Are You Mentally Tough?

Okay, so really, how many of you challenge yourselves in the gym? I see this all of the time where people let fatigue get in their way, where they let their bodies control their minds.

What the heck is fatigue anyway? A rocketing locomotive that's going to vaporize us on contact? No, fatigue is nothing more than a mental perception based on sensory input into the brain.

How we interpret this input and then act on it is what sets people apart, this is the essense of mental toughness.


Simplified, the muscles say to the brain, "okay, I'm tapped, that's it, nothing left, better stop". That's the sensory input.

Getting Killer Ab Definition

"How do I get six-pack abs?" How many times have you heard this question or even asked it yourself? The answer may seem complex and shrouded in mystery because popular culture throws so many "solutions" at us. We've all seen a thousand gadgets, supplements, and "30-day" programs all promising a quick and effortless path toward the coveted "six pack".

Truth is, the formula for ab definition is simple, however actually getting ab definition is hard work.

The first step toward ab definition is to build mass in the rectus abdominus, or the main wall of stomach muscles where the six pack is found. And here's a revelation - for most people standard crunches or sit ups won't get it done.

Motivation: Mind over Matter

When discussing maximum and peak physicality, so much of what we’re getting at is mental. Think about it,everything the body does is an execution of a mental command. You have got to remember the old axiom “make the mind control the body, don’t let the body control the mind”. This is so true with health and fitness.We all get hungry, we all get fatigued, we all sometimes just don’t want to get our butts up and out the door to go workout.

The mind has to be strong, and that comes primarily from having a strong sense of motivation.

Motivation comes from desiring a specific outcome or future state, and feeling convinced that we have the absolute power to affect that outcome. This is precisely why so many people love health and fitness, because the individual is in total control and there’s very little other people can do to screw it up for you. We can’t say that about too many things in life, it makes our fitness goals a great outlet for feeling and being in control of at least one important life dimension. However – and you probably already see the caveat coming – this also means 100% accountability. You ahve got nobody to blame but yourself if you don’t get it done.

Tips for Making Fitness Happen

Written by Chantayn Winner

Ladies, Let's Get Started!

In any given week, I encounter women wanting to make changes in their lives, yet are allowing various fitness struggles to hinder their vision. Particularly, I often hear how they are challenged in finding enough hours in the day, that there is simply not enough time to exercise or take care of themselves. I understand. I am a working mother with a lot on my plate as well. The most important part of exercise and eating right is to START. That is the key.

You must set up a schedule that will work for you and that it is realistic. Also, be sure your goals are achievable. We often correlate weight loss with exercise or how many trips we took to the gym in any given week. Especially for women, we believe that our fitness goals have to be all or nothing. Or that we need to be an expert on nutrition and diet in order to be successful. The truth is, the smallest steps are the most important steps to success.

Some of the ways in which you can incorporate health and fitness into your busy schedule are easier than you may think. Proper nutrition throughout, eating small meals every 3 hours, will help sustain your energy and mental alertness. For the office, bring healthy foods that you enjoy to snack on. At my desk I often have almonds and protein bars handy for when I simply can't get away. In the break room my co-workers will usually find I have tuna packed in water, hard boiled eggs, low fat cottage cheese and yogurt ready in the fridge.

Sexuality and Power: Learn 6 Ways Body Image Affects Us

Are you satisfied with your body?

Wow, that question opens a big can of worms. If you're seriously into fitness, the answer "no, I'm not satisfied" may come more easily as most in this category accept constructive criticism as healthy and necessary to goal attainment of a more perfect body.

Others, however, may feel differently and may either shy away from critical physical assessments or may simply say they accept themselves as they are. However, some recent research suggests something much deeper going on.

We judge our bodies mostly by how we think we're viewed by the opposite sex, according to several recent studies. And although several factors contribute to our body self-image, foremost is the desire for power over the opposite sex. Following are six ways body image can affect us according to one survey:

1)  Size - Men perceive large physical size as powerful, while women see being smaller and more petite as better for obtaining power and influence over the opposite sex.

2)  Satisfaction - Men generally are more satisfied with their appearance and see themselves as attractive to women, even when they're not in great shape, while women were generally less satisfied with their appearance and desiring to improve it to gain power over men.

3)  Social Pressure - Women feel social pressure to look attractive in order to gain power more than men do as popular culture tends to focus more on glorification of the perfect female body and appearance.

4)  Motivation - Women are generally more motivated to change their appearance by what men think, while men are more motivated by what they think of themselves, suggesting that men tend to already see themselves with the inherent upper hand.

5)  Height - Both men and women agree that the man should be taller than the woman in a relationship, and that the reverse has a negative impact on the relationship's power structure, i.e. both the taller woman and the shorter man would have less power over the opposite sex.

6)  Physical Standards - Women are generally less concerned about physicality and more concerned about femininity as a power lever over the opposite sex, while men were more concerned a strong physical appearance and overall presence.

Agree or disagree? Post your thoughts below...

Learn These 5 Steps to Reach Your Full Potential

If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward. Complacency kills and familiarity breeds contempt. Yet for many life becomes seeking security and safety, or as Pink Floyd puts it, becoming comfortably numb. But if life is anything at all it's about reaching our highest imaginable potential, or achieving what Abraham Maslow described as self actualization in his famous paper "A Theory on Motivation".

Where do you sit in the self actualization hierarchy? Be honest, because the answer has everything to do with the satisfaction you achieve in life. To reach the highest point of Maslow's hierarchy is to achieve our greatest expectation of self.

When we talk about goal setting, we're usually describing some personal attempt to move up the needs hierarchy, and how high we aim for has mostly to do with personal motivation and the sense that our lower needs have been fulfilled. 

And that's the catch.

Too many people get caught up in the lower hierarchy levels in a state of need. It's important to note that, as we move up the needs hierarchy, we progress from filling our own needs toward helping to fill the needs of others. Helping others is, in effect, the key to self actualization!

So how do we make this progression up the needs hierarchy? Below lists 5 important ways:

1) Define your highest calling

This is very personal and unique to each individual. Be your own CEO, define your personal self actualization based on what's important to you, not on what will please or impress others, including significant others. What personal gifts do you have to give away that will improve other's lives?

2) Quit wallowing in the self

That's the stuff at the bottom of the hierarchy. Abandon self pity. Love what you once thought of as discomfort. Accept that you're not supposed to be loved by everyone. Quit pretending life should be perfect. Maintain faith that ,as you grow in helping others, your basic needs will be fulfilled.

3) Gain necessary skills

As Steven Covey says, sharpen the saw. Gain the skills necessary for your self actualization. Read. Take classes. Get certifications and degrees. Speak on the subject. Write on the subject. Begin teaching others. Practice, practice, practice.

4) Set SMART goals

Set goals for your self actualization that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time sensitive. Write them down, put them on your refrigerator, live by them. Achieving these goals are literally the difference between a fulfilled life and an unfulfilled life.

5) Focus on goals, not on obstacles

Obstacles are what we see when we lose sight of the goal. Obstacles do not stop those who love their goals and their vision of self actualization. Love your goals more than you hate the obstacles by a factor of 10 and you will smash through any barrier.

We only get one shot at life. We owe it to ourselves and to those around us to be our best possible selves by overcoming our personal needs and by growing to serve others with our unique, personal  talents.

Health and Fitness Evangelism - Share the Love

Other people – people you may care deeply about – need you to get them started on their own personal health and fitness journey. As a member of the fitness community you will have an obligation to share the love with others.

In his classic book The Tipping Point on viral networking (a great book, by the way), author Malcolm Gladwell describes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable”. Gladwell leverages the tipping point concept from physics and applies it to how ideas travel and become accepted in a society. In physics, the tipping point describes how a relatively small amount of weight added to a balanced object can cause it to suddenly and completely topple.

We need to completely topple society’s existing paradigms regarding health and fitness, and it starts with each one of us going out among our friends, our families, our neighbors, and our associates and informing them that, regardless of their past or of their current situation, few limitations exist on our ability to realize the greatest levels of health, fitness, and strength that we’ve ever known.

7 Reasons Why Workouts Fail You

While literally millions of people workout, very few realize true workout success. Most dabble in the gym on and off, never getting results. They quit working out, usually under a myriad of excuses along the lines of being too busy or of disappointment that "they're just not seeing results".  Below are seven common reasons why workouts fail:

1) No clear goals - If you can't measure it you can't manage it. Too many people head into the gym with either no thought of what they're trying to accomplish or vague goals of "losing weight" and "toning up".

What to do: Be specific and write it down. If the goal is weight loss or body fat loss, identify how many pounds or the target weight, the time element, and what you'll do every day to make it happen. If it's muscle gain, identify things like desired bicep and chest measurements or one-rep max increases.

2) Motivation is missing - motivation has two key elements: a) possessing a goal that is deeply meaningful to you, and b) feeling mostly in control of the outcome.  If motivation is missing from your workouts, examine these two factors and identify what's missing. Why do you care about your goals? Do you feel you can make them happen or do you need help?