Archive for the ‘Interview’ Category

Today is our last day in the celebrity interview series, and I am super excited about this last one!

Today we have “Unbreakable” Adam Glass!

Adam  has been involved in strength and conditioning training for over 12 years. He has been acknowledged by leaders in the strength community for innovative training methods and rapid results. Adam has  gained international attention for his abilities to bend Draft Horseshoes, tear any deck of cards, lever heavy hammers, and demonstrate a variety of old time strength feats.He has served in the United States Military for 8 years. His goal is continue to share his love of the old time feats and grip sport combined with the knowledge he has gained from years of strength training.Adam offers online training as well as one on one classes, for more information contact him at Adamtglass@yahoo.com You can see more at his website Unbreakable Fitness.

1. What is the biggest obstacle people face when trying to lose weight?

The #1 obstacle facing Americans is the calendar. People want their weight lose TODAY, RIGHT NOW, THIS MINUTE. It simply does not work. If it took you 5 years to put on 30lbs, do not think its coming off in 3 weeks. I observe people setting unreasonable goals for themselves, nearly unattainable goals. A client told me “I better lose 20lbs this month!” my response was “What if you only lose 10?” “Will you quit? Will you give up? Are you going to beat yourself like the albino in the Da Vinci Code??” Set up a time table that is REASONABLE, and FEASIBLE.

2.  What is a typical mistake you see people make when trying to lose weight?

Typical mistakes- they stem from bad information. #1- Spot reduction, it is a myth. This is the belief that you can lose fat from a specific part of your body by exercising it. Often women who want to drop a few pounds will want to work the lower portion of their belly with sit ups and crunches thinking it will burn off the fat from this region. This is simply not possible. Your body has a plan encoded in your DNA that dictates exactly how fat goes on the body and comes off.

Another typical mistake is beginners look to the training of body builders as a model for their own training. Without going on a rant of why this is a terrible idea, I will leave it simple. 99% of Americans who want to “get in shape” need better movement and better cardio vascular health. Build your program with compound movements such as squatting, lunging, pulling, pushing, bending, and bracing. Do not get lost in training individual muscle groups- train movement patterns for maximum success.

A third mistake is the con of GNC and the supplement industry. Do not get suckered in to thinking a small pill can make up for the ice cream or pizza you ate last night. Fried Chicken trumps an hour of jogging every time. No magic pill exists

The forth mistake I would like to address– If you don’t write it down, it never happened! Beginners often fail to realize how important a food journal and exercise journal are. I have people write down every thing they eat, and every exercise they do. We look for patterns. If you do not write things down, you will forget them. You will lose sight of the minor victories in your fat lose journey and you will often get in a rut of repeating failing routines. So write it down!

3. What can people do right now, for free to start living a healthier lifestyle?

#1 Turn off your television set, step away from the internet, and put down the blackberry. Go outside, and move around for the next 45 minutes. My complimentary fitness solution right now- Go walk! There are people on this earth who are unable to walk and I will bet they would trade anything to be able to walk. So enjoy your ability to move as a human being. Walking, jogging, climbing, jumping, crawling, have fun! Go outside and PLAY.

#2 No thanks to the supersize. In fact, no thanks to all fast food. Stay away from fast food for 90 days and note if you lose weight. I will unconditionally say “Yes” you have lost weight.

4. What’s your opinion of at home workouts vs. going to the gym?

Well I have to be biased as I run a gym. I will say this- If your gym offers the services you need and want, that’s great. if your gym does not allow you the things you need that’s not. If you want to use chalk and your gym does not allow it, than find a gym that does. I realize many people do not have the money to have a home gym, or they enjoy the chance to get out of the house. I have always trained alone, so being the in the big box gym is always disruptive to my personal training.

Unconditionally I say anyone can achieve health and fitness right in their home with no added equipment. As a trainer I will add you need the right information to do it.

5. Corvette or Mustang?

I would take an F250 over either one. I need more power and cargo space, not more speed.

Again, I’d like to thank Adam for taking the time to participate and I encourage eveyone to head over to his website Unbreakable Fitness. Adam is aconsumate fitness expert and great guy.

Since this is the last in our series (for now) I’d like to thank our previous experts again for all their help:

Cassandra Forsythe

Dan John

Forest Vance

Hey everyone! So in the past 2 weeks weeks we have had Cassandra Forsythe and Dan John talk to us.

This week we are lucky to have Forest Vance come and talk with us. Forest is a  4-year letter winner and 3-time All-American,  with UC Davis Football attended opening Day training camp roster of Green Bay Packers (2004) and Kansas City Chiefs (2005). Has  4 years of experience in the health and fitness industry as personal trainer and fitness manager. Along with numerous certifications such as RKC, Performance Enhancement Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, and has a Masters of Science in Human Movement.

1. What is the biggest obstacle people face when trying to lose weight?

I think that being in the proper mindset is the biggest obstacle people face when trying to lose weight.  Having the best workout and diet plan in the world won’t do you any good unless you’re ready to change and put your all into the program.

2. What is a typical mistake you see people make when trying to lose weight?

Not having a solid plan in place.  Having no plan is almost a surefire way to fail.

3. What can people do right now, for free to start living a healthier lifestyle?

Move more!  Park your car further away when you go shopping, take the stairs – just start burning more calories and you’ll be a leg up on most people.

4. What’s your opinion of at home workouts vs. going to the gym?

I think you can get a fantastic workout without ever stepping foot in a gym.  Getting results has everything to do with the structure, intensity, and consistency of your workouts and very little to do with the equipment you have available. Check out www.nogymnoexcuse.com for a sneak peak!

5.Rambo vs. The Terminator?

Terminator 100%.  Arnold is the man.

I’d like to thank Forest again for taking the time to be interviewed. Forest is found at No Gym No Excuse and The Fitness Monster. Head on over to either site and sign up for a free E-book. “Fast Fat Loss: A Quick Start Guide”

Dan John is the Strength Coach and Head Track and Field Coach at Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, Utah and a full-time on-line religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. Dan also writes articles for a variety of strength magazines and publishes a little newsletter called “Get Up” which registers up to a quarter of a million hits a month.

Recently, Dan became “Russian Kettlebell Certified” and currently, Dan is ranked as a Master Highland Games athlete, holds the American Record in the Weight Pent and holds numerous National Championships in weightlifting and throwing and maintains a full-time free internet coaching site. This is just a brief introduction, to see more, go to his website: danjohn.org

1. What is the biggest obstacle people face when trying to lose weight?

The unbelievable amount of information, both true and false, about weight loss contributes to it. But, number one is that cheap calories are so abundant in the USA. A bag of chips for a buck is about 1200 calories, but a dollar’s worth of eggs is probably 300ish calories. You can eat four eggs and not be hungry for a while and scoot through 3000 chip calories and still be hard. Fast food is TOO easy and cheap!

2. What is a typical mistake you see people make when trying to lose weight?

You can’t outrun, out bike, out lift an 1100 calorie bagel. Occasionally, go ahead and enjoy it! However, you can’t outdo bad.

3. What can people do right now, for free to start living a healthier lifestyle?

Free? Sleep. MORE! Go to bed early and get up and go. Drink water, too. If all you did was throw out the TV, most people would look much better. Go to bed!

4. What’s your opinion of at home workouts vs. going to the gym?

I like home workouts as it is what I do. I hate training even in my own school gym. Now, why? Everyone wants free coaching from me!

5. Larry, Moe, or Curly?

Larry, hands down.

I’d just like to take a moment to thank Dan for taking the time to participate. I highly encourage everyone to go to his site: danjohn.org. Dan has an excellent sense of humor and knowns what he’s talking about. The man is incredibly educated in addition to being one of the strongest guys I know.

For our first ever, in what I am hoping to be a long series of interviews with health professionals we have Cassandra Forsythe. Not only is she an accomplished author of two (2!) books, but she also has a PhD in Kinesiology and a  MS is in Nutrition & Metabolism.

1. What is the biggest obstacle people face when trying to lose weight?

Many people get very frustrated when the weight doesn’t come off as quickly as they like. This frustration leads to them giving up and throwing all weight loss efforts out the door. They just need to remember that the weight didn’t come on in a few weeks, so it’s not going to come off that quickly. Patience and positive thinking will help them reach their goals.

2. What is a typical mistake you see people make when trying to lose weight?

A typical mistake is being too restrictive too soon. You have to ease your body into caloric restriction. If you do it too fast and too low, you won’t have energy or the desire to do anything by lie on the couch and feel sorry for yourself.

3. What can people do right now, for free to start living a healthier lifestyle?

For nutrition, something free they can do is just cut out the processed food and mindless snacking. It doesn’t even need to be replaced with anything else necessarily. Just cutting out those calories and eating all your foods in their most natural state will really help.

For exercise, any outdoor activity is free: walking, running, swimming in your local pond, etc. Those will all help increase your caloric expenditure and keep your heart fit.

4. What’s your opinion of at home workouts vs. going to the gym?

Both can be effective and just depend on the person. Some people may find that working out at home provides too many distractions, and then they can’t get in a good workout. Where others find working out at home a way to never miss their workouts unlike driving past the gym on the way home because you don’t want to fight to find a parking spot.

5. Who is the best Bond?

Best Bond? Definitely Sean Connery. He’s dreamy

Cassandra Forsythe is the author of two popular weight loss books for women: The New Rules of Lifting and Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet. Both books are available online and in most book stores. You can read more about Cassandra at her website: www.cassandraforsythe.com or catch her latest thoughts on her blog: www.cassandraforsythe.blogspot.com

I’d just like to thank Cassandra for taking the time to for this interview, and I hope you all go visit her sites, she really is a professional not only in nutrition, but in woman’s fitness as well.

Thanks, again Cassandra!