Hi to you all!
First of all, I want to thank Tim for inviting  me to be a guest author on his blog.  I’m a bit of a fanatic when it comes to fitness & health, so I read a lot of blogs, but have never come across one that gives a real inside into the world of fitness & nutrition without pushing some sort of a “miracle diet”, a pill, 7 seconds abs routine, or God knows what else.  I know Tim has only just began his fitness blog journey, but I can already see how quickly readers are catching on.  People want an honest approach to staying fit and they need guidance.  Tim is absolutely right, there is no easy way of staying in shape; it requires commitment, determination and you have to make a choice to alter your lifestyle.  But that doesn’t mean that it has to be boring, mundane, unsatisfying or that you have to do it alone.

I started training with Tim about 2 years ago. I had to train for a movie role in “Batman, the Dark Night”, due to Heath Ledger’s death, the film underwent a lot of edits Read the rest of this entry »

The zone diet, the Atkins diet, the south beach diet, the apple diet, carbs are good carbs are bad, eat a lot  of protein don’t eat a lot of protein. I am a vegan, a vegetarian my head is spinning! Diets to me are a set up for failure, maybe not for the short run but definitely for the long haul. The problem with most is that they are not realistic to lifestyles. I don’t have time to sit and cook breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner.  I am starting right now the reality check diet. If you don’t go out to restaurants and have time to cook healthy all the time you can negate everything I am saying. I live in the best conditions, SoCal has healthy eating options just about every where I go. If you don’t have many options let me give you some tips 1. When you go to your favorite restaurant do not go starving, when the bread comes out first you don’t want to finish the whole loaf and then order everything on the menu. 2. Watch your portion size, you don’t have to finish everything on the plate, leftovers make for a good lunch. 3. do not drink all your calories, fruity drinks and liqueur offer great ways to make a 500 calorie meal turn into 1200 calorie meal. 4. Drink lots of water, it will help fill you up faster and by the time dessert comes around you can pass. 5. Go light on sauces and dressings, “no butter please on the chicken or steak” is not hard to say to your server. 5 tips to help you navigate your way around a restaurant. So you bought the books, they can be useful. Most  diet books do offer pretty good lean fare recipes with proper portion sizes and calorie counts, and do offer good tips. It’s a lifestyle change, stock your fridge with fruits veggies and lean meats, if you have healthy foods at home you are less likely to end up at the McDonald’s drive through. Stay consistent, eat 5-6 healthy meals a day your body clock will get use to this and tell you when to eat. Keep healthy snacks on hand, almonds and apples make for healthy treats. Control your portions, if you are 120 pounds you should not eat as much as your 220 pound husband or boyfriend. If you lose your map and lose your way don’t beat yourself up we all do, just take it one meal at a time.

My nutrition for today

6 am: breakfast 1 cup of oat meal 1 tblsp of flax seed oil and a handful of black berries, 2 scoops of syntha-6 protein powder.

9am: mid morning breakfast 8 egg whites, three pieces of bacon and an apple

12 pm lunch: 1 chicken breast and 1 cup of brown rice with steamed broccoli

3 pm mid afternoon snack: 1 cup of cottage cheese and blueberries and a handful of almonds

6 pm dinner: 8 oz lean sirloin burger on a bead of spinach, tomatoes, avocado and sprouts

9 pm late night snack: 2 scoops of syntha-6 protein powder

Stock your fridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very competitive, some would say to a fault. On my Sunday runs when I am running on the Venice boardwalk and someone passes me, I will catch up and pass them…I can’t help myself. Whether it’s basketball, running, lifting or pin pong, I have  to win. Competition brings out the best in me though, I always push myself that extra bit that I usually would not. I love my groups that I work out with, we all push each other to the limit; my friend Bobby and I were doing push ups after the Sunday run, there was no way I was going to let him beat me but I will admit that my arms were on fire…I would never tell him that. When you work out with a group that pushes you, I promise not only will your workouts be more intense but you will  also look forward to doing it. There is something very satisfying about getting those competitive juices flowing not to mention bragging rights are also fun to have. Start your own Sunday run, basketball league or whatever activity you enjoy, it will give you a fun outlet and push you to your limit.

My competitive workout

I ran the stadium stairs at the UCLA track and then went straight into the 4oo meter dash

2 minute break 3 sets of stair hoppers, 2 minute break then finished with 5 sets of sprints at max speed. all racing against my boy Saul I won’t tell you who won, you will have to ask him.

If you ever want some real competion give me a ring, I am up for anything.

It is funny to me, one of the things that initially gets us to work out is one of our greatest road blocks, the ego. As a young lad starting my career as a trainer I was very shy to try new things at the gym in fear of looking like a moron. My gains in training were stifled because I wanted to think that I knew everything and was the best at everything. In my wiser years, I have learned that in all honesty no one really cares if I look a little silly doing an exercise, the odd thing is that people started copying those exact exercises I felt silly doing. Most everyone gets comfortable in their routines or are scared to ask questions but the gym is your most valuable resource in learning. If your bored with your routine and want something new, check out what others are doing and how their bodies are responding and ask questions…trust me, most people would love to give an advice. On the other side of the ego there is also the “How much can you bench factor”; a lot of people come into the gym and try to throw up the weight they did in their glory days. This is backwards, you have to rebuild your stabilizers and get your form down first. I see people throwing around weight they shouldn’t and I always want to say something but usually don’t…ego thing. If you’re rounding your shoulders on chest day, or throwing your shoulders forward on arm day it’s too much weight. If you’re not pushing from the heels on leg press or squats, too much weight. Get your form down and don’t fear asking questions, the gym is the first place you should check your ego at the door.

My “egoless” workout

Kettle bell switches 20 reps into dumbbell clean and press into hanging leg raises 4 sets each

decline curls, side lateral raises, and kettle bell cross body raises 3 sets each

finishing off with barbell shoulder press to the front and barbell curls 3 sets of each

Nutrition:

Breakfast: 1 cup oatmeal and 2 tblsp. of flax seeds and blueberries

Mid morning breaky: 8 egg whites and 4 pieces of bacon and sauteed spinach

Lunch: 1 chicken breast and roasted sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach

afternoon snack: 2 scoops syntha-6 protein powder and 1 hand full of almonds

Dinner: Flank steak salad with baby greens, avocado and beets

I hope you know that this one is a joke. One of the problems in the battle of obesity or fitness in general is the idea of instant gratification. The industry puts out videos like fitness made “simple” or the Hollywood 3o day diet and people really believe in these magic pills and that extreme results happen over night. In my young and naive days new clients would come in and say “I want to have Brad Pitt abs in two months” when they came in looking like Jack Black, and I would say no problem. In the best conditions such as the show the biggest loser where I had complete control of all nutrition and workouts, well maybe, but that isn’t the case. I don’t know about you but fitness isn’t always easy. I’m not going to bag on all workout videos and equipment, p90x is a great program. Tony really put a lot into the videos and nutrition and came up with an amazing product, but it is not easy. I use the perfect push up at the end of a lot of my runs or to supplement my weight workouts, but it is not easy. What I am trying to say is that if you don’t have Brad Pitt abs or Giselle’s body over night, don’t get discourage, it’s a process. You have to start somewhere and set goals that are attainable and feel amazing when you hit those and set new ones. It is a life style change and it is not always easy but by keeping your workouts new and exciting it can be pretty fun and gratifying.

My “simple” workout today

4 mile soft sand run

50 meter sprints on soft sand with 1 minute rest and 6 sets

3 sets of 100 pushups

I have been guilty in the past of going to the gym day in and day out and just being a weight rat. For about 3 years that was all I did and needless to say nothing on my body changed, I got bigger but I didn’t really have the shape or flexibility I wanted. This morning I went and did the Santa Monica stairs, which do get a bit hectic but after I felt amazing and now am ready for my day. You see if your body gets use to the workouts that you repeat over and over your not going to really change. I am a huge advocate of weight training don’t get me wrong, it is the foundation of my workout program it is a necessity if you want to build the muscle to burn the fat, but supplementing your workouts with other forms of exercising is really going to kick start your body. Now I do my track and field day, soft sand runs and anything else that sounds interesting and I have really seen and felt the benefits. Still no spin or yoga though, not my cup o tea but i’m not opposed to trying. So on this beautiful Saturday afternoon treat yourself to a new kind of workout, grab a basketball or run on the beach your body will thank you!

My workout today:

10 sets of stairs with 3 sets of wide grip pull ups max sets and 3 sets of hanging leg raises.

Nutrition:

7 am: breakfast: 1 cup of kashi go lean crunch with 2 tblsp. of flax seeds and 2 scoops of synta-6 protein powder

10 am: midmorng breaky: Body wrap from shoops on main st.

1 pm: lunch: 1 chicken breast with an avocado and beet salad

4 pm: 2 scoops of protein powder and 1 handful of almonds

7 pm: dinns: 1 8oz. filet mingion and steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Whenever I travel I always have a map to get me to my destination. I mark the spots I want to go and find out what places are good there. When starting a new fitness regime it is also helpful to make that map. Make your goal and find out the best way to get there. When I started my journey to get to 5% body fat and and gain 10 pounds I stuck by the principal of 5-6 meals but I varied the amounts at each meal. All of my meals range from 400 to 600 hundred calories adding up to about 2800 calories a day and I weigh 165 pounds and wanted to gain weight so I have about 180 grams of protein a day. You will vary this with your goals and weight but the principal is the same. Take in 5-6 meals a day and vary the calories to your goals, so if you want to lose weight the calories at each meal will be less. This is a lifestyle change I know, and I know it is not easy but when you reach your goal I promise you nothing feels better!  Start your map today and if you have any questions ask and we can make a goal and map that works for you.

This is my map

Nutrition:

6am:Breakfast 1 cup oatmeal 2tblsp. flax seed oil an apple and 2 scoops of syntha-6 protein powder

9am: mid morning breakfast 8 egg whites with sauteed spinach and 4 pieces of bacon

12pm: lunch turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with 5 grams of fiber, avocado, roasted red peppers and spinach

3pm: afternoon snack 2 scoops syntha-6 protein powder 1 handful of almonds and an apple

6pm: dinner 6oz chicken breast steamed broccoli and a yam

9pm: late night snack cottage cheese and blueberries

I will get back to you on my work out, its back day so I am sure I will do alot of pull ups.

I turn 34 in a couple of months which motivated me to do this challenge, birthdays are usually the spark that start a fire within me. I was an active marine years ago and was a machine. I could run forever, do pullups until I was told to stop and pushups…forget about it. I wanted to return to those days, body wise, not literally. So every week in my challenge I will run the marine corps pft, and see if I cant return to those glory days. What this consists of is a 3 mile run, max set of pullups and a timed set of sit ups. For a perfect marine score you have to do the run in 18 minutes or less 20 pullups and over 100 situps in 2 minutes, mind you I am competing against my old scores which were 16 minute 20 second run 56 pullups and125 sit ups. I love to set goals for myself, it always makes me push myself that much more, give the pft a try and get back to me with your scores maybe you could have been one of America’s finest to. Ill get back to you with more later…

Tim Trost rocking out some push ups with perfect pushup