Well being ripped is not what Performance Playground is about.  As I have always said, we are about improving our performance inside and outside of the gym. 

A friend of mine, a collegiate and professional basketball player, who until 8 months ago was highly active, had a heart attack on the basketball court during the middle of one of his pick up games!  He’s 35 years old, and now has a pace maker!  I talked to him about three days after it happened and he told me that it scared him to death and to NEVER go without telling your friends and family you love them. (I do that already).  When he hung up the phone, I started crying because I almost lost a close friend of mine.

I have another friend who is 28 years old, makes about 60K a year working for a bank, no debt, lives in an apartment, single, nice Chevy Tahoe, great head on his shoulders.  He eats out for every meal; drinks alcohol about 2 to 3 times a week, mostly socially; goes jogging occasionally; etc… you all have friends just like this.  Well, 4 weeks ago, he had stint put in because of clogged arteries!  He’s 28 years old!

Two days ago, another buddy of mine, who used to be a personal trainer for about 3 years, always active, who now lives in Florida, makes good money in sales; lives the life a rockstar would like to live… underwent a small surgery yesterday to see how his ticker was doing and if he needed a stint or anything else that would allow his heart to work better!  All because he went in for a check up, “just because he thought he should!”  He’s 29 years old!

Lessons to be learned:

• Get your annual physical and always be honest with your doctor!
• Consistently eat healthy and exercise or be active on a daily basis.
• Value yourself as a person; have dreams of a long healthy life, not money in the bank or next weekends party.
• Value every day
• Do and say the right things all the time.

At Performance Playground, we value you as a person, as a family, as an athlete, as a fitness enthusiast, or whatever you choose to be.  We want to help you improve your performance in all areas of your life, starting with the relationship we build with you in the gym and the gut renching training you do while you are here.  We feel that after leaving our training center you will be better prepared for your day… every day!

It’s not about a look.  It’s about being healthy.  It’s about living a long, disease free, prosperous life that inspires others to do the same!

…and  if you end up getting “beach body ripped” while your going down that path, then hey, so be it!  That’s not a bad side effect to have when yourliving a healthy lifestyle!

Be Fit. Be Confident. (www.theperformanceplayground.com ; coming soon)

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground

I think I remember Stephen Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People making reference to what I believe he called “the law of the farm.” The
reference was meant to show that most of the truly good things in life take time
and can’t be forced or rushed. Covey described the process of farming and
alluded to how it requires patience and diligence to grow crops properly. In
addition, farming requires belief in the system. The farmer must believe that
all the hard work and preparation will eventually yield a long-term result.

Be Patient With Your New Years Resolutions!

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground (www.theperformanceplayground.com : coming soon)

My brother is the one hugging my wife while simultaneously putting me in a headlock.  Yes, he’s younger and bigger than me

Anywhoo… my brother is dislexic.  He went to  highschool to help with his dislexia, then went to colleges depending on how well they could help him… except for when he came to Southwest Texas State with me, when school didn’t matter at all!

My brother has always wanted to work construction like everyone else in my family does. (If you know me then you know why I don’t work construction).  His plan was to graduate school and then imediatly start making more money than me while working for our dad.  Honestly, he really couldn’t wait to rub that in my face. 

The thing is, is that he didn’t really need to go to school to do that.  He already knows construction very well, and could have easily recieved the rest of his “education” in the field without a college degree.  A college degree is  a goal our family set for us when we were little kids and have both been blessed enough to get the help to recieve one.  So with that goal in mind, my brother set out to get that degree… No Matter What It Took!

Well 7 years later… it’s okay to laugh a little… he got his degree!  I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of him for sticking in there and getting it.  He could have easily quit his 5th year in and started making money like everyone else, but he didn’t want to.  If he quit, then he wouldn’t have reached his goal he set out to do. 

Just like you.  You can easily quit any time you want.  Be proud of yourself for losing 10 of the 60 lbs you need to lose.  Go ahead, pat yourself on the back and tell your friends how well you’ve done.  As a matter of fact, when you’re with your friends at Starbucks at 630 drinking coffee,  instead of at the gym,  go ahead and fudge that number up a little bit, tell them you lost 20lbs…oops, they know your lying now!

Heck, go ahead and just be an average athlete.  Don’t strive to jump higher, be quicker, run faster or be a leader.  Don’t worry about recieving a college scholarship.  Just be normal.  Just be another “has-been” who talks about how great they were in highschool.

Or, you can be just like my brother and never give up!  You can do EVERYTHING IT TAKES to reach your goals, no matter how much help you need or how long it takes.  You can turn into the person who gets the athletic scholarship and stays completely humble about it.  You could be the lady who loses all 60lbs and is down to 20% body fat and doesn’t have to tell anyone how much weight she lost, because they are raving to you about how good you look!

What person do you want to be?

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground (www.theperformanceplayground.com: coming soon)

So I decided I needed a little Waylon Jennings to put me in a good mood.  I enjoy people who are true to themselves and speak the truth whether people want to hear it or not.  Waylon’s that way and he will keep you humble, but I don’t know if  ”the outlaw” will keep me from going crazy during this article. 

 Don’t fall for the BS again this year.  There is no pill, there is no machine, there is no secret berry, there is no perfect workout!  If you want to see results >  train at a high intensity > be consistent > and eat organic whole foods!   (www.myhealthypassion.wordpress.com).  Quit falling for all the gimmicks.  Go get a trainer and start getting the results you want!

Here’s some science behind sticking to diets (J Am Coll Nutr. 28(2):159-68. Adherence and success in long-term weight loss diets: the dietary intervention randomized controlled trial (DIRECT).)

• 322 overweight men and women
• 3 different diets: 1) low fat, 2) mediterranean, 3) low carb
• 90% stuck to low fat diets; 85% to Mediterranean; 78% to low carb
• 29% women dropped out; 14% men dropped out; 25% currrent smokers dropped out

Conclusion: DIETS DON’T WORK!

• 107 people were physically active: 44% reported eating less; 10% reported eating more
• Holidays were a trigger to a significant decrease in adherence followed by a partial rebound
• People who lost the most weight within 6 months or during the 6th month, was the main predictor in weight loss success.
• Almost half the people quit! DIETS DON’T WORK!

Don’t be another statistic.  Don’t start and then quit.  If you’re not sure you want to be healthy yet, then don’t do it.  It will just frustrate you.  If you KNOW you are ready, then go hammer it out on a daily basis with ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSES!  Do whatever it takes to be successful.  (It can be done.  Read my last article if you haven’t yet.)

Here are some more statistics in case you missed my “Continue to Be Successful” article:

BE BETTER THAN THAT!  BE FIT!  BE CONFIDENT!

Zach Willams: Owner of Performance Playground (www.theperformanceplayground.com ; coming soon)

I train a 5’5, obese (240lb), diabetic who drives buses for a living.  He gets to work at 330am, works for 5 hours, comes to see me at the gym, showers, eats a meal and goes back to work for another 4 hours.  He does box jumps on a 24inch box!  Today, we raised the box and he did 3 jumps on a 28 in box!  That is amazing!  You know what makes it more amazing… he did the 28in box jump after he had already done 8 sets of circuit training that inlvolved deadlifts and lunges and 3 other exercises!  Non stop for 24 minutes!!!!!!

• Hey Zach, I think I can jump higher.
• Are you sure?
• Yea man, I’m positive.
• Okay, lets do it!

We raised the box up 4 more inches!  I cannot tell you how awesome that made me feel!  Both of us were going nuts!  He had a goal, and he attained it.  HE WAS SUCCESSFUL!

I also train a professional baseball player (a pitcher).  One month ago we started training together.  We take one day a week to work on his strength.  At the start of last month I asked him to perform two movements for me; a front squat and a rear foot elevated squat.  He had never done either one.  We put 185lbs on the RFE Squat and we put 185lbs on the front squat. With those weights he performed about 5 reps and 8 reps.   On Monday the 7th I tested him again on those two things.  He put 245lbs on the RFE Squat for 3 sets of 6-8(with a superset of pistol squats)!  On the front squat he did 225, then 245, then 265 at reps of 6.  Then he ended the workout with 2 sets of 2 reps at 315lbs on the front squat!!!!  Do you understand how increadible that is?  One month ago he didn’t know how to hold the bar on a front squat and now he’s doing 315lbs!  Thats increadible!

No matter if you are a professional athlete or a bus driver, success can be yours if you want it bad enough!  Set a goal, stay consistent, train at a high intensity and stay positive.  I guarantee you will be successful!

How bad do you want it?! www.theperformanceplayground.com

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground

• Average weight gain over the holidays is 7lbs.
• Average body fat for women in USA is 40%
• Average body fat for men in USA is 25%
• (**Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90:1457–65.)

If your main purpose of exercising is to look good, then why do you eat unhealthy?  Why do you allow yourself to “over splurge” during the holidays?  Is it because you have been “too strict” on yourself throughout the year?  (I highly doubt it.)  If vanity IS your motivation for success, then why would this time of year effect you any differently than any other?  If you can say “no” to foods before now, how come you have a hard time saying “no”, now?  Why do you feel the need to justify that not working out over the holidays is okay… just because you’ve been discipline throughout the rest of the year?  Why not continue that?  If eating healthy and exercising has given you great success throughout the year, why stop it now?  If you sleep better, your more successful.  If you wake up with more energy and it lasts throughout the whole day, your more successful.  If your brain is constantly firing on all cylinders, your more successful.  If you remain injury free, your more successful. 

That’s what eating healthy and exercising allows you to be.  I like to say that you are a CONSTANT SUCCESS! 

My advice,…shut the door on vanity.  Enjoy yourself.  Love who you are.  Train for a purpose.  Allow how well you eat, and how intense you train improve all aspects of your life.  Don’t make yourself crazy trying to eat perfect all the time.  Don’t be uspest when you do eat something you shouldn’t.  When you do “over eat,” then go walk for 30 minutes.  No, it won’t burn off a slice of cheesecake, but it will keep your mind in GO mode, instead of  LAZY and TIRED mode.  It will help you stay in the right frame of mind.  Or wake up with your family and go on a nice 1hr walk before breakfast (of course after you open presents from Santa).  Try and set an example for your family and friends over the holidays by bringing healthy treats, cooking healthy breakfasts and dinners.  Show them the reason why you are so healthy and encourage them to be that way as well.

If you are a person who is typically unhealthy and are looking for a time to start being healthy… start now!  If you can get through the holidays by being the most disciplined you have been in years, then there is no doubt in my mind that you can be successful the rest of the year.  It will definitely be hard.  But when has life ever been easy?!  You deserve to be fit!  Now go obtain that!

I highly recomend that you visit my friends blog: www.myhealthypassion.wordpress.com to find the most fun and healthy recipes you have ever eaten.  I have enjoyed them all.  Don’t hesitate to contact her and ask for advice.  Read, mix and make, and enjoy being healthy!

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground (www.theperformanceplayground.com : coming soon)

A long term university study recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine studied 2,560 Finnish men from the ages of 42 to 61 for a period of over 16 years. The study was conducted to see if exercising reduced the risk of cancer. Each individual’s physical activity levels were measured and assessed using frequency, duration and intensity as the key variables:

• Frequency – how many times a week they participated in the physical activity.
• Duration – on average how long they performed the activity •
• Intensity – how hard they performed their physical activity of choice.

After collecting all of the data from the 16 year study, it was found that men who exercised at moderate to high intensity levels for at least 30 minutes a day decreased their chances of getting cancer by half, compared to men who didn’t. That’s pretty amazing! Here’s more…

A higher use of oxygen consumption during physical activity is linked to a reduction in the level of illness in a person and their likelihood of dying from cancer.

An increase of 1.2 metabolic units (oxygen consumption) was related to a decrease in cancer mortality mainly due to lung and gastrointestinal cancers, after the researchers took into account age, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index and energy, fiber and fat intake.

The higher the oxygen consumption the more intense the activity. So in essence, it means the higher the intensity of the workout the lower your chances of getting cancer.

 Even though the scientific reasons as to why high intensity lowers the risk of cancer are not known, there’s a strong link to disease and oxygen deprivation (i.e. low oxygen levels in your body). Studies have shown that oxygen is a vital part of maintaining healthy cells in your body and a lack of sufficient oxygen makes your cells unhealthy and susceptible to diseases. And due to a more sedentary lifestyle, most of us do suffer from low levels of oxygen.

The best way to combat low oxygen levels in your body and give your cells an oxygen boost is by working out at high intensities. Activities performed at high intensity cause your body to go into a oxygen deficit for a brief period, which forces you to take in more oxygen to make up for the deficit. This is why exercising at high intensities is more beneficial when it comes to increasing your body’s oxygen levels…even compared to long steady state cardio. The benefits of exercising at higher intensities have long been known to be very effective for weight loss, building lean muscle and improving overall fitness, but the reason I  (Shin Ohtake) wanted to tell you about this groundbreaking study is because it’s the first time anyone’s looked at the correlation of exercise intensity and prevention of disease.

Back to the basics….

• We were barefoot, we made shoes with wood soles, we make shoes with rubber soles, we add air to those soles, we add gel to those soles, we add “shocks” to  those soles… what’s next?
• we used the outdoors, bicycles, our bodies, odd objects and kettle bells and we were healthy; some geniuses invented stationary machines for exercises and we are now 66% overweight… what’s next?
• we used to eat our own food that we gardened and we were healthy; now we eat everything that is pre-made or from a drive thru window… what’s next?

There is a wonderful cycle happening to us as a human race.  Everything we were doing 100′s of years ago when we were vibrant, healthy, hard working people was right!  We don’t need fast food, we don’t need machines to perform our exercises for us, we don’t need fancy 100 dollar t-shirts and 150 dollar shoes.  All science has been showing us over the last few years is that we are going back to the basics.  Join the movement people! 

What’s Next?

1. In five years or so we will be training in bare feet! (Some of my clients and I have already started)
2. We will never use machines to improve our functionality or improve our movement or improve our performance.  Balls, bells, bands and bodyweight only!  That is already happening as we speak!
3. We will begin to take time out of our “self made hectic days” to be less hectic and actually prepare healthy foods that are fun and easy to eat.  We will actually begin taking care of ourselves!

Don’t waste anymore time!  Improve your life at Performance Playground.

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground (www.theperformanceplayground.com coming soon)

I know, we look just alike!

Well… I don’t have a baby, but if I did, he would be more fit than you and me.  If you have a baby, you’re probably thinking “what the heck is Zach talking about?!”  He really is crazy! 

The only thing I can say to that is “My crazy has kept me from going insane.”

I was talking to my buddy Keith yesterday (his wife is our nutritionist, www.bruneman.blogspot.com).  I started rambling on about being flexible and mobile, and how everybody should really focus more on that type of stuff.  We started talking about watching babies squat, learn how to walk and how they eat.  That leads me to this.

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I have a knee problem, I have a back problem, I have a hip problem etc.”  Do you know that more injuries occur every year from people who are innactive, compared to athletes in their respective sport!  Let me give you a good example:

Your ankle joint is a mobile joint > your knee is an “immoble” joint, your hip is a mobile joint.  If you are innactive, then your body is not being used properly.  Meaning your joints are not moving like they are supposed to and your muscles are getting really tight.  If you have a knee problem, more than likely it is because you have caused your “ankle to be immoble” and your “hip to be immoble.”  Remember, those two joints are supposed to help you be mobile.  If your muscles have tightened up in your ankles and hips, how can they work properly to keep you mobile?  The tightness in those two joints has caused your knee, the joint that helps keep you stable, to not function properly.  Your knee is supposed to help you be stable.  A physical therapy joke: “What is a mobile knee joint?  A torn ACL.”  Hahaha!  Not too funny to those of you who have torn your ACL, right?  If you are suffering from any joint issue, I highly recomend you look above or below to the nearest joint and start working their first.

Okay, back to the baby talk me and Keith were having.  I want all of you to watch a baby squat.  They do the perfect squat!  They just walk over to their toy, bend down with a straight back, sit their butt to the ground, grab their toy and stand up.  No worries at all.  Not only does that make them strong, but it makes them very mobile and flexible as well. 

Now I want you to perform something for me.  I want you to stand up, straighten your legs, bend down and grab under your toes (like you are stretching), then without letting go of your toes, I want you to sit down into a squat, and try to get your butt to the floor; then I want you to raise your hands straight up above your head (shoulders by your ears), then stand up.

Can you do it?  Does it hurt your back?  Can you get your shoulders by your ears?  Do you have to dip your head down, just to straighten your arms out?  Do you lose your balance?  If you can’t do it, or you have any of the above problems, you need to work on your flexibility and mobility. 

Babies don’t have those problems.

After we got done talking about the mechanics of babies: how they learn to crawl, stand, balance, walk, squat etc., Keith geniously said, “We should eat like babies too!  (Pause for the jokes)  We should eat every three hours!”

So lesson learned… we should act like babies!  Be flexible, be mobile, be balanced, be strong,  (skip the whining part), and eat every three hours!

Or maybe we should go to the Playground more often!

We always get back to our basics don’t we?

Be Fit!  Be Confident!

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground

For example: Dr. Atkins had about 5 heart surgeries then died from heart failure… is that not enough for you to understand that what he advocated was unhealthy and you probably shouldn’t be doing it anymore? 

I mean come on people!  Guys, are y’all still rock’n the “perm in the back” hair cut?  And ladies, I don’t see y’all in Jane Fonda leatards and scrunch socks anymore! (I wouldn’t mind if they brought that back actually! LOL).  Why is that we change with every new fad that comes around, but we are stubborn when it’s time to stop eating certain foods, or training a certain way.  There’s no quick fix and it’s not easy.  Changing your hairstyle and clothes, the type of car you drive is fun, I understand that. 

Do you know what else is fun?  Being fit!  Being fit is fun!  Being able to say “I can do that,” or “just let me do that for you,” or hearing from your friends and family “oh my gosh, you do what on a weekly basis!?”  And yea, for all of you reading this that already do those things and/or hear those things… good for you!  You deserve it, and you should be confident!

Come on people!  Let’s go!  Set your sails, and discover what you never thought was possible.  You can lose weight.  You can be a leader.  You can say no to a certain lifestlye.  You can perform at your best on a daily basis.  Discover that you are capable of reaching what you know to be true.  You know you’re bad ass!  You know you’re sexy!  You know you’re tough and smart!  Let the wind hit those sails!  You’ll never know if you don’t give 100%. 

Hell, if it wasn’t for Columbus, for all we know, we could still be taught that the world is flat.  He believed in something, took a chance, and proved everyone wrong.

So prove me, your family, and your friends right!  I know you can do it.  Be Fit!  Be Confident! Achieve your dreams!

Zach Williams: Owner of Performance Playground

I believe in our training style and I believe in you.  I’m ready to take a chance on you… are you?