Life as a professional bodybuilder can be hard. We are constantly looking out for new effective ways to gain muscle – the latest supplement, different workout routine, a new diet. All these things are very important but the key lies in our sleep patterns.

No training program, diet, or supplement can compensate for insufficient rest. Growth hormone is produced and protein synthesis occurs during sleep. These are two of the major benefits of sleep the other two are energy consumption reduction and brain cell restoration.

Throughout this blog post, I will explain the benefits of sleep and what to do to optimize it to support your muscle recovery and growth.

Sleep Controls Your Diet

The common suggestion about losing weight is “eat less and move more”. But it’s not that simple, or even true. Sometimes you want to eat less and move more, but it’s impossible because you have no energy. And there is a good reason for that. Between living your life, working, and exercising, you’re forgetting sleep.

Or even worst, you don’t realize sleep is the key to your dream physique. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 35 percent of people are sleep deprived. Considering that the statistic for obesity is almost identical, it’s easy to see that there is a connection between these two.

The lack of sleep – less than seven hours of sleep per night – can reduce and even undo the benefits of dieting, according to the new science. A research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that people on sleep-deprived diet experienced a 55% reduction in fat loss compared to their well-rested counterparts. 

Poor Sleep Changes Your Fat Cells

How did you feel the last time you woke up after a bad night of sleep? Exhausted, dazed or even a little grumpy. It’s not just your brain and body that feel that way – your fat cells do too. Your body suffers from “metabolic grogginess” when its sleep deprived. The term was created by University of Chicago researches who analyzed what happened after just four days of poor sleep – commonly happens during a busy week. One late night at work leads to two late nights at home and the next thing you know, you’re in sleep debt.

But how bad could it be? It’s just four nights, right?

Wrong!

Within four days of sleep deprivation, your body’s ability to properly use insulin (the master storage hormone) becomes disrupted. The University of Chicago researchers found that insulin sensitivity drops by more than 30%.

Here’s the reason why this is bad. When your insulin is working well, fat cells remove fatty acids and lipids from your bloodstream and prevent storage. When you become more insulin resistant, fats circulate in your blood and pump out more insulin. Eventually, this excess insulin ends up storing fat in all the wrong places, such like your liver. This is exactly how you become fat and suffer from diseases like diabetes.

Lack of Rest Makes You Crave Food

There are a lot of people that will tell you hunger is related to willpower and learning to control your stomach, but that it’s simply not true. Hunger is controlled by two hormones – leptin and ghrelin.

Leptin is the hormone which is produced by your fat cells. The less leptin you produce, the more hungry you gonna get. The more ghrelin you produce, the more you stimulate hunger while also slowing down your metabolism and increasing the amount of fat you store. You simply need to control leptin and ghrelin to lose weight, but sleep deprivation makes that impossible.

A published research in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism reveals that sleeping less than six hours triggers the area of your brain which increases your need for food while also depressing leptin and stimulating ghrelin.

The scientists discovered exactly how sleep loss makes it impossible to lose weight. Your cortisol levels rise, when you don’t sleep enough. This is the stress hormone frequently associated with fat gain. Cortisol also activates reward centers in your brain which make you want food. At the same time, the loss of sleep causes your body to produce more ghrelin. A combination of high ghrelin and cortisol makes you hungry all the time – even if you just ate a big meal.

And it gets worse.

A study published in Nature Communications found out that just one night of sleep deprivation was enough to impair activity in your frontal lobe, which controls complex decision-making.

It turns out, sleep deprivation is little like being drunk. You don’t have the required mental clarity to make good complex decisions, especially with the foods you eat. That’s why sleep deprivation destroys all diets – it makes you crave high-calorie foods. Normally you might be able to fight off the desire, but because brain is weakened due to sleep deprivation, you have trouble fighting the urge and sustaining your diet.

And if all that wasn’t enough, research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology found that sleep deprivation makes you select greater portion sizes, increasing the likelihood of weight gain.

The bottom line: Lack of sleep means you’re always hungry, reaching for bigger portions, and desiring every type of food that is bad for you – and the worst is that you can escape it.

Sleep Sabotages Gym Time

The disastrous impact spreads beyond your diet and into your workouts. Having some muscle on your body is important, no matter what fitness goals you have. Muscle helps you burn fat and stay young but lack of sleep is the enemy of muscle. Scientists from Brazil found out that sleep debt decreases protein synthesis (your body’s ability to grow), causes muscle loss, and can lead to a higher incidence of injuries.

Lack of sleep makes it harder for your body to recover from exercise by slowing down the production of growth hormone – your natural source of anti-aging and fat burning that also facilitates recovery.

If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy exercise, optimizing your sleep should be your number 1 priority. It will boost your recovery and give you more energy so you can push through a challenging workout. If you’re suffering from slept debt, everything you do feels more challenging, especially your workouts.

The Better Health Secret: Prioritize Sleep

We already know how important sleep is for our overall health. It effects our decision making, fat loss, energy levels, etc.

So how can we make sure we get the desired sleep on a consistent basis?

I have stumbled upon a very useful and easy to apply formula you can use right now to maximize your sleeping hours.

It’s called 10-3-2-1-0 formula.

This system helps you get in bed on time, improve your quality of sleep and wake up the next morning well rested and ready to crush your day.

10 hours before bed – No more caffeine.

Usually, this is the amount of time required for your body to clear the caffeine from the bloodstream and eliminate its stimulatory effects.

3 hours before bed – No more food or alcohol.

Avoid eating big meals and drinking alcohol three hours before sleep. This will help you prevent heartburn and interrupted sleep. You might feel that alcohol make you sleepy, but actually it impairs your natural sleep cycle and interrupts valuable deep sleep.

2 hours before bed – No more work.

To sleep better you need to be relaxed, so stop all work-related activities two hours before bed. No phone calls, emails, reports, etc.

1 hour before bed – No more screen time (turn off all phones, TVs, and computers).

One hour before bed turn off all electronics. The blue light emitted from the screens makes it difficult to fall asleep. In the final hour of the day enjoy reading a real book, talking to your family, meditating, taking a bath, etc. but do not use your IPhone or tablet, unless you want to stare at the ceiling for another hour.

0 – The number of times you will hit the snooze button in the morning

The last thing you should avoid comes first thing in the morning. If you wake up to the sound of an alarm, you will be tempted to hit the snooze button.

Don’t.

Not only will slow you down, but going back to sleep for a few minutes makes you more tired than if you had started your day immediately.

There is a simple solution to help you overcome the temptation of the snooze button. You place your alarm across the room. That makes you get up and walk a few steps before you can turn it off. By then, you’re more awake and it’s just easier to continue with your day than going back to bed.

There you have it. Now you know how important is sleep not only for our fitness goals, but for our overall health. You know what sleep deprivation leads to and how to avoid it. Use the 10-3-2-1-0 formula so you get a quality sleep consistency and get the desired physique.

I believe in you. Let’s go out and crush it.

Setting goals is a critical step when it comes down to structuring your training – before or after a contest. Without well-established goals, you can go back and forth between fitness programs and exercises all you want but there won’t be any results. After a competition, a lot of the competitors go on a binge for days. Although treating yourself after a long and tiring contest prep is normal and it’s something that I encourage people to do, gorging on unhealthy food weeks after the competition is not the way to go.

The next thing that comes in mind is what kind of goals you should set after the contest – appearance based or performance based. This is a subject of some debate in the fitness industry, but when it comes to structuring a training program, appearance-based goals are way more effective.

Some fitness professionals argue that you should learn to appreciate your body and ditch the focus you are putting in on your physical appearance. While there is some truth in that, too many people tie their self-worth to their appearance and that leads to unhealthy obsessions. But I am not here to tell you how should you feel and what you should want.

I’m here to get you the result you want!

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look better, as long as that desire doesn’t stress you out and becomes more of a burden than something positive. In my opinion, performance-based goals are better than appearance-based goals. They may have a lot of similarities. For a lot of people, improving appearance means increasing muscle and decreasing body fat. Improving performance often means increased strength and aerobic capacity. But performance-based goals are better in my opinion simply because what gets measured gets managed. It’s way easier to track your progress and find out where more work needs to be done!

In this article, I’ll explain the 4 steps you should follow to set performance-based goals for your offseason, so you stay on top of your game and come back better and stronger for your next competition!

Step 1 – Getting Judges’ Feedback

The first step in building a productive off-season routine starts before your show day ends. It begins with getting tangible feedback from the judges. I know how it goes – you probably won’t want to stick around after the show ends. Everyone is extremely exhausted on the day of the competition and you have wait after all the awards are given just to spend 5 minutes to talk to a judge.

But it’s all worth it. I sometimes wait too long to receive feedback and sometimes I don’t even get any and I can tell you that all the feedback I’ve ever received helped me grow and develop towards becoming a better competitor for the next time. The key is to talk to as many judges as you can after the show and ask them what you can improve upon. Hear their feedback and you will get a better understanding of what your strengths and weaknesses are – from an actual judge!

And don’t let ego get in your way – sometimes you might hear things you won’t like and that’s completely okay.

Step 2 – Setting Performance Goals

The first thing you need to do is to be realistic about your goals. Think what you are capable of achieving in the given amount of time. Focus on goals that target skill achievement and make them specific and measurable. One of my first performance goals was to be able to do an unbroken set of 15 pull-ups without any assistance (and good form). That might seem easy for some of you, but I can tell you that It’s not something I achieved overnight.

I started off with very few repetitions and worked my way up to reach my first set of 15. After a few months of hard work – pounding, drenched in sweat, keeping the good form, I obliterated my goal.

Use the feedback from the judges and know which muscles you want to target and find out which exercises work best to activate and grow those muscles so you continue to build strength and look amazing!

Don’t get too dramatic when you hit a plateau. Just take a moment to re-evaluate. Is this goal optimal and achievable for you? You can always revise. Your goals don’t have to be like mine – to be tied to specific sets and reps. Maybe your focus should be on a better form or heavier resistance.

Anything achievement-based works.

Once you’ve done the things above, make a timeline and set mini-goals for yourself. Plan out your year in advance so you can develop a strategy that supports your goals. If you have a 6-month off-season, you can divide your training into 6-8 week periods. Review and reassess at the end of each period, so you can make the necessary changes and adjustments to your plan.

Think: What Are Your Goals?

• Lose Fat
• Build Muscle
• Improve Energy
• Or something else…

My last off-season, for instance, my focus was on improving my back and more specifically – the taper look. I prioritized back by training it on day one, adding some new and more effective exercises, changed my reps slightly, and added an extra workout later in the week. After 6 weeks, I reviewed my training and progress and made the necessary changes to keep improving.

Tracking your total volume is absolutely critical when it comes down to your program’s effectiveness. Keep tabs on the total number of sets you do for each body part. For smaller body parts, the volume shouldn’t be anything more than 8-10 sets per week. Normal volume for the larger body parts should be between 12 and 15 sets, while a higher volume would be 18-22 sets.

Which brings us to step 4…

Step 4 – Track Everything

It may seem annoying and time-consuming but if you want to get the best out of your training, you have to put it the extra time to maximize it. Journaling is one of the best ways to track your progress. There are a ton of apps you can use to journal and track every single workout. Also, there are a lot of options for tracking your food and nutrition.

It’s something that takes me about 15 minutes each morning to plan out my meals, supplements and schedule them around my training and daily activities. These journals become invaluable down the road. Looking back on them, you have the opportunity to see where you can improve and adjust so you keep progressing.

Conclusion

It may seem like a lot of work to develop a plan for what is supposed to be your off-season (“your downtime”).

I will be honest with you – it’s quite the work.

But just like the contest prep itself, there are very few who can sustain and endure the rigors of an extreme diet and demanding training to step on a stage in near-perfect condition. If you want to stand out the next time you’re in a line-up with 30+ fit and beautiful women, you have to take the extra time to create your off-season plan to maximize your results. Start your preparation now, no matter how much there is to the show day.

In every highly competitive sport, but especially in this one, the attention to detail set apart the amateurs from the professionals. With competitive bodybuilding and fitness, it’s all about what you do when you are at home and in the gym that determines how you will look like on the stage. Put in the time to create and maximize your prep now and remember, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Key Points:

• Setting Goals is the first step in creating your off-season plan.
• Performance-based goals are better than appearance-based because they are trackable and measurable.
• The last day of the competition is where you off-season start.
• What gets measured gets managed.
• If you want to look like a pro you have to prepare like a pro – put in the time for your preparation and you will look better than you ever did on the stage.

In any sport, it’s often the athletes that go the extra mile that end up taking 1st place. The gap in physical ability and skill level between first and last place can be next to none. So, why does one athlete win – and the other lose?

What separates the top 1% of athletes from the rest – like Ronda Rousey was in UFC, or Serena Williams in Tennis, is the mind game they bring into their sport, their positioning as a champion and the habits they incorporate into their psyche that train not only their body, but their mind.

The key to high performance, success, winning, and the difference between 1st and 2nd place is this:

Putting the hours in your mental gym just as much as you’re focusing on strength, speed, or endurance.

Sports psychology is that mental gym. Helping you improve your focus, confidence and teaching you mental strategies you can use to gain the extra edge.

Opt-out of either one of those areas, and you put yourself at a disadvantage.

Athletes seeking high performance and winning records do whatever is necessary to reach their highest potential.

Today, we’ll take a look at the 3 psychological traits you need to develop to build your champion mindset via sports psychology, so you too can gain the mental edge and put yourself in the top 1% of competitors in your field, or your sport.

Self-belief

Self-belief is probably the most important part of this process. At the end of the day, you can be gifted, you can be in great shape, but if your mind is working against you, you won’t realize that physical potential.

Step 1 is to become conscious of your own thought process. We go through life thinking – we take in information and our mind processes it. It’s just what the mind does. You’re either aware of these thoughts, or you’re not. Your mind is thinking either way, all the time.

For example, if I’m going into a competition and I have the belief that “I’m not as good as everyone else” I’ll probably carry that belief with me all the time. This thought gives your mind a sense of not being good enough, or not being adequate. This one thought is going to branch off into others like “I need to perform at my top to even do well”, or “I need to prepare really well to even have a chance against the others”.

Does that feel like a good place to come from?

These ways of thinking will lead to ways of acting.

I know you’ve heard people say “It’s all about the mindset” or “It’s all in your head”, but we’re bringing the science into it.

Using sports psychology to develop a championship mindset has everything to do with thought patterns and belief systems. You develop those through time, but there are people who have been lucky enough to grow up with them and take them into their fields or sport.

We all know that person who always consistently wins. And what do we think about them? “Well, they win because they want to, right? They just want it more…”

When in fact, that’s not true. The reality here is that people who consistently succeed at a high level think about winning much less than others. They simply believe they’re going to do well.

It’s sort of paradoxical. If you know you’re going to win the game, why even think about it, right?

There’s just no uncertainty there. Whereas in someone who thinks about winning all the time, they’re basically telling themselves they need to do well. And if they need to do well, that means they’re not doing well now.

Do you follow me so far? Let’s wrap this brain-twister up.

The bottom line is, developing self-belief starts when you recognize your thought patterns and belief systems. Then you can start changing them, and start acting in a way that transforms your behavior, your habits, and finally, your lifestyle – creating an unbreakable wall of self-belief you can bring into any competition!

Focus

Your focus isn’t just one of the most powerful tools in sports psychology. It is, simply put, where you attention is.

Whatever sport you compete in, be it bodybuilding or table tennis, your focus is everything.

Everything.

Imagine you’re in the middle of practice, or even in the middle of a competition. Does your mind wander somewhere else? Do you find it difficult to stay in the current moment, always either worried about the future, or anxious about the past?

If the answer is YES…

Your performance is taking a hit because you’re not 100% centered on the task at hand.

Let’s take a look at the most powerful sports psychology tips you can use to get your focus where it needs to be (on you).

• Know what you need to focus on.
  It’s a fact – the clearer you are about what you want to focus on, the easier it is to “attend” your mind to it. Just the fact that you have it in your mind will make the neurons in your brain build that connection stronger and make you more focused and attentive.
• Focus only on what you can control.
  You have control over yourself and your own actions and attitudes — nothing more. Keep your focus here – on you. Focusing on things in the past or future, things you have no control over, or things that don’t involve your actions, is setting you up for a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Being focused is about attending your mind to what you’re currently doing. About always being present. Being here. Now.
• Create an anchor.
  Anchors can be anything – a physical object, a thought or an idea, or simply doing an action like clenching your fist. Connect them to the present moment consistently, and every time you see, hear, or do the anchor you picked, your focus will come back to the present. It’s a really simple way to be attentive and check if you’re in a situation.
• Use mental imagery.
  Practice seeing yourself perform exactly as you want to perform. Focusing exactly as you want to focus. The more you train your mind to pay attention on the right things, the more your body will respond. Visualize yourself going up on that stage, hearing the crowd, seeing the lights, and being fully present while doing it. Sit back and imagine going through every workout, every exercise, every rep of every set. Imagine even the sweat, the sounds of the weights dropping on the floor, the smell of your protein shake. Every little bit helps build the connections in your brain stronger.

One thing you have to realize is that focus, just like self-belief, is like muscle. You train that muscle and it gets stronger with time. You stop paying attention to it – and it starts lacking.

If someone asked me which muscle I train the hardest, it would be those two. They make all the difference when you’re in the gym, or up on that stage.

Now that we know how to train these mind muscles, let’s look at how we can keep our mental body healthy. We do that exactly the way we keep our physical body healthy – with resting!

Relaxation

Relaxation is defined as a psychological “strategy” used by athletes (or people in general) to help reduce stress-related emotions like anger, anxiety, uncertainty, and frustration. Physical symptoms like physical tension, increased heart rate and high blood pressure are also something that can be managed through putting yourself in a relaxed state. During high-pressure situations like an intense workout where you’re pushing yourself to the edge, it can be difficult maintaining a relaxed mind.

Let’s take a look at my two favorite relaxation strategies you can use to put your mind at ease and still improve your athletic performance!

Number one, breathing exercises.

Breathing exercises shouldn’t even be called an exercise. Just the fact that you breathe correctly will increase the levels of oxygen in your blood, improving your mood and reducing the tension in your body.

The process of breathing properly involves diaphragmatic breathing, the abdomen, and the chest. Specifically, when breathing in deeply, you should concentrate on your lungs by first pushing the diaphragm down and the abdomen outward then by expanding the chest and raising the chest and shoulders.

To do this in a controlled manner, so that it is of benefit during a competitive performance, athletes can be encouraged to be rhythmic in their breathing by inhaling, holding, and exhaling to a count of a predetermined number. In addition, exhalation in the right moment could help reduce muscular tension during key movements, such as putting the weight down or striking a tennis ball.

And my second favorite… mindfulness meditation.

The practice of mindfulness originated thousands of years ago and is known to improve and strengthen your focus, aside from a ton of physical benefits!

It can be defined as a state of awareness you achieve through purposely paying attention to the present and ongoing experiences of you and those around you – in a relaxed environment.

Some documented benefits of mindfulness meditation include reduced reporting of depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.

These exact self-belief crushing behaviors are what mindfulness meditation is good for. If you find it difficult to start developing a positive thought loop and a champion’s mindset, it’s probably because you haven’t been meditating enough. Even though meditation is a loose concept thrown around a lot nowadays, let’s not forget it’s the number one way to keep in touch with your psyche.

Meditation is a way to listen to what your subconscious has to say to you, and talk back to it.

Sitting back in a relaxed state and meditating while keeping your focus is the best way to attend to your mind’s need to rest.

It will make you more present, more positive, and give you an unshakable belief in yourself, if you do it long enough (and people have been, for thousands of years).

To conclude, we can summarize by saying that developing a champion’s mindset through sports psychology involves creating thought loops of self-belief, keeping your focus where it should be, and relaxing your mind and body in order to keep yourself motivated and not burn-out.

These are the things that I have found most useful not only when going into competition, but just applying to everyday life. And that’s also a huge part of what has made me WBFF World Champion two years in a row. Even after moments of self-doubt, uncertainty and stress – keeping my mind just as healthy as my body is what gave me the edge.

Remember – developing a champion’s mindset, one that will be rooted in intense self-belief and positivity… that takes time.

It’s like a muscle that you will build with time, and it’s not going to be easy.

Remember your first day at the gym? Did you feel 100% comfortable?

The answer is probably no…

And that’s okay!!

As long as you put in the time and effort to strengthen your mindset muscle, I can guarantee you can achieve anything you want, be it in sports competitions, or in daily life.

And that’s what I want for you!

The internet has given a lot of fitness lovers the opportunity to start their own fitness brand.

I feel that phrases like ‘personal branding’ and ‘marketing’ are thrown around so much nowadays, nobody can really understand what they mean. They’re always backed-up by “researched” mumbo-jumbo that speaks to you about broad concepts instead of what will help YOU improve YOUR business.

Today, let’s take the process of developing such a business and break it down to the actionable steps you should take if you want to develop your personal brand in the fitness industry!

1. What is a Personal Brand and How To Create One

For starters, we need to know the difference between branding and marketing.

Marketing is getting the word out for what you do. If you’re a fitness coach, that includes being on social media, running ads, funnels, getting people to visit your website, all of that.

Branding is all about the experience people get when they work with you. It’s a lot more emotional than rational and has to do with everything from the way you work with (and who you work with) to the way you present yourself online – your name, your logos and colors, your voice, your copywriting, even the comments you leave under other people’s comments.

Think about that – is the presentation and copywriting in your website too serious? Or too sweet-sounding?

There’s hardcore, pushing people to the edge coaches, there’s the laid-back, fitness lifestyle type coach, then the wellness coach, the diet coach…

You need to find a niche of people you can help with your knowledge and expertise. One of the biggest mistakes that I see a lot of personal brands making is trying to appeal to everyone.

We all work with different people who have different interests, so “developing your brand voice” means finding out who you want to be online and focusing on that target market.

You do that by:

1. Making sure your website copy, your social media content, your talks, interviews and marketing materials all have the same style, vibe and energy. This builds trust within people and increases the exposure you get by making you more easily recognized online.
2. Making sure you always have a clear next goal in mind and making them bigger over time.

Now that we know what branding is, let’s take a look at how to actually get the word out for your business, make sales, impact the lives of people, and become a voice recognized in such a crowded market!

How To Get Exposure for Yourself and Your Brand

Now that we know what our brand voice is and who we’re trying to help, it’s time we reach out to these people and give them value!

Always remember – you have to be congruent in all of these channels. Branding and marketing must go hand in hand like a lock and key. If one of them is missing, you risk coming across as either unprofessional or uninteresting.

Before you start getting more exposure you need to figure out one thing – where your audience is spending their time. For the fitness niche, there’s already a few great places you can go and build a solid foundation!

Here are a few ideas for channels where you can reach people online and engage potential clients for your fitness brand!

• Engaging people on social media – commenting, liking, following and messaging on Instagram and Facebook.
• Running Facebook and Google ads – to a landing page for a product (free or paid).
• Doing webinars, live trainings, even Instagram Live – just giving out free content or promoting courses on a webinar.
• Ranking higher on Google with SEO – absolutely crucial!
• Local events and networking – you can meet people to collaborate with.
• E-mail Marketing and collecting leads – the best way to communicate to your audience via text.
• Creating a blog or podcast – giving out free content to your audience.
• LinkedIn – setting up auto- responders and engaging people there.

These are only things that you can do yourself!

Keep in mind, one of the best ways to promote yourself online is to collaborate with other people in the fitness industry. If the branding is right and the energy matches between you, amazing things happen.

Doing guest posts on their social media and blogs, being a guest on their podcast, being in their YouTube videos, even on their Instagram stories. Even reaching out to an influencer is not a bad idea.

Another thing crucial to your success is to gather testimonials from the people you’ve helped. They will really help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, know what the people are thinking, and show people that you’re truly all about giving value!

What matters is getting the word out to as many as possible, right? So think about which of these channels you’re not using and start implementing them into your marketing strategy.

So, when you’re doing things the right way and people are seeing you, engaging with you, and approving of what you’re doing – how do you turn these views into profit for your business?

How do positively impact the lives of the most people while making the most sales and building your brand?

Let’s learn how!

3. Growing Your Brand and Making Profit

For someone who has been in the fitness industry for quite a long time, I can honestly say…

Every fitness industry personality is endorsing something nowadays.

And that’s a good thing!

Whether you decide to create your own product – be it a supplement, an E-book, a course, a clothing brand – or you decide to endorse others for a piece of the pie, selling products is the most obvious way to generate profit, so it goes first on our list.

Brands will have no problem paying you for representing their vision online. Mutual promotion between brands and ambassadors is a win-win way to hook your audience up with products you love using at great discounts – and get paid for it.

Chances are you’re already promoting products to your friends and community – you’re just not getting paid to do it!

But if you decide to create your own product, and you truly create it from start to finish and put a piece of yourself in it – people will love it and you will have success.

And always make sure to have a product you’re giving out for free! By doing that, the people whose ideologies your brand voice matches will become loyal followers you can keep giving to again, and again, and again.

If training and living healthy is a lifestyle for you, chances are you know a few things that can be beneficial to others.

And if you love working with people one on one and want to make a positive impact on their life – you can consider coaching as your go-to way to profit online.

Honestly, coaching others has changed my life as well.

I see so many positive, motivated and goal-driven people that it inspires me to work hard and be at my best self all the time. Watching someone’s life change in front of me and seeing them deal with their insecurities and giving them the confidence to take on the world has made me a completely different person.

And even though fitness coaching has become a huge industry, there’s still a spot for everyone who wants to do something unique and give value!

Bottom line is, the more people you help and the more people you reach, the more opportunities you’ll be open to.

If fitness is your lifestyle and you want to share that with the world – don’t hesitate and start a fitness brand!

It’s a great way to get paid for doing what you love, helping people achieve their goals and doing it while building a sustainable business. Nowadays, that can seem like a feat, but the opportunity is here, for you, now!

Now that you know the proper way to do develop a brand voice, get exposure and grow your brand, there’s just one thing you need to know…

Whether you’re going to promote brands, sell courses, or do online coaching, there’s a ton of people who love fitness, need help, and want to hear what you have to say.

Marketing is important so you can get the word out for yourself and speak to the world. But make sure your personal branding is on point – it is exactly what people will be hearing when you speak.

Congratulations!

If you’re reading this, that means you’re curious about taking the next step in your fitness journey and hiring a professional to help you educate yourself, learn more about your body, and reach your fitness and wellness goals.

A personal trainer is like that teacher that you always enjoyed listening to.

Not only will they keep you motivated and hold you accountable, but they’ll also help you get the most out of your workouts, prevent injuries, and most importantly stay consistent with your training and nutrition.

However, there is a huge difference between investing to improve yourself and throwing money out the window.

In the personal fitness coach market, not everyone has your best intention in mind.

The industry is full of people who claim to be experts, but in reality, just want to make a dollar off you.

So if you want to truly get the results you’re looking for…

You have to be very careful when picking who trains you. Doing some initial research will help you make a better choice, and will pay off huge in the long-term.

You have to know what you want and do some legwork to determine which type of trainer best suits your interests and goals.

Here are the five most important factors when choosing your personal trainer!

1. Knowing What You Want

There’s a huge variety of “experts” out there! The one who is going to keep you at your best and help you achieve your goal is the one who can actually help you identify that goal.

Do you want to go on stage and compete at a bodybuilding show, or you just want to lose a few pounds?

Maybe you want a personal trainer for a completely different reason – running a marathon, preparing for a competition, or heck, you can even hire a coach to help you become a coach.

Determining what you want is the first, most important step to doing your research on who the right coach is for you.

2. Comfort

Your trainer will see you in moments in which you’re pushing yourself and letting your vulnerability show.

He or she will initially know more about how your body works that you will. Your past experiences in the sport, your regime, and your goals are all things you have to be comfortable expressing with that person, and finding a person that’s trustworthy and that you can be comfortable with is essential to your journey.

Are you someone who needs a lot of praise and encouragement?

Or do you need someone with a “louder” approach, who will push you to your limits?

Spend some time around a trainer. Learn more about them, and how they work. In order to find someone whose approach will match your needs, you need to make sure that’s a person who you’re comfortable with. Your choice must be well-thought out, so you don’t end up regretting the decision.

3. Philosophy

Your personal coach’s philosophy can make or break you.

How they think, what their philosophy and goals are, and how they work are the things that will make you choose them over their competitors after that initial research.

What methods do they use to develop their programs?

How many people have they shown results to?

To these people have the same goal you have?

There are all questions you need to ask yourself.

Take all these things into consideration when you’re choosing a trainer. If a coach doesn’t listen to your personal preferences and simply does “what he knows works best”, that coach is not the right choice for you.

A good trainer will listen and take into consideration your goals and wishes and tailor his approach, creating a workout program and meal plan you can be consistent with. There is no point in which you should be doing and eating things you don’t like. It won’t lead to consistent results, and you will end up at the same place you have started.

4. Experience

Practice leads to perfection. Your coach should be someone who has tested their methods time and time again, shown results to a lot of people, and have proven that they’re the best at what they do.

Don’t get me wrong.

There is nothing wrong with new upcoming certified trainers, but you can never be sure if they’ll have the right approach for you.

Choosing someone with experience is always the better option. An experienced trainer works with many different people. He/she has seen what works best in specific situations, and has the communication experience to allow you to feel comfortable and motivated.

In the world of fitness and nutrition, this is crucial.

A trainer-trainee relationship is a special one. Sometimes it’s not about what you do and eat, but rather what you say. And the only coaches who know what to say to get you going and inspired are those who have done it on a consistent basis.

5. Reputation

Helping you achieve your personal goals is the best proof a personal trainer needs. Their goal is to help you – and a successful trainer will often share testimonials and success stories from people they’ve worked with.

When you do your research, take a look at them and see if anyone they’ve worked with has had the same goals and similar lifestyles as well as body composition.

Certifications, degrees, success stories, and a lot of years of training are all indicators of a coach’s reputation.

If they’ve consistently delivered results to people and are known to be an expert in the field, you can’t go wrong with them.

To conclude…

These are the things that, in my years in fitness, I’ve seen to be the most important dimensions of a personal fitness coach.

But of course, if you’re thinking about hiring a trainer to help you lose a few pounds, your mindset is going to be different than a person who is hiring a trainer to help them prepare for a competition.

Even if this isn’t your first time, trusting the right person with your body and goals requires a little more work than previously thought.

But believe me, it’s all for the right reasons.

Bottom line is, your coach must be someone you look forward to meeting, and training with.

Write these five factors down, and I guarantee you, your next experience with a personal trainer will be the best one you’ve had.

Until next time,

Ally

In the last post, we talked about hormones and hormonal imbalance (symptoms, causes, and so on).

Today, we’ll discuss all of the natural ways to balance your hormones (and treatment options for hormonal imbalance, if the natural methods don’t work for you.)

I believe this topic is less talked about in the fitness community yet so, so relevant in today’s society, and I feel like it will be beneficial to those not familiar with how their hormones impact their body, mood, and lifestyle.

Let’s jump right into it.

Here are the seven best practical tips you can use to balance your hormone levels naturally…

1. Swapping Carbs for Healthy Fats

Eating many foods which are high in short, medium and long-chain fatty acids is essential to keep your hormones in balance. Your body needs various types of fats, including saturated fat and cholesterol, to create hormones. These are not only essential fats that are the fundamental building blocks for hormone production, but they also keep inflammation levels low, promote weight loss and boost your metabolism. Healthy fats have the opposite effect of refined carbohydrates, which can mess with your hormonal balance and lead to inflammation.

Excellent sources of anti-inflammatory healthy fats are:

• Coconut oil: coconut oil has plenty of uses, for example, it has natural anti-bacterial and fat-burning effects.
• Avocado: this fruit improves the health of your heart, lowers inflammation, controls your appetite and contributes to your daily intake of fiber and nutrients such as potassium.

Salmon – this is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which lowers inflammation and helps with cognitive functions. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for the communication of cells in the brain and are a significant component of brain-cell membranes. Studies show that omega-3 fatty acids help protect against hippocampal neuronal loss and reduce inflammatory responses.

2. Using Adaptogen Herbs

These herbs are a unique class of healing plants which promote hormonal balance and protect your body from a wide variety of diseases, including those caused by and related to chronic stress. In addition to all of that, studies show that various adaptogens – such as ashwagandha, medicinal mushrooms, Rhodiola and holy basil can improve many things such as thyroid function, lower cholesterol levels, reduce anxiety and depression, stabilise blood sugar and insulin levels!

3. Addressing Emotional Imbalances…

Your emotions and your hormones share a connection, and you can’t deny that they influence one another. If you address your emotional imbalances due to external factors and make some lifestyle changes, you can prevent health conditions associated with hormonal imbalances.

Negative emotions such as chronic fear and stress can cause discomfort in your reproductive organs, kidneys and adrenals, affecting your cortisol levels. This can lead to severe conditions like PCOS and infertility. Other emotions such as frustration, impatience, and hatred can lead to problems in your liver, which can cause an estrogen imbalance. Feelings which are the result of stress such as worry and anxiety can cause issues with your insulin levels and can then affect several hormones.

A significant role in balancing your hormones naturally plays addressing your emotions and dealing with them. You can do this by taking time for yourself, trying new and exciting things, and engaging in personal reflection. Practicing meditation, spending time outdoors and more exercise can be extremely beneficial.

Because your hormones and emotions share a connection, working to balance the one will impact the other. So if you’re feeling any negative emotions such as stress, anger, fear, please understand that this is also affecting your hormonal balance and can lead to worse performance in the gym (not to mention serious health issues). It would be best to make working on your emotions part of your daily routine – exercising our emotional muscles too! Something simple as 10 minutes of guided meditation a day is an excellent place to start.

4. Using Natural Oils

If you want to balance your hormones naturally, it’s essential to clean your body of toxins by avoiding conventional body care products made with potentially-harmful chemicals including DEA, parabens, propylene glycol and so on. Better alternatives to these products are natural ones made with ingredients like essential oils, coconut oil, shea butter and castor oil.

5. Supplement to Fill Nutritional Voids

Supplements should never replace a good nutrition plan, but if you have one in place and still can’t reach hormonal balance, supplementing is not something you should take off the table.

The best supplements to support your hormones are:

• Vitamin D: This vitamin acts almost like a hormone inside the body, and it’s essential to keeping your inflammation levels low. That’s the reason why people who live in dark areas often suffer from seasonal depression and other health issues. Pure old sunshine is one of the best ways to increase vitamin D levels. Another problem is that vitamin D is not equally distributed in your body because not all parts of your body are equally exposed to the sunlight (unless you’re going out naked all the time.) The best way to make sure your body gets its much-needed vitamin D consistently is to supplement. If you live in a dark area or can’t go out in the sun, you should take 2000-5000 IU of vitamin D3, daily.
• Bone Broth: Taking bone broth or protein powder made from it is especially beneficial to your health because it contains healing compounds like collagen, glycine, glutamine, which boost your overall health. Also, bone broth soothes the digestive system and supplies the body with nutrients which can be easily absorbed.
• Probiotics: They’re healthy bacteria which improve your production and regulation of critical hormones such as insulin, ghrelin and leptin. Probiotics can help repair your gut lining, which can balance your hormones. Undigested food particles, such as gluten, for example, can leak through your gut into your bloodstream, and cause inflammation which impacts the whole body – especially glands like the thyroid which are very susceptible to heightened inflammation. Commonly, people with leaky gut have a deficiency of probiotics in their stomach.

6. Beware of Medications and Birth Control

Are you on any form of medication?

And if you are, are you aware of their side effects?

Some over-the-counter medicines can affect and disrupt your hormones, causing fatigue, appetite changes, low libido, sadness and even in some cases, depression. Some of the medications which can mess your hormonal balance include stimulants, statins, corticosteroids, dopamine agonist and so on. Before you start using any drug, it would be best if you first talk to your doctor and find natural alternatives whenever possible.

Birth control pills are another dangerous medication which messes with your hormonal levels. This pill raises estrogen to such dangerous levels and can lead to many complications. If your doctor does not prescribe it, I suggest you stop using it immediately, especially when there are many other safer options for preventing pregnancy.

Researches show some of the long-term risks of taking them such as increased risk of breast cancer, increased blood pressure, mood changes, and the list goes on and on and on.

7. Getting More Sleep

If you don’t get 7-8 hours of sleep every night, you aren’t helping your body. Lack of sleep can be one of the worst habits that contribute to a hormone imbalance. Your hormones work on a schedule – for example, cortisol (the stress hormone), is regulated at midnight. Therefore, people who go to bed late can never truly get a break from their flight/fight stress response.

The three contributors to high cortisol levels are lack of sleep, long-term use of corticosteroid, and chronic stress. Shared reports state that stress can lead to changes in the serum level of many hormones including glucocorticoids, catecholamines, growth hormone, and prolactin.

Sleep keeps stress hormones balances, builds energy, and allows the body to recover properly. Constant stress and poor sleep are linked with higher levels of morning cortisol, decreased immunity and work performance, and higher susceptibility to anxiety, weight gain and depression. If you want to maximize your hormone function, try to get to bed by 10-11 p.m. and stick with a regular sleep-wake-cycle as much as possible.

The Benefits of Balanced Hormones

The benefits of balanced hormones are closely related to the lifestyle change you make to achieve that balance.

Remember – your body’s hormones are really powerful substances. They have an impact on your physical, mental, and emotional health.

Knowing this, we can clearly see why we should strive to balance them.

Once your body’s hormones are balanced, your body is at peace.

At the gym, at work, or at home – these benefits will be there to make you a better feeling person, and a better performing athlete.

First of all, energy! Once your hormones are back to appropriate levels, your body starts working more productively! The more you move, the more energy you have. In the gym, that translates to more endurance, better performance, and higher motivation!

Second of all, better sleep… Only when your hormones are balanced will you fall asleep easy and have a restful sleep. If you’ve ever tossed or turned in your sleep or experienced night sweats, those are two common signs of imbalance that will keep your body away from a peaceful sleep.

And not to mention improved mood! Balancing your hormone levels is known to reduce mood swings, improve your focus, and replace an irritable mood with a happy one. It’s like your body’s way of saying “thank you”.

So we can see… our hormones affect a huge part of our life – be it our performance in the gym, or our performance at work, or both, if you’re a fitness competitor.

From fewer mood swings to more vigor during workouts, we know the right balance of hormones is guaranteed to give us an extra edge in the gym.

To wrap up, we can say that our hormones affect our lifestyle as much our lifestyle affects our hormones!

If you’re working on your body, eating the right things, and treating your body well – your body will return the favor to you by improving your mood and performance.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, stuffing junk food all the time, and not exercising or living actively, your body will lower your motivation, ruin your mood, and take you to a plateau in both fitness and life.

I hope that today you learned the importance of balancing your hormones and learning about this extra dimension of your body will make strive to only give your body the best from now on.

Your body will thank you for it!

Hey Angels and Alphas!

You’ve probably heard a lot about foam rolling from fitness experts, athletes, coaches, therapists, chiropractors, rehabilitators, and to be honest, from pretty much everyone nowadays.

It’s true – foam rolling has gone mainstream. But I’m happy it did.

Once, it was just a self-massage technique used only by top athletes and health practitioners.

Today, most people who step inside a gym have tried it at least once, and it’s one of the most popular forms of self-manual therapy. Without a doubt, there’s a reason for that.

Foam rollers are now available in most commercial gyms, and these nearly-magical cylinders come in all sizes, designs, and firmness levels.

The reason for the increasing popularity of foam rolling is this: it’s simple, and it works!

What exactly is foam rolling, and how does it work?

Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release.

The fascia is a thin layer of connective tissue that wraps around and connects our muscles. It essentially helps individual muscle groups act and cooperate as one integrated unit.

If your fascia is healthy, it’s soft and flexible, and it smoothly glides over your muscles, allowing them to move freely.

But if your fascia isn’t healthy, it’s stiff, rigid, and inflexible. It diminishes movement and motion and feels crammed up around your muscles. This can happen for a variety of reasons – sitting at a desk all day (or just being generally inactive), disease, physical trauma, inflammation, injuries, and so on.

This is where your foam roller comes in to save the day.

The foam roller is a cylinder made of foam or flexible plastic materials. It’s mostly a device used for massaging. As I mentioned above, it comes in a variety of sizes and textures with different firmness/softness levels.

You use your foam roller by laying on it in different positions, allowing the weight of your body to put pressure on your focus muscle group (which we’ll talk about later). You can foam roll for your quads, glutes, hamstrings, back, hips, you get the idea. This “rolling over” causes a release of built-up tension in the fascia around the target muscles, leading to the soothing of tightness and soreness.

To put it short – foam rolling is the act of using a foam roller to “self-massage” and release tension from areas of your body that are stiff, inflexible, and sore (often referred to as muscle knots). Experts believe this occurs because the foam roller allows the fascia to stretch and increases the blood flow to the muscles, alleviating these tissue adhesions. This is one of the keys to the healthy fascia!

Why Should You Add Foam Rolling To Your Workout Routine?

Foam rolling has found its place in discussions about flexibility, performance, recovery, and injury prevention.

Let’s look at each of these individually, so we get a clear picture of all the benefits of foam rolling!

1. Boosting your performance and flexibility.

That’s because getting rid of these soft tissue adhesions helps you move more naturally. And let’s not forget, removing all of the lactic acid built up in your body allows you to really improve your posture. By improving your posture along your joint range of motion, your muscles will, of course, function better during exercise.

Because foam rolling has a lot to do with releasing the tension from your “muscle knots”, it helps you reestablish your proper patterns of movements. Since stretching can’t help with that to the full extent, foam rollers are the next best thing.

Several studies also conclude that foam rolling helps you with both your short-term and your long-term flexibility. In the short term, your flexibility improves for a whopping 10 minutes (yes, a little underwhelming). However, to reap all the long-term flexibility benefits of foam rolling, all you have to do is to make a habit of it and do a little bit every day. (Set length doesn’t matter in the long-run).

2. Speeding up your recovery.

While you’re working out, your body produces lactic acid. If it isn’t removed and relieved, it sits in your muscles, creating what you’d call DOMS (delayed-onset-muscle-soreness). It’s that lactic acid that makes you feel in pain the day after a big workout.

By foam rolling after an intense workout, you improve the circulation of blood to your muscles, basically “flushing out” lactic acid and allowing your muscles to repair more quickly and without pain!

3. Preventing injuries.

If you experience a lot of pain while you work out, or even if you’re just going to the gym every day and not getting enough rest, chances are you’re at risk of injury.

If you’ve felt this pain and done nothing about it, you might have too much stress accumulated in that muscle group and you should definitely make an effort to release it.

With foam rolling, you can ease your overworked muscles and relieve the long-term accumulated pressure that might be the underlining cause of your workout pain.

With it, you’re essentially balancing out the tension in your body, minimizing your risk of injury.

A quick note about upper spinal mobility;

Your upper spine can tremendously benefit from foam rolling!

I’ve met a lot of people who experience chronic tension in their neck, shoulders, and back. This is the type of pressure that leads to pain and bad posture. Foam rolling works wonders for your upper spinal mobility and loosens up the tissues.

For some of you out there, it might be the miracle remedy for your back pain/neck stiffness. Keeping that in mind, I always suggest going to smaller messaging devices (even a tennis ball works) when you’re targeting your neck.

When Should You Foam Roll?

Now, I want to quickly go over the before / after workout foam rolling discussion.

The overall objective of foam rolling is to break down the excessive stiffness that impedes your muscle and joint movements.

For that exact reason, it’s illogical that you would foam roll before a strength training workout. If you’re an athlete who trains at a high intensity using resistance training (like powerlifters and bodybuilders), you’re essentially using your muscle fibers along with all the tightness in them to generate force.

If your quads are all loose and wobbly, you’re most likely not going to be hitting a new PR today.

Breaking down the muscle tissue when you need it to perform makes no sense.

Instead, save foam rolling for after your workout. This way, you can focus on the major muscles groups you worked out (along with any problematic areas), stimulate the blood flow toward those areas, and aid the entire recovery process.

However, some experts out there do claim that relaxing tense muscles is best done before a workout because it stimulates blood flow to the muscles.

I’ll just let you make your own decision based on what I just told you.

How Do We Foam Roll The Right Way?

Down below, I have listed the most popular foam rolling positions. Every position has a specific target area from which you’re alleviating tension.

Keeping that in mind, here are a few general foam rolling tips before we start;

• To foam roll the right way, you apply moderate pressure to a specific muscle group using your bodyweight.
• It’s better to be too soft than too hard.
• You should roll slowly.
• If there’s an area that’s too tight (and hurts when you roll over it), pause for 15 seconds, relax as much as possible, and try again. You’ll slowly start to feel the muscle releasing.
• If that area is still too painful, switch up your position and apply pressure to the surrounding regions to gradually loosen up the entire body section.
• Do not roll over joints, bones, or your stomach.

Okay, we got the main concepts out of the way, so now let’s see how to perform a correct foam roll for each major body position!

To keep it simple, I like to divide muscle groups into three parts – bottom, middle, and top.

In your foam rolling routine, make sure you do at least one roll for each of the three.

1. The Upper Back Position (Thoracic Spine);

First, let your back rest against the floor. Have the foam roller positioned underneath your two shoulder blades. From this position, bend your knees, so your feet stand flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head, and start rolling back and forth.

When rolling, engage your core muscles and slowly raise your hips off the floor. Here, the foam roller should be moving up and down between the top of your shoulder blades and the middle of your back. Keep in mind to ONLY go as low as the middle back, and keep your neck at a neutral position at all times.

2. The Middle/Lower Back Position (The Latissimus Dorsi);

Lie down on the floor on your left side. With your left arm extended, place your foam roller directly under your left armpit. If you do it right, the cylinder should be perpendicular to your body. Then, bend your right arm and place your right hand on the floor for balance.

When rolling, roll up and down, so the foam roller moves from your armpit to a point slightly above your waist.

When you’re finished, repeat on the right side.

3. The Lat Position;

Lie down on your right side. Right arm pointed up and away from your body. Place the foam roller under your armpit, just under your side.

When rolling, start with your legs bent and push your body up and down the roller to hit the lat muscle accurately.

You can place your arms on the ground or keep them elevated, just make sure the majority of your weight is on the foam roller. The movement of the foam roller here is from the lower part of your lat back to your armpit.

4. The Pectoral Position;

Lie flat on the floor with your tummy facing down and your arms on your sides. Slide your roller under your left arm, plant your right hand firmly on the ground at a 90-degree angle, and push yourself so that your body goes up and over the roller.

When rolling, use your right arm for leverage and support, and roll your body back and forth so that your foam roller is moving from the outer parts of your chest into the center of the chest in a diagonal manner. Switch sides and repeat.

5. The Shoulder/Rotator Cuff Position;

Lie down on your left side. Hold your left arm up above your head. Slide the foam roller under your armpit. Keep your left leg straight and extended, and your right leg bent for balance.

When rolling, rotate your body from your side to your back. Here, you’re not trying to apply too much pressure, you’re just trying to turn as much as you comfortably can.

6. The Biceps & Triceps Position;

Lie down on your left side and bend your legs. Hold out your left arm and set your foam roller so that it’s directly under the middle of your upper arm. Then, place your right hand on the floor in front of your torso and use it for support.

When rolling, use your legs to roll back and forth so that your foam roller is moving from your armpit area up to your elbow. Use both your legs and the arm you use to support yourself with to shift the pressure on and off.

For biceps, keep your biceps resting on the foam roller. For triceps, rotate your arm so that your palm faces the ceiling and the foam roller is rolling only on your triceps.

7. The Quadriceps Position;

Lie face-down on the ground with the roller positioned under your thighs. Bend your elbows and place your forearms flat on the floor (to support your weight).

When rolling, engage your core muscles and keep them drawn in. Use your arms to just slightly push your body forward and back.

The movement of the foam roller here is from your pelvic floor to a point just above your knees.

8. The Glutes Position;

Sit on top of the foam roller. (Place it under your “sitting bones”). Cross your left ankle over your right thigh, and plant the right foot firmly on the ground. Lean back so that your hands are supporting a little bit of your weight.

When rolling, angle your body in different directions so that you move your glutes up and down across the foam roller.

Do each side for up to a minute, and apply more pressure when you feel a trigger point or area of pain.

9. The IT (Iliotibial) Band Position;

Start off by laying on your left side. Your body should be fully extended, and your foam roller placed under the outer side of your left leg. (Below the hip bone).

Use your left forearm as the base for your body, and bring your right leg up, placing it in front of your left leg. With your left leg still fully extended, lift your left foot off the floor so that your body has to balance on its side (on top of the roller).

When rolling, roll up and down your leg from the top of your hip to the bottom of your knee.

10. The Hamstring Position;

Sit with your legs extended in front of you, the foam roller placed under your thigh, and your hands supporting you on the floor behind you. (You should be a little bit off the ground).

When rolling, use your arms to initiate a pushing motion and slowly roll back and forth. The movement of the foam roller here is from your knee to the bottom of your glutes.

11. The Calves Position;

Sit on the floor with the foam roller underneath your calves. Once again, put your hands behind you for support.

When rolling, slowly roll forward and back and move the foam roller from your knees to your ankles. You can even cross one leg over the other to put more pressure on it and do them one at a time.

12. The Hip Flexors Position;

Start in the prone position, resting on your hands and feet with your tummy facing the ground. Put the foam roller beneath your quads, while your elbows are positioned just above your shoulders. Sort of like when you see people jump with a parachute, but with your hands in legs around shoulder-width apart.

When rolling, simply shift your weight forward, bring your shoulders in front of your hands, and the foam roller will move from your quads to your hip flexors. Be careful and don’t roll onto your knees.

*For smaller trigger points such as your neck, skip the foam roller and grab a smaller massaging device.

To Conclude!

Roll, roll, roll with it!

There is a reason foam rolling has become so popular, and hopefully, you now understand why.

It’s not only a must in nowadays physical therapy and rehabilitation, but it’s also a powerful way to relax your mental state, prevent injuries, and speed up your post-workout recovery.

With this post, I hopefully cleared up everything there is to clear up about foam rolling!

I only have one last tip, for those of you who have suffered injuries or physical trauma and are looking at foam rolling as a possible solution;

No matter how powerful and effective foam rolling is, you should first ask your doctor or physical therapist on how you should approach it.

Hey Angels and Alphas!

Today, we’re here to talk a little bit more about the personal training industry, and how you can be sure that your current personal trainer is the right choice for you.

Now, I’ve already done a post explaining how to find the right fitness coach based on your goals.

That had mostly to do with you – how your mission, philosophy, and comfort level relate to those of your fitness coach.

But today, I want to talk about the five biggest signs that your fitness trainer is indeed the perfect fit for you!

If you’ve had a trainer before, or you have one now, you either enjoy the experience as a whole, or you don’t. Right now, you’re going to learn valuable insights straight from the psyche of professional trainers that has more to do with how they perform instead of how they brand themselves.

Their goals, their philosophy, and their approach to you and fitness as a whole – these things will not only define them as a trainer, but they’ll define your results in the long-run.

Without further ado, here are the five biggest signs that your trainer is the real deal.

Number one… They’ve got a plan!

You’re either going to a trainer because you’re completely new to the gym, or because you’re too advanced and need another professional to help you take your abilities to the next level.

Regardless if you’re the first or the second, the right trainer will already have a plan for you.

During your first talk or training session, they’ll most likely ask you about your goals and abilities. Then, they’ll channel all of their personal trainer magic into creating an actionable, useful, and practical plan to help you achieve those goals.

But they won’t just have a plan for the gym! A great trainer will let you know what to do even on the days when you’re not in the gym.

Not only that, but they won’t just cover training. Professional trainers know that merely working out won’t get you to your goals. That’s why they’ll most likely create a meal plan (or at least a set of nutrition tips) for you to follow on the regular.

Number two… They won’t push you. They’ll help you push yourself.

One of the most famous trainer archetypes is the loud, screaming, all-out trainer that pushes you to your limits and doesn’t let you give up.

In reality, that’s just not practical. Trust me; you don’t want a “no pain, no gain” type of trainer, especially if you’re a complete beginner.

If your trainer is indeed awesome, they’ll know that the secret to getting a trainee to do something isn’t by telling them to do it.

What they do is they set an example for you, and then raise you to that standard by motivating you, reminding you of your goals, and never allowing you to give up on yourself.

Number three… they’ll keep you safe!

A great trainer will never allow you (let alone encourage you) to do something that’s out of your capabilities.

Once they get a feel for how your body works and progresses, they’re going to give you just the right level of challenge when it comes to working out.

If you feel like your trainer isn’t fully listening to you, or that they’re always on their phone, acting like training you is a chore… that’s a sign that they’re not fully paying attention to your safety.  

A great trainer will keep you safe by standing behind you every set of the day, every step of the way.

Number four… they’re going to educate you.

A real personal trainer won’t try to make your progress dependent on them.

They’ll constantly be trying to learn new things about you, and by applying their knowledge and experience, they’ll return that knowledge to you. They’ll always be teaching you things about yourself that you didn’t even know.

If your coach keeps recommending you classes, activities, courses, even sends you fun blog posts…

If they’re teaching you how to become your best self and do everything by yourself…

This is a clear sign that your trainer cares about you and your progress.

Number five… They’re going to give you homework.

As I said earlier, a real trainer knows progress doesn’t happen only in the gym.

A coach who wants to see you succeed will give you a LOT of things to work on at home!

If your trainer isn’t giving you any work outside of your training sessions, they don’t know what they’re doing.

In your hour-long sessions, you should be doing way more than just training. By the end of a workout, you should be so full of information, and you just can’t wait to get home, do your homework, and in turn, learn more about yourself and your body.

Number six… They’re going to put a lot of emphasis on nutrition.

If you’re working with someone on achieving your fitness goals, and they don’t know squat about food, you’re done for!

Is your trainer constantly going on and on about training sessions, but only giving you a vague idea of what you need to be eating and doing outside the gym… this could mean that they’re only trying to get the most hours out of you, and they’re not entirely dedicated to seeing you grow.

Great trainers recognize the need for a flawless diet when chasing your goal, and unless you plan on doing cardio every day, they’ll surely let you know.

You should be spending most of your time working out actually talking about nutrition. Your trainer should provide you with at least a basic, realistic meal plan, as well as an approach to your overall diet. And if they can’t do that, they’re going to reach out to someone who can, like a nutritionist.

Number seven… they’re focused on rest and slow progression.

After you complete your first few training sessions, you’ll notice a tendency.

If your trainer is awesome, he/she will always ask how you’re recovering, how your days look, and how much rest you’re getting lately. Recovery is a vital component of reaching your fitness goal, and a great trainer knows that.

Every time you see each other, they’ll be adding to their assessment of you. This assessment will help them determine how your body functions, how much rest you need, and how much effort you need to be committing daily in order to progress at your desired pace.

Naturally, they’ll be pushing you to your healthy limits, and all those efforts are going to stress your body. A great trainer will emphasize your rest days, not limit them so that they can get more hours in with you.

Number eight… They manage, structure, and track everything.

Is your trainer tracking your results more than you are?

Great coaches understand the meaning of “everyone is different.” They know all of the various ways people respond to different stimulus, and they use that when they track your progress.

If they’re always walking around with a pen and paper around, you know that trainer is doing a good job. Just by the fact that they realize your individuality, they already help you a ton! Most coaches just use the same formulated approach for everyone they work with.

And while that’s not a crime by any means, a coach who cares about your results will be writing down every little detail of your journey so they can help you get to your goal faster.

If they’re using the same approach as they do for everyone else, it’s not really “personal” training, is it?

A good training mentor will be customizing, planning, and evaluating every next step of your journey, essentially allowing you to min-max your results and learn an incredible amount of information about yourself.

If your trainer is indeed awesome, they’re going to be always commending you for your efforts, measuring your progress, keeping track of your strength and endurance, and while you’re working out, they’ll be busy either helping you or taking notes.

Number nine… their client list is full of happy, fit people.

Don’t get me wrong – I know a lot of trainers who were incredible as soon as they started coaching people. I slightly touched on this topic in my “How to Choose the Right Fitness Coach” post, but it was more related to the question of reputation rather than experience.

Great trainers are naturally extremely confident at what they do. They have a list of dozens, hundreds, some even thousands, of clients that they have helped achieve real results.

Want to put your trainer to the test? Ask them who their proudest transformation is. Ask them to show you a client they’ve worked with that had the same goals as you and achieved tremendous results by working with them. This way, you can be almost certain that your trainer is the real deal.

And the tenth, final, and most important sign… They’re bringing you results!

Quite frankly, some of you might say that this is the only sign that matters.

And while I do agree to some extent, I believe that we can’t just put up with someone who we don’t enjoy being around just because they bring us results.

Hiring a personal trainer is an experience. Not a transaction. This is a person you are going to have to listen to, learn from, and grow with.

If you start working out with a trainer, give them two weeks to prove that they genuinely care about your progress.

Use the things you’ve learned in this blog post to spot the difference between a good and a great trainer.

A good trainer will help you get results…

But an awesome trainer will help you achieve those results while making the entire experience simple, pleasurable, and most importantly, educational!

Hey Angels and Alphas!

Let me ask you something – how come some days you can get up in the morning, make coffee, have breakfast, workout, and do it all in perfect succession, boosting yourself up ready to take on the day…

… While other days you can get up and instantly feel like “well, I’m going for another 8 hours”.

What’s the fundamental drive that gets us up in the morning and makes us head straight toward our goals? Is it motivation, willpower, or just habit and routine? And why is it not there sometimes?

Today, I hope to answer all these questions.

Together, we’re taking a deep dive into the topic of motivation and willpower, so by the end, we can better grasp these concepts and learn how to develop them to achieve what we want – from a big salary to a perfect physique.  

Let’s get right into it.

First of all, what is motivation?

A lot of people look at motivation as a resource. You either have it, or you don’t. Sometimes it’s there, and sometimes it goes away.

But science doesn’t look at it that way. Science looks at motivation as a response to certain stimuli. That response isn’t always the same, and it always triggers different parts of our brains so it can “motivate” us into productivity.

I believe you’re much better off learning more about what motivates you specifically – rather than endlessly searching for motivation in videos, gurus, and IG quotes.

In the brain, motivation is directly related to dopamine – a neurotransmitter that relays signals between brain cells. When it’s released, it travels to an area of the brain that mediates reward behavior. (it’s called the nucleus accumbens).

When that dopamine reaches it, it sends feedback to the brain on whether to feel good or bad about what just happened or is about to happen.

Everyone has different responses to stimuli that make them feel good or bad.

For the purpose of getting motivated, you should only be concerned with what you get motivated by specifically.

Psychology defines a lot of classifications of motivation, but today, I want to take a look at four specific “types” of motivation.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

As I mentioned, there are too many types of motivation defined by psychology for us to look at today. But a common way that motivations get classified is with the extrinsic and intrinsic marks.

Extrinsic motivations are those that come from the outside – such as money and social recognition.

Intrinsic motivations are those that come from within the individual – like the gratifying feeling you get every time you solve a puzzle or increase your 1RM.

Fitness sort of falls into both of these categories.

This is also reflected in the duality of motivation in gym-goers.

Some people look at fitness as a specific body goal desired to gain social recognition. Others look at it as a lifestyle venture with no end in sight.

Before you start “building” your motivation, you have to realize where it comes from. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with being motivated by extrinsic values – if that’s your thing, own it.

Fear of Loss vs Desire to Gain Motivation

At the very core of our being, our primal instinct is to survive.

Our brain is continually scanning every new thing in our environment, trying to figure out if it’s a threat or not. Everything we perceive as a threat instantly receives all our attention, like something that’s hot to the touch or that time the weight felt a little too impossible at first (but you managed to get it up).

Every time your brain perceives a threat, it’s primary instinct is to respond to that stimulus.

In the first few years of your life, your brain has set a clear tendency toward either moving forward to acquire a gain or spend its energy avoiding and reducing pain.

If you relate this back to habit psychology, it’s no wonder that habits get created so easily in humans. Once we initially invest our time and energy into something, it makes much more sense for us to just keep investing more rather than “lose” that time and energy we spent for nothing.

Everything relates to this primal instinct we have to eliminate the pain or problem points we face in our lives. At a primal level, the desire for gain is not that well expressed. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably because we’ve spent hundreds of thousands of years just running from predators rather than choosing what career path to take in the 21st century. But that primal instinct is so deeply ingrained in us, that it drives every choice and decision we make.

When most of your initial needs are met, there’s not a lot of emotional motivation to gain more than you have. If you want to achieve a specific goal, you make a rational and logical decision on that goal, and then you apply these two emotional triggers to essentially “program” your brain for success in that specific area.

When you balance rational decision-making with the conscious application of your own personal emotional motivation factors, that’s when the magic starts to happen.

This sounds complicated, but I assure you it’s not. Just to give an example, let’s say you want to drop a few pounds and today you make the decision to start working out.

Nobody makes that commitment solely on logic. There are, again, intrinsic and extrinsic factors that come into play – you might want to fit in old clothes, be more confident at the beach, or just look and feel more athletic. Regardless of what the emotional trigger is, there’s always something behind the logical, “I want to lose X pounds.”

If you learn to apply your emotional triggers to your logical decisions, you’ll always have motivation. Always.

Isn’t that willpower? What’s the difference between motivation and willpower?

You might’ve heard people say, “willpower is more important than motivation,” and that’s true to some extent. But willpower functions more like a resource than motivation does.

Let’s define the two terms first.

Motivation is having the desire to take action. Willpower is the act of taking action regardless of whether or not you have the motivation to do so.

Willpower means forcing yourself to do a specific action. But not in a bad way. Ultimately, you can be full of motivation and the desire to achieve a particular goal, yet if you lack the willpower, it’s improbable that you’re going to succeed.

To get things done, you need a combination of motivation and willpower. But to receive more willpower, you need to continue re-igniting your motivation. We know willpower is a limited resource – here’s a great article published in the Association for Psychological Science that takes a look at ego depletion. Ego depletion happens when you “use up” your willpower on one task, causing you to perform worse on subsequent ones.

If we look at willpower as a resource, we can quickly start to see patterns in our own behavior that let us generate it at will. Essentially, by training our motivation and continuously fueling our desire, we can access more and more willpower.

Check out this article published in the New York Times – they found out that judges tend to experience something known as “decision fatigue.” In a couple of “decision-making sessions,” judges initially made rulings that favored the prisoners’ interests. As time went on, decision fatigue kicked in, and judges started ruling in favor of their own interests.

Knowing that willpower is a finite resource lets us shift our perspective. How do we “generate” more? And isn’t that sort of contradictory, considering that if something was motivating us enough, we would be taking action anyway?

Well, no! No matter how motivated you are, you still have to learn how to sustain your motivation and access more of your willpower.

It’s only in the right balance of these two things where you’ll find real consistency, mastery, and results.

It’s the only way things truly get done. Right now, I’m about to share my 7 keys to getting things done – each of them is here to either help you grow your motivation or tap into more of your willpower!

The 7 Keys to Getting Things Done in the Gym (and outside of it)

• Examine yourself.

You should always be pondering yourself and asking yourself questions about your goals. Through doing this continuously or using meditation, you can motivate yourself by merely using visualization and reflection techniques.

Remind yourself of why you’re chasing your goal, and why you get out of bed in the morning. Remind yourself of that time you almost gave up – but you didn’t. Or that time you were too afraid to even start. By doing this, you’ll continuously be re-igniting your desire and motivation and making the goal in front of you clearer and clearer every time.

• Set a clear goal.

When you can clearly see yourself at the place you’re at, you need to make the conscious decision that this is what you’re going to set out to achieve.

Your goals will change with time, and they’ll grow bigger the more of them you achieve. Regardless of how much desire you actually have, nothing begins until you set that goal – this is the first step to solidifying your willpower and making the conscious decision to dedicate it to that specific goal/activity.

Once you set that goal, your next step is to break it down into smaller milestones that can allow you to track your progress toward that goal until it’s fulfillment.

* Many people draw an enormous amount of motivation from the belief that the goal they’re chasing is aimed at the greater good. Unfortunately, this is true even if what they’re doing is actually harmful.

That why you see so many successful fitness experts who spread useful information that helps people achieve results, yet on the other hand, some extremely popular fitness personalities are spreading info that is harming people’s perception (not to mention their bodies).

• Track (and reward) your progress.

Personal growth is one of the biggest emotional triggers that motivate people to take action.

Do you notice how the people who are taking the time to measure and manage everything are the ones that truly achieve exceptional progress in the long-run?

Even though human beings aren’t numbers, you can receive an enormous amount of knowledge about yourself by tracking even the smallest aspects of your personal growth. Chasing your goal may have many milestones, each of which can be a beacon of willpower and motivation if you decide to use it as such.

Essentially, by rewarding yourself and your emotional triggers when you achieve one of these milestones, you’re programming your brain to chase the stimulus from the next one. It’s sort of ingenious, a rather simple way to program yourself to achieve anything you want.

From now on, when you see improvements, call yourself out on them. At times, when you see your form is slipping or you’re getting burned out, embrace that but don’t let it last.

• Make learning a priority.

Another huge motivator relating to personal growth is learning.

In fitness, even if you’re happy with the results of your current routine, you should always be learning and trying to find new ways to improve it.

If you’re always looking for new things to learn, you’ll be getting closer and closer to mastery with every step. Learning and practice go hand in hand toward achieving any goal, and one shouldn’t be prioritized over the other.

• Practice every day.

This relates to what we said earlier about habit forming.

If you start doing something every day, pretty soon there are going to be days where you just can’t go without it. It’s universal – you can build a habit from going to the gym, smoking, eating healthy, eating poorly, pretty much everything.

We, humans, are pattern-oriented creatures, and our brain usually has no problem expending energy to maintain an already established pattern in our life.

• Develop solid routines.
  

From the second you wake up, you’re bombarded with potential choices. You can stay in bed for five more minutes, head directly for the coffee machine, or grab your bag and be headed for the gym before the sheet falls back on the bed.

If you create a series of small routines throughout the day and make a habit out of all of them, pretty soon, you’ll be practicing and learning about your craft without requiring much motivation, to begin with.

It will sort of just spring out of you as if your brain will just prioritize these things over others. That’s why a newcomer feels anxiety when going to the gym – this is an unestablished, delicate pattern for them right now. While someone who has been going to the gym religiously 6 days a week will find an extra rest day somewhat unnerving and unsettling. It’s all about patterns and learning how to develop them and break them.

This is true with every activity in life, and everyone knows this, but the moment you consciously decide what routines to create for yourself is when you really start to benefit from all of this.

But no matter how many routines you have and how good they are, most of the days you’ll still go to bed tired. That’s okay. Just make sure you’re really spending your time prioritizing the things that deserve your attention the most.

• Eliminate unnecessary commitments.

And finally, end the self-sabotage!

Do you know those times when you say “yes” to doing something, knowing very well that you don’t have the time or energy for it?

This needs to stop. These are activities that are draining your willpower. They are taking the energy that you could be aiming at your goal, and if this becomes a habit, it’s a nasty one to get out of.

Eliminating unnecessary commitments is one of the most challenging parts of managing your motivation and your willpower, but it’s perhaps the last and most crucial one.

 

Hey Angels and Alphas,

What’s your morning ritual? Whether you realize it or not, you have a morning ritual. There are things you do consistently every morning that either build your momentum up or down for the rest of the day.

Imagine two people. The first has a mindful, motivating, and empowering morning ritual that helps them get their day started with energy and enthusiasm. The other person has no real structure in their morning and doesn’t really create the momentum they need to have energy throughout the day.

If you know nothing else about them, which one is more likely to succeed at their goal? Which is more likely to even have a goal?

It’s no secret to anyone – starting your day off right can put you in the state of mind you need to achieve your goal. The majority of the world’s high achievers have structured morning rituals that are designed to help them improve their energy, productivity, and mental focus.

That being said, how can *you* design your own morning ritual? A morning ritual that gives you specifically what you need to start your day off in the right state.

That’s exactly the question we’re going to answer today. Let’s take a look at the seven elements of morning rituals that are consistent throughout all effective and empowering morning rituals.

#1 – Goal Setting

You wake up. You open your eyes. You take a breath. What’s the first thing you usually do?

Do you check the time, quickly browse social media, and go back to bed?

Do you get up, take a shower, and head to work?

Or do you focus your thoughts on the things you have to do to get momentum for the day?

One element is so consistent throughout morning routines that is might as well be a requirement. It’s setting goals! The first and most important part of your day should be all about setting milestones you can achieve that day.

Once you verbalize and visualize the things you have to do, getting on the path to actually doing them feels a million times easier.

Some people go as far as to list out their goals the night before, and if you’re one of them, all the better. As soon as you wake up, you can look at your list and instantly bring yourself to the headspace you need to check things off the list.

If you’re someone who needs more discipline and has trouble getting things done, make this a part of your morning ritual.

#2 – Meditation

Meditation is another element that’s widely adopted in morning rituals.

In the Western sense, meditation essentially means sitting down and thinking about something. It’s more along the lines of pondering and deep thought about a particular topic.

In the Eastern sense, meditation involves awareness of the breath, observation of the thoughts, and a quieting of the mind.

That being said, meditation can also be used as prayer, self-reflection, or gratitude.

If you’re someone who has a lot of things on your mind and you need a natural way of relieving stress, meditation is a must in your morning ritual. It will help you enhance your self-awareness, improve your concentration, and clear your mind so you can focus throughout the day.

#3 – Reading

A lot of people from coaches to business owners include reading in their morning ritual.

High-achieving people understand that they need to consistently learn new ideas and information to get ahead.

However, this goes beyond just reading for twenty minutes every day. Reading without purpose is… well, pointless.

You have to read things that either bring actionable value to your life or things that you just enjoy reading. Studies show that reading for twenty minutes a day reduces stress by up to sixty percent!

If you’re someone who can spare twenty minutes every morning for a dozen pages of an informative book, it definitely won’t hurt to learn something new.

However, if you have to get to work as early as you can, you can save learning for a later part of the day.

#4 – Exercise

We’ve talked about early morning exercise many times, and the overwhelming evidence is that it’s fantastic. It helps you burn more fat and leaves you with more energy throughout the day.

However, in the case of morning rituals, you might find it inconvenient fitting an hour-long workout into your morning routine. If it’s in your morning ritual, it’s likely the last thing you do.

As great as morning exercise is, for some people, it’s just painfully difficult.

That’s why if you’re someone who hates working out in the mornings, but you want to add some activity to your mornings, you should try yoga, some home exercises, or just a basic stretching routine.

Nevertheless, five to ten minutes of physical activity in the mornings will help you clear your head and get you on the right track for the day.

#5 – Journaling

Oh, journaling!

We’ve talked about it a lot lately, and with good reason. Not only does it provide the mental benefits of focus and free expression, but it helps you manage, schedule, and track things throughout your day.

A lot of people like journaling first thing in the morning, be it in a dream journal or in a day planner.

Journaling is widely accepted as an overwhelmingly positive practice, but doing it consistently in the mornings gives you the added benefit of planning out your day and setting a checklist of goals to achieve.

If you’re someone who needs more structure in their days and has trouble remembering ideas, add ten minutes of journaling to your mornings and they’ll change your life – that’s a promise.

#6 – Visualization

One of the most common yet most undocumented elements of a successful morning ritual is called visualization.

There are many schools of thought behind visualization, but the majority of public perception believes that visualization brings actual benefits to people’s lives.

Although it’s basically a method of meditation, spending time visualizing how to accomplish your goals, handle obstacles, and overcome difficulties is something that has its own unique value.

By taking five to ten minutes of your morning to visualize how you’re achieving your goals for the day, you’re going to get a boost of motivation and you’ll put yourself on the track to making the right choices and decisions that day.

If you’re someone who has trouble getting motivated in the mornings, visualization is what you need to break through those chains and get yourself revved up.

#7 – Affirmations

Positive affirmations usually involve repeating phrases and messages that, in a way, send instructions to your physiology. These instructions help you direct your own thoughts and decisions, and including them in your morning ritual is a surefire way to set yourself up for success.

The messages you send yourself should be based on empowering positive habits, attitudes, and beliefs that move you closer and closer to achieving your potential.

Practicing positive affirmations is especially beneficial in the mornings, after meditating, when your mind is clear and open to receiving them. They’ll help you strengthen, energize, and focus yourself on what’s important.

If you’re someone who needs more direction and esteem, add five to ten minutes of positive affirmations to your morning ritual.

Putting it all together…

These seven elements of morning rituals will serve as the perfect foundation for creating your morning ritual. Use these elements to craft yourself a morning ritual based on your strengths and weaknesses.

You now know how to empower yourself and keep yourself focused and inspired throughout the day. You only need thirty minutes to an hour every morning to gain incredible momentum that will help you win the day, every day.

Once you get yourself into a comfortable routine, you’ll find how easy it is to be consistent with it. Every time you wake up, you’ll naturally gravitate to accomplishment.

Remember – the ultimate key to any empowering morning ritual is to build win upon win upon win! It’s momentum you’re looking for.

For example, when you quickly stretch for ten minutes, meditate for ten minutes, read for ten minutes, have breakfast, shower, and you’ll be basically unstoppable – you’ve already completed five tasks, and it’s not even 9 AM yet!

That’s what I want for you, and the best way to do it is by creating your custom morning ritual and staying consistent with it.

Making this choice means setting yourself on a path achievement, and that’s the path I want you to be on!

Hey Angels & Alphas!

Nowadays, everyone in the fitness community is talking about the mind-muscle connection.

From a historical perspective, many legendary bodybuilders and strength athletes praise the implementation of a “mind-muscle connection” in their training.

By mind-muscle connection, they mean focusing their attention on the muscle that they’re working out during any given set.

Even though this seems like it would be really hard to investigate in research, the reported effects of the mind-muscle connection have baffled scientists for decades.

Today, we’re going to look into this phenomenon and find out how it relates to better fitness performance and greater hypertrophy.

Let’s get right into it!

How do we define the “mind-muscle connection”?

We can say that our mind-muscle connection is the transference of our attentional focus onto the activity we’re performing.

To this day, two major types of attentional focus have been identified – internal and external.

The external relates to focusing your attention on parts of the environment.

The internal involves thinking about the body, such as the contraction of the working muscle or the movement of a shoulder blade around a shoulder joint.

What researchers have found is that when you employ an external focus of attention, during a physical movement, you can achieve higher maximum force production, better performance on endurance tests, and more reps in tests of muscle endurance. (Source 1, Source 2)

Not only that, but using an external focus of attention has also been related to higher gains in motor learning over extended training periods.

What about internal focus?

Well, in contrast, researchers have found that using an internal focus of attention leads to improved muscle activation. Another research that examined the mind-muscle connection of individuals during traditional strength training with light loads also backed this fact.

Moreover, an internal focus of attention leads to greater gains in muscle size over the long-term.

Researchers usually explain this finding in relation to the better muscle activation achieved by internal focus points.

Why does the internal focus of attention enhance muscle activation?

When you’re strength training, muscle activation is affected predominantly by motor unit recruitment. (Although it can also be influenced by motor unit firing frequency, among other factors.)

When muscle activation is higher, this means that a higher amount of motor units has been recruited to lift the weight or carry out the exercise.

When your central nervous system identifies that the existing levels of force production are not enough to carry out this task, additional motor units are recruited.

We already know that an external focus of attention grants us better performance in athletic movements. That being said, it’s unlikely that an internal focus of attention will help us do that because more motor units are recruited when an increase in movement speed is present.

Consequently, when you’re not fatigued, an internal focus point leads to increased motor unit recruitment. This is due to the need to produce a larger agonist muscle force at the same speed of movement.

Nobody really knows exactly why there’s a need to produce greater agonist muscle force when you’re using an internal focus of attention.

However, there are three possible explanations for the increased agonist muscle force.

• 1. Altered synergist muscle force.
• 2. The activation of agonist muscle regions that are not usually present in this movement.
• 3. An increased antagonist muscle force.

An increase in antagonist muscle force always requires the agonist muscle to produce more power. Changes in the synergist muscle force will also need the agonist muscle to exert more force. In both these cases, this happens in order to achieve the same joint torque.

Activating muscle regions that are not usually activated to perform a specific movement seems very inefficient. They don’t contribute to force production in any real way.

This might seem *super* complicated, but I promise it’s not.

Ultimately, since it’s probably not possible to change the amount of synchronized motor units required for an exercise, the increased agonist muscle activation happens because of one of these three factors.

How does the mind-muscle connection enhance muscle growth?

So far, we know that an internal focus of attention increases muscle activation. We understand that this is likely to lead to increased agonist muscle force in a given exercise.

But how does this translate to more muscle growth?

There are a couple of explanations here, based on the variety of mechanisms by which muscle activation is increased with that internal focus point.

First, regional muscle activation.

After your strength training, muscle growth does not occur evenly in all parts of the muscle. There are (at least) two reasons for this.

Firstly, it happens because muscle fibers increase in either length or diameter.

Secondly, it happens when a functional region of the muscle is activated in order to perform a specific movement. This requires force production at specific muscle lengths.

When we perform movements with an external focus point, we only produce muscle force in regions that are structured to contribute to that movement.

However, when we perform a movement with an internal focus point, we produce more force in the regions that do not particularly contribute to that movement.

This means better total muscle activation. It means higher overall muscle activation without the need to really increase the external force applied to the muscle.

Second, increased antagonist muscle activation.

During jumping, throwing, or other athletic movements, antagonist muscle activation is usually greater with an internal focus of attention.

However, hypertrophy can only occur when the muscle fibers of high-threshold motor units experience high levels of mechanical loading.

This means that it doesn’t really matter why these muscle fibers produce force. It could be as a response to an external load, or to antagonist muscle activation. The same rules apply.

(This is the same reason why we can produce high levels of muscle activation by merely flexing our muscle.)

Ultimately, this means that the differences in the level of antagonist muscle activation (between an internal and external focus point) are not responsible for the greater hypertrophy that occurs when you’re using an internal focus point.

Which leaves us with number three…

Third, altered synergist muscle activation.

It shouldn’t really matter whether the high-threshold motor units produce greater force in response to altered synergist activation when compared to antagonist muscle activation.

This is why training with machines and free weights generally involves the same amount of agonist muscle activation and causes similar amounts of muscle growth (given that the exercise is similar.)

Even though unstable conditions require more contribution from synergist muscles (in order to stabilize the joint), the resulting hypertrophy is not that different.

What does all of this really mean for the trainee?

In practice, using the internal focus of attention may be helpful for the lifters who are training for hypertrophy.

If you’re stepping into the gym for the first time, an internal focus of attention will be helpful during certain exercises. It will help you make sure that the exercise is correctly targeting your desired muscle group.

What researchers *do* know is that, when they asked people to focus on a specific muscle group when training it, this resulted in greater activation of those muscle groups.

If you’re an intermediate/advanced lifter, the internal focus of attention might be problematic to your progressive overload. Unlike beginners, advanced lifters cannot increase the number of reps or weight they perform on an exercise from one workout to the next. Using this internal focus of attention will likely mean that fewer reps will be performed on each set.

For the advanced lifters among you, you can even go as far as attempting to *stop* the internal focus of attention toward the end of a set in order to reach a higher number of performed reps. Even though it’s tempting, don’t do this. It will only lead you to think that you’re achieving progressive overload, when in reality, you’re not.

If you’ve been in the gym for a couple of years, and you’re able to employ the exact same focus of attention on every rep of every set, an internal focus of attention will help you. However, this is highly unlikely to be achieved, as it takes an enormous amount of time and patience to master.

To conclude…

Your mind-muscle connection is defined as an internal focus of attention. This means directing your attention to the muscle you’re training on every exercise.

This internal focus of attention will likely increase the amount of force you can put out due to either (1) increased antagonist muscle force, (2) altered synergist muscle forces, or (3) the activation of additional regions of the agonist muscle that you’re usually not utilizing in that exercise.

However, it’s likely that only the third option contributes to greater hypertrophy.

If you’re a beginner lifter or someone training for hypertrophy, try to utilize the mind-muscle connection as much as possible. Other than that, learn about it and forget about it, as it will only distract you and add another variable that you need to constantly micromanage.

Hey Angels and Alphas,

It’s a fact – sleep is vital. Although many people are still trying to figure out exactly why we sleep, we are yet to find a definitive answer to that question.

But do you know what question we do have an answer to?

It’s, “How can I get a better night’s sleep?”

And this is precisely the question we’ll be looking at today – sleep quality, how it affects you, and how you can drastically improve your sleep quality and technically sleep more in less time.

First of all, how do we define sleep quality?

For one, we know how it looks when someone has had a good night’s sleep. Sleeping directly affects our physical and mental health, and falling short of it can mean taking a nasty toll.

Lower daytime energy, productivity, focus, memory, and emotional balance, all of these come as a result of poor sleep quality.

And don’t confuse quality with quantity, especially when it comes to sleep. You can be getting a full 8-9 hours every night and still struggle from all of these traits of poor quality sleep.

Many of us toss and turn in bed at night, wondering why our body just won’t go to sleep. Sometimes, sleeping well feels like a goal you can’t achieve, even though you’re wide awake at 2 a.m., and you’re trying your best to give your body some rest.

But I’m here to tell you that you have immense control over your sleep quality. More than you currently realize. More often than not, how well you sleep at night will determine how you feel during the day – so getting poor quality sleep means that, somewhere in your daytime routine, you’re doing something wrong.

These lifestyle habits that you carry out throughout the day are what’s keeping you up at night. It’s easy to notice adverse effects on your own mood, creativity, energy, vitality, weight, even your immune system – when you’re not getting good quality sleep.

That’s why I’ve compiled this checklist of five sleep quality go-to’s. Anytime you’re having difficulty getting quality sleep, refer to this list, and you’ll be back to good sleep habits.

Sleep Quality Tip #1 – It’s all in the light. 

Have you heard of melatonin? Of course, you have. It’s a naturally occurring hormone controlled by light exposure. It helps you regulate your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle.

When it’s dark, the brain starts secreting melatonin. The darker it is, the sleepier you tend to become. While during the day, when not as much melatonin is being released, you’re more aware, conscious, and alert.

However, most people nowadays have that totally flipped around. Our “modern” way of living has us shifting our circadian rhythm and altering the body’s production of melatonin.

Here are some tips you can use to make sure you’re properly managing light, and you’re supporting your body’s natural melatonin cycle.

• When you get up, immediately expose yourself to bright sunlight. Have coffee on the terrace, eat breakfast by the window, whatever. Just get sunlight hitting your face as soon as possible every morning.
• Try to spend more time in direct daylight. If you can take your work outside (or at least your work break), do so. Exercise outside at least once a week.
• When you’re at home or at work, let as much natural light come in through the windows as possible. In other words, keep the curtains and blinds open.
• One hour before bedtime, avoid all bright screens. The blue light emitted by our phones, tablets, and TVs is highly disruptive. If you can’t avoid it, at least keep the brightness down and use light-altering software to avoid blue light.
• When it comes to videos and TV, keep it relaxed. A lot of the videos we watch at night tend to be stimulating, and this doesn’t help our natural circadian rhythm.
• When it’s time to go to sleep, make sure your room is pitch dark. You might also want to cover up electronic devices that emit light. Sleep masks are also an awesome addition here.

Sleep Quality Tip #2 – Your Natural Sleep-Wake Cycle 

There’s absolutely no better strategy for sleeping better. You have to get in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle and keep a regular sleep-wake schedule.

If you do this for even a week, you’re going to see a profound difference in our energy levels, and you’re going to feel more refreshed every day. You can even start getting away with less sleep.

Here are some mini-tips that will allow you to get a better understanding of your natural sleep-wake cycle.

• Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day. This helps your body optimize the quality of your sleep for the amount of sleep you’re going to get. It’s like hacking your internal clock. Choose a bedtime where you usually feel tired and start going to sleep at that time every night. Then keep track of exactly when you wake up each morning.
• Don’t overdo the nap. Yes, naps are awesome. They help you make up for lost sleep and give you an energy boost that feels like it can last you centuries. But don’t be fooled, as napping can make things worse for your internal clock. Limit them to not more than 30 minutes a day.
• Some people get drowsy after dinner. To make sure you’re keeping your body’s natural cycle, do something stimulating after dinner if you’re one of those people. Don’t you hate it when you accidentally go to sleep in the afternoon, and then can’t fall asleep at night?

Sleep Quality Tip #3 – Watch your Nutrition 

Especially in the hours before bedtime, what you eat can make or break your sleep cycle.

Here’s what you must absolutely know in order to make sure your nutrition is helping your sleep cycle instead of ruining it.

• No caffeine! To oversimplify the way coffee works in your body, just imagine this hypothetical scenario: coffee molecules and sleep molecules are fighting for who gets to overpower your brain. If you drink a cup of coffee at around 4 p.m., coffee molecules are still floating around in your brain at midnight. Even if you fall asleep, your sleep quality will be horrendous!
• Avoid heavy meals and too many liquids before bedtime. Too much of either can cause bloating and stomach trouble while you’re sleeping. This is especially crucial when it comes to sugar and refined carbs. If you eat them late, they’ll give you an energy burst that will keep you out of the restorative stages of deep sleep.
• Avoid heavy meals and too many liquids before bedtime. Too much of either can cause bloating and stomach trouble while you’re sleeping. This is especially crucial when it comes to sugar and refined carbs. If you eat them late, they’ll give you an energy burst that will keep you out of the restorative stages of deep sleep.

Sleep Quality Tip #4 – Daily Exercise

People who exercise every day report sleeping better at night (not to mention feeling less sleepy during the day).

But this doesn’t have to mean super intense exercise. Even walking for 10 minutes can help improve your sleep quality. But as a rule of thumb, the more rigorous the workout, the bigger the sleep benefits.

The only thing you have to keep in mind here is when you exercise.

Because exercise tends to speed up the metabolism and raise body temperature, some experts have pointed out that this is adverse to your sleep quality.

Try to finish your hard workouts at least 3-4 hours before you go to bed, so your body has time to get in a relaxed state. Yoga, meditation, or gentle stretching can help with that also.

Will Sleeping Better Improve Workout Performance?

In short, yes.

The better your rest, the better your physical and mental capacity and productivity will be. The gym is no exception to this. Good sleep habits have been proven to help with motivation, focus, muscle recovery, and a gazillion other factors that all relate to your gym progress.

Here’s a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. It found a correlation between the quality of sleep and the likeliness to follow through with an exercise routine.

They concluded that getting enough sleep will not only give you the strength you need to maximize your workout; it will also make you more driven, focused, and motivated to give your very best.

And let’s be honest – not getting enough quality sleep makes exercise feel harder and tedious. But here’s a fun fact – sleep deprivation does not affect your cardiovascular or respiratory responses to exercise, nor does it affect your performance capabilities. It will, however, make it easier for you to fatigue yourself and lose your drive.

It’s not technically tougher. It only feels tougher.

To conclude, we can say that getting enough sleep most likely won’t turn you into a bodybuilder on its own. Getting an extra hour of sleep won’t make you smarter or stronger.

But not getting that extra hour when you really need it can, quite frankly, ruin your day.

Follow the sleep quality tips I’ve shared with you, and you’re guaranteed to improve the quality of rest you’re getting. Do this first, and you’ll have the mental and physical preparedness to face any daytime challenge in front of you. I promise.

Hey Angels and Alphas,

With the current pandemic sweeping the world right now, many people are worried that they’re not getting the adequate amount of calorie-burning in their regimen. With gyms closed everywhere, our options remain working out at home, or outside whenever possible. For this reason, this might be a great time to learn something new about how our bodies actually burn calories and what type of exercise gets us into the “fat-burning zone.”

A common misconception you might hear is that the harder you work out, the more fat you burn. That’s not necessarily the case. The truth is, fat burning happens at a lower intensity than most people realize.

This means that even if you’re doing your best to sweat it all out at the gym, you might actually be losing an opportunity to lose fat. That’s why we need to find our personal sweet spot where our bodies begin to burn fat during a workout.

But how do we find out what our heart rate is during a workout?

Due to advances in wearable technology, and the fact that pretty much every treadmill in every gym has the ability to track your heart rate (although it just as well may not give you a really precise answer), finding your heart rate during training sessions has become easier.

Your smartwatch or treadmill monitor can give you a rough estimate of your heart rate as you work out, and some people have even gone as far as wearing chest straps.

Okay, so we know where to find that information, but what do we do with it?

Generally, your heart rate boosts as your workout gets more intense. That’s why measuring your heart rate is actually a pretty good gauge of your workout intensity. But in some cases, it might not be that reliable. For example, if you haven’t recovered properly, your heart rate might be higher than usual. And if you’re working in a hot gym on a summer day, your heart rate will generally be higher than if you were to work out in a cold environment.

So how do we find that fat-burning sweet spot?

To calculate the perfect heart rate increment for burning fat, we must first find your maximum heart rate.

And though there are many ways in which you can measure that through technology, a golden rule for measuring your max heart rate is this simple formula: 

Your Max Heart Rate = 220 – your age multiplied by 0.66

The Chinese Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that this is the most precise way to calculate your max heart rate without the use of any technology.

For example, if you’re 25-30, your estimated maximum heart rate is approx. 200.

And once you know that, you can start calculating individual heart rate zones. They will be your guide as to how intense your workouts should be.

Your fat-burning zone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, should be about 65-75% of your max heart rate for moderate activity while maximizing fat burning. So for our example, that would be somewhere around 130-150 beats per minute.

Fun fact: Most weightlifting workouts stay in this range as well. And so do moderate-intensity endurance workouts.

What if we go above that rate?

When you decide to give a workout your all and go into high-intensity ranges, that’s usually around 75-90 % of your max heart rate. The problem here is that sometimes it’s difficult to track heart rate accurately, and the difference between a workout of 160 bpm and one of 170 bpm is massive.

Keep in mind that some of the technology you’re using may include different heart zones, but we’re sticking to what the experts at the CDC agree on.

On that same topic…

A Finnish scientist actually discovered a better and more accurate way to use your heart rate during exercise.

Have you ever heard of the heart rate reserve? It was created by Finnish scientist Martti Karvonen, and it’s regarded as one of the most accurate ways to determine exercise intensity based on heart rate.

Here’s what you do.

You lie down and relax for a few minutes, put on a smartwatch or fitness tracker, and measure your heart rate. If you don’t have any of that, you can measure your pulse the old fashioned way. This is known as your resting heart rate.

Next, after you’ve determined your resting heart rate, you take your max heart rate, and you subtract your resting heart rate.

For example, if you’re 25-30, and we assume that you have a resting heart rate of 60, then your “heart rate reserve” will be 160. (200-60)

Finally, you take that number, and you multiply it by one of the following:

• Less than 30% for very light exercise
• 30–39% for light exercise
• 40–59% for moderate exercise
• 60–89% for vigorous exercise
• 90% or above for full intensity

With this formula, you’ll be able to find your target heart rate during a workout and get a clear vision of what intensity level should be focusing on.

For example, your heart rate reserve is 140. If you want to do vigorous exercise, multiply that number by .6 and by .89, and you’ll get a range of 84-124.

Then, add your resting heart rate to both sides of that number (in this case 60), and you’ll receive the most accurate range for high-intensity exercise – 144-184.

While this might look a little complicated, it’s by far the most accurate way we have of finding your target heart rate (without you know, all the fancy lab equipment.)

Once you know that target heart zone, use it to adjust your workouts. Use your smartwatch or chest strap to change intensities as you move forward.

Use the lower and upper end of that spectrum and implement them into your interval training. Increase intensity until you reach 184, then drop down to 144 and give yourself a break. Stay in this range, and you’ll learn what high-intensity training is all about.

Choosing a workout…

When it comes to reaching your fat-burning zone, the approach will be different for every workout. Runners, for example, need to do intervals of running faster. Gym-lovers might need to ramp up their intensity with a drill or superset.

The possibilities are endless, but know this – following these heart rate zones and using them in your workouts is one of the best ways to ensure safe, healthy, and productive training.

One of our most successful weekends in our history of preparing athletes for this incredible @wbff_official brand.

This weekend saw the inaugural WBFF PROAM show in Australia and the Santa Monica show in Los Angeles for our amateurs.

Overall this weekend we saw 6 of our athletes achieve PRO STATUS – taking out their categories in STACKED lineups of like-minded athletes chasing that elusive WBFF pro card. Many of these athletes were first timers in the WBFF and competing in general so their showings were extremely exceptional.

We also had 2 wins in the Pro categories which saw them win the championship title status and take over $7000 in prize money. To say we are proud of coaches is an incredible understatement and I am so happy with us not only backing up the team of the year title, but exceeding even our own lofty goals. You are are champions. Full results below.

Placings

• Abbie – 1st place Fitness Diva Short + Pro status. Top 5 bikini
• Amber – 1st place fitness diva medium + pro status.
• Sarah Dalton – 1st place fitness 35+ & pro status
• Sarah Dalton – 4th place diva fitness model short
• Sarah Wachjo – 6th place diva fitness
• Donna – 6th place fitness 35+
• Kelly Daymond – 9th place fitness 35+
• Kane – 8th place fitness tall
• Hannah – 10th place fitness tall
• Ashleigh – top 10 bikini medium
• Gavin – 8th fitness model
• Kelly Flanagan – top 10 bikini tall
• Sarah Wachjo – top 10 fitness model
• Shanon Hanrahan – 3rd place fitness model
• Stephanie Wassens – top 10 bikini model
• Suzanna M – top 10 bikini model
• Tayah Pickervance – top 10 bikini model
• Tiana – 3rd place bikini model

Pro titles

• Fresh – 1st place Pro Fitness model
• Daniel – 1st place Pro Muscle model
• Kayla – 3rd place pro bikini model
• Milla – 2nd place bikini pro diva

Amazing pro debuts by

• Frida
• Maya
• Suzanna P

Amazing amateur debuts for

• Alisa Motorina
• Alicia bloom
• Anna Kroehn
• Hilla Sukar
• Ibanez Taylor
• Jackie Perry
• Krisna Morris
• Lina Revelo
• Matilda Murray
• Trish Speesa
• Ruby Mcmullen
• Sandra Angela
• Vanessa McFall
• Victoria Carter
• Shannon Mulders

Santa Monica

• Taryn – 1st place bikini + pro
• Lexie – 1st place bikini + pro
• Cindy – 1st place fitness + pro

The internet has given a lot of fitness lovers the opportunity to start their own fitness brand.

I feel that phrases like ‘personal branding’ and ‘marketing’ are thrown around so much nowadays, nobody can really understand what they mean. They’re always backed-up by “researched” mumbo-jumbo that speaks to you about broad concepts instead of what will help YOU improve YOUR business.

Today, let’s take the process of developing such a business and break it down to the actionable steps you should take if you want to develop your personal brand in the fitness industry!

1. What is a Personal Brand and How To Create One

For starters, we need to know the difference between branding and marketing.

Marketing is getting the word out for what you do. If you’re a fitness coach, that includes being on social media, running ads, funnels, getting people to visit your website, all of that.

Branding is all about the experience people get when they work with you. It’s a lot more emotional than rational and has to do with everything from the way you work with (and who you work with) to the way you present yourself online – your name, your logos and colors, your voice, your copywriting, even the comments you leave under other people’s comments.

Think about that – is the presentation and copywriting in your website too serious? Or too sweet-sounding?

There’s hardcore, pushing people to the edge coaches, there’s the laid-back, fitness lifestyle type coach, then the wellness coach, the diet coach…

You need to find a niche of people you can help with your knowledge and expertise. One of the biggest mistakes that I see a lot of personal brands making is trying to appeal to everyone.

We all work with different people who have different interests, so “developing your brand voice” means finding out who you want to be online and focusing on that target market.

You do that by:

1. Making sure your website copy, your social media content, your talks, interviews and marketing materials all have the same style, vibe and energy. This builds trust within people and increases the exposure you get by making you more easily recognized online.
2. Making sure you always have a clear next goal in mind and making them bigger over time.

Now that we know what branding is, let’s take a look at how to actually get the word out for your business, make sales, impact the lives of people, and become a voice recognized in such a crowded market!

2. How To Get Exposure for Yourself and Your Brand

Now that we know what our brand voice is and who we’re trying to help, it’s time we reach out to these people and give them value!
Always remember – you have to be congruent in all of these channels. Branding and marketing must go hand in hand like a lock and key. If one of them is missing, you risk coming across as either unprofessional or uninteresting.

Before you start getting more exposure you need to figure out one thing – where your audience is spending their time. For the fitness niche, there’s already a few great places you can go and build a solid foundation!

Here are a few ideas for channels where you can reach people online and engage potential clients for your fitness brand!

• Engaging people on social media – commenting, liking, following and messaging on Instagram and Facebook.
• Running Facebook and Google ads – to a landing page for a product (free or paid).
• Doing webinars, live trainings, even Instagram Live – just giving out free content or promoting courses on a webinar.
• Ranking higher on Google with SEO – absolutely crucial!
• Local events and networking – you can meet people to collaborate with.
• E-mail Marketing and collecting leads – the best way to communicate to your audience via text.
• Creating a blog or podcast – giving out free content to your audience.
• LinkedIn – setting up auto-responders and engaging people there.

These are only things that you can do yourself!

Keep in mind, one of the best ways to promote yourself online is to collaborate with other people in the fitness industry. If the branding is right and the energy matches between you, amazing things happen.

Doing guest posts on their social media and blogs, being a guest on their podcast, being in their YouTube videos, even on their Instagram stories. Even reaching out to an influencer is not a bad idea.

Another thing crucial to your success is to gather testimonials from the people you’ve helped. They will really help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, know what the people are thinking, and show people that you’re truly all about giving value!

What matters is getting the word out to as many as possible, right? So think about which of these channels you’re not using and start implementing them into your marketing strategy.

So, when you’re doing things the right way and people are seeing you, engaging with you, and approving of what you’re doing – how do you turn these views into profit for your business?

How do positively impact the lives of the most people while making the most sales and building your brand?

Let’s learn how!

3. Growing Your Brand and Making Profit

For someone who has been in the fitness industry for quite a long time, I can honestly say…

Every fitness industry personality is endorsing something nowadays.

And that’s a good thing!

Whether you decide to create your own product – be it a supplement, an E-book, a course, a clothing brand – or you decide to endorse others for a piece of the pie, selling products is the most obvious way to generate profit, so it goes first on our list.

Brands will have no problem paying you for representing their vision online. Mutual promotion between brands and ambassadors is a win-win way to hook your audience up with products you love using at great discounts – and get paid for it.

Chances are you’re already promoting products to your friends and community – you’re just not getting paid to do it!

But if you decide to create your own product, and you truly create it from start to finish and put a piece of yourself in it – people will love it and you will have success.

And always make sure to have a product you’re giving out for free! By doing that, the people whose ideologies your brand voice matches will become loyal followers you can keep giving to again, and again, and again.

If training and living healthy is a lifestyle for you, chances are you know a few things that can be beneficial to others.

And if you love working with people one on one and want to make a positive impact on their life – you can consider coaching as your go-to way to profit online.

Honestly, coaching others has changed my life as well.

I see so many positive, motivated and goal-driven people that it inspires me to work hard and be at my best self all the time. Watching someone’s life change in front of me and seeing them deal with their insecurities and giving them the confidence to take on the world has made me a completely different person.

And even though fitness coaching has become a huge industry, there’s still a spot for everyone who wants to do something unique and give value!

Bottom line is, the more people you help and the more people you reach, the more opportunities you’ll be open to.

If fitness is your lifestyle and you want to share that with the world – don’t hesitate and start a fitness brand!

It’s a great way to get paid for doing what you love, helping people achieve their goals and doing it while building a sustainable business. Nowadays, that can seem like a feat, but the opportunity is here, for you, now!

Now that you know the proper way to do develop a brand voice, get exposure and grow your brand, there’s just one thing you need to know…

Whether you’re going to promote brands, sell courses, or do online coaching, there’s a ton of people who love fitness, need help, and want to hear what you have to say.

Marketing is important so you can get the word out for yourself and speak to the world. But make sure your personal branding is on point – it is exactly what people will be hearing when you speak.

Good supplements, like those offered by Bulk Nutrients, can mean the difference between finding that extra 1% and reaching your full potential, and being left wondering if you could have done more. And trust me, over the past 6 months while I have battled injury throughout my busiest competition prep to date, Bulk Nutrient supplements have been my saving grace!

This year has seen me persevere to overcome some pretty significant injuries, illnesses and personal challenges – so safe to say just getting to a position where I can be competitive at WBFF Worlds is a HUGE achievement! With thanks to consistent nutrition, effective lifting, a positive kick-ar*e attitude and my fav supplements supplied by Bulk Nutrients, this year I am bring to stage the best me to date! Consider yourselves all warned!

But seriously, in order to be competitive against some of the most gorgeous and talented people in fitness, who are equally as dedicated and committed to achieving their goals, I rely on the competitive edge offered by Bulk Nutrient supplements. My fave Bulk Nutrients products are Whey Protein Isolate or Thermowhey (Choc flavoured of course!), added with Bulk’s BCAAs, Leucine and Green Fusion has given me the boost I have needed to power through my workouts, recover faster and maintain a healthy mind and body. This year you’ll also find in my go to bag of Bulk Nutrient supplements,Diindolylmethane (DIM) and R Alpha Lipoic Acid (RALA), which have been great for aiding energy production, glucose disposal and estrogen metabolism.

We all know how seriously I take my nutrition, training and comp prep. Being able to push myself beyond my limits, challenge my own perceptions and drive hard toward my goals is what sets me apart. When you combine this with good nutrition, solid training, and the great range of supplements offer by Bulk Nutrients – well then you have a winning combination!

It was another successful showing for coach Alicia Gowans at the WBFF Pro Show held at the Beverley Wiltshire Hotel last weekend.

She took home another crown and now adds another title to her cabinet!

She finished 1st in the Pro Diva Fitness over 35s as well as second in the overall Pro Fitness Category too. What an amazing achievement from our coach.

Adapt to what life throws your way and believe in yourself!

There has been A LOT of talk in recent years about the benefits of intermittent fasting. For body builders used to eating at set intervals, the thought of going for a prolonged period of time without food can seem daunting! Trust me, unless I’m dialing down for stage, I NEED and LOVE all my food. But recently, my usually in control schedule, has exploded into a colourful array of chaos.

Running multiple businesses and juggling home life, sees my schedule challenging at the best of times, but coming back from a major injury has seen my lifestyle change even more so. I love experimenting with new methodologies and finding new ways to work within my limitations. I am always researching and trying different things. So my current crazy schedule and lifestyle presented the perfect opportunity for me to try Intermittent Fasting.

There are loads of options out there for intermittent fasting. I’ve opted for the 16/8 protocol. 16 hours fasting, with an 8 hour meal window. I’ve also dropped my calories slightly due to a reduction in exercise capacity and cut my meals back from six to four, with a lower fat and carbohydrate split.

Why intermittent fasting?

Aside from Intermittent Fasting fitting nicely into my current lifestyle and schedule, I am attracted to the major health benefits that research suggests can be gained from intermittent fasting. These include:

improved metabolic efficiency and increase insulin sensitivity levels;

reduction in oxidative stress and greater mitochondrial energy efficiency; and

Increased cellular capacity to resist stress, disease and aging.

For me, I’ve found intermittent fasting has allowed me to reduce my overall body fat, maintain muscle mass and continue to make progress toward achieving my training goals, while maintaining an incredibly busy lifestyle. I’m taking baby steps but everyone of them is in the right direction – forward!

Importance of good supplementation

While I am finding intermittent fasting is allowing me to continue to achieve results, my supplement regime during this period has also been incredibly important, and must really form part of any intermittent fasting protocol whether its 5:2, 16/8 or eat-stop-eat.

I’ve found using Green Fusion in the morning gives me that vitamin boost and reduces acidity, and combining it with an amino acid like Leucine helps to prevent muscle catabolization.

Training fasted can also be a challenge when fasting and using Pump FX has given me the boost I need to get through my morning workouts. I’ve been getting great results with Pump FX particularly when combined with ZMA to aid recovery and increase sleep quality.

The wrap

Whether you achieve results or not is up to you. We’re all presented with situations in life that don’t allow for us to maintain our usual routine. Some will use this as an excuse, but I choose to find ways to continually plan for my results. For the time being intermittent fasting combined with the right supplements has been a great way for me to continue to achieve results while working through challenging times without giving up on my dreams. Anything is achievable if you are willing to work hard for it, adapt to what life throws your way and believe in yourself!

Alicia is a guest writer for one of the newest online magazines called Human Performance, check out her article below.

For many Australians, maintaining a fit, healthy and active lifestyle is often impeded by everyday life and seen as a chore. For World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) Diva Pro Alicia Gowans, it’s a way of life.

Alicia is the Australian WBFF team captain, owner of Oasis Health Club, the founder and Head Coach of Ally’s Angels and Alphas and is fast becoming Australia’s most renowned fitness models. Her passion for fitness as a fully-qualified fitness specialist, with qualifications in personal training and sports nutrition, has complemented her corporate background and a Business Bachelors Degree as well as ongoing Bachelor of Exercise and Movement Science/Bachelor of Behavioral Science studies.

We had the pleasure of speaking to the down-to earth fitness fanatic, coach and elite athlete to get an idea of her meticulous preparation and routine with just under four months until her next competition. Her first and foremost point about preparation, the next one will be completely different to the last.

“No two comp preps are ever the same. Each prep is always different because each year your body changes and you need to take a different approach.” 15 weeks out from her next competition, Alicia says this period should encompass a strong focus on heavy lifting and building lean mass, combining heavy lifts with volume-based sessions.

However, Alicia’s current preparation has been hindered following a re-injuring of an injury sustained at her last World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) World’s competition. However, you don’t reach the elite levels that the mother of two has by succumbing to injury. Injury is not a simple excuse to relax, but an opportunity to spice up the training routine and try something different. “So instead of lifting heavy I have been focusing more on volume based training utilising the occlusion or blood flow restriction training method to amplify the intensity of my sessions.” “Occlusion training is great way to still achieve significant gains in size and strength while only lifting 20-40% of your One-repetition maximum (1RM). “My favourite exercise at the moment is actually the primers that I conduct prior to every session.

“These exercises help me to ensure my engagement, biomechanics and technique are all on point even before I touch a weight. And when you really tune into your body you can feel every muscle and fibre turning on. It is really amazing to feel and a great way to connect with your body.” She has also complimented her current routine with Pilates, foam rolling, plenty of stretches, and training in high-altitude conditions. Extensive research suggests a strong correlation between high-altitude training and fat reduction. “The higher altitude forces the body to utilise more of the anabolic energy system keeping metabolism elevated for a longer period post training.”

Without an injury impairment, Alicia says there is no set-way to optimising results. A common misconception is that there is a designated workout or technique that will optimise the construction of lean muscle, fat reduction and generally optimise fitness and body image.

However, preparation is a rapidly-changing, delicate science that requires frequent adaptations. It’s all about listening to what your body desires throughout the preparation and adjusting the training accordingly. “Preparing your body for stage, and coming in on point and on time is a science! There is a lot that goes into it and it is never the same. You have to really know your body and be able to adapt to its changing needs.”

“My training is always focused on my goals, so no two training phases are ever the same. Because body building requires symmetry, shape, size and leanness it is important for me to assess my physique at regular intervals and adapt my training as I progress. “ “For me in the months leading into competition I am generally training 6 days a week, for around an hour each day. Training is predominately lifting based with minimal cardio, focusing on lean mass growth and the enhancement of my development zones from the previous competition.”

Alicia prefers the use of non-linear programming over standard progression, a technique used in foundational training, due its limitations. She states that elite athletes, or goal-driven individuals who compete at multiple competitions throughout a year can achieve far greater success adopting a non-linear program. “It’s largely because the adaptations developed in preceding phases do not get carried over into sequential phases. For instance by the time you have reached the later power phase in the progression sequence, the adaptation developed during the hypertrophy phase will have been lost.

“Depending on the training phase I will generally work my non-linear progression programs in weeklong micro-cycles that will include rep ranges and loads targeted at hypertrophy, strength and power. “For example a simple 6 day undulating program for me may focus on 2 days each of strength, power and hypertrophy, with day 7 rest or active recovery.

An undulating program simply refers to altering the repetitions in a single day’s work out, almost in a wave formation. The theory behind the process again is based upon optimising the output for an athlete’s input. Whilst you only get out what you put in, undulation is a technique that assists in maximising results. “Using a daily undulating program can often result in a further maximisation of gains, as the body is placed and continually varying stressors for growth.”

“An example is focusing initially on priming lifts which are low weight and high reps, before moving onto a heavy compound lift for high sets, low rep sand then combining this with more of a volume super-set sequence of four – five sets of 12 – 15 reps. As the preparation progresses, the importance of cardio and aerobic capacity comes into play. “As I get closer to stage, the focus of training shifts to greater volume with a steady increase in cardio, along with one or two metabolic conditioning sessions.”

And the last fortnight before a competition incorporates higher intensity, increased cardio and things really kick-off! “The last 10 days prior to a competition is what body builders describe as ‘peak week’. This is where there is a greater increase in physical output in order to deplete the body of glucose stores and continue body fat reduction, in preparation for carb loading the evening prior to stage.” “Peak week is the most exciting period in comp prep because every day you wake up and your body has changed in some way. It is like Christmas morning EVERY morning as you find new cuts or new definition that wasn’t there the day before!”

Training and optimising performance and preparation, particularly at an elite level, is never as basic as simply working out. A key ingredient to optimising performance and output is an athlete’s diet. Again however, it’s not simply about living on a diet of vegetables and protein, there is an incredible science behind an athlete’s food consumption. As an elite athlete, everything must be done by the book. “One of the biggest mistakes I see aspiring body builders making all the time is not fuelling their bodies correctly to achieve their goals. This often means either eating too little or too much, or equally as important, not eating to the right macro-nutrient splits.”

“As any elite athlete will tell you, nutrition is intricately linked to performance. You can’t expect to eat poorly while achieving optimum results. This is more important in body building than most other sports,given the package you bring to stage is the determining factor in your success. “ For bodybuilding, the diet, likewise with training methods, varies vastly depending on where the athlete sits in their competition cycle. For example, off-season training, which is built around muscle growth and development, would generally see Alicia consume between 3000-4000 calories per day.

“A standard day would normally consist of fats and protein in the morning, carbs and protein around training, and either a high fat/high protein evening meal, or something more carb based depending on my training schedule. “The challenge is always to come in on point at the right time, without losing too much muscle mass during the cutting phase.” “It is important to have as long a prep as possible so as to keep calories high for the longest possible period to avoid damaging your body or wasting muscle.

“For me coming into stage I never drop below 2000 calories, choosing a longer period to dial in, rather than a more aggressive and calorie restrictive approach. “Competition nutrition, or ‘prep’, is of course very different to off-season nutrition.” And yes, don’t worry, even the best of the best manage to sneak in a little treat every now and then. “I try to incorporate a cheat meal every so often, but I never schedule these choosing instead to listen to my body and what it needs.

However, it’s a fine line to walk when searching for a clean treat. “My idea of a cheat meal is different to most people! I particularly love Cajun crusted salmon with chilli beans, or lemon chicken with homemade sweet potato wedges and asparagus…YUM! I will always go for a clean option rather than something ‘dirty’. For any budding bodybuilders who have been inspired by Alicia’s incredible rise to the pinnacle of her sport, or her lifestyle in her eyes, the mother of two says suggests seeking professional help to filter the incredible catalogue of information is the best approach.

“Perhaps the most challenging thing when you are an aspiring body builder is that with the amount of information available out there, it can be difficult to discern what is useful knowledge, and what is just junk. This can lead to misconceptions and loads of mistakes when you are starting out.” “I always suggest any one aspiring to compete in body building or just looking to build a toned physique seek out a coach that can provide good quality guidance, especially in the initial stages of development.”

“A good coach can make the world of difference and help you lay the correct nutritional foundations and understanding. Most coaches, like myself, will guide you through both nutrition and training and this can be invaluable when you are first starting out.” “The saying ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ is very true in body building, so having someone to step you through the process can be a very rewarding experience.”