Preparation

Life is defined by the decisions we make and how we spend our time. Everyday we go through a routine. We wake up, dress, run off to work, get through the day, then home again to start the cycle over again.  We have practiced and engrained behaviors. The daily coffee, tea or latte, the route used in commuting, the satisfaction of clearing email from the inbox, each give moments of pleasure that guide us through each day. The routine follows us like a shadow. Days become years and this eventually amounts to our experience of life. If you are lucky you enjoy everyday, take on new challenges and live life to the fullest. Alternately most become so shackled to their routine time passes by uneventful and unnoticed. One day blends into the next. Obviously the bad habits contained within the routine need to be improved.

One can never be completely on top of all things needed to be done in life. We must adjust moment to moment in relation to the changes in ourselves and the environment. Fine tuning and improvement is always possible as is needed.  Life teaches us. Make the right choices, live better & longer.  The commitment to improving every day leads us to new places.  We arrive there with better habits and an improved routine.

Are you totally fit? Wealthy in all areas of life: emotionally, financially, socially, physically?  Does your job just pays the bills or are you excited about your career? It can be said true happiness comes from the daily pursuit of and overcoming of the obstacles on the road to achieving your goals. Making progress toward and achieving your goals could be considered winning at the game of life.  Life is played one moment, day, month, year, decade at a time.  Like an athlete or an army general if you don't prepare for the challenges ahead you are finished before you even start.

Get ready for the challenges of your week by implementing a new routine, a routine based on preparation. As it is right now your routine of shower and run out the door with just enough time to grab a coffee ain't cutting it. Each day or week of your life can be viewed as a separate event with a distinct beginning middle and end. How much time do you spend each week preparing?   To succeed in the face of challenge depends greatly on preparation. Native skills alone will only get you so far in competitive situations having dynamic circumstances.   a   The race, contest, event are where preparation is tested.  Also there is no more time to prepare once the starting gun sounds.

If you want to make it to the gym after work at minimum you will need to have your tennis shoes and change of athletic clothes.  Taking the clothes shows some preparation whereas booking a class or session with a trainer that you will lose if you don't show takes higher level of commitment and higher level of preparation. Make a plan and stick to it.  Although writing a plan can start out as nothing more than a to-do list, writing a to-do list is not planning.  Writing a to-do list is better than nothing.  However, to plan you must be strategic and willing to make decisions as well as organize your actions.  

Eliminate Body Fat Now and Forever!

Body fat?!?  You got what?!?  No way.  I don't believe it.  Let me guess, you want to tone up the arms, get stronger and loose five to ten pounds of body fat.  Right?  That's not surprising because no matter where you are on the body fat continuum you want to lose more of it.  When was the last time you heard someone say, "Damn I'm just too thin I'd like to have some cottage cheese on my thighs."?  It just doesn't happen.  Funny thing is how specially designed your body is to gain fat.  Millions of years of evolution have made it so.  Fat keeps us alive in times of famine.  Fat feeds and ensures the growth of the brains of infants.  It's intrinsically linked to the evolution and survival on the human race!  It even pads your seat a little.  Quite useful stuff.  Nevertheless, people don't like it and want to be rid of it.  They just can't imagine what they could possibly use it for and they will do anything - even get an operation to have it sucked out of their burgeoning skin folds.

Why go to those extremes when you can simply follow my simple plan and begin burning your belly fat right now!  Hello!?!  This is not a diet nor are the following nutritional guidelines.  Below is a list describing a lifestyle in which one avoids the things that promote fat gain while engaging in behaviors that promote fat loss and lean body mass.  

So here it is in no particular order, The Way to Fatlessness!

1. Drink only water
2. Sleep 8 Hours a Night
3. Eat Lots of Green Vegetables
4. Eliminate, Sugar, Carbohydrates, Fruit Juice, Most Fruits, Alcohol and Fake Sweeteners
5. Walk 1/2 Hour to 1 Hour Every Day
6. Lift Weights 

That's it.  It's that simple.  IF you can stick to this you can not be fat.  Every time you deviate from this you are getting fatter.  Period.

Adam Shuty's Trainer Bio

I grew up in a small town on an island in the middle of the Ohio River just outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Yup a real island called Neville Island, I think about 1200 people still live there.  At the time, it was a depressed community with a troubled economy and little industry remaining after the collapse of the steel industry.  My childhood was comprised of fishing off of rafts built from pieces of drift wood, skateboarding and riding dirt bikes.  Blue collar pride in the rust belt of America. There wasn’t a lot going on and in that vacuum; great temptation to use and abuse drugs and alcohol.  Think Huckleberry Finn mixed with Eminem.  I was lucky though, because my parents and teachers saw a spark in me and in 7th grade rather than going to the local high school that only graduated 60% of its seniors - I went off to a magnet private school.

However, I was less than enthusiastic about leaving my public school friends and took out my frustration on the lacrosse field, the newfound private school sport that I loved!  The fire for fitness was officially ignited! And although I resisted the change of schools I can now see that getting a quality high school education changed the trajectory of my life.  I went on to get my engineering degree from Virginia Polytechnic and State University where I “double majored” in martial arts.  I think in the martial arts classroom is where my true passion for self improvement was first contacted. I could literally see and feel the changes to my body and mind as I practiced complex punches, kicks, strikes etc..  I continued my martial arts study in earnest when I moved to New York City and studied with Master Fuki Yang at Heart Mind Martial Arts.

I’ve always loved the feeling of freedom and power that I have gotten from working out.  While working a 9-5 job back in 2004 I started moonlighting as a personal trainer at New York Health and Racquet Club to try to make some extra cash.  It was so fun and I was so good at it that I was quickly booked up and had to “quit my day job” to take on my burgeoning client list.  Around that time I was also doing stand up and improv comedy.  Another trainer I knew who was also an actor introduced me to his manager and since then I have been steadily booking roles on television commercials in addition to personal training clients.

My attitude as always been that the sky is the limit.  I try to bring that into every one of my training sessions.  I KNOW my clients can do more because I have seen the more troubling side of life and am living proof of the changes and improvements one can make.  You just need the right coaching and support and you can achieve anything.

Am I the "Best" Trainer???

I'm always taking my life to the next level and that is what I try to share with my clients.  I've done yoga, tai-chi and Crossfit style weight training for over 10 years.  I got into all of this stuff before it was popular or trendy.  Not that, that makes me cool - it means I'm a little further down the road and have spent the time and energy to know the difference between the real stuff and the things that will damage or hurt you.  Recently I got into Spartan Races. At the Citi field race here in New York I cam in 18th in my age group (I'm 36) and 85th overall. I may not be the best but I'm at least competitive!

I've been a certified personal trainer in NYC for ten years.  Last summer I got the highest certification in the US the coveted CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist).  Funny thing is I passed but didn't study.  The date snuck up on me and rather than lose the fee I showed up and took the test. I was surprised that the test was focused on material that you could only learn through experience.  I guess the ten years spent training clients, reading, studying, training myself and recovering from injuries have not been a waste!  I have worked in or around all of the top gyms in NYC and my network is filled with great trainers.

Why am I the best?  I suppose that's for others to decide.  There are tons of passionate motivated, good natured, well meaning people out there that go into personal training and never learn how to actually train clients.  I'd say my care and concern for my clients is as high as can be while still maintaining healthy professional boundaries.

Here's my top ten attributes that I think the "best" trainer should have in order to even be considered:

1.) a desire to help
2.) professional level communication skills
3.) attention to detail
4.) visceral knowledge of how the body moves and functions
5.) walk your talk
6.) scientific knowledge of the interplay of forces on the body
7.) a good sense of humor
8.) an unrelenting commitment to excellence
9.) willingness to continually reinvent yourself and learn
10.) have some answers but never claim to have all the answers

Why train when it's so hard?!?

I'm writing this as a do a workout so bear with me as this may become more and more non-sensical as the endorphins start flowing.  I'm off to do a 500 meter row followed by lunges, squats, burpees and mountain climbers.  Don't worry about me though.  If you come in this week you will do this workout...

Ok 500 meters down. Now for the burpees etcetera... 

...and I'm back!  Heart pounding and sweat running onto the keyboard.  Why do we put ourselves through a workout that could be compared to torture?  Let's think that over.  I'm going back on the rowing machine.  Hold that thought...

While I rest let me try to answer that question.  Why train when you could just get exercise walking to work? The answer is that it feels good to be alive.  To feel our heart beat, to use the body and then have it come back stronger.  It may be hard work but at least it's physical and something we can feel.  Through technology we may be more connected to each other than ever. However it's exercise that let's us connect to the physical universe through the use of our bodies. And through this physical connection we ultimately re connect with ourselves.  Or is that just the endorphins talking...

Blogging for the next generation

The word on the street is that you are dumb. You need information to be deciphered for you, broken down and analyzed by an expert. How could you possibly figure something out for yourself with all the information that's out there and easily accessible. Seems that the techniques used by most writers/bloggers out there is to quote a bunch of other wannabe's then tell you broadly why everyone but themselves is wrong. ...This is definitely not another one of those type of posts.

I think you already have the answers and all the innate knowledge you will ever need. Go ahead read the blogs by the top guys and gals in fitness. They all are giving you the gospel according to them. Boring. And that's how life is and your workouts will be when you look to others for advice, guidance, wisdom, direction etc. Find your path by accepting where you are now and then looking to where you want to go. You should be reading these pages for affirmation not information. Only you know if a salad a day is good for you. Only you know how many days a week you like to exercise. I know these things because I've lived with the alternative. I know that no matter how healthy and clean I eat, a cheeseburger once a week is also healthy for different reasons. I like to exercise. A lot everyday if I'm feeling up for it.

So don't be dumb. Be smart, knowing that you are in your own way the captain of your destiny. Stop measuring yourself by others and measure yourself. Then see if that is worth improving.

Weighlifting Term Reference Guide

At ATOMIC we believe it's a worthy pursuit for damn near everyone to develop mastery in their Olympic lifts.

Why? There is no better way to develop powerful hip extension (the most fundamental movement in almost all athletic endeavors), achieve a more stable core, or target as many muscles effectively in less time.

For the sake of simplicity, here is a quick guide for the terminology associated with the Olympic lifts and their variations...

From the ground up...

Jump stance -  our feet position for any of the big pulls; clean, snatch, or even the deadlift.  Feet underneath our hips, toes straight ahead, feet flat, weight over the middle part of the foot.

Catch stance - our feet position for the squat (and also where you receive Cleans and Snatches).  Feet shoulder width apart, toes out slightly, feet flat, weight over the middle part of the foot.

Starting positions*...

Hang  - means the lift starts in the high hang position or in simpler terms, at the top of your hips.

High hang position - bar at top of hips

Low hang position - bar slightly above knees.

*In the absence of the term Hang, the exercise starts on the floor just like the deadlift.

Catching postions*

Power - means you catch the lift in a partial squat position. Imagine the bottom of the push press.  Power variations are the most common form of the exercise at Atomic.

Muscle - means you catch the lift in the fully extended position. Very uncommon to perform the muscle variations of exercises.

*In absense of either the term Muscle or Power, the exercise should be caught in a full squat.

Grips

Snatch grip - wide grip, double overhand

Clean grip - outside of your hips, double overhand

Any questions?  Ask me in person or send and email to prime.atomictotalfitness@gmail.com

Shawn Classen