7 Steps to Achieve Success with Our Fitness Program

Our goal at Adventure Boot Camp (ABC) is to help you reach your health & fitness goals.  The ABC Team is dedicated to each individual’s success.

We have worked with hundreds of people just like you over the last 2 ½ years.  We have witnessed countless success stories and it has been very rewarding as a coach to help someone succeed.  Success can be measured in many ways so first let’s have a very open minded view of success.

This is starting to sound like an infomercial so let’s get to the nuts and bolts of achieving your goals.

I’m going to list some crucial steps that you must follow to reach your goals; I will even try to shed some light on some fitness/weight loss/fat loss misconceptions. 

Step #1   Set a Specific, Realistic & Attainable Goal

Write down your goal and the reasons why that goal (or goals) is important to you. Set short, medium and long term goals be specific and put a deadline on it.  Sign and date your goal and share it with someone that will hold you accountable. (Preferably me :0)

Here is an example: In Four Weeks, I want to be able to run a mile in 8 minutes or less. OR I want to be able to do 10 push ups from my toes. OR I want to drop one clothing size. OR I want to decrease my body fat by 2%.  In Eight weeks, I want to be able to run a 5k. OR I want to be able to hold the plank for 2 Minutes.

Achieving this goal is important to me because:

·         It will help me perform better at work.

·         I will feel better about myself and when I feel better everyone around me feels better.

·         I will be able to fit into the clothes I wore last summer.

·         I want to be able to keep up with my kids or my grandkids.

These goals and reasons to achieve the goals are personal and will be different for everyone.  You may even get more detailed.

If you complete this step please bring it to class and share it with me or your trainer.  Bring us a copy so that we can go over it together and work towards it.  We can help you with accountability.  I recommend sharing with someone that will hold you accountable.  If your best friend will nod yes I will help you with that goal but sit right next to you while you cave in for a hamburger, fries and dessert or split a bottle of wine with you and share the ‘we will start tomorrow’ attitude, then share your goal with some one else!

 

Step #2 There Are NO Magic Pills

Don’t you think that if any of these “lose weight quick and easily” scams worked then we wouldn’t have an obesity problem in America?  Everyone would be ideal and we wouldn’t even need to read any further.

It takes good old fashioned hard work, dedication and consistency.  No one can do this for you.  Our program has proven that this works time and time again! 

Remember you made a commitment to yourself so don’t cheat or give up on yourself that’s to easy and besides you will never get to your destination. Understand that this is a process and it takes time.  You didn’t gain 50 pounds overnight did you?  You didn’t lose your strength or cardiovascular fitness or flexibility in 4 weeks, right?  Therefore, you are not going to lose all the weight and gain all the fitness in 4 weeks either.  You will see improvements depending on your level of effort.

Fitness and nutrition are a lifelong commitment.  Use it or lose it!

Occasionally we suffer a set back, or speed bump, no worries, just reassess your plan and move forward, do not let that stop you from achieving your goal.

Determination is a great asset to have on your side.

Step #3 Work Hard and Don’t Quit

Jim Rohn tells a story about ants.  We could all learn from ants.  The never quit, they work hard all their life to reach their goal and they don’t just reach one goal they go out everyday to achieve.  If you see a trail of ants and you put your foot down in the middle of their trail the ant doesn’t go ‘oh man, things just got harder here I think I will quit.’  No, ants keep going they will go around the obstacle or they will go over the obstacle or they will die trying.  They never quit.

You signed up for boot camp because you wanted to get results right?

You must be at every class that you signed up for.

You must be on time.

You must give 100% at camp and the other 23 hours per day.

Our training system is not easy.  It isn’t supposed to be easy.  And if you leave feeling like you didn’t get a challenging workout it’s because you did not put forth your best effort.  Running less than more, lifting lighter rather than heavier, half squats vs. full squats, you get the picture.  You can always work harder.  All your hard work should be done with proper technique and safety.

Step #4 Do It Once and Do It Right

Several studies show that more is not better and in fact are counterproductive to your fitness and fat loss goals.  Exercise intensely 1 hour or less per day (some even say 40 minutes or less). The workout must be vigorous.

Cardio vs. Interval Training

Studies show, slow, long distance or steady state cardio can increase aerobic capacity and burn calories maybe help lose body fat.  But on the flip side this slow, long distance cardio can be muscle wasting and metabolic rate returns to pre-exercise state soon after exercise stops.

On the other hand Interval Training is very useful in improving anaerobic and aerobic capacity.  This type of exercise tends to be muscle building.  Metabolism is elevated for hours after exercise.  Also know as EPOC (Excess Post exercise Energy Consumption) basically how many calories are consumed after your exercise session is finished.

A study performed by R. Bahr at the Department of Physiology at the National Institute of Occupational Health in Oslo, Norway, showed that low intensity exercise defined as 65% of max heart rate led to an EPOC of only 5 calories.  Whereas, Intensive exercise where heart rate was above 85% of max heart rate led to EPOC values of 180 calories.

There is significant evidence that you can become fitter in 20 minutes of anaerobic intervals as opposed to 5 hours a week of low intensity aerobic exercise.

I understand that endurance athletes have to train more specifically to their sport but it looks like you can reduce some volume and time exercising by doing some interval work.  More is not necessarily better it may even be counterproductive.

See Tabata Study at www.rosstraining.com/articles/tabataintervals.html

Step #5  Nutrition

Read the nutrition e-book and follow the steps.  I don’t want to repeat what’s written there but I’ll summarize.

1.       Absolutely a MUST!  Journal your nutrition, the more detail the better.

a)      Time you eat

b)      What you eat

c)       How much you eat

d)      Water intake

2.       Find out what your calorie intake should be.

3.       Break calorie intake into 40% Carbs, 30% Protein, 30% Fat (These ratios may vary)

4.       Divide those calories by 5 to 6 small meals per day.  Each meal must consist of a carb, protein and fat.

5.       Eat each meal no more than 2 to 3 hours apart.

6.       Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water per day. (if you weigh 180 lbs. you should drink at least 90 ounces of water)

7.       Always have a proper post exercise meal to help recovery process

8.       If a caveman (or woman) ate it 10,000 years ago then you should to.  Stay away from packaged food as much as possible.  Read your labels and the ingredients in your food.  If you don’t know how we can help.  Eat whole food, lean proteins, all the colors of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, healthy fats, nut, seeds, etc.  If you DON’T want to lose weight and reach your goals then please eat the following:  cookies, crackers, sodas, fruit juice, mochas, alcohol, fast food, etc.

9.       Get adequate fiber intake: 25 to 35 grams per day.

10.   Schedule a nutrition coaching session or contact us by email or on the phone we are here to help!

Step #6 Rest and Recovery

Rest and recovery are important because it keeps the machine running smoothly and injury free.

If you have pains don’t work through it.  Let us know so we can modify for you and help you get better and prevent it from getting worse.

Pain happens sometimes.  I even experience these things from time to time.  You have to train around them, but don’t stop all together.  This is where you need to be pro-active, Ice, Compression, Elevation, Stretching, Foam Rolling.  Again we have helped many boot campers who have been willing to do the work!

Let us know immediately if you have something bothering you!

Step #7   Leave your training expertise at home.

You are in boot camp; you are learning our system, our style of training.  You came to us, remember? In this camp we don’t specialize in one type of training, we can but that is not our purpose.  Our camp is about general fitness, overall fitness.  We have seen it help athletes with their game and we have seen it help mom’s have energy again.

You signed an agreement that you would be COACHABLE.  We expect you to do that!  And we are going to hold you accountable!

We are dedicated to helping you succeed.  Are you dedicated to yourself?  Sacrifices must be made in the short term to succeed in the long term. Boot camp works and you get out of it what you put into it.