General

During our cold Wisconsin winters we can sometimes feel like moisture is being wicked away from our body. We get some relief with the use of indoor humidifiers, but even then, I find myself using more hand & body lotion and drinking more water. To help relieve nasal dryness, I occasionally use a NetiPot with a salt/baking soda solution. I typically reserve the NetiPot for summer and fall when I do a lot of yard work. The solution is great for helping flush dust, pollen and other airborne contaminants.

In December, Heather gave me an Olbas Natural Inhaler. This lip balm size tube is suppose to last for three months, and so far it’s still going strong. If I feel like my nose is a little dry or stuffy, I insert the Olbas Inhaler into each of my nostrils and inhale.* It’s a quick fix. The vapors provide a soothing and cooling sensation. What are the ingredients? Menthol, Oils of Peppermint, Cajeput and Eucalyptol. Menthol’s ability to chemically trigger the cold-sensitive receptors in our skin is responsible for the well-known cooling sensation when inhaled. In addition, Menthol has pain relief properties.

* Please Note. DO NOT insert the tube all the way up into your nose.

An alternative to this product is sucking on a menthol lozenge or sipping mint tea. There are also some mist humidifiers or vaporizers where you can add scented essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, pine and lavender and many others. When I was a massage therapist back in California I used an aromatic diffuser. Great for small rooms like an office or bedroom.

So the next time your nose feels dry or stuffy, reach for an Olbas Natural Inhaler. Your nose will thank you for it.

Set goals . . . Take action . . . Get results. REPEAT. Is that a bit too simplistic? I agree. Setting your health and fitness priorities shouldn’t be a daunting task, but it should not be taken too lightly either. There are a lot of considerations, mainly your time, energy and money. Let’s fast forward a bit and say that you have already defined your health and fitness goals. You’ve got a clear picture in your head or on your fridge of what your goal(s) is going to look and feel like. The next step is to take action, because it won’t just fall into your lap. Sometimes I think people believe I have super powers since I’ve been a Personal Trainer for 19 years. That I can simply assign a one-fits-all program that guarantees fast and safe results and will last a lifetime. Sorry, that ain’t gonna happen. There are too many variables. People have different goals, backgrounds, learning styles, strengths, fears, etc.

The secret that trainers, coaches, gyms, diet books and pre-fab workout programs won’t and don’t tell you is that you NEED to experiment with different exercises and different foods. You NEED to make adjustments along the way and identify what you like and what you don’t. You NEED to refine the process so that it works better for you. Ultimately you create a healthy lifestyle tailored for yourself. Something that is manageable, sustainable, adaptable and moves you in the direction of your goal(s). For years I have told people that they did not fail their diet programs but that their diets failed them. We can easily look back ten, twenty or thirty years ago and laugh at many of the diet fads. Did you really expect yourself to survive on four rice cakes? Today there are just as many ridiculous diets that people try to follow. Without starting an entirely new blog, let me say that it’s short-sighted and unrealistic to conform to a specific list of foods or one particular group of exercises and expect long term, safe and healthy results.

Realize that the person you will be in twenty years will be different from the person you are today. You will have twenty more years of experiences, and my hope is that your training will complement and reflect the new you.

Last but not least, your fit lifestyle should be fun. Let me repeat YOUR FIT LIFESTYLE SHOULD BE FUN. One more time FUN!!. Over the years you have heard me talk about fitness and fun. Why? Why not? Should getting in shape be a miserable experience? Why make it a bigger production than it needs to be? Remember that true health and fitness is different than training for an event or a photo-shoot or a doctor’s appointment. Those short term goals, for example, may make up parts of your journey, but a fit lifestyle is for the rest of your life. So why not make the journey enjoyable? I’m not saying there won’t be challenges, struggles and frustrations. We all know that life’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

Frustration has derailed many people from achieving their goals. Here I go on a tangent. When I get frustrated, for example, I sit back and ask myself, “Why am I frustrated?” Sometimes I was being out-competed in a sport, in which case I needed to ask myself “Why am I being outcompeted?”. Sometimes my opponent(s) was more experienced, or perhaps I had an off day. If it’s not an external opponent then it’s the internal one that needs addressing. We all remember the scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker fights Darth Vadar in the cave. Luke strikes Vadar down and Vadar’s mask comes off revealing Luke’s face. It represents our fears and how we get in our own way.

Getting back to work is one of the best answers to frustration. Don’t get derailed, just keep on working. Sometimes frustration may be a result of bad advice, misinformation or poor coaching. When I was a sophomore in high school many moons ago, I played JV soccer. I was one of two players who moved up from the Fresh/Soph team. Unfortunately, the J/V coach kept me sidelined for most of the games. Until we were up 11-0 with two minutes to go, then he’d put me in. What a jerk! As a fifteen year old, I didn’t have the self-esteem, courage or chutzpa to confront the coach. He was an intimidating and unapproachable man who boasted about his several black belts in Aikido. I was use to a coach like my father, who wasn’t all about winning. Dad’s coaching style was about teamwork, improvement, uplifting everyone and effort. Funny thing is that each team he coached was ranked #1 by season’s end. To make a long story short, at the end of my J/V season I decided not to come back. I was a good player and enjoyed the game, but Coach Martinez was an obstacle that I couldn’t move or get around. I share this story not to whine or say “Poor me”. At the time I felt like I failed since I didn’t stick with it, but I learned from it. Quickly I channeled my efforts towards track & field and later bodybuilding.

Chances are, when it comes to achieving our health and fitness goals, our attitude and mindset are the obstacles that most often get in our way. We overanalyze. Ever heard of paralysis by analysis? We over-research, over-read, over-watch and get so stuck in the process that we don’t engage and actually do what we’re suppose to. As I’ve heard stated before, we major in the minors. Countless books and lectures have addressed and readdressed this issue, often making it more complicated than it needs to be. So back to priorities. I’m getting there in my roundabout way. Where should you be putting your time? A 5:30pm cardio kickboxing class? Preparing meals for the week? Doing one of your exercise videos before the kids wake up? Getting a massage? Driving across town for your private training session? First of all, it’s not all or nothing. Everyday decide to do something that will move you forward. Second, where you put your time depends on your goal(s). Hey, you knew that was coming, right?

Two action items that I harp on with my clients are meal preparation and rest. A high intensity training session will do you no good (and can actually do damage) if the machine (your body) is poorly or under-nourished. Additionally, working out without having rested or recuperated from your previous workout, increases your chances for setbacks and injuries. Would you drive your car on winter roads without making sure your brakes are in good working order? Would you go for a road trip on bald tires? Of course not. Take care of the machine and you will go places.

Here is my quick list of priorities (in order of importance) if you are in doubt of what to do:

Get proper nourishment
This includes grocery shopping, meal preparation, eating several times each day and staying hydrated.

Rest and recuperate
This includes a night of uninterrupted sleep (6-8 hours) and stress management (meditation, getting a massage, listening to relaxing music, reading a book, etc).

Get off your butt and get moving
This includes strength training exercises, cardiovascular activities and stretching.

Over the past few years I have added a library of exercise videos to my website, new equipment to my studio, online personal training via my virtual trainer program and healthy cooking classes. This is all for your benefit and to help you achieve and sustain your health and fitness goals. How can I do more for you? Well here it is. It’s the Ultimate Personal Training Package. You can buy it for yourself or as a gift this upcoming holiday season.

The Ultimate Personal Training Package includes:

10 1-hour private training sessions
1-hour nutrition consultation (includes a diet plan with easy-to-prepare recipes)
3-month customized training program (by the 5th session)
2 30-minute follow-up appointments via phone or Skype

Purchased separately this would be over $800.00

You can order my Ultimate Personal Training Package today for just $699.00. Don’t wait. This promotion will only be available to the end of the year.

*New clients only.
*Training sessions and nutrition consultation to be conducted at Eric’s fitness studio in Middleton.

I was almost thirteen years old (in 1985) when the first edition of The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding was published. I remember going to the bookstore, sitting on the floor and flipping through the several hundred page book. It featured bodybuilders of the past, tips on nutrition, diet plans and workout programs. It was fascinating. Around the same time, I watched the 1977 docu-drama, Pumping Iron. Let me clarify something for all of you Arnie die-hards out there. In an interview, Arnold was asked if the movie was a documentary on bodybuilding. He replied by saying that it was a “docu-drama”. It was a combination of both. Like many reality TV shows today. Real people were in real and contrived situations. And like any good movie, there needed to be a hero, villain, etc. Arnold continued by saying that some of the movie’s stories unfolded naturally and some of the drama was more directed.

Arnold’s physique was one many teenage boys, like myself and my brothers, were striving to achieve. Reading the book was a lot like reading a comic. There were pics of bodybuilders who looked like superheroes. And by some of the weights they could lift, they were practically as strong. So I saved my nickels and dimes and not long after picked up my very own copy.

Around this time my parents bought a free-weight set (two dumbbells, one barbell and weight bench) and put it in their garage. My big brother, Ken, would bring out his boom box and blast music while we “pumped iron”. Was that Motley Crue I just heard on the radio? Ahh, we had some epic workouts. It seemed like an almost daily ritual that I referred to “Arnie’s Encyclopedia”. It served as a great foundation, road map, how-to and first step towards weight lifting.

Almost 30 years later, it is still one of my favorites health and fitness books. Sure brings me back to when I first started lifting. The “Bible of Bodybuilding”, as it has been called by countless fitness-goers, gives concise and simple to understand workout regimens. It is a must in anyone’s health and exercise library.

How do you get stronger legs? Running? Lifting weights? Pilates? Cycling? The answer is YES to all of the above. All of those provide a certain amount of resistance, muscular endurance and range of motion. What exercises work best for you? To answer that, you need to get back to the basics. You need to look at what you are currently doing, how you are feeling and see how well your current program is moving you in the direction of your goal(s).

Whatever exercise, sport or activity you choose just remember that good technique should be safe and effective. It’s not just about running faster . . . if you wind up with a stress fracture in your foot. It’s not about lifting heavier . . . if you compress your spine while doing barbell squats. It’s not about playing tennis longer . . . if your muscles cramp in the middle of the night. Hmm, that sounds a bit too familiar.

Strong legs will help you have a strong upper body. It’s part of your foundation. I remember back in college there was a group of bodybuilders who I’d see and occasionally work out with at the gym. I was 35 pounds heavier than I am now, and even though I wasn’t competing, I had there respect. Except for one guy named Jack. One day he gave me a hard time for not being as strong or muscular as he was. Probably had to do with all of the extra supplements he was taking. Hint, hint, wink, wink. His friends laughed, and then looking at his legs I replied “Whatever, lightbulb.” His friends busted up laughing, and he never said anything critical to me again. Why did I call him lightbulb? Because all he did was work on his upper body. Big top with little legs.

When you work your legs, be sure to check if your hips, knees and ankles are sore or swollen afterward. If so, you’ll definitely want to look at your technique, duration and intensity. You’ll also want to look at your footwear. Oh no, here Eric goes again about shoes. Yup, you better believe it! I can’t tell you the number of times I have seen people in the gym working out and wearing running shoes. Eric, what’s wrong with that? Running shoes are for running. They are not for squats. They are not for lunges. They are not designed to keep your feet flat on the floor. Running shoes have built up cushioned heels and are made to propel you forward. Unless you are running, look for a lightweight athletic shoe with flat soles. Personally, I feel that cross-trainers and tennis shoes are the most comfortable.

Nowadays, it seems like everyone has jumped on the bootcamp/cross-fit bandwagon. Unfortunately, it’s not for everyone. Many of the movements are ballistic and require the participant to already have good body awareness, conditioning, coordination and strength. Sure you can modify and adapt some of the exercises, but often it’s still too intense. So where do you start? At the beginning. Straight leg raises are my personal favorites. You can do them from a standing or lying position, and all you do is lift your leg up and down. No additional weights, no stretch cords. Nada. Just the weight of your leg and your range of motion. If you’re doing them on a mat on the floor, start on your back for your hip flexors, roll to one side, then the other (for adductors and abductors) and then finish with the hip extensions in a kneeling position. Seated leg extensions are awesome for the quads and hips. Just be sure to keep the weight manageable. Lifting too heavy can seriously stress the knees. Leg curls (seated or standing) work the hamstrings and butt. The key thing is to make sure you keep your back flat (not extended) and slowly lower the weights during the eccentric phase. You don’t want to over-extend your knees. Finally, you have your pressing movements. Whatever you want to call them they are all variations squats and lunges. In the the 3rd video below I am demonstrating lunges. If your balance isn’t very good, you can try doing the exercise while holding onto a table or railing. Simply glide your hand forward as you lunge. This will help give you additional stability.

Remember to start light. You can always move the weights up. Try these out and let me know how they work for you.

Sit in a leg extension machine with the pads over the top of your ankles and your back against the back pad. Your knees should be even with the pivoting cam of the machine. Extend your legs up (straightening them), and squeeze at the top. Lower the weight down in a controlled fashion to the starting position. Be sure to exhale as you extend your legs and inhale as you return legs to starting position.

Stand against leg curl machine and hook one leg behind lever mechanism. Hold yourself steady and curl your leg up as high as possible. Keep front thigh pressed firmly against pad and body upright. Be sure that your other knee is slightly bent with your body weight on ball of foot. (This will take pressure off low back.) Exhale as you curl leg up and inhale as you return leg to start position.

Keeping your feet horizontally separated by about six inches, step forward with one leg and lower your upper body down, bending your leg. Do not allow your knee to go forward beyond your toes as you come down, keeping your front shin perpendicular to the ground. Go down until your rear knee almost touches the ground. It is very important to keep your upper body vertical. Push up and back. Repeat with the other leg or do all the reps with one leg then switch. Inhale as you lower your body down and exhale as you push yourself up.