Thursday, December 31, 2015

Motivation Comes from Within.


I'm sure most of my health and fitness industry colleagues have been furiously hammering away at their computer keyboards this week, updating their blogs, websites, and newsletters with those magical words that are going to motive their current clients and prospects to make 2016 their year and FINALLY get in shape - whatever "getting in shape" means to them.

Unfortunately if you are looking for motivation don't come to me. That doesn't mean I do not care about helping my clients achieve their goals, I do and it's what I do every day. What I'm saying is don't look to me to be your cheerleader.

The motivation you need to make positive changes and begin leading a healthy lifestyle must come from within.

If you are sitting there with a glass of champagne in your hand, eyes glued to the TV waiting for that F@#$ing ball to drop right now (Yes, it's 10pm and I am sitting in front of my computer writing this. What can I say? I sure know how to party don't I?) and thinking, "You know what? THIS is the year I'm going to get that 6-pack!" you are setting yourself up for failure.

Alcohol-induced superficial goals will not get you past February 1st.

Your motivation needs to come from within.

What is it that you really want to accomplish? Are you sick of being tired all the time? Do you want more energy? More mobility? Excellent health? To avoid the chronic diseases we are "supposed" to get as we age? More strength? More endurance?

What do you need to do to improve the quality of your life?

Once you decide what it is you really want to change you can then make the appropriate changes to your lifestyle. Yes lifestyle. A 12-week challenge and bottle of fat-burning pills will not help you achieve your goals. Once you do that guess what? The lean, healthy, and strong body you want will happen as a side effect of this change.

Don't believe me? I spent nearly 15 years chasing superficial goals, but when I finally made the decision to improve my health by adopting a plant-based diet and a more holistic approach to my fitness training, not only did I achieve exceptional health, my body changed almost immediately. I was leaner, more muscular and more flexible in my late 30's than I ever was, and continue to progress as I enter my 5th decade.

Click here to read about my personal journey in regaining my health!

Regardless of what you set as your health and fitness goals there are three things you will need to do to guarantee success.

  1. Change your approach to nutrition. Adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet.
  2. Strengthen your physical body. Lift weights, run, and start a restorative / energy cultivation practice like qigong or yoga.
  3. Strengthen your mind. Meditate.
Sure, these can be broken down further, but these three things done consistently are absolutely essential to guarantee your success. We will get deeper into this in upcoming blogs in the coming weeks as we enter the new year.

It is my sincerest hope that 2016 is your healthiest, happiest and most prosperous year yet! As always I will do everything I can to help you achieve your goals but you must supply the motivation. I hope you take advantage of all the information I provide in this blog and on my Strength and Health TV video blog.

If you are looking for more in-depth help I offer many different training and consulting services - everything from health & fitness training, sport performance training, plant-based nutrition consultation and much more - both in person and online. 

Please feel free to email me at scott@extreme-fitness.org if you would like more information on my personal training and consulting services.

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

"Let's raise the stakes on the bet we made. Let's decide to be the architects, the masters of our fate."
'Architects' by, Rise Against

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Strength & Health TV - Episode 23: Interview with Vegan Bodybuilder Erin Fergus.


In this week's episode my good friend and Plantbuilt teammate Erin Fergus stopped by my training center to talk about her transition into a vegan lifestyle, her favorite contest-prep and off-season foods, her experience in bodybuilding competitions, her favorite lifts, why the idea that you can't build muscle on a plant-based diet is a bunch of non-sense, and much more. 

After we destroyed some vegan donuts from the amazing Revolution Donuts http://revolutiondoughnuts.com/ here in Atlanta - HUGE thanks to my buddy Kevin Miller for hooking us up!



If you'd like to lean more about Erin you can follow her on social media at:
https://www.instagram.com/veganfergiefitness/
https://www.facebook.com/girlybodybuilder/?fref=ts

She offers great health, fitness and training tips on her YouTube channel as well:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtT_tTdMOAsAugehSZVTJ6A/feed

You can also read her story, along with 22 other vegan athletes, health & fitness pros and activists in the book Plant-Based Performance: Know Your Own Strength available at:
http://plantbasedperformance.org/store.html

Remember 100% of all Plant-Based Performance book sales go to benefit animal welfare organizations, specifically Mercy For Animals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Forgotten Animals Rescue.




Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Strength and Health TV - Episode 22: My Daily Dozen Mobility and Flexibility Series.

In this week's episode I present my favorite joint mobility and flexibility exercises, twelve in all, that I try to perform on a daily basis.

By no means are these the be-all, end-all of mobility and flexibility exercises, but these twelve are the ones that I try to do on a daily basis. I have found these to have the greatest impact on my strength training, martial arts training and overall health.

As always, I hope you that you enjoyed this week's episode and if you have any comments or suggestions on future show topics please leave them in the comment section below.




Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Strength & Health TV - Episode 21: Underground Secrets to Faster Running, Book Review.

In this week's episode I review the book, "Underground Secrets to Faster Running" by, Barry Ross which was recommended to my by Louie Simmons from Westside Barbell.

In a nutshell Barry believes one of the greatest keys to faster running is to get stronger. Throughout the book he points to studies that validate his training methodology.

His theories are not just speculation, in addition to providing the science he has plenty of empirical evidence to back up his methods including the amazing performance of Allyson Felix who in 2003, as a high school athlete, posted a world record performance in the 200 meters.

In addition to the science Barry discusses his favorite strength exercises and gives many examples of his programming recommendations.

If you are a coach, trainer, or athlete I cannot recommend this book highly enough. 

Click here to get your copy on Amazon. 


Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel to receive updates on future episodes.

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Team Plantbuilt's Presentation at the 2015 Atlanta Veg Fest!

Atlanta Veg Fest was this month on November 7 and Team Plantbuilt was part of the speaker line-up. Team captains and physique athletes Dani Taylor and Giacomo Marchese were joined by physique athletes Erin Fergus and Torre Washington and powerlifters Jake Henderson and myself.

After showing a video of Team Plantbuilt, we each took the stage and spoke about our individual experiences and what we did for the team. After we did a short Q&A with the audience.

My good friend Tom Kreutzer attended and edited this excellent video of our presentation. I hope you enjoy it!




Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Strength and Health TV - Episode 20: Interview with vegan strongman and powerlifter Justin Morgan.

In this week's episode I talk with vegan strongman competitor and powerlifting member of Team Plantbuilt, Justin Morgan.

We discuss why he bacame vegan, how he was able to go from 175 lbs to 230 lbs and gain a ton of strength on a 100% vegan diet, and what his current training and nutrition programming is like.

In addition we talk about his upcoming USAPL powerlifting competition and his future goals.

Unfortunately we had a little difficulty with the recording at about 38:00 to 39:30 Justin dropped off and had to call back in so we apologize for the break in the video, but hope you enjoy this week's episode regardless.

You can follow Justin at:
https://www.facebook.com/carbedupveganmuscle/?fref=ts
https://www.youtube.com/user/RawVegaCaliBB
https://www.instagram.com/carbed_up_vegan_muscle/



Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott