The Scale Is In!

So Mike brought in a scale today. I was nervous because it's a glass scale--a kind I've never seen before. Soon as we had it put together, he stepped on it...

He'd lost 2 pounds.

But don't jump for joy yet. Funny thing about weight loss: What is reflected on a scale is usually an inaccurate picture of what's going on. If you ate the same amount every day, got the same amount of exercise every day, and depending on what time of day you weigh yourself, you may see that number fluctate up and down 2 to 3 pounds each time. For example, if you weigh yourself in the morning after using the bathroom, you may be 1 pound under your usual weight. And then after eating breakfast, eating lunch, and before using the bathroom again, you may look two or three pounds heavier. The scale, my friends, doesn't lie--but it can exaggerate.

So it's a good idea to weigh yourself at the same time every day and record the number, and take the average weekly weight. This will give you a more accurate reading of whether you have lost or gained weight. For Mike and Tai, we will weigh them before each workout, and keep a log.

In the meantime, I have asked all my fitness clients to record everything they eat. Every day, they will record every soda, every cheeseburger, every salad.... and then use a calorie counter to keep a record of what they're taking in. Weight loss, friends is the result of calories in vs. calories out. Burn more calories than you take in, and you will lose weight. It is a simple formula.

It is also good to know how many calories you should be taking in to maintain your health. It's more than just starve yourself and get skinny that way; depriving yourself will actually cause your body to store more of what you eat. To avoid the risk of telling you wrong, please visit this site to learn how to calculate what your daily caloric intake should be. Now once you figure out how many calories you need to maintain, then reduce what you take in by 500-700 calories per day to lose about a pound a week off of diet alone. Add a regular workout schedule to this, and you can realistically lose 3 - 5 pounds a week with determination and consistency.

So back to Mike, we just did the same workout we last week, except he did about 6 trips of side-skipping across the width of the gym. We did so at a slow pace, and as he gets stronger, we will sprint these trips. We are not doing much strength training at this point. Mainly, our goal is to get his muscles accustomed to being used, to get his heart pumping and his lungs filling up. At the same time, we are shooting for all-around fitness: His arms, his thighs, the midsection, his calves. Once he gets stronger, he will be more capable of performing the kind of workout that will blast fat from his body.

Thanks for visiting our blog.

Meet Tai!

Okay y'all. We have two now...

Tai is a good friend of mine. She is a very attractive woman who has a set of 2 year old twins, 34 years old, and lives a pretty active life. She is of Kenyan blood, so you know it's in her genes to have the thickness--being from the motherland and all. Most brothers would look at her and say she looks fine, no need to lose anything! Hey, after all, this is how Black men like their women right? Well, her doctor has ordered her to lose weight and so she turned to us.

She does not eat terribly unhealthy. She doesn't smoke. She dances. But she does drink! Most of the folks in her family that I've seen are "Sistah Big Bones"... So I'm going to go with "genetic" reasons why she is heavier. Tai stands about 5'7" and weighs around 250. We are going to take off at least 50 pounds, but I'm sure her doctor wants her to lose about 80 to 100. Being a Black man, 50 is perfect--so forget what them doctors are talking bout!

As I said, Tai does watch what she eats. I've known her to diet over the two years we've known each other so I don't believe that her weight is most attributed to her eating habits. However, I do believe that she needs to stop drinking. Drinking alcohol robs you of energy and sleep, and it impedes the liver's ability to metabolize fat. Not to mention what you are doing to your overall health, brain cells and your spirituality when you indulge... If you want success in anything positive, alcohol consumption is certainly not going to help you further that goal. I've advised her to drop fast food completely--the calories are too high and it's a waste of money--and continue to go low-calorie. She should fast regularly, even if only an occasional juice or vegetable fast. She should also make sure to get plenty of sleep (another reason to stop drinking), since insufficient sleep will kill one's energy levels and metabolism. I'm not a dietician, so we can't issue meal plans or anything--but those are my soft recommendations.

She has been training for the last 6 weeks, for 30 minutes three days a week. Generally, we are doing a combination of calisthenics, punching and kicking. The typical workout consists of:

• two sets of jumping jacks, 30-50 reps each set



• four or five sets of pushups, 5 - 10 reps each set



• two sets of crunches, 15 reps per set



• four 2-minute rounds of punching the mitts



• skipping across the gym, 10 trips



• 20 mountain climbers or burpees



• 20 squats



• 30 calf raises



• 50-100 kicks per workout

We were running, and will probably resume a running regimen soon.

Tai has experienced a loss in inches, but she avoids the scale--possibly to prevent herself the frustration of not progressing as fast as she'd like. As we always say--don't focus on the number, focus on how you look and feel, and how your clothes fit. In fitness training, your friends and family will always notice your results before you do.

So stay tuned, and see what becomes of her! Thanks for visiting our blog.

And He's Back!

It's been a while.

Mike had trained hard and lost a ton of weight the first time around. He put in about a year of training and we got him down to the upper 2oos. (Sorry to leave you folks hanging!) By the time he stopped training, many of his medical and physical problems went away. He was doing things he had not been able to do for much of his adult life.

And speaking of life, he ended up dropping out because of some of life's problems (his mother had gotten sick) and he gained the weight back... plus some.

But as long as he's got breath in him, it's not too late. I recently talked to Mike, and he was relaying to me that he'd gained his weight back. He tried boxing, but as I said in my first post--many people may know how to train clients, but if they lack the desire to see the client succeed, the sincerity and patience there won't be much in the way of results. Basically, he was put in front of a punching bag and received little one-on-one attention. Not to mention, he shared his trainer's attention with about 10 other people at the same time. Last week, I spoke to Mike while he sat in an emergency room. He had his worried grown son and daughter by his side; both were extremely upset at him and his failure to live his life healthy. Hate to put it so bluntly, but we often get so wrapped up in what makes us happy (or worries us) that we allow our health to fail. This puts unnecessary stress on our families, as who do you think takes up the slack when we need someone to tend to our needs, to pray for us when we are losing the battle of life, to take off of work to sit by our sides when we are receiving medical attention for problems that we caused ourselves?

Regardless, I'm glad he's back. We have to start over from scratch, as he is now in worse condition than he was when he first came to train with me 3 years ago. His back is bothering him as before, his stamina is non-existent, but his desire and enthusiasm are just as present as ever before. Let me tell you, this guy can do it. And he will. Most of all, since he'd done so in the past, he is more optimistic than others who have not. He's done it before and he'll do it again.... Better than before--it is a matter of life or death. Just watch!

So this is what we did:

• Mike will be training 3 days a week in the morning


• we had a short warm up, as we are only training for 30 minutes right now. I want to build up his strength slowly. It is important for his training to be injury-free. Not only is he heavier, but Mike is also 3 years OLDER. And the last three years have not been a healthy three years. We spent about three minutes stretching and warming up his muscles and limbs


• we reviewed his basic punches. Because of his back, he cannot do jumping jacks, floor exercises or kicks. He will have two more workout days this week, so we did not lift weights. In fact, he probably will not lift weights for a few weeks. Our priority is getting his heart pumping and getting his body used to pressure again.


• in punching, he performed about 50 punches each hand for each type of punch.


• he walked his jab up and down the gym for six trips, a total of about 50 more punches, but involving footwork.


• we did the "karate-style" punch. 50 each arm.


• the "high block". 25 each arm.


• then we walked his karate punch 4 trips, walked his high block 4 trips, and then a combination of high block/karate punch for four trips


• a combination: 1-2-3 (jab, cross, jab) 20 reps each side. we did three sets of this


• 1-2-3 combination, side step and repeat the combo. 10 each side, and we did 2 sets.

Again, I did not want him working too hard today. We want his body getting used to the training, and we want to build his strength slowly. As he gets stronger, he will be able to do more, and that is where he will start burning calories.

By the way, his homework:

1. replace one meal a day with only fresh fruit and vegetables


2. bring a scale to the school. He will weigh in each workout and we will journal his food intake, weight and his workouts (I maintain the journal)

His children are very concerned about his health. Mike is diabetic, and he has high blood pressure. He will need to be consistent, discipline, and patient. Our goal is to take off at least 100 pounds in the next 12 months.

Thanks for visiting our blog.

Our Method of Attack

First of all, Mike came with some physical limitations. Because of his weight, nearly every exercise hurt his back. His knees would not allow proper movement for most of the techniques used to train. His cardio was basically limited to 30 seconds worth of -whatever- so we had a little struggle between what he was willing to do, and what he was capable of doing. And to top that off, we were dealing with a gentleman who could barely walk across the room without being winded and I was worried about hurting his health, agitating his back, even in the name of getting in shape.

But the desire was there, so we worked with what he was able to do. For the first month, we trained four days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 9 to 9:20 a.m. Not exactly a huge calorie-burning session, but he needed something to jump start his program. This is what the typical session consisted of:

• about 3 to 5 rounds (30 second rounds) of punching a focus mitt
• at least 3 sets of punches (10 reps per set, per hand)--straight punches (the chambered "karate" punch), back fist, jab, cross
• walking across the floor while punching (we started with 3 trips back and forth, and worked our way up to 10 trips)
• 3 sets of "machine gun punching"--rapid punching for 30 seconds with no pauses, and 60 second breaks in between

Sorry folks, that was it. Really a simple workout, which would help anyone that was inactive, but as long as he did it, he got results. As the weeks progressed, Mike got stronger, his wind capacity increased, and he worked his way up to 7 to 8 sets of 30-second breaks. Our workouts got to 45 minute workouts (where it is now), and there are only a few breaks. On top of that, we have added:

• squats and calf extensions to build leg strength
• standing leg lifts to build hip strength
• footwork drills for boxing (yes, he's doing bag work now)
• side-to-side shuffling (10 reps back and forth across the width of my studio)
• KICKS (yes, KICKS)--about 3 sets of 10 snap kicks and side kicks per leg
• moving target practice with punches
• jumping jacks. he started out with 2 or 3 sets of 5, and now we're up to a minimum of 5 sets of 15
• basic eskrima (Filipino weapons fighting)

Our next step--after he has had about 3 months of kicking--is to teach him stances and prepare him for the Southern Kung Fu style called JOW GA (more on that later, but if you must know now, check out www.jowga.org ). You see, losing weight is only a small part of Mike's goals, he has a serious desire to study the martial arts. And boy, oh boy, just you wait and see what he'll be doing a year from now!

Sooner or later we'll add video clips via YOUTUBE. Pics coming soon!

Welcome to Jaguar's Journey

This is the story of Mike Jaguar, one of my clients. Since the journey is his--not mine--I'm not going to post anything about me; not even to tell you my name. What I will tell you is this: Mike is a 40-something man with a mission, to lose weight. He has tried everything under the sun to accomplish his goals, and so far nothing's worked. He is disciplined, determined, and has pain tolerance like you wouldn't believe. There have been trainers with no patience, little desire to see him succeed and just collect a paycheck, or just no empathy at all.

And this is where I come in. I am not a personal trainer; I am a former martial arts competitor who has had my own weight-loss story. Mike trains like one of my fighters, and he's making progress. Keep reading, and check back with us periodically to see how he's doing.

Oh, by the way, when he first arrived, Mike stood 5'6", and weighed around 359 lbs. That was two months ago, and he is now 327....