“The Rule of Three”

Posted: 26th January 2012 by SGT Peterson in Articles, Boot Camp Photo of the Week, Diet and Nutrition, Tim's Blog
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The concept I call ‘the rule of three’ was inspired by some of my military leaders of the past. A few of the E-8’s (aka Master Sergeants) have two or three rules listed on plaques on their desks. One of my older, Master Sergeant (SGM) leaders has two specific rules. SGM Cullen’s two rules are these:
1. Mission is priority
2. Never assume anything.

Another great plaque I’ve seen on military leader’s desks said “Your poor planning does not constitute an emergency on my part”. Last but not least, one had a grenade on it with a number tag on the pin you pull to activate the grenade. It reads, “The complaints department takes a number. This is why today in my business one of our core values is humor. If you can’t make fun of yourself, who can?
I have read many leadership and self-help books over the years and it seems like each one touts their simple process or system. So here are SGT Peterson’s three rules to live by.

#1 – Control Your Attitude

Regardless of how bad today or the long term outlook is, you can always control your attitude. You can put a smile on your face and attack the day with optimism. This is something you always have the choice to do. You can inspire others to have a better day just by the way you conduct yourself.

For instance, an American’s bad day might be you wake up late, miss breakfast, and don’t even have time to shower before you rush off to work. You then start your day with your boss waiting for you in his office with a few things to speak with you about. He goes on to tell you your salary will be cut by 15% because of the financial crisis. Then you go to lunch and reach for your debit card only to find that you forgot your wallet at home. Lastly, on the way home from work you run out of gas.

However a GOOD day in Africa might start off with a cup rice and beans (if you are able to get some from the aid worker that gets robbed half of the time by the local militia.) This is the same Militia that rapes and pillages towns and enslaves young boys in their militia for life. It’s a good day if they don’t get you or a lion, crocodile, or hyena doesn’t eat you alive.

Interestingly enough people in these smaller countries are usually happier than people in larger, more modern society. In Africa they are just happy to live, and they do it using these three simple principles. They may not want too, but they do it because they have to. It’s too bad that so many people in America are accustomed to complaining about things while being unhappy. They could be making things happen with a smile on their face like the less fortunate third world countries around the world.

#2 – Control What You Are Doing Right Now!

That means you are the master of your body and universe. If you want to stop drinking or lose weight you will have to make a decision to change your behavior, and it must start today or the procrastinating and self-depreci

ating will never end. Stop making excuses, and demand results by making it happen NOW!

#3 – Make A Basic Plan For The Future

The trick with this one is not to get lost in the weeds with the details. In regards to this topic less is more. People have a hard time seeing past 90 days, so spend 80% of the time planning on the next quarter, and the rest of your 20% on 1, 3, 10 and 50 year goals. The point is that if you spend all of your time analyzing your future, you will never get there. You can’t think your way to your future, you have to take action today. That means knock out your quarterly goals and stop making excuses.

In all, I believe in using as little time and resources as possible to get my mission done, whatever that is. So if you follow these three rules, you will find yourself getting more done with less time, and certainly less emotional effort.
And remember, the rest of the shit just happens to you, so go back to #1 and repeat.

For some more motivation check out this link =) Warning, you must love the US military to watch this video.

(http://youtu.be/Wvk9n8UnFnU)

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Follow the Leader

Posted: 2nd December 2011 by SGT Peterson in Tim's Blog
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Today’s blog post is about leaders and managers and how they differ. The main difference between the two is that leaders inspire people and managers make people do things. That’s the biggest fundamental difference. Leaders stand up for what they believe in even when it’s politically unpopular or it could cause them harm.

People follow leaders because they show up first, leave last, and do what the right thing is regardless of what other’s think. Leadership, to me, is measured by the actions of somebody when the shit hits the fan. A leader is the person who eats last, who pays themselves last. A CEO of a company should never pay themselves before their workers.

Managers, on the other hand, are people who want to go home early and go on vacation all the time. They hold people accountable with a number and from a distance. They’re not ‘in the fight’ so to speak. They’re often hypocrites who say they’re going to do something differently when they’re in management and once they get there they do the same as everyone else! They take the easy way out by putting numbers on everyone and when people don’t hit numbers they’re gone.

At the end of the day, when you want to do something difficult in your life, such as getting in shape, you need to go to someone who’s done something similar to that and follow them. A leader isn’t always someone that’s a boss, coach, or someone who’s appointed. Many times it’s someone within your team, or an informal leader.

Is there something that you want to do differently in life? Here’s how: Find someone that you want to be like, someone that does what you want to do everyday. Follow that person and people like them as much as possible and you will be able to get the things you want.

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Do You Follow Leaders or Managers?

Posted: 22nd November 2011 by SGT Peterson in Tim's Blog
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Why is this important to you, a person who reads SGT Peterson’s blog? Bear with me it will make sense at the end. Why is it that people follow other people? Why do some people that are in charge make other people do things? Why do some people have the ability to get people to want to do the things that they find important? These are some of the questions that this article will answer from my life experiences. I’ll also tell you what this means to you on a daily basis and how it will help you in your life.

So why do people follow other people?

Some people think that great leaders are able to get people to want to do things that work on their purpose, cause, and passion. Others subscribe to the belief that great managers are needed to make people do things. Still others tell people that fear is the best motivator, or some type of incentive. I, however, prescribe to the belief that if you lead by example and leave no one behind, that anything you want to accomplish will happen. I also believe that when decisions are made it must always be a win, win, win for all parties involved, otherwise someone will have resentment over the issue.

Why can some people get others to do the “work” for them?

I would say it boils down to beliefs, and taking care of your people. In the military, sergeants take care of their soldiers much like you would take care of your own child. In turn the soldiers take care of the Sergeant, not because they have to, but because they know he has there back when they need it. In the end of the day it is about team work, and knowing what to expect when you need someone’s help.

Why do some people manage, and still have the ability to get results?

Managers usually use fear as a motivator to get people to act a certain way. Be it loss of a job, loss of a relationship, or both. Managers are masters of manipulation. They make people do things by holding them accountable to a number that everyone needs to make to hit a quota.

How are mangers and leaders different?

It simple, managers make people do things because they have to.
Leaders make people want to do things of their own free will.

The choice is your’s on two fronts. You can choose which way to be with your followers, and you can choose which types of these people that you follow. I know some of you are reading this and thinking, I don’t lead anyone, I just work at a desk, etc. But that could not be further from the truth. Everyone has someone who looks up to them, whether that be a kid down the street that doesnt have a dad and you help him fix his flat tire, or a coworker that has lost their way and needs to be cheered up that day. We all have a chance to choose what we do each day.

I know that everyone that is reading this can think of at least 2 or 3 people that look up to them. In all, lead by example, don’t leave anyone behind and I promise that your life will be much more fulfilling and you will get what out of it exactly what you put into it.

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More Than Just a Recruiter

Posted: 11th October 2011 by SGT Peterson in News, Shenanigans, Tim's Blog
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I believe in inspiring continued improvement through camaraderie and movement. What better way to do this than to serve not only my local community, state, and nation all at the same time, but by serving in the oldest branch of the United States Military!

My personal proven process is what I call the rule of 3 and it is a win, win, win. This is what helps guide me when things get into what most people call the grey area. The other rule that I often apply also has 3 parts.

1. You can always control your attitude
2. You can control what you are doing right now
3. You can plan for the future (I have found that less is more in this department)

In all, after much deliberating and applying the rules to this decision, I had to go back to what I love, the Military and sharing it with the young people in the community. So I am now serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion!

Think about it, my company, for the last three years, has been run much like a military unit. Because of my time working with some of the top business people in the Twin Cities and arguably the country I have improved myself not only as a leader, salesperson, marketer, but as a person and a human being. This go around, serving and leading soldiers will be much easier for me. Last time I didn’t even have a clear idea of what my purpose, cause or passion were. Not only do I have that defined, but I have a much larger tool box to pull from to inspire the future leaders of our community. I also have many mentors that have an outside the normal military box way of doing things that I can call on to help when things get challenging!

The best part about the whole thing is I get to work with new soldiers until they get ready to join their first duty station. This often means for their first 2 years in the guard I will be leading them. There is nothing that I take more seriously then leading soldiers, especially during war time. It is the most responsibility that anyone can have, and it makes me feel alive! So if you know anyone that is interested in being a part of something that is larger than themselves, please have them contact me and I will be more then happy to help them find out what the military is all about, and how it can help them improve them and everyone around them.

SSG Tim Peterson
Recruiting, Retention and Attrition Management NCO
Minnesota Army National Guard
651-775-5901

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Healing Touch – A Miracle?

Posted: 30th September 2011 by SGT Peterson in Health and Fitness, Tim's Blog
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While sitting in the hospital with one of my loved ones last week, I was introduced to something that made my mind go crazy: The idea that a person’s voice and touch, alone, could help relieve pain. In addition to that, it’s something that registered nurses do full time, and it’s encouraging to see. I really like to see main stream insurance companies and hospitals using and supporting nontraditional methods to heal people. Finally! Even the big bad insurance companies are understanding that you don’t have to over-medicate everyone to get them better! Enough with my rant, lets talk about what “Healing Touch” is all about!

 

Healing touch is all about  energy and how it sometimes can be out of balance. This energy is sometimes referred to as blocks. Healing touch works by activating hormones that are natural pain relievers. It does this by using breathing techniques which are also used in yoga and Pilate’s type exercise regiments. One technique they use is to breath through your nose. Carol Willie, a healing touch expert from Saint Joe’s said “When you breath from your chest all the time it creates tension. We must teach people to breath using their stomach and out their nose to help release tension.”

Carol also said, “When we are in pain we get tight, we must relax the muscles so the endorphins can be released.” Healing touch also uses the power of visualization. During the sessions Carol said something to the effect of ‘Think of a place that you absolutely want to be at. The more that you use your senses (seeing, hearing, etc.) the more that it will be real in your mind.’

She went on to talk about other Hindu, Thai, Chinese practices and medicines like Chakras and Meriddians. She said there is an energy field that’s outside of us, as well as one that is inside of us. When they are out of balance she can sometimes feel a vibration when placing her hands over the area. She believes in working on her energy from head to toe, and toe to head each morning to get balanced. She said this would benefit the average person because they average one thought per second about what is going on outside their body, but forget to think about what is going on inside of their own body.

I became a believer in the program once I asked her what she felt at my friends feet, if anything. She said, without having any background info on my friend, that she could feel a lot of energy coming from her right foot. Little did Carol know that my friend had nerve damage in that foot. There was no way she could have known because my friend was in the hosptial for a spinal fusion. Needless to say my jaw dropped and I felt like I had just witnessed the Psychic Gary Spivey tell me my future or something.

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Protein-aholic: A Recipe for Everyone

Posted: 23rd September 2011 by Elyssa Williams in Diet and Nutrition, Health and Fitness
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#1 – For the fruit lovers

Ingredients:

- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 3/4 cup frozen berries
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I used 1/2 scoop in mine this morning because I eat a lot of protein throughout the day already)
- 1 scoop greens mix (Also used a half scoop of this; I found a LifeTime fitness brand at the apartment I am staying at so I threw it in there and love it.  You can probably get something similar at a Whole Foods/Lunds type store.)
- A couple ice cubes

Instructions:

- Put it all in a blender
- Mix it together
- That’s it

Nutrition:

Calories: 326
Carbs: 45
Fat: 4
Protein: 32
Fiber: 6

*After looking at the nutrition information this one is making me wonder a bit. It is pretty high in carbs and protein (you want to shoot for around 30 g of carbs and 20-25g of protein), and fat and fiber could be a tid bit higher (YOU NEED TO EAT GOOD FATS TO BURN FAT and FIBER = FULLNESS).  If you take flax or fish oils that would be a great way to get your fat in if you are going to have this shake.

–

#2 – For the chocolate peanut butter lovers

Ingredients:

- 1 medium or large banana, sliced (works better if frozen)
- 2/3 cup almond milk, UNSWEETENED
- 1 tablespoon roasted, UNSALTED almond butter
- 1 tablespoon flaxseeds (or flax oil – this is what I used)
- 1 medjool date, pitted (high in fiber, not too high in calories, used as a natural sweetener)
- A couple of drops of vanilla (real vanilla extract if you can – not artificial!!)
- 1 scoop choclate whey protein powder or pasteurized egg whites (they come in little boxes and 1/4 cup adds over 6g protein for only 30 calories)

Instructions:

- Put all ingredients into a blender (along with ice cubes if the the bananas have not been frozen)
- Blend until smooth
- Yields one serving

Nutrition:
(per serving, not counting added protein)

Calories: 350
Fat: 16
Fiber: 8
Protein: 6.3 (12+ g if added protein)

–

#3 – Home-Made Protein Bars: Save money by making a giant batch of your own simple protein bars! The ingredients list is short, but they add up to make a delicious snack that will help fuel your body post-workout when coupled with some high fiber fruits or veggies.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup NATURAL peanut butter or almond butter (the only ingredients in the peanut butter we used were peanuts and sea salt)
- 1 cup honey (better than using sugar or artificial sweeteners)
- 11 scoops of whey protein powder (we were running low on this, so we could only use 8 scoops; we used GNC Pro Performance Vanilla)
- 2 ½ cups dry, uncooked oatmeal
- 4 tablespoons water

 

Instructions:

- Combine peanut butter and honey in a large nonstick pot and warm over low heat until it is easily stirred
- Add protein powder, oatmeal and water to mixture and stir (will be thick and difficult to stir, good for the pipes)
- Press into a 9×13 pan with the bottom of a measuring cup and let cool
- Cut into 16 equal bars
- Wrap each bar individually in foil or saran wrap and store in Tupperware to prevent hardening
- Refrigerate until post workout….Enjoy!

Nutrition:
(per serving, yields 16 servings)

Calories: 287
Fat: 10
Protein: 21.4
Carbs: 34

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#4 - Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

- 1 cup Low Fat Organic Cottage Cheese
- 1 cup Oatmeal
- 7 large egg whites (or 4 whole eggs)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Real Maple Syrup

 

 

Instructions:

- Put oats in to a blender or food processor, and blend until it is the consistency of flour
- Then add in the cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon
- Once the mixture is blended to the consistency of pancake batter you are ready to go!
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, add pancakes to the griddle, when they are no longer getting little bubbles popping up and they look “dry” around the edges you are ready to flip!
- Then just check the other side and when it is golden brown you are all set to eat these bad boys!
- Top with a tsp per cake of maple syrup for taste and enjoy!

Remember, there is a difference between wanting something and having the willpower to do it. Stop just wanting to eat better, stop just wanting to get more sleep, stop just wanting to get exercise in, and stop just wanting to be in the shape you desire to be – FIND THE WILLINGNESS TO DO IT AND DO IT. We here to inspire, motivate and believe in you, so put in the hard work and some great things will happen!!

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Perseverance. A Nice Ride?

Posted: 21st September 2011 by SGT Peterson in Shenanigans, Tim's Blog
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At SGT Peterson’s we believe in our core value of selflessness (service to others before ourselves.) That’s why, on a monthly basis, we give about 5% of our total revenue back to the community.  Our last donation we gave away a certificate for complimentary boot camp to local participants of the Minneapolis event called Babes in Bikeland.

But that’s not the main core value that I’d like to site in this article. Perseverance is the number one core value at SGT Peterson’s for a reason, and we’re proud to be supporting an event in which the participants so readily show it. Loretta Trevino of Seattle was participating in the Babes in Bikeland event and was hit by a car disabling her bike and taco-ing her front wheel. She then stopped by a Nice Ride station to keep racing. She finished the 5th Annual Babes in Bikeland on a Nice Ride bike, then said “those bikes are heavy..but you can still haul ass.” Now that’s some thinking outside the box! Many times people get a set back and give up. Like when they are sick on Monday, they just don’t workout out all week. Since they didn’t work out all week, then they proceed to eat like crap for the rest of the week. All because they had a set back  on Monday they use that as an excuse. This puts them on a slippery slope and they end up shooting themselves in the foot by setting themselves back a month in their progress.

If you have a setback, push through it, persevere. Maybe you’ll end up having a nice ride after all. What was your latest setback?
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Can Your Trainer Treat You for Shock?

Posted: 14th September 2011 by SGT Peterson in Diet and Nutrition, Health and Fitness, Tim's Blog
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This post is inspired by a person that recently started working out with us at SGT Peterson’s. By no means is this the first or last person that will forget to listen to what we say about the intro workout. They then realize why we tell them to drink plenty of water beforehand, get plenty of sleep and make sure they have some food in them. With that said, if your trainer tells you not to eat at the Chinese buffet before you come workout, listen to them! If they say don’t come in hungover, then don’t! That is, unless you want to be praying to the porcelain god a few times. Eventually you will be laying on the ground with a fan on you, with your feet up, with your trainer trying to give you water like you are that person that got way too drunk at a college party. At that point you are basically being treated for shock, minus the blanket.

Why is it that people listen to the professionals like Doctors and Lawyers, and follow them without question? But when it comes to the personal trainer many think they know it all because they read something in Muscle and Fitness magazine last week. First of all, any professional trainer, or avid workout person, knows that every 90-120 days each of the articles in the magazine are recycled and the content reworded just to sell magazines with different headlines. There is really little to no new information about health and fitness in the last 15 years. I promise that more than 95% of the things we know today, we knew in the early 80’s. So you may ask, how can there be so many magazines about health and fitness? It’s simply because people buy the magazines and they buy the total CRAP that is marketed in most of them.

On another note, I often joke with health professionals like nurses, dentists and trainers about something. (If anyone watched the show Lost they know what I am talking about.) If a plane went down and there were no medical doctors people would look to the nurses, dentists, and trainers for help with their medical issues. As scary as that sounds I have been out in the woods with people and when the shit hits the fan they look at me like I know what to do for blood poisoning. (Which I find alarming and equally amusing because the same people would show up hung over to a workout when I told them not to!) The problem in today’s world is people trust their doctors way too much, just because they have 10 years of school doesn’t mean they know everything. Everyone has predispositions to like or not like certain things based on there own bias. So don’t be scared to seek a second opinion, maybe even from a non-traditional holistic doctor. And LISTEN to your trainer! They are a professional and have your best interest in mind just like your doctor or lawyer. (And I promise they have way less lawsuits against them.)

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What’s Your Reason For Working Out?

Posted: 7th September 2011 by SGT Peterson in Articles, Health and Fitness, Tim's Blog
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The reason for this article is simply for men and women to feel understood when it comes to their emotions and WHY people exercise. Emotions can drive people to react in ways that outsiders see as irrational. As much as men want to pretend they don’t make decisions that are emotional based, I know it’s a straight lie. I find it very entertaining that most men, when engaged in “Guy Talk,” make light of theses emotions when women display them. Basically I am saying guys are to proud to admit they have feelings. With that said, let’s talk about where emotions come from and how your brain processes them. This idea was originally inspired by Randy Humola, and is more recently influenced and broadly distributed by Simon Sinek who I had the liberty of seeing speak in Minneapolis in June. This is Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle.

Simon Sinek basically says:

WHY is all about a person Purpose, cause or belief. The ‘Why’ is your driving motivation for action.
HOW is a person’s guiding principles, the ‘Hows’ are the specific actions that are taken to realize your ‘Why.’
WHAT is the Tangible proof, or results. The ‘Whats’ are the tangible ways in which you bring your ‘Why’ to life.

Randy Humola says to “Peel Back The Onion” with four basic questions to get to the emotional reason for “Why” people workout. It is uncanny how the two versions parallel each other, especially in respect to the 10 years of difference in when they were created.  Mr. Humola’s question’s looked something like this.

1. Why did you…
2. What are you looking….
3. Can you be more specific
4. Why is …..
Randy was way before his time. I first heard him speak of this idea during the Summer of 2002 while he was training a group of Personal Training Directors at Bally Total Fitness.  Randy had the “why” part of the fitness formula figured out, and the “what”  but not the “how”.

In all, Randy Humola is the first person to use the why in fitness & Simon Sinek is the first one to put WHY, HOW and WHAT together in a simple to understand format. Finally SGT Peterson’s is the first in fitness to put the WHY, HOW AND WHAT together and have its whole staff and clients rowing in the same direction working on the same purpose cause and mission.

Our mission is to “Inspire Continued Improvement Through Camaraderie and Movement, with More Than Just A Workout” . To see the fitness worlds first WHY, HOW and WHAT check out SGT Peterson’s video on this link.
Bext lets explore the differences that men and women have in communicating their emotions. When people come into see us we always do our best to connect with them on an emotional level so they feel understood. We ask them questions that dig deep past objective things and get to their emotions.
We’ll ask questions such as: why is it important for you to workout? If they say anything that has to do with an objective number or a measurable we know they are giving us an non-emotional response in saying “What we want to hear.”  That is because the fitness industry has trained people to give them their weight loss goals, or that they should lose 2% body fat.
Let’s be honest, NO ONE CARES how much body fat they have, or how much they weigh! But everyone wants to look great, feel great, increase their energy and have more confidence. At SGT Peterson’s we know that the weight loss and lower body fat will come, but that is not WHY (emotionally) you are here, and we will not let you pretend that you are here to wear a 32 inch pair of pants.
With that said lets talk about how men and women communicate their emotions differently, so that we can appreciate the diversity of male and female emotions.  So men and women when you read this you will understand that you are not alone in your challenges and your emotions.

Men – often men will ramble on about HOW they just want to work on their arms, chest and abs. The WHY for most men is something they will usually never admit because they are too proud to talk about their true feelings. The real reason is because they want to pick up women, or maybe because they want to be the big powerful strong guy at work. Maybe they don’t want to be the skinny kid they were their whole life, or they don’t want to get picked on and they want to be able to defend themselves.

Women – often start with WHY they are working out because they are usually more in touch with their emotions. They also can, and are, willing to express them without reservations if they feel understood. We have had many women come in and 2 questions into the Q&A they are crying and telling us things that they haven’t even told their best friends about how they feel in regards to their bodies or their desirability. For Women it’s almost always about the emotional reason. But they also know their HOW, and that is to work on their “Bat wings”, “Thunder Thighs Hips”, “Junk in the trunk”, and their stomach aka “Babyfat.” Sorry guys, but women have this part figured out.

So we wonder why relationships between men and women are so challenging for both parties. Well after my years of communicating with each sex, it is a wonder to me that we are able to live together as we do. I think it is an amazing feat to pull off, and to be happy with one person of the opposite sex. From what I have learned, it is challenging at best and the ones that have figured it out should be applauded for leading by example.

So you’re probably asking, what does this have to do with working out, and getting results at a gym?

If you truly connect with your trainer or the people that you work out with, they will, like humans have for thousands of years, help you get through the hard times. There is no larger motivator than emotions, especially when you are taking on a big challenge like getting fit & especially when you have fallen off the wagon for the last few years.
So tough guys, don’t be scared to be vulnerable with your trainers, they have your best interest in mind and if they truly know WHY (Emotional Reason) you workout, we will get you there by leading by example, and leaving no one behind!  What’s your reason for working out? Share below and help others keep you motivated!
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16 Ways To Workout With Injuries

Posted: 31st August 2011 by SGT Peterson in Tim's Blog
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The purpose of this post is to show people with injuries the options they have to workout. We will go over various types of exercises and different techniques one can use to stay moving when you are injured or plagued with disease such as arthritis. With that said let’s start with a few types of exercise that nearly anyone can do regardless of age or ability.

1. Calisthenics – Use body weight in multiple planes as resistance to develop muscular strength and endurance.

2. Yoga – Similar to calisthenics this has even less impact on the body because it is 95% static holds. Yoga is also a great way to increase flexibility.

3. Light pool/resistance training – This training puts the least amount of stress on your joints and muscles because your body weight in water is ⅕ that of its out of water weight.

4. Medicine Ball Training – Can strengthen your core and provide dynamic stability training without much impact if done correctly.

5. Walking – Is the most underused and effective exercise to lose weight and it is very low impact.

6. Swimming- Is less impact and is probably only second to skiing in terms of burning calories.

7. Range Of Motion Exercise s- This is simply moving your joints through all of their respective ranges. This is usually reserved for people that should not build up certain muscles, or for individuals that can’t build certain muscles because of disease.

8. Cross Country Skiing- Is pretty much the king of exercises if you want to lose weight and need your exercise to be low impact. With that said, people with shoulder issues may have trouble.

9. Isometric Exercises – Can be done with any muscle group, you just squeeze the muscle without a load for a duration of time, then rest and repeat. Pro bodybuilders do this backstage to pump up there muscles, and often they say it’s one of the hardest workouts they get.

Techniques that can be used to help with this sometime painful journey are stated below.

1. RICE – Also known as REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, and ELEVATION. The rest allows your body to repair itself. The ice reduces swelling (the cause for pain in most non ligament damaging injuries.) The compression helps support the joint so it doesn’t have to work as hard while its healing, and the elevation also helps remove the swelling.

2. Train to pain, don’t tough through it – What I have found in my own training and by training others over the last 11 years is that if you train and there is a sharp pain, or pain generally over a 4, on a 1-10 scale 10 being the worst, then you are just hurting yourself, and you will actually make it harder for yourself to workout in the future.

3. Medicine – Generally speaking I am not a big advocate of taking pills. But when you get injured or you have a disease like arthritis that causes painful inflammation, taking an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen, Neproxin sodium, and other prescription versions have helped my clients and I immensely. This is especially helpful within 24-48 hours of the injury occurring.

4. Massage/Foam Roller – To relieve tension get a massage. If you can’t afford a professional try the do it yourself version by using a hard foam roller.

5. Acupuncture – I can not speak for this myself, but many of my clients and one of my former trainers (who was the captain of the US Female Rugby team) swore by it.

6. Heat Treatment (sauna, whirlpool, hot water bottle) – Most people know that ice is good to use when treating injuries, but most people forget about heat. Heat will bring blood flow to an area, which brings nutrients and speeds up the repair process. It must be used in reverse of the ice. In all ice and elevation get the blood to go towards your heart. Heat gets it to travel back the sight of the injury.

7. Hydrate – Your body and blood are largely made up of water. If you want all the nutrients to get to the injury and back to the heart faster than lubricate your body and blood with lots of H20!

What are your tried and true methods for working out with injuries? Tell us about it in the comments section!

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