Q: What is your athletic background?

A: Participation in sports such as soccer, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, and snow skiing.

Q: What is your typical weekly fitness routine?

A: I don’t train with one or two particular fitness routines. I train with variations in my fitness routine, changing it every 3-4 weeks throughout the entire year. I believe the best results come from variations in my fitness routine. In other words, I may train heavy with a 3-6 rep range, I may train light with a 8-15 rep range, I may change the tempo of my repetitions, I may change the time between sets, or the order of exercises. Also, my goals change throughout the year. I may be training to get leaner for summer, I may be training to add muscle in the winter, or I may be training to target certain weaknesses that I want to strengthen.

As you can see, the variations are endless and, to be honest, answering this question with what I am currently doing might not apply to you unless your goals, body type, age, and injuries are similar to mine.

Q: What made you turn your passion for fitness into your profession?

A: A long time ago I discovered the hidden power of exercise and fitness and always wanted to share it so others can make the same discovery that I made. I discovered over time that exercise and fitness becomes much more than the pursuit of being in shape or the discipline of training and dieting. Exercise and fitness literally becomes your foundation. It’s what stabilizes you and what keeps you focused. I am lucky to have discovered this hidden power and I’m very lucky that I’m able to share it and instill it in my client’s lives. I believe the hidden power of exercise and fitness is that it’s the best known antidote for negativity, frustration, and stress.

Q: What is your typical daily diet?

A: My typical daily diet is 6-7 meals a day, all low in fat, and all containing a good source of protein.

Q: What Diet advice would you offer our readers?

A: My advice to others is this: There’s a reason why 50,000 diets have been written while none of them work long-term. There’s only one way to do this. You have to create new habits to replace your current habits. This is the only known method that will last a lifetime.

The first habit you need to create is to eat 4-6 small meals a day about 2-3 hours apart. The second habit is to make these meals balanced in protein, carbohydrates, and fat. You must create these two habits in your life first before you look at other areas in your diet like calories, fiber, good or bad fats, etc.

Let me explain…your body adapts to the environment it lives in. When you consistently eat 4-6 small meals a day, your body thinks it’s living in a new environment, an environment where their is an abundance of food. There’s no longer a reason for your body to store body fat. Your body now actually tries to get rid of its body fat because the environment no longer dictates a reason to store it. Now if this person joins a gym, he or she is working in conjunction with their body as well as their head to lose body fat. BOTTOM LINE: Eat 4-6 small meals a day, it increases your overall metabolism. No one can argue with this.

The second habit is simple: make all 4-6 small meals low in fat; that means, no cheese, no mayo, no butter etc. You know what I mean. Then, make every meal contain a protein source. If you follow these two simple rules at the end of the day your percentages of protein, carbohydrates, and fat should always be approximately 30-40% protein, 40-50% carbohydrates, and 10-20% fat, a very balanced diet.

I promise, if you follow and create these two simple habits, not only will you never have to diet again but you will learn to enjoy food again, the way we were supposed to enjoy it.

Q: What is the most common mistake you see people making with their exercise routine?

A: The most common mistake I see people making with their exercise routine is that most people are not doing one. What I mean is: I think people should get more specific with their exercise routine. A routine should first have a specific short term goal behind it. Second, a routine should usually have variables involved, such as: how much time to wait between sets, what tempo to use, heavy or light weight, high reps or low reps, intensity levels, etc. The most common mistake I see is that people do not implement these variables. When there are no variables in place, then there is nothing to change the next time you go to the gym, and progression stops.

Bottom Line: I think people should get more specific with their exercise routine… creating variations in it based on short term goals, body type, age, injuries, etc.

Q: What would you recommend to fix this mistake?

A: What I would recommend is what I’ve loved doing for the last 15 years: See a personal trainer, someone who can analyze what you’ve been doing in the past, your current diet, your injuries, goals, body type, age, etc. Then I would have him or her design a program based around these specifics and around your short term goals.

Bottom line: You will get a lot more results if you train and eat according to your goal and body type.

If you would like more information about personal trainging, call 704-541-3500 or feel free to stop by Bodywise Personal Training & Fitness Center at 7257 Pineville-Matthews Rd. Or check us out online at www.bodywiseinc.com.

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