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Nobody is perfect.

We have all made mistakes. We have all done things we are not proud of. We all have some things we wish we would have done differently and have things in life we wish were better.

Many of us wish we were dealt a different hand.

But here’s the reality.

You don’t have the ability to change the hand you were dealt, nor do we have the ability to change the past.

It’s over. Done with.

What we do have however is the ability to control our future.

We are the ones that decide our fate from here on out.

We can choose to stay in a depression from the fucked up things that have happened to us.

Or, we can choose to learn from our past, learn from our dark times; our suffering, and move on.

You can grow from what has happened, and become a better you because of it.

I can speak from experience and say that you can truly get better from tough times, regardless of how bad they may seem.

Growing up I have been faced with many difficult times within my family. I have dealt with anger, pain, confusion and heartache.

At times it was difficult to focus on things that were important.

You are constantly stuck in a world consumed by the problems surrounding you.

There are times that you are consumed with nothing but anger and pain.

But what I have learned over the years is that you cannot focus on trying to control the uncontrollable.

You must realize that some people are going to do what they are going to do, no matter what you say or do.

So why waste your energy?

Instead, channel that energy into something positive. Think of a goal that you want to accomplish and put that energy that is cooped up inside of you towards that.

For instance, when I was 20 years old I began putting my anger into every workout I performed. My pain became my fuel for hard work and commitment to my goals.

With that, I started making true progress in my training.

Once I started achieving success in my training, I learned that I had control over myself.

So, I began putting that same energy into starting my own business.

I relentlessly studied and applied the material that I was learning, which led to me opening up my own, unofficial business in 2009.

I continued to get better as a coach through my efforts, which led to me working even harder.

Studying and applying this knowledge on myself and my clients.

In 2012 I had a decent sized following so I decided it was time to open up my own shop!

That said, in June of 2012 Tutela Training Systems, LLC was born.

As my reputation as a coach continued to grow, I was able to take on the job as head strength and conditioning coach for Union High School football!

A great opportunity where I worked for 2 seasons while continuing to grow my business.

Since then, my reputation is still growing as TTS continues to get bigger and bigger.

Now, please don’t take that story the wrong way. I am not trying to brag by any means.

I am simply trying to tell you that something beautiful can come from darkness.

Joy can come from pain.

I was able to channel the negativity surrounding me into something positive.

I was so pissed off, all the time and due to that I was able to put that energy into my passion.

And you can do the same. You just have to be willing to.

You have to accept the things that are out of your control, and focus solely on what you can control.

And that starts with yourself.

No matter how hard things may seem at times you have to keep going.

Have faith in yourself that things will get better, and be willing to put in the work necessary to achieve greatness.

In Japanese mythology the lotus flower is a great example of this.

The lotus flower grows at the bottom of a dark, dirty pond. Once the flower blooms it rises to the surface, fully bloomed and beautiful, representing that something beautiful can come from the darkness you were born in.

That story has been able to give me some extra motivation through my tough times, and I hope it can do the same for you.

If you are currently going through something difficult, whatever that may be, remember that it won’t last.

You will get through this, so don’t let it consume you now.

Trust me, you are tougher than you think.

Keep your head up and focus on the greatness that is living inside of you.

Find that greatness and put it to work, you owe it to yourself and the world around you.

Maybe one day you will be able to help the people in need because of it.

Stay strong, and be great.

Catch you guys next week.

The dreaded idea of losing any ounce of muscle while training for fat loss can make me cringe.

All year you’ve put in the work.

Hit the gym hard consistently, never missed a meal and you are happy with the outcome.

You’ve put on pretty nice size and are ready to get your body fat down to single digits.

Now here comes the nightmare… After a few months of “cutting” you are noticeably getting weaker and losing muscle!

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

How can this be happening?!?!

You wanted to get ripped, not emaciated and weak as piss!

The truth is, this happens way too often but it can certainly be avoided and I’m here to show you how!

My intent is to provide you the information needed to maintain that hard earned muscle and strength while getting your body fat down to the bone! Simply follow these guidelines and you will be on your way to a strong, lean, ripped physique that can help enable you to smash all the cheeks you hope for this summer!

So, pay attention!

Rule # 1: Do NOT completely cut out carbohydrates 

Carbohydrates are essential for muscle recovery. If you cut them out completely, you will lose strength and muscle. If you keep them too low, you will lose strength and muscle. But of course you need to monitor and control your carbohydrate consumption if your goal is to lose fat, and you also have to understand that the quality of nutrients that you put into your body will have a direct impact on your physique and performance.

With that said, I prefer cycling my carbohydrates during a fat loss phase, where for 3 days I keep my carbohydrates low, and every fourth day I cycle in a higher carbohydrate day. The high carb day is critical for helping maintain strength and muscle.

But please consider where the carbs are coming from. Are they earth grown? Like potatoes, rice and fruit? Or are they processed, man-made crap?

You obviously don’t want to base your carb intake on the latter if getting lean is your goal. Keep the carbs in, but monitor them wisely.

Rule # 2: Always train to get bigger and stronger

They gym is a place to get big and strong. Your diet will dictate how much fat you lose.

With that said, whenever people begin a fat loss phase they tend to do way more volume, meaning a lot more sets, a lot more reps. In addition, supersets, drop sets and pump sets become the staples in their programming.

For the natural lifter, that can destroy the hard earned strength and muscle you recently gained.

That’s not to say that some of that stuff doesn’t have its place. It does. Sometimes.

But you should focus on trying to improve or at least maintain your strength during a fat loss phase. For advanced lifters it gets tough to get your numbers up every week while cutting your calories back. So don’t get discouraged. Simply keep your reps somewhere between 3-6 reps on your big lifts, with some back off sets from time to time.

For the accessory stuff you can work in the rep ranges of 8-12.

Following those guidelines will ensure that you stay strong and maintain the size you packed on over the winter months.

Rule # 3: Kick steady state cardio to the curb

Hours spent on a treadmill, recumbent bike or elliptical bore me to death. Not only are they boring, they can actually cause you to lose muscle by producing high amounts of the stress hormone, cortisol. Which is detrimental to muscle tissue.

Sure, you can get lean doing steady state cardio, but unless you are a physique competitor why sacrifice losing strength, speed and muscle?

They key is to condition using different sprint intervals and body weight circuits. Not only will training this way get you lean, but you will actually benefit from developing your conditioning.

Here are 2 quick examples…

Example # 1: After a thorough warm-up, sprint 100 yards on a track, then jog or walk the corners, then sprint the next 100 yards and jog the corner. Repeat.

Your current conditioning level will dictate the distance you go for the first time. It may be ½ mile, it may be 2 miles. It doesn’t matter, just try it. I guarantee you will see a huge difference between that and walking on a treadmill.

Example # 2: After a warm-up

150 turns on a jump rope

20 mountain climbers

10 burpees

Going through all of these exercises without stopping completes 1 round. Complete 3-5 rounds the first time through and time how long it took you to do so. Next time try to beat your time.

This will keep things interesting and most of all, fun!

The significance here is that you won’t just be getting lean. You will be learning to move well and developing endurance that will help you in life or sport.

And you won’t be sacrificing any muscle in the process.

Try these examples or be creative and create your own. Either way, try them!

Rule # 4: Drink AT LEAST ½ of your body weight in ounces of water daily

Water makes up about 70-75% of our muscle. Do I really need to say more?

I will anyway..

Water is essential for life. Everything we do down to a cellular level, water is present. The minimum amount I recommend is half of your bodyweight in ounces each day. But you can drink more than that. A good way to tell if you are getting enough water is by the color of your urine.

If your piss is any degree of yellow other than the first urination of the day, you are dehydrated to a certain percentage.

Urine should be clear, if it’s not, drink more water.

To add to this point, human beings can go up to 3 weeks without food, but can only go 3-5 days without water.

If you will die in 3 days without water, what do you think you are doing to the muscular tissue by not hydrating properly?

Exactly.

Drink more water.

I hope these 4 rules help you look at fat loss in a different light.

 I don’t think it is the goal of anyone reading this blog to look like Justin Bieber at the end of your fat loss phase. So for the love of God, don’t train like him.

Eat carbs, get strong, condition and drink a lot of water.

Simple recipe. Just follow these guidelines consistently and you will finally achieve the strong, ripped physique you’ve been working for.

Train hard, friends.

I’ll catch you MoFo’s on the next one!

I hate to even utter the words.

The Dad Bod.

A term that somehow, someway has become acceptable to most middle-aged men in The United States.

The fact that “The Dad Bod” is a term that’s even tolerated is a direct reflection of the current state of weakness amongst our society.

So before you become comfortable putting yourself in “The Dad Bod” category, let’s talk about what this even means.

You’re Lazy

Your physique is a direct reflection of who you are as a human being. Let’s be honest, if you have excessive body fat you’re probably not working as hard as you should be. The excuse that you don’t have time to train is bullshit. You know it and I know it. There are 24 hours in the day. Make the time and do the work. We are talking about 3-7 hours per week of work. Are you really telling me that you don’t have 3-7 hours out of 168? Of course you do, make the fu$%ing time.

You’re Weak

People that suffer from Dad Bod disorder are weak and out of shape. Being weak is unacceptable. You’re more prone to injury, have lower testosterone, more susceptible to depression and you’re unhealthy. Plus, since you’re a dad you have people in your life that need you to protect them. If you’re weak you can barely protect yourself. Being weak sucks and we don’t want that for you. Don’t accept weakness.

You Lack Muscle

A lack of muscle mass goes hand and hand with being weak and lazy. You lie to yourself about not having time to train so you don’t, which is the reason you’re weak, which is the reason you lack muscle mass. A lack of muscle mass equals a lack of confidence in yourself and a lessened desire to want to take your shirt off around other people. Which definitely sucks at the beach, pool party and certainly when you’re “smashing cheeks” ;-)! Don’t be “ok” with having no muscle. Come on, we all want to look and feel better, get to work.

You’re too fat

To top off lazy, weak and skinny you’re fat as well. That’s a deadly combination. The icing on the cake for “The Dad Bod” is a gigantic gut, right above your love muscle. I mean, seriously, is that a good look? Hell no. It’s horrific, you have to get rid of that shit. We know excessive body fat leads to a lot of messed up diseases like diabetes and cancer. You don’t want that and we don’t want that for you.

When I hear people say “I totally have a dad bod” and laugh about it means they are the sum of the four categories above, and are totally ok with it!

But maybe this post will help those people realize that the “Dad Bod” sucks and no one should live their life accepting that. Get off of your ass and do something about it! You’re not just doomed and stuck with that “Dad Bod” for life. You can change it. Just stop making sorry excuses for yourself and put in the work.

Saying you have a “Dad Bod” is another way of saying that you’re ok with mediocrity.  

Are you really ok with not striving to be the best version of you?

Are you really going to tell me that you don’t want to achieve greatness in your life?

Are you really telling me that you accept being weak, fat, skinny and lazy and plan to do

nothing about it?

Well if so then don’t waste your time reading this post.

This post was created for the go-getters.

The winners.

The ones that are willing to make sacrifices. To earn their stripes.

The ones that are willing to work harder than anyone on the fucking planet, at whatever they do. So they can achieve a life of greatness and happiness.

The ones that look adversity right in the eye and take it head on.

Because these are the people that can achieve great things, and we want to help you get there.

Remember, it doesn’t matter where you start. If you’re currently rocking “The Dad Bod” that’s ok. If you’re willing to do something about it. Don’t just accept that shit and put yourself in that category. Go shock the world and be the first guy to throw your shirt off at the beach this summer and enjoy every second of it.

Don’t continue your contribution to the occurring epidemic of “The Dad Bod” in this country. Let’s get rid of this term all together and to do that, first we have to get rid of “The Dad Bod” being the norm.

So here is my contribution to putting a stop to this epidemic once and for all.

Here’s a few tips that you can start implementing right now to start taking action and wage war against “The Dad Bod”!

1. Eat earth grown nutrients: Chicken breast, grass fed beef, wild caught fish, beans, potatoes, rice, vegetables, fresh fruit, nuts and cage free eggs are great sources of food. Base at least 90-95% of your diet on only foods like these for the next 8-12 weeks.

2. Eliminate everything with refined sugar, flour and artificial sweeteners: Sugar and flour are two substances that are both highly addictive, inflammatory and linked to a lot of diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Artificial sweeteners are also linked to many diseases and are loaded with chemicals. An easy way to avoid all of this crap is by sticking to rule number 1.

3. Lift heavy weights: I say this with caution considering some of you may have injuries or are at the beginner level. If you don’t know what you’re doing hire a good coach that can teach you. If you’re on your own, train to get stronger within rep ranges of 6-12 at first. Press, pull and squat with flawless technique. Hit the weights 2-4 times per week and watch your physique transform.

4. Sprint: A fundamental human movement that we are designed to do. Warm-up properly and start off with hill sprints and stadium stairs before progressing to the flat ground. It’s much safer to start that way if you haven’t sprinted in a while. Start off with 1-2 sprint sessions per week and that will do a number on that “Dad Bod”.

5. Enhance your natural testosterone production: Tips 1-4 will help you start producing more anabolic hormones naturally, but they alone will not be enough. Here’s a few ways to speed up that process.

A. Sleep 7-9 hours per night: When you get quality sleep your body produces more of these hormones and has many other benefits beyond the scope of this post.

B. Stop stressing over bullshit: When you stress over every little thing your body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. Chronic and excessive cortisol production is detrimental to muscular tissue and stores body fat like a son of a bitch. That’s obviously not something you want.

C. Meditate: Meditation has incredible benefits and will help combat cortisol even more. Reduce stress and watch the quality of your life improve.

D. Have sex more often: Do I really have to justify this one? Get in there! It will help increase your test levels!

Start applying all of these tips today and I guarantee you will starting seeing noticeable changes in the way you look and feel in the next 4-6 weeks. But remember you should be in this for the long haul. Don’t look for any quick fixes. You’re better than that! But in order to make these tips life habits, first you need to start. So get moving!

I hope by now you guys are all with me on waging war against “The Dad Bod”. If you didn’t already know, you now know what you are subjecting yourself to by putting yourself in that category.

We can all achieve anything we want in this life, but we are the ones that dictate the outcome. Are you going to do something about it? Or just sit back and continue to do nothing?

I trust you’ll make the right choice.

Stand with me brothers and sisters, let’s change some lives!

Sleep.

Something so simple that will help build muscle, burn fat, improve your mood, productivity, mental clarity, physical and mental performance and combat disease.

Something so simple, yet not many people have good or even decent sleeping habits.

This is usually do to stress, social activity, poor habits, work and lack of physical exercise.

Now, I don’t claim to be a sleep “expert” but I do know a thing or two about enhancing your quality of sleep so you can maximize your life.

If you are someone that has poor sleep habits, I want you to try the tips listed in this post. I would bet money that these things will improve your sleep quality and lead to a healthier, stronger, and more productive you!

So my friends, check out these tips and change your lives for the better!

Unplug at least one hour before bed

We live in a world where we are constantly at the mercy of our phones. When we stare at our phones right up until bedtime a few things happen. One, your mind stays active when you’re trying to get in a relaxed state. Emotions like joy, sadness, aggravation and even jealousy can occur when looking at social media. Do yourself a favor and don’t subject yourself to that. Trust me, you can find out in the morning how many likes your photo got.

Your mind needs to relax in order for you to get the best sleep possible. It can’t do that if you’re checking emails, answering calls, texting or worrying about what you have to do tomorrow.

Shut your phone off or keep it on silent. You don’t need to be woken up by your drunk friend at 3-am so he can tell you about his “successful” tinder date.

Kill the phone an hour before bed.

Sleep in a pitch dark room

Keeping the t.v. on at night will ruin your quality of sleep. When you sleep in a pitch dark room you help produce the hormone melatonin. Melatonin a very powerful hormone that combats cancer and other diseases. Any source of light, like a t.v, can inhibit your melatonin production.

Why would you want to limit the production of a hormone that combats cancer?

That same hormone is then limited when you are woken up throughout the night. Thus the importance of killing the cell phone so you don’t get woken up by text or a phone call.

The bedroom should be used for sleep and smashing cheeks.

Keep the t.v. in the living room!

Meditate

Most of society is totally overstressed. I don’t want to turn this into a post on the importance of reducing stress. But I do want you to know a great way to do it.

And that’s meditation.

Now, most people think of meditation as weird. They picture sitting on a floor with legs crossed making strange noises. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Meditating can be as simple as sitting on your couch with your eyes closed for just 10-15 minutes. Doing nothing but focusing on your breathing and relaxing your mind. It doesn’t have to be weird. Think of it as another way to relax.

Meditation is great at any point of the day, but try 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night to start. Try it with dimmed lights and within 30 minutes of going to sleep.

This will help you reduce the stress from the day, and give you some YOU-time that we all so desperately need. Especially these days.

Exercise

If you’re reading this blog, I shouldn’t even have to mention this one.

 But I will anyway.

Exercise improves your quality of life all around, including your sleep habits.

If you exercise vigorously you will exert more energy throughout the day, which will make you more tired come bed time.

Do some type of activity every day, aside from your weight training.

Get to bed “on time”

Studies have shown that human beings have the highest secretion in hormones between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. This is due to the fact that as humans we are designed to sleep when it’s dark and wake when it’s light.

It’s easy to get caught up in the “Netflix and chill” mode but do your body a favor and get to bed instead.

This is the prime time for the body to rejuvenate and produce more of the hormones that will combat disease and keep you healthy!

I hope that you guys start to apply this to your lives immediately. I guarantee that you will quickly see the benefits on the playing field, work, relationships, mood, energy levels and life in general!

I am definitely a believer in work hard, play hard so have your fun! But don’t neglect your sleep when it counts the most.

So get to bed MoFo’s and let’s start the movement of getting better every day!

Catch you guys next time.

Isee it all the time. Younger athletes and brand new lifters, trying to mimic the Youtube and InstaGram videos of their favorite athletes and lifters.

Cleans, squats, deadlifts and all of the other great exercises out there  that are essential for building a bigger, stronger, faster, more powerful you.

However, some of these lifters aren’t quite ready for these movements.

I’m not talking about all beginners, I’m talking about the guys and girls that are extremely tight, weak, lack stability or have suffered some type of injury that limits their mobility or training capabilities.

For instance, if you cannot pick up a 135 lb. deadlift with a perfectly neutral spine, well then you shouldn’t be deadlifting, yet. But in many cases, not only are they performing deadlifts but they are attempting Olympic lifts like Cleans and Snatches.

The sad part is, most of the time these exercises are recommended to them by coaches or their gym’s meathead.  You know the guy, usually rocking the headphones, cutoff, has the worst technique of all time but is always giving people advice on their form.

Don’t listen to that guy. Please.

Instead, if you’re a young athlete or a beginner who isn’t sure how to move properly you are better off building a foundation of balance, strength and mobility first. Then progress to the big complex lifts.

At that point you will have built the foundation needed to perform the exercises properly and really benefit from them.

And don’t worry, if you’re new to the iron game you will absolutely pack on muscle during this foundational phase. In fact, this period is an absolute necessity if you want to maximize your gains.

If you can’t move or balance properly, you ain’t getting stronger, which means you ain’t gettin bigger either. It’s more of a waste of time to try the bigger lifts without doing them right.

Now that you’re with me, lets talk about some basic movement patterns you should be practicing if you want to get jacked!

Squat

First, learn to squat with body weight. Place your hands behind your head and set your feet just outside of shoulder width apart, toes slightly pointed out. Initiate the movement by driving your hips back as far as you can, keeping your chest up the entire time, begin to sit on your heals all the way down to parallel (make a straight line from your knee to your hip), once you get down to parallel begin driving back up through your heals. On the way up push your knees out away from each other. Be sure to exhale hard once you get about ¼ of the way up.

Perform 20 of these in your warm-up every day to help beat this movement pattern into your brain.

Now, work some squat variation into your training program. I recommend the goblet squat which is the same movement I just mentioned, only you are now holding a dumbbell against your chest. The dumbbell should be held vertically with your palms underneath the top head of the dumbbell and your fingers grasping over the top of the same head.

These are great for building a base of strength and stability and are much safer for beginners to learn than a traditional back squat.

Push-ups

Push-ups are an exercise that, when done correctly, are incredible for building size, strength and stability.

Start in the top position with your elbows fully extended, lower yourself to the ground keeping your elbows against your sides as if you were squeezing your rib cage with your elbows. Keep your abs tight like you were going to take a punch to the stomach the entire set to ensure that your hips do not drop. Once your chest touches the ground, exhale and forcefully push back up to the starting position. Keep in mind that your feet should be touching each other for the entire set.

Romanian Deadlift

Learning a proper hip hinge is also essential. Like the squat, it is a fundamental human movement pattern. Start with just a barbell to teach yourself the movement. Grab the bar with an even, shoulder width grip and start in the standing position. While keeping your chest up for the entirety of the exercise, engage your hips by pushing your butt back as far as you can. Eyes on the floor about one foot in front of you. As you begin the hip hinge the bar will start moving down, be sure to keep the barbell against your legs at all times. In the bottom position your chest should be parallel to the floor and ideally the bar will be at about mid-shin. The knees will bend slightly but do not confuse this with a squat. Keep in mind that you don’t want to reach for the floor with your shoulders. A good way to feel this is to keep your shoulders back and the lats flexed at all times. On the way back up you are driving the hips forward so you finish in the standing position. Be sure to not shrug the weight on the way up.

Rows

In most public gyms, rows might be the number one exercise that people destroy the most. Let’s keep it simple and use a bent over supinated barbell row as an example since there are many variations. Supinated is just referring to your grip. Grab the bar with your palms facing away from you and your pinky finger on the line between the smooth and rough part of the bar (about shoulder width). Now get set the same way as if you were doing a Romanian Deadlift (RDL). Only this time you are going to begin pulling the barbell towards your bellybutton by squeezing your shoulder blades together. Keep the low back arched at all times and be sure to pull from your upper back, not your biceps or forearms. Keep the wrists straight and bring the bar all the way up to touch your bellybutton. Then, begin bringing the bar back to the starting position by reaching the shoulders towards the floor. Again, start with just the bar, then begin adding weight. On any row, if you can’t pause in the top range of the exercise, the weight is too heavy.

Your program can be as simple as those four exercises for the first 3-6 weeks of training. If you just get good at those four first and foremost, the other stuff you add in will make much more sense. Remember, training is for the long haul and you have to crawl before you walk. You will get to the bigger exercises in a couple of months.

Start small and get big, faster!

I hope this helps guys, if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email at info@tutelatraining.com.

If you found this post helpful please hook a brotha up and click the share button.

I would really appreciate it!

Catch you guys next time!