Initially I wasn’t keen on having a personal trainer, but my wife was gung ho about it. I kept saying to myself “what can a trainer really do for me that I’m not doing already?” But we still signed up with someone (this person even came recommended by others). 3 months later and the only results I saw were some strength gain, but no real visual difference (despite a 5lbs loss). For my wife it was worse – after 4 months with this trainer and repeatedly asking for explanations regarding exercise and meal plan selections to no avail, we finally had it with him.

It was time for serious research. We realized we wanted someone who can work with us through e-mail, but that was close enough for 1-on-1 sessions, should we need them. We wanted someone who is certified and been around for a while (not just someone who “looks the part”). We also realized that there are many different certifications out there (among which, we found out that NASM CPT/PES/CES certifications are considered to be the holy grail in this field, all of which David holds). We wanted someone who is meticulous, detail oriented and can explain *why* certain choices are made regarding exercise routines and meal plans. We were looking for someone who can -no, someone who *will*, take the time to educate us on exercising correctly and efficiently, coupled with nutritional education.

There are so many fitness programs out there, each one claiming to be the best – and each one of them seems to be a “one solution fits all”. The same goes for nutrition plans… But people are different and have different needs. I used to have lower back problems. My wife used to have constant cravings. How does one know which program is best? And even when it comes to gyms – people have access to different equipment at different gyms. How do we sort out all of this stuff?

When we first reached out to David and Nikki we received a questionnaire – an extremely detailed one. It went into details such as our exercise history, eating habits, weight history, medical problems, at what pace we’re interested in working in order to get results, and even the simplest question which no trainer has ever asked us: what are our goals? Are we looking to just lose a few pounds, or tone up? Maybe become body builders or just overcome past injuries? This was already a great sign for things to come! None of the other trainers we spoke with have ever asked us any of these questions.

Sure enough, a workout routine and meal plan which was just as detailed was sent to us (along with answers to a plethora of questions we had regarding the program), and it was even customized to deal with each of our individual issues and concerns, not to mention tailored to our specific gym equipment.

Within 5 weeks I dropped from 21% body fat to 11%!!!! Every week that goes by, my wife sees me transform and become more defined in muscle tone. After a couple of months, I had already enough strength gain to support my lower back and never had to look back since – even despite doubling the weights I’m lifting.

It was finally time for a 1-on-1 session. If this is how much progress we could see just over e-mail, what more could we accomplish in person?? The answer was clear after our first session. Of course there’s the regular drive factor – and David knows how to drive his clients!

But, most importantly, we gained INSIGHT and KNOWLEDGE. Insight into the specifics of how certain exercises need to be performed, and why. Knowledge on how different muscle groups work and how each exercise ties into that. Once we started to gain that level of understanding we were able to gain a lot more out of each routine and become more efficient in our workouts, which in turn yielded even faster results.

We’re now on our 4th month into the program and even some of our friends who have seen our transformations and were in complete disbelief initially, have now signed up to work with David and Nikki (some even residing on the other side of the world!) Both my wife and I simply can’t recommend them enough!!!

I posted the details of the meal plan on my Facebook page. Take a look at it here…

Facebook Bodybuilding Meal Plan

Needless to say I soon feel victim to freshman weight gain. After a year of indulging in the college lifestyle I realized I had lost my once athletic physique and soon began training again. Once I had a steady routine going I heard about fitness competitions, and the urge to compete overcame me. I knew I wanted to be on that stage, and I thought I could do it all by myse

lf. I spent hours researching the perfect workout routines, and reading endless forums of how to drop weight fast to get that toned look. I thought I’d be on stage in no time. Boy was I wrong!

But luck have it after a year of what I like to call “backyard training” I met my current boyfriend, Yuri Kostovetskiy, who was training to compete in bodybuilding competitions. This is how I met Dave, and how he became my trainer.

After my first workout with Dave I realized that no amount of information I read online could have pushed me to my potential like he does. Dave pushed me past the limits I had set for myself and made me realize how much potential I had to transform my body. After several months of training I took my first step on stage, and finally got my chance to compete; and instead of filling that need and urge I had had to compete, I became thirstier than ever for success.

Competing in Philly was an eye opening experience into a whole new level of competition, and I learned many humbling lessons. As stated, I was raised training and I was used to working hard and winning. At my first competition I came in 7th place; to be honest, at first I was upset. I wasn’t used to working so hard and not placing. After I had some time to get over it, I finally realized, it’s not about where you place, or if I came home with a trophy: It was the fact that I had set a goal of stepping on that stage knowing that I had pushed myself as hard as I could and that there wasn’t anything else I could have done to be prepared. Once I made that realization I knew I had succeeded.

I could not have done this without Dave, because he not only pushes me in the gym, but he helps me see the big picture, and how success is really defined. That being said, I’m more fired up than ever to compete in six weeks at the 2010 NPC Maryland State, and plan to keep training hard and competing in the future!

“A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”– Walter Bagehot

All my life, I’ve been terrible at taking direction, not for lack of intelligence, but lack of understanding why somebody would be interested in doing something simply because “that’s the way that things are done”. Right out of the womb, I had to figure things out the hard way, figure them out on my own, or I couldn’t figure them out at all. If there was a “wrong way” of doing things, I did it, just to see why it was the “wrong way”.

Wearing thermal underwear in the middle of 100-degree Chicago weather in July? I’m going to try it. And shorts in the dead of winter? Sign me up.

I like “learning the hard way”.

I never understood etiquette, or the function of etiquette, or why anybody would want to follow etiquette.

I don’t understand “rules”. I mean, I understand rules of the universe, like gravity, or cause and effect; but I never understood “the rules” that I was expected to play by, the “rules of man” so to speak. I like to view them more as suggestions, and then test them, and break them, with a condescending grin.

At the age of 8, I decided I wanted to grow my hair long because my passion was hard rock music, specifically Guns N’ Roses. My father told me I could do it, so long as I understood that I would have to work that much harder to prove my intelligence to those around me– that I would most likely be perceived as “different”, and possibly “worse”, for choosing something so outside the norm. It has become a cliché in our culture that “perception is reality”. Maybe this is true for those whose reality is dictated exclusively by the opinions of others. To those of independent spirit, reality is reality– or taking it a step further, reality is what you chose to make of it, what you will it to be, not what you chose to let others make of it for you.

When I arrived in Columbia, Maryland, and had to rebuild my personal training business from scratch, the “normal” thing to do would be to present one’s self as approachable and friendly so as to attract as much potential business as possible. And of course, what was my business concept? To grow out a Mohawk and long goatee so as to look as unapproachable as possible. Why? Because I wanted to take the harder path– or more importantly, because I wanted to prove that I could do what people said I could not, and should not, do. I wanted to show that it was irrelevant, that there were more important factors involved in rising to the top and being successful. Within less than a year’s time, I had the top sales record at Lifetime, Columbia, purported “bad attitude” and Mohawk included. All the “perceptions” out there proved to not really be an issue.

This year, I have decided to compete again in several bodybuilding competitions. Prepping for a competition is like a full-time job in and of itself. I have decided to prep, while running a very time-consuming business, and while having a new child at home. I was told several times last year from close friends and family that I might not be able to do it, that I might be stretching too much, that it might be unreasonable to try to accomplish all of these things at once. Being told I couldn’t do it was all the more reason to make it happen.

I am now 10 weeks out from the NPC Philadelphia show on June 26th, and feeling great about my chances at winning.

Indeed, a great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

The self-proclaimed Greatest of All Time:

-David A. Johnston

4/17/2010

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.   Leave a comment below.

If this inspires you, or you find it useful, why not pass it along to someone else?  Feel free to email the link to a friend or share it with your Facebook friends.

Note: The following is a recent “Emotional Fuel” letter that I sent out to a few clients, friends and associates.

Rarely in my life do other individuals push me to greater heights. For those who know me personally (which should be all of you), you know that I work hard, I play hard, and I try to go 100% on pretty much everything I do.

That changed this past week when one of my personal training clients (who shall remain nameless) started giving me a hard time. “Dave, I expect a weekly motivational email from you. With what I’m paying for personal training, I should be receiving at least one motivational email every week to get me fired up to come in”.

I explained to this individual why it was difficult for me to do this– Lifetime limits our email lists to 10 recipients. “So don’t use Lifetime’s server”, he replied. I told him I would eventually love to have a motivational email in conjunction with my website, and it was something in the works. “Why eventually? Why not now?” he replied.

We went back and forth for the better part of the hour, and every time I stated a reason why it wouldn’t work– an excuse why it wouldn’t work– he countered with a very simple, precise retort that basically boiled down to, “That’s a shame, get it done anyways”.

For probably the first time in my life, I felt how many of you must feel when dealing with me during a training session– “Geez, this guy is relentless! He won’t give me a friggin’ inch!”

And then I realized something: he was absolutely right. I was sounding like many of my own clients, coming up with excuses that could all be easily countered with just a little bit more effort and thinking. That little bit is what separates good from great.

Hence my new weekly email, which I shall call the “Emotional Fuel” mailer. There are many days when I wake up exhausted, uninspired, yet I know, as a bodybuilder, that I have to find that fire, that drive, to go in and absolutely crush the weights. I have to find that same fire and drive when dealing with my clients, when running my business, when raising my daughter and being a good husband. It’s called “will”, and it’s the only thing you truly have control over in this world: how hard are you going to apply your will at any given moment of any given day.

But on those less-than-perfect days, it’s nice to have a little external motivation, a little “emotional fuel”, as I call it. Often times before I head in to train, I will pull up video clips on Youtube of various pro bodybuilders or other athletes, and watch the grueling intensity of their workouts. It makes me want to work harder. It makes me think of them as heroes. It makes me feel like I’m 10 years old again, looking up to people who have accomplished more than me, setting a bar high up for me to aspire to. It makes me put on my hoodie and head out the door, ready to destroy absolutely anything and everything that lies in my path when heading into the weight room.

This is the warrior mentality that guides me day to day. And in working with my personal training clients, I try to cultivate that mentality, to various degrees, in my pupils– that idea of taking 100% ownership of your life and the means to achieving your own goals, and enjoying it all in the process.

I know that in many regards I’m a pretty odd duck, so some of the things I find motivational might be “off the beaten path”. But I’ll do my best to deliver the honest-to-goodness spirit of what drives me further. Hopefully it will help you in your own quest. Needless to say, if you consider this junk mail, please tell me and I will remove your name from the email list.

In starting out, I decided on something nice and simple, uncontroversial, and something that sums up the very spirit of the topic at hand, willing oneself into action, from the ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles: “Heaven never helps the man who will not act”.

As for a little visual motivation, I present for you the Best of Dorian Yates. Of course, I have to start with a bodybuilding clip. Dorian was the top bodybuilder of the ’90s, winning 6 Mr. Olympia titles. He was not known for having the best genetics, but was always considered the hardest worker, as well as the smartest worker, when it came to bodybuilding. Through sheer force of will and application of intelligence, he was able to surpass individuals with far better genetics and become arguably the greatest of all time. To get a sense of his intensity, simply check out the look at the :38 second mark:

Hopefully this will get you all fired up for a week of hard training and clean eating!
-David A. Johnston
4/11/2010

PS… What is it that motivates you? What is it that you do get your ass in gear when you don’t feel like it?
Leave a comment below.

PSS… In the near future the weekly ‘Emotional Fuel’ will only go out to subscribers. Subscribe right now by leaving you name and email in the box to the right.

In previous parts of this series we talked about weight training and diet.  What about cardio and diet?

The rules for cardio and diet are the same as weight training– do everything you can to put the body into a caloric deficit, while simultaneously doing everything possible to keep the metabolism high. If you achieve this, you’ll achieve your health and fitness goals.

The body has two basic fuel sources, fat and carbohydrate (or sugars). Sugars come from the foods that we eat, and act as a short-term energy source in the body. If you do not use up your sugars within a certain amount of time, or you take in more than you can use, they will store as fat.

Whenever you are doing any activity, you are burning from a combination of your fat energy source and your sugar energy source. As a general rule, higher exertion levels are going to burn a higher percentage of sugar, while lower exertion levels are going to burn a higher percentage of fat. While doing your cardio, we want to find the rate where you are burning the highest possible amount of fat, so that you spend your time in the gym and on the treadmill being efficient at pursuing your weight-loss goals, rather than just spinning your wheels. Burn the fat, not the time.

Because of this, Lifetime Fitness promotes Heart Rate Zone Training. Everything we do in terms of our cardio programming is based on doing your cardio within the proper heart rate zone. Work too hard, and your burn nothing but sugars, or worse yet, muscle tissue. Work not hard enough, you waste your time and don’t burn enough fat. Work out just right, and see success.

Finally, there is the nutrition component. I already covered that you have to be in a caloric deficit in order to see your weight loss results. However, there are more rules than that. First of all, you want to do everything in your power to keep your metabolism high while in this caloric deficit. The first thing to mention here is switching from eating 1-2 large meals per day, to eating several small meals and snacks throughout the day. This alone will help to keep your metabolism high.

However, the main thing you’re going to find with the nutrition component is the same thing as the cardio component. If you overeat, you obviously won’t be in the caloric deficit that is needed to lose body fat. However, if you <em>undereat</em>, you will put your body into starvation mode. Again, remember, the body is efficient and will adapt to the circumstances you find it in. If you try to drop your calories too low and starve yourself to success, you will ultimately fail– you will slow your metabolism, you will lose muscle tissue in addition to the body fat you had hoped to lose, you will probably get sick, and the minute you start eating somewhat normal again, you will regain every pound you lost (because of the slowed metabolism), plus interest. Fun, right? So again, the thing to look for is the <em>proper</em> caloric level in order to achieve your goals.

If you missed Part 2 you can find it here…

As we discussed in Part 2 of this series, diet alone will typically not lead to success for individuals looking to lose and keep off weight.

You need to positively try to raise your metabolism while simultaneously being in the caloric deficit necessary for weight loss. This is only possible by watching both your nutrition program and by exercising properly!

So you’re convinced now that you need the right diet and you need to exercise. Given that we’re looking to lose weight, what type of exercise should we do? Well, cardio is what burns fat, right? To some degree, yes. But if done the wrong way, it’s only going to slow your metabolism down and set you up for failure in the long run. Let’s look at why.

Let’s say you’re trying to lose weight and you go on a reduced-calorie diet. You also know that exercise will help, so you add in some cardio. What’s going to happen? Well, remember, your body is getting the signal that it’s not getting enough external fuel from food, so it’s going to turn to its own body tissues as a fuel source. We’re hoping that the body will turn to stored fat as a fuel source, right? And to some degree, it will. However, it will also start to burn up its own muscle stores as a fuel source.

You may have heard that muscle mass burns a lot of calories, and this is true. Muscle is what we call metabolically active. A lot of muscle on a body is like a big engine in a car– it burns a lot of gas, or food. Fat, on the other hand, is metabolically passive. It’s like a real efficient 4-cylinder– great gas mileage. So what happens when you put the body into a caloric deficit for an extended period of time? It gets the signal that its not getting enough food, and thus turns to its own body tissues for fuel; and given that the muscle mass of the body is putting such a big demand on its system for calories, it will get rid of what it considers needless fat stores.

In other words, if you’re in a caloric deficit over time and just doing cardio, you are probably going to burn up a decent amount of muscle mass. When this happens, your metabolism will drop, because you no longer have as much muscle as you once did. Thus, in order to keep losing the rest of the fat, you need to reduce your calories ever more and do even more cardio. This leads to more muscle loss, and thus a slower metabolism, etc., etc., etc. It’s a downward spiral. Where are you in 6 months? You’ve hit a “plateau,” where you can’t lose the last ten pounds, and you can’t figure out why.

This is precisely why you need to weight train if you’re looking to lose fat. Don’t think of the weight training so much as a means of building muscle mass, as much as a means of retaining current levels of muscle mass while in a reduced caloric state. You need to give a certain stimulus to your body in order to force it to preserve muscle stores while in a reduced caloric state. This is why you weight-train for fat loss. Don’t worry about getting “excessively bulky”– you don’t have the calories to do so! Worrying about building huge muscles without taking in enough calories is like worrying about building a ten-story building without having enough bricks for a one-bedroom house. The bricks– and the calories– are the physical materials that allow for the building, or the body, to be built in the first place. Granted, you might be able to build a little amount of muscle while in a reduced caloric state, but you’re not going to look like a bodybuilder.

So now you understand why you need to weight train in order to lose, and keep off, body fat. What about cardio and diet?      Continue on to part 4 of our series for the answer… (look for it tomorrow)

If you missed Part 1 you can find it here…

Let’s look specifically at an individual trying to lose weight, or better yet, looking to lose body fat. How do the three aspects mentioned above– nutrition, cardio and weights– tie together in order to help the individual lose body fat?

Well, the only way to truly lose any kind of weight and/or body tissue is by being in a caloric deficit. This is a fancy way of saying that you are burning more calories throughout the day than you’re eating, or conversely, you’re eating less calories throughout the day than you are burning.

If you do this for an extended period of time– put yourself into a caloric deficit– you will notice that you start to lose weight. Clothes will start to fit more loosely. However, how you go about losing that weight will dictate the end product of what you look like, what you feel like, and whether you are successful in keeping the weight off.

There’s a very fancy buzz word that you hear all of the time nowadays– metabolism. Everybody talks about how important it is to have a high metabolism, but nobody seems to really know exactly what the metabolism is.

What Is Metabolism

Structure of the coenzyme adenosine triphosphate, a central intermediate in energy metabolism

Your metabolism is basically the total rate at which your body burns calories throughout the day, simply due to your body composition, your eating and exercise habits, and your genetics. Your resting metabolism accounts for anywhere from 60-75% of your total daily caloric needs (excluding exercise).

Think about that number for a minute. All the stuff that you do throughout the day– waking up, taking a shower, walking to the car, walking around throughout the day, picking up the kids at school, preparing and eating your food, etc., etc., etc.– really only accounts for about 25-40% of your caloric needs. The vast majority of your caloric needs are represented by your resting metabolism, which, again, is going to be a reflection of your eating and training habits, along with your body composition. Looking at it this way, it should be obvious why it is so important to have a high metabolism.

If you have a sluggish metabolism, that hour of cardio per day– where you might burn 500 calories if you are lucky– is not going to make up for that extra slice of pizza here and there. When it comes to successfully managing body composition, metabolism is everything!!!

How To Slow Down Your Metabolism

So let’s go back for a moment to the individual looking to lose weight. They are going to have to be in a caloric deficit. However, the human body is very efficient and will find a way to adjust to almost any circumstances. The human body has built-in mechanisms that strive to keep everything on an even keel. Think about it– if you are in a caloric deficit for an extended period of time, what you are literally doing is not giving your body the calories it needs to sustain its current state. In other words, if you are in a caloric deficit over an extended period of time, you are literally starving yourself, just at a very slow pace. As such, your body will find a way to preserve itself and survive. How? Well, the main way it’s going to achieve this– it will slow down its metabolism!

Stay Tuned For Part 3 in the Series tomorrow…