In May 2012, we’ll open registration for the Scrawny To Brawny Coaching Program, exclusively for skinny guys looking to build muscle once and for all.

This program is really important to me, because I started out as a skinny guy myself — and if you’ve never been there, you won’t really understand what it’s like.

So, last year, while shooting some of the video for the first ever coaching program, I did an interview about my own transformation: what it was like, why I did it, how I did it and the key lessons I learned in the process.

I want to share that video with you today.  Check it out.

[Note: Our first two S2B coaching programs kicked off in June of 2010 and May of 2011. They were both a huge success.  So we've followed this up with a second program in 2011.  That program launched on November 9th and the next one will be in May 2012.]

If you’re a skinny guy yourself, I strongly recommend that you try the coaching program when registration opens in May 2012. Because this is the program I designed for the guy I used to be.

The thing is, the gym culture has changed — mostly for the worse, in my opinion.

The end of mentorship

Not to go on and on about the golden days here, but the fact is that even 15 years ago, before commercial gym chains took over, you would actually know the people who were working out around you, and they might even help you from time to time.

In fact, that’s exactly what happened to me, and had I not met and been mentored by a few key people, I would have failed miserably.

I see this all the time now. Young guys, middle-aged guys, older guys — simply wasting time in the gym. I see them spending hours in the gym, I see them drinking shakes, but the months go by and … nothing happens. They look exactly the same.

I’ve been there.

And I know how that feels, because I’ve done it. I’ve felt that embarrassment, that sense of defeat. To put it bluntly, it feels like shit.

In my local gym here, I teach a class exclusively for those skinny guys, because I also know how to overcome all that — and I know, because someone once taught me.

Now, with this program, I can finally teach anyone, anywhere in the world.

And if you’re a skinny guy who’s motivated and willing to learn (and by “learn”, I mean “do what I tell you”), then I’m willing to teach you too.

A summary of the S2B Coaching Program:

The S2B coaching program is essentially a muscle-building version of our renowned fat loss coaching program, Lean Eating.

• Group coaching program exclusively for skinny guys looking to build muscle
• Only 200 spots in the program
• Private website exclusively for S2B clients
• Detailed nutrition instruction
• Complete training program
• Private support forum with guaranteed responses from dedicated coaches
• $99 down, $99 per month
• $20,000 in prizes for the best body transformations
• Results guaranteed: you build the muscle you want or the course is free.

We use this very same coaching methodology in Lean Eating, our fat loss coaching program. And our research shows that our methods are 3-5x more effective than working with a trainer in person. The reasons for that are many, but in short, it’s because:

1. We address every aspect of the body transformation process, from training, nutrition, cooking, supplementation, recovery, dealing with negative influences in your life … everything, basically, and
2. We do it one step at a time, in a carefully designed process that adds just a little more each day, preventing you from burning out or getting overwhelmed — and allowing you to keep the body you’ve built for life, even when life gets in the way.

Want Some Muscle-Building Help? The Next S2B Coaching Program Begins May 2012.

For skinny guys only: In May 2012, we’re launching the next Scrawny to Brawny Coaching Program and taking a small group of just 200 guys through a complete 12-month body transformation — training, nutrition, supplementation, recovery . . . everything.

The problem is going to be how to decide who gets in, because last time we ran the Scrawny to Brawny program, we had thousands of guys express interest and not nearly enough spots for everyone.

Our solution has always been to reward those who are the most eager and motivated — the guys who want it the most — because in my experience they make the best clients. So here’s how it’s going to work:

If you’re interested in being a part of the next S2B coaching program, join the waiting list by adding your name and email below — we’ll send you some more info about the program, and we’ll give you a chance to register for one of the spots 24 hours before the general public.

Click here to join the waiting list.

Anyone who’s ever made the transition from scrawny to brawny knows that getting big isn’t an accident. Adding pounds of muscle doesn’t just happen.

“I looked in the mirror this morning and saw I added 20 pounds! Then I won the lottery.  Then…I woke up.”

Dream on, buddy.

The reality is: gaining size and transforming your body is a concentrated assault on your physiology. But that’s not all. There’s also a mental makeover that’s required.

You see, if you follow “scrawny habits” and think “scrawny thoughts” you’re always going to be scrawny. No question about it. Might as well stock up on medium-size t-shirts.

But if you follow “brawny habits” and think “brawny thoughts”, you can gain mass quicker than you ever thought possible.

How do I know?

Well, not only have I made the scrawny to brawny transition myself, I’ve also helped hundreds of other guys do it, too. So have the Scrawny to Brawny coaches.  Indeed, a few months ago we opened our doors to 200 scrawny guys who had tried — and failed — to get big in the past.

The result of following the recommendations in our coaching program? Over 1600 pounds gained in six months.  In fact, our 10 finalists gained an average of 27 pounds each.

S2B client "MPudzianowski" gained 36 lbs in the program.

[View all our finalists from the last Scrawny To Brawny Coaching Program.]

Now, these guys weren’t anything special. They weren’t bodybuilders or fitness models. Heck, most of them didn’t even look like they lifted weights before they started the program! They were just a group of average guys with average genetics.

But over the course of the coaching program, they learned “brawny habits” that completely changed the way they looked and the way they lived.

Why are we telling you all this? Well, for one, we’re damn proud of these guys. But the other reason is this: we want to share their mistakes (and our solutions to those mistakes).  Because we want to help take you from scrawny to brawny.

If you want to finally gain some size and learn how to add muscle the right way – even if you’re skeptical about being able to do it – we suggest you avoid the “deadly six” and heed our advice.

“Looking back, I wasn’t even optimistic about starting the Scrawny to Brawny program. In my mind, I knew we weren’t going to gain weight. But, after my brother pushed me to sign up, I reluctantly gave in.”

– deadaim (S2B coaching client who gained 38 pounds in the program)

The 6 Scrawny Guy Mistakes:

Mistake #1. You Collect Too Much Information.

You have a handful of online fitness sites bookmarked and read an article or two every day. Perhaps you even print the articles so you can read them again later. You spend time in the forums, putting your two cents in and giving advice.

But are you actually practicing what you preach? Are you really training hard in the gym and eating big in the kitchen?

If you’re still scrawny, probably not.

This was one S2B client’s (forum name, krh) problem when he signed up.

S2B client “krh” gained 28 lbs in the program.

(We call this “analysis paralysis.” krh called it being an “infovore.”)

Because he was devouring article after article and compiling a mountain of knowledge, krh had the illusion that he was actually making progress. But when he looked in the mirror, he just saw the same scrawny guy.

(krh, by the way, ended up gaining 28 pounds in the S2B program.)

Solution: Go on a two-week fitness media fast. That’s right. No reading fitness magazines, books, or online articles for a full 14 days. You probably already know enough of the basics to make your time in the gym worthwhile. So why don’t you get your ass in there and really start training?

Mistake #2. You Don’t Eat Nearly Enough.

Yeah, we already know you eat a lot. (That’s what everyone tells us, at least.) But if you’re still not gaining weight, guess what? You aren’t eating nearly enough.

Most scrawny guys have a metabolism akin to a hummingbird hooked on trailer park meth. To combat your fast metabolism, you have to treat your fork like an American Express card: you should never leave home without it.

At the height of their Scrawny to Brawny journey, our clients eat a Muscle Breakfast, Muscle Lunch, Muscle Dinner, and consume three healthy, calorie-packed Super Shakes. Now that’s eating big. And it translates to big results.

“Within the first month, I’d already gained 18 pounds. And that was just from drinking the Super Shakes. We hadn’t even started the muscle meals yet.”

– deadaim

How much are you eating every day? Are you even keeping track? You don’t have to count calories, but you do have to stuff your face with healthy food multiple times per day.

Mistake #3. You Jump Around From Program to Program.

“HIT looks cool. Oh, but so does high-threshold hypertrophy. But I could also do a body-part split. Or maybe I should train like an athlete. Screw it, I’ll just do them all!“

Scrawny guys take the old bodybuilding colloquialism “keep your body guessing” to absurd lengths.

Brawny guys understand that to get great results you have to do a few things:

• Pick a program that’s made for you (a scrawny guy who wants to add muscle)
• Follow the program for at least two months
• Practice progressive overload and focus on taking a small step forward every time you’re in the gym (i.e. add more weight to the bar, take less rest, do more repetitions or sets, or perform the exercise more smoothly)

Only then can you judge a program’s effectiveness.

Most scrawny guys stay scrawny because they’re too impatient to actually stick with a program.

Solution: Pick a program (preferably something with compound movements and heavy lifting) and stick to it for at least eight weeks. And, during each week of the program, make sure you do a little more, or a little better than the previous week.

Mistake #4. You Don’t Measure Progress.

“If you start something and don’t see any kind of progress, you’ll give up.”

- Mark Christopher (S2B client who gained 30 pounds in the program)

The quickest way to become broke is to never track your spending.

Well, the easiest way to stay scrawny is to never track your stats or measure your progress.

That’s why brawny guys measure things like:

• how much weight they used for every set of every exercise of every workout
• how many meals they eat
• compliance to their “brawny habits”

They also step on the scale every week, take girth measurements and monthly progress photos. Why? The more things you measure, the more progress you’ll see.

Didn’t increase your weight but added 1/2 an inch to your chest? You’d never know if you didn’t measure.

Measuring your progress and keeping track of your workout and nutrition “stats” helps show you where things are progressing and what you need to work on to keep getting results.

Not getting any bigger? Are you drinking three Super Shakes and eating three “muscle meals”? Are you sure?

You’ve probably heard it before, but what gets measured gets managed.

Solution: Get a training journal and write down the basics: sets, reps, and how much weight you used. Also, make it a weekly habit to check both your girth measurements and your body weight.

“I can’t tell you how ridiculous it sounds, but simply clicking the little accountability box on my S2B screen and getting that green checkmark (for completing the day’s nutrition and workout habits) was incredibly motivating. It was instant feedback on how well I was doing.”

– krh

Mistake #5. You Don’t Have a Mentor or Social Support.

You don’t just get thrown into a calculus class and expect to do well, especially if you don’t know how to do calculus.

Instead, you have a teacher to, well, teach you. With their help, you figure out how to do the work, and ace the class.

Think about it. Does it really make sense to go at it alone? Would you just pack up all your gear and head into the jungle without a guide? Hell no! You’d pick a smart dude with a machete who knows the jungle like his own back yard to show you around.

Finding a scrawny guy who’s undergone a major transformation — or who’s currently undergoing one — will help you gain valuable insight into the muscle-building process.

In the S2B program, you have mentors like Coach Paul, who went from 133 lbs to 210 lbs in 18 months.

And if you can’t find a mentor, you should at least try to surround yourself with other people who have the same goals as you. Why? If you have a training partner or a group of guys to train with, a few things will happen:

• you’ll go to the gym consistently
• you’ll push yourself on hard exercises
• you’ll have someone to share the setbacks and triumphs of gaining muscle

Solution: Find someone who’s done what you want to do and ask for their advice. See what kind of habits they follow, then do the exact same thing.

“I’d get on the S2B forum a couple times per week and visit with the other guys. It was like having a group of virtual training partners.”

– TheBrandons (S2B client who gained 25 pounds in the program)

Mistake #6. You Try To Do Too Much At Once.

“You are the sum of your habits. PN helped me cultivate the brawny habits that are now a part of me. If I’m not doing them I feel off and out of balance.”

- Mark Christopher

Here’s the truth: gaining weight is as simple as following a series of well thought out habits. Thing is, the habits have to be conducive to building muscle. (Duh.)

Follow scrawny habits like not eating enough or jumping from program to program and you’ll look the same next year as you do right now.

Follow brawny habits (like the solutions we’ve given you) and you’ll be well on your way to making a huge body transformation.

But here’s the kicker: if you try to do all these new habits at once, in the beginning of your S2B journey, you’ll undoubtedly fail.

Remember, your scrawny habits were developed over years and you’ve been practicing them every day. So, to overcome them and adopt a new set of habits, it’ll take time and lots of practice.

But it can be done.

Solution: Choose only one new habit to follow and stick with it, and it alone, for at least 2 weeks, until you have it mastered. In fact, don’t move on to the next habit until this first one is mastered.

What to Do Today:

After each “Scrawny Guy Mistake” above, we gave you an appropriate solution. But if you tried to follow all of those at one time, you’d get frustrated and fail. Suddenly, you’d be back to where you started.

Instead of overloading yourself, pick any habit from the list below and follow that for the next two weeks. After that, move on to another and another until you’re following every habit consistently.

• Go on a two-week fitness media fast.
• Drink 3 Super Shakes every day.
• Pick a program that was written for your goal and stick to it..
• Keep a workout journal and/or track your girth measurements.
• Train with a mentor or group of like-minded guys with similar goals.

Want More Help? The Next S2B Coaching Program Begins May 2012.

For skinny guys only: In May 2012, we’re relaunching the Scrawny to Brawny Coaching Program and taking a small group of just 200 guys through a complete 12-month body transformation — training, nutrition, supplementation, recovery . . . everything.

The problem is going to be how to decide who gets in, because last time we ran the Scrawny to Brawny program, we had thousands of guys express interest and not nearly enough spots for everyone.

Our solution has always been to reward those who are the most eager and motivated — the guys who want it the most — because in my experience they make the best clients. So here’s how it’s going to work:

If you’re interested in being a part of the next S2B coaching program, join the waiting list by adding your name and email below — we’ll send you some more info about the program, and we’ll give you a chance to register for one of the spots 24 hours before the general public.

Click here to join the waiting list.

Or we can use nutrition coaching, exercise instruction, and psychology to transform the lives of our clients and build build a more rewarding life for ourselves.  For more on becoming the best coach you can be, read on.

We are not yet doing enough

As it stands right now, we – as coaches and trainers – are not yet doing enough to help our clients achieve their goals and live better. Yes, we’re on the right path, but it’s time to turn our baby steps into long strides.

In order to change our clients’ lives and get consistent, dramatic, and lasting results, while also giving them the tools to maintain that change and grow, we must alter our approach.

And it all starts with defining exactly what it is we do.

We are not personal trainers

Despite what it says on our business cards, we are not “personal trainers.” No, you and I transform bodies.

We use things like exercise and nutrition to change lives. And that truth is much more powerful.

Think about the last time a client came to you…

Did they want an exercise program? Chances are, the answer is no. Rarely does someone come in and say, “I’d like to do squats and push-ups.”

Yet most trainers and coaches simply write a program and take their clients through a few workouts per week, even though it’s not what the client asked for.

What 99% of clients want is change. If you listen closely, you’ll see it communicated every time they step through our front doors.

They want to change their body from its current state to their version of the “perfect body”. And they’re asking for your help to do it.

Think about the gravity of this request. Think about the trust they’re putting in you. Think about the pressure it puts on you to deliver that result – it’s enough to make any trainer nervous.

But it shouldn’t.

You CAN deliver the change your client wants

With the right tools and education, you can deliver that change. And you can do it for every single person who walks through your door. That’s the truth.

But you can’t do it by focusing on just one aspect of body transformation. You can’t do it by defining yourself as a “personal trainer.” No, to create dramatic results, you need to help manage your clients’ exercise when they’re with you and their lives when they’re not with you.

Exercise alone isn’t enough

Let’s not be naive – exercise is a crucial component of body transformation. But what is your client doing a lot of during the other 165 hours of the week? They’re eating.

That’s why an exercise program is never enough to see real, honest-to-goodness body transformation. And that’s why knowing how to change the way your clients eat is the biggest advantage you can have as fitness professional.

Trust me, in five years, knowing how to help change your clients’ eating habits will be what separates the “personal trainer” from the person who changes lives.

And, simple as it may sound, if you want to be the latter, you have to stop thinking of yourself as a “personal trainer.” From now, you are a “life changer.”

After redefining your role and purpose, the next step is to learn how to coach nutrition.

Why aren’t you coaching nutrition now?

Most trainers don’t feel like they’re qualified to help their clients change their eating habits. Here are the reasons most of them give:

1. “I’m not a dietitian.”
(Doesn’t matter – very few dietitians are trained in exercise nutrition anyway.)

2. “It’s illegal to give nutrition advice.”
(No, it’s not. You can’t do medical nutrition therapy, but you give advice to active people.)

3. “That’s not my scope of practice.”
(Well, why not? It certainly should be. In 5 years, it’ll have to be.)

These responses all limit your ability to adapt and grow as a professional. The body transformation industry is evolving so quickly that, in the near future, there won’t be a place for the current definition of “personal trainer.”

Look how far personal training has come already…

A few months ago, I had dinner with a friend who’s a highly respected physical therapist. I won’t mention his name, but he’s basically “the guy” that introduced physical therapy techniques to the fitness industry. Because of his determination and his techniques, trainers around the world now assess their clients’ needs with movement screens and keep their clients injury-free with corrective exercises.

But it wasn’t always this way. About 10 years ago, movement screens and corrective exercise were considered “outside the scope” of personal training. Sound familiar?

Back then, people were saying: “I’m not a physical therapist;” “It’s illegal to give physical therapy advice;” and “That’s not my scope of practice.”

However, that’s old news. Now if you’re not using corrective exercise and movement screening in your practice, you’re considered irrelevant, behind the times.

So, what’s the next big thing in personal training? Nutrition coaching.

Now, I’m not saying that personal trainers have to go to school for 10 years to become full-fledged masters of nutritional biochemistry. Quite the contrary. Nutritional biochemists are often ill-equipped to coach nutrition too.

What I am saying is that if you hope to survive in the fitness world through the next 5 years, you’d better understand nutrition coaching. In fact, the real world application of habit-based nutrition is the “missing piece” in the body transformation puzzle.

And that’s a topic that doesn’t require an RD or a PhD to master.

But I don’t think I know enough to do a good job…

One less-commonly cited reason for not including nutrition in the personal training environment is the most honest one: “I just don’t think I know enough to do a good job.”

I can identify with this because when I started out, that’s exactly how I felt. When I decided to do something about it 15 years ago, there were only two options for learning more about nutrition.

Option 1. Higher Education
With this option, you devote your entire professional career to learning about nutrition. This means undergrad degrees, grad degrees, and attending countless seminars. Essentially, you devote 10 years of your life to becoming “the nutrition guru.”

Of course, this is the route I chose. And while I wouldn’t change it for the world, let’s be honest, I spent over $100,000 in tuition and expenses, and 10 years of my life to achieve this. Not everyone is willing and/or able to go this route.

Option 2. The Weekend Seminar
The second option includes taking a weekend “nutrition certification course” and getting a rubber stamp of approval that, frankly, doesn’t mean anything. Sure, you’ve got the “nutrition” credential. But you don’t really feel you’ve learned much.

Obviously, I think this option is a waste of time. It probably won’t make you a better “life changer.” And you’ll probably even be a little embarrassed showing off your weekend certification credential.

The third option: the Precision Nutrition Certification

Times have changed and the two options above are no longer the only pathways to build up a strong nutritional foundation. Now, there’s a third option: The Precision Nutrition Certification.

For the last 4 years, I’ve been hard at work developing this one-of-a-kind certification program designed for – and meant to be used in – a personal training or strength coaching environment. And, truthfully, there’s nothing else like it.

Sure, our students learn all about the science of sport and exercise nutrition. In fact, about 300 pages of the 600 page Precision Nutrition Certification text are made of up of the science part.

More importantly, however, our students also learn the art of nutrition coaching. They learn how to work with real, live people.

People who want to look better and feel better – who want to change their lives – but who also have loads of rationalizations and excuses preventing them from being able to change on their own.

Free 5-day course: Essentials of Nutrition Coaching.

Obviously, I think this program is a must for any personal trainer who aspires to become a life changer. But don’t take my word for it.

We’ve created an absolutely free 5-day video course for fitness professionals, called “The Essentials of Nutrition Coaching.” It’s designed to show you how to include nutrition coaching in your practice immediately.

In it, we’ll teach you:

• How to integrate nutrition coaching in a training or strength coaching environment
• How exactly to assess a new client
• How to devise a nutrition plan based on that assessment
• What stats to measure and how exactly to measure them
• How to optimize a nutrition plan based on those stats

And we don’t just talk about this stuff — we show you how to do it. In fact, we even give you all the forms and resources you need to go and do it right away.

In addition to the downloadable resources, each lesson includes a video (about 12 minutes long), an MP3 audio version (in case you want to load it in your iPod), and a transcript (in case you’re watching it at work and don’t have the headphones handy).

We’ve tried to make this course better than any nutrition seminar I’ve ever seen, and I think we’ve done that. But that’s for you to decide. One thing is for sure, though: This free course will make you a better professional.

The future of personal training has begun…

One of the things I love about the fitness industry is that it’s still young. And with youth comes optimism and a passion for growth.

That’s why I’m excited for the future of fitness. People become fitness pros because they truly want to make a positive difference in the lives of their clients. I love that feeling too. I love helping my coaching clients.

I also get all warm and fuzzy knowing that I can give fitness professionals the tools they need to help more people while building a fun and profitable business.

So check out The Essentials of Nutrition Coaching free course. I guarantee it’ll help you evolve from “personal trainer” to “life-changer”.

Click here to check out this free 5-day video course: The Essentials of Nutrition Coaching

Click here to join the waiting list.

If you want to become an elite coach yourself, make sure to follow the action steps at the end of each point!

Top 10 Things Elite Coaches Do

#1: Elite Coaches Assess

The best coaches in the world perform thorough assessments when working with new clients before doing anything else.

Training-wise, that means movement screens and basic performance tests. Nutrition-wise that means identifying the client’s current food intake and assessing lifestyle variables, including schedule, primary complaints, current level of social support, willingness to change, and more.

Good assessments are the only way to gain real knowledge of a client and make critical coaching decisions. As the popular saying goes, “If you’re not assessing, you’re just guessing.”

What to do: Define the most important things you’ll need to know about a client to build the best program for them. Then come up with the right assessments for finding this stuff out. Remember, only measure what will actually impact your program. (If you’d like to see some of the tools we use, check out our free 5 day course for fitness professionals).

#2: Elite Coaches Keep Detailed Statistics

Clients across the world are spending big bucks to get into shape. Often as much as five or ten thousand dollars. And if we can get them into shape, we’re worth every single penny.

But we’re only worth it if we can actually get folks into shape. And the greatest evidence of our value is found in our client record books.

That’s why the best coaches do the following:

• track client adherence
• log how their clients’ bodies are changing and over what time period
• record performance and lifestyle changes
• keep photo albums with before and after photos

Great coaches have nothing to hide. They document everything and can point to compelling evidence that they know what they’re doing. Heck, the best coaches can even introduce you to past clients so you can talk to them directly.

What to do: Keep a detailed book that spotlights a wide range of your clients and their success stories. Highlight before and after photos, body composition change data, and testimonials; and show this book to all prospective clients. Blurb.com is a great web site for creating affordable – and beautiful – books like this.

#3: Elite Coaches Become Life-long Learners

Sure, this can mean college degrees. It can also mean diplomas and certifications. But this isn’t just about having some extra letters after your name. We all know how the fitness industry is riddled with crappy weekend certifications and nonsense nutrition courses.

I’m talking about real training. High quality certifications, mentorships, and internships with the top coaches in the field. These aren’t easy to come by. And no, they’re often not cheap. But elite fitness pros find a way to get the best training anyway. They become life-long learners.

Clients can recognize this. But this isn’t just about increasing your status or your bottom line. It’s also about real education and knowledge. Knowing you’re worth every dollar you charge – and that you’re at the top of your field – is priceless.

What to do: Chose a select few coaches that you respect and admire, coaches you think you can really learn from. Then go out and learn everything you can from them. (While reading their books and articles is OK, I’ve found that you learn the most during structured mentorships, internships, or certification programs they offer.)

#4: Elite Coaches Practice What They Preach

Would you trust a realtor who’s never owned a home? How about a broke financial planner? Probably not. So why would anyone hire an out-of-shape trainer?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Top trainers don’t have to look like fitness models or bodybuilders. However, they do have to live the kind of lifestyle they preach to their clients.

They should have a little more muscle, a little less fat, and a better health profile than the average person. This is powerful evidence that they know both how the body works (exercise/nutrition physiology) and how the mind works (change psychology).

What to do: Prioritize your own fitness even over the fitness of your clients. Block time off each day for your own training and meal preparation, even if it means taking fewer clients at first.

#5: Elite Coaches Reward Behaviors, Not Outcomes

“I need to lose 10 pounds” is an outcome. “I need to exercise five times per week” is a behavior.

Elite coaches know that the outcome is their responsibility and that the behavior is the responsibility of the client.

Followed this week’s habits 90% of the time and didn’t miss any workouts? That’s worthy of a reward — regardless of the outcome — because it’s this pattern of behavior that will eventually lead to success.

It’s for this reason that elite coaches find the best ways to monitor and track client behavior – in addition to tracking outcomes like body weight, body fat, etc. By giving simple behaviors, tracking those behaviors, and rewarding follow-through, success is almost guaranteed.

What to do: Instead of setting outcome goals with your clients, set behavior goals with them. Then, when they nail the behaviors you set out for them, regardless of the outcome, find some way to reward them. Public recognition, fitness related gifts, or free workout sessions are always appreciated.

#6: Elite Coaches Take Regular Measurements

Clients want to achieve something measurable, so guess what the best coaches do? They measure everything worth measuring.

Elite fitness pros will monitor and record performance variables like sets, reps, and rest intervals. They’ll monitor nutrition habit and behavior compliance. They’ll monitor workout attendance. They’ll monitor body composition. They’ll take pictures.

Without metrics, no one knows what kind of progress — if any — is actually being made. Without metrics, on-the-fly adjustments are all but impossible.

What to do: Define the most important outcomes and behaviors to measure. Next, come up with the right tools to measure them. And get to measuring (Again, if you’d like to see some of the tools we use, check out our free 5 day course).

#7: Elite Coaches Know How To Help All Clients

In the fitness field (as well as high performance athletics) we’ve seen three types of coaches. First, there are the mediocre coaches. These folks have the most basic training but, because they just don’t know enough or just don’t care care enough, they fail to consistently produce client results. Fortunately, these coaches are asy to spot, and they don’t last very long.

Next, there are the good coaches. These folks are really good at getting results in a single client type (usually the type of client that’s just like them). However, if you’re not in their perfect demographic, or not just like them, they’re not very good. And that’s a problem. Their limitations mean that they can only help a small percentage of the clients that hire them.

Finally, there are the elite coaches. These folks are well-trained and adaptable. They’re able to produce results in every type of client. From 18 year old guys, to 65 year old women, from level 1 beginners, to level 3 pros, they can do it all. That makes them indispensable. (And in demand.)

What to do: Once you’ve learned the basics of exercise and nutritional physiology, spend time studying change psychology. This field is rich in strategies for working with every type of client – from the most compliant, to the hardest to reach. (Note: we’ve included the best of these in the PN Certification text – The Essentials of Sport and Exercise Nutrition).

#8: Elite Coaches Use Training and Nutrition To Get Results

Top trainers know that exercise alone doesn’t work. And top nutrition coaches know that dieting alone doesn’t work. Both research and real-world evidence have proven that both exercise and nutrition are critical to the body transformation process.

That’s why elite coaches offer integrated nutrition and training solutions as part of their programing. They oversee exercise programming. They coach the movements. They provide motivation. They also schedule private nutrition sessions. They assess nutritional intake and compliance regularly. They show their clients around the grocery store, and encourage them to prepare and cook their food.

What to do: Regardless of whether you’re a personal trainer, manual therapist, sports medicine doctor, or sports coach, make sure you’re well versed in all aspects of your craft – including nutrition. Just as the last 5 years brought “physio” techniques into the fitness world, the next 5 years will bring nutrition. Make sure you’re leading the charge.

#9: Elite Coaches Care About Their Clients

Let’s be honest here. If you can look back at the previous nine points and confidently say you follow them, you’re someone who actually gives a shit – about your clients and your craft.

[And if you aren’t following all of them, that’s okay, too. There’s no better time than the present to start making the improvements required to become an elite coach.]

I believe it’s every coach’s responsibility to help every person that comes to see them. And that means actually caring about that person and doing whatever it takes to help them make improvements in their body – and their life.

What to do: Surround yourself with other professionals who actually care – both about their clients and about what they do for a living. The richer your network of high-quality people interested in making the world a better place, the more you’ll care and the better you’ll become.

#10: Elite Coaches Read More Than Just Training Books

I personally read about 4 books a month, about 50 books each year. Many of them are training and nutrition related. During the course of my career, I’ve read hundreds of books directly related to what I do professionally.

However, early in my career I made a fundamental mistake. I focused only on physiology books without paying much attention to an absolutely critical area of coaching: change psychology.

So you don’t make the same mistake as me, here are 6 books you probably haven’t read that will help you immeasurably as a coach and elite fitness pro.

6 Books Every Elite Coach Should Read

1. The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta
Truly an outstanding little book describing the author’s analysis of his own growth and change. If you want to understand how change happens and how new habits are actually formed in the real world, there isn’t a better book than this one.

A short read, chock full of simple, practical — and often counterintuitive — insight into the transformation process. We recommend it to all our coaching clients. And if you want to learn how to coach people who are struggling with change, you’d do well to read it too.

2. Motivational Interviewing, by William R Miller & Stephen Rollnick
Most trainers and coaches are utterly lost when it comes to talking to clients, or understanding how to help them change. That’s a shame, and a missed opportunity. Because few people realize how important the dialog between coach and client really is, and what a key role it plays in the transformation process.

Motivational Interviewing is a very specific style of dialog designed to provide clients with a safe place to contemplate change — and all coaching, whether with elite athletes or with rank beginners, is about facilitating change. The truth is that, in general, the way you speak to your clients is either encouraging change or deepening resistance. And if you haven’t read MI, you’ll be surprised to learn that much of what you’re doing has the effect of actually making change less likely.

3. Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath
They say that change is hard. Yet if that’s true, we sure don’t act like it. Every day, people are happily embarking on new career paths, getting married, having kids, and more. And these are huge changes. So why can’t you convince your clients to eat less processed food and more broccoli?

Well, that’s what authors Chip and Dan Health investigate in this excellent book. From their research, it’s clear that change isn’t always hard. Rather, when the two sides of our brains – our rational and our emotional brains – act in harmony, change can be effortless. Of course, there are specific steps that must be taken in every change effort. And in Switch, the Heath brothers will walk you through each of them, sharing an exact blueprint for helping others change anything about themselves.

4. Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson et al.
Always pandering to a client is a sign of weakness in a coach. But so is berating them or being completely insensitive to their needs. A great coach must be able to hold clients accountable, and that inevitably means discussing difficult things (eating habits, behavioral patterns, problems with a spouse, compliance issues, etc.).

Crucial Conversations is the best book I’ve found on the topic, and I’ve read quite a number. The authors describe a step-by-step process, from recognizing when the discussion is getting critical (i.e., becoming aware of the emotions at stake) to being honest without being hurtful, to settling an issue and moving forward in agreement.

5. The Blackmail Diet, by John Bear
This is a really hard one to track down, because it’s been out of print for so long. I just happened upon it a few years ago in a used book store and picked it up for $2 based on the name alone. And the short book didn’t disappoint. In it, the author describes a host of weight loss experiments revolving around a single concept: people make a legally-binding pledge to either lose weight or face an unpalatable consequence.

It’s a fascinating read for a coach, with two very important lessons: 1) when people have enough leverage on themselves, anything is possible; 2) clients have to make decisions and commitments when the motivation is high that will have lasting impact when the motivation wanes — which it inevitably will.

6. Influence, by Robert Cialdini
A classic collection of psychology experiments and anecdotes examining how influence actually works. Cialdini weaves a solid argument that people are hard-wired to look for very specific cues before they are convinced of something. Well, your clients will be examining everything about you and your practice, even in ways you might not have anticipated.

I highly recommend picking up this book if only to understand the thought process your clients go through when evaluating your services.

What to do: Start with any one of the books above and get reading. Now, if you’re not much of a reader, start with the shortest one, “The Power of Less”. Here’s a link to pick up a copy. Alternatively, think about participating in the upcoming PN Certification group.

PN Certification Program begins $cur_registration_open_datetime — waiting list now open.

If you want to add nutrition to your arsenal and join the ranks of the elite fitness professionals, the Precision Nutrition Certification Program is perfect for you.

Based on over 10 years of research and statistical data from over 6,000 clients, the certification is a comprehensive nutrition coaching course designed specifically to teach professionals working in a personal training or strength coaching environment how to get clients in the best shape of their lives.

We’ve opened the waiting list for the $cur_registration_open_datetime program. I strongly recommend you get your name on the list now because spots are limited and typically sell out within hours each time we run the program.

Click here to join the waiting list.

His name is Greg and he plays in the NFL. That’s pretty much all I know.

“You think I should get a private chef?” he asks. “With my wife and kids at home, we could really use some help to prepare for next season.”

John Berardi and I are sitting at a long table in a lavish private dining room at The Nines, a luxury hotel in Portland, Oregon.

A dozen Nike-sponsored NFL athletes and trainers sit around the table, eating, joking, and playing with their iPhones and Blackberries.

On one side of the room is a table filled with glass bottles of Voss water, loose leaf tea, and gourmet coffee. Against the opposite wall there’s a table lined with  PN-designed meals including filet mignon, wild salmon, roasted chicken, raw mixed nuts, and every type of vegetable you can think of.

All of it has been freshly prepared by a chef with a big white hat and brought out on silver trays by waiters. In other words, this ain’t no Olive Garden salad bar.

JB  looks up from his plate of veggies and meat and smiles at Greg. “Yeah, I think that’s a great idea. We’ll help you with recipes and give you some guidelines on what to look for,”  he says.

We arrived a few hours earlier by private chauffeur, a friendly guy named Darryl who picked us up at the airport in a jet-black Lincoln Town Car. After arriving at the hotel and checking in, we were welcomed by a bag of Nike shoes, shirts, and shorts on our bed.

Not a bad start.

We’re in Portland because Nike hired Precision Nutrition to coordinate and design all the meals for their Nike NFL Pro Training Camp.  They asked us to come in for a few days to mentor their athletes and answer nutrition questions.

Back in the dining room, I look around the table at each of the guys. Every one is a high-powered, well-paid machine. In the gym and on the field, they all know how to take care of business.

But they don’t really understand how to fuel their bodies.  Not yet anyway.

To be clear, they certainly don’t need better nutrition to play in the NFL.  Because, well, they’re already here. They’re doing good enough on whatever they’ve been eating all these years, and they have the paychecks and ESPN highlights to prove it.

Still, there are a few things about food they don’t know, things that can help them when the cameras are off, when they aren’t surrounded by thousands of screaming fans.

They don’t yet know how food can help them sleep better or recover from injury faster. They don’t know how to manipulate their nutrition to gain muscle in the off season, drop fat before they suit up for their first practice, or maintain their weight in season.

Those are the questions they don’t even know to ask. And we’re here to answer them.

But there’s time for that kind of talk later. For now, JB and Greg are talking about babies — Greg and his wife just had their third, and JB’s daughter is just over a year old.

They’re swapping stories about how to get the little tykes to sleep through the night.  (And JB surprises Greg with some tricks that the old pro hadn’t yet heard about.)

It’s weird. We’ve been here for a few hours — among some of the world’s best football players — and we haven’t yet talked about football.  Not once.

Another hour passes. We finish our dinner and say our good nights. Tomorrow’s our first day on the Nike campus and we need our rest.

But  before I head to bed, I have to check on something.  Since I’m not a huge football fan, I’m not really sure who most of these guys are.  To me, they’re just regular guys who happen to play football.

I open my laptop, type “Greg Jennings” into Google.  I watch the first video that pops up.

I see a huge stadium. Thousands of screaming people. And there’s Greg, number 85 of the Green Bay Packers, the dude we were just having dinner with 20 minutes ago, catching a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.

Huh.

Greg, working hard during one of the two-a-day training sessions.

On The Nike Bus, The First Morning

It’s 8AM and JB and I are in an elevator with a couple of the NFL guys and a few people who definitely do not play in the NFL. An older gentleman and his wife slink to the back of the elevator. A lady with high heels and big hair cradles a little yapping dog in her arms.

Outside, there’s a huge black tour bus idling in front of the main lobby doors.  A guy in a nice suit stands military-straight next to the stairs leading into the bus.  We pile in and look around: hardwood floors, leather couches that wrap around both sides, two satellite TVs and a mini-fridge full of water and Gatorade.

It’s a 20-minute drive from downtown Portland to the Nike campus in neighboring Beaverton. Some guys pull the hoods of their sweatshirts over their eyes and lean back to nap. Others play with their iPads or fiddle with the TV.

But Steven Jackson sees an opportunity.

Steven, a 6’2” 240-pound running back from the St Louis Rams, sits next to JB and takes out a folded white sheet of paper from his front pocket. The dude is massive.

“Hey Doc,” he says. “Can you go over my diet with me?”

JB takes the piece of paper and looks at it.

“How closely are you following this?” asks JB after a minute.

“Uh, it’s hit or miss,” says Steven. “Some of it’s hard to do.”

JB hands me the paper.  Whoever designed it — Steven never said who helped him — is recommending he take 50 BCAA pills during his workout and two pounds of buffalo meat post-workout. Among other things.

Good ideas? Sure. Hard to follow? You bet.

“This is pretty complicated,” says JB. “When I give my talk later this week, I’ll break it down into very simple and easy-to-follow suggestions you can use. For now, don’t worry about it. Just sit back and enjoy the food we’ve got for you guys.”

Satisfied, Steven sits back and closes his eyes. “Man, that’s good news,” he says. “I don’t even know where to get buffalo.”

PN-Style post workout Super Shakes instead of buffalo meat.

The Nike Campus and the Custom Locker Room

The Nike Campus is like a small, thriving city. 17 buildings make up more than 2 million square feet — roughly 35 football fields. The landscaping is gorgeous. The practice fields are immaculate. Banners of famous athletes gently wave in the breeze. There’s even a 6-acre lake right smack in the middle of everything.

JB and I stroll along the sidewalk and get lost trying to find our way around. Everywhere we go, there are green and black skulls staring at us.  This is the new Nike NFL Pro logo and it’s plastered on every glass door.

After a quick tour of the Nike kitchen and a conversation with the head chef – who did an amazing job of putting together a week’s worth of PN-approved meals – we find the Michael Jordan building. A gigantic skull meets us, a huge decal spanning the double-door entrance.

We walk inside and are met by a line of all black mannequins equipped in the latest high-tech football uniforms, prototypes of the uniforms Nike is designing for the 2012 NFL season.

To our left is a series of rooms that have been curtained off for privacy. Inside, world-renowned coaches like Alwyn Cosgrove and former Ukranian decathlete Val Nasedkin take the NFL guys through a series of movement screens and central-nervous-system readiness tests.

In the back there’s a 52-inch interactive TV screen that tracks vision acuity, reaction time, and peripheral vision.

To our right, the locker room opens up. There are four big-screen TVs equipped with Playstations and leather couches. Lined against the wall are wood grain lockers, the last names of the athletes painted above each one.

Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions, lounges on the circular leather couch in the middle of the room.

This will serve as our home base for the next couple days.

JB and I make ourselves comfortable, and spend the day following the athletes from the field to the gym to the yoga studio, answering nutrition questions, swapping stories with the guys, and eating delicious PN-designed gourmet meals in between.

This is how you know you've arrived at the right building.

Practicing What We Preach, and Post-Workout Snacks

Day 2 at Nike. While the athletes are out on the field working on sprint drills and running routes, JB and I take the opportunity to train. (We may be here to help out elite athletes, but we’re part of a company that practices what we preach.)

The Bo Jackson weight room, we learned, had recently transformed to accommodate this camp in particular.  Just last week they removed the old equipment and replaced it with custom-made power racks, deadlift platforms, dumbbells, and TRX’s.

The weight room is now officially badass.

JB and I make up a quick, on-the-fly upper body circuit consisting of weighted chin-ups, dumbbell bench presses, TRX rows, military presses, and a hard ab circuit.

During our rest periods, we watch the guys run sprints on the field below.

After our workout, we head outside just as the guys are finishing their drills. On cue, a couple Nike employees come out carrying large trays of ice. There, in perfectly straight rows, are big cups of PN-inspired Super Shakes.

“What do the colors mean?” asks Aaron Curry, a linebacker from the Seattle Seahawks. He’s referring to the blue and red flags in front of the rows of protein shakes.

JB explains that the shakes with blue flags are lower in carbohydrates and are for the guys who need to lose a little fat. The red shakes, he says, contain more carbs and are for the guys who need to gain more muscle.

Nice and easy, just as it should be. No two pounds of buffalo meat here.

The athletes grab their shakes and lounge around on the grass. “Damn, these are tasty!” someone says.

JB and I sip ours and take in the early afternoon sunshine.

The Bo Jackson weight room; custom designed for the NFL Pro Training Camp.

The Nutrition Talk No One Expected

It’s Day 3 and lunch time in the locker room. JB is standing in front of a table that’s loaded with high-quality food and watching as the athletes make their plates, some choosing from “blue” selections and some choosing from the “red.”

When everyone is settled, he begins.

“I have to apologize for the rest of my field,” he says. “Nutritionists always like to say, ‘Oh, you think you’re good now. Imagine how much better you’d be if you started eating healthy all the time.’

“Honestly, I don’t agree with them at all.”

This gets everyone’s attention.

“You guys are at the top of your game,” he says. “And you don’t need anyone to tell you what or how to eat. You’re grown men.”

“Still, I have some tips that can help you feel better.”

From there, JB talks about specific supplement cocktails that increase the speed of recovery from an injury.  He talks about nutrition strategies to get more restful sleep, a common problem for athletes when they’re on the road. He talks about how to use nutrition to minimize concussive damage, common in NFL athletes.  And he warns of the dangers associated with unregulated supplements.

“You never really know what’s in there. With multimillion dollar contracts on the line, you guys can’t afford to test positive for any banned substances that may be in your protein or recovery supplements.”

Finally, JB takes the notion of counting calories and throws it out the window. He goes over the difference between “blue” types and “red” types and how to measure protein, carbs, and veggies by looking at the palm of your hands.

After the talk, we pass around copies of the Gourmet Nutrition cookbook and spend the next few hours answering questions.

That night in the hotel dining room, we notice that every athlete spends a little more time looking over his plate of food.  We’re proud.

JB talking high-performance nutrition with a group of eager athletes and coaches.

VooDoo Doughnuts and The Portland Streets

It’s our last night at Nike, and after an intense sprint workout and hearty dinner, JB and I are craving carbs.

And what better place to get them then from the world-famous Voodoo Doughnuts?

We walk through the streets of Portland until we find the shop, a little hole in the wall with a long line of people snaking around the brick building. Once inside, we make our selections.

JB gets a banana fritter the size of his head and a Bavarian cream-filled doughnut. I get The Ol’ Dirty Bastard — made with Oreos and peanut butter — and a glazed doughnut topped with Captain Crunch cereal.

We walk back to the hotel, avoiding bums and weird street magicians who hammer nails into their nostrils. (Seriously.)

Nothing will ruin our appetite for delicious doughnuts.

Back at the hotel, we grab some hot tea from the bar, and get a waitress to bring us some knives and forks. As we dig in to our box of goodies, a couple of the NFL guys walk by.

“Whoa! What are you guys doing?” they ask.

JB and I just smile.

“We’re not always on nutritional police duty,” says JB. “Besides, we earned these carbs today.”

Our little side trip yielded some tasty donuts and a valuable lesson for the guys.

After Training Camp

It’s easy to give a talk about nutrition, but challenging to break down complex nutrition theories and put them into easy actionable steps that anyone can follow.

The ability to do that is something we at PN take great pride in.

Still, you never know how much impact you’ll make on someone.

“Will these guys take our advice?” is a question JB and I both had on the plane ride back home from Nike.

A few days later, we got our answer. In our email inbox was a short letter from Greg Jennings.

“Just wanted to say I found a personal chef who’s using the recipes in Gourmet Nutrition to cook for my family. Thanks so much for the help guys.”

JB’s Seminar: Behind The Scenes

For a short behind the scenes video, check out the following You Tube coverage of the camp.

More Video From The Nike NFL Pro Training Camp

Episode 1: Part 1

Episode 1: Part 2

Episode 2: Part 1

Episode 2: Part 2

Episode 2:  Part 3

Episode 3: Part 1

Click here to join the waiting list.

8 hours and 32 minutes.

That’s how much time Marsha spent in the gym… over the last 4 months.

Do the math. That’s only 32 minutes… per week.

What’s the deal? Is this Marsha person lazy?

No.

She works 2 jobs, runs a Girl Guides group (Girl Scouts, for you Americans), and plays co-ed volleyball a few nights per week. Oh yeah, and she’s planning a wedding.

No, she’s not lazy at all. She’s a hard-working, busy, social, fun woman.

Is Marsha recovering from some kind of injury?

Nope.

She’s as healthy as can be. And she could technically work out 8 hours a week… if she wanted. But she doesn’t want. Her goal is to get leaner than she’s ever been — while still having a life — with as little exercise as possible.

Leaner than she’s ever been? On 32 minutes a week? She must be crazy!

No, not at all.

In fact, if anyone’s crazy it’s me. Because I’m the one who recommended this program to her. She actually asked for more exercise. But I capped her at 4 workouts per week and 32 minutes.

The workouts looked like this:

• 2 sprint workouts – 6 minutes each
• 2 circuit workouts – 10 minutes each

The results?

Well, in the last 16 weeks Marsha lost a whopping 20 pounds of body fat. She dropped from 150 pounds to 130 pounds. That’s nearly 2.5 pounds of fat lost for every hour spent in the gym.

Want to know how she did it? If so, read on.

Marsha’s Minimalist Training Program

As I said above, Marsha could have worked out much more than 32 minutes per week.

She could have willed herself out of bed extra early to do some low intensity cardio. She could have given up her recreational activities and stopped hanging out with her friends after work in favor of hitting the weights. She could have delegated more of her wedding tasks or quit one of her jobs.

But why would she do any of that?

All that work doesn’t just sound shitty. It sounds unsustainable. Maybe she could do it for a while. But eventually, she’d either lose motivation or some life demand would squeeze the unrealistic workout program out of her life.

So, when thinking about her program, I asked myself the following three questions:

1. How much has she got going on in her life? (Answer: A lot.)
2. How much gym experience and proficiency does she have? (Answer: Not much.)
3. What are her weaknesses? (Answer: Upper body, glutes, anaerobic system.)

Given these particular needs, I wanted to build a program that was light on the time commitment and the requirement for technical skill development — but one that still would produce excellent results.

(This approach allows clients to get started right away without having to reschedule their entire lives. It also allows them to get moving without having to hire a personal trainer to learn all the movements.)

One 30-minute session with me is all it took for Marsha to learn the entire first phase. And after that, no workout lasted longer than 10 minutes.

So what did the program look like?  Here’s what she started with during week 1.

Day 1 – 10 minutes

Close-grip push-ups x 10 reps
Inverted rows x 10
Kettlebell swings x 20
Rest 1 minute
Repeat 5 times

Day 2 – 6 minutes

2 minute walk
15 second sprint on treadmill at 8 mph and 10% incline
15 seconds rest (standing on side of treadmill)
Repeat 5 times
2 minute walk

Day 3 – 10 minutes

Close-grip push-ups x 10 reps
Swiss ball crunches x 10
Air squats with hands behind head x 20
Rest 1 minute
Repeat 5 times

Day 4 – 6 minutes

2 minute walk
15 second sprint on treadmill at 8 mph and 10% incline
15 seconds rest (standing on side of treadmill)
Repeat 5 times
2 minute walk

Notes On Marsha’s Exercise Program

In addition to scheduling these workouts, here are a few important notes I gave her for the program. These are critical for experiencing the type of results she saw.

Progression

Start with the exact numbers above and with each consecutive workout do one thing to make the workout harder.

For strength workouts, this means doing additional repetitions or reducing the rest time between rounds. And for sprinting workouts, this means increasing the incline, the speed, or the number of repeated sprints.

It doesn’t matter what you choose, just do one thing more than the last time. And make each increment small. It might feel easy at first. But eventually, you’ll reach your performance limits and the increases will come slower.

Workout Frequency and Rest

Do your workouts every other day if possible, with one day off in between workouts. If that’s not possible, take a day off after two consecutive workouts in a row.

All other recreational activities (walking, volleyball, etc.) are fine and can be scheduled in whenever you like. However, these recreational activities will be in addition to the workouts above, not in place of. And, of course, they’re not required. You’ll get in great shape with this alone.

Workout Log

Buy a small spiral-bound notebook and write down every workout you do. Record the time it took you to complete. Record the number of reps and sets you do for strength days. And record your sprint intensity (speed and incline) as well as the number of reps you do.

This book will help you decide which improvements (progression) to make from one week to the next. Without it, you probably won’t remember what you did the week before.

Duration

Follow this program for 4 weeks and then recalibrate, if necessary, at that time. It’s only 32 minutes of exercise per week, or just over 2 hours for the month. So there are no excuses for not completing all the workouts. Of course, if, for some reason, you miss a workout, that’s fine. Just don’t ever miss two in a row.

That’s pretty much it for the program. It’s simple, it’s brief, it’s challenging, it’s sustainable. And, most importantly, it actually works.

Before moving on, I just want to add a few things about Marsha’s exercise experience throughout the 16 weeks. These will help you gain a greater appreciation for both what she focused on and what she struggled with.

Weak and Deconditioned – So What?

During the first week, Marsha was so deconditioned that she couldn’t actually complete any of the workouts. For example, she could only do 3-4 push-ups. And only 4 rounds of the circuits. Even though it was hard for her ego, she showed resiliency and kept going.

Remember, progression means doing a little more each week. So that’s exactly what she did. By the end of the 8th week, she was able to do a GI-Jane-worthy 20 push-ups. And she was able to do 8 rounds of sprints at 8.0 mph on a 12% incline. I’ll bet she’s glad she hung in there.

Monthly Program Changes

Every four weeks I made some slight changes to the exercise selection on the circuit days. This provided her with some different muscle stimulation every new training phase.

Besides a few exercise swaps and the steady progression she was making, nothing else changed for the full 16 weeks. The workouts didn’t get longer. We just crammed more work into each session as she got more fit.

Vigilant About Progression

I have to point out that Marsha was vigilant about her progressions. Every week she added a little more resistance, did another rep or so, or increased the treadmill incline or the speed by a small fraction. This is crucial.

By the end of the 16 weeks, she went from very weak and deconditioned to surprisingly strong and fit. Honestly, even I was surprised by how quickly her fitness adapted and how much change we saw with this minimalistic approach.

If there’s one lesson to take away from Marsha’s experience, it’s this: When tackling a new exercise program, begin with a program that’s even easier than you think you can do. Yes, it’ll start off easy (that’s the point). Yes, it’ll bruise your ego (“I can do more, damn it!”) But starting off easier helps you develop a few important habits.

Being realistic.

Early motivation always makes us overestimate our capabilities. So we tackle something that’s unsustainable. Starting slowly allows us to do an exercise program we can sustain – while still sustaining the other important things in our lives.

Consistency.

You’ll stop skipping workouts. When you know it’s only 6 or 10 minutes of exercise, the excuses start dissolving. And you get in the habit of exercising instead of in the habit of skipping workouts (which some people get quite good at).

Progression

This is the number one thing people miss out on when starting a new program. Week 1 is hyper-enthusiastic. Week 2 is a regression because you’re sore. Week 3 you struggle to match Week 1. And so on. Why not start off slowly and focus on doing just a little better each week? This is the key to long-term results.

In the end, Marsha did an awesome job.  And hopefully you learned a few things from Marsha’s plan. Of course, the exercise program was only part of the experience. Now, let’s talk nutrition.

Marsha’s Super-Simple Nutrition Program

As I’ve said many times before, without a good nutrition program, exercise doesn’t really work all that well – especially when body transformation is the goal. For more, check out these articles:

• Why Exercise Doesn’t Work
• Why Exercise Still Doesn’t Work

Thus, nutrition was an integral part of Marsha’s transformation. However, like with the exercise program, we kept it really simple.

I just gave her the following nutrition notes, and had her repeat my expectations to me (aloud) so I could be sure she understood them.

Hunger and Exercise

Intense exercise often makes people hungrier. This leads to overeating and no weight loss. For this reason, the most important thing you can do is pay close attention to your food intake and make sure you’re not eating more than usual. Awareness is the key. (Fortunately, the minimal exercise volume will help keep hunger down too.)

If you’d like to speed things up even more, follow these simple rules.

• Eat each meal slowly.
• Eat about 4 meals per day (every 4 hours or so).
• Eat lean protein, legumes, and lots of veggies w/each meal.
• Avoid white, starchy carbs (breads, pasta, rice, chips, etc).
• Avoid fruit.
• Don’t drink your calories (use lots of water or coffee and tea instead).
• One day per week, eat whatever you want.

Contrary to what you’d expect; I didn’t even give her a diet to follow. In fact, I rarely ever give anyone a diet to follow. 99.5% of my clients get guidelines and habits to follow instead of diets. I do this for three main reasons:

1. People aren’t very good at following diets when conditions are “normal”.
2. People completely give up on the diet when conditions are “abnormal”.
3. People don’t learn anything when they are prescribed a diet.

Now, if you’re still questioning the habits and guidelines approach (vs. the diet approach), ask yourself this question.

What’s better: starting out really fast with a detailed and intricate diet… and then quitting after a month? Or starting out more slowly and methodically… and losing 20 pounds of fat in 16 weeks like Marsha did?

Wait! What About G-Flux?

Now, for those of you who’ve been around a while, you’re likely scratching your head and wondering how I could recommend such a minimalist program.

I mean, I’m the guy who did that study showing that you probably need 5 hours of exercise per week to be truly happy with your body.

And, I’m the guy who’s written all about the benefits of increasing your energy flux, or G-Flux, when you want to improve your body composition, including both adding lean mass and removing fat mass.

So, doesn’t this very program contradict those ideas?

Well, not really. I mean, I do still believe that if you have the time and you love exercise (like most of our PN readers do), shooting for about 5 hours of exercise per week is perfect.

(And remember, you don’t have to do all 5 hours in the gym.)

However, what if you don’t have the time? Or you’re new to exercise and you’re not sure if you like doing it yet? If you’re in either situation, what are you going to do with the 5 hour recommendation?

If anything it becomes an excuse for not working out.

“Oh, I can’t do that 5 hour thing. So why even bother exercising in the first place. I’ll get started next week…or next month.”

Bullshit! I say get started now.

Start with 5 minutes a week, if you have to. Build it up a little at a time. Eventually you’ll find the perfect amount of exercise: just enough to help you reach your fitness goals; not so much that you can’t accomplish your other goals in life.

In his book The 4 Hour Body, Tim Ferris calls this the “Minimum Effective Dose.” From the book:

“The minimum effective dose (MED) is defined simply: the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome…. Anything beyond the MED is wasteful.

To boil water, the MED is 212°F (100°C) at standard air pressure. Boiled is boiled. Higher temperatures will not make it ‘more boiled’. Higher temperatures just consume more resources that could be used for something else more productive.

If you need 15 minutes in the sun to trigger a melanin response, 15 minutes is your MED for tanning. More than 15 minutes is redundant and will just result in burning and a forced break from the beach…”

For Marsha, 32 minutes a week did the trick. For me, a little more was required.

My Experiment In Exercise Minimalism

Over the last few years, my life has changed pretty substantially. I bought a house, I got married, my wife and I had a baby girl, and PN has grown tremendously.

As a result, I have less time for the gym than ever in my life. Not only that, I have less desire.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love training. However, I’m just not willing to give up time with my family – or time spent doing meaningful PN work that actually helps people – so that I can do extra squats.

That’s why I was so excited by Marsha’s results. So excited, that I tried my own experiment in exercise minimalism.

Now, because I have 20 years experience in the gym, and a long history of higher-volume training, I decided to build a program that combines a little more exercise volume with a little more complexity.

However, the program is still quite minimal. The total time requirement – without the optional recovery workouts – is 80 minutes a week. With the optional workouts – 140 minutes.

Here’s what that program – designed for fat loss – looked like:

WEEK 1

Day 1 – Monday (Upper body circuit – 20 minutes)

Upper body warm-up
Close-grip push-ups x 20 reps
Inverted rows x 20
Flat DB press x 10
Bent over DB rows x 10
Band crunches x 10
Reverse hypers x 10
Rest 1 minute and repeat 5 times

Day 2 – Tuesday (Treadmill sprints – 7 minutes)

2 minute walk
15 second sprint at 8mph/10% incline
15 seconds rest
Repeat 6 times
2 minute walk

Day 3 – Wednesday (Rest or recovery – 30 minutes)

30 minutes of light cycling (or complete rest)

Day 4 – Thursday (Lower body strength – 45 minutes)

Lower body warm-up
A1. Front squat 5 × 3 reps
A2. Swiss ball leg curls 5 × 10 reps
B1. Deadlifts 5 × 3 reps
B2. Dumbbell squats 5 × 10 reps
C1. Kettlebell swings 5 × 8-10 reps
C2. Speed deadlifts 5 × 8-10 reps

Day 5 – Friday (Treadmill sprints – 7 minutes)

2 minute walk
15 second sprint at 8mph/10% incline
15 seconds rest
Repeat 6 times
2 minute walk

Day 6 – Saturday (Rest or recovery – 30 minutes)

30 minutes of light cycling (or complete rest)

WEEK 2

Day 1 – Monday (Upper body strength – 45 minutes)

Upper body warm-up
A1. Flat DB press 5 × 3 reps
A2. Pull-ups 5 × 10 reps
B1. Bent over rows 5 × 3 reps
B2. Low cable crossover 5 × 10 reps
C1. Explosive bench press 5 × 8-10 reps
C2. Explosive inverted rows 5 × 8-10 reps

Day 2 – Tuesday (Treadmill sprints – 7 minutes)

2 minute walk
15 second sprint at 8mph/10% incline
15 seconds rest
Repeat 6 times
2 minute walk

Day 3 – Wednesday (Rest or recovery – 30 minutes)

30 minutes of light cycling (or complete rest)

Day 4 – Thursday (Lower body circuit – 20 minutes)

Lower body warm-up
Air Squats x 20
KB Swings x 20
Front Squat x 10
Lunges x 10
Band crunches x 10
Reverse hypers x 10
Rest 1 minute and repeat 5 times

Day 5 – Friday (Treadmill sprints – 7 minutes)

2 minute walk
15 second sprint at 8mph/10% incline
15 seconds rest
Repeat 6 times
2 minute walk

Day 6 – Saturday (Rest or recovery – 30 minutes)

30 minutes of light cycling (or complete rest)

When I designed this program, I’d committed to following it for at least 8 weeks – 4 weeks of week 1 and 4 weeks of week 2. (I liked it so much, I ended up following it for 4 months and counting.)

Like Marsha, my program was based on progression. I set my weights and intensities lower than I thought I could handle. During each session I kept a workout log. And each week I used the progression principle to do a little more than the previous week. Interestingly, I’ve been able to do just a little more every week for 16 straight weeks.

One example: over the course of 4 months I slowly worked my way up from 6 sprints at 8 mph and 10% incline to 10 sprints at 9 mph and 12% incline. That would have been impossible for me in the beginning.

In terms of diet, I followed my advice to Marsha with two exceptions:

• My exercise volume was dropping off, so I ate a little less to keep dropping fat.
• I also fasted completely during one day each week (more on this in a future article).

So here’s the nutrition plan (note that it’s still not very complicated).

1. Eat a little less than usual
2. Eat each meal slowly
3. Eat about 4 meals per day (every 4 hours or so)
4. Eat lean protein, legumes, and lots of veggies with each meal
5. Avoid white, starchy carbs (breads, pasta, rice, chips, etc)
6. Avoid fruit
7. Don’t drink any calories (used lots of water or coffee and tea instead)
8. One day per week, eat whatever you want
9. One day per week, I didn’t eat anything at all (more on this in a future article)

The whole thing has worked out great. I’ve lost about 15 pounds of body fat so far (4 months into the program) — and I didn’t have much fat to lose.

Plus, my strength is good, my fitness is awesome, and – even as I approach 40 years of age – I am as lean as I’ve ever been in my life. In fact, I’m probably about 3-4 weeks away from “contest shape”, should I ever want to do a physique contest.

Even more importantly, I feel awesome on this plan. In the past, to get to this level of body fat, I’ve had to do more extreme, bodybuilding-style diets. These calorie-restricted short-term plans made me feel miserable – like the walking dead. And the day my “diet” ended, I’d binge away. A few weeks later it was like I hadn’t gotten leaner at all.

This plan? Well, I feel normal. Like I’m not dieting at all, really. Marsha mentioned the same thing to me. No brain fog. No insufferable cravings. No crushing lack of motivation.

Sure, from time to time we have to say no to an ice cream craving. But we can always eat that ice cream on our “eat what we want” day. We just have to wait a couple of days.

So, what’s next?

Marsha’s still plugging away.  She thinks she’ll be happiest in the 120 pound range and a little leaner.

For me, I’m happy with my current body weight and composition.  So it’s my goal to maintain my current body comp (and this minimal approach) for an entire year.

In my life, gone are the days of bulking up and cutting down. I’ve moved beyond that characteristic bodybuilding schizophrenia – “I want to get big… no, I want to get lean… no, I want to get big.”

Now, I just want a plan that keeps me lean, healthy, strong, and fit. One that’s not based on uncomfortable overeating followed by uncomfortable undereating. One I can just “do” – every day, as long as I want to do it.

If you’re looking for the same thing from a training and nutrition plan – something you can do to get in awesome shape while also having a life – maybe you should try your own experiment in exercise minimalism.

Find your own minimum effective weekly dose of exercise, quit obsessing about your fitness program, and get out there and have some fun.

Of course, if you want some fat-loss or muscle-gain coaching, give us a shout.  We’d be happy to help you find that minimum effective dose for you.

Click here to join the waiting list.

I caught up with him and had him answer nine questions about his experience.

1.  What are the top 3 most practical/useful things you learned during your internship?

Well, in this situation, I learned practical and useful things every single day. So I’d consider these more “key things” rather than the actual three best.

1. Know when, if and how to progress and regress. The latter is something I (and I’m sure many others) used to overlook. However, it’s important not to “move on” just for the sake of “moving on”. Go backwards sometimes, for a good cause.
2. You can always train around an injury. Short of a full body cast, there is always something you can do. There were people fresh off of surgery that couldn’t raise their arms above shoulder level still getting a training effect. Just as we see clients in Lean Eating Coaching have success in various situations (from stay-at-home moms to lawyers with 16 hour work days), there is always a way to stay on track with your goals.
3. You can only learn so much from books, DVDs, etc… You need to get your hands dirty and learn by going out there and DOING. It’s okay to make mistakes — simply adjust for the next time.

BONUS: This is only applicable to me, but it was very useful nonetheless: I want to be a better coach. I want to surround myself with the right people and learn from them. As PN coaches, we wear many hats, but all of us seem to have a niche. This is an area in which I want to specialize.

2.  Has your perspective on training (other people and yourself) changed since having this experience?

There are many ways to get to the same goal and I was already familiar with Eric and Tony’s general philosophies and approaches to training before interning there. I gravitated to their approach and wanted to surround myself with people that are where I want to be.

So my overall perspective hasn’t changed much, but my methods have. For example, I have found myself understanding more and further utilizing things like soft tissue work, mobility drills, etc…

The biggest thing though, is it cemented my belief that training success (or success in most areas) is not about novelty. It’s more about sound and solid principles, hard work, willingness to experience discomfort, and the right coaching. Not sexy, but it’s what works. (Sounds like what we say at PN, huh?)

3.  Any favorite quotes you overheard from Eric or Tony?

“Hey Jay. It’s Eric Cressey. We think you’d be a good fit to intern here if you’re still interested.”

Too cheesy? Ok, here’s another…

“We’re not here to lift more weights. We’re here to become better baseball players.”

The truth is, I made mental notes of what Tony or Eric said every single day. Everything from their coaching cues and elaborate in-service explanations, to random stuff like movies, has been forever stored in my brain.

I learned continually. I learned from the in-services; from speaking with the staff at CP, fellow interns (Doug and Tad), and the clients; from the coaching I did (when to cue, when not to cue, what cues to use, when and how to progress/regress, etc…) I learned from everyone and everything.

However, I chose the above quote because it shows the importance of keeping your main goal in mind. Unless you’re competing in powerlifting or weightlifting, the exact numbers you lift are pretty much arbitrary. What may be more important is the continued progress you see.

Plus, you’ll have a tough time excelling at sport, getting lean, gaining muscle, etc… if you’re always injured.

4.  What was the most common “problem area” that athletes/clients needed to correct?

This is tough because everyone there had their own “issues” and their programs reflected the necessary “correction” (exercises, mobility work, etc…).

In general though, most will do well to improve mobility at the ankles, hips and thoracic spine. That’s not surprising given the position and posture in which most of us spend the bulk of our days.

One other thing I think many people can work on improving (or learning) is the “hip-hinge” pattern.  This seemed to be difficult for many to grasp. From those of middle school age to the older athletes and clients, there were people in every age group that had trouble with this.

5.  Do you have any new favorite mobility movements?

Yoga Plex, walking Spider Man with hip lift and overhead reach, and squat to stand with overhead reach.

All 3 are very efficient movements; they address several problem areas at once.

Yoga Plex

Walking Spider Man with hip lift and overhead reach

Squat to stand with overhead reach

Now – finish the following sentences.

6.  Tony Gentilcore is…

…as funny and knowledgeable in person as he is on his blog.

7.  Eric Cressey is…

…working at a level of knowledge I can only hope to scratch the surface of. He’s also proof that it’s OK to have a small dog if you can deadlift over 600 lbs.

8. Eric and Tony are…

…where I aspire to be as a strength and conditioning coach. They’re genuine people who do the right things for the right reasons. Seriously, their ability as coaches is rivaled only by them as people. I’ll continue to learn from both of them.

I just noticed that I’m a bit obsessed with learning about Eric and Tony.  Moving on…

9.  The exercise that most people just can’t get right is…

…something that doesn’t exist with the right coaching and progression.

Click here to join the waiting list.

Check it out.  (GN appears about 40 seconds into the video).

More About Gourmet Nutrition V2

In this book, we’ve taken the healthiest ingredients and whipped them into nearly 300 pages of delicious culinary creations that you can serve with confidence to the most discerning foodie – or the most nitpicky nutritionist.  We’ve included detailed cooking instructions and ideas for improvisation.  And we’ve even photographed every recipe in beautiful color to show you just how appetizing healthy food can be.

Gourmet Nutrition is the cookbook that’s as friendly to your body as it is to your taste buds, and it’s equally at home on your kitchen counter and your coffee table.  Pick it up, read it through, and try it out – we know you’ll love it!

To pick up your copy of GN V2 today, click here.

Click here to join the waiting list.

And if you’re like most runners, you did your run decked out in fancy shoes, an orthotic insert or two, an iPod, and cool workout wear. You were probably careful to refuel with well-chosen lean protein and carbohydrates. You iced and stretched afterwards and — deservedly — high-fived yourself.

But what if we told you that even if you were an elite marathon runner, there are people out there who leave you in their mountain dust… while running barefoot, fuelled by beer, and maybe even flicking a cigarette butt at you as they burn past on their 200-mile jaunt? Kinda humbling.

Those boozy bon vivants who were apparently born to run are the Tarahumara (or as they call themselves, the Rarámuri, “those who run fast”), a remote indigenous group from northern Mexico.  And they’ve got legions of researchers scratching their heads over their secret.

How are the Tarahumara able to run dozens — hundreds — of miles easily, either barefoot or wearing simple sandals they made from old tires? How are they able to survive such a gruelling (to us) training regimen on a simple diet that’s mostly corn, with some beans, squash, and small quantities of game (including mice), fish, and eggs?

Oh… and with lots and lots of corn beer as their Gatorade?

Is it their genes? Training? Running technique? The beer? The pre-race smokes that many enjoy?

In this Discovery Channel (US) / History Channel (Canada) special, explore just how they do it with a host of experts including Dr. Berardi, who appears in part 2 at around the 4 minute mark. (And enjoy the dramatic styling of William Shatner in a sweatsuit.)

Weird or What w/Dr Berardi – Part 1

Weird or What w/Dr Berardi – Part 2

Weird or What w/Dr Berardi – Part 3

Weird or What w/Dr Berardi – Part 4

Conclusion

It’s easy to assume that there is some “secret” to the Tarahumara’s endurance. In a 21st-century world characterized by “magic bullets” and “the next big thing” in training fads, we’re always looking for the one factor that will somehow allow us to perform superhuman feats.

Indeed, you may be hunting in your freezer for a bag of frozen corn right now, hoping to whip up a batch of tesguino corn mash — one of the Tarahumara’s staple foods.

As Dr. Berardi and other experts point out, many important social factors shape the Tarahumara’s physical abilities. Just like playing the piano or learning Cantonese, practice — especially from a young age — makes perfect. In a context where running is both transportation and entertainment, it makes sense that people would be very, very good at it.

One thing’s for sure: Whatever potential genetic advantages the Tarahumara enjoy, they evaporate quickly in the face of a North American diet. A New England Journal of Medicine study that put a group of Tarahumara on a five-week “affluent Western” diet high in calories, processed foods, sugar, and fat found that even this short period made the otherwise-fit subjects gain weight, and increased their cardiovascular disease risk.

So what’s the take-home message? Live actively, stay moving, and push your limits now and again. Human evolution has equipped us for wondrous feats… if we dare to try.

Click here to join the waiting list.

For the last two weeks I’ve been on vacation with my family, including two new moms and two new babies; one baby seven months old and one baby nine months old.

Now, for those of you who don’t have kids, babies this age are pretty awesome.  But they are needy, with a capital N.  Which means that as a mom or dad you’re pretty much giving care non-stop.  Even when the babies are sleeping.

“Free time” – it’s a luxury.  And getting to a gym that doesn’t provide daycare services – it’s a pipe dream.

But here’s the thing.  Gyms aren’t actually required for a great workout.  Neither is baby-free quiet time.

In fact, during this trip, we’ve worked out every single day.  And in today’s article I’d like to show you how we did it with minimal time and no gym access.

One Example Workout Day

One random weekday during our vacation, we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning.  It was early and the temperature was perfect.

So, after breakfast, we grabbed the strollers and the babies, and we made up the following workout.

The moms and babies are ready for their workout.

We started off with walking lunges while pushing the strollers - 10 lunges per leg.

Then we stopped to knock out some push-ups - 15 push-ups each.

After 10 more walking lunges, we added 20 body weight (or baby-weighted) squats.

After the squats, we did 20 shoulder presses with the baby.

After shoulder presses, we did 10 straight leg deadlifts per leg.

After the deadlifts, we did 10 more walking lunges, this time with resistance.

Next, it was time to lay down and do 10 hip thrusts.

Since those were too easy, we added 10 more hip thrusts - this time one leg at a time.

Next up, 15 crunches - here's what they look like with the legs extended.

And here's the 2nd half of the movement, with legs pulled in.

Next we did TVA abdominal pull-ins. We simply blew out all the air from our stomachs. Then we sucked in our stomachs as hard as we could. We repeated this 10 times.

After the ab work, we did 15 more push-ups.

Next up, we grabbed a baby (or not), and did some side lunges. We did 10 to our right...

And 10 more to our left.

Next, we did 10 high knees on each side while pushing the stroller.

Now some butt-kickers while jogging to the next station.

Awesome, we found a playground!

Time for some inverted rows at full extension while babies watch on (or sleep) - 15 reps.

Here's a picture of the top of the movement.

Here's a modification with the knees bent.

Last exercise - 12 triceps extensions.

The triceps extension at the top of the movement.

And that's it. We jogged to the pool for a post-workout dip (moms and babies included).

I love to workout - great job mom!

Whew, I'm exhausted from all this exercise!

So, as you can see from the sequence above, the busy moms just got out there and had some fun with exercise.

They pushed the strollers.  They used their body weight.  They lifted the babies for added resistance.  (I even jumped in on the exercise too, after I snapped each picture).

There’s wasn’t a “workout program” or a specific sequence of movements with a pre-defined number of sets and reps.  There was just movement.  Some upper body  moves.  Some lower body moves.  Some core moves.  Until you’re pooped out.

Truly, it was a lot of fun.  It was also a lot of hard work.  But the entire workout took only 20 minutes.  And all 3 of us adults, who are in pretty good shape already, were a little sore the next day.

Another Workout Day

If you’re a person who either needs a little structure (or doesn’t quite know which moves you should  be doing), here’s another workout plan we used for the days when the weather wasn’t great or when we just felt like doing something simple at the condo.

This workout also takes 20 minutes or less.  And no matter how good your conditioning is, it’ll prove a challenge if your form is good and you concentrate on really squeezing your muscles.

Dynamic Warm-Up (3-5 minutes)

For the warm-up, we chose 5 or 6 dynamic stretches, mostly yoga moves that concentrate on each of our tight areas, and went through a circuit or two of these movements.  The total warm-up duration is about 3-5 minutes.  And usually the babies just watch in awe.

Workout Sequence (10 minutes)

Air Squats x 20 reps
Push-Ups x 20 reps
Hip Bridges x 20 reps
Partner Assisted Seated Row with towel x 20 reps
One-Leg Deadlift x 10 reps per leg
TVA Stomach Exercise (above) x 10 reps
Repeat 2 more times (for 3 total rounds) with no rest between exercises

But Can’t I Just Go For A Walk?

Sure you can.  And during our vacation we did go for a lot of walks with the babies.  We even did quite a bit of swimming in the pool and in the ocean.

However, here’s the honest truth.  Low intensity activity like walking, jogging, swimming, etc. – while better than nothing – just isn’t enough.

To look and feel your best you need both calorie-burning cardio exercise AND muscle preserving resistance exercise.  So that’s why we included walking, swimming, and the resistance-based exercises above.

And here’s another important piece of advice.

If you’re even more time-crunched than we’ve been, skip the cardio stuff in favor of resistance exercise.  When time is limited, the resistance exercises covered in this article are much more effective than cardio exercises.

The Real Lesson: Keep It Simple

I think one of the reasons people skip workouts – when traveling, when on vacation, or even when they have a new baby at home – is that they think working out has to be this big event.

They think you need lots of time, the right clothes, the right equipment, and the perfect workout program.  Well, frankly, that’s bullshit.

Sure, my regular workouts – which take me about an hour or so to complete – are performed at a gym.  I do wear some nice workout wear.  And I do follow training guidelines from one of my coaches.  (The moms in this article are the same.  They normally do longer workouts planned for them by their coaches).

However, when we don’t have the luxury of a gym, or even time, we don’t bail on the whole thing, “all-or-nothing” style.  Instead, we subscribe to the “always something” philosophy.

We keep it simple and do the best we can.  And here’s the funny thing.  The best we can is usually good enough.

Interested In More? Take A Free Course

If you’d like to learn more about getting (and staying) in great shape while at home, traveling for business, or on vacation – without having to sacrifice your entire life in the process – check out one of our free courses below.

Free Course For Women (click here)

Free Course For Men (click here)

Truly, when it comes to eating and exercising to be in great shape, there are only five important things you need to think about. Everything else is just a distraction.  And I’d like to share those five things with you over the next few days.  Just click one of the links above and you’re all set.

Click here to join the waiting list.