meditation, deep breathing, or yoga into your daily routine will help offset this.

A lot of people try to focus their efforts on achieving a perfectly toned midsection. This is a great goal to have, especially if this is what keep you motivated. However, just remember that overall health and wellness is much more important and effective than spot training.

Sources

WebMD (2012)
AskMen (2012)

Dangers Of Not Moving

Sedentary life may lead to more blood sugar spikes and moving more regulates blood sugar.

Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/why-its-so-important-to-keep-moving/

Hoping to learn more about how inactivity affects disease risk, researchers at the University of Missouri recently persuaded a group of healthy, active young adults to stop moving around so much. Scientists have known for some time that sedentary people are at increased risk of developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. But they haven’t fully understood why, in part because studying the effects of sedentary behavior isn’t easy. People who are inactive may also be obese, eat poorly or face other lifestyle or metabolic issues that make it impossible to tease out the specific role that inactivity, on its own, plays in ill health.

So, to combat the problem, researchers lately have embraced a novel approach to studying the effects of inactivity. They’ve imposed the condition on people who otherwise would be out happily exercising and moving about, in some cases by sentencing them to bed rest.

But in the current study, which was published this month in Medicine; Science in Sports; Exercise, the scientists created a more realistic version of inactivity by having their volunteers cut the number of steps they took each day by at least half.

They wanted to determine whether this physical languor would affect the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels. “It’s increasingly clear that blood sugar spikes, especially after a meal, are bad for you,” says John P. Thyfault, an associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, who conducted the study with his graduate student Catherine R. Mikus and others. “Spikes and swings in blood sugar after meals have been linked to the development of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.”

So the scientists fitted their volunteers with sophisticated glucose monitoring devices, which checked their blood sugar levels continuously throughout the day. They also gave the subjects pedometers and activity-measuring armbands, to track how many steps they took. Finally, they asked the volunteers to keep detailed food diaries.

Then they told them to just live normally for three days, walking and exercising as usual.

Exercise guidelines from the American Heart Association and other groups recommend that, for health purposes, people accumulate 10,000 steps or more a day, the equivalent of about five miles of walking. Few people do, however. Repeated studies of American adults have shown that a majority take fewer than 5,000 steps per day.

The Missouri volunteers were atypical in that regard. Each exercised 30 minutes or so most days and easily completed more than 10,000 daily steps during the first three days of the experiment. The average was almost 13,000 steps.

During these three days, according to data from their glucose monitors, the volunteers’ blood sugar did not spike after they ate.

But that estimable condition changed during the second portion of the experiment, when the volunteers were told to cut back on activity so that their step counts would fall below 5,000 a day for the next three days. Achieving such indolence was easy enough. The volunteers stopped exercising and, at every opportunity, took the elevator, not the stairs, or had lunch delivered, instead of strolling to a cafe. They became, essentially, typical American adults.

Their average step counts fell to barely 4,300 during the three days, and the volunteers reported that they now “exercised,” on average, about three minutes a day.

Meanwhile, they ate exactly the same meals and snacks as they had in the preceding three days, so that any changes in blood sugar levels would not be a result of eating fattier or sweeter meals than before.

And there were changes. During the three days of inactivity, volunteers’ blood sugar levels spiked significantly after meals, with the peaks increasing by about 26 percent compared with when the volunteers were exercising and moving more. What’s more, the peaks grew slightly with each successive day.

This change in blood sugar control after meals “occurred well before we could see any changes in fitness or adiposity,” or fat buildup, due to the reduced activity, Dr. Thyfault says. So the blood sugar swings would seem to be a result, directly, of the volunteers not moving much.

Which is both distressing and encouraging news. “People immediately think, ‘So what happens if I get hurt or really busy, or for some other reason just can’t work out for awhile?’” Dr. Thyfault says. “The answer seems to be that it shouldn’t be a big problem.” Studies in both humans and animals have found that blood sugar regulation quickly returns to normal once activity resumes.

The spikes during inactivity are natural, after all, even inevitable, given that unused muscles need less fuel and so draw less sugar from the blood.

The condition becomes a serious concern, Dr. Thyfault says, only when inactivity is lingering, when it becomes the body’s default condition. “We hypothesize that, over time, inactivity creates the physiological conditions that produce chronic disease,” like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, regardless of a person’s weight or diet.

To avoid that fate, he says, keep moving, even if in small doses. “When I’m really busy, I make sure to get up and walk around the office or jog in place every hour or so,” he says. Wear a pedometer if it will nudge you to move more. “You don’t have to run marathons,” he says. “But the evidence is clear that you do need to move.”

People Love To Pay For Training Like This

I know so many people who pay for stuff like this. Because they feel this is "authentic." Not realizing this is not authentic, they are just being made fun of. There are plenty of people out there who want to hire a trainer who treats them like dirt or yells at them.

Silly yuppies.

At All Out Effort, we treat adults like adults. Don't yell at us and we won't yell at you.

Dream It, Believe It

If you plan to dream, you might as well dream BIG. Whether it's a fitness goal or a life goal. Go for it with all out effort.

It's You Vs. You

Getting A Hug

Getting a hug nowadays is a really hard workout! Now if this kid isn't using All Out Effort I don't know All Out Effort means.

Free Training Sunday

Free training this Sunday - For current clients only.

I started by business by giving free training to people, purely out of altruism. And since then I've been doing it sporadically ever since. But now due to time constraints and liability, it is closed off only to my current clients.

The Zombie Diet

The newest and greatest diet on the market!

Created by Master Coach and Trainer Sam Y.

In 3 simple steps!!!

1. Get bitten by a zombie.
2. Run away before you are devoured.
3. Wait for the magic to happen.

The Benefits!!!

• Eat whatever you want and as much as you want and NOT GAIN A POUND!
• You no longer have to worry about eating too late at night!
• Superhuman cardio!
• Haven't been able to run in years because of bad knees? No problem!
• Have asthma? No problem.
• Diabetic? Pre-diabetic? Cholesterol? On statins? Blood pressure?
• The Zombie Diet can cure all known illnesses and diseases.

AND as an added bonus!!!

Never use the bathroom again!

For a limited time to new customers, get the secrets of The Zombie Diet for $49.99. Thought lost for years but finally revealed. Deep from the jungles of the Amazon. Learn the secrets of the Mayans. First 50 customers get new eye cream, get rid of those dark circles under your eyes!

(A lot of diets/workout plans make false promises like these. Remember only a zombie can eat whatever they want as much as they want and not gain weight. The rest of us in the land of the living need diligence.)

Happy Mother's Day

Because it's Mother's Day tomorrow I wanted to share a video and a story. Rebecca and Tiffany have only been training with me for a short time. It was actually Rebecca who contacted to lose a few pounds before her wedding. When she arrived for her consultation, she brought her mother Tiffany. In speaking with them and doing screens, it was easy to see that it was Tiffany who needed the training more than Rebecca did.

She had a surgery done more than 10 years ago, that led to other complications, and more surgeries. Someone who had always felt strong, now was weak. She had muscle atrophy in her legs. Back pain. And to make matters worse she was beginning to lose her vision.

So I told Rebecca I would only train her if her mother trained with her as well. That was about 2 months ago. A lot can change in a short time if you are driven. They 're both lucky to have one another. They bicker like everyone else, but nothing brings a family together like the Turkish Get Up.



They're probably my easiest clients to train. I tell them, "do this." And they say, "ummm (hessitation, hessitation, trust) okay..."

Read Rebecca's Yelp Review for her version of the experience.

Cheers,

Coach Sam Y.
Founder, All Out Effort

Heart Attack Grill Owner A Former Nutritionist

World famous Heart Attack Grill where several people have died or been sent to the emergency room while eating there. The employees there are dressed as doctors and nurses, and items there are named Triple Bypass or Quadruple Bypass Burger. And if you are over 350lbs, you eat for free. Jon Basso, the creator of The Heart Attack Grill, is a former nutritionist and used to run a Jenny Craig...

So what happened? Was it more lucrative to make people worse than to make people better? Did he feel like we were doomed anyway so cash in?

It's frightening that his fame came not from helping people find their health, his popularity came in destroying people's health and glorifying it. But he's not the problem. We are.

Walking: The Other Half Of The Story

People think walking is so beneficial because you are moving and we are meant to move. People even wear pedometers to walk more. Yes the activity of walking is great! But there's another reason why walking is great:...

Because there are plenty of Americans who walk on treadmills, do hours of cardio, work in a warehouse, who don't have the same health benefits as those countries we keep listing as countries that walk more than us.

How often do you hear, oh New Yorkers are skinnier than people in LA because they walk more. Or Europeans are skinnier because they walk more. That's part of it. The other part is, New Yorkers compared to Angelenos also spend more time outdoors! Also the same with Europeans. Yes activity, moving, walking is good. But so is being outside!

Every culture known for a long life is known for spending great amounts of time outside. New York has a lot of parks, and one gigantic one in the heart of the city. Japan has a lot of parks, and nature walks are almost religion there. Europeans walk, eat, ride bikes, meet people, all outside. It's no coincidence that in documentaries when they interview all the obese people it's in their homes. Fit people are interviewed outside.

Being outside, especially in nature lowers stress. Stress makes us want to eat more, and makes us store fat! It increases our immune system. Increases mental acuity. Lowers blood pressure. And according to several Japanese studies, it improves all levels of overall health! Just from being outside. And being outside leads to more activity anyhow.

Next time you feel stressed, maybe your body isn't telling you that you need a snack. Maybe it's telling you that you need to take a break from the activity that is stressing you out. And instead of a snack, what you really need is fresh air. Half the reason smoking is so relaxing and stress relieving is, you have to do it outside, and you have to take deep breaths. It's why people who don't smoke will sometimes go outside with their smoking friends to take a break with them. Because it feels good to be outside and relax!

Let me repeat again. GO OUTSIDE. YOU WILL LIKE IT.

Bad Trainer Rant

A guest post from Steven who lives in Orange County. He's had a personal trainer in the past so it's interesting to see the observations of personal training from someone who's been through it. You can still hear the frustration in his voice of his own past experience with his previous personal trainer:

"At the gym today, I saw a new trainer training a new guy. He was an older guy, very tall and quite a bit overweight. She was young and skinny.

They caught my attention because the guy was noticeably fatigued and rather loud in voicing his irritability. He sighed deeply whenever he was told to do another exercise. Now that didn't surprise me, because being trained is tough and for new people, it can be an emotional adjustment.

What surprised me was the trainer. Normally the trainers at the small private gym I attend are very professional and excellent. This trainer however, seemed to be in a bad mood herself. She was curt to her client, barked out her directions, and would walk away frequently after he started. When he complained about being fatigued, she didn't say much, and just kept telling him what to do.

Now I'm not a trainer, and I don't know the whole story here, but I felt uncomfortable watching them interact and I felt sympathetic to both of them, because it was clear they BOTH didn't want to be there.

Having being trained before, I understand what it's like to not want to be trained. I haven't been a trainer, but I feel like, as a client, if I am paying you to train me, I would like you to at least pretend like you want to be there. Preferably, I would want you to actually want to be there. Now I'm not advocating a trainer should be a therapist or a friend, not at all. I simply would like them to be present for each exercise, each repetition, like the client is suppose to do. Be there physically, but most importantly, be there with them on that emotional level, to provide them with the encouragement they need and quite frankly, are paying you high hourly rate, for. I would want my trainer to like this.

I feel like this relationship can't really be taught in a classroom or a book, I think it has to be shown in person, by a great trainer who understands this, who can mentor and teach trainers how to treat their clients like this, like an apprenticeship.

I believe much of All Out Effort's success can be attributed to having an owner who truly understands what it is to care for their clients."

Why Couldn't This Be Reality?

Processed Carb Nation

One of my oldest, dearest, and smartest friends and Steve and I had a discussion about processed carbs. He is a librarian by trade and now works in the gaming industry. Here is what he said:

"To abandon breads is to abandon civilization. Poor health is the price we pay to nature. For giving us cities, literature, culture, and art!"

And it is true. If the rulers couldn't find a cheap way to feed labor, how would they have ever fed the slaves to build their monuments?

How Come My Friend Can Eat Whatever They Want?

Brad asked: How come there are people like Floyd Mayweather and Michael Phelps who can eat whatever they want and still be so fit?

My response: It's the same question people ask about their friends. How come whenever I go eat with my friend, they eat a whole lot, as much as, if not more than I do and they don't gain any weight? I've had several clients ask me this. My response. What did you eat when you were alone? Sometimes the answer is, when I am bored or by myself I eat really bad. Hence they they sought out training in the first place. What does your friend eat when they are alone? You have no idea.

If you see your friend eating only when you are out eating with them, how often do you go out to eat? The amount of times ranges but usually it's too often. How many times do they go out and eat? You only know about the times when you were there. You have no idea if they go out and eat other times if at all.

So you think because when they are around you, they must eat like that all the time. What you do know is that you have no idea what they eat or how much they eat when you are not around. So how do you really know they eat all this food and not gain weight? You don't know anything about their eating habits. I don't know anything about the eating habits of my own clients and neither do they until they begin to log it. So how would you know your friends? It's just you trying to sound like a victim.

When I go out and eat, its an occasion because I don't go out and eat that often. And when people see how much I eat, they think, boy Sam you are blessed with that lucky fast metabolism. They have no idea I eat out half as much as they do, and when I am alone I never pig out. That's a huge difference. If you and your friend both pig out when you go out, but when you are alone you still pig out and they don't. What you do when you are alone is more important than what you do when you eat with your friends. And you only know what you do. Not what they do. Do you only eat chips and salsa at parties or do you also eat it when you are at home watching TV? Maybe that's the difference between you and your friend.

So to answer the question about Mayweather and Phelps, I just have no idea how much about all the crap they eat is just marketing hype and how much of it is reality. But I can say their level of muscle mass is much higher, their daily caloric burn doing nothing is much higher, their level of activity is much higher, to get as far as they have, they have been blessed with certain genetics, and as far as I know, neither of them have ever been obese so they never caused the metabolic damage associated with obesity. Meaning if I weigh 130 and my friend weighs 130 after losing 70lbs, even though our weight is the same, my friend will always have to eat less food than I do to maintain that weight. Someone who dropped to 130 is not the same internally and never will be as someone who has always stayed and prevented themselves from ever becoming 200.

So if you have ever allowed yourself to get to a size that was on the other side of the tipping point, your metabolism will never fully recover. So your friend who never allowed him or herself to get too big, will always be able to eat more than you do. Even if you weigh the same.

Now here is another thing. I have no idea what their inner workings are like. They on the outside look fit. But I have no idea if they have liver damage or fatty liver, high cholesterol, lesions or fat deposits in their heart, etc. There have been many professional athletes who later in life developed diabetes, heart disease, or most common, died of a heart attack.

What Is A Push Up

Daniel asked this question: "I always do pushups with elbows flared out (mimicking a barbell press) as opposed to elbows in (which I think its more in keeping with a "plank" form).What do you consider proper form, and why?"

My response: Elbows out shrugs the shoulders. Try it right now. Flare your elbows out and watch what happens to your shoulders. Now what happens to your shoulders when they are by your side? Shoulders are neutral right? A plank is about everything along your spine being neutral. Your cervical is not neutral with flared elbows.tral. Your cervical is not neutral with flared elbows. A push up is holding a plank, while you move your arms. A lot of people are strong enough to move a lot of weight, but can't do a lot of push ups because of this very reason. They can't hold a plank. So maybe they can do 70 push ups before failure. But they hit performance failure probably at around 1.

Kettlebell Winner

We recently had a contest to caption a hilarious fitness picture. Antoi won with her hilarious comment. For her efforts she has won a kettlebell, compliments from All Out Effort.

See her caption:

Are You Really Ready For A Baby?

There comes a time when a couple decides, hey let's make a baby. Congratulations! But are you really ready?

I'm not talking about mentally or financially or ready in your relationship. I'm coming at it from a totally different perspective. Are you ready to physically be a parent?

Let's say you haven't been physically active in years. You go to work and try to move as little as possible so you don't sweat in your nice work clothes, but of course you are sitting and stressing a ton. Then when you get home you are so exhausted from not moving but stressing, and now you want to move even less than you did at work.

But now you decide it's time for baby. So you have one. All of a sudden mommy has to carry 20-70 extra pounds depending on how much baby weight she gains. Is your body, especially your back ready? It's probably unpleasant enough physically as it is, compound weakness on top of that. How more tired or grumpy would you be compared to someone who is physically strong enough to carry that extra weight?

Now you have the baby. Let me ask this, how many times a day do you think you will pick up your baby? Do you ever wonder why so many Americans with kids have bad backs? How many mothers do you know with bad backs? I think every mother that I know of has a bad back.

Let's skip ahead. Now the baby is an infant. Maybe 25lbs. If you picked the baby up a minimum of 50 times, that's like moving 1250lbs of bricks every day. And you went from 0 activity to lifting thousands of pounds per day. No wonder you are exhausted. No wonder you have no patience left. No wonder parents throw out their backs picking up their kid. Or why grandparents throw out their back playing with the grandchildren.

In previous times, our daily level of activity was high so carrying a baby wasn't as big of a deal. Women were built for it, weaker upper body but strong hips, glutes, and thighs. And men were used to hauling heavy things anyway. Now we don't even mow our own lawns. And instead of our legs, we use our backs, for everything. The back used to have a few tasks per day. Now it has to do everything because all the other muscles in our bodies are too weak. The back will always be strong. But will we overwork it?

So in your grand scheme of having a baby, where does strength fit into the equation? Working out after a baby to lose the weight is after the fact. What about working out before the baby and investing in your health?

About the Author:

Coach Sam Y. is a Master Personal Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Coach, Certified Nutritionist, Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, Pilates and Yoga instructor, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook and Pinterests.

AOE Rock Connection?

Was just asked to go on tour to train a rock band. I know nothing about music but I have heard of them if that tells you anything. Perks? My own bunk bed on a tour bus! Need to ask my songwriter client what she thinks.

All Out Effort April Client Updates

Glenn - 5lbs (5% body fat loss, 6 in. off the waist, and 20lbs total loss).

Dana - 3lbs, 1.2% body fat (7lbs total, 1 in. off the waist, hips, thighs, shoulders, and 1/2 in. off the arms, and 4% body fat loss, she is now officially LEAN!)

Prax - 4lbs, 1.2% body fat (14lbs total, 3 in. off waist, 10% body fat loss!!! He is now athletic body fat level. His other problem was strength, he went from a 5lb turkish get up to a 25lb get up).

Diana - 2% body fat (Officially in athletic body fat with visible abs).

Shaya - 4lbs (Officially lean and abs visible when she skips breakfast LOL).

Steve - 4lbs, 5.3% body fat (Breakout month. 9.4% total body fat loss).

Tiffany - 1.3% body fat (4% total and at the cusp of athletic body fat. Gained 2lbs of muscle which was one of her goals. She is a true success story because she's blind in one eye, had depression, muscle atrophy in her legs, and a partial hysterectomy that got complicated and had to be followed up with several more surgeries. But now strength is her own best cure and she has found her smile and is a 52 year old master of the burpee and box jump).

Ashley - 6lbs, 2% body fat (April was her first month).

Isaac - 6lbs, 2.4% body fat (Our professional athlete...poker is a professional sport right?).

Young - 2lbs (3 in. total off the waist and athletic body fat. One our most athletic clients).

Michelle - 7.6lbs, 3% body fat (2nd month 15.5lbs total. 9% body fat loss, 1.5 in. off the waist, 1 in. off hips, arms, shoulders, 2 in. off thighs. Her goal is to inspire. She is already doing that).

Simon - 10lbs (April was her first month. She also put a dollar in the whine jar this month).

Judy - 6lbs, 2% body fat (April was first month. One of my martial arts clients. She's great at hitting, now if we can get her to block...).

Kevin - 4lbs (Kevin is so unassuming. Never huge numbers but consistently makes progress. He has a busy schedule so sometimes  I see him three times a week. Sometimes I don't see him for a month. But he does everything I tell him to whether he's there or not that month. He's lost 37lbs so far!)

Laraine - 3lbs (One of my rehab clients. She has bulging discs in her low back. She travels a lot for work and is now finally able to load and unload the car with her own bags. Before he back would give out whenever she lifted them. Things like this is where you really appreciate progress).

Rebecca - 2lbs (Daughter of Tifanny. She's that much closer to looking great for her wedding day. She grew up with asthma which never allowed her to be athletic. She's playing catch up but there's nothing as moving as watching a mother and daughter to kettlebell swings together. Brings a tear to my eye).

Arthur - 2lbs (One of my martial arts clients. Now if he can stop accidentally hurting his training partners...).

Angela - 3lbs (28lbs total! Shall we see her pass the 30lbs mark in the month of May?).

Matt - 4lbs (11lbs totals and one of the training partners Arthur hurts).

Congratulations to everybody and all the people waiting in the wings to see their numbers for May!

Plank Challenge

Starting today and ending May 20th. Try to hold a plank every day until you can work your way up to 90 seconds. Keep your spine neutral, squeeze your butt and inner thighs. Good luck.

Inspirational Transformation

When there is hope there is everything.

You're As Old As You Feel

It's Your Birthday, Now What?

I run all prospective clients through a consultation which includes assessments. One of the questions I ask is, "Why are you here." One person responded, "Today is my birthday, that's why I'm here. To change my life."

All processes of change are the same in one aspect. After you do all the reading, the workbook, go to the seminar, buy the DVD, and at the end of it all, its all the same. You have to do the f'n work.

Let's Toast!

Saw two older guys with very big waists at a restaurant who did cork service to bring in their own alcohol from outside. What did they bring? 40s of Bud Ice. They chugged them. That's not the interesting part. The interesting part was after each beer they said, "to your health."

Just Eat It Don't Tweet It

We are going too far with food as entertainment. It's not only unhealthy, it's annoying.

This has become especially popular among Asians. So much so that there is a Tumblr dedicated to the act of trying to take pictures of Asians taking pictures of food! A real mindbender. View it here.

But if health has become more about entertainment and less about effectiveness, then why not food?

Does Red Meat Kill?

"We’re already 74 days into the new year, which can only mean one thing: it’s high time for our latest episode of Science Says Meat Will Kill You, complete with a brand new study and commercial-free viral media coverage! Have a seat and tune in (or at least set your DVR for later viewing).

If you haven’t had at least one family member, coworker, or soon-to-be-unfriended Facebook acquaintance send you this study as a reminder that you’re killing yourself, you’re either really lucky or your inbox is broken. Thanks to an observational study called Red Meat Consumption and Mortality freshly pressed in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a slew of bold headlines exploded across every conceivable media outlet this week:

“All red meat is bad for you, new study says”
“Red meat is blamed for one in 10 early deaths”
“Scientists warn ‘red meat can be lethal’”

Media sensationalism aside, the study does seem to spell trouble for proud omnivores. Unlike some similar publications we’ve seen on meat and mortality, this one says that red meat doesn’t just make you die of heart disease and cancer; it makes you die of everything. Following over 120,000 women and men from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professional’s Follow-up Study for 28 and 22 years respectively, researchers found that a single daily serving of unprocessed red meat was associated with a 13% increased risk of death from all causes, while a single serving of processed red meat—the equivalent of one hotdog—was associated with a 20% increased risk.

And in case that’s not enough to chew on, there’s more: the researchers waved their statistical wands and declared you could outrun death for a few more years by swapping red meat for so-called “healthier foods” like nuts, chicken, or whole grains. In fact, the researchers suggest that up to one in ten of the deaths that struck their study participants could’ve been prevented if everyone had kept their red meat intake under half a serving per day!

But if you’ve been hanging around the nutrition world for very long, you’ve probably realized by now that health according to the media and health according to reality are two very different things—and even scientific studies can be misrepresented by the researchers who conduct them. Is our latest “killer meat” scare a convincing reason to ditch red meat? Is it time to put a trigger lock on your lethal grass-fed beef when the young’uns are around? Or is there more to this story than meats the eye? (Sorry, I had to.)"

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/will-eating-red-meat-kill-you/#ixzz1trCVrBYN

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I Really Want Carbs

This was the winning caption in our caption contest. 1st and 2nd place will be getting a 15lb kettlebell each, from All Out Effort. Congrats to Antoi and Dan!

A Letter From A Vegetarian To Vegetarians

We have really cool clients here at All Out Effort. Though it's personalized training, and not classes, it's still a tight community with like-minded people. They train separate but together. They see each other on their way in or out and they see their numbers and scores and goals on the wall. It's part of the reason why we're selective about who we train, so we can maintain this atmosphere.

One of the cool people who sticks out is Prax. I call him Prax The Robot Fighter. It's a joke because he works in robotics and artificial intelligence. I kid that he needs to get strong so that once the robots take over, he needs to be strong enough to fight them.

Here's another thing, Prax is a vegetarian. I know you long time readers must be thinking, a vegetarian at All Out Effort? I actually have several. I wrote a previous article about how we were designed to eat. I did however state that if its due to preference, moral, ethical, cultural, or religious reasons, I have no argument. It's only when people say it's how we were designed to eat is when I would suggest a different perspective.

Prax was born a vegetarian, it's part of his culture. Being from India it's quite common actually. He still eats within the macro guidelines I gave him. In his diet you'll see a lot of legumes. I have previously posted articles about legumes, but I told him as long as they've been cooked and not eaten raw or roasted, it's okay. And in the macro sense he needs protein more than he needs to avoid anti-nutrients.

Why you should listen to this vegetarian especially if you're also a vegetarian?

Prax's strength and endurance was ridiculously low. Skinny arms, big waist, poor posture. Stereotypical engineer. Within 5 months he's lost 14lbs of fat, and went from a 20% body fat to a 9% body fat and lost 3 inches off his waist. He would almost collapse from a short hike. Now he has no problem hiking all day. He almost dropped a 15lb kettlebell onto his head when he was holding it with two arms. Now he does a turkish get up with a 25lb kettlebell in one hand with ease. And he only weighs 140!

So his aunt and uncle wanted some tips after seeing his results. It's based around an Indian diet but I think there's a lot we can learn from the Indian diet with modifications. Here's the letter he wrote to them:

"I've compiled a list of things that I try to follow on a day-to-day basis, mostly based on instructions from my trainer. HOWEVER, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you to either consult your doctor and/or a professional trainer before you try to make significant changes to your lifestyle. Remember that the following advice was given by my trainer as part of a plan TAILORED to my current situation and goals. There are some general rules that can apply to everyone, but certain things are probably specific. So, please please consult a doctor if you intend to make drastic changes in your diet and/or physical fitness. Anyways, things below are what I follow: 

DIET should consist of good portions of the following: 

1. high-protein content: lentils, peas, beans (garbanzo/chic-pea, dark red kidney beans, black eye peas, great northern beans, black beans, pinto beans, etc), egg-whites (choose eggs with the labels: organic, omega-3, cage-free or free-range), nuts
2. high-fiber content: lentils, beans, raw vegetables (for example, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, radish among others), etc.
3. healthy fats: avocados, coconuts (or coconut milk), almonds (or unsweetened-zero-sugar-almond-milk), nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, brazil nuts, etc), olive oil
4. complex carbohydrates: sweet potatoes (not the usual potatoes), yams
5. limited amounts of natural sugar (from fruits for example): kiwis, blueberries, raspberries, apples, etc. (as a rule of thumb, prefer organic for fruits with edible skins like apples for instance). fruits are also good source of carbohydrates.
6. raw vegetables (in addition to cooked vegetables): kale, broccoli, spinach, romaine lettuce, carrot, radish, cauliflower, peas, brussel sprouts, zucchini, cucumber, etc.
7. drinks with health benefits: japanese green tea (varieties include sencha, matcha, genmaicha, etc. NO sugar added), lemon water (NO sugar added), natural pomegranate juice.
8. Avoid grains (white rice, wheat, etc.). If they cannot be avoided, then try healthier alternatives: multi-grain (wheat with other grains) instead of just whole-wheat, brown rice or quinoa instead of white rice, multi-grain bread/pasta instead of white bread/pasta.
9. Try to include (turmeric, ginger, garlic, black pepper, onions) as much in your cooked food as possible. Especially, turmeric is best used when cooked in combination with black pepper, ginger and olive oil. Similarly, tomatoes are best assimilated by our bodies when cooked in olive oil. Garlic and onions have excellent health benefits as well.
AVOID the following:
1. Don't add sugar (in things like coffee, milk, sweets, ice cream, frozen yoghurt, etc)
2. NO processed food, packaged food, frozen food (side dishes), canned vegetables (e.g. garbanzo beans in a can. This contains lot of sodium. Instead, you get raw beans in packets.)
3. NO "processed" snacks anytime: this includes indian sweets, savories, chips, ice cream, chocolates, etc.
4. NO refined flour: white bread, white pasta, white rice
5. NO sugary drinks (i.e.) soda, drinks with artificial flavors/sugar added
6. NO potatoes: compared to sweet potatoes, they have little nutritional value.
7. NO corn-based products: corn is rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Eating more of corn-based products and less of other stuff creates omega-3 deficiency in the body which is not good as it leads to inflammation.
8. If possible, minimize conventional diary products as they contain more of omega-6 compared to omega-3 fatty acids. Instead, go for "organic" ones if needed. For milk, you can choose unsweetened almond or coconut milk instead. 

ROUTINES to follow: 

1. Start the day with a glass of lemon water. This helps cleanse the digestive system before your day begins. Also, if you're doing intense workouts, lemon water helps in reducing the recovery time after work outs.
2. Drink green tea 3-4 times a day. Again, NO added sugar. Try to replace your current drinks (indian-style coffee, tea, etc.) with green tea. It has tremendous health benefits.
3. Drink pomegranate juice once in a while, maybe 2-3 times a week.
4. eat at least 2-3 hours before going to sleep
5. brush immediately after dinner so that you will better tend to avoid snacking in the night
6. If at all you cannot avoid snacking, then try snacking on raw vegetables. One healthy way to do this is to buy hummus from the grocery store (read the label and pick the one that contains least added nonsense) and dip raw veggies in hummus and snack on that.
7. Walk as much as possible. If you have cardio equipment at home, do regular cardio exercises every day (even 30 minutes should be useful, compared to nothing).
8. If you're doing intense workouts, take cold showers to help reduce recovery time. If that's too hard, then take a James-Bond shower (i.e.) start with a warm shower and then gradually end with a cold shower. Drinking cold water also helps to some extent to improve recovery time. 

ROUTINES to avoid: 

1. Avoid drinking your meal. Here is the reason for that. Foods with high fiber content ensure that our digestion process takes enough time to break down the content to be usable by the body, thereby we get the sensation of "being full" for some time after the meal. If we juice high-fiber-content foods, then essentially we are removing or at least minimizing the role of fiber in digestion, leading to faster assimilation by the body, which in turn means that we get hungry sooner. Getting hungry sooner is never a good idea as it makes us want to eat even more which may not be a good thing, especially if we are physically inactive. Another reason for avoiding liquid meals is that lesser fiber-content-in-food leads to increased blood sugar activity, thereby leading to more inflammation. Never a good thing!
2. Avoid sitting still for more than 20-30 minutes. You HAVE to get up and move around. If you're at home and have a staircase near your room, I highly recommend going down and up the stairs a couple of times. This will simultaneously work on your lower body as well as pump up your heart.
3. Minimize buying stuff that has Trans Fats, excessive sodium (used for preservation purposes), cholesterol, high fructose corn syrup, white flour, artificial flavors, etc.
4. If possible, try to get at least 6 hours of sleep. 

 Prax"

Prax listens well, does his own research on top of stuff we tell him, and gives a compelling way to live your life. We all could learn something from this letter. Maybe if nothing else the mere act of acknowledging and being aware of what you do and what you eat.

How To Make A Square Foot Garden

Source: http://FrugalDad.com

How Did We Grow Our Business

People ask me how I built up All Out Effort so quickly with so many clients. The answer is simple...

Instead of spending all our time on professional glamour shots, a fancy website, or advertising, we put all of our EFFORT into improving our client training experience and our own training knowledge. We make tweaks to our program almost daily!

I've seen businesses and gyms where they keep changing the paint, remodeling, adding new employees, more classes, new banners, bumper stickers, Groupon or Living Social deals, bigger signs, low price deals, deals with other local businesses, asking for referrals, adding new gimmicks like "MMA" or "Crossfit style training," and even buying the trendy equipment of the day. But not once improving their training protocol or curriculum. The assumption is people are too dumb to realize what good training is.

We assume differently and it's been our greatest return on investment.

Sports Perfomance Clinic

All Out Effort at a Sports Performance Clinic from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Held at the world famous Elite Performance Factory where such greats as Reggie Bush has trained. Now filled with all the new cutting edge training science.

As Adults We've Become Prisoners Of Our Own Bodies

Remember when you were too young to realize you had limits? Remember when you were too innocent to know what weakness was?

Best of Yelp

All Out Effort has been the Best of Yelp for quite some time now in 3 different categories: Active Life, Fitness and Instruction, and Martial Arts. Beating out over 3500 reviewed businesses. Thanks for all the support!!!

Source: http://www.yelp.com/c/la/active

How To Do A Proper Burpee

I've seen a lot of variations but this is how we do it at All Out Effort for it to be considered proper technique.

1. Chest must hit the ground.
2. Must jump up at the end.
3. Feet must be on the outside of your hands at all times.

We had a little contest at the gym and Young who is one of our clients, banged out 71 in 5 minutes at the end of this workout. All with proper form.

Why We're Irrational About Our Health

We try to be rational creatures and use logic to form the basis of our decisions but sometimes logic and psychology don't see eye to eye.

One of the psychological tricks we play with ourselves is called COMPARTMENTALIZATION. We try to be logical in every aspect of our lives except for a few things we put in a little compartment where we will be knowingly as irrational and illogical as possible. People will put bad relationships in this box. It's why seemingly intelligent stay in bad relationships. We can put other things such as religion, political views, or even buying a home when there is no way you can afford it, but you're buying the American dream right?

But the thing I most often see people put into this box, from doctors to scientists, is our health. It's probably the most common. You can see it in action if you ever suggest to someone that running only is probably not the most efficient form of exercise, or that there is also health value in not being a (whatever your extreme form of eating is). Now you got a fight on your hands.

What I hear most often with this form of irrational logic is when I hear people ask me, "what should I eat to be healthy, or what should I do to lose weight?"

And I will give a few general tips. Nothing too hard. Without even listening to anything I've said, they will reply back with, "well if that's what I gotta do to live a long life, I'd rather eat whatever I want and die early."

Why even ask if you don't care? Because you are irrational.

I'm sure you've heard people say this as well, they think it's funny. Compartmentalization at its finest.
I've heard all kinds of people say this from people in their twenties to seniors. Here is where their logic is flawed. They think I will live a full life, and die abruptly. You are wrong. You will live as long as modern medicine can keep you alive. I know people who have said this in their late 20s, and they take their cholesterol medications now, their blood pressure medication, and for the unlucky, go into the emergency room. It is like someone who buys a house with an interest only loan, who tell their renter friends, their "rent" is now going into ownership. No it's not, all your money is only going into interest. And some day there will be a day of reckoning. Same with your health. And you will do whatever you can to keep your house, and you will do whatever you can, plead with whoever, ask for help from whomever to stay alive.

This doesn't sound like someone who wants to eat whatever they want and die early. The fact they initially ask about their health shows they do care, but then compartmentaliation kicks in because it sounds too hard. What they really wanted to hear me say was, do 20 sit ups a day for 30 days and take inches off your waist!

If someone put a gun to your head, and told you to eat healthy and exercise. You would do it. That's logic and survival instincts kicking in. That's why you will not allow yourself to die early if you can help it. You will pray for some nanotechnology or pill to be formed in the meantime to BAIL YOU OUT. Just like with the financial crisis I mentioned earlier.

So people take their meds, look for the easy answer, their body are trying to take them out early and they are refusing to go out peacefully. When I was in finance, I saw plenty of people live much longer than they thought they would and they outlived their money. I also saw a lot of them with full-time caretakers, wheelchairs, respirators, etc. And some weren't even that old... I asked them how they got to this health state, they said they ate bad, smoked, didn't exercise, and they thought they would be dead by now. It's one of the reasons I moved from financial advising/banking to personal training.

People who say they want to live however they want and die early, won't die early. They will live longer, maybe as long as their healthy friends. But their quality of life will be much different, and their death dragged out over surgeries, hospital visits, medicine, their body fighting against them, feeling pain, discomfort, swollen, bloated, bowels now failing, etc. There is also a financial cost to this decision to you and your family. There is also an emotional cost as well to everyone around you. You're easy solution is a pretty devastating one. It is why we're completely irrational about our health. It's why people keep asking questions about health, but for a lot of people its 100 questions for 0 action.

About the Author:

Coach Sam Y. is a Master Personal Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Coach, Certified Nutritionist, Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, Pilates and Yoga instructor, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook and Pinterests.

Think Again On Fast Food

Source: LiveWell Wellness Centers

"Our fast "food" display is now 2 years old. The word food is questionable, since the bread-like and meat-like substances have not molded or spoiled in any way. Bugs won't even bother with it. Please think twice about giving this to your kids. You have a choice, but they don't. We truly are what we eat"

Foodies Beware: Burger Kills Again

Another person collapsed while eating the Bypass Burger at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. I posted an article a few months back about a man dying in February in the middle of eating the burger.

I know food is now part of tourism and its entertainment, but don't take it that far. There was a New York Times food critic who developed gout from his foodie eating habits.

With all that said, I know this makes some of you guys still hungry, just looking at that picture. But why? Dissect your own psychology.

Seems like the more people get carted out of there, the more people want to try it...

The place has over 70 current reviews and over 40 reviews that have been filtered by inactivity. That's well over a hundred reviews. Whether they like the place or not people are going there and reviewing it.

Last year, the company's 600-pound spokes-model died when he was only 29-years-old.

FYI: You can also buy cigarettes here.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/another-heart-attack-grill-customer-collapses-while-eating-191647836.html

Skinny Girls Look Good But Fit Girls Look Better

The concept is similar but NOT the same.

Calories Matter But It's Not The Only Thing That Matters

According to many studies, patients who are given insulin to treat diabetes tend to gain weight. This is nothing new and has been known in the scientific community for years. From scientific journals such as Diabetes, Diabetic Medicine, Diabetes and Metabolism, weight gain has been a known side effect of insulin therapy.

Calories matter but that's not all that matters. Diabetics and other people with hormone problems prove this every day. Hormones also matter, a lot more than we think. And eating less of the food that is hormonally poor to begin is a quick fix but not an ultimate solution. So weight comes back.

Also exercising in ways that are hormonally irrelevant is not a long term solution. We love mindless easy work outs that take all day to do.

We need to eat more foods that our bodies were designed to eat. That keep our hormones in balance. Exercising in ways that rev up our metabolism and keeps our hormones active.

Some say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We've been told the same thing over and over about eating and exercise and we keep expecting new results.