In March of this year, I spoke with a friend of mine who owns his own personal training company about my physique (or lack of!) I was preparing for a filming session in L.A. at the beginning of May and asked him if he thought that he could help me improve my body composition in about 6 weeks. Greg and his wife, Dreana, were standing together at the time and simultaneously answered the question within a nanosecond – YES! I guess that they thought that I had a lot more potential to improve than I did.
That’s a great thing! When others see potential in you that you can’t see in yourself, it can cause you to develop a new, better vision of yourself.
Once I got beyond the fact that I wasn’t at the level of health that I thought I was, I was really happy to hear the words of a professional. He told me that I had the potential to put on muscle in less than six weeks. My close friends have been calling me “stickman” for over 25 years because of my resemblance to the character on men’s rest room doors and my inability to put on muscle. Greg thinks that he can change in six weeks what I’d been unable to do in the prior 25+ years of exercising. Thank you, Captain Confidence!
On March 25 I began my first session with Jess, Greg’s superstar 24-year old trainer. Jess and Greg are professionals who specialize in maximizing a person’s physical health potential. They customize workouts and eating routines for each client and modify the workouts based upon any physical limitations a client may have (like lack of muscle in my case.)
While working with Jess between 3/25/10 and 5/7/10, I didn’t change how often or how long I worked out. She just changed the routine. Jess got me out of the very deep rut that I had dug for myself. She added several new exercises to my routine while keeping each workout to 40 minutes. When Jess did another assessment on 5/7/10, my body fat had decreased from 11.1 down to 9% and my lean weight (bone, muscle, blood, organs and connective tissue) had gone from 135.1 to 136.5 pounds. They had accomplished what they said could be done. The had put some muscle on the Stickman!
All I had to do was have faith and follow the process. It was like being in a Staples commercial – That was easy!
Once we accomplish a goal – any goal – the energy and creativity that are secreted by our brains shuts off. That’s why it’s critical to continuously set new goals so that we can keep our creativity and energy flowing. Jess and I set even loftier goals going forward.
Jess decided on 7/23 that it was time for my next assessment. She kindly chose a day after I had been traveling and eating in restaurants and hotels for 8 of the last 12 days and after I had decreased the intensity of my workouts because of my kidney stone surgery 14 days prior.
She handed me the results this morning. The body fat was reduced to 8.1% and the lean weight had increased to 138.8 pounds while the fat weight dropped from 16.9 pounds in May to 12.2 pounds on 7/23.
I was in the routine of working out 6 days a week prior to working with Greg and Jess. My problem is that my workouts were in a rut. I was doing the same things over and over again and my body was used to the routine, so I was not achieving my potential.
Believe in your ability to bring about and cause the changes that you desire in your life.
Work with a mentor who has successfully coached others to success and who believes in your potential.
Look for signs of where you might be in a rut in each and every aspect of your life – relationship with significant other, leisure habits, workout routine, work, etc.
Determine either by yourself, or by consulting with a professional, whether your have the potential to improve. If you’re at all like me, the answer will be a loud and fast YES!
