B Y M A R K I E C E O L A N R E WA J U E Z E , H O L I S T I C C O A C H & F I T N E S S P R A C T I T I O N E R .

DISCIPLINE

How to start your fitness goals

and maintain your focus.

Work Smarter Nutrition Tips Mentality is Key

Create a smarter way to There’s truth to you are what It all starts with your mentality.
program your workouts and you eat, but you do not have to What are you telling yourself
learn your body to understand suffer through this process. through your process? Find out
what exercises gives you a Heres tips to curve those some healthy habits to practice
better muscle response. cravings and maintain your even on your days with the most
goals. struggle.
 CHAPTER 1

MIND &
MUSCLE
 CHAPTER 1

C hanging anything that we ac-

tively don’t practice is essentially
one of the hardest concepts in
growth. We all want to do better and
” There s power in your
awareness. Wherever you
set your attention, thats
we all want to be the best versions
of ourselves, but some may not what will gain the most
know how to even begin this proc- growth. Intention is the
ess. Think about it, you’re whole life
has been conditioned for you to ei-
seed that s planted and
ther adapt and learn or to endure your awareness is the
and evade. Depending on which side water that helps it grow.
of the coin you’re looking at , you
could either add more years to your
life, or add more mileage on your powerful muscle in “Mind and Body
spirit. Most people in this Digital Era your body. Your Connection” is go-
have grown accustomed to some- mind. Your inten- ing to not only en-
thing that has hindered our growth tions and what you hance how your
and our experiences, it’s called In- want for yourself is body responds to
stant Gratification. We want quick the generator that the exercise and
work for quick results, and the metric will pull you through the movement , but
of time isn’t necessarily the only fac- the hardest parts of it will also promote
tor , because whats quick for some growth and change. a higher percentage
could be 2-3 weeks while others are Your mind will be of of muscle fibers
looking into 2-3 months. The only benefit to you if you use of that particu-
way we could shift this around and set your attention lar exercise. Your
really see results is being connected on your exercise nervous system
to the process. Well how do you con- and the mechanics and your brain can
nect to the process? Well , you need of your body. Focus- increase your work-
to exercise the most complex and ing on whats called load and ultimately,

2
Thinking about how you breathe brings ment within the process either short or
that awareness into your lungs and pos- long-term.
ture which in turn helps improve your
oxygen level. Thinking about how you A part of what makes vacations and
move brings awareness into your body road trips appealing is the fact that it
mechanics and your muscle contrac- promotes a love for the journey. that
tions which will help improve your mus- passion for traveling or creating new ex-
cle gain and your overall form, prevent- periences will develop into consistency.
ing long term injury. Your conscious- Developing these habits early and prac-
ness can be the the beneficiary in all as- ticing consistency will make this jour-
pects if you maintain that focus on your ney not only enjoyable long-term but it
goal. Your mindset is imperative for you will branch off into all aspects of you
overall growth because the wrong mind- life. Your lifestyle and your future is al
set can be disabling. If your goal is to powered by the preparation of your
learn a skill, and you have difficulty mind.
grasping certain concepts, some will
decide that they are just “bad” at con-
centration or that they’re “not ready” to
practice the skill. These concepts can’t
live in your consciousness because it
could remove the ability for commit-
 CHAPTER 2

A GUIDE ON
HOW TO
WORKOUT
 CHAPTER 2 Now, when you are coming up with the

N ow, just to save time with this ex-

planation, there is no “wrong” routine to
exercises for the week , make sure that
you are choosing exercises that will ac-
complish everything on the ‘Muscle Ac-
tion Spectrum’ which is a fancy way of
workout but there is an IDEAL way to saying to work your muscles in different
balance the load you’ll be putting into ways. An example , if you are doing a
your fitness transformation. Bicep Curl to work on your Biceps and
That being said, I will give you a short arms, you can work on the ‘Concentric’
summary on how you should approach part , which is the part of the exercise
every workout to save you time and en- that creates force. In this example its
ergy. One thing that you should con- the curling motion. You can also work
sider is what will be your Workout Split. on the essentric part of the exercise,
which is the lowering phase of the curl.
This will help organize your time for Another action in the spectrum is the
your workout as well as bringing atten- Isometric Movement , which shows no
tion to each muscle group that you’ll visible movement with or against resis-
work on. A common split would be : tance. An example of this would be a
(Monday) Chest or Upper Body, (Tues- Plank or holding a Wall Squat.
day) Lower Body or Legs , (Wed) Back
or all ‘Pull’ Exercises like Pull-ups, So let’s break this down even further,
Curls, and Hip Hinges, (Thursday) if you are new to the idea of exercise
Shoulders and/or all ‘Push’ Exercises and maybe you don’t know what pro-
such as Pushups , Dip Motions, and gram will help you achieve your goal,
Overhead Press exercises. (Friday - you will need to start at the most basic
Sunday) Rest Days or Accessory Days level.
(exercises you haven't done that week
i.e Core or Cardio)
Another rule of thumb is to work out
each muscle group two times out of the
week, thats why a workout split can be
the one of the most effective way at ac-
complish this goal.
 If you plan on losing weight, burn- growth. If you want your legs to get big-
ing calories will have to be part of your ger but you don’t want to have a bigger
routine. Sometimes going out for a bike upper body , that is doable, some male
ride, playing any recreational sport, athletes work on their upper bodies all
yoga , dancing, or just doing your nor- the time and some neglects their legs
mal routine at the gym will help you which in turn gives them an visible im-
shed weight. It is best to find some- balance in their body.
thing that you enjoy doing in order to
make sure you’re consistent within the It is important to have an overall routine
process. If you plan on gaining muscle that will work all parts of your body and
onto your body , then bodyweight or if you choose to want bigger legs , big-
weight training of some capacity will ger back , bigger arms, etc. you will
have to be in your routine. You can then have to look into how your training
practice Calisthenics or body weight ex- that particular muscle and implement
ercises , lift weights at the gym, or carry some weight training to build that mus-
weights while doing normal activity. cle. For my client who didn’t want any
upper body muscle gain , I know it
Your body will need time to get accus- mostly had to do with the aesthetics of
tomed to your new routines and activity her frame, however , its still important
so the first couple of weeks will be a to develop strength overall throughout
challenge, but if you maintain a basic your body to make sure you’re capable
work routine then you will feel the sub- of performing certain exercises.
tle changes in your stamina, your body
mechanics, your breathing , and you
overall focus during the exercise. There
is a client I have who wanted to know
how to lose weight from particular parts
of her body and didn’t necessarily want
to gain any muscle at all in her upper
body. This is a common request that
trainers and people in the fitness indus-
try hear a lot. The body itself does not
have the ability to “pinpoint” where your
body fat will go however you can work
certain muscle groups to develop mus-
cle , and with that process , body fat
will start shed in various places through-
out the body , exposing your muscle
When you start your workout journey, stocky or round frame and they hold
its important that you know what kind onto fat very easily.
of workouts are effective for your body
type, otherwise you might find certain Types of workouts also responds differ-
things harder to achieve. It is easy to ently from different body types as well.
compare your Mesomorphs are body types that are
body with someone else but we are all more of an athletic build so people with
different and respond different to certain this body type would have to do a mix
stressors of the body. Muscle Mass, of cardio and weight training , depend-
Body Fat, Metabolism, and Weight Loss ing on what their individual goals are
are just a few things that can fluctuate where as the Ectomorph will have to
and differ from each individual. Try to put more focus on building muscle
Identify what body type you are and use groups and weight training. Your body
that information to develop the most ef- is also more responsive to the calories
fective practices. Ectomorphs are usu- that you take in if you’re a Meso or En-
ally people with a smaller frame and domorph versus and Ectomorph who
they tend to not hold onto body fat usually has a faster metabolism.
where as Endomorphs have more of a
FOOD AND CHAPTER 3

THE NUMBERS
GAME
 CHAPTER 3

are getting enough Protein, Carbohy-

N ow for what I believe is the most

important part of any kind of physical
drates,and Fats in your diet.

Practice preparing you foods for the

day or for the week to avoid eating out
transformation, your Calorie Intake and as much . Not only will that burn a
your Nutrition. These two things to- whole in your pocket, but most health-
gether will not only help you accom- ier fast food chains add sugars or salts
plish your fitness goals, but they will to their foods. We tend to get addicted
help you maintain them once you get to the sugars of food rather than the
there. If you plan on toning, cutting food itself or the saltiness of foods.
body fat, losing weight, etc, than you’ll
need to be on whats called a Caloric
Deficit. This means that you will need to
eat under the amount of calories that
your body burns daily. If you are trying
to gain muscle , weight , mass, or sim-
ply to bulk up, then you will need to be
on whats called a Caloric Surplus
which is taking in more calories than
your body burns on a daily basis. Now
you will only want to make your surplus
or your deficit in calories in between
300 - 500 calories. This will ensure that
”
Your nutrition will have to
be the most important
you are still maintaining the muscle that
aspect of your routine.
you have as well as regulating the Every meal should be a
amount of body fat you’ll have on your small commitment to the
frame. Once you have the amount of
calories you need to consume , the
process and a way of
next step is to make sure that you’re simplifying your life.
taking advantage of the foods that fits
within those calories. As you can imagi-
ne,1000, 1500, 2000 calories is easy to
consume if you're eating the wrong
things. You have to make sure that you
 Calorie counting is another practice Last things to touch on is pre & post
that will help you manage your food an workout supplements. I get a lot of ques-
ensure that your getting the proper nutri- tions about what Pre Workouts or Post
ents throughout the day. I have clients Workouts should you take and what are
who eat healthy , but they don’t count the benefits for both of them. Short an-
their calories and wonder why they are swer, Pre-Workouts are used to provide
not seeing the results that they need to. your body with added fuel or energy to
One client cooks healthy foods and meal carry out your workout at the highest
preps but they are cooking their foods level. If your body does not produce suffi-
with oils and butters, which are all fats. cient energy to carry out the task of the
Now, depending on what kind of oils and workout , then your performance with
how much you use to cook with them is lack and you could even compromise the
entirely up to your personal goal , but form of particular exercises. Post Work-
these factors do count. Usually for a sin- outs are predominately foods that are
gle serving of Olive oil (which is usually a high in Protein and Carbs to replenish the
tablespoon) is about 14-16g of Fats. energy that was exhausted during your
Thats before you put any food on the workout. The protein will also repair the
plate. Looking into what the nutritional muscle that was broken down and re-
facts are in all your foods, drinks, sauces, build into strong muscle tissue. Whether
and all ingredients will give you an in you take Pre/Post Supplements, Food, or
depth perspective in what you are actu- even coffee, make sure that you follow
ally putting in your body. the guidelines for these supplements.

The way that you look at food should

be the same way you look at a car. Now
or days people are only concerned with
the shell of the vehicle verses the perform-
ance of the car within itself. You can’t
have a Ferarri and under the hood you
see that it was the engine of an old Ford
pick up truck. Also you should rather be
a Ferarri before you own one. Your vessel
itself is your 1st vehicle and it requires
maintenance from the inside and out.
 CHAPTER 4

ESSENTIAL TIPS
FOR SUCCESS
 CHAPTER 4 Tip #3. Resting is Just As Important
Tip #1. The 80/20 Rule You have to allow your body to recover
When People start off , they have a pre and re- pair itself from the demands
con- ceived notion that they can no you out on your body from working out.
longer enjoy all the foods that they Though some people workout every
grew to love over the years. Simply not day or overtrain their body , they also
true. You are allowed to eat what you have to be mindful on how much rest
like and i’m not talking about a ‘cheat’ that they are getting every week or else
day (which is actually suppose to be a you will be hindering not only your
cheat MEAL , but thats another topic growth , but your health could be in
for another time). You just have to un- jeopardy as well. A healthy amount to
derstand that they are some rules in workout is 1-hour for 3-5 days out of
place to make sure you do not go over- the week , depending on how intense
board. The 80/20 Rule virtually means your work- outs are. Low intensity work-
to eat 80% healthy and 20% whatever outs, you may get away with working
you like. This subject is sort of contro- out 5-7 days a week where as high in-
versial but none the less , its all about tense workouts may need to stay in the
balancing your lifestyle to be both pro- 3-5 days range.
gressive but yet enjoyable.
Tip #4. Take your Vitamins
Tip #2. We ALL Have Abs I will touch on this a little more in detail
Listen , we’ve all been there when it on my Nutritional Guide but all in all ,
comes to killing ourselves on sit ups , you need to make sure that you are get-
crunches , and every other variable of ting in your Micronutrients! This is es-
this exercise. But ultimately , we all sential for the overall function- ally of
have what we’re working so hard to your body and its good for your mental
get. What you need to focus on is your state. Some examples are Multi-
nutrition because 9 times out of 10 , Vitamins , Vitamin B Complex , Fish Oil
you have body fat surrounding your Tablets, Flax or Chia Seed Supple-
mid-section and its actually covering up ments , and Magnesium. These miner-
your abs that are there. Sometimes too als are important overall but make sure
many ab workouts can in- crease your that you consult a physician on how /
waistline and ‘balloon” your stomach , when to take these supplements. You
so if your dead set on doing an ab can also find these minerals in foods so
work- out , try isolate workouts like also do a little bit of research to see
Planks , or L-Sits to compress your ab- what foods provide what vitamins.
domen and give you that burn that
you're chasing.
 CHAPTER 4

Tip #5. Patience

Relax. If you know that you’re doing yourself id through the actions that will
everything right ,you’ve been hitting the force you to change and reflect.
gym, cooking and meal planning , get-
ting the proper rest, and taking your vi-
tamins , then its just a matter of being
patient and letting your body get accli-
mated to your new routine. Fast results
aren’t usually the best results. In order
for you to manage and maintain your
health , this practice needs to become
a part of you. This is when your mental
fortitude come into play because you
will have to battle things like cravings,
bad habits, thought that might con-
vince you that something isn’t working
, or that voice in your head that might
say “I’ve worked hard enough, let me
just take a few days off or have a a
whole day of eating what I want.” You
will get to your destination and along
the way , you’ll know how to keep it.

These tips are personal practices I

put in my life and in my client’s routines
in order to build more of a foundation of These principles are a few thats help
“why” you are working out versus a myself understand how exercise is
“how” because thats what will enlighten more a way to align my mind with a par-
you on the brighter picture. The body is ticular goal and I have my body exe-
able to heal itself and adapt to stress cute the plan I have set. For anyone
as long as you do whats necessary to who’s ever set a goal, you understand
improve yourself everyday. Anyone start- that feeling of accomplishment. That is
ing their fitness journey for the 1st time the habit that I want everyone to cre-
will need to learn how to treat your ate.
body the way you would want to treat
your partner. The best way to invest in
 CLOSING

DON’T REPEAT
WHAT YOU
DON’T ” Stop counting the days;
make the days count

- Muhammad Ali

PRACTICE
Exercising is more of a alone. Organically, we hardship and maybe use
commitment mentally will look for results in all what you learned to help
since your mind will be the wrong places. I chal- others? I hope everyone
at the forefront of every lenge anyone who reads finds and keeps their
decision you make pre this to think deeper. Ask “why” when they find
and post workout. It is yourself what do you those answers. There is
important to remember hope to gain throughout greatness in all of us
to keep your focus on the process besides the and we have to choose
your goal and not let any exterior. If you com- for ourselves the meth-
outside influences dic- pleted your fitness goals ods on how to reach
tate whats best for your- will you simply stop? that greatness.
self. Your journey to Will you gain a new ap-
overall health and well- preciation for how
ness is your journey you're able to overcome