Become a machine.....Quit using one!

Things you will notice in this clip.....

     There were no big body machines, no isolated movements, no curls for girls, no mirrors, and no crying. His training was similar to Crossfit...Real world functional movements, intensity workouts, olympic lifts, power lifting, kettlebells, endurance training, rain/shine/snow, and best of all HE HAD A COACH to push him past his mental limitations so he could achieve goals normally he would not be able to on his own. He had a goal and let nothing get in his way.

BE, DO, HAVE!
(More on this in my next blog!)

Your fitness coach,

Edward Hardee

Crossfit92.com

"As a Man Speaketh, so is He"

     Most people who talk about the subject of fitness and health talk about "getting in shape" What they do not realize is that many times, these words are counterproductive to the goal of actually getting in shape. It is common to hear people complain about being out of shape and saying "I need to get in shape and burn fat", and "I want to burn fat and get in shape". But what is not often heard along with those saying is the addition of "and stay that way".
     While staying in shape may be on their mind, their mindset is actually only focused on the short term goal of getting in shape. This thought process tends to make so many of us more susceptible to the latest fad diets and exercise gimmicks on the market. We are so focused on getting into shape, in the shortest amount of time possible, we will try almost anything regardless of how silly or difficult it might be to use... maybe even dangerous or unhealthy!
     Changing our "quick fix" mindset to one of long term success and lifestyle change will help lead us down the correct, and lasting path. You will be less attracted to the late night TV pitches and more focused on doing the right things at the right times. Isn't a long, healthy, fit life what we really want?
     Creating the proper environment to allow your body to burn fat fast is essential to this goal and takes a lot of work. It is much easier to be in shape in your 20's and 30's than it is in your 50's and 60's... if you can age, and be in shape, now that is impressive! It is truly rare to find people who have kept the mindset and followed a plan of exercise and nutrition that has kept them healthy.
      If you really wish to transform your body and health forever, you must make it a habit. It must be ingrained in the things you do and the way you think. You shouldn't have to think about ordering healthy food, it should become something you just do, because you enjoy it! Research has shown that these habits can be developed in under a month, sometimes even quicker. You don't need to give up your life's dreams and you don't need to follow the latest diet fad.
     After a few months you will start to find that your body will start telling you that it wants to keep eating right and exercising. A fast food meal will make you feel absolutely terrible and missing a workout will leave you feeling edgy and just not quite right.

Edward Hardee
Crossfit92.com

Crossfit Vs. Globo Gyms (Client's Experience)

This is a client's personal experience between a Globo Gym (Lifestyles/Golds) vs a Crossfit Gym. After I read this it gave me flashbacks of when I worked at Lifestyles....because this was our sales system there. By the way I hated it, because it was deceiving and was built to give a client false hope knowing they were about to go in the gym with NO help and fail. I was selling a part of my soul by staying there and selling something I did not believe in so I quit and started a Crossfit Gym. Best decision ever! Quality > Quantity!



I visited a Crossfit affiliate for the first time ever this weekend. Allow me to compare and contrast a first-time Crossfit visit vs. a first-time Globo gym visit. Globo first:

• Enter gym. Notice front desk employee sitting in front of a computer. Wait about 15-20 seconds for them to stop playing solitaire or Facebook.

• “Hi, I’m Brian. This is my first time here.” “Oh, let me get a “trainer” to show you around.”

• Walk through the gym. Trainer shows you the “cardio areas”, which consist of rows upon rows of treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes.

• Next, you are shown the “machines areas”. Various contraptions with diagrams that highlight whatever muscle group the thing is supposed to isolate. If you’re lucky, they’ll have Hammer Strength stuff!! You may get a line like “This machine is designed to work you exactly like free weights.” You think to yourself, “Hmmm, well why not just do free weights, then?” You also note that at least 2 of the four walls in every area are made up entirely of mirrors. And people are standing and looking at themselves in them.

• The tour continues: “Here we have the free weight area. You can use this if you want to get hyoooge.” This typically equates to the square footage of a walk-in closet. Work boots, little tank-tops, and multiple shakers full of supplements abound.

• Now, the all-important retreat into a tiny office where you get the used-car sale. Something like, “Well, typically our memberships are $59/mo, plus a $269 sign-up fee. We’ll waive the fee and set you up on a tiered payment plan where every year the fee will drop 11.59043% until you reach year 4, at which point…” blah blah blah. You counter with, “Well my friend pays $20/mo with no sign-up fee.” They respond, “I’ll have to get my manager.” The dance continues. You threaten to walk out. At this point, you may or may not get the “super secret pricing deal”. You realize you’ve lost a little bit of your soul. They throw in free tanning.

• You are now a member. You work out for 2 years. You see the same people every day. You never talk to them. After 2 years you notice that they all look exactly the same as the first day you ever saw them, despite the fact that they spend at least an hour a day on the elliptical while reading a magazine or talking on their cell phones.

OK, the Crossfit gym first-time experience:

• The first thing you notice is that there really isn’t a front door – it’s a garage door. Or two. Did this place used to be an auto shop?

• The next thing you notice are people on the floor gasping for air. You can see this clearly as the whole place is one open room and the garage doors are open.

• You walk in. At first, you’re not quite sure who works there and who works out there – they all look about the same. Eventually, a trainer or owner finds you and greets you enthusiastically.

• You’re invited to take part in a workout. As you wait for the current group to finish up, you take notice of your surroundings.

• No air conditioning. No mirrors. Not a single treadmill. Rowers – uh oh.

• Ropes and gymnastics rings hanging from the ceiling. Kettlebells. Weight racks. Weird rubber weights. Lots and lots and lots of places to do pull-ups. Instead of mirrors, the walls are covered with dry-erase boards. And peoples names are listed under various workouts that have girls’ names as the titles. Obviously people compete over everything here. As people finish the workout and peel themselves off the floor, you notice that they all seem to be friends.

• OK, time for the workout. A trainer takes you and whoever else is there for a first-time visit and you do some stretches, and then they actually teach you how to do whatever you’re going to be doing that day. Real instruction (with PVC pipe), and the guy (or girl) actually sounds like they know what they’re talking about.

• Workout time. 3-2-1-go. 1 minute into the workout you realize that you actually might die before it’s done. You regret eating whatever it was you ate for breakfast, because you’re pretty sure everybody is going to see it coming out of your mouth. 7 minutes later you’re finished, and soaked with sweat on a pile on the floor. You think to yourself that you did more work in 7 minutes than most people at your old globo did in a month.

• After the workout, you’re told you can hang around and ask questions or go home and ice yourself down. No pitch.

Now, which one sounds better? I’m pretty sure I have not exaggerated anything here – these are my actual experiences. I also joined the Crossfit gym.

Your Body Transformation Expert,
Edward Hardee
Crossfit 92, Winter Haven / Auburndale

No more FAD diets! It's back to the basics!!!

  Have you ever eaten Paleo?

So its about to be the beginning of a new year and it's time for a repeat of last year and the year before. We start a fitness & diet program until about Feb, we quit it and we're done with it until the next year. Living regrets and hating the mirror for 11 months out of the year isn't fair to you. You work to hard to settle and look who you do not want to be. Don't you feel its time for a clean slate? What is your New Year's Resolution? Do you have a effective game plan ready? Are you mentally prepared? Why waste a month for New Years? Thats a month of life you'll never get back! So here is your quick start guide to start moving in the right direction.

Well family and friends, I got something you might wanna try out. I've been singing the praises of Crossfit for the last 2 years or so but I got something else for you to think about trying. (Check out Crossfit92.com for more information on my fitness program!)

Insert the Paleo Diet. What is it? Some new craze? Nope, not at all. Its what people have been eating prior to the introduction of modern day agriculture a mere 10,000 years ago. Also, its not really a diet either. Diets leave you hungry and unsatisfied, constatly wanting more food. I dare you to feel that way being Paleo...

First things First.... 

What are the basic tenets of eating Paleo?

1. Eat lots of Vegggies (I know, already sounds wacky right?)
2. Eat lots of Meat, preferably grass fed but don't stress on that too much in the beginning.
3. Eat lots of Good Fat (Whoa! Hold on right? Fat?! Isn't that bad for us? No. Stay with me and I'll explain that in a bit.
4. Stay away from Grains (Bread, cookies, little debbies, etc.)
5. Stay away from Dairy (milk, cheese, etc.)
6. Stay away from Legumes (Beans, peanuts)
7. Stay away from SUGAR (Candy, syrup, etc.)
8. Limit your fruit intake to a minimum (Fruit contains frutose and is basically nature's candy. Yes, I know its better than McDonald's French Fries but it still has a butt ton a sugar and you can get all the vitamins you need from all the veggies you should be eating, right?)

That's pretty much the basics. I know, I know. It sounds tough and you are probably feeling that all of your comfort foods have just been thrown out the window. Stay with me and we'll get you off the Crack and into smaller jeans and a healthier outlook.

How do you shop for Paleo? Well basically just stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. The produce and the meat departments are your new best friends. Everything you need to start this year/decade off right can be found there. Steak, Chicken, Pork, Turkey, Broccoli, Bell Peppers, Cauliflower, Avocados, Almonds, etc. Starting to get the idea?

Have you ever eaten Paleo? You might be thinking that you don't know how to cook without bread, pasta, sugar, etc. Let me ask you this...have you ever had an omelet for breakfast? Have you ever had a salad for lunch with chicken breasts? Have you ever had a big steak and broccoli for dinner? If you answered yes to one of those, congrats, you've eaten Paleo before. If you answered yes to all 3 then you've had a Paleo day. It may have not been all together in the same day but collectively you have.

So whats this crazy thing about eating lots of fat you said earlier? Well, yah eat fat...lots of it. Good fat that is. Almonds, Avocados, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil. If you are eating grassfed meat then the fat on your meat is great for you too. How is this? Well your body can natural run on fat as opposed to carbs. Thats right, you can fuel your body on fat and adapt it to use the excess (on your butt, stomach, thighs, wherever) instead of wolfing down Twinkies and sugary energy drinks.

But wait aren't grains good for you? Short answer, No. Long answer is Grains were certainly not a substantial part of the human diet prior to the Agricultural Revolution, our digestive processes haven't evolved to maximize the effectiveness of grain consumption, it wrecks havoc with insulin and other hormonal responses in the body and it will eventually be broken down into glucose and most likely get stored as fat(because carbohydrates elicit a physiological response that favors fat storage). Also, grains aren't the complete nutritional sources they’re made out to be. Any nutrients you can get from whole grains you can get in equal to greater amounts in other food such as meat and veggies. Grains also contain Gluten and Lectins, but thats a whole lot longer story. The bottom line is this: grains = carbs. Unnecessary at best, but flat out unhealthy at worst, they’re not the wholesome staples they’re made out to be.

Pheww...thats a lot to take in right? Don't stress. There is literally a metric butt ton of more info that can be debated with Paleo. Just try for a month to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Paleo and see if it works for you or not. Whatdya got to loose? Maybe a few pounds and you might gain some good things like confidence, energy, etc.

Here is the take away from all this:

"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat." (Excerpt from World-Class Fitness in 100 Words by Greg Glassman founder of Crossfit)

Dig into these sites for further information:

robbwolf.com (Intermittent Fasting, Fitness, & Paleolithic Nutrition)
whole9life.com/9-blog/ (Let Us Run Your Life - An Integrated System for Health and Fitness)
paleonu.com (paleolithic nutrition - duplicating the evolutionary metabolic milieu)
marksdailyapple.com (Primal Living in the Modern World)
thepaleodiet.com (Optimize Your Health, Lose Weight, and Reduce Disease!)

If you have any questions on how to get started or guidance feel free to shoot me a email or phone call! 

Your Body Transformation Expert,
Edward Hardee <Crossfit 92>

Training is the Opposite of Hoping

       As a fitness coach, my goal is to implant a vision into my clients; they need to see their potential in fitness and how it will benefit and enhance their lives. Just by improving your health you will achieve years of priceless life, an improvement in quality of life, and one day you will have the ability to play and invest in the lives of your children, grandchildren, and friends. However, there is a flip side... I also must implant the vision of the impending doom that will occur if you stay in your complacent poor habits you have conditioned yourself to... your life is cut short, you have a higher risk of sickness and disease, have a decreased quality of life, and you limit your ability of recreational activities. HOW are you going to do this? By changing your BAD HABITS. The risk/reward of fitness is 100% in everyone's favor. People love the thought of this, but why do so many quit on themselves and fall short of their health goals?
      The answer is easy, fitness is tough. You cannot be a quitter, you have to earn it. This world has our minds so warped that there is always an easy route but what you have to understand is that there aren't any magic pills or 'get out of jail free' cards out there. Instead, you have to be hungry for it! You have to hunt it down, grab it by the horns and tackle it with everything you have. When you have a bad day you can't fall short of your diet, skip the gym, or quit. This the easy route you've taken time and time again and now after taking so many wrong turns... you're lost!
      Stop hoping for the winning lotto ticket or praying for God to take off those last 30 pounds because he's not going to do it for free. Right now I believe he's using this blog to get your attention to wake up and take action on YOUR LIFE because you may not have a chance to in the future. Now, that might sound harsh but it's the truth. There are no free rides in life and nothing of worth comes easy or at a cheap price. YOU make a decision every day to either take a step forward or a step backwards toward your goals. You can succeed at living and you can succeed at dying!
      It's time to stop hoping, stop trying, stop attempting, and stop waiting around for a miracle to happen. Instead, go make one happen. Your choices dictate your outcome! An outcome follows behind any decision you make.... Sadly it may not be the one you want. You decide.

Your Body Transformation Expert - Edward Hardee

(Next article on "Speaking success")

If you enjoyed what you read today please sign up for free email reminders to alert you on new articles!!!

**** Located Top Right **** Highly Recommended ****

Winter Haven, Auburndale, Crossfit 92, Personal Training, Fitness, Weight Loss, Muscle, Athletics, Sports, Goals, Lifestyle, Health

PROBLEM vs. SYMPTOM, which have you really fixed?

So I broke the ice with my last blog and I hope you enjoyed reading it! If you haven’t noticed… the idea behind this blog isn't some fad program but a lifelong lifestyle change. We often see this illusion of a “quick fix” but as we know from firsthand experience, failure falls right behind this “quick fix”. Problem was, and still is, we’re treating the SYMPTOMS and not THE PROBLEM. When we want to rid of unwanted weeds in our yard we dig deep and find their roots (problem) to pull them up. You don’t pick the leaves one by one (symptom) hoping to kill the weed. Once we permanently fix the problem, the solution quickly follows. Differentiating between these two is the key to your future success. 

    This is you: While driving down the road you notice your ‘check engine’ light has come on. What could it be now? We know it has come on to warn us of something but we have no idea what it could be. We have a choice 1). Ignore it 2). Take it somewhere to fix the problem or 3). (And this our favorite choice because it's easy) You find the wire that is causing it to light up and cut it. YAY, problem solved! The light is off so everything is okay now, right? Wrong! We only fixed the symptom. It's just the illusion that everything is fine, but later when the car blows up, remember… you decided to cut the wire!

       I constantly keep my clients reminded of the definition of "Insanity". Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Now, apply that definition towards your past fitness attempts. Have you been fallen short over and over again because we never fixed the problem hindering your success? Have you been chasing after the same symptoms over and over coming up empty handed? Let’s stop repeating the same mistakes and brainstorm a solution to get you on the right track.

      Rewind this fast paced life we live back and think about your attempts at an exercise or diet program… what was the SINGLE most debilitating factor that caused you to fail?:

• ·         If it was commitment or motivation, hire a trainer or find a friend to keep you motivated when life is rough and you’re ready to call it quits

• ·         If you are unsure how to start with an effective eating program or fitness program, find a local CrossFit gym to join! There you will find qualified trainers that will lead you in the right direction and as a bonus you join a family of like-minded people with similar goals. (No fear of being judged and a great fitness program to relieve stress!)

• ·         If finances were the problem, sell the car. I'm not a financial planner, but every day I see people that spend lots of money on cars, houses, toys, etc. but they tell me how expensive eating healthy and attending a quality fitness gym is. When the car breaks you can buy a new one,
                    but when your body fails to work,
                                          where will you live?

     It's the most important item you have to invest in, but it's so difficult to have people see this until the doctor is delivering bad news.

Those are just a few common problems I see as a fitness coach. I know that when you are able to pin point your problem, you will find a permanent solution for it. As you keep busting down the walls you quickly realize that it gets easy to stick with your fitness regimen when your mind isn't torn in so many directions.

       So your homework for today is to: Stop and relax (you time!) for 30 minutes and think about your past attempts. Now, once you find what has held you back from achieving your goals I want you to permanently fix that PROBLEM so it's no longer an excuse on this next successful step you are about to take!

       **If you found something intriguing, please leave a comment or follow me. Remember, we are a team, we win together and we lose together. If there is anything I can help you with please send me a email and I will get you on the right track!**  

Edward Hardee

Winter Haven, Auburndale, Crossfit 92, Personal Training, Fitness, Weight Loss, Muscle, Athletics, Sports, Goals, Lifestyle, Health

Give yourself your very best!!!

When you made the commitment to achieve your health & fitness goals, you signed up to accept nothing but the best out of yourself. Anything less is unacceptable. This is a life or death decision so it's all or nothing. There is no 'one foot in and one foot out'. Here is an amazing clip from the movie "Facing the Giants" that shows you that you do not quit until you have nothing left to give. When life gets tough you dig in, drive, give it your all! If you fail to do this you will be left with nothing but a lifetime full of regret and "what ifs". What kind of life is that? Words can not express how it feels to reach the end zone, so make that personal promise to yourself that no matter what you will not quit!




Winter Haven, Auburndale, Crossfit 92, Inspiration, Fitness, Goals, Health, Weight Loss, Muscle,