Class of 2014

Dear class of 2014,

As you enter the world full of hopes and dreams let me give you a quick message as I look back on the last 23 years of my life since I walked away from high school with my hopes and dreams.

My message is in two parts.

The first part in what you should do and second is what you should not do.

First, my hopes for you as you enter the world with your dreams and you ambitions.

The message to you is simple. It's so simple that most won't do it. It's so simple that most will scoff at it and simple do today what makes them happy today. This is a mistake.

Keep it simple my friends. Keep it simple.

Design your ideal life and do things everyday to get you to your ideal life. That is what you need to do.

The second part of my message is just as simple and yet, again, most will ignore it for myopic thinking and short term gratification.

Here is message number two: don't screw up message number one by doing things that you think impress other people or to create a shortcut to a long journey. 

To keep it simple let me share with you 15 simple things that are truth to those of use in our 40's but seem insignificant to you. Trust me. Life will get hard in a hurry if you lose your focus on what you want long term by focusing on what seems cool in the short term.

Trust me or don't trust me. The choose is yours.

1. Set your sites on your dream life and don't let anyone steal your dreams. If someone tells you you can't do something they are either right or they are wrong. That is a decision that you get to make.

2. Continue to learn and grow but don't go to college because you think that you have to. At the end of the 4 years unless yo have a defined purpose then it's just a piece of paper.

3. Learn to define yourself by your thoughts, your words and your actions. You are going to become what you want to become by being the person you want to be. If this doesn't make sense check out number 4....

4. Do not do things that you can't take back. Don't get drunk. NEVER smoke, do drugs, break the law get tattoos that can't be covered up, don't stretch out your ears or pierce things that shouldn't be pierced, don't have un-protected sex, don't post things on social media that bring others down....get the point? In other works: DO NOT DO THINGS AT 18 OR 19 THAT WHEN YOU ARE 30 YOU ARE GOING TO SAY , "CRAP I WISH I HAD HADN'T DONE THAT". Ask any smoker or former smoker in their 40's or 50's if they wish they had never done that. What do you think the answer is going to be?

5. Don't go into debt. At some point in everybody's life we have zero debt. At a point later in life almost every person turn around and says, "Where did all this debt come from?" If you think this is insignificant look at the number of divorces where money is the main issue. Don't get into debt for all the wrong reasons. Pay cash.

6. Educate yourself on things like business ownership, finances, parenting and other important issues that you may or may not have learned in school. I would suggest that you read a non-fiction book per month at minimum.

7. Have an active hobby. Start biking, playing basketball, disc golf, running... whatever. Be active. Don't think that you will be thin and fit forever. See number 4. At some point in your life you will wish that you had done things differently.

8. Exercise every single day of your life. As a fitness coach for the last 15 years it deeply saddens me the shear number of people that show up at my door at 30, 40 or 50 and regret not having exercises since high school; you would be shocked. Don't let the opportunity to develop life long habits pass you by. Get out there today and do something active. Get up tomorrow and do it again!

9. Save and invest your money and ALWAYS have an emergency fund of money. Start with $500 that you vow to NEVER touch unless it's an emergency. A trip to Cabo is not an emergency. You car needing a new stereo system is not an emergency.  An emergency is your car breaks down and needs an alternator. You will be very happy if you get into the habit of doing this when you are married and have kids and your 12 year old has an opportunity to go to an elite baseball tournament that costs...$500.

10. Live your life on a budget. In other words spend every dollar that you make on paper before you spend it. Read Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" and you will be blessed.

11. Learn how to give back. This is different for everybody. If you are a church goer then make sure you tithe. If that isn't your thing then make sure that you figure out a way to bless others.

12. Speak with impeccability. Just because you are 18 and "free" doesn't mean you have to behave like you don't answer to anybody. Your parents won't yell at you for swearing but other adults will judge you and hold it against you. Don't believe me? You don't have to. You are free now.

13. Be a daily goal setter. What 10 things are you going to do today that are going to make you and the people around you better? If you do that everyday is about 3 years you will have done 1000 things that make your world and the world a around you a better place to live. Can you imagine that?

14. Jettison people from your world that don't raise you up and don't add value to you your life. Up until now people in your world have, for the most, part been dictated to you. You hang out with kids from clubs, sports team, church and the like. Now, as people grow and change, you don't have to be around the ones that aren't in tune to your values. It's harsh but it's a fact of live. There will be those around you that are going to want to act 18 when the calendar says 25. You are a person of value so need to hold that standard of yourself and those around. People need to grow of they need to go.

15. Nourish your body like your life depends on it because it does. You may be able to handle eating like crap everyday but at some point your body is going to rebel. Educate yourself on eating properly and being healthy. When your 30 you will be glad. When you are 40, 50 and 60 you will be even more glad. Trust me.

For the last 18 years you have looked forward to this defining moment of your life. I hope that you have learned that life can be a challenge. I hope that you have learned that the best things in life aren't handed to you.

Most of all I hope that you have learned that you CAN define your life and you can live the life of your dreams.

The last message I want to leave you with is where everything begins. It's the principle that makes all the others possible.

Life your life with a sense of purpose, believe it is possible and NEVER let anyone tell you that you can't do anything. 

You are a champion and you are destined for greatness. Now get to work because it's not going to be easy.

But you already knew that.

To you success,

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 
"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

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What is fitness?

The readers of my blog yesterday gave me a TON of feedback.

Feedback is good. This means that a lot of people read it. As a matter of fact it had the most views ever for the first day of a blog post.

This means it's an important topic. This post today may be considered a follow up or a part 2. It's important non the less.

In case you missed yesterdays blog you can read it here: http://yourbestfitnesscoach.blogspot.com/2014/05/my-opinion-of-crossfit.html

To me the important conversation for all the feedback revolves around the question: what is fitness?

Does being stronger, faster, and leaner equal fitness? How about how much weight we can lift or how fast we can do a workout? Or run a mile? Or ride a bike? Can it be how far we can throw a ball or shoot a ball or an arrow?

Kind of makes you think, right?

If you Google the question, "What is fitness?" you are going to get hundreds of hits.

I am not here to reinvent the wheel.

Fitness is the state of feeling and looking good. You can add more words and you can play with it all you want but the fact remains. We all know what it means to be fit.

What we really want to know is how to be MORE FIT.

Notice I didn't say "fit". There is not such thing as "being fit."

"I am fit". No, you are not.

"I am getting fit". BINGO.

So how do you get more fit?

That is the real question AND the real answer. What is fitness? Fitness is knowing that you are not really fit and you need to keep working hard. 

To me this means that you need to workout most days with a focus on metabolic conditioning that incorporates core strength and stability.

I believe that this could mean different things to different people and that is what makes our world so special.

We are allowed to be different. 

We can do what makes us happy in our job in our recreation and in the way we workout. If you want to have lots of muscles then go for it. If you want to run fast then go get 'em. If you want to be flexibly then focus on that.

The point is that as long as you are happy doing what you are doing and you are getting better then go for it.

I see lot's of people that train in the gym with the body building modality. I would never train that way because that is not my thing. Who am I to say that is "wrong"?

I see lot's of people that run or ride endless miles. I don't do that either. Is it wrong? No way. It's right for those people.

CrossFitters do their thing. Do I do what they do? No, I do not. Again, who am I to say that they are wrong? That is not my place either.

To sum things up and to bring an end to today's post I have this to say:

Many people from many areas of fitness think that this is some sort of a pissing contest. Runners are the most fit because they can run forever. CrossFit makes the fittest on the planet. Gymnasts are the most fit. Body builders....and on and on and on. Fitness is about YOU. It is about you being a better you tomorrow. No modality, no trainer, no program, no routine is best for everybody. Fitness is about you becoming more each and every day. Period. 

Thanks for reading again today. If you get value out of this post please share it around on Facebook. We appreciate that.

If you are an athlete or an aspiring athlete that wants to fuel you body that right way then jump on this webinar tonight. It's going to be really informative for you.

To your success! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 
"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

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My opinion of CrossFit

I don't talk much about CrossFit.

Why?

I think most of us grew up with the virtue that if you don't have anything good to say then you shouldn't say anything at all. I live my life that way. I stay positive all the time and I avoid topics that become "he said she said" or a battle of who has the loudest voice.

Things have changed. I value my clients and friends to much to just stay quiet on such an explosive topic.

Today I voice my opinion on "CrossFit."

Before I dive in let me tell you a little about my background. I am not just some opinionated hack who wants to stir the pot; I don't do that. Like I said before I tend to stay out of the fray; so to speak.

I have an undergraduate degree in Sport Management and a Master's Degree in Physical Education. I have coached the sport of track and field and cross country at the collegiate Division II and III levels. I also coached high school track for 5 years in the state of New Hampshire where I was the coach for the throwing and jumping events.

I have been a Certified Personal Trainer since 1999. I have owned a personal training studio (in New Hampshire), been a YMCA Wellness Director (Golden Triangle in Tavares) and have owned Your Best Fitness Coach since January 2010. Currently I am an instructor as ASM Fitness in Eustis.

I have also been an endurance athlete at the highest level since the 1980's. I was a 4:16 miler as a Division I runner at the University of Massachusetts and have competed in triathlons all over the world. I have finished in the top 15 in the WORLD in my age group 3 separate times in the sport of triathlon. I am an Ironman finisher and was the runner up at the National Duathalon Championships in the "Double Du". (Combination of the times from off road and on road duathlon National Championships)

I tell you this not a bragging but simple to tell you that I am not some average Joe off the street that has some sort of ax to grind.

Now, if you are looking for me to either jump on the bandwagon of "CrossFit sucks" or "defend the brand" I am sorry but I will do neither. I have my own thoughts and you are about to hear them.

I love a lot about CrossFit. I really do. Just yesterday I did a workout called "The Murph". It pushed me and it pushed my clients. We had fun and really pushed the limits to get some great results.

The Murph was actually how I found CrossFit about 6 years ago. I was working at the Y back then and a local firefighter named Matt was working out and he told me he was "CrossFitting". Of course I asked what that was and he directed me to the website where they posted a WOD (workout of the day) everyday.

Awesome. I check it out and the WOD for the day was The Murph: 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run.

I did the workout and was sore for 5 days.

Was that a sign?

The next week I tried another workout called "Linda". I couldn't get through that workout and the next one I tried had swings and I hurt my back doing them wrong. Another sign?

For the next few years I did a few CrossFit workouts here and there. They were challenging and fun. For the most part though I found them difficult to do at the YMCA and at the church where I started teaching classes when I left the Y in 2010.

Meanwhile, as you likely know, CrossFit has exploded. It has exploded on TV with the CrossFit games. Gyms are popping up everywhere and everyone seems to want to do CrossFit.

Isn't this a good thing? Isn't this what we want? Don't we want people off the couch and getting into a workout culture and getting fit?

Yes we do and that is one of the great things that CrossFit has done. They have made working out and fitness in general kind of cool. They have made high intensity training part of the mainstream. This is how people get results! Thanks to CrossFit the "sport" of fitness is here.

I think that is cool.

But is CrossFit for everybody? No, sadly it is not.

Is the concept for everybody? Yes, it certainly is.

So what is wrong with CrossFit?

The real impetus for me writing this piece today is an article that is spreading like wildfire on Social Media. Here is a link to the article: http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/why-i-dont-do-crossfit/

The basic problem with CrossFit is that they focus too much on weight. My feeling on fitness is that you need to focus your goals on how YOU change and not how much weight you can do. I feel the best measure of fitness is what you can do with your body without resistance. When you start focusing on exercises with a lot of weight then your goal starts to be to move more weight.

Right or wrong that is my opinion.

As a personal trainer for 15 years here are some opinions that I have.

1. You should never do snatches. The movement is too technical for people to grasp and it serves little purpose in terms of function. So why do it? Save that one for the Olympics.

2. You should never dead lift more than your body weight. Again, why do that?

3. You should never clean more than about 2/3's to 1/2 your body weight. Cleans are a great exercise to learn because you need to do it to get the bar to your shoulder to do presses or thrusters. Doing much more than 1/2 your body weight equals a law of diminishing results in my book.

Why do I mention these exercises? Much of the CrossFit program is built around these 3 exercises. To do CrossFit you will violate all of these rules and in my opinion the risk versus the potential return is to great.

This is primarily the reason that I don't do CrossFit nor do I recommend CrossFit.

If you read the above article she goes into the reason for not doing "high weight high rep" Olympic lifts and she is pretty on point. The tone is a little to elitist for me but she does make valid points about the purpose of Olympic lifts.

There is one thing that she talks about that I believe is off base. She talks about trainers not being certified and the supervision at CrossFit gyms not being what it should be. Honestly I think that is a bunch of CRAP.

I know lot's of people that go to CrossFit and some CrossFit coaches. They know what they are doing and I would NEVER try to bring the whole brand down like that.

According to the author of the article you pretty much need like a PhD to be a fitness coach. That's ridiculous. Who really has the money to get instruction like that? If you have millions to spend to get Olympic level coaching then go at it. Most of us do not.

So the questions remains. CrossFit? Good or bad? Safe or not safe?

You will hear people shouting from the rooftops of both sides. Everybody has an opinion.

Here is the way I look at it: there is some extreme stuff out there.

An Ironman? People claim that you can get hurt doing CrossFit. How about training 20-30 hours per week for an event that will take 8-9 hours for the ELITE. That's ridiculous.

How about a marathon? The human body isn't meant to run 26.2 miles. I'm sorry. It just isn't.

If you think about it endurance sports are crazy. Who isn't going to get hurt training that much?

When you do CrossFit, or any kind of working out for that matter, you will get hurt while working out. You will twist your ankle, you will hurt you knee, you will pull your back.... TRUTH.

Does it beat the alternative?

If you sit on your ass all day you surely won't hurt your elbow doing a muscle up. Your surely won't hurt your back doing dead lifts if you sit on the couch watching TV all day. But, if you workout you will shed body fat and increase your endorphin levels thus live better with less illness and disease.

If you want to do CrossFit then have at it. I am not going to blast the brand just because I don't agree 100% with the methods. Is it safe? For the most part, if you do things the right way it is safe. In my eyes it is better to do CrossFit then to walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes day and do the silly circuit at the Y.

I am not a CrossFit instructor and I do not go to a CrossFit gym.

I do train upwards of 50 people per week and I train my wife and myself. If we don't do "CrossFit" well, what do we do?

Basically, we program our workouts very similar to what CrossFit does. The difference?

No heavy dead lifts. No snatches. No heavy cleans. No heavy squats. No heavy anything.

What do we do instead of the lifts? We do many of the functional exercises that CrossFit does plus we run / walk / row. If you want to learn more about our program shoot me a quick email and I will explain more; that is not the intent of the article today.

In today's Social Media crazed world anybody with an account and an opinion can be an expert. Anybody can shout from the roof tops how wrong something else is. Be very leery of those people. Be very leery of the people that do nothing but bring others down without presenting a real alternative.

Be leery of the Facebook seagulls. You know, the ones that show up, squawk loudly, shit all over the place then leave. They don't really care about you they just want to make noise and make a mess.

I don't want to be that person but I do feel that with my credibility with this topic I owe it to my followers to state my opinion.

If you want to do an Ironman or train for the Olympic Bobsled Team, or do a marathon, or climb Mount Everest, or do a 5k or do CrossFit...who am I to stop who? Who am I to say, "Don't do that, you might get hurt?"

I am not.

Understand the risks and go for it.

I do not do CrossFit because I has a basic difference on opinion with the programming. No more and no less.

Haters will hate. Seagulls with squawk, shit and leave. True professional offer an opinion, thought processes and alternatives. I hope that I have treated with topic with the respect it deserves and I hope that you got value from today's post.

If you found this article compelling and informative I would appreciate it if you shared it on social media. Thank you!

To your success!

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 
"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

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p.s. Are you an athlete or want to become an athlete? This could be a good resource for you: 

Don't be that guy

Please, for the love of God...don't be that guy.

Quick video message for you about what to NOT do at your Memorial Day BBQ. Really. Don't be that guy...

So what do you do at your Memorial Day, or any other holiday party for that matter?

Enjoy yourself. Have a a burger and a beer. Look. We practice the 80/20 rule with eating. Eat impeccable 80% of the time and cheat a little here and there for the other 20%.

If you try to be 100% all the time you will end up un-happy and frustrated. Trust me.

Can I tell you a secret?

Do you know how I celebrate almost every holiday? By treating myself to a workout. That's right. Workout then that burger and ice cream isn't quite so bad.

Hope you appreciate today's message. If you got value would you mind sharing it on your Facebook?

Are you an athlete? Are you trying to become an athlete? Do you want to step your game to the next level?

As usual we have some tremendous value for you today. On Wednesday night these is a webinar being conducted by one of our AdvoCare friends. There will be a TON of value in this webinar. You can register here: www.goo.gl/7xNMas 

Happy Memorial Day! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

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A historic ride

Today's blog is a bit different.

As you may or may not know I have a passion for history and passion for exploration. Railroad history is really my favorite. Today's blog I will combine my passions for fitness, exploration and history and give you all a good lesson.

Physically today was a tough one.

Hopefully you have a much fun on this ride as I did.

Join me as I retrace a historic route through Lake County, Florida that most who drive along the route have no idea of it's history.

Ready?

In the late 1800's railroad arrived in Lake County, Florida. Within a fee short years you there was a train stop in every town and in many towns that are long gone.

Historic Rails lines of Lake County 

In the 1940's tracks started being abandoned as cars became more and more prevalent. A combination of freezes and changes in the economy decimated the citrus industry and slowly but surely almost all the railroads were abandoned. Today the one line remains from Mount Dora and Eustis to Tavares and on to Orlando.

As the years go on all memory of this amazing era are going to be gone forever.

Hopefully today's bike ride and the videos and pictures that I took will help to preserve the rail memories for a just a little while. Hopefully.

The 10 mile track from Leesburg to Tavares was laid in 1885 by the Florida Railway and Navigation Company. In 1982 this track was abandoned and is now forever a memory. Mergers have left the right-always that still exist with CSX.

At the same time the track was also laid from Wildwood to Leesburg. This track also merged with CSX but made it a lot longer. Abandonment's began in 2001 and by 2008 the entire route was abandoned and tracks were pulled up.

Today I explored and chronicled the entire route from Tavares to Wildwood on my bicycle.

Here is the story.

I started in downtown Tavares.

The is a really cool site that is totally free online. It's http://www.historicaerials.com. When you look at the old aerials of Tavares you can clearly see the junction.  

I jumped on the Tav-Lee bike trail which goes from downtown Tavares to the outskirts of Leesburg by the mall. This a is "rails to trail" but often times it's hard to tell. 

Here is the picture of this intersection taken in the 1950's. You will see the train tracks crossing near where the yellow "stop ahead" sign is. 

I took the above video right behind where the truck is in this picture 

I rode along the Tav-Lee trail towards the Lake Square Mall. Back in the 2000's 441 was widened and the trail was built. To call it a "rail trail" is a little bit of a stretch because the rails were there but there is literally no proof unless you REALLY know what you are looking for. 

Past the mall the rail trail ends and the ride was side walk for several miles. This is also where the old rail bed diverted to go behind the present day Leesburg Airport. This route in no longer passable as the runways were lengthened and interrupt the CSX right of way. 

Here is where I was when I shot this video. If you look carefully you can see the old CSX right-of-way. It's still there after all these years. 

To re-find the old railroad bed I had to go around the airport and up into Sunnyside of Leesburg. 

Along the way I rode the 1/4 mile long section of the Tav-Lee Trail that most people don't know exists. 

Back when the economy was better the City of Leesburg actually had plans to create a rail trail that connected 441 and downtown Leesburg via Sunnyside and the old railroad grade. This project only got as far as a short section on Sleepy Hollow drive that runs from 441 to Laurel Oaks Apartments. It ends pretty unceremoniously. 

I recorded a quick video when I found it the grade near Lake Harris on the back side of Sunnyside. Keep in mind that in the video I said "Sleepy Hollow" a couple of times. What I meant to say was "Sunnyside". Listen, it was HOT out there today. That is my excuse! 

Here is the historic home that I mention in the video. It was in a movie in the 1990's called "Away we go".

Stivender Mansion 

I've heard stories about this house being haunted. I've also heard stories about a "headless woman" haunting the train tracks in Sunnyside. Unless you know what you are looking for it's hard to spot where the tracks used to be. It took me while to find them. Here is a picture of a crossing that I took today.

I biked on and re-found the old railroad in downtown Leesburg. I also found a pretty cool old relic. How is this still here after 30 years? 

It's not hard to see the abandoned railroad history of down town Leesburg. It is literally everywhere. For 100 years you could choose a train in Leesburg to go in 5 different directions. North to Lake Weir / Ocala, west to Wildwood, south-west towards Center Hill, east to Tavares/Mount Dora or north-east to Grand Island/Umatilla.  

In Leesburg I found the Fountain Lake trail and took that to 27. After 27 the rails to trails bike path turned into the Tav-Lee Trail. 

This is an amazing section of rail trail. There are probably a dozen or more historic building including the old train station and several sections on siding track still in place. This is a very cool little bike ride. The trip from down town Leesburg to the end of the trail is around 5 miles. 

End of rail trail video.

The last 5 miles involved a couple of sections on SR 44 which were less than pleasant. The old railroad grade was very recognizable the whole way. The railroad ties are still in place! 

FINALLY I arrived at the end of the line tired but happy that I completed my goal. I made it from Tavares toe Wildwood! 

The ride back to Tavares was a tough one. I took a more direct route so I think it was around 50 miles today on this HOT Sunday. My Strava app must have thought that I took a helicopter ride back. Not sure this return trip is very accurate! 

I hit a wall and had a satisfying bonk the last 5 miles. In the end it was worth it even though I spilled my Post Workout Recovery shake!

For 100 years the railroads were a fixture in Lake County. Now that early is fading away and soon there will be little, if any evidence that it ever existed. 

I know that our railroading heritage is important but I also think that the only real way to preserve it is to turn old railroad right-of-ways into rails to trails. 

If you want to help you can make a donation to the Rails to Trails Conservatory or you can just get your butt out on the trails that we have an spread the word. I saw NOBODY on the rail trail in Leesburg today. That is sad for a Sunday morning. Get out there and enjoy your trails! 

I hope that you enjoyed out little trip through history today. 

If you are new to my blog please shoot me a quick email so I can put you on our email list. We put out a lot of good value with our daily blog posts and would love to help you on your journey! Do you know someone that may benefit from this post? If so then please share with them! 

Till we meet again! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

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p.s. Do you like to workout? Do you want to recover better and learn how to perform at the your best? If so then will you take invest a little time on Wednesday night to jump on this free webinar then email me with your thoughts? Thanks! 

Normal

Normal is fat, lazy and out of shape.

Normal is eating emotionally and giving up because it's just too hard.

Normal is eating a quick take out dinner and having a few bears to wind down each night.

Normal is watching 3-5 hours of TV a night.

Normal is un-healthy, sick and miserable.

Do you want to be normal like everyone else or do you want to be extra-ordinary? 

What do you want to look like? These guys....

Or this guy....

You get the point. 

Normal is not where you want to be. 

Guess that is NOT normal?

Getting up at 5am to go work out. Who does that? 

Eating out twice per month instead of twice a week. Crazy talk.

Getting rid of your bedroom TV. What would you do for 3-5 hours per night. Uhhh....

Keep track of your food every day. That takes time. Gosh...who in the world does that?

Well... these are habits that my wife and I have. We are clearly not normal....

If you want to be normal that is 100% fine. 

But do you want to be a champion? Guess what? You can't be both. 

If you want to break out of normal and turn heads at both the beach and doctors offce make sure to check out today's blog entry from the Lady Guru: http://ladygurusfitkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/05/hard-work.html

We pride ourselves on our ability to help people that want to be helped. Do you want to break out of the normal and join our team? We are looking for motivated people that want to make a difference in their own lives and help to impact the lives of others. 

If you need a physical transformation check this out: www.24daychallengemovie.com 

If you have a desire to help others and want to join our team then click to learn more: http://www.buttar.com/is-advocare-right-for-you/

To your success! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page 

Spring into summer

"No filters needed on this one! Here's my #advocare 10 day cleanse results! Started at 190.4 and am down to 187.4!So 3lbs down and 3" gone! Onto the max phase I go for 14 days to wrap my 24 Day Challenge!"- Erika 

Saw this picture on Facebook TODAY. Those are some pretty good results. This picture is our friend Erika. We met her at a mixer a couple of weeks ago. She decided that she would do the 24 Day Challenge. Her results have been awesome so far. Isn't it amazing what 3 inches can do.

Or how about our friend Emily. 15 days into her 24 Day Challenge and she has shed an amazing 14 lbs of fat! Plain and simple the program works. 

www.24daychallengemovie.com 

We support this program 100% and we have helped hundreds of people over the last 3 years lose a whole lot of weight and gain a whole lot of energy. 

If you are in need of fat loss, energy gain or wanting to add lean muscle this may be the program for you and this is the perfect time to get started. 

It's Group Challenge Time! Join our group challenge to start on June 2nd and you will get daily nutritional help and a chance to win valuable prizes! Lose to win! 

To learn about the 24 Day Challenge check out this 6 minute video: www.24daychallengemovie.com .

If you have any questions or you are ready to get started you can email Teresa (teresa@yourbestfitnesscoach.com) or Rick (rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com).

Do you want to learn about some quick and easy lunch idea? Jump on over the Lady Guru's Fit Kitchen and learn from the master!  http://ladygurusfitkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/05/quick-and-easy-lunches.html

To your success! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page 

Oxymora

I want to share a quick message with you today.

I was thinking about this yesterday and the word "oxymoron" popped into my head.

Before I go any further check this out. Did you know that more than one oxymoron is the work oxymora? You just learned something new. Bam!

Ok, where was I?

Oh yeah. Quick message...

I don't know which is the biggest oxymoron in fitness but there two oxymora are right up there so I will say they are both equal.

Oxymoron: To gain more energy you need to expel more energy. 
Oxymoron: To burn more calories you need to eat more calories. 

Crazy talk for sure.

Let's look at the first one.

Have you every laid around in bed on the weekend and felt lethargic? Of course. We all have! Do you notice that the less you do the more tired your body gets?

To get more energy you need to be more fit. To be more fit you need to do more with your body.

On the outside it would make sense that you rest and you have more energy because you are conserving. Not true! Your body has natural energy that needs to come out. If you don't use it then it is wasted.

A couple of months ago I did a really hard week at the gym. Then I did a killer 60 minute workout on Saturday. Of course on Sunday I did a trail half marathon and had a fantastic race. I race better when I am tired. The more you rest before a big race the worse you feel.

Sometimes you need to rest but usually you just need to get off your butt and get to work. The more you work the better you will feel. Truth.

Same goes with eating. I blog all the time about people not eating enough. In a recent blog I talked about the 3 word secret to weight loss, "Eat more food". This is another truth!

When you consume more quality calories your body has more energy and your metabolism goes up!

It may seem like an oxymoron but it is not. To burn more calories (in other words raise your metabolism) you need to eat more calories.

American is getting fatter and fatter because we are always looking for an easier way to do things. We are looking for a short cut. There are no short cuts. Eat more high quality food and more you body more.

That's it folks. It's so simple that most people just won't do it.

Have you checked out Teresa's blog yet? She is focusing on healthy meals and getting fit. This girl has transformed her body and it a total machine in the gym. Check out her blog to see how she is doing it!

http://ladygurusfitkitchen.blogspot.com/

Do you get value from our blog posts? Do you find helpful incites? If so then we would appreciate it if you liked and shared on social media. We are on a mission to help and empower a team of 1000 people by the end of 2014. Please help us change the world!

Thank you!

Rick Copley, AdvoCare Gold 3-Star Independent Distributor

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page 

Persistence

Persistence is important.

You don't need to read the blog of some random fitness professional to know that, right? It's pretty obvious that you need to keep at it long term to get the results that you want out of life. This is true with fitness, your career, your relationships.... pretty much everything.

I remember my favorite quote when I was young was, "He who persists shall conquer."

Yawn.

Those are all just words and mean nothing because... you know what... it's a bunch of crap.

Do I have your attention now?

Go ahead a take a survey. I bet 10 out of 10 people will tell you that if you persist you shall conquer. Of course.

How many of those 10 will persist and thus conquer?

A couple maybe.

Let's take a whole new look at a LAME quote that has no real meaning because there is no ACTION attached to it.

"He who persists shall conquer."

In my mind the real problem is the word "persist". The reason that most people don't "persist" is because they don't know just how hard it is going to be.

I once wrote an article called "Riding in the Rain" where I talked about hitting that point in a journey when something got hard. I mean, like REALLY HARD and the suffering was unreal. I knew it was coming but when it got there I was shocked about what it was really like.

People in general don't want to be uncomfortable. It's EASY to say that you are going to persist but it's also easy to make excuses and sneak away into the night what thing get hard.

You say that you will persist but most times you don't. The reality is that things just got to hard and you lost site of your goal and you lost focus on your purpose.

So what do you do?

STEP 1: Define a purpose that is so strong that if you are woken up in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep and asked, "What is you purpose??" that you speak with complete clarity exactly what you purpose is. It may be to keep up with your kids or to do an Ironman or simply to go to bed happy every night. Your purpose is your purpose but it has to be STRONG.

STEP 2: Let your purpose be known to EVERYBODY. This way when you want to quit you will have someone there telling reminding you of your purpose.

STEP 3: Believe. I would keep your daily plan simple. For one I would have your purpose printing on an index card and read it at least 3-4 times per day. You can also put it in strategic places. How about on the refrigerator if your purpose behind weight loss is spending more quality time with your kids. Do small actions everyday that bring your closer to who you want to be. Have MUST DO's instead of SHOULD DO's. This can go for almost everything in life.

STEP 4: Plan your day. This is key. Do you go to work everyday? Do you have a routine at work? Do you do certain things at certain times? Of course! Plan your life like that! Your boss at work isn't go to tell you to exercise or stop eating from the vending machine! You have to do that!

STEP 5: Do not accepts excuses and do not place blame. Whatever it takes for YOU to become the type of person that takes responsibility and REFUSES to give up. Use steps 1 through 4 to create a solid purpose and action plan so that when things get tough (and you KNOW things will get tough!) you are ready and you punch fear in the face!

I hope this message helps today.

I am so deeply saddened all the time when I see people struggling. In all my years doing what I do I have figured out that until someone makes a decision to start living a life by design he or she will continue to be pushed around by the bullies of life.

Make that decision. Step blaming everyone else for your lack of persistence and get to work creating the life you want.

Stand tall and DARE life to through an obstacle in your way.

Be persistent. Be a champion.

Is health and fitness your main goal? If so then I have a couple of resources that may help you.

#1: Teresa's blog. That's right. After many requests she finally gave in and started a blog. It is called "Lady Guru's Fit Kitchen". It's had a great response so far. Click here to check it out: http://ladygurusfitkitchen.blogspot.com/

#2: Zumba! Zumba is a great addition to your workouts. It's fun and it really gets your heart rate up. Having fun and getting fit should go hand in hand. ASM Fitness now has Zumba on Monday and Wednesday nights at 7:15pm. Come check it out! ASM Fitness is located at 34 Ohio Blvd in Eustis. It's off Orange Ave across from the "Pic and Go". https://www.facebook.com/events/667780329935657/

If you got value out of today's post we would appreciate it if you shared this by clicking the Facebook icon at the bottom of the post. Thank you!

To your success,

Rick Copley, AdvoCare Gold 3-Star Independent Distributor

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page 

Another trainer secret

Want to keep today's message short and to the point. In today's video I review a secret that most good trainers know ABOUT YOU. Yes...we do know.

So you wanted the video and you say something like, "Well this may be kinda true but not for me..."

Whatever. It's the truth and you know it.

So what are some ways what we are dishonest with ourselves and out trainers.

1. How often we I go out to eat? "Not very often..." could mean 3-5 times per week which is a big bad deal.
2. How much do I eat? Generally people think they eat too much when in reality they don't eat enough.
3. How often do you eat fruits and veggies? "All the time..." Yeah, right. I had an apple last week is more like it. Potato chips do not count as a vegetable.
4. "I eat a good breakfast!" Hmmm.... coffee and a danish. NG. (no good)
5. "I do a cheat day once a week OR SO...." Sometimes I think you should finish that sentence with, "only on days that end in Y".

The point of the video is right on. Don't kid yourself. Be honest with the trainer in the mirror and get the help of your coach. Your body will thank you!

How would you like to work with us? Well....if you want to work out in our program it is very affordable and very flexible. First class is always free. Come check us out! Here is when we do classes:

Monday - Friday 6am and 6pm

Monday / Wednesay / Friday noon

Monday-Thursday 5:30pm

Tuesday and Thursday 10am. 

You will love the motivating and high energy environment. 

Shoot me a quick email at rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com if you want me details! 

To your success! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-5795

ASM Fitness Facebook page