In Photo: Omar with nutrition heavy weight John Berardi, owner of Precision Nutrition and all around bad ass

Ever wonder what happens when thousands of trainers flock from all over the country to the largest fitness trade show in Canada? Apparently a whole lot of spinning classes, high- fives, bulging spandex, and Richard Simmons references. Now that my protein shake infused haze is over I can safely reflect back on this past weekend. What I saw reveals to me the future trends in the industry and the future is scary (and apparently fluorescent). It also gave me big insight as to why people pursue fitness in the first place. Here are the big takeaway messages I got from the fitness trade show.

1) Focus on what is important NOT what is interesting.
Both trainers and clients suffer from this. Clients ask questions that have little impact on their progress such as “I heard running indoors is worse than outdoors because when you are outside you absorb vitamin D and it gives you more energy!” – errr what? However I’ve just as easily been at fault for this for telling a client about nutrient timing while they are still consuming six Dr. Peppers! Tackle the big issues first and don’t get bogged down by the details.

2) Most Trainers are out of shape.
Look I don’t pretend to know the story of every single trainer and their struggles that they have undergone. I’m not trying to be an asshole when I say this- but most trainers- those who advise the rest of the population to be healthy- are UNHEALTHY. They walk around with their PowerBars and Aloe Vera Water and extra bodyfat and tell you and I how to act. I believe to be respected and to truly understand how to coach you have to be an example yourself of what you preach. And no amount of Nike Frees, bosu balls or Lululemon gear will get you that.

3) We buy what we feel is valuable, people don’t value their health as they should
As a society we spend a lot of money on crap. It seems strange then that a lot of people are hesitant at the price of personal training. Buy a cottage they`ll never use? No problem. Invest in their health and well-being (not to mention their quality of life)?  Well…how much is it going to cost me?

I`m biased by being in the industry, but one of our major pursuits in life should be to be as healthy and active as possible. The increase in the quality of life cannot be understated. Yet we sideline this (like our other goals in life) and purchase whats irrelevant (new granite countertops!). We should shift our focus to whats important, not trivial.

4) The true function of a personal trainer is to be a value adder
Part of the problem might be I guess it could be due to the low quality of the average trainer. Most big-gyms hire fresh Kinesiology graduates, pay them a low-wage to train clients and charge the clients high prices. The trainers become jaded and frustrated by long hours and poor pay and the client gets a disgruntled trainer.

A trainer should be worth every penny you spend. To do this they must deliver the results you want. This sounds obvious but it bears repeating. Why workout? For 99% of people its just to feel better about themselves- they want to be comfortable in the body they have. All the other benefits are nice (increased longevity, reduced risk of injuries, stronger, more energetic) but by and large we work out to feel good. Metrics must be established and met. Why pay for something that has no value? Give what the client wants and clients will stop looking for the cheapest trainer, instead of the best trainer.

5) The fitness industry is a lot like the average gym goer: lots of movement no apparent direction
 Time ran that article recently about how exercise doesn`t work (I could put together a rebuttal but why do it when someone much smarter than you has already done it?). A lot of my clients were scared that it was true and were panicking. I think it speaks volumes how easily we are manipulated and confused as that article is severely flawed. In the early 90s fats are terrible. Now its carbs. We seem to get dogmatic about one minute detail instead of looking at the bigger picture.

Zumba, Pilates, Boot Camps, Functional Training and more have come into the picture in the last several years. There is always something new coming out but strangely enough, more people are obese than ever before! I think we must focus on whats important, not whats interesting. Have a direction, a goal, and pursue it.

Well that about raps up what I took away. Oh and ps smoking marijuana is scientifically proven to be beneficial for your nervous system (just joking JB!). Disclaimer: I’m clearly joking about this.

Did I miss anything? Who else attended it? Share your thoughts!

I’ve noticed that my most successful clients have managed not only to transform their bodies through physical work and sound nutrition, but by having the right mindset. This is usually the missing element: well-being. Having a better life, a more productive, more satisfying life- should be the goal of a healthy active lifestyle. Rather than give you half-assed solutions to your problems, I went to the experts at Inspired Life. I sat down with the wise sages Mylinh Nguyen and Daniel Chang to figure what as a society we can do to reduce stress.

Part 1

Part 2

I’d like to thank them for their co-operation and their highly generous offer for a free infrared sauna experience (stay tuned…I smell another segment in the works). Anyone that is an Omar client can use my name to get a Free infrared Sauna session. Located right in Carrot Common at 320 Danforth Avenue, you can go to www.inspiredlife.ca or e-mail at http://www.inspiredlife.ca/contact.

What else would you like to know?

I’m no stranger to the art of transforming bodies; it is something I help participate in every day. I’ve witnessed and helped deliver some radical transformations. But truth be told I’ve struggled myself with making that same transformation. True, I was in decent shape before, but not to the level I expected of myself. There has been many aborted attempts, some more successful than others but most usually ending in complete failure. I failed for the most typical reasons: not dedicated enough, improper planning, frustration, etc.

In fact here is an Old Timeline of a Twelve Week Cut
Week 1-2: Feeling excited about making the transformation, initial weight is down and energy in the gym is good. Bring out the tank-tops!
Week 3-4: Progress starting to slow down, so I immediately cut calories and do triple cardio (ok I lied, more like ten times the cardio)
Weeks 5-6: Desperate by lack of progress, cut calories further (eating less than a supermodel) and working out like a bodybuilder on a double dose of juice.
Weeks 6-8: Burn out and failure, the combination of too much work, too little recovery and a ravenous appetite lead to a downward spiral
Weeks 9-12: Don’t happen as I wimped out and quit, defeated and crying like a pre-teen girl at a Jonas brothers concert.

As you can see I needed help to make this transformation. My key secret that helped me succeed was to seek professional help. WHAT? BLASPHEMY! A trainer admitting he used another trainer? Why? Why can’t I design I own program? Well I have designed my own programs and followed them but what I was missing was my failure to think objectively about my body. Either I’d cut my calories weigh to low (disaster), increase my training frequency too high and under recover (even bigger disaster), or do a combination of both (near life-death experience). I’m serious, I saw visions of the after-life during one particularly brutal cut (and it wasn’t pretty like in the movies- Richard Simmons was on the other side and he was PISSED!).

Who was this wise sage that I consulted? Why a fellow Canadian of course, Christian Thibaudeau. I’ve been reading his articles and books for several years and finally decided to take my body to the next level. Using his “Get Jacked” Program, I embarked on a twelve week transformation, eager for it to be the best and last one. Not surprisingly not only did I lose the weight I wanted: I even gained muscle!

This is my twelve week transformation

In the wake of this success I’ve learnt a lot about myself and about transformations in general. Below I hope to share a couple key points that I learnt so I can save YOU time. The quick answer is the holy trinity of a successful transformation revolves around 1. Your metabolism 2. Your body’s ability to use fat (its carb tolerance, hormonal profile, exercise choice, etc) and 3. Your ability to recover from work outs. Here is what I’d do differently.

Don’t cut calories too soon
Focus on expending more calories first before you hack away at what you are eating. Its a lot easier to deny yourself food then it is to do the gruelling workouts necessary to make an impressive transformation. Cutting calories too soon can not only mess up y our metabolism but affect your performance in the gym (not to mention possibly damaging your hormonal profile). Sluggish work outs won’t preserve muscle mass and not ingesting enough quality food can make you drowsy and tired.

Don’t do too much cardio.
I think its a plague in our society where we feel the need to over exert ourselves. Call it a type A personality, or whatever you want, but the fact remains that most people will spend TOO MUCH time doing TOO MUCH cardio of the wrong type. Each of us only has so much time to work out and cardio should be at the bottom of your to do list. Here’s why: too much cardio can eat away at your muscles, down regulate the amount of calories you burn in a day, increased cortisol levels (a stress hormone), and make you addicted to watching Oprah. Seriously, its that bad. A proper balance between weight training and energy systems work is the key toward a proper transformation. If your time is limited here is what you should do:

Minimum Three Strength Work outs a week (to maintain or build lean mass and burn calories)
Three Circuit Based Weight Work outs a week (to elevate metabolism and preserve muscle)
High Intensity Interval Training
Low Intensity Cardio

Focus on the biggest issues
Often times we get bogged down by the minor details instead of focusing on the key issues, the things that are most important to us seeing results. Instead of asking am I getting enough exercise? We ask “whats better, eating my last meal one hour before bed or two hours before bed”. Don’t cloud your mind by details, focus instead on the big keys to success: proper eating habits, proper exercise choice and plenty of rest. You can’t out train a crappy diet and you can’t train properly with out adequate rest.

Take time off!
Seriously this is an order. If you are constantly pursuing your fat loss goal it’ll only wear you down both physically and mentally. Eating below maintenance for prolonged periods of times can slow down your metabolism and leave you feeling sluggish and miserable. Fat loss shouldn’t become a grind. If you have been cutting for longer than twelve weeks straight, take a break. I’m not talking a couple days, I’m talking a solid one to two weeks off. This will not only reset your metabolism but it’ll also refuel your desire to achieve your goals. Believe me, we all want results yesterday but a temporary pause to reset and refuel your body is necessary for long-term success.

You never want to reach the point where you are endlessly trying and just not seeing an results, its frustrating and defeating!
 
Don’t beat up on yourself
Had a cheat meal? Or a cheat day? Don’t sweat it, it happens to the best of us. The telling point is what you do AFTER you fall off the band wagon, do you jump back on or fall apart? Strength is going through your struggles and deciding not to surrender, that is true strength.

Have a plan, follow it, believe it
If you don’t map out your road to success then there won’t be any success. Planning out what you need to do is just as important as doing it. When you are six weeks into a transformation a lot of doubt starts to creep in, that is when knowing you are on a specific plan is so important, it helps ground you and gives you a vision. A key to success is to have a blueprint. How can you know where you are if going if you have no direction?

This also applies to eating, do you pack your meals? Have you planned out your week, or do you find yourself stopping into your local McDonalds and ordering combo #1? Lets use a familiar line: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And while you are at it, make your food tasty for a change! As someone who loves to eat good food, I’ve discovered that healthy food need not taste like cardboard. Hence the introduction of my Chef Buff series (click here to watch the latest episode).

Seek professional help
Often times we think we know it all. Its hard to try and ask for help especially from people we don’t know. This is even more true for myself being a trainer. The cost however to both your time and more importantly your body, is just not worth skimping out on yourself. I tell all my clients to look at training as an investment on their bodies and more important themselves. When you put it that way, nothing can be more important than how you think and feel.

My two year transformation, wow

There is plenty more advice but I think those are the key points to succeed, now go forth and conquer that flubber!

Got Any Advice? Share it below please!