Kenya

Kenya

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

ANSWERS TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS ABOUT MY STRATEGY

For a long time many people(both private clients and general gym members, family and friends), have always asked me this million-dollar question in many different ways: What is your secret to staying in great shape all year round?
And the past several weeks or so many more questions of this nature are popping up even from strangers! So today I wanna answer all these people in several ways.


First and foremost, I am a celebrity trainer, very strict with my workout regimen and I religiously practice what I preach. I workout as many times as I can everyday, because I know that I am a warrior, and training is a warrior's job, a lifetime's job. So expect to see me working out at least once a day, everyday of the week.


Secondly, I am a strong believer in going beyond your own limits. So if am working out, I give all I've got, and when I'm done, I know, deep in my heart, that I gave my all for that particular session. And as my beloved kickboxing teacher once told me,‎"Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. So don't give me excuses, give me results." This is what my kickboxing teacher told me when I told her that my legs were cramping after climbing a 6-mile hill, and that I was not going to be able to finish the last 2-miles. So I stayed the course even though I hated it....I hate her too, and I love her at the same time....I guess it all adds up, and hard work pays off.


Thirdly, every meal I eat every day is hard-earned. I must earn every salad and every fruit that I eat. So if I know I'm gonna eat 1500 calories, then I must burn between 1500-2000 before that meal, or after that meal. That way, I don't have to store excess calories. This helps to keep me in line, away from eating junk food and excess calories, because I know how hard it is to burn 1500-2000 calories in less than 2 hours. I do this for every meal and I've done it for years, all year round, knowing very well that 80% of my success depends on everything that I eat, and I must workout hard to earn that meal. The moral behind this: if I don't exercise I can't eat, and if I don't eat I will die! So I must exercise for me to eat in order not to die! Again, it all adds up, like a puzzle. Talk about ripple effect: one thing leads to the other, and they are all connected like a chain, you break one link and everything falls apart.


Fourth, I always try to stay focused on my fitness goals, and all life goals, and I never allow negative comments or misfortunes to control my every move. Doubting yourself will only lead to more problems and eventual failure. But with steady determination and patience, comes success. Sometimes people will try to discourage you in many different ways, or slow you down, but trust your God and trust yourself, and you shall overcome. Isaiah 40:28-31
Did I just mention God? Yes! He gives us free gift of long life and good health everyday! We should at least honor that golden opportunity by taking care of ourselves. Accept things as they are, or accept the responsibility for changing them...The choice is "yours"


And finally, always remember this: that the only easy day was yesterday. "Sucess seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they never Quit" -Conrad Hilton_
Now there you have it. Good luck in staying in great shape all year round.

Friday, September 23, 2011

GETTING YOUR GROVE BACK!!!!!!!!!

Do you feel like you have lost your exercise mojo? No longer are you jumping out the bed at 5am to get in that workout or remembering to take your gym bag to work? You keep making excuses after excuses. What the heck is going on? What is demotivating you?
Motivation isn’t something that just happens to you, but something you create for yourself. Exercise may be all about moving the body, but you won’t get anywhere until you move your mind first. Reflecting on your mental exercise blocks is all well and good but, while you’re chewing on that, why not take small steps towards a more active lifestyle? You don’t have to turn your whole life upside down. Here are a few tips to keep exercise on the front burner!

1. Just accept it–you have to exercise. There ain’t a pill, diet or nip & tuck that can take the place of being active. Embracing this fact can make doing it a little easier and, the good news is, you’ve got options. Exercise doesn’t have to happen in a gym or take up hours of your time. Knowing you can create your own exercise experience may help you get up and get moving.

2. Make exercise mean something to you. For many people, exercise is a means to an end — a way to lose weight and get that perfect body…or at least a better one than they have now. Future goals are nice, but there’s another part to the equation that, when missing, makes exercise hard to stick to: Purpose. In other words, your workouts need to have value, regardless of whether you ever reach your desired goal. Always working for some future, intangible thing isn’t enough – we need it to mean something now.
So, what does exercise mean to you besides a way to lose weight? Is there any value, outside of your weight loss goals, to working out? For me, exercise means 2 main things: first, exercise is a way of life for like taking a shower, like eating, like drinking water, etc. I am a warrior, and training is a warrior's job, a lifetime's job.....I will train till I die.....and that's the bottom line...and secondly, exercise guarantees that I look good naked! For you, exercise might be the only time you get to yourself each day. Find your own value and meaning and you’ll find your motivation.

3. Do what works for you. Too often, the mainstream idea of exercise involves things like health clubs, cardio machines, fitness classes, etc. You can’t get motivated to do something you don’t like. The good news is that you have the freedom to do whatever the heck you want. If you hate the gym, don’t join one then. If you hate boring machines, try something more interactive like a game of tag football, spin class, or race up stairs with your boo:-) If you like to keep things simple, you could take several walks throughout the day or add some laps the next time you shop at the mall. Find out what you like and throw the rules out the window!

4. Identify the excuses you like to use and have a ready made response. If time is an issue, make sure your workout clothes are ready to go. If you have young children, get a good jogging stroller or set up a babysitting swap with other parents in your neighborhood: you can watch their children while they work out and vice versa. Don’t know where to start, hire a fitness professional. They will help you get a solid program in place that fits your lifestyle and is excuse proof!

5. Stop trying to fall in love with exercise. Some people think if they exercise long enough, they’ll wake up one day and suddenly LOVE exercising and eating healthy. While it does get easier, you’ll always have to find ways to motivate yourself for your workouts. If you’re waiting for a shining moment of excitement, you might be waiting for a long time:-)

Monday, September 5, 2011

THE LIST YOU DON'T WANNA BE ON!!!!!!!

As an experienced celebrity trainer, I so often encounter many weird situations at the many different gyms that I workout at. So today I want to highlight a few scenarios that might not be so appealing, a list you don't wanna be on.

THE GYM HOPPERS
These are the people who join gyms because of their friends. "I wanna cancel my gym membership and join the gym next door because my friends go to that gym". "My mom decided to join the other gym because all her friends go there". I'm sure you have heard or read about people like these before. Joining a gym because of your friends is the wrong reason to join a gym. You should join a gym for your own health benefits, with or without friends. Staying healthy is the single most important investment that you can make, the one and only that you can manage yourself and be accountable for the success or failure.
So what happens when your friend(s) are on a month long vacation? Or does this mean that you must do the same job like your friends, live in the same house/neighborhood, buy the same clothes, drive the same car, live the same lifestyle? Try to be independent and be in control of your own fitness goals and way of life. Only then can you find inner peace! But if you constantly succumb to peer pressure, or compete with your friends, or even constantly compare yourself with other people, it means you have no self-esteem, no self-motivation and no sense of purpose. It means you are a slave, you are owned by other people, you are insecure and you live your life to satisfy other people/friends, thus no self-satisfaction. If this is who you are, then you may as well join a Reality Show like the Big Rich Texas, where people do things like joining health clubs or plastic surgery, or getting tattoos, just because their friends did it.

THE SEARCHERS
These are the people who join gyms with the sole purpose of finding love. They have this weird thought that gyms are markets or relationship sites. They will join gyms to try their luck, and when they fail, they move to join the next gym, and so on and so on. "I know this cute trainer who works at this gym, so I'm gonna join this gym to see if I can hook up with him". "I've heard that this gym has many cute younger women, so am gonna get a membership here". "I'm a cougar looking for younger men, and this gym might be the best target zone for me"
As soon as these people don't get what they want, they move on to the next gym. Failure. Join a gym to get in better shape, and love will come at you. If it happens at the gym, well done. But join to get yourself in better shape, and love can happen on the streets, in the metro, at the bus stop, inside the grocery store, at the restaurant where you like to go eat, or even at work. People wanna fall in love with someone who is in very good shape, who really looks good. And when you work hard to get in great shape and look good, love will find you.

THE DRESSERS
These are the people who go to workout in their work clothes, or who wear jeans, suits, dress clothes, dress shoes or dress shirts at the gym. If you can't afford nice, comfortable workout clothes from lululemon, academy sports, city sports or sports authority, then a cheap pair of shorts and a cheap t-shirt with cheap sneakers/tennis shoes from walmart or target will be just fine.
Going to the gym to workout should be an important daily event, just like eating, flossing or brushing your teeth. It's for your health, just like brushing using the right toothpaste and toothbrush, or eating the right foods. So you should wear appropriate attire, because am pretty sure you don't shower in your clothes, or go to bed in your suits/dress clothes. Neither do you shower in your dress shoes, you wear sandals.
You should plan in advance, carry your workout clothes and take them with you, or go to the gym dressed appropriately and ready to sweat, without offending other people.

THE JOKERS
These are the people who become personal trainers for the wrong reasons. "I chose to become a personal trainer because you get many opportunities to be one-on-one with clients, so you have a chance to hook up with them, especially the cute ones and/or the rich ones, or the ones who are single, or the ones who are going through relationship problems and need some TLC". Really? Wow!!!
Look, personal training is about changing lives and proving results, period. You MUST be very professional, and passionate about changing lives as far as fitness goals are concerned. We are professionals just like doctors and lawyers, and we actually do more on a day-to-day basis for our clients than doctors do. We see our clients several times a week, we design their programs, we give nutritional advice and work with them one-on-one for hours just to help change lives. So if you want to become a trainer just to hook up with clients, you are in the wrong profession. You are better off trying your luck in a strip club.

THE WASTERS
These are the people who have many different gym memberships but never attend them. They belong to one or more gyms, but they never step foot at the door, mostly because they are lazy, or they "never have time". They are better off saving that money. They have a habit of canceling their PT sessions constantly, with no regard to the trainer's importance.
I tell you what, these clients I charge them heavy if they don't cancel in advance before 24hours, and if it becomes a trend, I simply drop them, or pass them to other trainers who are willing, and have the time to play those games, trainers who have more open spaces in their schedule.

THE LATE-COMERS
These are clients who are always late to their sessions, always, making the trainer to either cut short the client's session time, or over-extend the time just to stay with the day's program, most of the time annoying the next client, or having to be late for their lunch break or PT meeting. Or gym members who will walk in the door at 9:45pm just because the gym closes at 10pm. They argue that they are entitled to walk in any time as long as it is before closing time. Then they get stuck in the showers/locker rooms well after the gym is closed.
If you can't make it to the gym on time today, then tomorrow is another day. Don't make the person closing the gym wait longer just because you were late and are entitled to be at the gym till closing time. They too have other things to do, other lives to live, and many times even other jobs to go to. Plan to be there early enough, and to leave there by the time the doors close.

THE CARELESS
These are the guys who have no regard to gym rules and etiquette. They have bad habits of leaving weights all over the place when they are done, have no clue of the rule that says "please re-rack the weights after use", they drop weights while working out like the guys on steroids, and they intimidate other members. They also bang the machines after every rep or set, making wailing noises or singing loud tunes from their weird songs in their iPods. That show of aggression belongs to the WWE stage, not at the gym.
Please, use that extra energy to re-rack the weights, and leave the weights on the rack where you found them. This also means medicine balls, marts, straps steps, ViPRs and resistance cords. Banging the machines only ruins the equipment, shows lack of technique and control, and also poor form which can lead to major injuries and/or no results.
And when done with a towel, throw it in the basket where it goes, don't just leave it on an equipment or on the floor.
Please, do not leave the taps and the showers running.

THE UN-HYGIENIC
These are the guys who sweat hard like me, but who do not put towels on the bench or marts to catch the sweat, people who do not care to wipe the equipment after using it. Remember, this is a public place, and other people will use the same equipment after you. Don't treat it like your home-gym, no one wants to lay on your sweat while doing bench presses.
And if you sweat hard like I do, just carry some disinfectant wipes with you, and make good use of them.

THE HOLDOUTS
These are the people who will stay on a stationary equipment and read the whole newspaper or magazine, while other members are waiting to use the machine. If you are not at the gym to work out, then stay home and read your newspaper or novel. Starbucks is a good place to do this too, or Barnes&Nobles, or at the park. Don't make other people wait on an equipment just because you are watching Oprah on the TV attached to the treadmill.

THE COMPLAINERS
These are the people who constantly complain about everything, from the front-desk staff being slow/rude, to lack of coffee at the coffee pot, to very loud music, not enough group classes, and the complains go on and on and on.....
If the towels at the gym are not clean enough for you, or if they don't appeal to you, just bring your own towel. If you don't like the channel on the TV, move to a different screen or request for the channel to be changed without being rude to other people watching the same TV.
Please, bring your own iPod if you don't like the music at the gym,bring your own coffee if you came to the gym just to drink coffee, or offer to teach a class if you feel you can do better. If you have personal issues at home or work, don't take it out on your trainer or the front-desk staff, they have issues of their own and don't need extra from you.
Now, if you are not losing weight or if you are gaining weight because of your poor eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle, you cannot blame that on your trainer. As trainers, we can only see you certain hours every week and give you a certain percentage, the rest is your part. Just like teachers can only teach their students for certain hours, the students must do their homework and continued research/reading/studying, for them to succeed and pass exams and see good results, and eventually enjoy the fruits of their hard work.
And if your gym does not please you, dont spend your valuable time complaining. Please take your money somewhere else. No one should pay money just to be unhappy.

THE RUINS
These are the people who constantly ruin stuff, either because they don't know how to use it and can't swallow their pride and ask for assistance, or think they know how to use it when actually they don't, or just plain ignorance. They waste everything from shampoo to body wash to lotion to hair gel, they spill coffee everywhere, ruin equipment and mis-use stuff, just because they are paying gym membership.
Please treat the business like your own because it cost somebody lots of money to set up the facility for you, and the maintenance employees are human beings just like you, and should be treated with respect, that's their job, their bread and butter. Just because they are paid to do the cleaning, doesn't mean that we should disrespect them by making a mess intentionally for them to clean up. Even though they do dirty work, with little pay, they clean the gym for us to come in and work out, and their families depend on that little pay. So even though they are not as fortunate as some of us, or just because they may be from other parts of the world trying to work hard and earn a better life, let's give them that chance.
And just because you don't own the gym, doesn't mean that you have the right to ruin it simply because you will not have to do the repairs. Respect costs nothing but goes a long way with huge rewards.