Week 9 Transformation Challenge

Hello OwnPace family, welcome back to week 9 of your transformation challenge! If you are reading this, then that means that you have completed 8 weeks of the challenge, so congrats to you! If you are reading this for the first time, it is never too late to start the challenge.

For this week of the challenge I will expose truths vs. myths about fitness and health. The goal is to help you understand what is really going to help you on your fitness journey and what is going to hinder your success.

Myth: Women that lift weights will get big and bulky.

Fact: Women do not create anywhere as much testosterone as men do in order for this to happen. In fact, lifting weights is great to help women get strong, toned and burn calories.    

Myth: Fat spot reduction works.

Fact: Many people think that you can do ab workouts every day and lose their gut. Unfortunately, this is not true and it is a wasted effort if your diet is not on point. When we lose body fat, we lose it as a whole and not in a specific place. We must combine nutritious portion controlled food with exercise in order to create a calorie deficit in our body, therefore losing body fat.                                                                            

Myth: Squats are bad for your knees.

Fact: Contrary to popular belief, there is NOT a lot of evidence that links squats to knee pain. When squatting it is extremely important to keep the weight light enough to keep your form good.                

Myth: You need to intake tons of protein after your workout.

Fact: Your body can only ingest about 15 grams of protein per meal. The rest is excreted out of your body. With a proper diet, you shouldn’t have to supplement with extra protein.

Myth: Stretching before a workout greatly reduces the risk of injury.

Fact: I think people tend to get confused with the different types of stretching, therefore end up doing the wrong stretch before and after workouts. The two types of stretching are dynamic stretching and static stretching. Dynamic stretching involves more movement based stretches and should be done before your workout to warm and loosen your body up. For example, trunk twist-10 to each side. Static stretches are more held stretches for recovery and should be done after your workout. For example, touching your toes to stretch out the hamstrings and holding for 10-15 seconds.

Myth: Machines are better than free weights.

Fact: Don’t get me wrong, machines serve their purpose for people with injuries or little to no experience. In general, free weights give you a better range of motion and is a more functional workout. The body is not made work in one plane of movement.                                                                                  

Myth: The more you sweat the more calories you burn.

Fact: Just because you sweat a lot during a workout, it does not mean that you burn a lot of calories unfortunately. Sweating is simply the bodies way of autoregulating your internal temperature. Working out in the sun for example will lead you to sweat more.

Myth: If you don’t feel sore after a workout, then you didn’t work out hard enough.

Fact: Just because you stop being sore after doing certain workouts, it doesn’t mean that the workout is not effective. Just as long as you are progressively overloading (increasing the weights and/or intensity), then you will be just fine.

Myth: You should find one type of exercise and stick to it.

Fact: Your exercise program should consist of a combination of exercises including strength, cardio, and mobility. This will allow you to obtain optimal results, internally and externally.

Myth: You can get lasting results in 30 days.

Fact: In this instant gratification society we live in today, everyone wants results right now. We see tons of “30-day diets” that may allow us to lose weight quickly, but unfortunately we put the weight back on just as fast. This is because 30-day diets typically consist of major changes that are not sustainable. In order to keep the weight off, you need to make daily small changes to both your diet and workouts that will become habits, which in turn will last a lifetime.

I hope these myths and facts were valuable and helped you learn something new that could help you push towards your health and fitness goals. If you have absolutely any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

Have a great and productive week!

Marcos

Transformation Challenge Week 6 - 8 Part 2: The perfect balance between eating right and training smart

Hey, 

I'm back with more goodies. These next 3 weeks will be a game changer for your transformation if you stick with it. Here you have the tools for guaranteed success.

Now that we are done with that extreme 3-day diet, it’s time to do something more sustainable that we can apply for the rest of our lives.

The idea here is once you’ve taken off the first several pounds, then just combine good nutritional principles with regular exercise and watch the transformation happen.

* The great thing about this phase is it can pertain to any goal. Whether your goal is weight loss or muscle gain, you just have to adjust some variables but the same principles apply.

But of course, we are still going to start with nutrition (better eating).

Step 1: We need to know how much we need to be eating

•       Download “myfitnesspal” app if you don’t already have it

•       Create an account and enter your information

•       It will give you a calorie goal for the goal you enter

Once you have that number it makes your fitness journey extremely simple and intuitive.

It also gives you full accountability of your goals, you can no longer say “I don’t know” or make any other excuse.

If you want to lose weight and you are eating more than the calorie goal stated, you will not lose any weight and most likely gain weight. Same goes for muscle gain, if you are not eating enough.

Step 2: We need to know what we should be eating

I know we’ve all heard about Macronutrients and Micronutrients, but what are they?

Our bodies are pretty complicated, meaning that they have a whole lot of nutritional needs in order to survive and function. The composition of our diet is essential to meeting these needs and therefore it’s important to understand the two different types of nutrients. It can be split into: macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).

The three macronutrients all have their own specific roles and functions in the body and supply us with calories or energy. 

Good sources of Macronutrients

Protein: Meat, Fish, Chicken, Beans, pulses and legumes, seeds (hemp, chia, flax), nuts (unsalted), quinoa, avocado, beets, raw greens (kale, spinach).

Carbohydrate: Rice, quinoa, potatoes, apples, bananas, cauliflower, carrots, oats, brown rice, millet, quinoa, chickpeas, kidney beans.

Fat: Almonds, walnuts, seeds (pumpkin, chia), olives, avocados

Micronutrients are not needed in the same quantities as macros, however are still equally as important. Micronutrients work in tandem with macronutrients to keep the body functioning and are crucial in order to maintain energy levels, metabolism, cellular function, and physical and mental wellbeing.

Step 3: Portion Control; how much of each nutrient do we need?

Here are several options to help you visualize how much you should be eating of your macro and micronutrients.

Step 4: The workouts

Here we have the training to accompany this phase of your transformation.  The cardio burns calories, but the resistance training helps you lose fat. Regular exercise at the very least helps keep you from gaining fat.

3 days a week + 1 optional day

One day break between training days

Day 1: Upper Body

1. PUSH UP VARIATION – to failure

2. RENEGADE ROWS – 15 reps each arm

3. LATERAL RAISES variation (dumbbell, bands, cables) – 15 reps

4. FRONT RAISES variation (dumbbell, plates, bands, cables)   – 15 reps

5. STANDING ARNOLD PRESS (kettle bell or dumbbell)– 15 reps

*Perform exercises in circuit fashion with 30 seconds between each exercise if needed.

*Take a 60 second break

* Select an appropriate weight that provides a challenge (easy doesn’t create change)

*Complete 4rounds

Day 2: Cardio & Core

EMOM (which stands for every minute on the minute) is a type of interval workout where you perform a specific task at the start of every minute for a set amount of time. Whatever time is left on the clock after you perform the set number of reps is your break till the next minute hits.

Minute 1: 10 burpees

Minute 2: 12 box jumps or tuck jumps

Minute 3: 40 jumping Jacks

7 rounds total

AB Circuit

• Heels to heaven
• Crossover crunch
• Toe touches
• Bird dogs

30 seconds each exercise

3 rounds

 Day 3: Lower body

1.     Squat Press Variation (Dumbbell, Kettlebell, or barbell)  -15 reps

2.     Lunge curl – 15 reps each leg

3.     Lateral lunge + Knee raise – 15 reps each leg

After the lateral lunge, raise the same knee once you get back up

4.     Squat + Hammer curl – 15 reps

5.     Jump jack press – 15 reps

*Perform exercises in circuit fashion with 30 seconds between each exercise if needed.

*Take a 60 second break

* Select an appropriate weight that provides a challenge (easy doesn’t create change)

*Complete 4rounds

Day 4: Repeat Cardio

Now lets go get some amazing result!!!

Have a wonderful day, 

Olan

Transformation Challenge Week 6 -8 Part 1: You can't out train a bad diet

Hey there,

Let me start by saying if you completed the 3-day diet, Congratulations!!! You are willing to do what it takes to lose weight and transform your body.

Don’t forget to send me your feedback and results. I lost 6.5lbs of excess fat.

One pointer from the diet you should think about; if day 1 was extremely difficult and you struggled through it, i.e. you were very hungry, had no energy, was very tired etc. then you are currently eating way too much because day one was not as restrictive as the other days.

Anyway.. So why did we have to go through such an extreme diet? Well besides the fact that we needed something to jumpstart the fat loss process by creating a caloric deficit, it boils down to simple math.

Think of the hardest workout you can ever do?

How many calories do you think you burn from your workouts?

Regardless of how hard you think you train you don’t burn enough calories to cause fat loss if you don’t have a good nutrition plan to go with it.

Please watch the video below all the way through… it shows the correlation between your workouts and weight loss and also your nutrition and weight loss.

After watching this video, you should fully understand why you can't out train a bad diet and why your nutrition and training go hand in hand.

I don't want you wasting your efforts, money or time. I want you to train and eat smarter and get the best results possible.

Look out for part 2..

Until next time, 

Olan

Transformation Challenge Week 5: How to lose up to 10lbs in 3 days Part II

Hey there,

It's me again.

From the last post the main focus was establishing the simple rule “fat loss will only happen if you are in a state of sustained caloric deficit”. As we know it can be very frustrating working out hard and eating “clean” but seeing no changes on the scale or in body fat.

As we said, the guaranteed way to ensure you are in a caloric deficit is to be on a structured eating plan where you know for sure you are not eating in excess of your daily requirements.

Now that we have that out the way, the first diet we will use is a 3-day diet to ignite the fat loss process. This diet ensures we are in a caloric deficit regardless of your current eating habits. It worked out perfectly that this week is a holiday week and most of us will be making poor food and drink choices until Tuesday. So this diet will run from Wednesday the 5th of July to Friday the 7th of July.

For the record, I’ve done this diet myself and will tell you upfront, it will not be easy to finish. But this will also allow you to answer the question: Are you really willing to do what it takes to lose weight and transform your body?

Step 1: The grocery list

Below are the items you will be consuming on the 3 days of this diet.

A loaf of whole wheat bread

A Grapefruit

Natural Peanut Butter

2 Cans of Tuna

Half Dozen eggs

3 bananas

Reduced sugar or low fat vanilla Ice cream (try halo top)

Salt free saltine crackers

Pre sliced cheddar cheese

2 small apples

3-ounce piece of any meat

1 Cup of fresh green beans

Broccoli (the steam bags are the easiest)

Carrots (the steam bags are the easiest)

Coffee or tea of your choice (must contain caffeine)

1 cup of Cottage cheese (you can use plain Greek yogurt)

Step 2: Track beginning state

Record your weight on the night of 4th of July

Take pictures (front, side, back)

Step 3: The Diet

DAY 1:

Breakfast

1/2 Grapefruit

1 Slice of toast

2 Tablespoons of peanut butter

1 plain tasteless bittercup of black coffee or tea ( with caffeine)

Lunch

1/2 cup of tuna ( the whole 4 oz can)

1 Slice of toast

1 plain tasteless bittercup of black coffee or tea ( with caffeine)

Dinner ( The best dinner you will have in the 3 days)

3 ounces of any meant ( use thyme, pepper, MS dash seasoning salt, fresh garlic, parsley to season,) ( guys can have a 4 ounce piece of meat as a 100 calorie add on )

1 cup of green beans

1/2 banana

1 small apple

1 cup of vanilla ice cream

If you have survived welcome to...

DAY 2

Breakfast

 1 Egg

1 Slice of plain toast

1/2 banana

Lunch

1 Cup of cottage cheese ( or approved substitute)

1 hard boiled egg

5 saltine crackers

Dinner

2 hot dogs ( 3 if you're a guy as an added 100 calorie bonus, try to get turkey hot dogs they are only 70 calories)

1 Cup of broccoli

1/2 cup of carrots

1/2 banana

1/2 cup of ice cream

Don't quit now!! You've already consumed that terrible dinner let's finish strong

DAY 3

Breakfast

5 saltine crackers

1 slice of cheddar cheese

1 small apple

Lunch

1 hard boiled egg ( or scrambled basically however you like to eat eggs make them that way)

1 slice of toast

Dinner

1 cup of tuna

1/2 banana

1 cup of ice cream

If you are still hungry after this just go to bed!!! Lol no need to ruin what you've done in 3 days

Step 4: Track your results

Weight yourself immediately you wake up on Saturday July 8th.

Take pictures (front, side, back)

Step 5: Feedback

Let me know how it went for you. The good, the bad, the ugly: Did you lose any weight? What were the challenging parts? Were you able to finish? Etc.

Please note: we are only doing this for 3 days. I wouldn't advice you to utilize this as your primary diet. However, it’s a good tool to have in your secret box to utilize if you have a short time to lose some extra pounds.

TIPS

•       If you don't want to do the ice cream, you can eat and additional piece of meat

•       Sip water throughout the day ( flavor your waters with lemon and different fruit and herbs)

•       Since you will have minimal energy on this diet, try to keep your workout to a minimum

Transformation Challenge week 5: How to lose up to 10lbs in 3 days

Hi OwnPace Family,

Hope you have enjoyed and found value in the first 4 weeks of the transformation challenge.

Now, welcome to week 5 of your transformation, we are about to kick things into higher gear. This is where you find out if you are willing to actually do what it takes to lose fat and transform your body for the better. This is a very important phase of the program because nothing else works if we don’t understand and apply this principle.

Remember in week one when I said there is no magic, well lets really look at what it takes to lose weight and this is not a secret either, everyone knows it.

To lose weight, you have to be in a state of sustained caloric deficit. And yes, physical activity such as working out plays its role, but when it comes to weight loss, nothing happens if you are not in a sustained caloric deficit. That is why a lot of people get frustrated when trying to lose weight. I hear it all the time, “I eat pretty good”, “I workout 3-4 times a week” but I’m not losing any weight. The answer is very simple, you are not in a caloric deficit so you will not be losing any weight.

Ok ok, what is a caloric deficit? It simply means to lose weight you have to eat fewer calories than you burn each day. And if you are not in this state for a sustained period of time, meaning not just one day, you will not be losing any weight, even if you workout everyday.

To lose weight initially, the emphasis has to be on reducing caloric intake rather than increasing physical activity. That’s why with my clients that train with me 2 – 3 days a week is all we need.

So now, how do we get into a state of sustained caloric deficit? We need a structured eating plan to make sure you consume fewer calories than you burn.

The first path we are going to take is a pretty hard one that will definitely put anybody in a caloric deficit and then in the following weeks we’ll scale it back.

Please keep an eye out for the next post for details; it should be up by tomorrow morning.

Transformation Challenge 2017 Weeks 3+4

Welcome back OwnPace Family!

If you are reading this, it most likely means that you have completed the first two weeks of the challenge and you should be extremely proud of yourself for that! If you have not started the Transformation challenge it is never to late to start!

The first few weeks will definitely be tough, but like my partner Olan stated in the last blog post, just trust the process and the results will come.

·      Reminder! Please share this with as many people as you can, as our goal is to change as many lives as possible. This is why we are providing this for FREE!!

·      If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask. Olan and I try to respond to all inquiries within a 24-hour turn around.

Week 3 and 4: Hydration and Recovery

 Today I am going to cover two very important topics.

First, I will go over hydration.

The adult human body is made up of about 60% water, therefore it is very important to stay hydrated throughout the day. The amount of water you should consume varies and is dependant on many variables, but generally an adult male needs about 3 liters per day and an adult female needs about 2.2 liters per day. Now, we must remember, some of this water is absorbed through food and other beverages we consume daily.

Some of the benefits of drinking water include, but are not limited to:

1.     Forming saliva

2.     Regulating body temperature through sweat and respiration

3.     Flushing body waste, mainly urine

4.     Helping keep energy levels high

5.     Lubricating joints

6.     Helping deliver oxygen all over the body

Remember to drink water throughout the day. Some people rely on sports drinks for hydration especially after a workout, but the problem is that they tend to have a lot of unnecessary sugar. Instead, you can add fruit to your water for some natural flavoring and added electrolytes. 

The second topic I will cover is recovery. 

Recovery is very important to hitting your fitness goals whether that’s to lose weight or put on muscle mass. Studies show that about 40% of Americans get six hours of sleep or fewer per night, which is not good. According to experts we should be getting about 7-8 hours of sleep in order for our bodies to operate with optimum performance.

A few key benefits of getting sufficient sleep every night are that it:

·      Stops late-night snacking

·      Helps burn more calories

·      Boosts fat Loss

·      Keeps brain focused

·      Repairs muscle and other tissue (for those looking to increase muscle mass)

Some tips and tricks for a better night’s sleep are:

·      Shut down all electronics an hour before you go to bed

·      Meditate or read before going to bed

·      Wake up and go to bed at the same time everyday, even on weekends

·      Avoid eating heavy meals or alcohol close to bedtime

When you get enough sleep every night, you are going to think clearly, feel energized, and have a better day. Since you will be more energized, going to the gym will not be as big as of a challenge. You will also be less fatigued as your complete your workouts.

Speaking of workouts, time to take it to the next level. If you have completed the first two weeks of workouts, your body should be conditioned and acclimated, so we will introduce a few tools to make our workouts a bit more challenging.

3 days of total body exercises and 1 day of cardio

Use the warm up and stretch below before completing each workout.

Warm up:

·      Jog in place, Jumping jacks and jump squats

·      2 rounds 30 seconds each

·      Increase effort each round

Stretch:

·      Worlds greatest stretch

·      2 rounds each side

·      Hold each position for 5 seconds 

Day 1 Full Body

·      Weighted overhead ball slams or Burpees (if you do not have access to medicine ball)

·      Bent over row with dumbbells

·      Squat to overhead press with dumbbells

·      Kettle bell swing

·      Lunge to curl

·      Lateral raise balancing on one leg

·      Mountain climbers

·      Plank

·      Repeat for 3-4 rounds

·      Do each exercise for 30 seconds with 1 minute break after each round

Day 2 Upper Body

·      Dumbbell chest press or push ups

·      Renegade row

·      Arnold press

·      Superset-tricep dips with dumbbell bicep curls

Ab Superset

·      Crunches

·      Russian twist

·      Leg lifts

·      Repeat for 3-4 rounds

·      Do 12-15 reps of each exercise with 1 minute rest after each round

Day 3 Lower Body

Superset

·      Goblet Squat/Straight leg deadlift

Superset

·      Walking lunges/Step ups with dumbbells

·      Weighted glute bridge

·      Plank

·      Side Planks

·      Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps of each exercise. Superset implies to do exercise one after another. Hold Planks for 30 seconds each.

Day 4 Cardio

For your cardio check out OwnPace June Run Challenge below.

http://www.ownpaceathletics.com/new-blog/runchallenge

Let us know how you are doing and if you have any questions.

Marcos

OwnPace Transformation Challenge 2017

The #1 rule to this challenge is, there is no magic or shortcuts. You have to do the work, make better choices, make sacrifices and be accountable.

The #2 rule is, be honest with yourself. Only you know if you are giving 100% to the workouts and what you are fueling your body with.

The #3 rules is BELIEVE.  You have to believe in yourself that you can truly transform your health and body. Then you have to trust the process and I’ll take care of the rest.

Before we go into the program, I have a few favors to ask you

·      Take photos of your current status (Front, side and back view) so we can track your progress

·      Please share this with as many people as you can, as my goal is to change as many lives as possible, that is why this is FREE!!!

·      Ask as many questions as you can throughout the process

Week 1 and 2: The Foundation

First things first, no amount of training you do will matter if you don’t take care of your nutrition. Notice I didn’t say diet. However, I’m not a big fan of very strict diets because, one, they are not sustainable and two, most people gain the weight right back when they get off the diet.

So we are going to keep it really simple for the first two weeks and build on this.

For the next 12 weeks and beyond, this is a very simple nutritional practice to follow to ensure you are not hindering your results.

1.     3 Balanced meals a day + snacks if needed.

a.     A balanced meal should contain carbs (fruits and vegetables included), protein and healthy fats

A simple example will be something like this

•  Upon Waking: Lukewarm lemon water with apple cider vinegar
• Breakfast: Eggs, Green drink, side of fruit
• Lunch: Chicken, rice, veggies
• Snack: Protein shake or protein bar, apple, green drink
• Dinner: Your choice of protein + your choice of carbs + your choice of veggies

2.     Eat earth-grown nutrients and stay away from processed foods as much as possible.

3.     Reduce or preferably eliminate alcohol intake

Now for the workout, we are going to start with just body weight exercises in these first two weeks to give you time to get acclimated.

3 days of total body exercises and 1 day cardio

Warm up:

·      Jog in place, Jumping jacks and jump squats

o   2 rounds 30 seconds each

o   Increase effort each round

Stretch:

·      Worlds greatest stretch

·      2 rounds each side

·      Hold each position for 5 seconds

Workout. 2-3 days a week

• Body weight squats 25
• Push Ups 20
• Superman 15
• Pull ups 10 (optional)
• Reverse Lunges 10 each leg
• Walkouts 8
• Burpees 6
• Wall sits 30 secs
• Glute bridge 30 secs
• Side plank 30sec each side
• Plank walks 30 secs
• Repeat for 3 – 6 rounds
• 1 minute break after each round
• For your cardio check out OwnPace June Run Challenge below.

http://www.ownpaceathletics.com/new-blog/runchallenge

Let me know how you are doing and if you have any questions,

Olan

OwnPace Transformation Challenge 2017 pt 1

Transformation Challenge 2017

At OwnPace, we have come up with a process to show you exactly how we design our programs and how we guarantee your results.

Starting June 5th @fitbymarcos and I will be going on a 12 week program creation process (aka transformation) to take ourselves into even greater levels of health & fitness.

As you can see we both have different goals. I will be focused primarily on dropping body fat and Marcos will be focused on putting on some more muscle mass. 

We will be documenting every aspect of the process over the next 12 weeks from nutrition, to training methodology, to sleep, to alcohol consumption and whatever else affects the process. 

What's in it for you?

The documentation & results of the process will be OwnPace Athletics's (2) new programs. One for Fat Loss and one for Muscle gain. 

Excited about putting this together for you guys. The beauty in this is you get to see the program work first hand before you try it. 

Stay tuned

OwnPace 2017 Run Challenge

Join OwnPace Athletics for a more movement challenge. 

The main objective is just to move a little more than you normally would. Add a couple more steps to your daily routine. 

Even though it's called a "run challenge" you can just walk or jog. 

So for the month of June:

Level 1: 30 miles (approximately 1mile a day)

Level 2: 45 miles (approximately 1.5miles a day)

Level 3: 60 miles (approximately 2 miles a day)

To participate, just add us on the "nike run club" app and keep track of where you are on the leader board.

Use: Olan OwnPace or olanadeyemi@gmail.com to add me on the app.

Consistency & Sacrifices

Hey there, 

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend. I just wanted to share a quick message with you.

As you all know, when it comes to your training and nutrition, at ownpace we take mostly an 80/20 approach (for good reason) and sometimes we can go 90/10 or even 100/0 when we need to. When you think LONGEVITY and SUSTAIABILITY, it helps you paint a better picture of how you should approach your training and eating, i.e. one missed workout is not cause for alarm. However, on the flip side, when you have short term goals, every detail becomes that much more important.

Simply put, the quicker and more transformative you want your results the more sacrifices you have to make especially with your nutrition. For example, if you want to lose body fat, Alcohol, sodas, sugary and processed foods cannot be a part of that equation.

Lastly, 

Remember that your body is not a reflection of what you do some of the time. It’s a reflection of what you do MOST of the time. Be consistent and watch your body and performance transform.

Until next time, 

Olan Adeyemi