Please help me turn a dream into reality for a candidate of the Children’s Wish Foundation.

On September 22 (ONLY ONE MONTH AWAY), I will be participating in the Children’s Wish Foundation’s Exile Island.

http://www.exileisland.ca/region/british-columbia-vancouver/home

I’m one of only 10 contestants privileged and honoured to be part of this event.

The goal of each contestant is to raise $10,000, the cost of an average wish. I would appreciate any support you can provide so we can make some dreams come true!

Exile Island is based on the popular Survivor TV show theme. I will be paired with a Wish Candidate and together we will compete in physical, mental and creative challenges. If you’re in the area that day, feel free to come down and watch my partner and I raise funds (and quite frankly, kick some butt).

The event is on Wednesday, September 22nd on the lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery. It is hosted by Tamara Taggart, and I’m not 100% sure on this, but I believe she signed on to host when she heard I was involved. (and by ‘not 100% sure’, I mean I completely made that up…but it is possible).

Other contestants include various business owners and political figures. Not all names have been released but there are 3-4 mayors from the Lower Mainland competing. It could even be a mayor of your city. So if you have any particular issues with potholes or property taxes and you want a little retribution…bribe me with a donation and I’ll sort them out for you.

At this point you are probably thinking how did THEY get into such an exclusive event as ME? After all, I’m a very important person. I have the power to make butts smaller, while they just run entire cities. Nevertheless, they have accepted the challenge and they will be Exiled from the Island.

While I do not have children of my own, there are many in my life and I am greatly affected by the joy they bring. I can’t imagine being a parent or relative of a child with a life-threatening illness.

The Children’s Wish Foundation never turns away a Wish Candidate and they need our support to continue granting wishes.

If you are able to contribute any amount, it is so greatly appreciated. Again, our goal is $10,000 (that’s $100,000 for the whole event) and we only have ONE MONTH to do it.

To contribute:

If you would like to pay online via credit card and receive a tax deductible receipt, you can go directly to my donation page here: http://tinyurl.com/exilecord

If you would like to pay with cash or cheque, please email me directly at cord@peakfitnessmanagement.ca and I will handle everything else for you.

I’m so excited to be able to play my small role for such a great organization.

Please, please, please, do feel free to share with your friends or post this on your own facebook, twitter etc.

Let’s grant as many wishes as possible!

Thank you in advance for any support you may be able to give.

Cord

Whether you busted your butt all year long in the gym, or all year long your butt has been busting out of your pants, you need a Holiday Fitness Survival Plan to get you through the weeks of festivities. After all, however far you drop off now is that much more work you are going to do starting January 1.

But let’s be realistic…chances are you will partake in more than the usual amount of get-togethers and you will be faced with a plethora of festive, calorie-laden temptations. Here are some common (and not so common) strategies on how you can get through the season without punching another hole in your belt…

1) Eat BEFORE you go to an event.

You already know what is going to be there…tons of deep fried meat-like things, pastries disguised as healthy (’oh, it had a green garnish, I guess it’s healthy’), desserts, and many other justifications-on-a-plate. The last thing you want to do is show up hungry and knock people over on your way to the buffet. If you are satiated ahead of time, you’ll be less likely to impress the crowd with your ability to eat 27 chicken wings.

2) If you are going to drink, nurse one alcoholic drink as long as you can.

‘Polite’ hosts (and frat boys) will be trying to fill up your drink every time it gets low. Take your time sipping so you have less temptation as some people just seem to have a hard time saying ‘no’ (but not you of course, you pillar of strength).

3) Load up the veggies.

Notice it said veggies, and NOT veggies & dip. They’re low in calories, good fer ya’ and you probably don’t eat enough of them anyway.

4) Alternate drinks.

No, that does not mean one scotch, one wine, one scotch, one wine…It means have a glass of water or Pellegrino before and after each alcoholic drink.

5) DO NOT skip your workouts.

Try to find a way to increase them (perhaps an unlimited boot camp for Dec for $127!?! (www.PeakFitnessBootCamp.ca). It will burn the extra calories you are consuming and decrease the potential downhill slide.

6) Enjoy without overindulging.

Go ahead…live a little. Get a SMALL plate and indulge on the things you really want. If you have a favourite or two, enjoy it. Just make sure it’s not a free-for-all.

7) Be more strict on your non party days.

Self-explanatory.

8.) Change your mindest.

The justification of ‘it’s just that time of year and that’s the way it is’ is self-delusion and a convenient excuse. You have a choice, everyday, every party, and you completely control the outcome.

It’s your choice to heed the above options or you can ignore it at your own peril. However if you do choose to sail through the holidays like a pre-diabetic at the Texas State Fair, our doors are always open to you.

Just make the cheques payable to Peak Fitness Management.

Yours in health,

Cord

Awhile back I wrote Part 1 of this post. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, I suggest you do before reading the rest of this as you will  want to have the context for which I’m starting from.  (Wow, imagine that.  Context? In an internet posting?)

As well, my initial intent was to do a two-parter, but due to the variety of responses, I feel it’s necessary to clarify my original point in part 2, and will give you the science behind it in part 3.

I mention this as apparently my previous article stirred up quite a bit of controversy as pieces of it were posted in various chat room forums. From reading the replies, it was clear that some people only read certain quotes and took things out of context while others read it in its entirety.

How do I know?  Because if I read this:

Gwyneth, if you are listening, “YOU SPEND 12 HOURS PER WEEK IN A GYM AND PRODUCED AN AVERAGE BODY. TRAIN PROPERLY FOR HALF THE TIME AND SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR KIDS”.

…then I might think the author is a bit dickish.

And that was only  one of the quotes that some people chose to read before making their uninformed decision.

However, if I read the entire article and understood it came from a DIRECT QUOTE from Gwyneth Paltrow on the Oprah site:

“While shooting a film in New York City, Gwyneth says she came home every night thinking about what she’d missed. “I left the house while my kids were asleep, and I came home and my kids were asleep,” she says. “I walked into their room, and I just cried. I mean, it was pathetic. I was like, ‘What am I doing? I missed the whole day. I don’t know what they said today. I don’t know what they ate. I don’t know where they went.’ I just felt terrible.”

(Oprah.com)

…then I might think ‘okay, now I see where he was going’.

And before I drop some science to back up my opinions, let’s make a couple of things clear :

1) I have nothing personal against Tracy Anderson. She may  be an extremely sweet, well-intentioned person. I have no idea. Have not met her.  The only thing I speak to is the method she personally described as to how she teaches her clients.

and…

2)     To a certain point, a VERY LIMITED point, almost everything in fitness works initially. I mention that for 2 reasons:

1 .  With a population in North America that is as overweight as it is, ANYTHING is better than nothing.

2 .   If you email me your comments saying ‘her methods totally worked for me’ and then go on to say you had done nothing for the 6 months prior, OF COURSE IT WORKED FOR YOU. ANYTHING WOULD HAVE.

In fact, if you have not been active at all, stay tuned for my new ‘Hop On One Leg For 20 Minutes While Barking Like A Small Dog’ program to hit the shelves in the fall. That will also work for you.

I, of course, also received a few of the ‘don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it’ type of comments.

Let me say this - I appreciate anyone that has taken the time to read the blog and make a response, whether they agree or disagree. I also appreciate that different people will find certain things that just work better for them, for whatever reason.  The point they are missing is that women are fed a great deal of information on how to improve their fitness and body shape, but most of that information has no science behind it to back it up.  Women are fed a false bill of goods and they are eating it up.  With no results.  Why?

Great marketers prey on fear because fear is a great motivator.

Want proof?  It got George W elected to a second term.

Religions relish in it.

It tries to make us believe that everything outside of Western educated medicine is quackery.

Do you know what the fitness equivalent of this is?

WOMEN SHOULDN’T LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS BECAUSE THEY’LL GET BULKY.

If your trainer says this, find another one, because it’s obvious that trainer has not kept up with the research.

It’s EASY to sell this message. Women already have preconceived notions about it due to years of misinformation. So when fitness “pro’s” come along and keep the cycle going, it frustrates the rest of us that are trying to bring the combination of science and common sense back to fitness.

In all of the consultations with women that I have done over the last decade, I would say 90% of them had mentioned initially that they ‘didn’t want to get too bulky’.

It would be SO EASY for me to prey on that rather than begin to re-educate them about the advantages of strength training, how to do it properly and in what amounts to get to their ideal body shape quicker than any 3 lb dumbbell will ever do.

I think women get a crap deal when it comes to fitness. This is why I’m passionate about making the right info available.  I also believe that because there is so much information out there, you also need to determine what information is best for you, and what program will be best for you.  If any of you have watched “What Not to Wear”, Stacey and Clinton provide you with the general Rules of Fashion.  Consider me your trainer equivalent.

In my next post, I am going to provide you with the basic Rules of Fitness for the Fastest Results Possible.

Yours in health,

Cord

For anyone living in the Lower Mainland, you have most likely experienced the record highs we’ve been having.

I was recently interviewed by a local radio station, News1130, for some tips on exercising in the heat. Being that I didn’t get to hear the end result, I’m not sure which bits of gold they took from my interview, so I thought I would provide you with my Top 5 Do’s and Do Not’s of exercising in the heat.

Do Not’s…

1. DO NOT take up a new, outdoor sport at this moment. If you were thinking it’s time to start jogging, wait until the temperature drops a bit and then give it a shot.
2. DO NOT overexert yourself if you are overweight/obese, elderly or a child.
3. DO NOT exercise in the hottest part of the day. Instead, aim for early mornings if possible.
4. DO NOT forget to hydrate. The 8-12 cups of water per day does not include exercise and does not include hot conditions. Your water intake needs to be adjusted accordingly.
5. DO NOT use the expression ‘hot enough for ya?’. It’s totally dorky. And yes, it is amply hot for everyone so don’t be that guy (or girl) and say that line.

Do’s…

1. DO…continue to exercise, but modify the pace and intensity. For every degree your internal temperature goes up, your heart rate may increase as much as 10 beats per minute. This means it will take less effort to reach your normal capacity.
2. DO…wear lighter, breathable clothing and a hat.
3. DO…wear appropriate sunscreen. Duh.
4. DO…hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. This is so important, I typed it 3 times.
5. DO…use this as an opportunity to try something new. Perhaps swimming where it’s cooler. Perhaps something indoors with air conditioning.

Hmmm… That reminds me, I do know of a great personal training studio….

So there you have it. Excessive heat is not a reason to stop exercise, but you do want to proceed with caution.

Here’s the link to the original article:

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20090730_102530_10008

 Peak Fitness Raises $8,000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation

A HUGE thanks goes out to all of the Peak Participants of our two events in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC and Yukon.

In May, Peak offered two weeks of ‘by donation only’ boot camps in Vancouver, North Vancouver and Langley. ALL donations went directly to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The next event was the BIG Bike held downtown Vancouver where an enthusiastic group of Peak Fitness Pedalers rode a 30-person bike through the streets on a cold, windy, rain-coming-down-sideways kind of day.

While the final tallies are still coming in, Peak and all of our donors raised about $8,000 over the two events! Congrats and a sincere thank you to all that participated.

There are so many people to thank that played a key role…

Mavreen and Lisa for your logistical and admin organization.

Chris, Tim and Stella for running their classes in all 3 cities.

Everyone who donated.

Everyone who commented on my own story and shared their stories of how heart disease and stroke has affected them personally.

To the gentleman in Langley who did not participate in our classes or receive the benefit of our training, but donated $500 to our BIG Bike event, thank you!

Way to go, Team Peak

Our boot camps have always been run to have as minimal impact as possible on the park, the neighbours and the community…although I can’t say the same for all outdoor group programs. We try to ‘blend in’ as opposed to ‘take over’.

However, my concern with the new fees would be that some companies, perhaps those that were already violating noise by-laws (if that is in fact true), may feel more of a sense of entitlement if they are now paying for the space and be less flexible in terms of working around and accommodating other park users. It would be unfortunate if that is the case as I would say the majority of us are trying to operate with a high standard of professionalism.

Our goal with our group programs is to leave the park better than when we found it…so you’ll often see a Peak instructor throwing away trash that was left from other users or offering free fitness information to interested passersby.

It’s a relatively new initiative from Parks and Rec so I’m sure the format will need tweaking over time to make it work for all.

However I do think that from a PR perspective, it may have been wise for the Parks Dept to space out the announcement of new fees with the launch of their own competing outdoor group programs. Certainly they are in their right to do as they please, but this would have made it just a little more palatable for those companies and citizens that took offence.

 Visit the original CBC article here:

http://tinyurl.com/mwj6gn

We are launching 2 weeks of FREE Boot Camps starting the week of MAY 18th. All proceeds will go the the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Our Camps will be running in Vancouver, North Vancouver and Langely!

For more details visit:

http://www.peakfitnessbootcamp.ca/

Check out Judy’s website for more info:

http://www.dynamicbynature.com

I’m an ex-football player, until recently drove a big pick-up truck, I like B level martial arts flicks and yes, I occasionally watch Oprah.

I didn’t really set out to, but my girlfriend records it and one thing led to another and yadda yadda yadda, I’m now watching it from time to time on my own.

And for the most part, I like it.

There I said it. It’s out there and there’s no taking it back.

However, I have to say, there was one show awhile back where I just about threw the remote through the tv.

The entire hour was about Gwyneth Paltrow and her personal battle with weight, postnatal depression and getting healthy again.

Ok – sounds good. Here’s a high profile person who obviously has access to the best of everything, she’s with the daytime Queen of Living Your Best Life, so this should be good, right?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Ok – before I launch into the tirade, here’s my caveat. I’m all for people losing weight, being more active and generally getting healthy. After all, that’s what I do for people day in and day out. If you are that person that thinks parking further away from the food fair allows you an extra plate, well you’re mistaken, but at least you are doing something and trying to make changes. With a population as overweight as it is, usually doing something is better than nothing. (But seriously, you have to be REALLY overweight before walking all the way across the WalMart parking lot will help).

But back to the point at hand. Keep in mind that I’m totally indifferent to Gwyneth Paltrow – she neither annoys me nor excites me, much to the chagrin of my brother-in-law who says she’s top 5 material. I just don’t get it but hey, it’s his misguided choice.

A little perspective…Gwyneth Paltrow is 5’9” and has always been thin. Ladies, don’t shoot the messenger, I just report the stuff.

After her second pregnancy, she couldn’t lose the weight as easily this time around. Quoting from her Oprah interview, “I could not get off these 20 extra pounds,” she says. “I don’t know if something changed. I don’t know if it was being older and being in my 30s instead of my 20s. … I [was] 34 when I had him, and I just couldn’t get it off. It was kind of demoralizing.”

So Gwyneth made an almost-smart choice. She enlisted the help of a ‘professional’ (and I could not be using the term more loosely) to aid in her achieving the fat loss.

Enter Tracy Anderson. Celebrity trainer and the future demise of health and fitness.

Tracy is a 5’0” former dancer that has developed a ‘system’ of training that ranges from zero resistance (waving your arms back and forth), to pulling thin stretchy bands, to dancey aerobics, and lifting little pink dumbbells because according to her, “no woman should lift more than 3 lbs.”

Now hopefully most of you reading this just realized that she lost all credibility by saying that. For those of you that don’t get it, here’s why…

Common sense.

Common sense should be the basis of all training programs. At Peak Fitness Management, we train people for the sport of life, which means that whatever your physical training program is, it should not only be sculpting the body you want but it should be preparing your body for the demands of daily life.

Got a kid to pick up? Is your kid more than 3 lbs? Then you should be training so that when you do that, you don’t hurt your shoulder, neck, back etc.

How about groceries? A briefcase? Hell, I have jackets that weigh more than that.

You know what lifting 3 lbs is good for? It makes you good AT LIFTING 3 LBS!

In the workout video where it shows the two of them going through the routine, Gwyneth actually comments on her son being 30 lbs and how she carries him all day.

Knock, knock

Who’s there?

It’s Common Sense.

Sorry, we’re not in right now, please come back later.

Look, even if you think you don’t have a super active life and you are more of a 9 to 5’er, you don’t play sports etc, you need to have a body that supports all those little things that come up that you don’t think about. And if you are active, for the love of god, make sure you are preparing yourself for the demands of whatever activity you intend to do.

But what else is wrong with this program?

They exercise in a heated room. Ok for some, bad for others.

They train 6 days a week, two hours a day.

So what’s wrong with this picture? In 12 hours of training per week, Gwyneth has sculpted an ok body. In fact, for someone that is tall and naturally thin, I’m going to go ahead and give her the label of mediocre. Again, keep in mind that she is naturally thin…If she had always struggled with real weight issues and lost 50 lbs to look the way she does now, I’d be championing her efforts.

But I’m not.

Part of that reason is because she also spent a good deal of her Oprah interview talking about how the demands of her career limit her time with the kids so she’s choosing smaller roles.

“While shooting a film in New York City, Gwyneth says she came home every night thinking about what she’d missed. “I left the house while my kids were asleep, and I came home and my kids were asleep,” she says. “I walked into their room, and I just cried. I mean, it was pathetic. I was like, ‘What am I doing? I missed the whole day. I don’t know what they said today. I don’t know what they ate. I don’t know where they went.’ I just felt terrible.”
(Oprah.com)

Gwyneth, if you are listening, “YOU SPEND 12 HOURS PER WEEK IN A GYM AND PRODUCED AN AVERAGE BODY. TRAIN PROPERLY FOR HALF THE TIME AND SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR KIDS”.

Trust me. Your butt will be fine. You’ll keep your depression at bay and you’ll have another 6 hours to spend with your kids.

And this is one of the MANY lessons to takeaway from this latest episode of When Good People Do Dumb Fitness.

Ninety percent of the people I have trained over the years have a life filled with competing priorities: work, spouses, kids, social obligations, squeezing some time in for themselves, etc. Not once have I ever told a client they need to work out for 12 hours per week.

It’s not realistic. You won’t maintain it and it’s probably going to overtrain you before you know it.

Keep your workouts brief and intense. Get in, get it done, get out. You don’t live in the gym, you go to the gym to help prepare your body to live the life you want.

But truly, the biggest thing that irks me about this is that people are going to see fit celebs (Anderson now trains Madonna) and they will think ‘if it works for them…’

But what women (and men) need to remember is that they can’t follow Hollywood diets and workouts. It’s like the 16 year old boy who buys Muscle and Fiction hoping to look like the guy on the cover.

Aside from the celeb’s exercise and lack of eating, they have doctors who will prescribe them pills to make them thinner, can check into hospitals to be fed by a tube, have daily massage, botox, plastic surgery, personal assistants, personal chefs, and the best dressers on the planet.

And when that doesn’t work, they have the best airbrushers on the planet too.

A good friend told me once, believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. I would say if that person is from Hollywood, maybe 10% of what you see is more accurate.

So congratulations to Tracy Anderson. For bringing back all of the myths about women’s fitness, you are the first entry in my KYA (kick your ass) list.

And Gwyneth, I’m putting you on notice.

Next week I’m going to bring you a bit of science as to why this program is a waste of time and a whole ‘nother heaping of common sense fitness.

JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE EATING PROGRAM THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS. YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT!

Yours in health,

Cord