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Your Future-Self Will Thank You

April 14, 2015 By 1 Comment

Hey!
I just wanted to commend everyone on their hard work I’ve been seeing at the gym. I love seeing people who are consistently food journaling and really focusing on their nutrition. Keep up the hard work!

For those of you that have been following the Ray Peat Diet, good job! A lot of questions might pop up when you are first starting this diet so please feel free to pepper us with questions. The more you educate yourself about your metabolism and how your body functions the faster you will heal from an unhealthy metabolic place to a well functioning one. The results of having a healthy metabolism are:

  1. increased energy,
  2. balanced hormone levels,
  3. living pain-free,
  4. healthy digestion, and
  5. being able to lose weight and actually have it STAY off!

Please take a few minutes and meditate on these questions:

  • How do I want to feel emotionally and look physically years from now (imagine how you would feel accomplishing your goal)?
  • Am I eating in a way that supports a healthy lifestyle?
  • Am I open to learning new ways for getting out of pain and living a healthy life?
Fitness at any age. Taken from National Post Sports.

Fitness at any age. Taken from National Post Sports.

Here’s something that I would like you to try, as it has definitely been helping me. Think about 1 small unhealthy habit you may struggle with and replace it with a healthy one.
For example:

  • Instead of eating 5 Oreos eat 3
  • Instead of drinking that 2nd soda replace it with a glass of orange juice.
  • Instead of sitting and watching the commercials on TV do some jumping jacks or push-ups.

Whatever it is that you choose make it small, and don’t expect perfection. Changing habits can be frustrating but it doesn’t have to be. Start out small and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when you make good choices. Again, do something today that your future self will thank you for

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Hypothyroidism… what the $@%^ is that?

December 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HYPOTHYROIDISM… WHAT THE H#%L IS THAT???hypothyroid woman

Hypothyroidism seems to be the new catchy phrase people like to use to sell you MORE STUFF.  Doctors and pharmaceutical companies want to sell you meds.  Chiropractors, trainers and nutritionists want to sell you “all natural” supplements.  For those of you who follow my work and know me, you know this bother’s the hell outta me.  I just don’t trust anyone who sells a product that will cure you of all of your ailments. Many conditions out there used to scare people into thinking they need these products and medications are usually, as I said before, catchy marketing phrases, BUT… Hypothyroidism or a slow acting thyroid gland is very, very real.

Holiday Special!  Click Here to see the offer.

“Am I Hypo-whatever that is?” 

Most likely you are.  There are many things that can contribute to having a low acting thyroid.  Here’s the logic:

If you have a weight problem then you have a metabolism problem, right? and so…

If you have a metabolism problem then you have a thyroid problem, and here’s why!

Your thyroid controls your metabolism by acting as the foreman on the construction site that is your body.  It regulates the hormones your body produces and the rate at which they are produced, but weight gain isn’t the only symptom.  More and more people are suffering from symptoms of hypothyroidism and being diagnosed with some sort of thyroid issue now a days.

Symptoms can include:

  • fatigue
  • depression
  • rheumatic pain
  • low body temperature
  • brittle nails
  • dry & coarse hair
  • hair loss/thinning hair
  • decreased stamina
  • low libido
  • sleep disturbances
  • cold extremities (hands, feet, nose, or maybe all over)
  • puffy eyes/face
  • decreased sweating
  • PMS
  • infertility
  • constipation
  • possible autoimmune disease

Now that’s a lot of stuff and you may suffer from one or many of these symptoms, but that doesn’t mean the root of the problem is any different!

“Hey Peter!  I eat healthy!  I exercise regularly!  Don’t accuse me of not treating my body well!”

Look.  I’m not accusing you of eating poorly, or not exercising enough, or correctly.  There’s much more to it, in fact.  Here are a few causes of hypothyroidism:

Causes of Hypothyroidism:

  • Nutrient Deficiency – not enough protein, quality of protein,  soils depleted of minerals and vitamins.
  • Types of Foods – like soy, grain (whole or not), PUFA, food additives,
  • Heavy Metal Toxicity – fish and mercury, FILLINGS and mercury, cigarettes smoke, environments if you work with or around paints and metals.
  • Liver Damage/Toxicity – the liver is a magic machine, and responsible for most of the filtration system.  Leaky gut.  Stress on the liver can inhibit the conversion of T4 to T3 conversion.
  • Increased Cortisol/Low Cortisol (if fatigued)
  • Hormones: Increase/decreased testosterone cause thyroid disfunction.  High Estrogen, Low Progesterone.
  • Medications – like Lithium blocks conversion of Thyroid hormones. Antidepressants, Birth Control, Statin drugs.
  • HPTA problem – Gonad, gut, adrenal all work on the Hypothalamus – Pituitary – Thyroid – Axis.

It seems like EVERYTHING causes hypothyroidism!  No, that’s not true.  It can seem complex as there is no one-way to heal everyone of this issue, but there is a path for every individual to achieve their own optimal health – the path to EFFICIENCY.

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When you describe a machine that works “efficiently” you would think of a machine that works well at a high rate taking the least amount of energy to do so.  If you were to envision a machine does not operate efficiently it would take a lot of energy to operate, break easily, and have a short lifespan before it broke down completely.

I was taught by Dr. Eric Cobb of Z Health from a neurological standpoint how important efficiency in movement is for success in strength training, pain rehabilitation and the development of many other valuable fitness attributes.  In my year of experience applying this to my clients I have found it to be the best, most advanced method of training athletes and non-athletes alike.  Nutrition can be looked at in the same light.

Energy production in the body down to the very smallest form of life at the cellular level should happen very efficiently.  Our cells combine oxygen and glucose within the mitochondria and through an oxidation process create energy.  When in a stressful event (of any kind) there is a higher demand for energy.  If there is a lack of good, immediate fuel source (glucose) from the foods you eat then you’re body will have to begin releasing adaptive hormones in order to break down parts of your body in order to  continue to produce energy.  Not only does this method of producing energy break down fat, muscle and bone, it’s also a very in-efficient way of producing energy.

This is a very useful survival mechanism int the body that can save your life if you were in a life threatening situation.  The problem is, in the American society we live in today there are so many stresses affecting our bodies that we end up living in this survival state where our bodies are constantly having to break itself down to produce energy.  It’s no wonder America is the fattest country in the world with one of the highest rates of mortality due to degenerative diseases!

Heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, alzheimer’s, diabetes, nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis (degenerative kidney diseases), suicide.  These are all leading causes of death in America and all duet to some sort of degeneration of the human body.

“Ok, well what can I do about it then!?”

Duh!  Fix it with diet!…  Oh, wait a sec.  It isn’t just that easy.  How do you know what’s right for you? Who should you listen to out there preaching about their “scientifically proven” method of dieting. What kind of diet should you follow?  Paleo? Atkins? SouthBeach? WeightWatchers? Vegetarian?  Well, everyone’s individual and different things work for different people, right?  But how do you know which one is really working for you?  Is weight loss the only key to better health?  These are the questions capable of causing so much confusion and frustration that giving up seems to be the one and only thing within your control.

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Paying attention to your body can make the difference.  Knowing what to look for can set your experience apart from all the other’s you may have had with crash diets and personal trainers of your past.  Here at The Fit Labs we help our clients monitor all the the symptoms listed at the beginning of this article, along with heart rate, temperature and blood work in order to deem wether what your eating or how your training is right for you.  Every time you put food in your mouth your body responds with physical signs telling you how the food is reacting.  Every time you perform an exercise there are ways you can tell if your body finds it to be safe and productive or too stressful and threatening.

Why hasn’t anyone told you about this?  Well, it’s not something taught in mainstream medicine or in the average personal training certification.  It took me over 10 years of deciphering studies and research along with the help of the brilliant coaches I have been very fortunate to find and work with such as Dr. Eric Cobb, Coach Charles Poliquin, Dr. Freddys Garcia, Z-Heatlh Master Trainer Zachariah Salazar, Josh Rubin and others to discover the truth about the ways in which our body communicates these things to us.

Why trust me?  Well, you don’t have to.  Allow me to prove it to you.  I am a coach.  I help people become healthy, get strong and enjoy a higher quality of life and that is why I established The Fit Labs along with my partner James Wong here in Las Vegas.  I am not selling supplements, cleanses, or magic products that promise you will lose loads of fat in no time.  We offer a philosophy and a path that will only move you forward using the information your body is providing in response to the starting points we provide at the beginning of your trek to optimum health.  And that is what shapes your individual program.

Again the symptoms of Hypothyroidism are:

  • fatigue
  • depression
  • rheumatic pain
  • low body temperature
  • brittle nails
  • dry & coarse hair
  • hair loss/thinning hair
  • decreased stamina
  • low libido
  • sleep disturbances
  • cold extremities (hands, feet, nose, or maybe all over)
  • puffy eyes/face
  • decreased sweating
  • PMS
  • infertility
  • constipation
  • possible autoimmune disease

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms CALL TODAY @ 702-220-8222 and schedule a FREE, NO OBLIGATION CONSULTATION over the phone or in person with me.  Recognizing there is a problem and reaching out for help is the first step on your path to better health, weight loss, more energy, better sleep and an overall greater quality of life… and in my opinion, it’s the biggest.

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What is Holding Your Child Back From Their True Potential.

June 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

badcoach

What do you really want from your kids athletic program?

For over 15 years I have trained kids to get better at their sport, learn muay thai, develop athletic skills such as speed, strength, agility, balance and coordination.   I’ve also worked with kids on developmental issues that kept them from playing the sports they love with their peers.   The largest obstacle in my way as their coach is…

OTHER COACHES!

The way coaches are training youth athletes makes it nearly impossible for kids to reach their full potential.   Their intentions are normally good, but the kids get overworked.   Kids are pushed too hard at practice and the exercises they are doing are designed to get them tired instead of improve specific skills.

To give you an example, I met with one of my ten year old athletes not long ago.   He’s a young stud on the soccer field who broke his foot last year and making progress on his foot speed isn’t as simple as it was prior to the injury.   On this particular day his legs were so sore he hobbled into the gym asking me if he could just train his upper body.   Now, I understand when you work hard you can get pretty sore, and that’s fine if the exercises and drills the athlete has done are building specific skills he or she needs to become the best player on the field, but being so sore you can hardly walk is only a sign of one thing… being over trained.

So I asked him what he did.   He said he was at running practice for soccer and he was “doing a lot of these”.   He proceeded to demonstrate some skier-type motions with his feet together hopping side to side with hands up and behind his head.   After making him do that until his calves began to burn, his coach would have him react to a whistle with a full sprint across the field.

This is the kind of stuff that drives me absolutely, off the wall, CRAZY!   I just want to approach these coaches and say, “Hey!   You’re an awesome soccer coach.   TEACH HIM HOW TO PLAY SOCCER, DAMN IT!”

Youth athletes are trained to “Work hard!   And then work even harder!”   They’re trained as if the best quality a kid can have on the playing field is mental toughness or maybe perseverance.   Of course, it’s a necessary part of the game and this mentality isn’t something new.   It’s been around for a while, even when you played high school sports.   Yet this is exactly what will keep a young athlete from ever finding his or her true potential.

In The Fit Labs we teach every athlete young and old (and we consider life a sport so everyone is an athlete in our eyes) about one core principle the human body always follows no matter what:   the S.A.I.D. Principle.

Specific
Adaptation to
Imposed
Demand

This means your body is ALWAYS learning EXACTLY what it’s doing.   If you are performing high quality repetitions of whatever it is you are trying to get better at then you will get better at exactly that, but if you are doing something incorrectly, you will get better at performing that movement incorrectly.

To bring this into perspective in relation to my 10 year old athlete, his coach had him do what he believed to be a useful agility drill combined with a sprint.   Now just think a bit about the game of soccer.   You don’t have to be a seasoned soccer player or even a soccer fan to know that at no point in the game of soccer does a player of any position put his feet together and hop side to side down the field with his hands interlocked behind his head.   Maybe this might be closer to something an angry coach might do on the side line when his team is losing, but again, doesn’t even relate to something one of the players would be doing.

Instead, the only thing this “agility drill” did was make him tired before he performed the truly important part which was running.   His form was affected due to the fatigue set in by the agility drill and not only was his form off, but his run was slower than it would have been if he hadn’t performed a useless exercise before hand.   So the end result was my ten year old soccer player spent a good portion of his soccer practice practicing to run less efficiently and slower!

And when the kids seem slower than what they are normally capable of, what do you think team coaches do?   They make them do it over and over and over again, getter better at getting WORSE.   Anyone who has played team sports or has a son or daughter in a sport has experienced this.

This is the sad reality of what is happening to so many kids who are trying to be the best young athletes they can be.   Young athletes who may want to play at a higher level one day in college or professionally are stumped in their development because the focus is on just working hard and putting your time in, but the quality of the repetitions is neglected.

The kids who don’t seem to be affected by this are usually saved by their good genetics which are able to resist the negative effects of what would be detrimental training techniques.   These are the kids who were always the faster, stronger, “gifted” ones who seemed to be better than everyone else without even trying.   But what about the average child who loves the sport, wants to compete and spend every moment in practice sharpening their skills, getting better, growing stronger and faster?   They should have their fair shot at the big leagues if they want.

This is what inspired us to open a kids athletic program.   If there’s one thing in the world of youth sports that really bothers me, it’s watching these young athletes get stripped of their opportunities to play at a higher level or even just be the athletes they could have and should have been by coaches who just don’t realize their lack of attention to detail in the quality of reps their athletes are performing is just the thing that will stump the athletes’ progress.

So what do we do in the lab? We focus on exactly what your child needs to improve on and break it all down step by step. We focus on training the NERVOUS SYSTEM and it is broken down into 3 parts:

1.  Visual System  (much more that just 20/20)
70% or more of everything that we do is in some way dependent on our visual system.  It ranks up at #1 in importance in the neurological hierarchy and training your eyes can have lightning fast results in speed, strength, and improving movement patterns.  This type of trianing is commonly overlooked and may be what is holding your child back fro being the athlete they are meant to be.  Eye training includes, near-far recognition, lateral tracking, hand-eye coordination, foot-eye coordination, convergence and more.

2.  Vestibular System (balance and coordination)
Imbedded in the skull behind the ear canal is your vestibular system.  It is the organ responsible for telling your body what is level and works very closely in conjunction with your visual system to keep your body aware of where it is in space.  This can be sharpened and help your tremendously increase your child’s balance, coordination and reaction time.

3.  Proprioceptive System (body mapping)
This system is your brain’s 3D map of your body.  Through the peripheral nerves in throughout your body it is providing all kinds of information like movement reception, touch/feel, hot/cold, chemical reactions within the body and combines this information with the information it is receiving from your eyes (visual system) and “inner ear” (vestibular system).  This is where we focus on efficiency of movement and training kids proper form for things like  jumping, running, linear speed, lateral movement, etc.

We focus on integrating these systems and this is exactly what will give your child what we like to call “The Unfair Advantage”!  So don’t let your kids get jerked around by coaches who try to teach them things that are outside of expertise.  Seek a real professional who understands body mechanics and sensory integration!  Click the link below for more information about The Fit Labs Kids Athletic Development Program!

For pricing, scheduling and more information on The Fit Labs Youth Athletic Program CLICK HERE!

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Cure Diabetes… with SUGAR???

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

i love sugar

I wanted to share this quick story with you that most people at first don’t like to hear, but always ask me to repeat.

“Wait…. what did he do to get that result?” they’ll ask.

So here goes…

One of our clients has been dealing with what doctors love to call being “prediabetic” which is some new, catchy medical term that is being used everywhere to scare the hell out of people, in my opinion.  People with high blood sugar levels
The doctor told him he needed to lose weight and eat like most of you consider to be healthy now a days; No sugar, more protein, tons of veggies, little to no fruit, lots of fiber…. oh and here, take these pills, these pills and this shake.

At the beginning he’d lost a few pounds and his blood sugar levels began to drop as he exercised 3-5 days per week and eat how the doctor prescribed.  Then it happened…
The PLATEAU!  The weight began to creep back up, the blood sugar levels began to climb, and so the frustration set in.

One day in the gym he approached me and told me what was going on.  I gave him some information on how diabetes used to be treated BEFORE the pharmaceutical campanies came to power in the medical world and boom!!  Within 24 hours of taking a bit of my advice he had experienced a 40 point drop in fasting blood sugar levels and woke up 4 LBS lighter.

… and he did so by eating SUGAR.

“Wait. What did you say!?”  This is normally the point in the story where I realize people weren’t listening and request I repeat how he did it.

I want you to understand this as much as possible.  My father just called last week and told me his doctor diagnosed him prediabetic which in turn inspired me to chose this topic to write about this week.

Diabetes – “The Wasting Disease”

In the late 1800’s, early 1900s we called diabetes the “wasting disease”.  One day a doctor discovered, interestingly enough, that their sick patient’s urine tasted sweet. (Yeah, I know what your thinking, but let’s get past this for a moment and stick to what this discovery led to.)  In testing the urine, the doc realized this person was excreting glucose because his body wasn’t able to utilize it well.

Back then doctors attempted to replace the sugar that was lost in these patients’ urine by feeding them sweet fruit, glutenous breads and even plain white sugar and they had good results.  This I’m sure would surprise most people today because we know diabetes to be a high sugar problem, right?  Too much sugar leads to spikes in our blood sugar levels which leads to tolerance to our own insulin and in the end our body can’t store the sugar and we become diabetic… That’s it, right?

Well then how did those doctor’s way back when get good results from feeding their patients who were dealing with diabetes more sugar?  Pharmaceutical companies have made this a very confusing topic for us in recent years.  Sugar has become demonized, proteins scrutinized, and veggies and fish oils glorified.

Here’s something you probably never heard of.  In 1963 the discovery of the “glucose-fatty acid cycle” was made and since then more and more evidence has linked dietary fat with diabetes.  What we found was fat (primarily unsaturated fats like fish oils, seeds, nuts, seed oils, vegetable oils, etc) inhibit glucose oxidation.  Glucose is what our bodies create when it breaks down carbohydrates and it is what our body uses as its primary source of energy.  This forces our cells to have to turn to things like fat cells and lactic acid as fuel to burn to create energy.

Now that may sound like a good thing, but it’s not.  Fat and lactic acid as sources of fuel, suck!  This is why when people go pure Paleo or Atkins they’re energy is never consistent, their moods swing and their sleep gets all off.

You should sleep 8-9 hours per night uninterrupted somewhere around the hours 10pm-6am. (you know, when it’s dark outside)
You should be calm, curious and mild tempered.
You should not feel like you could take a nap somewhere in the middle of the day.
You should have a sex drive.
You should not deal with pain issues on a daily basis like migraines or sciatica.

If you are not all these things, YOU HAVE A FUEL ISSUE!

Glucose must to be the primary source of energy, especially for brain function.  This is one of the main reasons why people “yo-yo” so often.  It’s super stressful to try to lose weight, get in better shape and maintain that state when you’re body is begging you every waking moment from within to eat the things you love, but are trying to avoid.

Dieting isn’t the easiest thing in the world, yet everyone out there wants you to believe it is.  Other trainers would like you to believe that just because they are are lean and muscular they have it figured out.  Just eat like they do and you’ll be healthy and lean.  Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.  You can’t just pick up a meal plan and cure yourself of diabetes or expect to magically transform into someone in muscle magazine.  It’s tricky, individual and you need the right information.  Types of foods and amounts can vary for each individual.

So what can you do?

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE CONSULT in person, over the phone, or via Skype.  Whether you are dealing with diabetes, trying to lose a few pounds, or even if you have tried and failed multiple times in the past we offer life long, guaranteed results here at The Fit Labs.  We genuinely care about your well being.  It’s too easy for other fitness companies to set you on a path for fast weight loss results to inevitably have you yo-yo back to where you were (or worse) just to get you back into the gym to buy more training.

Let us show you the path the life long health and happiness.  How nice would it be to know what you’re doing to look good, feel good and eat healthy is the right thing to do?

Bonus article: “How to Chose a Personal Trainer”  Click here to request this free download!

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Flat Butt Syndrome!

January 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Treadmill

1. Treadmill, Steppers Ellipticals…oh my!

The first thing most people do when looking to lose a couple pounds is…??? Cardio, right!? And that means get a gym membership and plan on hopping on a “cardio machine” for 45 minutes a day.

STOP! NO! DON’T!

Simply put, treadmills, ellipticals, and Stairmasters are just no good for you and are contradictory to what you are trying to accomplish. Here are a few reasons why treadmills, ellipticals and steppers make you weaker, slower, and fatter!

Let’s take treadmills for instance:

1. “Flat butt syndrome” as we like to call it. Your body uses the muscles in the butt and the back of your legs to propel you forward when walking or running. Now envision yourself on a treadmill. Though the movements you are making seem to be identical to walking or running in a park, something is very different. The ground is essentially pulling you forward. In this situation the muscles in your butt and hamstrings don’t have to propel you forward. Over time if you are an avid treadmill runner or a Stairmaster enthusiast those muscles you thought you were toning back there are actually withering away because they’re not being used, allowing for some really saggy butt cheeks, hence flat butt syndrome.”

Elliptical-Machine

2. It messes with your senses! Everyone experiences “sea legs” when getting off of a treadmill. That near-dizzy, slightly uncoordinated feeling which seems to wear off after a minute or so is exactly what we’re talking about. No matter how much you run on a treadmill there’s no escaping it. This is caused by certain sensory systems becoming confused by the activity. You’re running, and even though we are intelligent human beings with sophisticated brains able to comprehend the fact that we are on a machine, your eyes cannot. Mixed signals are sent to the brain from the visual system because your body is running and nothing is passing you by. Another sensory system, the vestibular, works closely with the visual system and is responsible for balance. It senses the ground you stand on and sends messages to the brain telling you how to adjust your balance so you don’t fall over (and it’s having a really tough time doing so on this strange machine). When you get off of the treadmill your body is suddenly hit with reality and it takes a minute to readjust. This whole process totally freaks out the nervous system making you weaker, slower, and more susceptible to pain and injury.

DSC00206

3. They’re BORING!!! Go outside! Take in some scenery! It’s overall better for your body and more fun. Let us worry about teaching you how to prevent those joint problems people assume they suffer from running outdoors.

So look, if you don’t ever exercise consistently and you decide to start by running on a treadmill six times a weak, of course you’ll see some change in your body… for maybe the first month. But you’ll suffer the consequences! So if you’re serious about shaping up come in or click here for a FREE EVALUATION at The Fit Labs. Everyone needs a trainer so get in the Lab! 

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