Rock Star (part 1 -learning to play covers)

Hey guys,

This is as much me talking to myself as it is coaching and inspiration.

The title of this post is learning to play covers. Everyone starts with covers whatever the goal/discipline/medium. No one starts off drawing strictly from imagination and some secret muse within themselves. We start off imitating others, and in the case of music, it's learning covers. (In addition to scales and other exercises that instill solid basics.) There's a lot less angst in sitting down to learn a song/practice scales/copy a picture, whatever, as a new artist/musician/etc. than to try to just pull something out of your hat that is some perfect expression of your innermost self. It doesn't happen and the pressure pretty much kills any chances of doing well.


Starting my own business, and putting all my goals out on the table is proving to be one of the most educational things I've ever gone through. There's no boss to blame, there's no one looking over my shoulder or hindering me, it's just me with a blank canvas and figuring it out as I go.


And that's where many people (myself included) come up short. We do it all ourselves. We reinvent the wheel (often poorly) we try to psyche ourselves up, and we do it all in and of ourselves.

No wonder so many people quit and settle in for a long run of quiet desperation.

I've officially had to quit doing that, and saying so in a public forum makes it that much more official.

Most people can't do much as one person against the world. Anyone acting alone in their own strength and on their own wits is a closed system. Closed systems tend to devolve, run out of energy, and trend towards disorder and entropy.

I'd challenge you to start at the core level, whatever you're background to connect with something bigger than yourself. For me, Crossroads church has been the place that has helped me to connect with friends, it's challenged me, and has provided some great opportunities to get outside of myself and grow. It's been a place that has helped me let go of a lot of half-thought limiting beliefs about God and about myself.

That's at a core level. I've still got a lot to learn, and I will post on this as this series evolves.

On practical level, when you've dealing with nuts and bolts issues specific to whatever task or goal you're trying to achieve, it's way more effective to learn from experts and imitate greatness. For me with work, that can be experts who are respected within a specific community of trainers and who have a proven track record. It's simplifies things. Learn their systems, use them for training my clients, and make adjustments as necessary.

This is a world different than starting from scratch. Now I've got a big picture of what I'm going to do with my clients for the next 16 weeks. Anyone can show up week in, week out, without really knowing why they're doing what they're doing, and never making any real progress.

I used to think this was cheating when I did this with my group classes and personal training sessions, but not in the Pilates studio. In Pilates, you learn the system, you learn the progressions, the various series, and where they all fit together, and for the most part each workout was the same for 75 percent of the exercises. The other 25 percent would address the person's specific needs. This lends consistency, the clients really learn what they're doing, and it saves your career as a teacher because you aren't spending all your energy at work improvising one workout after another and going home with nothing left for yourself.

I don't know about you, but I'm all for not having to improvise every hour of work, every important task, and feeling like I'm performing live and without a net. It's too much angst for too little payoff.


I hope you are up for this as well.

So in short...

Connect with something bigger than yourself. Get fresh energy. Get challenged. Be about more than just you. Learn from people smarter than you. Quit reinventing the wheel and put some systems in place. That could be as simple as using a calendar, balancing your checkbook, and keeping things organized. Don't despise small beginnings. Don't knock covers and practicing the basics. They'll take you far.

Today's Cardio Strength Class

We had a little bit of a late start this morning. Last night was Charlie McGinnis' birthday and everyone stayed a little late at the dojo last night.

I've been on a little bit of a kick lately, doing 10 station workouts. Rachel Cosgrove designed a program for the actors in Spartacus: Blood and Sand (It's kind of like 300 -the actors are extremely fit). Their program is a circuit of 10 exercises performed for 1:00, with :15 between them.

We're working our way up. Our first round was :30 on / :15 off, second was :40 on / :20 off, and back to :30 / :15 for the third.

Here is our workout from this morning:

Dynamic Stretching 5 minutes

1. DB Squat + Overhead Press
2. KB Swings
3. Cleans (1KB, 2 Hands)
4. DB Chest Fly*
5. Push Ups
6. Crab Walks (forward and backward)
7. Duck Under (like your ducking under a low door and stepping sideways)
8. DB Bent Over Row
9. DB Straight Leg Sit Ups (holding the weights up towards the ceiling)
10. Boxer Shuffles/Split Jumps (advanced)

*Many people do push ups as a shrug/head banger type movement. Flys serve as a way to activate the muscles of the chest and shoulders before going into push ups.

Keep moving forward,
Charlie

Class Schedule and Location

Monday
6:30 -7:15AM Express Fitness Training
8:00 -8:45AM Pilates Fusion

Thursday
9:00 -9:45AM Express Fitness Training


Wednesday
6:30 -7:15AM Express Fitness Training

Thursday
9:00 -9:45AM Express Fitness Training

Friday
6:30 -7:15AM Express Fitness Training

Express Fitness Training:
A typical class starts with 5 to 10 minutes of power yoga or other dynamic warm up. Then we do circuits of strength, core, and agility exercises. I have two Marines (retired) who tell me it’s one of the hardest workouts they’ve ever done. Each circuit takes anywhere from 4 to 7 minutes, with a minute of rest between rounds.

You’ll move fast enough to work hard, but not so fast that you’re just lurching your way through your workout. You’ll get a great workout and still have plenty of energy to get through your day.


Pilates Fusion:
A mix of Pilates, yoga, and strength. Fill in the gaps left by traditional workout routines. No reformer, no funny breathing, no excuses.

Location:
Aikido of Cincinnati
4727 Red Bank Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45227
513 561-7202

Click here for a map

Try your first week for free! Email me at: charlielevine7@gmail.com and let me know to expect you.

Cost:
One Class $15
Ten class pass $110
One Month Unlimited $120
Three Months Unlimited $300

How much willpower do you have?

A lot of people tend to think that trainers are this weird group of people who like nothing better than to spend all their free time in the gym.

I've got news for you. That's often the case.

But, I'm not most trainers.

Like most everyone else, I have people I want to keep up with, things I want to do, and on top of that I like going out and doing physical stuff like playing sports or taking classes at aikido. Which means I'm pressed for time, and I don't want to spend my days too sore to move. (That will be the subject for another post)

The last few weeks have seen a few changes to my schedule and I've been struggling to consistently get in three quality days of resistance training. Not every day has to be super hard, but I have to balance the demands of my schedule, along with saving energy so that I can have a good aikido class later on.

The point is to find times and environments that work well, so it doesn't feel like you're beating your head against a wall every time you work out. Take steps ahead of time (IE eating, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep) so that when you do have a good time slot, you can get in a good training session and not have it feel like it's a job.

For the last few weeks I've worked out in the afternoon on Fridays and it's killed me. I drag through it, I feel mentally run down, and then later it takes a lot to get me out of the house. So I'm making a couple of changes. I'm making sure that I'm hydrated and that I've had enough to eat that morning so that I can knock it out at 11AM. (I start early and that's my first break in the day) It's just that simple.

Maybe for you that means recording your shows and going to bed at 10PM so that you can get in a training session before work. Or mixing up your routine. Or trying a new class. Like the ones I teach. :) (Hey, I had to throw in a promotion somewhere!)
The point is that every workout shouldn't be overly taxing on your will power. You only have so much of it.

You know what works and what doesn't, and hopefully I've sparked some ideas for you.

Best,
Charlie

Is your gut telling you something?

No, not that gut.

Your intuition, your gut feelings.

Years ago I started feeling really uneasy going to the gym. I didn't know any better, but I kept going, and pushing myself through workouts I didn't like in an environment I didn't like and I paid for it by running myself down pretty badly. (This was in addition to going to school, working 20 hours a week, and trying to do everything else in between on 6 hours of sleep a night.)

I paid for it by continuing that habit of not listening to my gut, just telling myself to "cowboy up" and ignore that voice, and going to work at a place that sucked the life out of me. The examples abound, and I'm determined not to let that trend continue.

This summer I stopped training at the gym where I worked. It has all the cool toys, but I couldn't make myself be there any more than I absolutely had to. Instead, I bought a few kettlebells and a few weights and worked out in my driveway or at a soccer field. If something or someplace felt "off" I paid attention to that and made changes accordingly.

I still wanted to train hard, but I had to find a different environment.

Maybe you can relate to that.

One place that has always felt like a great training environment is Aikido of Cincinnati (pictured below), and I am extremely grateful to be able to teach classes there in the morning.



Doesn't the dojo kind of look like the training program from The Matrix?

If you want to work hard and get out of the gym, if you want to get in a workout that gets you results in half the time of traditional training, then stop by and check out my classes.

Class Schedule and Location

Monday
6:30 -7:15AM Bootcamp
8:00 -8:45AM Pilates Fusion

Wednesday
6:30 -7:15AM Bootcamp

Friday
11 to 11:45AM Bootcamp (for the month of December 2009)

Bootcamp:
A mix of dynamic flexibility, strength and interval work. Each group of 3 to 8 exercises takes about 3 to 5 minutes to perform, with a minute of rest between rounds. This workout is hard and can be adapted up or down depending on your fitness level. You’ll get results and still be able to get through your work day.


Pilates Fusion:
A mix of Pilates, yoga, and strength. Fill in the gaps left by traditional workout routines. No reformer, no funny breathing, no excuses.

Location:
Aikido of Cincinnati
4727 Red Bank Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45227
513 561-7202

Click here for a map

Tame those raging hormones

One of the most overlooked strategies for taming bellyfat and staying ahead of holiday weight gain is keep those hormones from getting out of control.

It's fairly well known that insulin is one of the biggest culprits in weight gain. Foods that cause a spike in blood sugar levels (IE processed white flour, sugar, potatoes, chocolate, etc) are linked to weight gain, and even more insidiously, to insulin resistance, if exposed to them often enough.

One way to tame insulin is to take in a moderate amount of vinegar (about two tablespoons) before meals. Another way to get that might be to make a salad with a vinaigrette dressing and have that as your first course.

Another way to tame insulin is to add cinnamon to your meals. In addition to helping keep insulin in check, it also helps with brain function, cholesterol and it tastes great.

I already know I'm going to hear about how Cincinnati chili has cinnamon and it is therefore a health food. Au countraire, mon frere. Cinnamon helps. It's not a "get out of jail free" card.

You can add cinnamon to coffee, tea, oatmeal, etc.

Healthy fats like fish oil and coconut oil help because they act as anti-inflamatories and help check the effects of cortisol, the major hormone associated with stress.

Coconut oil? Yes, coconut oil.

Not the partially hydrogenated stuff that while it once came from coconuts, has been denatured and rendered toxic, and stable enough to give those snack cakes a three year shelf life.

I usually get Nutiva, and I shop at one of the major grocery stores. It's a great source of healhty fats, has anti-inflamatory and anti-fungal properties, and it stands up to heat so it doesn't go rancid when you cook with it.

Fish oil.

I use Trader Joe's largely based on the recommendation of my very smart holistic friend Janet, and I can definitely tell if I keep up with it or not.