As a personal trainer here in Lathrop I’ve often worked with clients suffering from shoulder, lower back, hip and knee injuries.

Most of the time these nagging injuries were keeping them from enjoying their favorite recreational sports such as running, biking, tennis and golf.

Why did these clients seek me out?

Well, for one thing they couldn’t find the answers to provide a long-term solution to their injuries.

When their physical therapists, chiropractors or doctors couldn’t help them often their last resort other than surgery was to find a personal trainer who could help.

I’ve been fortunate to have learned a great deal in my years working in a number of physical rehabilitation clinics as well as with injured athletes.

And, the biggest reason why I’ve been able to help the clients I’ve worked with to overcome their injuries and get back to a pain-free active lifestyle is simply because I identified and addressed the causes of the injuries rather than just dealing with the symptoms.

The area where you feel pain is often a symptom but it’s not the actual cause of your pain.

For example, lower back pain is rarely caused by the low back itself. It’s often the result of muscle imbalances that force the low back to take the brunt of the stress which causes pain.

In the video below I answer a question from someone suffering from years of intense neck, shoulder and arm pain.

There’s 5 shoulder rehab exercise tips I cover that most doctors and therapists are NOT aware of:

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Imagine you walk into the gym one day seeking to hire a personal trainer to help you achieve your fitness goals.

You go to the front desk and ask how you can hire a trainer.

‘Wait right here and I’ll get one of our trainer’s who can assist you.’ The receptionist says.

As you’re waiting you walk over to the wall where you see pictures from top to bottom of all the club’s fitness trainers. The pictures contain each trainer’s bio that tells you all about the certifications they have and how great of a trainer they are.

But, they all pretty much say the same thing.

So, the question is what will you base your decision for hiring the right personal trainer on?

In most cases like above, many people just hire the first trainer they meet figuring that as a trainer they automatically are the best option.

Others base their decision on which trainer is the cheapest (which often backfires).

But, before you even think of hiring a personal trainer there are 5 questions you must know in order to find the right fit for you.

In the video below I share these 5 questions so you’ll never have to risk your hard-earned money, waste your time or get less than the best results for your investment.

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Let’s face it…

…We all want to see rapid fat loss from our most troublesome areas of the body in minimum time.

But, it’s hard enough sticking with a diet and exercise routine when you’ve got more work deadlines, business meetings and family commitments and barely enough hours in your day to fit it all in let alone finding the time to squeeze in a fat burning workout.

Over the years I had to find creative ways to get the rapid fat loss results I wanted in the shortest time possible.

And, here’s 3 time-saving fat loss workout strategies that will help you do just that:

1. The Wombo Combo Ain’t Just A Pizza: The challenge with most fat loss workout programs is that you have to do a long strength training workout and then perform additional cardio training.

This takes a LOT of time out of your day…Time most of us just don’t have. So, what’s the solution?

Combine the two.

By combining resistance training with cardio you’ll create the ultimate rapid fat loss workout!

Traditional longer, cardio workouts in your ‘fat burning zone’ increase your heart rate which increases the amount of blood flow to your muscles. More blood flow means you have more energy available to burn.

But, here’s a secret you NEVER hear about with traditional cardio…

…Energy expenditure happens INSIDE of your muscle cells and the fat that’s available can only get inside the cell if the muscles are working. The problem with cardio is that it does not challenge the muscles enough to burn the maximum amount of energy.

But, by combining resistance training with shorter rest periods you get the benefits of a cardio workout PLUS the work your muscles need which leads to faster fat loss compared to traditional fat loss workouts.

As an added benefit you’ll cut down your workout time and eliminate the need for separate (and often boring) cardio training.

2. Say NO To Cardio- I know I just touched on this but one of the biggest problems with traditional cardio workouts (aside of the sheer boredom) is the catabolic effects it produces.

Catabolic basically means that your body is breaking itself down by using more energy than it can take in.

While this might seem like a good thing if you believe in the ‘burn more calories than you eat’ theory it’s really bad news if you want rapid fat loss.

Here’s why…

Overtime the catabolic effects begin to program your body to hold onto fat and burn muscle and glycogen.  The more muscle you lose the slower your metabolism becomes and the easier and more likely it is that you’ll GAIN body fat in the long-run.

Another problem is that you have to constantly do more and more cardio just to keep your results. This is not only time consuming but it cuts into your ability to recover and often leads to overuse injuries.

By combining resistance training with cardio you’ll cut down your workout time and frequency and these highly intense shorter workouts help offset the catabolic response and trigger anabolic hormones (growth hormone, testosterone, DHEA) which help you maintain lean, toned muscles and burn LOTS of fat.

3. The Power Of F-5- You’ll get the most bang for your buck by using what I call F-5 exercises. F-5 are the 5 functional movements of the human body which are: pulling, squatting, pushing, single leg and rotation.

These are exercises that target multiple muscles per movement such as squats, push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, dips, rows, deadlifts, overhead presses and diagonal chops.

These exercises result in some seriously rapid fat loss because they use more energy than isolated body-part specific exercises.

They’re also the movements that result in better performance, strength and coordination, improved posture and decreased injuries.

These 3 powerful rapid fat loss strategies are just a few tricks you can use to lose fat even on the busiest of schedules.

But, if you’re looking for a program that’ll allow you to burn some SERIOUS body fat in the fastest time possible by using these and several of the most highly effective principles for burning fat fast then consider joining my 28-Day Rapid Fat Loss Challenge.

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It’s always fascinated me why so many people seek out personal trainers.

Of course, they want to achieve their goals of losing weight, getting back in shape or overcoming some nagging injury that’s holding them back from staying physically active.

But, whenever I consulted with a new client the answers I’ve always found most intriguing are one like:

“I know what I need to do to lose weight but I just don’t do it”

“I know I need to exercise”

“I know I need to start eating better”

“Why don’t you do it?” I would ask.

Then there’s the list of reasons that includes something like any of the following:

“I just can’t seem to find the motivation”

“I start out good then I just stop”

“My life is too busy right now”

They seem to have the answers to achieve their goals within themselves but they tell me how they want me to ‘motivate’ them.

Now, I love being a positive influence and helping people achieve goals in health, fitness and life but the one message to really grasp is that motivation must come from within ourselves.

Sure we can find a source of motivation from sources outside of ourselves but that’s only temporary.

If we’re going to see our goals through from start to finish then we need a constant source of motivation which we can only find within ourselves.

If we depend on people, places or things all of which are external sources we’ll find ourselves lacking the drive to keep ourselves going in the face of adversity.

• Your workout partner quits on you

• The gym is closed

• Your favorite group fitness class is no longer offered

• Your awesome exercise instructor moves out of town

Now what?

What will you do?

Give up on your goals?

When your source of motivation is externally guided you give up your power to create the results you want.

There are challenges that will surely come our way during our journey toward our fitness goals.

And it’s only when we have the DESIRE to achieve the goals we set out for that we will move mountains and let nothing stand in our way of getting there.

Our real desire and motivation comes from knowing WHY we want our goals.

Having a BIG enough reason to reach your goals is what gets you out of bed in the morning to push through those grueling workouts, to stay away from that slice of pizza or that piece of cake, to do just one more rep when you’ve got nothing left in the tank.

It’s what keeps you committed and focused when you need it most.

And, it comes from within YOU!

In the video below I share the #1 reason why most people sabotage themselves, how to put an end to it and find your motivation to reach those goals you set out to achieve:

YOU are stronger than you know!

YOU are powerful beyond belief!

YOU are your source of motivation!

Let NOTHING stand in your way of success!

Here’s one of the most effective goal achievement plans I’ve personally used to go from goal setting to goal getting by achieving more in 90 days than I had in the past year.

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I came up with this recipe late one afternoon when I realized I hadn’t any good ideas of what to eat for dinner.

I didn’t want the same ol’ same ol’ and when I looked to see what we had in the freezer all I saw was chicken breast.

Now, eating clean, nutritious foods is a MUST when you’re trying to lose fat and look and feel your best but there’s only so many times you feel like eating plain old chicken breasts.

After a while it’s just bland, bland, bland.

So, I started thinking about a different way to make chicken rather than baking or grilling it and the idea popped in my head to make chicken soup.

But, I didn’t want just plain chicken nor did I want to add pasta noodles that are processed or whole grain types that are filled with gluten.

In the end, I came up with the perfect solution that my wife and my 4 year-old daughter LOVED.

It’s easy to make, you can get all the ingredients without busting your bank account and it’s flat out delicious.

Try out my Burstin’ with flavor chicken veggie soup:

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 32-oz chicken broth
• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 3 celery stalks (chopped)
• 3 carrots (sliced)
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow squash (diced)
• 1 zucchini (diced)
• 1 leeks (sliced)
• 4 small red potatoes (diced) – if you’re a bit ‘carb sensitive’ as I am then prepare this dish without the potatoes
• 1/4 head of cabbage (shredded)

Directions:

• Boil the chicken breasts in a pot filled with water for about 20-30 minutes
• Dice up the chicken breasts and set aside
• In a big pot add the olive oil (and a little diced fresh garlic if you prefer) and heat on low-medium
• Add the onion, carrots and celery and allow to cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the onions start to become transparent
• Add the chicken and the broth, cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes
• *Note: you want enough broth to just cover all the ingredients so add more if needed
• Add the rest of the veggies EXCEPT for the cabbage, cover and continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft but not mushy
• Add the cabbage and use a ladle to gently push it under the liquid then continue to simmer for another 5 minutes

Add sea salt and black pepper to your liking and enjoy!

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