Not Easy Being A Women

It's hard I'm sure dealing with all the expectations placed on women by the media. There is concern over what men consider beauty, but more often, women have concerns over what OTHER women find as beautiful. They sometimes can be their own toughest critics. I think this picture reminds us to take it easy.

See This Almost Every Day

Hey all you fitness experts. And I mean ALL of you! It's spelled "lose weight" not "loose weight!" Get that straight!

It's Never Too Late In Life To Start Living

How To Improve Posture

And begin to alleviate some back, shoulder, and neck pain.

What I've Learned As A Trainer

More than anything else, I've learned that compassion is what's most important in dealing with people. We are in the business of changing lives.

Russian Olympic Domination

There was a time when Russians and the Eastern Bloc were dominating the Olympics.

Outside of the controversy of steroids aside, they had made one significant change that challenged all traditional thoughts on exercise. Since then every other country has adopted this secret into training their Olympic athletes.

For a long time a huge part of training athletes were to make them run for a long time at a slow pace.

The Russians had replaced long distance running for short sprints. It didn't take long for this information to get literally smuggled out. Since then elite athletic training has never been the same. Even for marathon runners.

Now if only someone could tell all the regular gym goers...

Shakespeare In The Park

Thanks everyone for coming out. A lot of fun and culture was had by all.

Olympics Are Here

Daily Schedule

Synergy

I truly believe if you surround yourself with positive people, you will gain from their attitude, and they will gain from you. I have seen our members succeed in family, financially (even to extremely high degrees), get out of bad relationships, change their health, cure themselves.

They have also watched us grow from an unhappy stock broker who didn't feel like they were really helping their fellow man, to driving around the country and seeing the health of our nation and blogging about it, to being a nerdy blogger who threw bootcamps in the park for free just to get people moving, to being the clipboard holding trainer at a health club, to starting a one man fitness revolution inside of a personal trainer's gym that was shared with many other trainers, to leasing a small section of a martial arts studio to train people, to our own private studio inside of a bigger gym, to bringing in a second person to help run what is All Out Effort, to bringing in a third person to help with the self defense aspect, to finally getting our own giant retail space! All in a matter of a few short years!

I truly believe our members and the coaches work with each other to make things happen and both sides have benefited.

Why People Need Trainers

To protect them from themselves.

The Loss Of Motivation

When do people lose motivation for training? 

I wanted to find out. So I looked through my files for the last 2 years.

Here is what I found. Out of the majority of people who lose their motivation:

1. Most lose it right after a long vacation.

2. The second group lose it after some form of minor illness, injury, or accident.

3. The third group are the insomniacs. People who have troubled sleep, who are either too tired from not sleeping to work out, or overslept and don't work out. Along with them are people who have to miss training due to work or school.

4. In some tough financial situation that does not allow them to train.

5. They moved.

6. Some other reason.

I saw a pattern emerge. Almost 70% of people who lost their motivation, lost it after missing training for an extended period of time. I looked back on my days working at the health club, and my lifetime of martial arts. It holds true, the more training you miss, the harder it is to come back. It has something to do with routine, and not sticking to it, especially on vacation. I know guys in martial arts who have been training 10 years who average around 30 days of training a year. They keep stopping, and trying to restart.

Now people who leave on business trips, even if they are extended business trips are immune to these statistics. Why? It goes back to routine. Work is part of their routine, and so these people tend to still work out while away on their business trips. Something about vacations, being sick, being an insomniac, you just want to turn everything off. You are not shut off on a business trip, in fact you have to be on.

People who work out on vacation as well, never lose that motivation. Now you can be active, hike, swim, walk, bike, etc. But your mind still considers it part of the vacation experience. So it still feels out of the routine. Its the ones who still hit the gym, step out of the vacation stuff and back on their routines of working out who never lose the motivation.

I tell our members, you can take a vacation from here, but you can't take a vacation from your goals.

Now with people who never stop training, they stay motivated, and their statistics of reaching their goals are almost a foregone conclusion.

Even if you take classes, go to the gym on your own, or take martial arts, it's hard to come back from a layoff and get back in there.

It's The Old You Vs. Future You

There is this idea, that fitness is about creating a new you, and getting rid of the old you. This is a psychological fallacy and couldn't be further from the truth. Yes it is about old you vs future you, but old you is who we must root for, the new you is our enemy.

Yes you read that right, the new you is our enemy. The old you, the one who first began training, who made it a priority, who came in and sat down with me for a consultation, that person is who we must stay true to. We must stay true to the resolve of the old you. Future you, will constantly try to sabotage you, get tempted, handicap you, lose motivation, get sick, go on vacation, have troubled sleep want to indulge in eating, hit hard financial times, be too busy, drink too much, stay up too late, have personal problems, etc.

It's why most people have a lot of results their first month and either taper off or plateau or lose it. Because old you had the most motivation.

We cannot forget about the old you, the one who had a reason for training. The one who said I'm sick of always being tired, I need to train to have more energy. Future you who couldn't sleep will forget why you started training and will tell you its not worth it.

The one who said they want to always be productive, who train to give their life meaning. Future you will come back from a vacation and want to use all your time for leisure, and will not remember why you even started training, that its getting in the way of your leisure time.

The one who wanted to start a new business, who wanted to prove they could stay committed, strong, determined. Future you may forget and need a reminder.

The one who said you could. Future you will say you can't.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Eviction Crisis

Why Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson explains what training means to him, why he started, and why he is so intense about it. When you have a goal beyond the superficial, is when you won't quit.

3 Year Old Boxing

This is a look at our physical potential. We humans are more amazing than we think. Don't set limits on yourself.

Batman Training

Functional Training Defined

Why Do You Think People Eat This Way

For those who think the eating I outlined is too hard, think about this. There must be a reason I am so adamant about it right? Yes its hard and there are other eating styles I could have adopted but something about doing it for a while must have made me a believer right? Actually all those people who are beginning to talk about this evolutionary eating and living it must have gone through the same thing. Right now you don't get it, it seems hard, and every other person doing it found it hard, but something happened to each and every one of them including myself that made the difficulty worth it. Don't you want to find out too?

Former Clients

A client from 6 years ago messaged me, asking if I remembered him. I told him what job he was working on back then, what college he went to, his injuries, what city he grew up in, how much weight he had lost with me, siblings he had, and so I said yes I remember you.

Arthur's Testimonial

Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz/all-out-effort-sam-y-personal-training-los-angeles#hrid:ogCT4isOXUpp5-SWXPRCYw

"I've been to the other Personal Trainers; The dime-a-dozen, amped-up fitness freaks, of which there are so very many in this town. People with frozen smiles and that perpetual groaning noise caught in their throat after they say what they think you want to hear.

People who will tell you anything to make you feel like you're making progress. People who coddle you and make you feel good about yourself so that you continue to give them money for their unlicensed, unregulated business that they conduct with little to no training requirements or expertise. Such is the usual business practice of the Hollywood Personal Trainer.

I'd hate to sound clichéd, folks, but Sam is not the average Personal Trainer. He shouldn't even be in the same category. At this point, I find that referring to him as a "Personal Trainer" belittles him due to the mere association it creates with the rest of the fitness morons in this town.

Sam is, to me, a remarkable individual with whom it is a privilege to train with and be helped by. Unfortunately, that's not a catchy title but it captures the spirit of his practice far more than "Personal Trainer".

He is not here to tell you what you want to hear. In fact, you're probably going to hear a bunch of stuff you didn't want to hear. About your diet. About your posture. About your moods and your personality and the way you conduct your life.

He approaches you from a clinical, almost mathematical point of view. Just by looking at your musculature and the tightness of your joints and nerves, at the way you move and run and interact, he can somehow see the kind of life you lead and the kind of person you are and, make no mistake, to Sam, that is important.

He's not trying to improve your body. He's trying to improve you. Body and mind. Hardware and Software. Improve it, shape it. To him, it's all connected, as I've come to learn that it should be.

Let me explain; He will constantly look at every aspect of your life. Your diet. Your exercise. Your work place. Your personal life. All of these things come into play and he evaluates all of it and forms a plan to improve every facet of your life. And he will explain to you, in detail, why and how these parts of your life must change. Get ready to absorb some info, because Sam does his homework. He is learned and very informed in everything that he does. This kind of dedication from a "Personal Trainer" is not the norm. I cannot stress it enough when I say he doesn't NEED to do what he does, he does it out of pleasure and kindness.

And as much as he might seem like the hard-ass, he's a softie. He puts a LOT of emotional investment into you. More than many people should. So much that you won't want to let him down. It's not a guilt thing, he actually cares. He puts effort into you, tries to help you in any way he can, professionally and personally because he approaches you like a PERSON, not like a body or a client. That's why he's so effective. He tries to fix problems from the source.

And he feels more like a good friend than a coach. The only reminder that I'm a client of a business is that every few weeks he mentions that I'll have to make a payment soon. The rest of the time, he approaches me with a balance of professionalism and friendship that is exactly what I need to turn my life around.

Which brings me to my final point; By far, the most important thing you must take away from this review is that he will stress that it is YOU who's got to make the change. YOU who has to put the work in and the belief. I know I've made him sound like some flip-a-switch solution to your problems, he's not. He just gives you the support and information you need for YOU to become the solution. And that's worth a whole lot more than he charges.

Before Sam, I was half-assing life. I was just trying my best. Now, I'm trying to be the best. There's a big difference there."

Beyond The Shake Weight

So even skinny Asian people get fooled by gimmicks.



This reminds me of another product I saw where they attach a ball on a suction cup and you stick into your stomach as you do ab exercises.

Drought In Corn And Soy

Heads up athletes, drought this year in corn and soy farms equals higher food and restaurant prices next year. Stay informed. Watch for it.

Corn and soy goes into just about everything. You can avoid eating cattle, but do you avoid eating cattle feed?

FDA Approves Weight Loss Drug

Qysmia was approved by the FDA this month. It is the second drug to win FDA approval this summer, the other being Belviq which was approved only three weeks prior. These are the first weight loss drugs to be approved in 13 years. A third one is in review called Contrave. With 2/3s of Americans suffering from obesity, the FDA has changed their stance on the benefits of weight loss pills not outweighing the costs.

The FDA took its time reviewing Qsymia, formerly known as Qnexa, because of fears about the side-effects, which can include a fast heart rate and metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis is where the blood becomes highly acidic, and in severe cases can put people into a coma or even kill them. It can also cause kidney stones and damage bones. There is also a risk for birth defects for expecting mothers. There is growing debate over whether it's worth the risk of taking drugs that could potentially damage the heart to fight obesity.

Second Self Defense Clinic

Because it is so important for our clients to learn not only how to eat healthy, be healthy, live healthy, we also want to provide them some baseline skills to be safe at all times. So we provide this service FREE to our clients.

Air Obama

Say what you will about the man, but he IS our most athletic President in quite some time.

What Do You Train For?

Surprise Thursday

Every client who came in today got a surprise workout. Fitness isn't just about looking good, its about having the ability to function in a way that could possibly save your own life. From pulling your own weight, running fast enough, long enough, jumping high enough, and also being able to save your own life from others.

This is why from time to time we like to switch gears and make every client work on self defense. We brought in a Coach Matt to hold the pads while I yelled out instructions. 9 clients today got a taste of what's to come during this weekend's self defense clinic.

Tough Workouts Or Smart Work Outs

"It's smart to be tough, but tough to be smart."

The old adage is especially true with fitness and exercise programming. Too often there is no actual programming or design, its basically stringing together a series of tough moves together with very little to no rest. 

From a corrective, functional, progressive, and just plain scientific standpoint about exercise.

I don't know if anyone needs a sports programming background to do that. Some people mistake this for a good workout. Workouts aren't about making you feel like crap, workouts are supposed to improve your capacity in some way, not just pain capacity but athletic ability. There's a lot of high level athletes with low pain thresholds that prove athleticism isn't about how much pain you can take. And being elite is about being really good at something.

Irony: Charities And Fast Food Strange Bed Fellows

Why Getting Up Is So Important

Previously I wrote an extensive post about why Getting Up is the most important aspect of training. More recently I gave a Self Defense Clinic to our clients about why "getting up" is the most important aspect of self defense. In a recent UFC fight between Champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen, there was a moment in the fight where the everything changed, here's why:

This is why getting up is such an important aspect to real life skill sets. Not just in self defense, but the most common problem people have when they get injured, are tired, get old, is getting up and laying down. This should be the most natural of acts. We will cover more aspects of this at our next Free Self Defense Clinic.

Getting Taller Through Exercise

Had a client tell us that he measured an inch taller at the doctor's office after the postural work we did. That's what I call success!

Bacon Covered Dates Stuffed With Walnuts

Happy Friday

Girl Fights Lupus And Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Through diet and lifestyle!

She's 86. Just Saying...

We Grow Most When We Make Mistakes

All the times I have grown as a trainer, wasn't when I did something really well, or someone was telling me how grateful they were. It's quite the opposite. It's every time I have done something wrong that I have grown the most as a trainer. All the things we get applauded for are things we did because of things we have learned and grown from. Today was a day I learned that I am not perfect but I am growing from it. We are very organic and the concepts and programming are always evolving based on new information and client experience. We can't keep all clients but when a client tells us why they are leaving, its that one last lesson they teach to us before they leave. It's always better to know why someone left than not know at all, to improve future performance.

This time I was the one grateful, and learned so much more about what it's like to be a client and know what their perceptions are. 

I could be a fool and say they were wrong, and not change anything. Or I can take this and make immediate improvements which I plan to. And changes you make to make one client happy could upset another client. You have to find an efficient balance. 

At the end of the day though things can't be tracked by perfection. Things can only be tracked by progress. I hope to be tracked by my ability to improve, not how close to perfect I am.

I appreciate every one of my clients and have learned from them all. The ones who are happy, I love them but they are already happy. The ones that are not have been great teachers and an inspiration.

Be cool and stay positive,

Coach Sam

Communication, Awareness, And Health

After previously posting about how one of our clients got PCOS, 2 more clients opened up to me about it. They knew very little about it which surprised me, their doctors didn't really explain it to them. Incredible. Because of that, they didn't think it was worth mentioning during their initial interview, they had forgotten about it. But now that we are all more aware and more vigilant, both are going to read more about, and one is going to a new doctor to make sure her PCOS has not gotten worse. Possible future crisis averted.

We Are A Village

When people come to us, it's hard to explain who we are and what we do. Yes its personal training but its more than that. We are coaches so it's much more involved than personal training, but each client has a say in how All Out Effort is run. And in return whenever we make a decision, we run it by the clients first. Everyone trains separately but we all keep in contact and stay in touch through emails, our Facebook group, and most importantly our events and free workout days. We see each other all the time, which builds community and accountability. The clients constantly encourage each other or pick each other up when they feel like they have fallen.

I like to say, WE ARE A VILLAGE. We are as strong as our members and we have a lot of resources.

So when one of our own got diagnosed with an illness today, we all rallied. I had a hunch something was wrong with her based on some screens, and insisted she see a doctor. Smart cookie that she was, she was already planning on going to one. So I urged her and she did. After they brought her back 3 times, they diagnosed her. She had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). I told her first of all, don't get emo.

One of my other clients came to me a while back DUE to the fact she had PCOS. So I had already done a lot of research and found a lot of good inspiring info which I forwarded to her immediately. Then I contacted my other client and she of course was willing to help out and guide her on what to expect. Coach Cindy who works in the ER and is a health advocate does well in situations like these, so she added her support. And we have a client who is a physician, who happens to know quite a bit about PCOS who was also willing to share her knowledge.

We have a lot of resources and when I told our client that we were all pulling together and fact finding for her, she was enthusiastic, in a non-emo sort of way of course.

We are a village. We are All Out Effort. We are as strong as our members and our members are strong.

Talk Of The Town 4 Years In A Row

The Other Half Of Failing

The Glass Is Full

Working Out With Your Puppy

We had a special guest coach at All Out Effort. Sammy. He proves its not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

What Is Your BMI

BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It's a way to calculate your weight in comparison to your height. It's not a perfect measure but it is one way to know if you are at a healthy body weight or at an inefficient body weight. Even if you were quite large but all muscle, your heart still has to pump that much harder for all that mass.

Use this calculator and chart below to gauge where you are and hopefully use it as of your health or a wake up call for action.

18.5 or less Underweight
18.5 to 24.99 Normal Weight
25 to 29.99 Overweight
30 to 34.99 Obesity (Class 1)
35 to 39.99 Obesity (Class 2)
40 or greater Morbid Obesity