Meal Planning – LIVE Video

May 24, 2017 By Jason Hodge

I think often times, as a business, we get a little too focused on our agenda and we miss what people are really struggling with. So I made a post to my friends to ask them what they wanted to learn more about.

The responses were great and I couldn’t wait to go LIVE to talk to them about what they wanted to learn. But I ran into a problem. As I left a meeting to get back to my office before the 4:30 PM Live video, I hit Houston traffic. Surprise surprise, right? So I pulled over and went LIVE from my car. Here were the results.

The question that was asked was about Meal Planning. It was such a great topic that I don’t talk about on video very often, so it was nice to share some thoughts and ideas with something that people are really struggling with. So today we are doing another LIVE Video. We are planning to talk about Back Pain….but with Live video, you just never know what will happen.

Here is what happened on our Facebook Live Video

To watch future videos Like and Subscribe to our Facebook page

Back to Basics

August 23, 2016 By Jason Hodge

Does anyone else find that the more new diet programs and exercise fads that come out, the more complicated it becomes? It’s frustrating to me because there are people legitimately trying to exercise and get healthy, but they end up confused and frustrated.

Build a Foundation First! What I like most about the beginning of school is that teachers take the time to establish the foundation for which the rest of the year is built upon. I remember taking Psychological Statistics in college; every single thing that was taught throughout the year was based on what was learned in the previous weeks. If you did not understand last weeks lesson, you were going to have a very hard time this week. Admittedly, as someone who liked to cram just before the test, I learned quickly that this was not a class to get behind on. I had to stay on top of it or I would regret it later.

We do that with our health too. We want to relax and not worry about things, and then cram right before a big event or function. I want to give you a syllabus, of sort, to help you get on track and stay there.

Strength Training Basics

The exercise industry is always new and exciting. We have new equipment and new complicated exercises, but many people fear the thought of trying to operate a strength training machine on their own. You need to learn the basic movement upon which all exercise movements are built. When you learn how to do the foundational exercises properly, you will know how to do the more complicated exercises safely, how to avoid injury, and how to know there is a problem to get checked out before it becomes worse. It’s not complicated! There are only a handful of basic movements. Understand how to do those and you will be set.

Nutrition Basics

Back To Basics I have no idea how many new diet books are published each year, but there are too many to try to keep up with them all. It’s disturbing to me that there is a list of the “Top 100 Diet Books on Amazon”. The books are filled with advice on what to eat, what to avoid, what to substitute, etc…. Despite the number of books, an unfortunately high percentage of the population doesn’t feel comfortable cooking. They don’t realize how to simplify healthy cooking, how to prepare several meals at a time, how to change their food so it’s not always the same, or even which type of substance to coat their cooking pan with. Most diet books don’t focus on using restaurants to lose weight for a good reason. Despite what you may think, cooking does not need to be complicated. It doesn’t, and I would love to show you how it’s done.

Cardiovascular Training Effectiveness

While I don’t think we make cardiovascular training complicated, I don’t feel that it’s taught in a way that helps you maximize your results in the time you have to commit to it. If you are spending the time working on it, yet not producing results, you will probably burn out and stop. There are ways you can simplify this part of your lifestyle to maximize your results. The secret is not the “fat burn” button or the complicated charts you see on the wall. In fact, I recently interviewed the founder of the Heart Zone charts you see on the walls of some of the gyms and was fascinated at her viewpoints on the cardio industry. I recorded a video of her responses to the top questions I hear and I would love to share that with you.

Mindset

Mindset has to be the most overlooked, underappreciated, and least talked about aspect of achieving your goals. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to lose weight, run a marathon, overcome an injury, get back on track with nutrition, or just stay on track with your results stall. If you do not have the right mindset, you will not be able to achieve your long term goals and keep them. Henry Ford once said,

Whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right

Mindset is important and it can be improved. It can be the single biggest difference maker for you, and it just might be that lightbulb moment you’ve been looking for.

Solutions to Simplify the Process

WHEW! That’s a lot to work on! Don’t worry though, we have you covered!

With the new school year starting, we felt this was a great time to launch a new program and a new educational resource for the community.

Our New Program 20/20/20

20/20/20 Pilates/Strength Training/Cardiovascular conditioning
202020 This program has a mixture of flexibility, core strengthening, cardiovascular conditioning, nutrition, and strength training all into one. This is an excellent program if you are looking for a balance of activities to improve your health. We are offering free demos this coming Friday, Monday, and Wednesday. If you are interested you can reserve your spot online. There are limited spots open. Learn more and RSVP. This is your opportunity to learn a strong foundation to your exercise and nutrition program, be surrounded by like-minded individuals, and have fun doing it!

Our New Educational Resource – Back to Basics

Back to Basics online resource – For the past couple of months I’ve been working on building a database of information for you. We have the videos recorded and are starting to put them online now. As of right now we have released the videos highlighting the most important foundational exercises you need to know. Other videos discussing nutrition, cardiovascular, and mindset will be released on the website over the coming weeks. Simply create a free login for the website and you will have access today. Register here

We invite you to take advantage of both offers and would love to hear your feedback. Let’s make 2016 your year!

Why do you feel exhausted all day after working out?

February 3, 2016 By Jason Hodge

This is our very first Facebook Live Video feed! We notice that so many people struggle with feeling run down after working out. They are eating healthier and exercising, yet they feel miserable! Why is that? Well in this video I am going to share with you why it happens. The reason you get more tired when you are eating healthy and exercising and what you can do to fix it!

Troubleshooting workout and diet fatigue

Why do you feel exhausted all day after working out?

Posted by Jason Hodge on Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Counting Down….

August 17, 2015 By Jason Hodge

We are always counting down to something. A new job, school starting, starting our workout and diet program on Monday. Sometimes it’s procrastination, and sometimes we take that time to get prepared for the new start. If you are really getting ready to start new on a specific date, what are you doing to prepare yourself for that start date? If you have kids, you have probably already bought their school supplies, have thought about what time the kids need to be up, and countless other things that you have rehearsed in your mind. If you are trying to improve your health, have you started doing things to prepare yourself?

How to Accomplish Your Goals

If the thought of getting yourself on track again is just too overwhelming, step back and take it one step at a time. Relax, get a piece of paper and a pen and sit down for a moment. Write down your goals. You can write down the goals, but don’t make that the only thing you write down. List out the tasks associated with those goals. Break things down so that you are dealing with one task of one goal at a time. It’s a lot more effective this way and it’s not as overwhelming once you write it down.

Overcoming Obstacles

If you are dealing with new obstacles that just make your goals too complicated, think about who can help you with it. For instance, we help a lot of people who are trying to work out while they have injuries, such as low back pain. (Here are the exercises you should focus on if you have low back pain.)

If you are trying to improve your diet, there are numerous resources, but sometimes there are so many resources it becomes overwhelming. Keep things simple. What can you buy at the grocery store to make things easier for you? What are your easy healthy recipes you can make at home? In the interim, are there places you can buy healthy meals? (The Citrus Blue just opened and it has delicious food, and we are in the final stages of releasing the new Red Oak Grill healthy menu.)

The Time to Start is Now!

If you are trying to get back on track, start preparing now. If the thought of this is overwhelming, e-mail me back and let me know how we can help. What do you need to be successful? What are the missing elements that you are struggling with, that you know, if you could figure that you, you will be successful?

Upcoming Contest

For our clients, we have a contest starting August 31st to help you get refocused and back on track. (There are flyers all throughout the gym.) We are giving away an Apple Watch or Android Watch as well as the Polar H7 Heart Rate Strap that syncs with your cell phone. All you have to do to be entered to win is actively participate. Click here for more details.

Turning Goals into Accomplishments

Whatever you do, start preparing to move into the vision you have for yourself. You are more than capable of achieving your goals. Never give up! Set your goal, see it in your mind, and go after it.

A Glass of Wine Equals One Hour of Exercise?

February 3, 2015 By Jason Hodge

What a great alternative to working out! According to a recent study, one glass of red wine is equal to an hour of exercise! Wait, is that what it really says? I want to dig into this a little more so you can understand the story behind the headlines.

Improvements in skeletal muscle strength and cardiac function induced by resveratrol during exercise training contribute to enhanced exercise performance in rats

That’s the actual headline from the study, but it doesn’t sounds quite as appealing. (The original study was done in 2012, so it’s not the first time it has hit the news, nor will it be the last.) During the study that put the rats into one of 4 groups

Sedentary
Sedentary + resveratrol
Exercise
Exercise + resveratrol

What is Resveratrol?

Resveratrol is an antioxidant found in red wine. It is sometimes sold in supplement form as well, but it’s mostly known for proving the health benefits of red wine. It has a positive impact on cardiac and skeletal muscle function, comparative to the effects of endurance exercise training. It can be found in a variety of concentrations in red wine, for example, here is a chart from wikipedia. (This is important…bear with me for a moment.)

The Benefits of Resveratrol

As it turns out, the study has some outstanding results:

Our data shows that resveratrol opimitizes fat metabolism, which may contribute to the increased contractile force response of skeletal muscles and improved parameters of cardiac structure and function. …contribute to the improved endurance capacity of exercise trained rats and we conclude from these findings that dietary supplementation of resveratrol during exercise improves exercise performance beyond exercise alone.

This means that taking the resveratrol supplement did enhance exercise performance and optimize fat metabolism. All great things…right? Absolutely. So why are the articles saying that one glass of wine is equal to an hour of exercise? Well, the story has gotten a little twisted in the media. The resveratrol is a great exercise enhancer, but not a replacement. So resveratrol is good for you and you should be on it, right?

Using Resveratrol to Boost Your Exercise Performance

Now that we know it’s a great exercise booster, we should all run out and get it? Let’s look at dosage first. In order to take in the same dosage as the rats are taking in (pound for pound), a 150 pound person will need to consume about 1,600 mg of resveratrol. Let’s say you want to get your portion from red wine, you will need to consume about 229 liters of red wine, or 1,300 glass of wine. That’s a lot of red wine and would definitely not encourage you to do that. Many of the resveratrol supplements on the market have a dosage of about 500 mg, which means you would need to consume 3 capsules a day to equal the study if you are 150 pounds. Considering that we are still learning about resveratrol and you now know that it is an exercise enhancer as opposed to an exercise replacement, it may not be as great of a deal as you hoped it would be.