Fat Loss – Body Transformation – Advanced Nutrition

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for my lack of posting of late. Last Monday, I thought I was coming down with a sinus infection. Since taking a step back and resting is something I have trouble doing, it became worse, and what I thought was just a little head cold ended up being the flu!

I am now resting with my family and my pig Izzy for the holidays, excited about the rest of the year and what 2012 has to bring.

A lot of people ask me what they can do to minimize the effects of the holidays. It’s pretty simple: remember that Thanksgiving is Thursday, not tonight through next Tuesday. Enjoy yourself tomorrow: make it about family, stay hydrated all day, and if you are so motivated, do a few minutes of cardio (or at least go for a walk tomorrow morning). The hydrated part pertains to water: drinking water makes you feel saturated. Have your dinner, have your sides, enjoy a small dessert and then quit. Don’t unbuckle your pants and go back for seconds and thirds and induce a food coma.

The goal is to get back into gear quickly – there’s nothing wrong with having a kick ass session in the gym on Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, but DEFINITELY hit it full blast on Monday and kick butt for the rest of the year!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the things I write. I get a lot of email from people that read often, and one person willing to read makes it worth it for me to keep it up.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving – for more info and tips on fitness, text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210!

Boyd Myers
Master Fitness Trainer – San Antonio
Owner, Personal Fitness Revolution
San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
210.391.1454

There’s a very common acronym used: KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie). Ok, sweetie is often replaced by STUPID, but I want to stay positive here.

This weekend I was having a conversation with someone about body transformation and they made a comment that when they want to change their body, they simply eat less and do more.

Sure, that may help with temporary weight loss, and that is the way that most dieticians and doctors see things, but the truth of the matter is that most people take a stab at this, make little to no changes, and then give up.

It isn’t quite that simple – if it were, wouldn’t everyone with an ounce of motivation look phenomenal?

Anyone with a pulse can lose weight with little or no effort. However, weight loss means absolutely nothing in reference to changing the body. Losing BODY FAT is what matters, and adding a little bit of lean body mass is important to actually improve one’s aesthetics.

Unfortunately, to lose body fat and to gain lean body mass simultaneously is easier said than done – there is a very delicate balance that few people thoroughly understand. Sure, you can go beat the hell out of yourself in the gym, bouncing around like a crack addict and work up a sweat and try to eat as little (healthy) food as possible. You’ll burn muscle, induce the starvation reflex, and crash and burn after a few weeks due to over-training (and under recovering). Or you can do tons of cardio to negate bad eating, lift heavy for a couple hours of day, and try to gain muscle. You’ll overtrain quickly (besides: there’s a lot more to losing fat than doing cardio).

You have to have the proper ratios of each of these factors:
Training Intensity
Training Duration
Timing of Training
Micro & Macronutrient Consumption
Nutritional Timing
Recovery (and Recovery, and Recovery)
Cardio Intensity (and Duration)

Are you training too much or too little? Intense enough or overdoing it? Are you eating the right things in the right amount at the right times? Are you recovering enough between training sessions or are you waiting too long to train in a certain way again? Are you doing too much cardio? The wrong time of cardio? Inappropriately mixing in cardio and weights and completely negating your progress?

These are all questions that must be considered, and unfortunately the answers vary significantly between individuals based on several different factors.

I know, the information for most people is overwhelming and yes: doing anything is better than doing nothing. But investing the energy to understand each of these factors and how much is required for a) your current condition and b) your goals will result in an infinitely more productive training cycle, and get you the most progress for your investment of time and energy.

Boyd Myers
Master Fitness Trainer – San Antonio
Owner, Personal Fitness Revolution
San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

Couple of quick things on this rainy Monday (no, really – it has rained in San Antonio):

1. I received a big box in the mail this weekend – my two inch thick, 30 feet long battle ropes. As if I didn’t have enough ways to make you breathe hard, sweat, get sore and kick ass in the gym, I have added another weapon to my arsenal! These things are intense, and I’ll be posting a video later this week!

2. Remember, I do not typically wear a mustache, but it is Mo-vember, and for prostate cancer awareness, I have dedicated my face to growing a mustache to raise money to defeat prostate cancer! For more information and to donate (any little bit helps), and to see my crazy mustache, check out: Boyd’s Mo-Space – Defeat Prostate Cancer

3. The holidays are almost here! Don’t let them ruin your progress, and don’t use that as an excuse to wait: you can make incredible progress this time of year! While others are getting fat and lazy, get into the best shape of your life! Call us today (210.391.1454)

Let’s have a great week!

Boyd Myers
Master Fitness Trainer – San Antonio
Owner, Personal Fitness Revolution
San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
210.391.1454

Hey all,

As I stated earlier, during the month of November I am growing a mustache to support the Livestrong Foundation’s Prostate Awareness month. For more information, or to donate (a $1 or more), please check out:

Boyd’s Personal Movember Page

1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer over the next year, and it is the second most common cancer, behind only skin cancer. Let’s find a cure!!!

Thank you for any support you give to this great cause! Oh, and I will post a pic of this RIDICULOUS mustache I am growing by the end of the week!

Boyd Myers
Master Fitness Trainer – San Antonio
Owner, Personal Fitness Revolution
San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
210.391.1454

Hey all,

Just a few quick things to cover:

-It is boot camp time again. I’ll have more info later, but we are going to be starting another San Antonio Boot Camp here at Personal Fitness Revolution. Again, I’ll post an update later this week, so keep an eye out!

-November is MOVEMBER! To bring awareness to prostate cancer (1 in 6 men will be diagnosed this year), guys are encouraged to grow a mustache (“Mo” is an Aussie term for mustache). Yes, as terrible as it is, I am growing an awesome Burt Reynolds style stache this month!!!

-We are less than three weeks away from Thanksgiving. DO NOT USE THE HOLIDAYS AS A REASON TO FALL OFF THE FITNESS AND NUTRITION BANDWAGON! You CAN make tremendous progress between now and the new year. With that being said, you can also ruin an entire year worth of work by slacking now!

I have some great articles in the work for this week, so check backsoon!!!

Boyd Myers
Master Fitness Trainer – San Antonio
Owner, Personal Fitness Revolution
San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

November is Prostate Cancer Awareness month, and through the Livestrong Foundation, they are celebrating “Mo-Vember” by growing MUSTACHES (no, really), and I am partaking!

For more information and the rules on the mustace growing month, check out here:

LiveStrong – Movember to Rember – Grow a Mustache to Fight Cancer!

If you would like to help the cause by either joining our team or donating, drop me an email at boyd@the-personal-trainer.com for details!

Boyd Myers
Master Fitness Trainer – San Antonio
Owner, Personal Fitness Revolution
San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

I often receive phone calls and emails asking me about the different types of training services that I offer, my approach and other related questions. Here is a quick list of the different types of training and clients that I work with:

Clients seeking:
Fat Loss
Body Transformation
Muscle Gain
Sports/Athletic Conditioning
Competition Preparation
Performance Nutrition Guidance
Supplement Regimen Design

Types of training:
HIT (High Intensity Training)
Circuit Training
Core Based Training
Power Lifting
Olympic Lifting
Cross Training
Sprint Training
Flexibility
Kettle Bells
TRX Suspension Training
Martial Arts Training

And probably anything else you can imagine!

Now is the time to get a head start on the holidays – the new year is still 2 months away – you can use those 2 months to make the change or to make excuses!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

Hey San Antonio,

Just a quick snippet we took about 40 minutes into my client Joey’s workout. Joey is a martial artist and while we often train for strength, this workout was totally circuit and cross training, where we worked with the TRX Suspension System, Kettle Bells, and the ab wheel of torture.

There is no one way to skin a cat, you just have to work hard and have the proper plan of attack (like Joey) – here is about 5% of his entire workout:

All tools are on the table in my personal training studio, whether it is power lifting, Olympic weight lifting, cross training, Russian Kettle Bells or whatever it takes. No training studio has a more complete view of training than mine, I assure you.

KICK BUTT!

Boyd Myers
210.391.1454
16613 Huebner Road

THE Personal Trainer – San Antonio!

Hey San Antonio,

I think the biggest downfall of most personal trainers is that most have tunnel vision. They know of one way to obtain a certain result and rarely deviate from their method.

Of course, that works great IF that is what the client needs. They fail to diagnose each client, their condition and needs and figure out the optimal way to get them from point A to point B. They fail to understand that one size doesn’t fit all. The only difference in their workouts from client to client is the difference in resistance.

I have many different clients with many different needs. I train normal people for typical fat loss. I train marathon runners. I train fitness competitors and bodybuilders. I train professional athletes at different times of the year where their needs are completely different. I have a client training for 21,000 feet climbs in Ecuador. I have clients doing Olympic lifts and sprints, others training circuit style, some powerlifting, others doing TRX bands, boxing training and kettle bells and many that do every bit of that or absolutely none of it.

The approaches to training I use are as different as my various clients are.

I don’t change things up just for the hell of it. While keeping the workouts interesting and challenging are both keys to keeping a client not only engaged, but providing overload, I’m not a fad chaser that sees something new and starts training every client in my new “passion” (note: if you are around personal trainers for any amount of time you will realize that most of them do this, find a new “style” and change as often as the weather).

Training should be based off of science. There is and never will be a one size fits all approach to training, and “scalable” means more by having someone perform a workout at a slower rate or using lighter resistance (re-read that, CrossFit cult members).

As long as the barrier to entry to becoming a personal trainer is extremely low, there will be these types of trainers that throw the proverbial crap on the wall to see what sticks, so be careful who and what training system you waste your time and money on.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

Hey everyone,

No time.

Busy with kids.

Have to work, cook, clean.

Exercise is a luxury that I just don’t have time for right now.

Eating healthy is too expensive.

All common things I hear, and no matter how legitimate they may be, they are simply EXCUSES.

The way I see it is simple:

LIFE IS TOUGH, BUT I AM TOUGHER.

If you want something bad enough, you will find a way to make it happen, and that goes for getting into incredible shape.

While it may seem like “poor, poor, pitiful me” right now, I challenge you to read the Jimmy Graham story:

Overcoming True Adversity: Saints TE Jimmy Graham

This story has grown since the above post, and he is dominating the NFL now. As a child, he was basically dropped off at an orphanage by his mother, and beaten daily by the older children in foster care… So, your life is tough?

We all face adversity: some much more than others. But waiting for things to simply get better is insanity – same process doesn’t yield different results.

If there is something you want, it is up to you to go after it, whether it is a better body, better life, better job, more money, nicer home, etc.

You are in control of you. The difference between winners and losers? Losers wait for things to happen, winners make things happen.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

That was the phrase my client Anna uttered as she walked to my the leg press machine in my studio a few hours ago. Of course, it was the leg press machine she has used a few times over the last month, but this time, it happened to already be loaded with more than 400lbs from the previous client. When I told her that it was actually the lady before her that was doing it, her reaction made it obvious that she was more than impressed. I took a few plates off of each side to allow her to acclimate and get ready to work hard.

A few sets later, she was under the same weight that she was “WOWED” by just a few minutes prior, and she was able to do it for 6 reps. Yes, all 110lbs of her.

A month ago, she told me that she “didn’t want to get big and manly.” And I bet she didn’t think that it was possible to leg press nearly 4 times her bodyweight. Neither did Lena (the client before her) when she started.

Cool thing? Both ladies are stronger and “amazingly”, neither of them have become “big and manly”, neither have sprouted an Adam’s Apple, have deeper voices, nor are ripping their clothes with their muscles.

Ladies, it does not work that way. How DOES it work? Regular people, just like each of you reading this, are able to do amazing things that they didn’t think would ever be possible in a very short amount of time, and drop inches, become leaner and stronger while having fun doing it.

No magic pills nor fads. I must warn you, it isn’t easy – but most definitely WORTH the effort.

So, when is the last time you really impressed yourself?

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

Hey San Antonio,

I have a few habits: I shower a couple of times per day. I shave regularly. I brush my teeth 3 times per day. Floss daily. Go to bed at night. Come to work every morning.

I have a 7 year old little boy and a 3 1/2 month old Juliana Piglet. Enforcing habits is a huge part of my day. Between the regular encouragement to make beds, pick up after yourself, “SIT”, and everything else, I can say that making some things a habit is not often easy.

Exercise and proper nutrition are no different. Most people want to look amazing, yet they don’t want to take the first step and make a commitment to consistently eating healthy and training intensely. “Working out” is what I do. Most people can say “Well, that is your job” but it has been something that has been a huge part of my life for far longer than my profession has been that as a personal trainer (and to clarify, I do not workout with my clients – as a matter of fact, always being around a gym as much as I am can lead to burnout, so I have to work extra hard to keep it interesting). I have a habit of selecting the healthiest choices when I eat. My habits include foregoing staying out late and eating terribly to rest up for the next day and the work/workout it has in store.

“Whatever it takes” is a phrase I hear often, and people mean it, right up until I start telling them exactly WHAT IT TAKES.

“It must be nice” is the other phrase I hear – I am a world class powerlifter and a competitive bodybuilder. I have no problem with the beach, pool parties or spending the day in very little clothes at the lake. Yes, it is NICE, but it isn’t just a gift that I am lucky to have – I, along with my clients that have decided to live this lifestyle, absolutely bust our asses to obtain a certain level of conditioning or appearance. I can assure you that my physical shape is not from genetics!

Simply put, fitness is obtained by creating the proper habits. What exactly does it takes? A series of the right choices becoming habits: Hard work, consistency, knowledge, intensity, commitment. I know, most people hate those words, but there are no shortcuts!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

Hey everyone,

I try to spend a little time each day reading other health and fitness related material. Much of my free time is spent in medical journals and reading about government studies – but recently, my quest led me to a blog written by a lady named Victoria: Anorexic to Athletic. In one of her recent blogs (read it here), Victoria discusses the role of gym owners, their staffs and personal trainers in identifying individuals in their gyms that may be at risk to chronic exercise, anorexia, etc and their role in handling/assisting individuals in these situations.

I started this post, stopped, thought about it, re-wrote it a few times, walked away, and re-started several times. It is a delicate situation and I had to step back a few times and give it serious thought. Normally, I have no shortage of words and am able to respond immediately and definitely. In this situation, that simply was not the case.

I feel that I must clarify that my personal training studio is private – it is not a typical gym where people are coming and going throughout the day. It is by appointment only, and is purely one on one. I mention this because our relationship with our clients is quite different than the type the typical gym personal trainer may have with a random gym member. In my trainer-client relationship, the client’s condition, situation, health, etc are the primary reason they are here, and any discussion about said condition would be “fair game” to bring up, so to speak. I have worked with several different individuals who have struggled with eating disorders, image problems and such and I understand the uniquity of each situation.

I am not going to get into how balance is the essence of success, why people fall into these situations, how it happens, or any of that. I do believe that anorexia, body dysmorphia, chronic exercising and other similar conditions are more common than most would believe. With that being said, these situations may or may not be mutually exclusive. One could be a chronic exerciser, body dysmorphic, and anorexic or may simply be one or any combo of the three.

From the standpoint of being a health and fitness professional, if I happened to be a MEMBER of another gym and noticed someone who fit the bill as Anorexic or as someone who is a chronic exerciser, I would not feel comfortable approaching that individual and suggesting that they may have a problem. I am the type of person that tries to keep to myself, and when I am in a gym outside of my personal training studio, I tend to mind my own business and do my own thing when I’m at a gym.

Given these factors, my answers are based on both those as a gym owner and a gym patron.

In my opinion, there is a fine line between being perceived as trying to help and being invasive. Before I am a personal trainer, I am a compassionate human being, period. With that being said, the last thing I want to do is to put someone on the defensive and make them feel any more insecure or concerned than they may be. Too many personal trainers confuse their profession as that of a psychiatrist and that is unfortunate.

I have been a personal trainer for most of my adult life, and there is one thing that comes along with the territory of being a fitness professional: you cannot help someone who is not ready to be helped – and the best way to determine if that individual wants to be helped is for them to come to you and ask for it. I know, easier said than done, and as humans, asking for help is simply something that is very hard for many people to do – and I also realize that individuals in these situations may be internally screaming for help.

While I would love to be able to assist every individual doing things detrimental to their health, stopping each smoker, heavy drinker, sweets binger, chronic exerciser, overly stressed office worker, insomniac, pain killer addict, and manically depressed individual to offer my services is far outside the capacity of my profession. While I am an expert at what I do and can train individuals in a variety of manners, and feel that I have an eye to pick out individuals that may be apart of these special populations, my specialties still lie within the realm of performance nutrition, strength training, and the similar – unlike most personal trainers, I feel that diagnosing and attempting to treat any disorder (physical or emotional) is outside the scope of my professional duties.

In closing, I have worked with many individuals that have struggled with anorexia, and I feel comfortable being a part of a team and helping them get their lives back to a seemingly normal existence. I understand the precautions, the symptoms and some of the extremes in great detail. However, offering a diagnosis unsolicited is beyond that of an in-gym personal trainer.

If a certain fitness center felt that any patron was at risk to themselves, they obviously reserve the right to terminate their memberships on a case by case basis (which may be after offering to refer a certain individual to the appropriate professional for assistance).

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

Hey San Antonio,

I must say that 2011 and has been one hell of a year for me! From numerous injuries, aches and pains that, at times, have seemed like they would completely derail any personal fitness goals I have to the loss of close friends (that were much too young to pass on) and family members that will be greatly missed, I have had numerous challenges to my personal resolve.

I am in a business where people look to me for strength and I take great pride in being able to keep my head high and in a positive mood even when something else may be on my mind. I have written about “It must be nice” before: we see people doing well and making huge strides and life and think about how great it must be to have things fall in place so easily. The truth is, when you work hard, good things just “seem to happen”.

While, like most people, I enjoy the ups, the cheers, the smiles, the celebrations and the laughs; however, pain, loss and sadness are just as much a part of living as the positive. The key is to allow those things to make us stronger and more complete as people. When things are going great, it is easy to push forward and make progress in all we do. The real mettle of a person is determined by not how hard are how far they fall, but how quickly they get up or how high they bounce when they hit the bottom.

I get to see “life” each and every day. My clients are real people with real lives, real jobs, real families and real struggles. They have the same day to day challenges that everyone has, and yet, they still understand one simple concept: if you take more steps forward than back, you will make progress, and even if I have to push them forward or even pick them up and carry them to make sure that they are moving toward their goals, I understand that is what I am here for!

Fitness and health MUST be a priority and must be “what you do” each and everyday: just like brushing your teeth, drinking water, going to work, breathing, and sleeping. Of course, there may be times when it becomes secondary to some things, but as long as it is a priority, your goals will stay within reach!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!

Working out in a way that is required to actually changes the body takes a certain intensity that, if you have something weighing on your mind or otherwise occupying you, is very difficult to do. While I am personally disciplined enough to understand when I need to take an extra day of recovery to make sure that I get the most out of my own training, there are times when we have to determine what is needing an extra day of rest versus looking for an excuse to workout. Most of the time, we need to look deep inside ourselves and say “Enough of this BS – I HAVE to do it!!!”

The key to keeping the proper mindset is keeping your “eyes” on the proverbial” prize, or, as I like to put it, “Finding your WHY”. Once the WHY is determined, the how and when tend to fall into order.

There are days when fat loss and discipline are NOT easy, but taking each step a day at a time and focusing on WHY you want to look and feel a certain way will go a long way toward getting you to where you want to be.

We are a society of NOW – what we want, we want immediately. However, there are some things that impatience, money and insistence cannot bring to us.

When you decide you are ready to change, find that spark that lead you to the decision, and look for little reminders and motivating ideas daily versus the path of least resistance.

Whatever is worth obtaining is worth working for!!!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454
Text FITNESSTRAINER to 90210 for my fat loss and body transformation tips!