christutela

Most people, wake up to an annoying alarm clock, roll over and hit the snooze button 2, 3, 4 and maybe even 5 times.

They rush out of bed, throw on some clothes as they listen to all of the b.s. going on in the world and then rush to a job they hate.

On the way to work they complain about traffic and think about how much today is going to suck.

They get to their job and start the day to day tasks. Reading emails, catching up on work they didn’t finish yesterday, dicking around on Facebook and then… get hit with more work.

They finish late, get out late and feel like they have no time for anything they want to do. Whether it be quality time with family, their significant other, hitting the gym or whatever else.

They feel that this is what life is and only live for the weekend.

These people don’t feel fulfilled, are unsatisfied with their lives and feel like there is no way out.

This is not life.

This is a form of slavery.

A life like this is only tolerated because we are conditioned to believe that this is how it’s supposed to be.

We believe that it’s normal.

Go to college, get a “safe” job, retire and die.

FUCK THAT!

I’m here today to tell you that it is possible to find and do what you love.

I can tell you first hand because I am doing it!

In my early twenties I had no direction. I had no idea what I wanted to do, was broke and depressed. I had been working as a strength coach and enjoyed it, but still had no idea how I could make real money doing it and was unsure if I should get another “real job”.

So I worked other meaningless jobs just to try and make ends meet, which only led me to feeling worse and more confused.

So, I began doing my research about how I could live the life I wanted. How I could go to work every day with a smile on my face and be proud of what I did.

The advice I got came from a mentor in the form of a question. That was…

“What’s your why?”

At first I had no idea. I had to actually take a few days to think about the question.

What the hell does that even mean?

But then, as I thought deeper into the question, it started to click.

I started to ask myself what I can see myself doing and why.

All I could think of was coaching people, whether they were athletes or regular people.

And my “why” was simple.

 I wanted to help people.

I wanted to help people get through their tough times. I wanted to teach people discipline. I wanted to show people that there is always a way out if they were willing to put in the work. I wanted to help people get healthy and live longer. And I wanted to show people the way, that they too COULD do it, through fitness.

Ultimately, I came up with what became our mission statement today. That is to educate, motivate and inspire EVERYONE to become the best version of themselves, mentally and physically.

I have been through some pretty shitty, times. And I wanted to use my story to help other people get through the shit that their going through and teach them how to channel that energy into something positive.

I am certain that if I was never asked the question about my why, I would have never been able to do what I am currently doing.

And that same question is YOUR way out, my friends.

Do you hate your job? Do you feel like you can be doing more? Do you feel like you’re stuck in something you can’t get out of? Do you feel like you’re living life, or merely existing?

If so, ask yourself “what’s my why?”  

What do you get excited about?

What makes the blood pump through your veins a little faster?

What keeps you awake at night?

You may not be sure as you read this, and trust me that’s ok.

I didn’t know at first either.

But stick with the question. The answer will come.

From my own experiences and the people I’ve talked to, I have found that when your why is to serve other people, in one way or another, that is what leads to ultimate fulfillment.

Helping people that are in need is one of the most satisfying things you can do.

You wake up with clarity, with a sense of purpose.

Once that happens, you’ll start jumping out of bed, instead of snoozing. You’ll start getting to work earlier, and getting more done. You will start finding time for the things that are important to you. Trust me, they all go hand in hand.

Mark Twain said “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Pretty fucking powerful.

So, if you feel lost, if you feel sad, unfulfilled or unsatisfied, ask yourself what your why is.

I believe we are all put on this earth for a reason, unfortunately most of us don’t ever try to find out what that purpose is. Because of that, many people are unhappy, and I want to help change that.

Always keep in mind that when the why is clear, the how is easy.

Find out why and you will find a way.

I’ll catch you guys next week.

How do you go about your training regimen?

Do you just pick a few exercises that you enjoy, with a set rep scheme that you just kinda feel like that day?

Do you pick exercises that challenge you, or do you like to stick with the curls and treadmill?

Do you take the easy way out?

If so, your program sucks. Which also means, your results suck.

I put together a list of what every healthy person should be doing to maximize their results.

This list will not only challenge you, but will add muscle and strength, burn fat and help develop the mindset you need to be successful at anything you do.

Grab your pens and paper folks, you might want to take some notes on this one.

1. Squat. Goblet, barbell, back squat, front squat. Stop thinking. Just do it.

2. Press overhead.

3. Pull more than you push. Vertically and horizontally. That will keep the shoulders healthy and get your back yoked!

4. Sprint.

5. Jump rope. Single legs, double legs, double jumps. Get after it.

6. Add in bodyweight training. Dips, push-ups, chin-ups, pull-ups. They are tremendous for building muscle. Get good at them and use different variations.

7. Get strong.

8. Jump. Onto a box, for max height, for max distance, with resistance, without resistance. Jump.

9. Have sex…Often.

10. Sleep 7-9 hours per night. If you have sex often, this shouldn’t be a problem.

11. Eat real, organic, unprocessed food most of the time.

12. Use sandbags, kegs and battle ropes in your program.

13. Use a sled to push heavy shit.

14. Use a sled to pull heavy shit.

15. Throw. Overhead, laterally, soccer style, into the ground.

16. Drink about 1 gallon of purified water daily.

17. Every 10-16 weeks, take a week off of training.

18. Get massages.

19. Do conditioning at least once per week.

20. Hike, swim, run, bike. Don’t overthink. Do.

21. Set goals with a realistic time frame.

22. Always have something to train for.

23. Train pissed off.

24. If someone tries to talk to you while you’re training, make sure they don’t ever try that again.

25. Keep the music loud.

26. Crawl. It will keep the core strong as well as develop strength in the shoulders.

27. Stop wasting money on supplements and do everything  on this list instead.

28. Carry heavy shit for distance or for time.

29. Use single leg exercises like lunges and step-ups.

30. Train your posterior chain more than you currently do, and focus on getting it strong.

31. Spend some time on mobility/flexibility. This is how you stay healthy. Trust me, do it!

32. Hire a qualified coach to teach you what you don’t know how to do.

33. Bring it! Every training session.

34. Don’t make excuses.

35. Create a game plan. When to start. When to finish. What you’ll eat. When you’ll train. Who you’ll train with. When you’ll cook. Everything you need must be planned ahead!

36. Stay committed to your game plan.

If you stick to this list, you will not fail.

I guarantee that you will get better results, in less time.

Enjoy it, guys. Training does not have to be boring and monotonous.

Be creative, work hard and have some damn fun!

Every four years we get to witness the incredible athleticism displayed in the Olympics. Every time I get to watch the events I am more and more impressed in what we are seeing.

The incredible body control and precision of the gymnasts.

The freakishness of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt and all of the other ridiculous athletes.

But there are three very distinct lessons that I’ve taken away from the Olympics this year that I wanted to share with you guys and ways that I relate them to everyday life.

Lesson # 1: Live with Passion

Every athlete has an incredible passion for competing in their sport and representing their country. You can see it in their eyes. The hurt when they lose, or the fire when they are victorious. It’s burning inside each and every one of these athletes.

Most people don’t have that type of passion in their lives and in my opinion is one of the main causes why people are so unhappy. If you have something you are passionate about you will jump out of bed every morning to go do it. Instead of hitting snooze twenty times before you roll out of bed and go to a job you hate.

And if you’re not sure what your passion is, go find it! What’s a hobby you’ve always loved to do? What do you like to read about? What interests you most? Whatever that is just make the time to do it. That passion you discover will help lead you to a happier, more fulfilling life.

It’s the only thing that can push an athlete to put in the type of work they have to in order to compete at the highest level possible.

Lesson # 2: Losses don’t make you a failure

Every athlete competing in the games has the goal of bringing home a gold medal. But the reality is some will take home the silver, the bronze or nothing at all. Does  not taking home the gold make any of those athletes a failure? Hell no! Some will be pushed to work even harder for their next competition. Some will learn valuable lessons from their experience. Either way, they become a better person from it.

If you have a goal that you don’t reach, you are sure as hell not a failure. Unless you quit. But if you try your very best to drop 30 lbs. of fat but only lose 25, that’s no failure! That’s a hell of an accomplishment and you will become a better person from the lessons you’ve learned in the process. As long as you tried your very best and gave it everything you had. And that’s what these Olympians do.

Lesson # 3: Focus

To compete at the highest level possible you need an intense, laser-like focus. You have to know what you want and focus on what needs to be done in order to achieve that.

When you see Michael Phelps before a race you see the focus he possesses. It’s one of the attributes that makes him the best swimmer to ever live. If he said, “ah maybe I’ll be a gymnast, no, maybe I’ll compete in beach volleyball, I’m pretty tall.” He would never have accomplished what he has over the years.

You need to know exactly what you want and then go fucking get it.

Maybe that’s a career change, maybe that’s earning a black belt in Jui Jitsu, whatever it is you have to possess a sharp, singular focus.

In life that doesn’t mean your focus may not change over the years. To continue to use Phelps as an example, now that he’s retired he won’t be focused on winning gold medals anymore. I’m sure his focus will now be on his family and whichever direction he wants to go with his life.

But what’s important to note is that he will now apply that same type of intense focus to whatever it is he wants to do next.

And that’s what we all need to do.

If you begin applying these 3 lessons to your own life I will guarantee you that your life will improve in some way.

Unfortunately, we are surrounded by mediocre minds all day that will try and convince you to be just like them.

Ignore that toxic shit.

This is your life and you deserve to live at the highest level possible.

Now get out there and live it!

Training is a funny thing. You can bust your ass and train hard every day. But if your nutrition sucks you’ll never see the results you can potentially achieve.

Most people in general, don’t eat enough calories, whether their goal is fat loss or strength and performance. At the end of the day we still need to eat enough of the right foods in order to reach our goals.

One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen is people not getting a post workout meal in. I’m here to tell you today that if you aren’t having a meal within 30 minutes after your workout, you are sabotaging your progress.

Here’s why.

When you strength train or perform an intense athletic endeavor, you are actually breaking down muscle tissue. Your anabolic hormones plummet while the stress hormone cortisol increases. As you may know by now cortisol can break down muscular tissue and hold onto body fat.

Also keep in mind that your body uses something called glycogen for energy. Glycogen is stored primarily in muscle tissue as well as the liver. When you strength train your body is using glycogen for energy, which leaves the stores depleted within the muscle.

You are also creating tiny micro tears in the muscle fibers by lifting weights. So when you are training, you are literally breaking down your muscle. In order for that muscle to grow however, you need two more things.

Food and sleep.

Which is why you want to start the recovery process and eat immediately following your workout.

Another important factor to note is insulin.

Insulin, is a highly anabolic hormone, which is a major reason why you want that spike with QUALITY food immediately following your workout.

By now hopefully you realize the importance of post workout nutrition. So let’s move on and get into some post workout meals.

Your post workout meal should consist of two things, protein and carbohydrates.

Since you want to start the recovery process right away, you want foods that are quickly digested. Keep in mind that real food is always the best way to go for any meal. But for simplicity, a high quality whey protein shake could certainly be useful here.

Either way, here are some options for protein:

– High quality, natural whey protein

– Fish

– Chicken breast

– Lean ground turkey breast

For carbohydrates:

– Banana

– White rice

– Baked potato

– Maltodextrin powder (if your goal is to gain mass)

Any combination of the foods listed will do just fine. The important thing is that you are eating within 30 minutes after your workout.

Remember this is a must if you are serious about making some Gainz!

Take your nutrition as serious as you take your training and you will be on the road to success.

Despite what some may say, stay away from boat loads of sugary foods like ice cream, cereal and other shit that your gym’s meathead may recommend. The quality of your nutrients are what matter most for your health and progress.

So stay away from any of those wild potions out there!

If you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email at info@tutelatraining.com.

Until next time, my friends.

Peace!

Most people that want to drop body fat think of one thing. Cardio, cardio cardio!

And sometimes these people will see some progress. They’ll be dropping weight on the scale and even looking a little better, especially if they were doing nothing prior to this weight cut.

But then… it happens!

You start to get bored, and old habits creep back up on you. You slowly start to pack on more body fat and before you know it, you’re right back at square one!

Today, I’m here to divert your destiny of the ups and downs of fat loss!

I want to teach you guys the most common mistakes to avoid when trying to drop fat, and precisely what to do instead!

The approach to sustainable fat loss that I’m about to teach you has been time tested and proven to work over and over again.

I just need YOU to trust the process and follow through to the letter. If you choose to deviate then I cannot guarantee you the incredible results you will see if you do exactly what I say.

With all that being said, let’s get to it!

Mistake # 1: Doing nothing but steady state cardio:

Most people think that spending hours upon hours on a treadmill or running miles upon miles is going to get them abs. As I mentioned earlier, some people will start to lose body fat and scale weight. However, the problem occurs once they get to a certain point and can’t lose another pound! Been there before?

Here’s why this happens.

The more lean muscle mass you have on your frame, the faster your metabolism will work, since muscle is highly metabolic. The faster your metabolism works, the more fat you’ll burn.

When you do nothing but cardio you will also be losing a significant amount of muscle, along with body fat. So even though what you’re doing may seem to be effective, you will also be shooting yourself in the foot in the long run, since you’ll be slowing down your metabolism by burning all this muscle.

Now if you enjoy going for a jog it’s not my place to tell you not to do it. Also, if you are overweight and looking to get started, don’t get frustrated by what I’m telling you and choose to do nothing instead. Something is 1000000 x’s better than nothing. That’s for sure, so don’t think you’ve been wasting time.

What I am telling you will just be much more efficient with more sustainable results.

Here’s the remedy.

Solution to mistake # 1: Weight train 3-4 days per week, 45 min to 1 hour per day and do cardio/conditioning 2-3 days per week, 20-40 min per day. Take 1 day per week off for recovery. I recommend hill sprints, jumping rope and bleachers for conditioning.

Mistake # 2: Starving yourself

I see it time and time again. People think that not eating is going to get them looking shredded. Instead, they end up looking like a starving animal from one of those Sarah McLachlan commercials (They get me every time). The problem with eating extremely low calories is the same problem that I mentioned before. Since you need to eat enough food in order to build or at least maintain muscle mass, starving yourself will only lead to you working backwards in the long run. Plus, combine a shit ton of cardio and not eating enough, you’ll soon be at the dreaded “skinny fat” look which nobody wants! On top of that you’ll be tired all the time and weak as piss.

So here’s what you do!

Solution to mistake # 2: You eat 5-7 meals per day. Each meal should be based on a lean source of protein. Your total protein for the day only needs to be about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. So if you are 200 lbs. you need no more than 200 grams of protein per day.

You will also need healthy fats, like nuts and avocados, carbohydrates like fruit, rice and potatoes, and a fuck ton of veggies.

Without getting too specific, eat your carbs surrounding your workout and in the morning. Have some fat at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and eat at least three servings of veggies per day.

If you do that you will feel fed, strong and healthy. Eventually you will need to take a closer look at your calories, but for now start the process by teaching yourself how to eat more frequently and to eat high quality foods.

Mistake # 3: Lifting with all high reps

When the goal is losing fat, people tend to want to make their strength training sessions into another cardio session. They want to use weights that are super light, and crank them out for tons of reps. Combine this style of training with a caloric deficit and you will get weaker and smaller. And now you know if you’re losing muscle you are doing yourself a huge disservice.

Solution to mistake # 3: Weight training is about getting bigger and stronger, so focus on that. If you are a total newbie to the iron game you can even gain muscle during a fat loss phase. If you’re advanced your goal should be to maintain strength and size. To do that, keep the weights heavy and the reps low. Your diet and conditioning will dictate the amount of fat you lose.

Of course you can make your training interesting and throw in back off sets and finishers after your strength work. Just don’t have that be the primary focus of your training.

Mistake # 4: Spending too much time in the gym

If you are training hard, spending hours on end in the gym will leave you over-trained and beat up. Spending three hours in the gym is counterproductive.

Here’s why…

When you train, your body begins to produce anabolic hormones like testosterone and growth hormone. Once you reach the 45 min. mark those hormonal levels begin to decrease. Around one hour, your body begins to produce high amounts of the stress hormone cortisol, which is extremely catabolic and detrimental to muscular tissue.

Cortisol can also hold onto body fat like a mother fucker.

Ain’t that a kick to the nuts.

Solution to mistake # 4: Keep your workouts short and sweet. Go in, warm-up, train hard and heavy, and go home. 45-60 minutes is all you need if you’re training smart.

Mistake # 5: Deviating from your nutritional plan too frequently

If there is one mistake that will squash your fat loss dreams it’s this one.

Remember this… If you want to lose fat, whether it be 10 lbs. or 100 lbs. you need to keep your diet perfect. If you don’t have a plan or any thought of what you’re going to eat, or prepare your meals, you will fail. You can’t expect to go into something blind and come out successful. You need a smarter approach.

Here’s how you do it…

Solution to mistake # 5: First come up with a date that you will begin your meal plan. Second, come up with an end date that this initial phase will be complete. Usually, that’s about 12 weeks. However, there are times that 8-10 weeks is enough time.

Whatever that time frame is, choose it and honor that time frame.

After you pick your start and end date, decide what you will eat and how many meals you will eat per day, I usually recommend six meals per day, spaced about 2-3 hours apart. Write it down on paper meal by meal. That will make your plan real!

The next step is preparation. You have to shop for your food BEFORE your start date. Then, I usually recommend cooking a bunch of food, twice per week. Prepare your chicken breasts, hard boiled eggs, turkey breast, potatoes, rice and veggies. This process usually takes about an hour, so really you are only committing about two hours per week to this preparation. This way, you’ll be covered for the next 3-4 days.

This last step is the biggest. Commitment and execution!

You have a goal. Achieving this goal it will not be easy, although the recipe is simple. You just have to remember why you started this process and stay committed to the plan. This doesn’t mean you can’t go out with friends, go to dinners and have fun. In fact, I highly recommend that! Having fun is a must! You just have to be smart and not seek instant gratification. If you’re going to drink alcohol, go with the vodka and club over the rum and coke.

If you’re going to dinner order grilled fish and veggies, a salad with chicken breast, an omelet, whatever the cleanest option is. The important thing is that you stay focused and committed to your goal.

Execution is as simple is having a plan, preparing for it and following through. Yes this will take effort. Yes this will take time. But if you don’t follow through with consistent execution of your meal prep and eating, you will be hungry and more tempted to grab a slice of pizza. Trust in the process, work hard and watch the fat poor off and your life change!

I really hope this helps guys.

If you have any questions feel free to shoot an email over to info@tutelatraining.com or drop a comment below.

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It would really mean the world to us.

Thanks for reading guys!

I’ll catch you all next week!