All Greatness Starts With a Goal
by Matt O'Brien, NASM-CPT, NSCA-CSCS

Derek Jeter, love him or hate him, is a powerful example of goal setting. Growing up, he not only dreamed about playing Major League Baseball, he specifically set a goal to play shortstop for the New York Yankees. In a recent interview he is quoted as saying: “Seriously, I never thought about playing anywhere else.” Derek went on to achieve his goal of playing shortstop for the New York Yankees, arguably the most storied and prolific franchise in all of sports. He also won several World Series rings, is the current team captain and all-time leader in hits, which undoubtedly were goals he set for himself. Call it the Law of Attraction. Call it goal setting. Call it whatever you want, but it really works. You attract what you think about most.

The first step to take towards any achievement is to decide what you are trying to accomplish. Think seriously about this for a moment. Are you trying to lose weight, get in shape, have more energy, or improve your health? Are you getting ready for a physically active vacation? Do you want to be physically more capable to allow you to play with your children, future children, or grandchildren? Do you want to extend your life expectancy by reducing your risk factors for heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cancer so you can enjoy more time with your spouse, family, and friends? Do you want to feel better, sleep better, or fit into smaller clothes? Maybe you want some or all of these things?

Having a clearly thought out and powerful goal will galvanize your efforts and dramatically increase your likelihood of success. I cannot emphasize this enough. It could be the difference between success and failure and since failure is not an option when it comes to incorporating exercise into your life, I encourage you, implore you even, to decide why you are starting an exercise program (or any other goal you have) and what you will accomplish. Then absolutely, positively take the time to write it down. This is very, very important!
Written goals are much more powerful then stated goals, so put a pen to paper for your own good. Write it in your own hand, in ink. Want the abridged version of goal setting 101? If you said no, sorry, cause here it is… Determine your goal or purpose, write it down, commit it to memory, read or repeat it to yourself everyday at least twice, eliminate any doubts that you have, and believe in yourself! This is the simple formula for achieving greatness and success in your life. Take five minutes right now to write down three important goals you would like to achieve in 2010.

Now that you have done this, I am going to ask you to take the next step to success. Put your written goals in a location or multiple locations where you can see them everyday. Here are some suggestions: the bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, inside of the front door, work desk, computer monitor, TV remote, dashboard of car, or anywhere else you encounter on a daily basis. You must take the time to read your goal or goals at least two times each day. Read them out loud so you can really hear them. You will have to remind yourself to do this. You don’t want your written goals to slip into the distant landscape and hectic clutter of your life. Put them front and center in your life everyday and read them!

Personally, I have used goal setting in all areas of my life and especially with my personal health. Every significant accomplishment in my own life was preceded by a written goal to achieve it. I have used goal setting to get me into college. I have used it in competitive sports. I have used it in job interviews and sales calls. Goal setting has put this article in front of you right now. I had to set a goal to make the time to research and write this. I had to set a goal to nurture the relationships and friendships necessary to help me get it in your hands. I made the opportunity to help change peoples’ lives for the better the motivational fuel to drive me to get it done.

I’ve also used goal setting to improve my business, relationships, marriage, and quality of life. I even have a goal to set aside time for relaxation and travel. I schedule it on the calendar and pay for it in advance because having something to look forward to keeps me motivated during the fourteenth hour of a long, tiresome day. In my business, I have to maintain high energy and a positive attitude to help motivate my clients. Nothing helps me more than thinking about an upcoming weekend trip, social event, or even a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. I encourage you to create your goals and to set-up rewards to propel you towards success along the way.

It takes 21 days for something to become a habit and 6 months for something to become a lifestyle. I like to tell prospective clients: Give me a day and I’ll make you feel better. Give me a week and you’ll feel and sleep better. Give me a month and you’ll be stronger, feel and sleep better, and start to see visible changes. Give me six months and together we’ll change your life forever. Commit yourself to the first 21 days and the rest usually takes care of itself. What will you achieve this year?

Until next time, keep training hard and remember Beliefs create Reality!

If you have any specific exercise of sports nutrition questions, feel free to email them to me at mobrien@lff.com.

Matt O’Brien is a lifelong athlete, competitor, and motivator and is passionate about helping others attain a healthy mind and body through proper exercise training, nutrition, and dietary supplementation. Matt began personal training professionally in 1997 in New York City and became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA in 2006. He is a 1991 graduate of the US Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Matt is a professional member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Matt is currently working on authoring his first book titled The Magic Pill due out in June 2009. Contact Matt: c/o Lifestyle Family Fitness (East Bay) • 2178 East Bay Drive • Largo, FL 33771 Club: (727)518-6558 • Cell: (813)394-3151 • Email: mobrien@lff.com

New Years Resolution
by Sherry A. Ortego, APRN, FNP-BC
Each new year many of us reflect on our past year and our personal lives and vow to improve ourselves in some way. Whether it’s losing weight, quitting smoking, or just getting to the gym more often, resolutions can inspire us and motivate us to become better people. Many of these resolutions are quickly forgotten as the weeks turn into months. The next thing you know, it’s the end of the year and it’s time to make another resolution. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are ways to stay motivated.

In my experience with weight loss and fitness, I have found that my biggest challenge is staying motivated. Mentally, I want to accomplish my goals, but my actions are not always the best in helping me to reach those goals. When I’m tired, my motivation goes out the window and I just don’t care. It doesn’t matter what motivates you, as long as something motivates you!

Here are some things that I do to help me stay motivated and focused on my goals.

• Keep a daily journal and in that journal, write down any challenges and successes you have each day. Always write at least one positive thing about your day. By writing these things down, it allows you to reflect on any obstacles to your success as well as things you did that will help you to succeed. I use a small note book and I write very informal, short notes in it to help me identify things that hurt or help my success. It doesn’t have to be neat. To someone else my notebook looks a mess, but I understand it. It also allows you to let go of any guilt or other emotions that may be hurting your success.

Write down your goals and read them everyday at the start of your day. This helps to renew your commitment to your goals everyday and is a reminder of what you are trying to accomplish. Also write your goals in your journal, on a note card stuck to the fridge, or next to the remote control for the TV. Keep your goals written on a piece of paper that you can carry with you so that you can read them when you need motivation.

• Write down long term and short term goals. I consider a long term goal to be anything that will take longer than 6 months to accomplish.
• Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve had a bad day and didn’t follow your plan perfectly. You are human and you will have good days and bad days. It’s how you handle those bad days that will mean the difference between failure and success. Pick yourself up and keep going! Don’t forget to journal the things that you feel were a problem for you that day and remember to write at least one positive experience you had that day.
• Surround yourself with others who have similar goals and lifestyles as you do (including fitness magazines, healthy cook books, etc.). This will help you to stay focused and on track. Working out with a friend, or participating in group fitness will help to open the doors to meeting others with similar goals.
• Every few months, review your goals and update your goals based on what has changed for you. If your short term goal was to lose 10 lbs and you’ve already done that, then set another goal that will help you to reach your final long term goal.

The Hip
by Adam Davis, NASM-CPT, NSCA-CSCS, NASM-CES, Applied Functional Science
The hip is a very easy joint to understand if you know what the rest of the body is doing. The hip is like the knee in that it is a dumb joint because it reacts to what “people” are doing above and below it. When these guys are functioning right, the hip will do its job. The way most people train the hip today is why most injuries of the knee and back occur. When we take a functional approach, you will know the exact motion needed and you will understand the exact training protocol to make the hip a perfect functioning joint.

Biomechanics
The hip reacts to gravity and ground reaction to move in three planes of motion. When our foot hits the ground, we know that it moves in three planes and creates motion above it. The tibia internally rotates and this sets up the femur and pelvis to move as well. If you ever push on the top of your femur bone on the side of your leg just below the pelvis (greater trochanter) then you will feel this bone move forward, side to side and rotate all in one step. Basically, it moves in three planes of motion at the same time. This causes the pelvis to move in three planes, but the femur will move a little more. This extra motion by the femur creates loading at the hip around the gluteus medius. The abs also rely on the hip to do their job because the hips influence whether the abs turn on effectively. Strengthening the hip involves loading or stretching the muscle first to promote proper recruitment. Doing an inner and outer thigh machine will ensure that you get no where because this machine does very little to load and turn on the hip. Sitting won’t give you any frontal or transverse reaction for the hip.

Training
There are hundreds of functional exercises that can influence the hip. These two specifically will ensure proper loading and strengthening recruitment.

Diagonal Hip Load

Start feet together, take one leg back behind the other diagonally and take the same hand of the foot that went back diagonally forward. This will give you a deep stretch and recruitment into the hip. This exercise loads the hip with an eccentric muscle action (stretching). This action is way more important than contraction of the muscle. Make sure you have proper functioning of the foot, knee, quads and hamstrings before you do this exercise.

Tube Walking

Place feet in the tube and cross the handles into opposite hands. Before you walk, tilt the pelvis POSTERIORLY (under), so the gluteus medius does most of the work. Not tilting the pelvis will recruit more IT band and can make things tighter. This exercise strengthens doing concentric actions (contracting) after the most important eccentric (stretching).

Next month we will look at the thoracic spine and how it is, possibly, the number one cause of most low back pain.

A Ragnarly Time
by Mike Brower, Smith Sports Athlete, NASM-CPT, "Prince of Pain"
Let me just start by saying that Ragnar was an amazing experience and I cannot wait to do it again! But next time…on an Ultra Team! Now, let’s rewind to six weeks before the race. I had been an employee of Lifestyle Family Fitness for about 4 months now and I had acquired a new training partner, Ali (Smith at the time) Molnar. It all started with a short Kettlebell and TRX demo and after that one workout it was set, I had my workout partner for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! I was pumped and excited that I had a great athlete to train alongside and knew we would push each other. In these short few months Ali had suckered me into doing a relay sprint triathlon at Siesta Key. I was the first leg of the event, the swim, which for me was no big deal having swam countless miles in the ocean during my short military career. Next thing I know I’m signed up for a full on sprint tri at Fort DeSoto. Due to an ongoing shin splint problem, my run really lacked so I didn’t do as well as I would have liked. But it was an awesome experience getting out there and finishing! With that being said, one day after an insane beach workout ran by yours truly I was in the middle of a conversation between Ali and Audrey about this thing called Ragnar. All I could think is, “What the heck is a Ragnar?!”. Come to find out it is a relay race across the state of Florida…202 miles of running. Now mind you I absolutely hated running and didn’t want any business with that race, but I did mention JOKINGLY that if they had someone drop I would fill the spot.

A few weeks later I get a message from Ali saying I was doing Ragnar because someone dropped and they had few options. Great, now I was signed up to not drive across FL which doesn’t sound fun but to RUN across the state, why did I not keep my big mouth shut. So I prayed hard about this decision. I was very worried I wouldn’t perform well because of my shin splints and I just had a feeling that God was pushing me to do this race so I followed through. Six weeks out and I was in and wondering how I was going to prepare for this challenge. I had great help and encouragement from Ali who had a running program laid out for me while I covered our cross training routines. Two weeks to go and the shins were still not feeling good on my training runs. At this point, I was very worried. One thing I hate to do is let people down and I was not going to go into this race being the athlete I am and not perform like I should be able to. I constantly prayed that God would give me strength and help me make it through this race. For those two weeks I stayed away from running, instead focusing on cross training, SMR (foam rolling) and functional stretching.

Race Day
At o’dark thirty I found myself in a van headed to the start to meet the rest of SS Insanity 1 & 2. It had been two weeks since I ran and though I was nervous, I was confident I could push through it. My team consisted of twelve people and since I was runner 8, I was in van #2. This left me with time to prepare mentally once the race had begun.

Leg 1
The time is about 1 pm. This leg was by far my hardest run as it was 6.6 miles of highway packed full of cars in the HOT afternoon sun. Usually the van leapfrogs their runner, but due to the traffic that was impossible. I didn’t see my van until I was a mile from the finish. During that run I experienced one major challenge. By about mile 3 my feet went numb and I had no idea why, but my shins were fine?! Was it the stretching or did God hear my prayers and answer them? I believe that Jesus was with my every step of the way! I was so happy I made it and leg 1 was down! However, I had 2 runs left to go, but one slight problem…I was in very intense pain. My feet were swollen and I could barely walk. I had no clue what to do, but I had about 8 hours till my next run so I had time to ice and rest. Two hours before my run we were at Exchange 18, our 2nd major exchange point, where I went to the medic tent to see if they had any idea what was going on with my feet. The medic says “You can’t run like this, you can barely walk!” Not the news I was looking for. One hour out things are looking up. The swelling is going down and I can walk around. We realized my shoes were too tight which caused the swelling. Not a problem for most, but with me not knowing how to fix the Yankz in my shoes, we rendezvous with our fearless leader Ali who had her biggest challenge, putting my raunchy smelling shoes close enough to herself to fix the laces! Now that is a true display of how friends should love each other!

Leg 2 The time is about 2 am. It was dark, the air was cool and crisp, and I had a hilly concrete trail through the woods. All I could think was “Thank God,” now this is my element…cold, dark and secluded. I had Cecil on the bike riding with me and I was trucking. I had 6.8 miles to go and I was on a mission. I had let myself down on the first run averaging just under a 9 minute pace. Not this time is all I kept telling myself and I knew I wasn’t running alone. I had Third Day in my ears and I could feel my Savior’s awesome power all around me. Not one problem came during this run and I had my best average of my Ragnar Experience, just under an 8 min pace!

Leg 3
The time is about 1pm. The sun was cooking and boy was it hot out! I had my longest run ahead of me, 8 miles. I was confident since I knew my legs were ready and my shins were fine. So off I go at a nice steady pace. SS Insanity 1, our Ultra Team, had passed us earlier in the day. I knew we were close so my goal was to catch and pass them and give us a commanding lead. Yes, we were rooting for each other, but it’s still some friendly competition! Granted Mark did just run about 8.5 miles and was dead tired “I caught him like he was tied to a tree” as Chris later said. I was off to another great start and was pumped up, then it happened. A car got a little too close and I jumped off the side to avoid being hit and rolled my ankle. I still had about 3.5 miles to go and it was painful. I don’t know how many times I wanted to throw in the towel, but I knew I had to finish. I started it and I was going to finish it. The sun was beating down on me and my pace had slowed drastically. I was hoping and praying the hurt foot would go numb so I could finish strong and worry about the injury later. Again my prayers were answered about a mile and a half out, my foot went numb. Just in time for a strong finish! I was cheered on at the finish of my 3rd leg by all of SS Insanity 1, Nan, Poncho, and my van. I sprinted in strong and hard and then it was over! I averaged about an 8:45 pace and was very happy!

It was an honor and a privilege to be able to do this race with all of Smith Sports and our SS Insanity teams. I would strongly encourage everyone to try this race out! It’s hard to believe, but I can honestly say now I love running! Just today Ali reeled me in again with a half marathon at Alafia River State Park…it’s a trail run…how could I say no to that!

Top 10 Diet Mistakes Active People Make
by Ali Molnar, ACSM-CPT, USA-T Level 1 Coach
We pay such close attention to our specific cardiovascular workout, we push ourselves to the limit during our strength training, and we even make time to stretch our muscles to enhance recovery. However, you may be making a crucial mistake when it comes to your nutrition plan. Not eating the proper nutrients at the proper time could negate all the effort you just put in, ultimately affecting the overall fitness benefits of an active lifestyle. The American Council of Exercise (ACE) shares the following nutrition mistakes commonly made by active people.

1. Skipping Breakfast
Most experts agree that if you skip breakfast, you'll make up for it later in the day with more calories. You may be hungrier later, and it will become difficult to control how much you eat. You don't need a huge breakfast, but a light balanced breakfast can give you the right energy to start the day, especially for morning exercisers.

2. Not Eating Before a Workout
You will get more out of your exercise session by having the right fuel on board. A good pre-workout meal should have carbohydrates, protein and a little fat. You won't want a heavy meal before a workout, but a balanced light meal will provide what your body needs for energy and to build and tone muscles.

3. Waiting Too Long After Exercise to Eat Eating after your workout is as important as fueling it beforehand. A small meal of protein and carbs within two hours of your exercise session will give your body what it needs to build and repair muscles and the blood vessels that supply them.

4. Replacing Meals with Energy Bars or Replacement Drinks There is no substitute for whole foods. Your body needs the wide variety of phytonutrients and fiber found in real fruits and vegetables and whole grains. No "meal replacement" bars or drinks provide the variety that nature does. Use these convenience foods when necessary, but make it your steady habit to eat real food. Try mixing your own trail mix from dried fruits and nuts vs. having them processed and pressed into a bar.

5. Eating Too Much Protein and Not Enough Carbs
Trying to fuel your workout with poultry instead of pasta? You may love your low-carb diet, but carbohydrates are what you body needs for an effective workout. Give your body some carbs before your exercise session, and for endurance events such as long walks, make your snack carbohydrate based, such as trail mix.

6. Trusting Dietary Supplements Labels and Claims
You are reading marketing on the label, not research findings. The supplement industry is largely unregulated. Manufacturers can make many claims that would not be allowed for regulated drugs. Do your homework before putting anything into your body. You really don't need to be your own laboratory rat.

7. Consuming Too Many or Too Few Calories for Your Activity
You need to eat to fuel your body for your active lifestyle. But you probably fear eating too much so that weight control becomes a challenge. Use a Calories per Day Calculator that can tell you how many total calories per day your body is burning, plus activity calorie calculators to determine how many extra you may be burning.

8. Believing That You Can Eat Whatever You Want if You Exercise
Many people exercise to lose weight but soon find that they need to track what they eat if they want to see weight loss. It is very easy to make up for calories burned with a single extra "treat" after your workout. Find healthy, balanced light meals and snacks relying on whole foods whenever possible.

9. Not Drinking the Right Amount of Fluids
Dehydration can be a serious problem, especially if you exercise in hot, humid environments. Drinking fluids before, during and after exercise will help you maintain adequate hydration levels. The newest wisdom is to let thirst be your guide and be ready to "drink when thirsty." Carrying a water bottle or using a hydration pack allows you be ready to drink when thirsty.

10. Jumping on the Latest Diet Craze to Get an "Edge"
It's tempting to believe there is some magic formula out there that will dramatically improve our performance or weight loss, but the best approach is to stick to the basics and follow a healthy, balanced diet.