You Can't Out Exercise Bad Nutrition

In 10 Healthy Eating and Nutrition Tips I outlined a very simple approach to making good food choices.  Ten simple rules that if followed would significantly improve your chances of dropping unwanted body fat.  Couple that with Strength Training  and Training Principles  and you're well on your way to achieving the body you've always wanted.

What happens when you don't follow these rules? What happens when you continue to eat and make the same nutritional choices you were before you started training?  Remember those same choices that got you to sign up for the gym in the first place.

Nothing.

You stay the same.  Things get worse.  Or your progress is slow...snail pace.  And that is not what you want.  You've made the decision that you don't look and feel your best.  You're constantly tired, you lack energy, you're weak and easily get out of breath.  Now you're training 1,2,3 maybe 4 times per week- great, but nothings happening, you see no significant changes to your body.  

If something isn't working you change it.  But most of the time we lie to ourselves.  If I smash my head against a brick wall it hurts! Lesson: don't smash your head against a brick wall it will hurt. It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself it feels good it's hurting me. So I never do it again.  If I eat a whole bag of potato chips, tub of ice cream, pasta, pizza, deep fried chicken and drink soda on a regular bases I will be fat! Lesson: don't eat a whole bag of potato chips, tub of ice cream, pasta, pizza, deep fried chicken or drink soda you will be fat. It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself it tastes soooo good, it's hurting me. So never do it again.

Just because you're spending 2hrs in the gym doesn't mean you can treat your body like dumpster.  There are 168hrs in one week, spending 2 of those in the gym will not make up for the other 166 spent sitting in your car, on the couch, in bed or at the kitchen table.  You cannot out exercise bad nutrition. That bears repeating YOU CANNOT OUT EXERCISE BAD NUTRITION.

10 Brash Commandments

Today marks the 15th Anniversary of the Death of Biggie Smalls aka The Notorious BIG.  Today I present to you the 10 Brash Commandments in honour of Biggies hit The 10 Crack Commandments...


Rule Number Uno: Don't ever stop dreaming.  Set your goals high, and work like hell to reach them.


Rule Number Two: Always be prepared. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.


Rule Number Three: Stay engaged. Never stop learning, evolving and improving your mind.


Rule Number Four: You know you've heard this before, never get high on your own supply. In this context don't feed your own ego!


Rule Number Five: Practice what you preach. Eat clean. Train hard. Respect your body.

Brash Fitness 3 Month Show Off Challenge

Beginning Monday, March 5th BrashFitness.com will be holding a 3 month health/ fitness/ lifestyle challenge which will be run by Brash Fitness & Conditioning.  If you've put off getting in shape, great! Now is your chance to improve your overall health and win amazing prizes.  

How It Works


For 3 months you will have access to up to 5 Brash Fitness group classes per week.  On day 1 we will determine your starting point- body fat %, scale weight, girth measurements [inches], general fitness testing [push ups, plank, etc].  Together we will set some realistic goals to strive for during the challenge.    


The goal is to effectively motivate you and keep you motivated not only during the 3 months but beyond.  


Determining the Winner 


The winner of the BrashFitness.com 3 Month Show Off Challenge will be the individual who not only transforms their body but transforms their entire life!


We're looking for an individual who loses the most body fat, adds the most muscle, gains the most strength, improves on their athleticism, changes their nutrition, changes their attitude towards health and fitness, motivates themselves and those around them and most of all is proud of what they accomplish...a Show Off.


A lot can be done in 3 months.  It will take a lot of hard work in and out of the gym but believe me it will be worth it.  


Prizes Include

Brash Essentials: Strength Training for Women

The alternate title I flirted with for this article was How to Get a Body Like [insert famous celebrity name here].  Being a Fitness Professional has it's perks one of those is not being bombarded with questions about how they can lose 'this' or 'tighten up that'.  

The first thing you have to understand is there are only a few ways to get that slim, fit, athletic look like your fav celebs.  Forget the words 'tone' or 'sculpt' in relation to your muscles.  You cannot shape or elongate or tone a muscle or anything like that.  You can only make a muscle bigger or make it smaller. The same can be said for fat cells; you can make them bigger or you can make them smaller. That’s it.  So basically what every women should be aiming to do is build muscle and lose fat.  When you build muscle you will end up burning more calories at rest, meaning it will help you burn fat and get leaner.

Brash Essentials: Practice What You Teach

There is a trend among trainers and coaches to give orders, to ask of clients what they have never felt, nor understand.  Why should a client listen to a fat and out of shape trainer who can barely do a chin up himself or get through a metabolic circuit without vomiting.  I know trainers who love to 'kill' clients, make them suffer to the point of near collapse just because they can.  That doesn't make you a good trainer, that makes you an ass.  When it comes time for them to train do they push themselves that hard? Yeah right.   

We are suppose to be the example, if we can't do it, who in their right mind would listen to us?!

Brash Essentials: Finishers

I'm not a fan of traditional cardio.  The idea of spending 30 minutes on a treadmill bores me and it frustrates me to think that some people rather use a treadmill, eliptical or stationary bike instead of...let's say a real bike.  If all you intend to do at the gym is sit your behind on a bike and pay $50 per month you're better off splurging on a bike and taking it outdoors.  I understand that when you're new to exercise it is the least intimidating thing to do, but when we're talking about goals and getting the most bang for your buck [time] it's not the best choice.  And the real problem with these machines is the fact that they're positioned in front of television sets or you read magazines while sitting on them thus never truly exerting yourself.  Some people come to the gym with the sole purpose of walking on the treadmill, why?  You could have just gone for a walk in your neighborhood.  See? Frustrating.  

I will say that steady state cardio like jogging or running on a treadmill is good for helping you build a strong base of cardiovascular endurance and it will help you burn some fat [but will eat away at muscle too], but if you really want to torch fat, retain muscle and have some fun you'll use Finishers!  

A Finisher is an old school term for an exercise or group of exercises designed to end your regular workout or 'finish' you off so to speak.  In fact, laying face down or on my back looking like a crime scene is a regular occurrence at the end of a finisher.  Incorporating finishers is great for people [guys especially, but girls should use them also] who hate doing traditional cardio [like myself].  If you're doing traditional strength training workouts adding finishers will get your heart rate up, will help you burn fat all while leaving your muscle intact.  

Here are a few reasons why you should incorporate Finishers. *from T-Nation.com*

Brash Essentials: Tools of the Trade

Every profession has a set of tools that helps them do their job.  A fully stocked gym is the largest tool box a trainer or client will ever need, but for a small investment you could mimic what you get in your gym, at home.   

People are often surprised at my own personal home gym because I really don't have that much in it.  I have a set of dumbells from 5 to 25lbs, tubing in various resistance, a couple stability balls and medicine balls, the TRX [which is a bodyweight suspension trainer], different speed and agility equipment [ladders, hurdles, cones] and some kettlebells.  That's it.  I do have the luxury of of a fully stocked gym [where I run classes] whenever I need it but if I want to get a quick workout in without leaving my house that option is always there.  And you can to.


Top 5 Tools for Your Home Gym/ To Use At Your Gym


*If the gym you're paying to help get you in shape doesn't have ALL of the pieces of equipment in this list....then your gym sucks!

Brash Essentials: Exercise Progressions

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results -Albert Einstein

Once you have a handle on the basic movements i.e. push ups, squats, lunges, pullups and the plank it's time to take those moves to the next level.  My job as a Fitness Professional and coach is to push my clients to that next level.  When you start training, you come in with a set of goals that you wish to achieve, it is my focus to help you hit those goals while helping you set new goals, more challenging goals. [Read about setting goals here]

If your goal is to run a marathon, get that elusive six pack, bench press 300 lbs or keep up with those 20 year old's at the pick up basketball game you need to progress your training.  Never stay stagnant!  

Using the five basic movements I listed above I will show you just how you can use practical progressions to seriously amp up your workouts.

PUSH UP

The basic push up is done on the toes and I always encourage my clients even if they can only do 1 or 2 in that position to start on the toes before regressing to the bent knee position.

Brash Essentials: Training Principles

Excuse me while I blow your freakin' mind....exercise works and it doesn't have to be complicated. Mind blown!

Over the next few weeks I will break down my training principles for you step by step.  Starting with a breakdown of movements to exercise progressions, conditioning, favourite tools + exercises and of course how to put it all together.  

So, to start it all off let's talk about movements.  My training style is very simple folks, I perform movements that are pushing and pulling, hip and knee dominant,  plus anti- rotational and rotational core work.  

Now, to break it down further the pushing and pulling movements are broken down into two more categories: vertical pushes and pulls and horizontal pushes and pulls.  

Here are some examples: