Archive for June, 2008
By Mark Young
A little while back I began my own personal transformation called Project Lean in 16. If you have no clue what I’m talking about you can check out the previous articles below to get up to speed.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Today is June 25th and it is also the deadline for my challenge so let’s check out the goals shall we?
1. Get Ridiculously Lean by June 23rd, 2008.
There is a great story to be told here and over the course of this incredible challenge I have learned some of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever learned about fitness. The end result though, is that my body composition isn’t where I wanted it to be at this point and I’m going to hold off on the photos for a few more weeks.
Of course, there are those who will be quick to criticize my decision to wait. To them I suggest you become familiar with my favourite quote by Theodore Roosevelt.
“It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worth cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”
To the rest, be assured that the story will be told and the photos will come.
2. Run 10 kilometers in under 1 hour.
As I mentioned in Part III, my body does not really seem to agree with running so I decided to switch to cycling instead. In the end, I decided to ride my bike along the rail trail from Hamilton to Brantford and back. The total trip amounts to around 64 kilometers.
I had planned to get out last Sunday for my final ride, but Mother Nature had other ideas and decided to bless us with a marvelous thunder storm. As much as I enjoy the idea of becoming a human lightening rod, I decided that I’d have to postpone the ride. My aim is to complete the ride at some point within the next couple of weeks when the skies are a little friendlier.
3. Perform 20 consecutive pull ups.
My forearm has still been giving me a little grief lately, but it is much better than it was so I’ve been able to make some advances with the pull ups. Initially I started around 5 or 6 and was able to quickly get up to around 9 consecutive pull ups. After that it became difficult to add even one rep.
A typical workout would look like this:
Set 1 – 9 reps
Set 2 – 7 reps
Set 3 – 5 reps
Total = 21 reps
On each progressive set I got weaker as I got tired and it was hard to get in as many pull ups as I would have liked. So I decided to try a different strategy. Instead of doing max effort on each set, I aimed to increase the total number of reps done by doing several shorter sets.
Set 1 = 3 reps
Set 2 = 3 reps
Set 3 = 3 reps
Set 4 = 3 reps
Set 5 = 3 reps
Set 6 = 3 reps
Set 7 = 3 reps
Set 8 = 3 reps
Set 9 = 3 reps
Set 10 = 3 reps
Total = 30 reps
Unfortunately, this progression didn’t work well and after a few weeks of training I was only able to add 1 pull up to my total so it was time for a change. I decided that if doing less reps at the same weight wasn’t going to work I was going to have to add weight. I created a makeshift apparatus with an old weight belt and a chain and that seemed to do the trick. I was able to attach a dumbbell to my lifts and in just 2 weeks I added 3 more reps to my total.
In the end I managed to achieve a grand total of 13 consecutive pull ups which is a little more than double where I started. I’m not quite at 20, but I can live with the fact that I can still do 13 more pull ups than most people. Nonetheless, I’m still going to pursue my goal as I think I’ve now found the strategy that will get me there.
Check out the video of my 13 pull ups HERE.
Admittedly, the 13th rep is a little questionable, but I still counted it. To see a video of the weighted pull ups I used to train for this goal click HERE. In this clip I’m using a 20 pound dumbbell and these were performed after the 13 pull ups mentioned above so they were a little harder than usual.
4. Perform 10 consecutive pistols.
This goal was HARD! Coming into the final month I really didn’t think I was going to make this a reality. I kept falling backwards and I wasn’t even close to completing just one single legged squat. For whatever reason I kept driving forward as this seemingly insurmountable goal and one day it just happened. I was as stunned as my wife was when I stood up easily after going all the way down to the bottom in the middle of the room with nothing to hold for support.
I had been practicing by sitting back onto a very low box with one leg and coming up to a standing position with weights in each hand. The exercise was not too difficult, but my goal was to remain balanced and to control my descent to the box without falling backwards.
The very next week was my deadline and I somehow managed to crank out 10 consecutive pistols on each leg. Check out the video of the right leg HERE and the left leg HERE. I’m a little wobbly, but I managed and I’m absolutely pumped that I actually achieved this goal!
5. Perform the front splits.
There isn’t much to say here except I hate this goal. I would like to say I failed while trying hard, but I ultimately decided that this goal really wasn’t that important to me and I didn’t feel like putting in the effort.
There is nothing I hate worse than when people delude themselves into believing that they really want something and that they’re really trying to achieve it when they obviously aren’t.
I decided that I didn’t care about the splits I wasn’t going to make excuses as to why I didn’t achieve them. I stopped doing them because, although they might look cool, I didn’t really care enough to put in the time.
What I did discover is that achieving this type of flexibility is a lot of work for the average adult. If you ever choose to pursue a goal like this be prepared to put in a fair amount of time each day.
6. Perform a “Human Flag”
I absolutely rocked this goal and there isn’t much I can say except CLICK HERE.
I am so incredibly excited about this goal that I can’t even put it into words. I’ve heard that some people can actually do push ups in this position so I’m a little curious to see if I might be able to pull that off…but that’s another goal isn’t it?
The Wrap
I suppose that, in the end, this article is being left a little open ended as there are still things I need to complete…so there will be one more article in which my story will be told and the pictures will be revealed.
Stay tuned… I promise that it will be worth the wait.
June 25th, 2008
My wife and doctor were encouraging me to do something, anything to get my health in order. I have been diabetic for over 15 years, have allergies, sleep apnea and some sort of digestive disorder.
I decided to see Mark, as he’d done a great job working with Sherry, one of my wife’s co-workers.
Mark has given me the right mix of education (man, my eating habits were way worse than I thought they were!), motivation and encouragement (he can drive me pretty hard some days) and has helped me understand so much more about what contributes to good health!
I’ve been with him for 14 weeks and have dropped a bit more than twenty pounds, which doesn’t sound like much, but my weight hadn’t budged in years and I’d begun thinking I was too old to do anything about myself (I’m 48).
But it’s not the weight that is the key here. Mark has me lifting weights and doing cardio. I’ve dropped several inches off my chest and waist, and my face looks completely different. I have replaced a great deal of fat with muscle, so I am not losing weight as quickly as I’d like, but I am seeing definition in my arms, my legs are like rock, my stomach is flattening and I can walk stairs without getting winded!
More important; I have stopped snoring (I was a freight train!), I’m sleeping through the night, I can see my own feet, I have bought a tool to add holes to my belts as my shirts and suits are hanging off of me and interestingly; my elbows which were notoriously dry are now the same colour as my arms, I have dropped one of my three diabetes medicines and my blood sugar is never high now. I have been allergic to cologne for five years and I’m back wearing it now as my allergies have been much improved.
I’m no doctor, but I believe it’s all related to getting into a better state of health. It doesn’t hurt your self-esteem either.
Todd Horton
June 18th, 2008
By Stacey Nolan Young
1. If you know everything and what you are doing is working for you then WHY are you asking for help when you already have all of the answers?
We were watching a show recently that follows a person throughout their weight loss journey for 6 months. The woman who was the focus of this particular episode not only had a respected trainer advising her on how to achieve her goals but she also hired another trainer to help her along her way. BOTH were telling her the same thing about nutrition. BOTH had sound advice. But she ignored them and severely restricted her diet making it impossible to maintain long term weight loss. So- she went on a show because she’d struggled with her weight, had consultations with two reputable fitness professionals and yet she refused to accept the help that was offered. Smart. For the record- if you find yourself overweight and frustrated it is probably best to put yourself in someone else’s capable hands because obviously what you are currently doing is not working.
2. “The myth that women shouldn’t lift heavy is perpetuated by women who fear effort and men who fear women”
3. One Timbit typically has between 50-90 calories. For perspective, consider that a box of 20 contains at least 1000 calories which is the same number of calories you would find in TWO Big Macs.
4. GOT MILK? Toss it away!
Did you know that we are the only species that continues to drink milk after infancy? AND that we are the only species that drinks the milk from another species? While you are busy pondering that last UDDER-ly ridiculous tidbit of information we can get real about milk. What are the actual benefits? If you are going to say calcium I suggest that you do your research. Yes - dairy products contain calcium BUT there is debate over the absorbability of calcium from dairy. You can get an adequate amount of calcium from a proper diet that includes legumes and vegetables as well as certain types of fish. As for me, I prefer to eat my calories rather than drink them.
5. Smoking is a disgusting and extremely unhealthy habit.
Why people take it up these days is beyond me. There is too much awareness out there today for people to begin this habit! If you don’t care about your own health please take into account the health of your loved ones who “benefit” from your habit.
6. There is no magic pill when it comes to healthy weight loss.
It is NOT easy. It takes hard work and dedication and it is a lifelong pursuit. Fad diets and gimmicks are partially responsible for the shoddy metabolisms that dominate the general public these days.
7. Eating healthy on the go is less convenient than eating unhealthy.
Where you can quickly grab a burger and fries on nearly every corner, healthier choices are harder to come by when you are out and about. We recently visited Canada’s Wonderland and, as many of you know, they do not allow food inside of the park. We did bring food in the car but we figured that we could get one decent meal inside of the park.
This turned out to be a more difficult task than expected. Bad, greasy smelling food was abound but you had to search out the good stuff. Sadly, there wasn’t anything that we would consider truly “healthy”. Even their pre-made whole wheat wraps had creamy dressings and mayo in them. We were appalled.
I would like to live in a world where making better choices is more accepted. If places like Wonderland are not going to allow food to be brought into their park then they had better have some real options for those of us who are trying to improve our lives.
8. Congratulations Hamilton on being the fattest city in Canada!!!
According to Statistics Canada, Hamilton, Ontario has the highest percentage of overweight and obese residents in all of Canada. We should be proud *stated sarcastically* of our whopping 74%!
Hmmm…I wonder if this has anything to do with all of the fast food restaurants and a Tim Horton’s on every street corner?
To read more about these statistics check out the link HERE.
9. Being late for an appointment says “my time is more important than your time” and it is a sign of disrespect to the person you are holding up.
10. Healthy food does NOT have to taste bad. There are more food choices out there than chicken and tuna. Be creative and you will never get bored.
11. “IT’S EASY FOR YOU!”
I think that people assume that just because we are trainers that the lifestyle somehow becomes easier for us. Consider that the pressure to be in great shape is considerably higher than that of the average person. Let me assure you that it is difficult at times to eat right and exercise consistently. We face the same challenges and hardships that others face.
The reason we don’t accept “excuses” from clients? We know that this lifestyle is a choice even when things seem insurmountable. We know it can be done because we live it as well. EVERYONE can live a healthy lifestyle REGARDLESS of circumstance.
12. A “POOR ME” attitude just doesn’t cut it in life.
I’ve learned that you cannot be successful without the ability to push forward regardless of circumstances. When you are dealt a bad hand make the best of it, see the positives and move on. You never hear about a person that has wallowed in self pity.
How easy would it have been for Terry Fox to give up when faced with his challenges? Instead he made the choice to fight and become an inspiration to many.
YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE.
June 11th, 2008
I recently completed a 12 week personal training program with Mark Young and I am extremely pleased with my results. I’ve experienced more positive changes in my fitness level and physical shape in the past three months than I have in 20 years of my own half-hearted attempts at working out. In three months I have decreased my body fat from 35 to 22%, lost 16 pounds, increased muscle tone and definition, and improved my aerobic capacity rating from poor to excellent. Without a doubt, Mark’s exceptional knowledge and support has been the key to my success.
In August I decided that I needed some professional guidance to help me lose weight and get into shape. I met with Mark to discuss my goals, the specifics of the diet and weight training program, and the level of commitment he would require from me in order to achieve the desired results. In this initial consultation, I was immediately impressed that he had the ability and integrity that I was looking for in a personal trainer.
My program included a diet tailored to my specific needs and one hour weight training sessions three times per week. Mark taught me the proper way to do the exercises and encouraged me to reach my potential in every session. Gradually I felt stronger and more energetic and after just six weeks I began to see results. It was especially encouraging when friends and family also started noticing and commenting on the positive changes they were seeing.
In addition, Mark requested that I provide my starting weight at the beginning of each week and in turn, he provided feedback and advice. This was extremely helpful in keeping me motivated and his encouragement helped me to get back on track whenever I was having trouble sticking to my diet. Even now, though I have completed the program, Mark continues to demonstrate his commitment to my ongoing progress by tracking and providing feedback on my weight and workout program through weekly emails.
This experience has been, by far, the best investment that I have ever made in myself and I would, without hesitation, recommend Mark’s services to anyone who is serious about improving their fitness through weight training and wants to achieve tangible results.
Cindy
June 4th, 2008
