Black Friday

Traditionally people wake up the day after Thanksgiving with guilt from eating the big dinner and the absurd urge to go spend money on all the “discounts” out there.

The shopping issue is one that I’m not going to touch but as far as guilt, there shouldn’t be any.

The mind and the body needs to “cheat” or binge every so often. I allow most of my clients this sort of thing once every week, with proper portion control of course. Thanksgiving happens to be a special time to get together with family you normally don’t see, which makes it even more important to indulge and have great time.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, things become hectic. Holiday parties, holiday shopping, people getting sick etc..With so much going on, people put themselves behind everything else, skipping workouts and making unrealistic promises to themselves about what they’re going to do once the new year hits.

Be the exception.

Make time for yourself in light of everything else. Start making yourself feel great.

Easier said than done….right?

As I mentioned above, things are going to get crazy but it’s never going to be easy.

Take a few minutes and start developing a plan that will get you started and keep you in check:

• What will December look like? What deadlines do you have? Any day offs, holiday parties or other events? Make sure to plan accordingly. From a metabolic stand point, it’s always best to work out before consuming a ton of calories. If this is not possible, use the party or event as your “day off,” – be careful not to abuse it
  • Now that things will be busier, how much time will you MAKE for yourself? Remember, this could be five minutes, five times throughout the day.
  • What type of workout can you do in your office or at home? This will become an important tool during the holiday season as your time becomes even more precious.
  • How can you adapt and change for the holidays? Think in terms of healthy holiday dishes you can bring, parking even further away at the mall or office (this may happen naturally)…be creative
  

Today is preparation for tomorrow. What are you preparing for, excess weight and unhappiness…or the COMPLETE opposite?

Carabase Training’s Fit Body Boot Camp on the cruise ship

In addition to some amazing sites, I have been fortunate to meet a ton of great people, from all over the world.






(A picture from the warm-up)


Although all these people have different specific goals, previous injuries and of all different fitness levels – they all share the same barriers in reaching their fitness goals:

• Lack of time to workout
• Lack of direction working out

These are the same problems that most of us face. In fact, all my clients have these same issues.


I kept bragging about how far many of my clients have gone and how they’re continuing to challenge themselves, before long there was a lot of interest amongst the passengers on the ship. So I decided to host my camp in the ship’s fitness center, free of charge.

People of all ages showed up and everyone had a great workout.

My point is with all this is that as different as we all think our goals are, we all face the same challenges in reaching those goals.

Start talking with people; friends, family, people at the gym etc., put together your own group and hold each other accountable. Studies show that training in a group setting is a more effective way of working out.


If you would rather join a community of people with common problems and a forward thinking attitude, email me with your situation and location. I am currently running two boot camps that guarantee people results or their money back. These camps offer far more than just workouts. For the new year, I will be opening new camps and offering some great deals!

My boot camps last about 30 minutes, thats it and your metabolism will get kicked for up to 48 hours after your done working out!

Email me to find out more: joe@carabasetraining.com

What other problems do you face? Comment on them below

Build a solid CORE

Today we hiked up MT. Vesuvius in Naples, Italy - an active volcanic crater (only active volcano not on an island). In 79 AD, this crater erupted, without notice and destroyed a city named Pompeii. The town's population was wiped out. The city was covered in lava and buried - hidden from society for another thousands of years - until 1748. During this year, Pompeii was rediscovered through excavation.

Thousands of years since it's original construction, stand the foundations and structures of the entire city! So detailed, you can make out which buildings were homes, bakeries, wine bars and even brothels...

Despite an volcanic eruption, erosion and being buried for centuries, these buildings are still standing. Maybe not the roofs or external details but the original structures.

Consider your core as your foundation, as it's the center of gravity. Nearly every movement is possible through our core, yet so many people neglect to train it properly. Everyone's obsessed with crunches, leg lifts and more crunches yet they neglect the opposing side (lower back) and stabilizing exercises.

The following are three exercises you should master before thinking about crunches or leg lifts:

• Pillar: Support your body on just your toes and forearms, drawing in at the abdominals (sucking your belly button to spinal cord), keeping your back straight - butt down with your neck and spine aligned: Your goal should be 90 seconds. To get there, start basic. For instance, start with your knees on the floor or holding for only 20 seconds. It doesnt matter where you start, the important thing is to start and progress from there.
• Side Pillar: Support your body on your right heel and right forearm - do not sink your hips or press your left hand down on your hips. Again, you can start with your hips down and/or for shorter periods of time. Make sure to train both sides!
• Basic Back Extension: Lie flat on your stomach, raise your chest and shoulders off the floor as you extend up - make sure to keep your neck and spine aligned. For this exercise, start with a smaller range of motion and as you become comfortable, move through a longer range and for more a longer period of time.
  

Build yourself to last and not get injured. Don't end up like this guy...

Vacation

I'm on my way to the airport, on flight to ROME for a Mediterranean cruise. In preparation for my trip, I came up with a short list of travel tips to stay fit.

Consider the following for your next vacation:

• Pack food for the airport: Depending on the airport, there are very few "healthy" options for quick food. Also, airport stores don't have much to offer for snack foods. Most nuts and bars are loaded with salt and sugars. Bring a few sandwiches, raw-dry roasted almonds and or a protein bar to satisfy your hunger while in transit.


• Do some homework: Does your hotel have a gym? If so, what type of equipment? If not, plan to a hotel workout. Think about what movements you can mimic without equipment and create a circuit. Even 2-3, quick workouts will go a long way


• Keep some dicipline! Most people think vacation and go wild, throwing away months of hard work. Try to eat habitually clean for most of the day, then indulge in one meal per day.


• Take advantage of outdoor surrondings: Whether your traveling to a hot or cold climate, check out what sites you can see outdoors. This is a great way to expand your horizons, see some amazing stuff and burn calories.


• Most of all its important to enjoy your vacation and have a good time

Vacation is vacation and as you should enjoy it, make sure not to become over complacent - it's much tougher to get back into to it then it is to maintain.

C4 Powered by Workout Muse's 50:10 audio circuit

I created the C4 in response to my displeasure of cardio machines and conflicting desire to burn fat.

The C4 is a High Intensity Interval Training method (HIIT) that works your entire body and boosts total fat burning, not during the workout but up to 48 hours after.

It's pretty simple, essentially all you do is perform the following full body movements back to back:
1. Jumping Jacks
2. Squat Thrusts
3. Squat Jumps*
4. Mountain Climbers*
*if you have knee problems, perform the squat jumps with out your heals leaving the floor - just squat down and use your arms to explode up. For the mountain climber, stand against a stable object and kick the feet down & up at a slower pace.



In this video, I used Workout Muse's 50:10 cardio audio but you can use any length of time or amount of reps. I recommend:

• Beginners: 7 jumping jacks, 7 squat thrusts, 7 squat jumps and 30 seconds of mountain climbers with 10 seconds rest in between
  
• Intermediate: 10-10-10-40 with 10 seconds rest in between
  
• Advanced 50 seconds-50 seconds-50 seconds-50 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between

Regardless of the level, aim for four sets, resting 60 seconds in between each set.

Put your fork down!

You ever eat a big serving quickly and realize you're sill hungry?

This is a daily occurrence for me. The interesting thing is that the reason why we are still hungry is more of a mental rather then physical issue.

When you eat fast, your brain is not aware of the food you are consuming. This allows you to continue eating more and more.

The problem is that whether or not your brain knows it, a calorie is a calorie and the more you eat, the more you have to hold your body accountable for.

To get the brain involved and for you to eat the right amount, put your fork down while you chew.

Try this for your next meal and post below to share your experience.

Cooking with olive oil

For the past few years I have been cooking my chicken and vegetables with olive oil, thinking I was receiving not only great taste but also good fat from the oil.

One thing I never considered was olive oils sensitivity to heat. Olive oil is extremely sensitive to high heats and essentially turns from good fat into trans fat during the cooking process.

Consider the following options next time before you use olive oil as a cooking oil:

• Substitute with canola or vegtable oil
• Lightly drizzle or spray olive oil over your dish once it is cooked