“The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.” – Albert Einstein

I was thinking about this, one of my favorite quotes, as I drove to a fitness industry conference, listening to an audio book on innovative business ideas, to present a session on creating brain fitness programs. I love it. I can’t seems to feed my brain enough.

While I enjoy learning almost anything, I try to focus on things and areas that help me help others. This includes the newest health, fitness, conditioning information, the psychological aspects of changing behaviors, and how to build my business. The more I know, the more valuable I am to my clients, the more they will succeed, the more they will help me gain new clients, the more I can help more people, and the cycle goes on.

Your continued education is worth investing in. I typically spend thousands of dollars each year on clinics, conferences, books, etc. This is an investment in your self and your business that you can’t afford to not make. Even if you feel you don’t have the money to invest right now, go to the library and read, check out information on the internet (alltop.com is a great place to start), but feed your head and then put it into practice.

Learning new information should be a priority in your business and personal life. It’s how we move forward, how we evolve. What was the last thing you learned that helped you help others or that you just enjoyed? What’s the next thing you want to learn?

We all reach points in our lives when we need to make choices in the direction our lives will take. Sometimes it’s an easy choice and other times we reach that crossroad unsure of which path is the correct one. Or you feel that the way that you really want to go is a risky, rough terrain that could leave back where started.  The other path is flat, safe, and will keep you in the predictable direction of your current life. Which way do you go?

The thing about forks in the road is that there is usually a sign post that tells you what lies at the end of the road. It would be highly unlikely that they end up in the same place. So the question is more, “Where do you want to go?” Who cares if you travel safely if it doesn’t get you where you want to be?

Take the risky road if it will lead you to your dream. It could be easier than you imagined and the worst that could happen is that you have to start again. And each time you fail, you learn how you can do it better next time, taking you closer to your goal. The alternative is a life uninspired and unfulfilled.

I recently reached one of those forks myself, stay on the same path and be safe or take the road less travelled with uncertain results. After 6.5 years as the Fitness Director at Saco Sport & Fitness I have resigned and left that position in pursuit of more writing, coaching, and consulting opportunities. I’m not guaranteed success, but it’ll be an exciting ride and to do less would keep me from reaching my potential. I couldn’t do that.

What’s your destination? Will your road take you there? Be brave and choose the path to your dream.

Best wishes, Mark Nutting

Note* part of my personal/professional “restructuring” is to separate my blogs. http://marknutting.com will continue as a Business of Personal Training site. My fitness blogging will continue at two other sites Ensemble Fitness Club and Guiding Stars. Please join me there for more health and fitness posts.

Before you take on those resolutions for 2010, Have you asked yourself how you did with those you made for 2009? Classically, people make grand resolutions with all good intentions, but fail for several reasons. Often times they are just unrealistic i.e. I’ll lose 40lbs by Feb.1. Or, it might be that they’ve set the goal, but have no plan as to how to attain it. And when you haven’t been able to achieve your goals, your self esteem goes into the dumper never to be seen again.

Here are some tips on approaching your resolutions:

REALISTIC RESOLUTIONS – Who and/or what are you basing your resolution on? You want to make sure that your goals are truly something YOU can attain. So, just because people on the Biggest Loser can lose big numbers doesn’t men that that’s what you should be shooting for. They do not live your life. They don’t have your responsibilities, time constraints, or other issues.

PROCESS FOCUS - Even better than concentrating on the end result, focus on the process. Sit down and write out a list of all of the things(little and big) you would need to do to reach your goal. If you think more about taking those steps, accomplishing them one by one and taking satisfaction in that, the results wil take care of themselves.  

SUCCESS PERCENTAGE – Rather than looking at your end result as succeed or fail, look at how much of your goal you accomplished. If you only got 50% of your goal, that’s still 50% more than you started with. Anything better is, well… better. And that’s a positive thing. Feel good about that. Gloom, despair, and guilt serve no purpose and only get in the way of continuing to work toward your goals.

So, go ahead and make resolutions, but make ones you can attain, focus on the process, and give yourself credit fo whatever you do achieve.

Have a great, healthy, happy 2010.

Mark Nutting

I recently gave my first webinar. I’ve wanted to do a webinar for quite a while, but always found excuses for not getting around to it. (See… procrastination happens to all of us.) I gave this presentation to a select group of industry friends that wanted to know more about how to use social media to promote their business, organization, or cause.

The webinar site, gotowebinar.com allowed me to record it for future use. It’s this recording, with minor edits, that I now offer as a gift to help you and your businesses in 2010. Go to Social Media Marketing Basics and use the password: SMMBasics

I’d love to get your feedback on it to help me improve future webinars as I will be offering a 12 month “Business of Personal Training” webinar series.

May you and yours have a happy new year.

Mark

I attended the Maine Harvard Prevention Research Center workshop on Nov. 12th titled “Your Brain on Exercise! Change The Way You Think About Exercise and For That Matter The Way You Think”. While Dr. John Ratey (author of Spark) did present on brain fitness, the majority of the day was spent on the importance of youth fitness and strategies to increase physical education in schools. After hearing how “there is no money” as an excuse not to proceed with initiatives, I’m reminded of our current economic recession. It takes investing money (even if it drives the country further into debt, temporarily) into economic stimulus programs to produce an environment in which old businesses can be saved, new businesses can be started, and new jobs will be created. That’s what will pull us out of this recession sooner and better than if we sat back “until we have the money”. (Now I know some will want to debate what I just said. Please, let it go. I don’t want to debate that here and now. Let’s just go on to the real point I want to make.)

As for physical education and, frankly, fitness in general, we are losing the battle. A recent study at Temple University showed that 20% of 4-Year-Olds In Ohio State are obese. That is just unbelievable and absurd and, especially at that age, is the parents’ fault. It’s child abuse even if the parents don’t believe it is.

So that’s where it can begin. What does it lead to? According to the CDC “In 2005-2006, 34% of U.S. adults and 16% of U.S. children and adolescents were obese. In 2000, obesity-related health care costs totaled an estimated $117 billion.  Between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27% of the increases in medical costs. Medical expenditures for obese workers, depending on severity of obesity and sex, are between 29%–117% greater than expenditures for workers with normal weight.”

In this time of fitness recession, levels so low that overweight and obesity related health care costs account for 9.1% of total U.S. medical expenditures in 1998 and $78.5 billion. Can we afford to notspend money on programs to change the direction of this country’s health? Spend on additional physical education? ABSOLUTELY!But not just that. We have to change adults as well. Teach the importance and the how to’s. Businesses have to step forward to incorporate fitness programs as part of employee benefits, which, incidentally, will save them money in the long run. The CDC also has a resource for work sites called LEAN Works.

Talk to you legislature, your school boards, your local businesses… everyone about the need to change to become a healthier, more physically fit society and the economic and life benefits that come with it.

It has been in the mythology of exercise for what seems like an eternity. This or that exercise will make help me lose the fat around my … whatever. The fact is no exercise will help you lose fat in around that body part. Exercise makes muscles work. That work burns calories. If you burn more calories than you take in*, your body will go to your “fat bank” and make a withdrawal. That withdrawal doesn’t come from any one area. It comes from all over the body.
 
Men and women carry fat differently and the fat stores aren’t evenly distributed. Men carry more fat around the waist and women carry more around the hips/thighs and shoulders/arms. If you believe that spot reducing works, this explains why men always want to do abdominal work and women want to do inner/outer thigh and triceps. But, it just doesn’t work that way. You can’t change the fat distribution. We don’t lose the fat cells. They simply decrease in size as we lose weight. Your “trouble” areas, because you have more fat cells there, will always be the last area to appear lean.
 
So what’s a person to do? Focus on full body workouts, keep the intensity high, minimize rest between exercises, and follow a well thought out eating plan. As you continue to lose fat, even your “trouble” areas will become lean.

*There are other factors, such as meal timing, adequate recovery, etc. that come into play.

(A little School House Rock flashback.)

Functional training has been a buzz phrase for over a decade now. For many, it has meant using stability balls, medicine balls, balance devices, tubing, etc. And, while using them can aid us in our efforts to increase functional abilities, they are not functional in and of themselves.

What is function? Function is your ability to do a particular task or activity. If you haven’t thought out precisely what activity you want to improve, than all of the bells and whistles exercises are meaningless. What is functional for one person may not be for someone else.

First, define what activities need to be improved. Determine what is limiting it. Is it a lack in stability, mobility, strength, balance, or something else?

In example, say someone has difficulty climbing stairs without pulling themselves by the railing using the upper body. The issue may be strength. The most functional exercise might be, well… climbing stairs. As is often the case, people tend to do less of those things that are difficult. That only makes it more difficult. Depending on how difficult climbing stairs is, you may want to start stepping up on something that only half the height of the normal stair, or a quarter. Step up and try to maintain balance on that one leg for a moment. As you get stronger, raise the height of the step until it is full, normal step height. Then practice doing your staircase.

Another example is if you want to get better at carrying your suitcase through the airport, you may want to hold a weight in one hand and walk for a set distance (1 handed farmers walk).

So, as you think about doing functional training, remember that it’s not just about the tool you’re using, in order for it to be functional, it has to relate directly a particular activity that you want to get better at.

Ah yes, it’s time for Mark’s Halloween cautionary tale. I wrote a version of this for the club newsletter, but you’re going to get the full deal.

We’re all susceptible to the temptations of treats hanging around the house. For me its candy corn and Tootsie Rolls (Don’t ask me why I like the trashiest candy out there. Who knows?) The real trick here is to really plan out ahead of time how to handle the treats so they don’t get out of hand.

Obviously one of the greatest challenges in getting fit is getting to the club. When you are someone who attempts to work out on your own, you have additional battles to fight. You may be missing out on the most effective program, guidance, motivation, accountability, and even fun when you try to go it solo.

Consider Personal Training, Small Group Training, and Group Exercise. The people that achieve the greatest success, reach their goals safer and faster, are those that are involved in these programs. That, of course, is not to say you can’t do it on your own. It’s just that more people need that direction and connection.

While Personal Training is the ultimate in personal attention and programming, training in small groups (usually 2-6 people) can still offer individual attention and correction.

Group Exercise is a whole other animal. While individual attention may not be as readily available, there are other benefits. When exercise is choreographed to music it makes the experience, dare I say, even more enjoyable. Actually. research has shown that people push themselves harder when listening to music. A well designed class should accommodate all levels making even the novice feel comfortable in getting started. There also is a big social component to the class setting.

This brings me to the camaraderie and friendships that occur in working out with others. Just this morning one of my class members was asking me where another class member has been. She was worried and hoping that everything was alright. How cool is it to have this person, that you only know through taking Group Exercise together, be concerned for your well being when you’re not in class? (the other member is fine, by the way) Knowing that you’re not alone in this journey is a great motivator and helps keep you accountable.

So, if you are not someone that is highly self motivated or if you feel unsure about what you should be doing, try these options: Personal Training, Small Group Training, and/or Group Exercise. They can make the difference of you reaching your goals or not.

FYI: If you can sit through the commercial, here’s a news piece on one of the Group Exercise classes that I teach. Click here to view. I love my job.

An article from came up in Facebook and struck a cord with me. It’s from glamour.com (click on the picture to read the article) The picture drove readers to write in applauding the showing of a beautiful woman, Lizzie Miller, that didn’t have “perfect, flat abs” and still happy about the way she looked.

There are many health reasons to not want to be overweight and/or obese including increased risk of heart disease and diabetes (to name a few). BUT, what does overweight mean? According to Body Mass Index (BMI), which is essentially a height/weight formula, a rating of less than 18.5=underweight, 18.5-24.9=normal, 25-29.9=overweight, and 30+=obese. Lizzie is 5′11″ and 175lbs which gives her a BMI of 24.4 – still in the normal weight category. So does she need to lose weight? Certainly not from a health prospective. At this point it is purely an aesthetic choice, HER choice.

Too often people, particularly women, tend to judge themselves based on how they look compared to the cover model “ideals” that have bodies that are too difficult and unnecessary to attain for optimal health and happiness.

On the other hand, if you think that the Fox show “More to Love” expresses the healthy “normal woman”, (as the producers would seem to want you to think) you’re mistaken. Most of these women have increased health risk because of their weight.  

 What’s the answer? What should we be shooting for with our weight? First and foremost we should strive to be healthy, happy, and keep the worries to a minimum. If you’re in healthy ranges and still find yourself obsessing about losing weight, you have to really ask yourself about what it is that you want to accomplish with the additional weight loss and why that is important to you.         

Click here to check your own BMI

*note: BMI is not the be-all, end-all” in healthy weight assessment. Because it only considers height and weight it misses the “is it fat weight or muscle weight” question. Body composition assessments would be a better choice for really knowing if your weight is at a healthy level.