Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The system works, if you work the system!

This week I am proud to have a guest post from one of my students.  I met Wendy a little over 8 months ago, and I have the privilege of being her TFW coach.  Below is a testimonial that she wrote about her experience with the TFW system, and a picture from before TFW and 8 months after starting TFW.  I hope you enjoy reading her story.


     "Last year, I decided I was tired of feeling sluggish all the time. At age 44, I couldn't stand the thought of feeling that way for years to come. As a work-from-home, homeschooling mom of 3 children—one of whom has severe autism and another who has a milder form of ASD—I felt like I just didn’t have time to work out even though I knew I needed to. And to be honest, I just felt like I had so little energy that I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to do it!
     I had made the effort to cut down on junk food and sugar, and I was taking supplements and trying to get enough sleep, but I still felt tired most of the time. I didn’t know what else to do except go ahead and try getting some exercise whether I felt like I had the energy to do it or not.
     I saw Chuck one day at the store and asked him about his gym. He told me about his gym and Training for Warriors, and I decided to make time to try it out. I went a few times and decided to commit to going 4 days a week. I couldn't believe how much better I felt just a few months later!
     It's been about 8 months now, and I've lost almost 20 lbs and gone down from size 10 jeans to size 6 (the size I wore before I had children). I'm at a much better weight for my height and build, I feel much more energetic, I wake up ready to get out of bed and get going in the mornings, and I look forward to going to the gym! I was also able to slowly cut down on my prescription medicines for depression/anxiety and sleep. (I did this with my doctor's supervision.) I don't take them at all now.
     I have never been someone who enjoyed any kind of exercise, so it’s amazing to me how much I actually enjoy TFW. And it’s even more amazing how much TFW has changed my health and the way I feel and function every day. I can honestly say that TFW has changed my life—and it has been a great change! I’m thankful to Chuck for being such a great coach/trainer and to TFW for helping me change my life!"

Wendy Hilton 
TFW Student
Age 44


I hope you enjoyed reading Wendy's story as much as I did.  We have new 8 week classes starting Monday, January 11th.  We will be offering a 9 AM, 12 PM, and 6:30 PM class.   These 8 Week Warrior Transformation classes are a great way to introduce you to the TFW system, and to get you started on your journey to writing your own transformation story.

The system works, if you work the system!

Hope to see you in my Dojo soon!

Chuck

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Football--not just another sport


I love this time of the year for many reasons, like family time, food and, of course, football. I don't know about you, but I watch football almost non-stop, just ask my wife. In the South, no matter your age or gender, college football is the sport that everyone loves.  I love it too, but I also love professional football. While I was watching all the college and pro football games this season, I realized how much you can learn from the sport to help in training and overall health. So here are five ways we can learn from football:
1.            Kickoff. The first thing that happens in the game is the kickoff, and what team gets the ball first is determined by the coin toss. This is a perfect reflection of training and a healthy lifestyle, you have to start somewhere if you haven't been doing it already. This is the most important step, and probably the hardest, because it's not easy to get started. The team who wins the coin toss gets to choose if they receive or kickoff.  With so many choices in diet and exercise, it’s important to choose wisely in this area, like the strategy of a team choosing to receive or to kickoff. Whatever you choose, the kickoff has to happen to get the game started and to start moving towards better health.
2.            Huddle. One thing I love about football, that is different than other sports, is the planning that goes into every play. Other sports, like soccer for example, there is strategy, but it's a lot of reaction instead of specific plays like football. Each person has an assignment on each particular play, and the huddle is the place for the quarterback to tell everyone the plan. If you don't have a plan in football you won't be successful, and if you don't have a plan in training or eating well you will fail. Just like coaches have different philosophies, so too, there are different philosophies in training and eating. Choosing the right one will determine whether you succeed or fail. Choose wisely.
3.            Referee. There are so many rules, actually too many rules in football, so the referee is the one that makes sure both teams are playing fairly and following the rules. Sometimes, the refs are terrible, but I’ll save that for another post. The ref in training is the person, or people, who help make sure you are following a solid plan. It could be a trainer or a coach that can give you feedback to make sure you are doing things the right way, and not training incorrectly which could lead to injury or maybe getting no results at all. Just like refs are essential to football, someone in your life to guide you is essential to being healthier.
4.            Quarters. There are four quarters in a game and inside those four quarters are so many ups and downs, successes and failures. These four quarters are a perfect picture of how living a healthy lifestyle can have many ups and downs. After the kickoff of being healthy, you come out on fire and you can't be stopped. You're training the right amount, you’re diet and amount of sleep are perfect, and the touchdowns (results) come easy. Then something happens and you get a little relaxed and start eating a little bit more unhealthy food. Maybe skip a day or two of training and you start to get down. This is where the good teams fight through the hard times, and get it together and where successful people keep fighting to be healthy. The team, or person, that gives up will certainly fail. Keep fighting all four quarters.
5.            Team. Other than kickoff, this might be the most important thing. Obviously if you don't have a team, you don't have a game.  In football, there are good teams and there are bad teams. In trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, you need to be on a good team if you want to succeed. Just think in football about the most successful teams and the characteristics they have. They care as much, or more, for their teammates than themselves, they are helpful, they are hard workers, etc. These are just a few characteristics, but I think these are necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle. So many times we are discouraged by others and give up. If you surround yourself with good teammates you will have a far better chance to succeed, and you can share in the victories with others. Find good people who want to be healthy too, and surround yourself with them.
These five points are what I love about Training for Warriors. There is a program to help kickoff your training and healthy lifestyle in our 8 week warrior challenge class, or in personal training sessions. There is a plan that sets you up for success, and coaches to help make sure you follow the program for success. There is a team of people that love to see you succeed, and will be there to help you in those four quarters, through all of your ups and downs in health and everyday life.  
We’ve got a new 8 week warrior challenge that will start January 11th.  I also have some spots open for personal training if you are interested in more of a one-on-one approach.  You’ve just received the ball, and now it’s your choice to either run with it or to take a knee.  I hope you choose to join us and take that first step towards improving your health and fitness in the new year. 
Hope to see you in my Dojo soon!

Chuck

Friday, October 9, 2015

What is your purpose?

2008-My mom, Ruthann, with our oldest, Luke
 
 
I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. I met my parents at their home after my mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. I know many people have had the exact same experience as I, finding out a loved one has this dreaded disease. This was my first time experiencing this with someone that I was so close to, and that I loved so much.  I remember giving her a hug and telling her that everything was going to be fine, but inside I was scared to death at the thought of losing my mom.  Her cancer was fairly advanced and had already spread to her bones and lungs at this point, so the prognosis was bleak.  My mom started treatment almost immediately, and surprisingly responded well and was fighting, like a true warrior.  I spend every day helping people get stronger, but my mom showed me what true strength was all about.  A little over a year after she had been diagnosed with cancer, she lost her fight and passed away.  My mom was a great woman, and I'm thankful for the forty years I got to spend with her.   I miss her, but I truly hate it for her grandchildren.  I hate all of the things she’s not here for.   It upsets me that her eleven grandchildren don't get to grow up with their Grandmom.   It makes me sad that three of them never even got the chance to meet her, one of them being my baby girl, Emily Ruth Kealoha.
 
This is where I find my purpose.  My purpose is to help a mom, dad, grandfather, grandmother, etc, take control of their health and lessen their chance of getting this disease or any other disease. I know we won't live forever and no one is guaranteed tomorrow, but why not do your best to live a quality life rather than a life that is full of sickness, pain, and immobility? So I ask you, have you found your purpose? If we live a life helping others we will get so much more out of life. That's something I love about Training for Warriors. One of our philosophies is that we get just as excited about others as we do about ourselves. If we lived this way in every area of our life, imagine how different our world would be. Now comes my charge to action, there are two things I want you to do. The first, if you aren't living a healthy lifestyle, starting today make some changes toward better health. Trust me on this, your loved ones will thank you for the extra years they get with you. The second, find someone who needs encouragement and get excited about them and encourage them. Step out of your comfort zone, and be the world changer that you were born to be.
 
I’ll close with this, an invitation to our Dojo for a charity event we are hosting this month. We are having a charity workout on October 31st to raise money for the local Farve 4 Hope charity that, among many other things, helps support those battling breast cancer. This is going to be a fun event and a good way to help others, and better yourself in the process. So, spread the word and plan on joining us the morning of Halloween at 9:30 AM. I hope to see you in my Dojo soon!

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Are you insane?!?!

The definition of insanity is to do the same thing while expecting different results. I don't know about you, but I have been guilty of doing that in many areas of my life. We don't want to quit something because we will feel like a failure, but it really wasn't a good idea or we just have such bad habits we can't quit that thing that we want to. One of the biggest areas I see this insanity is in health and fitness. How many times have you, on a Sunday night, realized how badly you messed up your eating over the weekend and the proceeded to beat yourself up over it.  Or even worse, because we've tried so many times and failed we've just given up? Same with exercise, we start on Monday and quit by Wednesday and tell ourselves we were too busy and we will start back next Monday.  We repeat this cycle over and over again (insanity), and then we are confused when nothing is changing for the better in our lives. The good news is, the cycle of insanity with your health can be broken, and here are four steps to help you break that cycle:



1.      Forget the past-- I feel like one of the major things that holds us back in fitness and in life is our past. After enough failing we can give up or just accept mediocrity. If you want to change you have to forget about all the failures and focus on how you are going to change today. This is true in every aspect of your life like whether it be your marriage, parenting, your job, and even friendships. So, if you messed up you need to let it go, learn from it, and do better. Another huge problem can simply be procrastination.  What we could do today, we put off until tomorrow and that turns into weeks, months and even years. FOCUS on the PRESENT! Like Martin Rooney, founder of TFW, likes to say in his book Rooney Rules: “Instead of worrying about something you did in the past, or something that might not happen in the future, Do something right NOW”.



2.      Make a Plan-- As the saying goes, if you fail to plan you plan to fail.  You have to know what steps to take to make a change. We know that eating better will help us feel better and reach our weight goals, but if we keep eating pizza and drinking sweet tea everyday then we are planning to fail.  Sometimes it is hard to plan meals, especially when we are so busy, but we have to if we want to succeed. Same goes for training.  If we sit on the couch every day or just find time to train when training is convenient, we are planning to fail. So, make a plan and figure out how to make it happen. Stick with the plan!



3.      Get a Coach-- I've learned this lesson over the last few years, and now I have people I can turn to help me get through difficult times. Coaching, to me, is giving someone a plan of action, praising them when they succeed, and teaching them when they fail. Most people associate coaching with screaming or being a dictator, but I think coaching is more about being a teacher. If you want be better, you need to find a coach and let them guide you to success.



4.      Be Consistent-- If we make a plan we need to execute that plan day after day, and in the case of health, for the rest of our lives. I was talking to a friend of mine recently, and he was telling me how he can do so much more than people his own age.  The reason why is because he has consistently done the right things to stay healthy for years. You can't do it for a month or 90 days and succeed long term, it has to be a lifestyle or you will always fall back to the way you were. Sometimes people think it's just easy for those who always train and eat right, but it is honestly just has hard.  Those people have consciously made a daily decision to do their best, but every single one of them was in the exactly same spot that you might find yourself in today.



If you are looking to make changes in your long term health and fitness, Training for a Warriors (TFW) will help achieve it. There is a mental aspect to TFW that helps you be tougher mentally to fight off the fear of past failures; TFW offers a plan that has been proven to work over a seventeen-year period with fighters, professional athletes, and normal, everyday people. It provides you with coaching and teaching to help you learn what steps to take in a positive approach. Finally, it gives you a support system of people who are working together to achieve the same goals.  To lose fat, build muscle, and feel good!  Now the ball is in your court, and it’s up to you to make that call and reserve your spot in our next 8 week warrior challenge class that starts on Tuesday, September 8th.  I truly believe that you are just a phone call away from stopping the insanity!

Monday, August 24, 2015

What are you afraid of?!

As you get older you start to realize just how much you didn't know when you were younger. I turned 44 a few weeks ago, and it took me the majority of those years to learn some simple life lessons. One thing that I've dealt with my entire life is fear.  I know I’m not alone in this, and fear can be extremely paralyzing. When you're a kid everything seems so big, especially things that you are afraid of.  In reality, my childhood fears were relatively simple, like being afraid of the dark, scary movies, girls, clowns, etc., or if you were like me, the Incredible Hulk. This is the one story my two older sisters love to tell.  According to them, I wouldn’t want to sleep alone if I had watched the Incredible Hulk recently. To this day, I deny that I was every afraid of the big, green man, but in actuality, I was terrified.  I am happy to report that I have overcome that fear, as you can see from the picture below that was taken a few weeks ago.



     All kidding aside, fears can be even worse as an adult. I've had to overcome a lot of fears in my life, and I’ve grown so much each time I've faced them and didn't allow them to hold me back. As you continue to face your fears head on, something amazing begins to happen.  You get stronger, and you eventually conquer those fears. I'm an introvert. Sometimes, being around people, especially groups of people, can stir up a lot of fear inside of me.  I've always had a strong desire to help others, so you can see where my introverted nature is a hindrance to this desire.  It has taken time, and I’m still not completely where I want to be, but I've allowed my desire to help others to be stronger than the fears I have from my introverted personality. There have been many circumstances and people in my life who have helped me overcome my fears.  I have been able to do things that I didn't think we're possible, one of the most important being my job as a coach. I have gained strength to conquer my fears through what I've learned from training. When you do things you didn't think were possible, it gives you an internal strength that makes you feel like you can conquer anything. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing this first hand.  When I get to see someone get their first chin-up or first real push-up, it's amazing to see their whole demeanor be transformed.  That person is no longer paralyzed by fear, but is ready and anxious to take on more challenges.
     I ask you what is a fear you have that's holding you back from accomplishing more in your life? We have a saying In Training for Warriors “Train more fear less”. That's not just about training in the gym, but in other areas of your life. Are you putting the extra time and effort into your job that will allow you to stomp out your fear of failure because you're more prepared? Are you eating healthier and taking the time to exercise to get rid of the nagging fear that you might not be around to see your kids grow up, or to hold your first grandchild?  I could give numerous examples, because everyone has at least one thing they are afraid of.  Maybe it’s a fear of working up enough courage to simply step foot into a gym.  If so, I want to help you kick that fear’s butt!   We have an 8-week warrior challenge class starting after Labor Day that will help you do just that. It's a step-by-step program that starts off with small steps, and progresses to give you the tools you need to succeed.

     Let’s face it; fear is an inevitable part of everyone’s life.  The difference is found in how someone responds to that fear.  Do your fears control you, or do you control your fears?  Ask yourself this question, “Do I need to train more and fear less?”  If so, take that first step toward conquering your fears and contact me today to sign up for our next 8 week warrior challenge.  I can promise you this, the 8 week warrior challenge isn't anywhere close to being as scary as the Incredible Hulk!

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Do you want to be a Superhero?!

My wife and I traveled to North Carolina last weekend to attend the Training for Warriors (TFW) annual affiliate summit. We started the weekend with an epic superhero deadlift party, and we set another Guinness Book of World Record during that event. The energy during that hour of deadlifting was unreal.  When it was over, I had seven other people who were on my team, that I had a connection with because we had just pushed and encouraged each other to accomplish more than we thought possible. I knew, at that moment, I had made the right decision to become a TFW affiliate. 
For the rest of the weekend we got to hear so many great speakers that not only motivated us, but also inspired us. One of the biggest takeaways from the weekend is that TFW is not just a workout system that's cool, or that will get you ready for the beach or a wedding, which all of those are worthwhile goals.  TFW’s main purpose is to save lives. Martin Rooney, the founder of TFW, reminded us that "obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are at an all time high, while self esteem is at an all time low", and TFW is doing its best to make an impact. I got into the fitness business because I wanted to help people, but sometimes you need a reminder of what's really at stake, people's lives. 

A great example of how TFW can help change your life is what it's done for my mother-in-law. She is 68 years old and is a type two diabetic. When I had my first TFW class last November she said she wanted to try it. I'll be honest, I didn't think she would last, and I thought she was just doing it to give me an extra person to make the class a little larger. I’m here to tell you, she has stuck with it during some tough beginning practices for her, and along the way has inspired everyone in our class. That's not the best part though, the best part is that her A1C levels have dropped so drastically that she is very close to being able to come off of her medication. She has five grandchildren that range from two months to seven years old.  It's great to know that she is not only adding years to her life, but she’s also adding quality to her life.  It's easy to look at someone else’s success and say that's great, but I don't think I can accomplish what they accomplished. This is a lie!  It’s vital that you realize you can make a change!  It is going to be challenging, but it will also be very rewarding. If you are someone who is ready to take on that challenge and make a change, we have something just for you.

After Labor Day, we will be starting some new 8 week Warrior Challenge classes.  This is an awesome opportunity for you to learn exactly what TFW is all about, and to jump start your life.  The classes will meet for an hour three times a week for 8 weeks.  This is a great way to ease into the TFW workouts and to build a foundation for graduating into the regular TFW classes.  Just think, by giving 24 hours of your time over an 8 week period, you could be starting a journey that could add 20 plus years to your life, help you burn fat, build muscle, and feel good!  That is huge!  Because here is the reality, yes, we dressed like superheroes, yes, we deadlifted for an hour, and yes, we broke a Guinness World Record.  It was awesome, and a moment that I will never forget.  However, it is all futile if I leave my cape in North Carolina at the summit, and I don’t come home and start helping others and saving lives.  Because the truth is, everyone is a superhero to someone.  Whether you like it or not, you have someone in your life that you are a superhero to.  So don’t let them down by wasting your life away.  Because giving your family and those you love 20 more healthy years with you, that’s priceless.