Elevate Yourself

Blog

  1. Beachbody Update

    Hey guys its been abour 7 weeks since the start of this project and I'm down 6 pounds. So, I have averaged about .9lbs per week. Within the next 5 weeks my goal is to get down to 180lbs. In this video I logged some of my training and nutrition. One thing I want you guys to do is to comment with any questions you may have about training or nutrition and "like" this post at the bottom of the page. thanks talk soon

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  2. Beach Body Update 1

    What Up peeps   It has been my intention to expose as much of my lifestyle as I can to have you guys witness that eventhough I make my living as a Personal Trainer, I still have the same challenges and obstacles you guys would have as far as training and nutrition. In this video I get into a little bit of my training and a common pitfall when it comes to cleaning up nutrition.   As always guys, if you have any questions, criticisms, or remarks please comment in the box…

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  3. Beach Body Project

    Hey All   A little bit of my nutrition and cardio regime. I do all my grocery shopping on Sunday morning or mid-afternoon and cooking early evening. I cook enough to get me through to Wednesday and then I'll cook more of my meats for the rest of the week. Lately, my cardio is done early morning before I eat breakfast and its HIIT 2 times a week and the other 2 cardio sessions are easy runs. If you all have any questions about anything let me know. My next vidz will be about my…

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  4. Beach Body

    My intention is to give my clients a glimpse to what sort of lifestyle I live to consciously drop those extra pounds from the holiday season. I want to show people that there is no real shortcuts to seeing results or to acquiring the body you want. All it takes is the fundamentals; training, proper nutrition, and consistency. So here is where my journey begins. Like in Lord of the Rings- Freudo on his journey to mount Doom, my journey begins here with my "before" pics. Join me, it will be a…

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  5. ELEVATE PLYOS

        When you’re a natural physique competitor aka a “natty”, your primary focus is the progression to constructing hard, lean, dense muscle.   May I introduce plyometrics. The workout we hate to love. Plyometrics (plyos for short) is a method of training designed to develop and produce fast and powerful movements. It is generally used by athletes to improve performance in sports which encompass the ability to develop max force in the shortest amount of time…

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  6. The Power of a Hug

          We live in a society where bigger is better, faster is smarter, and flashier means wealthier. We begin to neglect and sometimes even ignore whether it is at a conscious level or not our ability to really connect. As Victor Frankl once said it is the yearning of human connection that gives meaning to the life we have. No man is an island on his own.

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  7. CORPORATE CALGARY'S ACTIVE LIVING BARRIERS

    This post is in relation to a post I wrote a while back called Damn! Beaten by Tupperware.   As a fitness professional here in Corporate Calgary here are the top 9 barriers people put up:   1. “I have no time. ” This barrier is the grand daddy of them all. Everyone is given the same number of hours in a day. Prioritizing one’s health should be on top of the list. It all comes down to how much value we put into being fit and how we prioritize our…

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  8. MY TOP 33 LIFE LESSONS

      The Big 33.  Hopefully, like most 33 year olds “I haven’t figured shit out yet” but I asked myself what would be my top 33 life lessons? This is my diagnostics of my 33 years on this earth so far. And, here they are in no specific order of importance.   1. Its ok to wait. 2. It’s ok to have a “people I’d like to punch in the face” list. 3. We are often scared for no reason. 4. Facebook isn’t reality. 5. Hype is…

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  9. MY ADULT PLAYGROUND

       It's funny when we were kids we never calculated how many steps we took with a pedometer, we never clocked how long it took us to burn calories, we never stopped in the middle of playtime and told the teacher “ok I’m sweating now, can we go inside” or, cut recess short because 35-45minutes of elevated heart rate was complete. We didn’t do any of that. Somewhere in the whole “growing up thing” we as adults lost touch to the art of…

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  10. BUZZ CLIP: THE NEOPHYTES

    Watch out here come the neophytes taking the industry by storm with passion, intensity and fun!!!

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  11. DREAMBODY BUZZ CLIP

    Everyone gets up in the morning with two choices The choice of whether they will have a good day or a challenging one. And, as that proverbial saying goes "whether we choose "good" or "challenging" either way we are right. I got a chance to catch up with the most energetic guy I know an embodiment of motivation and energy in motion. Dreambody's own Mr. Paul Anthony. In the next episode we get deep and personal with Dreambody .

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  12. MY HAT TIP TO THE EFFECTIVE COACHES IN THE WORLD

    When you’re a kid, it seems not to often you have many people have a large impact on finding your true calling, or discovering your real potential. My 9th grade gym/ wrestling coach  Mr.  Harris (every teacher's first name was Mr. or Mrs in Junior high) was one of those few individuals who really understood how much of an important responsiblity it was to captivate, entertain, and mould impressionable minds to appreciating exercise, fitness, and healthy…

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  13. THE SEXY SQUAT

          Suffering from saggy/flat ass syndrome? The ultimate booty maker exercise – deep squats. It never fails, I have female clients who shy away from this particular exercise at the risk of becoming bulky and yet want the toned perky booty worthy of the second glance rubber necking on the street. So, if you want a shapely bottom, deep squats are where it’s at, and should be a staple exercise in any training…

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  14. THOUGHTS ON BEATING LAZINESS

    • As a mentor of mine once said “when you’re trying you’re lying” or when someone says they should do this or they should only do that they’re dead in the water before they even start. • Guilt is never a productive emotion. ( I’d rather be angry and “react” than guilty and “idle”) • Quick results and quick wins produce massive momentum for behavioural change. • Will power is not enough. • Strategies are…

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  15. THIS IS OUR SPORT

    What in the world would possess someone to get close to butt naked and parade themselves in front of strangers. Well, the simple answer is fitness and physique athletes would. The world of natural bodybuilding and fitness is an extremely demanding sport. The amount of time, discipline, and dedication these athletes possess is awe-inspiring. And evenmore mindblowing the physiques that these athletes unveil come showday would be like watching the statues of greek gods and goddesses come to life.

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  16. A Tribute to my iPod

    One of the most motivating things in this world is being awakened by the radio with that one perfect track that sets your mood for the rest of the day. It’s an inexplicable feeling of energy that somehow consumes your mental dialogue especially when you attach it to a feel good memory. This morning it was “Such a good vibration” by Marky Mark and the Funky bunch. Brings back the memories of old school junior high dances, first makeout sessions, older brothers bootlegging…

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  17. THE GAME WE DON'T KNOW WE'RE PLAYING

    It’s the game we play in our heads when we have two conflicting ideas. It’s the stress derived when we know that we are pancaked in the middle of two ideologies that just don’t mix. As humans we are wired to give meaning to everything. We have deeply ingrained rules that we live by and we have rules that we expect others to live by. We find structure and frame work in everything and if it’s not there we build that frame work. Because if there is no order we conclude that…

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  18. The Average Desk Jockey

    Working in the corporate environment as a fitness professional for almost a decade I’ve come across a common thread that my “desk jockey” clients are challenged with; poor posture and upper/lower back pain from long arduous hours of sitting. The funny thing about the human body is that it is designed to be highly adaptive. The body adapts to what it does most often. If you practice kicking a soccer ball all day then you get better at kicking, if you practice swinging a bat all…

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  19. LETTER TO MY BODY

    Dear Body   It’s your conscious. I know its been a while since we have spoke and it really should be a more regular thing, but I know your busy keeping things in check in there, just like I’m busy trying to keep things in check out here hehehe. I’m writing you to let you know how very proud and happy I am with how well you are doing and living so far in this reality. I know there were days where we didn’t agree with each other, like those intense carb depletes,…

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  20. My Second Family

    I’ve noticed that in this industry, the key to success is understanding who you are, and understanding your relationship with yourself. When you realize who you are and come to terms with what you want, you discover where your boundaries are and you know your purpose. You become comfortable in your own skin and are able to move through the world with direction, conviction, grace and commitment. You’ll know what you are suppose to create and what your “break evens” are. …

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  21. ATHLETIC IS THE NEW SEXY

      I happen to love ladies with muscular, athletic legs.   I love to see it when a girl has big quads or a nice split along the side of her leg delineating the hamstring/quad region. But, the icing on the cake is when they add pure athleticism into the mix. It definitely tells me that   It ain’t all show.     I’m typically not one to judge a book by its cover, but I’ll admit I was a bit dubious to not judge. How can a sweet, soft spoken (except…

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  22. HOW WE LIVE IS HOW WE PLAY: LIFE IN THE OFFSEASON

    So here you are standing in front of the mirror before stage time, muscles rippling, tanned and jacked! The 16-20 week contest preparation boils down to 10-15 minutes on stage. Before you know it you step off stage, the high heels, posing outfit, and protan come off quite easily and sometimes the hard earned phyique slips away just as quick. The body doesn't want to be in that state forever. It goes against the laws of human physiology. But, as humans we are wired to want to hoard that hard…

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  23. LIFT Part II

      The aim of LIFT is to take a barbell/dumbell class to the next level. We will do this by using current programming techniques to achieve mobility, stability and overall fitness. In this class we are going to look at some common imbalances that people are dealing with and what sort of movements the average gym goer needs.   LIFT Clients It is very important that I as an instructor and personal trainer understand where my clients and class participants are coming from. In this…

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  24. GOOD THINGS HAPPEN OVER COFFEE

    My cognitive dissonance blog which I posted last week had apparently struck a few nerves with some people. A lot were positive and some were more than harsh criticisms. I want to acknowledge the criticisms because this is the feedback that I am looking for to evolve as a trainer and coach. Some feedback I received were: “don’t judge me”, “you are not a psychiatrist”, “what are YOU doing, other than crying about it” and a few more nasty…

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  25. WILL POWER IS NOT ENOUGH

    Most of us believe that we make rational fitness and lifestyle choices. We genuinely believe that we are in control. We tell ourselves if I just work/try harder, I can lose that last 10lbs this year or I can run that half marathon. In January, people go completely overboard with training and diet. They believe that spending 4 hours in the gym and following some cockamamie nutrition plan from some fitness magazine will yield superior results. Before they know it their energy and motivation are…

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  26. The New Years Resolutionist aka "the fragile egg"

    It’s the unending cycle of the masses. The classic New Years Resolutionist. The individual with the highest intentions to improve his or her fitness but come February and March it’s as though they’ve awoken from a dream. And soon, those aspirations of losing weight, increase energy and improve overall health becomes a figment of their imagination. I see it all too often with clients who realize that they’ve overindulged during the holiday season and seek to maybe justify…

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  27. INSIDE THE LIFE AND LUNCHBOX OF A FITNESS MODEL

    Most people don't have much of an idea of how much work, discipline and dedication these models whom we see in fitness magazines put in to unveil their best. Miss Meghan Rae a pro fitness competitor and model uncovers the truth about her inspiring physique. A true leader in the fitness industry and a bad ass trainer/ instructor yeah yeah!!

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  28. WOULD YOU HIRE THAT TRAINER?

    I’m sitting in front of my Lap top listening to some hiphop music trying to figure out what I want to blog about for this next week. Listening to some of the lyrics I started mouthing out loud this one from one of my favourite artists Lupe Fiasco:   “I write what I see, write to make it right don’t like where I be, I’d like to make it like the sights on T. V Quite the great life, so nice and easy”   And then on came a classic track…

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  29. DAMM! BEATEN BY TUPPERWARE

    I've been thinking about why some people reach their goals with flying colours and others find it challenging to even get started. A quick story: I was over at my parents for dinner one evening when I had asked my mom to pack me a little doggy bag of home cooking. Delightfully, she agreed and fixed me what seemed to be a Tetris maze of Tupper ware in an extra large lulu lemon bag (thanks mommy). When I get home I throw the bag in the fridge.   The next day, when I get home…

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  30. GREAT ASS LUNGES

         It was 1st year college. I’ve been training for 3 years with the same type of leg routine that my high school basketball coach supplied me with. It wasn’t just the base strength that increased with these exercises that made them so effective for the type of movements in the sport. But, the plyometric effects of them as well. When you’re a “balla” having “mad hops” was a bonus. As the years went by and my basketball endeavors…

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  31. ASS TO GRASS

    There are many trainers that have recommended against full depth squats (full depth being hamstrings touching claves).  In this article I will bust through this common myth that has plagued the exercise community. Even though increased forces on the connective tissues of the knee increase this does not lead to injury. Commonly, inadequate movement preparation (balance and stability training, static/dynamic stretching) usually is the cause to the discomfort in squats. 2 main principles…

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  32. Motivation...

    ...to those of y'all who doubted me, keep doin what your doin I can't live without you. Continue to inspire the fire that is my rededication to greatness.

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  33. LAP DANCE ENLIGHTENMENT

      This past weekend was spent with buddies in viva Las Vegas. Yup, sin city. We managed to partake in your usual activities, going to the club, gambling, eating, drinking, shopping, and of course, a visit to the almost legendary gentlemen’s clubs of Vegas. It is here where I learned the true artistry of salesmanship or saleswomanship. Throughout it all I found common threads involving sales as in the fitness business industry.   I must admit, at the time the last thing on…

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  34. INSIDE THE MIND OF A CHAMPION

    Have you ever wondered what the day and the life of a high caliber ahtlete and coach is like. How do individual like that get to that degree of discipline in their craft and succeed in business while still keeping in tip top physical shape. This concept of discipline, mindset excellence and performance excellence is what my special guest is about. He's a world champion natural bodybuilder, close friend, mentor, and colleague. . . . Dreambody's own Paul Anthony. In this interview we'll…

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  35. LIFT

    It's always important for me to know where my average client is coming from and what sort of physical fitness they are in when they first make their initial consultation with me. My average client has the tendancy to sit for long periods of time this in turn causes some form of tightness. The body is a highly adaptable organism (I hate sounding "sciency") and because it is highly adaptable it gets good at sitting. The challenge then lyes when we transfer the learned skill of…

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  36. THE GAME WE DON'T KNOW WE'RE PLAYING Part 2

    In last week’s post I introduced a psychological concept of cognitive dissonance (CD). The concept of having 2 contradictory ideas and the effect it had on habitual thought patterns and behaviours. Some examples given from the last post were “I know smoking contributes to lung cancer but I smoke two packs a day; I know processed foods are unhealthy but I love McDonalds”. As humans we’ve naturally evolved into such rational entities. We have such a complex defence…

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  37. Badass Elevate Girl

    Yes its still out there. The notion that heavy weight will make a lady bulky. No matter how many times I attempt to debunk this common myth it somehow makes its way back into fitness convention. I'll base the following with regard to focusing on our non-drug induced athlete. Physiologically, muscle responds to 3 basic rules.   1. Muscle responds to demands acted on it. Which means that lifting heavy weight will induce damages to the muscle and activate it to remodel a stronger…

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  38. What Hour are you on?

    It all boils down to the concept of productivity. The difference between successful people and those who aren’t is that the successful people understand there is a finite amount of chances to get the job done right. They understand that getting a task done right the first time is less energy wasting than having to go back and fix it the second, third, or fourth time. Successful people understand that the most valuable commodity is “time”. It’s a commodity that you…

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