weight loss Archives - Tucson Strength

Combatting Stress Eating

Admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:29:33 +0000

Stress eating is real. It isn’t a cop-out or excuse. The solution to it is trying to reduce the stress. If you are trying to manage macros and focus on diet, it really is an uphill battle if you can’t manage stress. Being hungry is one thing. Being hungry and stressed makes things so much harder. One thing that many people don’t consider is the importance of sleep. Poor sleep adds underlying stress to your system and if you are sleeping poorly all the other stressors are going to be much more difficult to manage. There are tons of resources to improve sleep. There are books written on it. Limiting screen time before you go to bed, going to bed at same time each night and waking up at the same time every day is crucial. Many people will say, “It’s so hard to do that, I just can’t”. The reality is for most people it just isn’t a priority for them. If you can fix your sleep, then many other things come into focus and the nutrition piece won’t be as challenging.

The post Combatting Stress Eating appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Hunger is a Part of Weight Loss

Admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 20:17:07 +0000

Weight loss is something that most Americans battle with. It’s simple right? Just eat less and burn more calories. When you are young cutting back on dessert or cutting soda out can get the job done, but as we age it can become a little more complex. Exercise should always be a part of the equation, but out exercising too many calories is not nearly as effective or efficient as we hope. Burning 300 calories can take a solid 30 minutes of work. When you look at how much food 300 calories represents you have to weigh out your options of what you actually need in your diet.

The problem with nutrition is it can be very emotional. Many of us know we are emotionally eating but many people will either not admit It or not realize that they are eating as much as they are because of the emotional component. If you are always eating to be full and satiated and doing that multiple times per day, or find yourself hungry 90 minutes after a meal and needing to pick at more food till you feel comfortable you are eating emotionally or just eating poor quality food. It is important to understand that if you are looking to lose weight, feeling a little hungry and leaving room in the tank is a part of the process..

The post Hunger is a Part of Weight Loss appeared first on Tucson Strength.

The Myth of good fats and Eating Clean

Admin — Sun, 15 Sep 2019 01:13:21 +0000

Me: “Tell me about your goals?”

Potential Client: “I really want to lose some weight.”

Me: “So tell me about your nutrition?”

Potential Client: “I eat really clean, organic whole foods, I just need to start training more because I am gaining weight.”

I can’t count the times this scenario plays out during a consultation. Just recently I met with potential client that had a ton of nutrition questions. He said he ate clean about 5 times in 10 minutes. I also heard the words organic, complex, and whole foods numerous times. As we talked about nutrition, he became confused and slightly distraught when I told him he had to eat less to lose the weight. I told him I thought it was great he is eating high quality foods, that wasn’t going to help him see the scale go down. As I broke down calories for him and gave him some goals to hit around the numbers of grams of fats and carbs to eat he said “but I can eat avocados because they are healthy fats, right?” Without a pause I said, I don’t care how healthy, clean, or organic your fats are they are still calories. He visually looked upset and put off. The truth hurts sometimes and we have been inundated by so much information on the internet that our truth is skewed. There is an thought process that eating quality foods will some how translate to weight loss. I wasn’t telling him to eat junk food, just that fats from avocados, almonds, and olive oil are just…calories just like calories from butter and steak.

Yes, eating avocados is better than eating lard out of a can for our cardiovascular health, but if we want the scale to drop, we have to acknowledge that fat still provides 9 calories per gram regardless of the form it comes in. Whether its clean, dirty, or whatever adjective you want to attach to it, the caloric load is the same. The same goes for good carbs vs bad carbs, clean vs junk, organic vs processed. These adjectives we like to attach to foods may make a difference in overall health, but if we want the scale to go down we must look at calories.

There seems to be some sort of comfort to ones self that they are eating organic homemade avocado dressing over a store bought bottle of ranch dressing. Whether you cook your food in avocado oil or butter, the amount of fat you cook it in matters when you want to lose weight.Period. Whether you are eating Fruity Pebbles or Yams, 1 gram of carbs equals 4 calories. This doesn’t mean eat garbage food, but it does mean that calories must be looked at to lose weight. When weight loss is the focus, portion control is more important that quality control.

How Much Should You Eat to Lose Weight?

As for the amount of calories you should be eating for weight loss that is an entirely different topic, but for most people eating just slightly above your basal metabolic rate is the best place to start. Here is a link to a free online BMR Calculator. There is a lot of variability to this, but in general if your BMR is 1800 calories and you are not very active, it is probably what you should be shooting for. Even if you are moderately active and training a few days per week, you don’t need to fuel up much past your BMR if weight loss is the goal. I will have to write a completely different article on this topic, but quantifying food intake is something everyone should have some experience with and offers valuable insight to people on how much they are actually eating vs how much they think they are eating.

The post The Myth of good fats and Eating Clean appeared first on Tucson Strength.

9 Lessons I’ve Learned on The Road to Losing 100lbs and Keeping Them Off

Admin — Wed, 31 May 2017 16:01:14 +0000

From 2009-2011 I lost over 100 lbs.

When people hear that, they always look surprised and say a bunch of nice things. It makes me feel good, but I never share the whole story.

Some background info

Losing 100lbs in two years is pretty remarkable. Even more remarkable is that I’ve managed to keep it off for over 5 years now. Still, it’s not the whole picture.

In 6th grade, I weighed 180 lbs and wore adult sized jeans. Probably a 32/34 x 30, I think. I started gaining weight when I was in 3rd grade and I found food as a way dealing with issues. My parents were going through a nasty divorce, and as the oldest of 3 (now 4 brothers), I felt very responsible. Obviously, at that age I had no idea that I used food this way, that realization only came recently.

I was a quiet, smart, but a very self-conscious kid.

I worried about my weight, I worried about my size, and I worried about my family life. All this worrying made me eat. Then, puberty hit and I got an awesome growth spurt.

The short and chubby 180 lb softy was now a lean football player. I felt really good about my weight. I still ate whatever I liked but the weight was not an issue.

At 17 years old, I had surgery on my shoulder and that sidelined me from any activity for 8 months. I gained over 50 lbs in that time, and the cycle started all over.

I went to college at 230 lbs and gained another 50 over 4 years. Fast food, alcohol, and video games helped. So did my own personal image of who I was and how I felt.

Why did I lose 100 lbs?

The last year of college, I was student teaching at a high school and leading a strength and conditioning class. I had the students doing a timed circuit of squats, push-ups, sprints, and other exercises. It was a normal day. Whiny kids, overcrowded classes, and the occasional fight that needed to broken up.

However, this day was different. The students were extra whiny. The tension in the air was extra thick. One unruly little punk had the audacity to say, “What the hell mister Acuña!? This workout sucks. Why do we have to do it? I bet your fat ass can’t even do it!”

It was a slap in the face.
The kid had held up a metaphorical mirror to me and I saw what he saw. I wasn’t the awesome, oh so cool PE coach I thought they saw. To them, I was unfit, overweight, and someone they did not respect.

From there on everything changed and I learned some valuable lessons along the way. I dove deep into the science of exercise and nutrition. I tried so many diets and training protocols. Eventually, it led me to the psychology of changing habits and a brief stint in working in the behavioral health field (probably one of the best things I could have every experienced in my coaching career).

Since then, I have put together 9 valuable lessons I learned that helped me and others achieve their goals in fitness. More importantly, they’ve helped people achieve THEIR goals. Not the perceived fantasy of super flat abs, bulging biceps, skimpy clothes, and other bullshit marketing tactics that are smeared in our face day in and day out.

These lessons are for the everyday person who is working to be better, busting their ass to see some change, hoping and thriving for success. These are for you:

The Lessons

1. Write Your Own Story

The story we tell ourselves shapes our actions. I’m fat, I’m too skinny, I’ll never succeed, I need to weigh 20 lbs less, I need to look like blank, it’s all bullshit and holding you back. If you truly want to succeed you have to write your very own story and pick what you want. Don’t follow other peoples stories. Pick your own. Commit to it, own it. Only then will you hold yourself accountable and avoid needing others to track your progress.

2. Eat What Works for You

Macros, calories, portions, low carb, high fat it all works. Depending on your energy needs, activity level, health, and probably a bunch of other factors, your diet will be ever changing. To think that one way is the only way is simple minded. It’s like saying you’ll only watch one episode of the Walking Dead and never need another, never have a need to complete the story. Bad example, I’ve never seen the show but I’ve heard great things.

Seriously, though, all diets have 2 things in common:

1. They make you eat less and create an energy deficit (hence the weight loss).

2. They improve the quality of your food by asking you to cut out the crap. It’s amazing how that works right? Cut out the junk food and eat healthy food, then boom…results.

If you want to lose weight, eat in a way that creates an energy deficit (meaning you eat less than you expend) and improves the quality of your foods (i.e veggies > chips), I promise you will lose weight.

Side note: Some folks do need special diets, especially if you are dealing with health issues. These folks should be under medical supervision. This can include bariatric patients, metabolic syndrome patients, chronic inflammation, etc.

3. Train With A Purpose

I’m a big believer in goals. They give us direction, but more importantly, if they are picked correctly, they give us purpose.

Check out this old post where I cover this topic: Do You Train with Purpose or Follow Wishful Thinking?

4. Prioritize and be Responsible for Your Success

Taking responsibility for your own success should be one of your main priorities. I am the son of to immigrant parents. They gave up their lives to come to a new world and raise 4 boys. In doing so, they made a lot of sacrifices.

From them, I learned that nothing is given to you for free. You have to earn it and work for it.

When losing weight, diet pills and fad diets are enticing. They promise fast rewards. Unfortunately, they never deliver. They always come with a price.

True weight loss takes time and requires your effort. More importantly, it requires you to be responsible for every action that you take. Click here for another blog on how taking responsibility helped change my life.

5. Have a Support Team

The people that surround you have the greatest impact on your decisions and habits. I’ve had clients tell me they’ve noticed they eat a certain way when around certain people. They have even noticed that they think differently about themselves and their own actions.

This isn’t a “get rid of your friends” lesson.

It’s more of a, be aware of your surroundings and make wise decisions lesson.

Unfortunately, this may mean little less time at the bar OR catching up at the coffee shop over mocha frappe lotta sugars.

If you truly want to achieve your goals, surround yourself with the people that support them.

6. Pursue Knowledge

I use to write full blown nutrition plans for people. I mean it had all the works in it. Calorie ranges, grocery list, got to snacks, foods to buy, foods to avoid, etc.

And guess what, the people that followed them had great success!

But more people fell off the plan than followed the plan. More people never achieved their goals. More people were disappointed. It was more people that I failed.

Learning about behavioral change strategies and techniques was one of the best things to happen to me. It helped me reshape how I coach people. Strategies like keeping it simple, starting off slow, focusing on the process, meeting someone where they’re at, adjusting on the fly, were big mind shifts for me.

They should be for you too.

Sometimes the next step to unlocking your success is not on what you need to track or cutout. Maybe it’s investing in learning about habit changes (The Power of Habit) or discovering the reasons behind what you do (Start With Why).

It can be a very abstract concept to grasp. Something that I recommend guidance with.

We use Pro Coach (Powered by Precision Nutrition) to help our members with reaching sustainable and lifelong fitness success. Pro Coach is a proven curriculum that guides you through lifestyle changes in mindset, eating, stress management, and other areas of fitness so that you can develop your own personal program.

We bring on 20 people every 6 months and guide them through 3 months at a time of coaching. Currently, we are closed but do have a waiting list.

If you’d like to know when the next opening is coming up and more info on how Pro Coach works, CLICK HERE for our info page. We’ll send you some info on the program and give you a heads up when the sign up opens.

7. Follow a Good and Real Mentor

I’m an introvert by nature. I like my alone time and I find great joy in succeeding (Han) solo. However, human nature is to be social. We need community. We need others. Even if it’s a tiny bit.

The greatest accomplishments have always had help. The Wright brothers had each other. Mike Tyson had Don King. Rocky had Mick. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. So on, and so on.

What I am saying is it’s good to work with others. Whether it be a coach, friend, or nemesis. Someone needs to be there to push you to be better. Coach you through your failures and help you realize the lessons.

Check out the time I spent $100 for 60 Minutes with a Coach.

8. Don’t Take Yourself Too Serious, Choose What You Give a F*** About

If the biggest goal in your life is to lose 20 pounds. You need better goals. Seriously. Life is too damn short to be focused on losing weight.

More importantly, weight loss is never linear. It spikes and dips and takes time. To put everything on hold is time wasted.

Don’t get me wrong, I want you to lose the weight. It will happen. But I’ve learned not to focus on it so much that you can’t enjoy cake at your son’s birthday party (true story). I’ve learned that jonesing for a workout because you need to burn calories, is a quick way to piss off friends, family, and loved ones (also a true story).

If your idea of fitness is an all in, never miss, go HAM or go home mentality, then you’re probably on the road to burnoutville.

Sometimes we care so much about something that we stop giving a fuck about things that truly matters. There’s a subtle art to f*** giving, seriously it’s a great book with a matching title, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***.

In it, the author argues that we waste time and effort caring about things that we cannot achieve as fast as we may want to, or something that will not happen, and things that truly don’t make us happy. This prevents us from focusing (a.k.a giving a f***) about things that truly matter. Mostly the simple things like having an able body, relationships, peace and quiet, health, etc.

I highly recommend reading the book.

It’s a great way to gain some perspective into what you take serious, what you’re ignoring, and what you can stop giving a f*** about.

9. Trust the Process and Have a Growth Mindset

The biggest lesson has been to trust the process. It’s easy to get down on yourself when things aren’t going the way you want. It’s hard to have grit and keep doing the things that will bring you success.

Believing that you can improve and will improve is the epitome of a growth mindset. You need this to be successful in anything you do.

Having, or not having, a growth mindset is the biggest determining factor in whether or not you will continue to pursue your goals. The thing about goals is that it takes effort and it takes failures. These lessons I share today have come through many different failures. It’s my growth mindset that has turned them into lessons, and why I share them with you.

The idea that you can improve and be better is what fuels me each morning. It’s the same mindset that helped Arnold Schwarzenegger go from a poor Austrian farm boy into a power politician and mega movie star and world icon. It’s the same mindset that fueled Jamie Foxx to become a world class entertainer after being an orphan child. It’s what fuels world class athletes and high performers. And you can have it too.

It’s not easy, it’s not simple. It will take effort and failures. But you will learn and you will succeed.If you are looking for help on changing your nutrition habits, check out our services and how we work with people just like you.

The post 9 Lessons I’ve Learned on The Road to Losing 100lbs and Keeping Them Off appeared first on Tucson Strength.

The Evolution to Tucson Strength

Admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 04:56:37 +0000

[vc_row row_type=”parallax” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” header_style=”” parallax_content_width=”full_width” anchor=”” in_content_menu=”” content_menu_title=”” content_menu_icon=”” angled_section=”no” angled_section_position=”both” angled_section_direction=”from_left_to_right” text_align=”left” video=”” video_overlay=”” video_overlay_image=”” video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_image=”” background_image=”” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” full_screen_section_height=”no” vertically_align_content_in_middle=”no” section_height=”” parallax_speed=”” background_color=”” border_color=”” row_negative_margin=”” side_padding=”” parallax_side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” color=”” hover_color=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” expandable_content_top_padding=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column width=”1/1″ css=”.vc_custom_1479126547589{background-image: url(http://evolutiontucson.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/other-pages.jpg?id=6768) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” use_as_box=”” type=”grid” anchor=”” text_align=”left” background_color=”” background_image=”” full_screen_section_height=”no” vertically_align_content_in_middle=”no” section_height=”” border_color=”” row_negative_margin=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” color=”” expandable_content_top_padding=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=”” css=”.vc_custom_1463569748213{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1/1″ css=”.vc_custom_1479128541688{margin-top: -42px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” header_style=”” parallax_content_width=”in_grid” anchor=”” in_content_menu=”” content_menu_title=”” content_menu_icon=”” angled_section=”no” angled_section_position=”both” angled_section_direction=”from_left_to_right” text_align=”left” video=”” video_overlay=”” video_overlay_image=”” video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_image=”” background_image=”” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” full_screen_section_height=”no” vertically_align_content_in_middle=”no” section_height=”” parallax_speed=”” background_color=”” border_color=”” row_negative_margin=”” side_padding=”” parallax_side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” color=”” hover_color=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” expandable_content_top_padding=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” use_as_box=”” type=”grid” anchor=”” text_align=”left” background_color=”” background_image=”” full_screen_section_height=”no” vertically_align_content_in_middle=”no” section_height=”” border_color=”” row_negative_margin=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” color=”” expandable_content_top_padding=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1/1″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1481575240814{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

Written By: Danny Sawaya

Fitness Sucks

No, Im not joking. The Fitness Industry sucks. I am actually embarrassed sometimes that I am in it. It’s industry with no licensing or standards.

You want to start a gym? Scrap up some money and go for it. Want to call yourself a trainer? Go for it. Guess what? There is no National Certification, no central credentialing source, and no laws really regulating it.

Pretty much do what you want, how you want it, and call yourself whatever specialist you want to be, and yes you can get away with it.

The fitness industry isn’t really fitness, it is a multi billion dollar sales industry that sells a “thing” called fitness. It is an industry that can sell people gimmicks, scams, and short cuts and people love to fall for it. They are willing to do it over an over again.

Fitness preys off people’s insecurities and dictates how they should look and feel at all times.

I think the fitness industry in general is dishonest, and shady. It is in the continual pursuit of turning fitness and training into the fast food model.

Not a lot of skill is needed, just keep people entertained, and sweating and you can be successful. Lure them in with a challenge, some before and after pictures, and sprinkle some fat shaming and you have a recipe for success. It is like catching fish in a freshly stocked lake. Also, sell them on the bogus science of muscle confusion and random acts of exercise and you are golden.When I started Evolution over 6 Years ago I had a vision. I wanted a school of Strength, a place where people could come to learn the fundamentals of strength and the right way to do things.

Yes, there is a right way and wrong way to teach fitness and strength. There is more than 1 way, but what I continue to see is every way to do the exact opposite of the right way(s).

We started in small spot with less than 1000sqft of usable gym floor and attracted a group of people that soaked up our message.

Train smarter, Not more intense
Move well, then build strength,
Don’t Train to failure: ALWAYS leave something in the tank.
Strength is awesome, mindless exercise that leaves you tired every training session is for the novice.

We quickly grew into a 6000+Sqft space and have seen a wonderful community grow.

Evolution has truly has been a dream come true and a huge blessing to myself, my family, and many others. Over the years we have tried numerous approaches of attracting business and offering different services to our members.

I have admittedly made mistakes. In our past we have done things similarly to some of our competitors like offering weight loss challenges and done some marketing that is commonplace, but it never sat right with me because we weren’t living up to our core values.[vc_row_inner row_type=”row” use_as_box=”” type=”grid” anchor=”” text_align=”left” background_color=”” background_image=”” full_screen_section_height=”no” vertically_align_content_in_middle=”no” section_height=”” border_color=”” row_negative_margin=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” color=”” expandable_content_top_padding=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=”” el_id=””][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1480214712838{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

Industry Forecast

Last week we were approached by a sales company that offered to take our sales system over from us. They would do all the selling, and I was promised 100 new members in weeks.

It sounded too good to be true. In this instance though, what this guy was offering WOULD work. The problem is this, everything he would do to attract new members is exactly the opposite of what Evolution Fitness has been about. His system is simple:

Spend a ton of money marketing.
Use his template website with tons of before and after pictures, testimonials(from his data base not ours).
Use ad copy that has the industry standard fat shaming verbiage, talk about love handles, muffin tops, and being high school skinny.
When people call the number they get his sales team and they literally hard close people over the phone to join a weight loss challenge for $500.

[vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1/2″][vc_empty_space height=”85px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_single_image image=”7112″ border_color=”black” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” qode_css_animation=”” img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_border”]Evolution Fitness November 2010..This guy was ready to sign up my gym and never once did he ask about my training style, our results, our community, or our values.

It was all about getting that sale.

I politely told him I am not interested and he was a little shocked. I told him I am Tucson’s School of Strength not Tucson’s School of Skinny.

Signing up 100 members over night would pack my gym but also throw off the community we have built on our philosophy and our quality of instruction wouldn’t be able to be upheld.

He was actually in Tucson signing up other gyms for his system. This is the direction the fitness industry is going. This is what we will be seeing more and more of. THIS is the Fast Food transformation of the fitness industry.

The problem is they will sell you on Filet Mignon and give a quarter pounder with a side of fries that have been sitting under the heat lamp an hour too long.

This is the big box model being applied to the training facility model.[vc_single_image image=”7201″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” qode_css_animation=”” img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”32px” background_image=”” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][button icon_pack=”font_awesome” icon=”fa-align-center” target=”_self” hover_type=”default” text=”WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TUCSON STRENGTH?” icon_color=”#1e73be” link=”http://evolutiontucson.com/popup/free/” color=”#1e73be” border_color=”#1e73be” font_style=”normal” text_align=”center” background_color=”#eeee22″ hover_background_color=”#dd3333″][vc_empty_space height=”32px” background_image=”” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” header_style=”” parallax_content_width=”in_grid” anchor=”” in_content_menu=”” content_menu_title=”” content_menu_icon=”” angled_section=”no” angled_section_position=”both” angled_section_direction=”from_left_to_right” text_align=”left” video=”” video_overlay=”” video_overlay_image=”” video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_image=”” background_image=”” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” full_screen_section_height=”no” vertically_align_content_in_middle=”no” section_height=”” parallax_speed=”” background_color=”” border_color=”” row_negative_margin=”” side_padding=”” parallax_side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” color=”” hover_color=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” expandable_content_top_padding=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column width=”1/1″]

Strength is our Game and it is in our Name

Business is interesting. Competition is nothing new. Lowes /Home Depot, Pepsi/Coke, Verizon/Sprint/AT&T, McDonalds/Chik-fil-a. Each of these compete against one another for a market share and there are numerous other players in each field. We buy based on our preferences, how things make us feel, the results we get, price, quality, etc…

I realized that, since day 1, we have always done things differently than the “fitness” industry, and honestly I refuse to be grouped with the others. We don’t do what others do.

WE DO:

Train with Purpose
Care about proper Instruction and teaching our clients how to train, not just exercise them to an oblivion.
Have a guiding set of Core Values
Believe moving better and becoming Stronger is crucial to being human.

And after 20 years in this field I know we need to part our ways from competing with others. Those that are hungry for the best practiced methods and not easily swayed by the “fitness” industry will find us.

Now that I have a few years in owning my own business, the next thing we must do is evolve our business name.

Every time I hear the name Evolution Fitness I feel that it just doesn’t fit any longer. Fitness is just a word now and doesn’t mean anything. There is LA Fitness, Planet Fitness, Orange Theory Fitness, Chuze Fitness, Anytime Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and on and on.

Everyone is selling this thing called fitness, but IMO they are selling whatever they need to sell to get people in their doors. After lots of soul searching and discussion with those close to our community, we are transitioning our name to Tucson Strength.

Our marketing will look be, TUCSON STRENGTH: Home of Evolution Fitness…

I foresee in the future Evolution Fitness will show up less and less in any of our marketing.[vc_single_image image=”7198″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” qode_css_animation=”” img_size=”full”]

We own the domain name www.tucsonstrength.com and it is rerouted to our website already.

We want to help people become strong in the body and mind, whether it is learning to squat by standing up out of a chair with out help, or with a bar on your back.

Whether you are training just to have more energy to keep up the the kids, focusing to hit a first pull-up, standing on powerlifting platform for the first time, or having the courage to learn a new skill like running, and entering your first race.

Strength is sticking to a goal even when you want to quit because things get really hard sometimes.

I am confident this direction is what we need to do to differentiate ourselves and attract those that will benefit most from our message.

We are not the next stop on the fitness club tour.

If you are looking to change your life and train with purpose we would love to have you. No gimmicks, no before and after 6 week challenges, no cookie cutter weight loss diets, and no random acts of exercise. Learn the fundamentals from a professional team, set a goal, and Train with Purpose at Tucson Strength.[social_share show_share_icon=”yes”]

The post The Evolution to Tucson Strength appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Why You Aren’t Achieving Your Goals

Admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 03:29:24 +0000

Here is the truth, You probably just don’t want it bad enough. Think about something you have achieved in life that too k substantial effort. I mean something that you really wanted and had to work for to accomplish it. Seriously take a minute before you read on to reflect on this. Maybe it was your college degree that you had to pay for and work a full time job in order to graduate. Maybe it was that job you applied for, then reapplied for, and then interviewed for, and no matter what you kept going after it. You applied for months, you prepped yourself, and pumped yourself up for it, you sent follow up emails, and if you didn’t get the job then it didn’t stop you from going after it and reapplying again until you got hired. Maybe you started a business, or you consistently gave all you got to get a promotion at work and continue to thrive in your career. How about that girl you had a crush on and pursued and knew that you had to win her heart. We all have stories of success in our lives that started from a thought. While you were going through it, it was like you were on autopilot, it didn’t feel like work, you were just going after something you needed to accomplish. You were in the zone. Once that thought was in your head you just kept doing the work and accomplished it no matter what the obstacles. The thought of all the things that could go wrong didn’t deter you, and even if things went wrong you kept moving forward. If you had a party to attend the night before that big interview you would have declined because you knew how important it was for you, and it didn’t even upset you that you missed it. You had your eye on the prize, there were no distractions just the vision you were after. There was none of the talk that you “have to go to an interview and it sucks”. No, the attitude was I GET TO GO TO this awesome interview and I am excited to get that job. There are probably some areas in your life right now that still demand that same attention, focus, and habits of success. It is just part of you and who you are. So why doesn’t that happen with your fitness and health goals?

HEALTH AND FITNESS ARE BURDENS

Unfortunately, for many people the above scenarios of success are not how people view their fitness and health goals. I know because I have been in this field for 2 decades and have struggled with certain fitness goals myself and I have seen the success stories and the failures. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say I “have” to go to the gym with their entire body language is slumped, eyes are down and it is like they have been sentenced to jury duty for the 3rd time that year. It’s like that interview scenario above to land that killer job. If they really wanted that job with every part of their being it is a pretty easy decision not to drink like a fish the night before… Why? Well they know that taking such actions aren’t going to benefit them at all and most likely take them out of the running for that highly competitive job. Why is it that when facing weight loss or health goals people will say things like, “I really want to lose weight, but we had this party to go to and they had the best deserts and I couldn’t resist”. No, just say what you mean, you really don’t want to lose that weight, period. The reason… it is only important if it doesn’t interfere with your social life, or sweet tooth, or (fill in the blank). You are just content with where you are. I am a firm believer if you want to hit a goal, you do everything to achieve it. There is a singleness of purpose and all your habits must support it. Most people squeeze by on the bare minimum and they will only do so much to achieve a goal they have set for themselves. A business trip turns into an excuse to eat horribly for a week, an important call is a good enough reason to miss a training session. Nope, don’t worry to make up that training session that was missed, you will just start over again on Monday, because as long as it doesn’t interfere with other things you will do it. Don’t be upset about the results you don’t achieve with the work you didn’t put in. So why is it so hard to just commit?

IT’S JUST NOT BAD ENOUGH

Usually when you are really disturbed, pissed off, or disgusted with yourself, you will make a change. It’s the truth with any big changes we need to make in our lives. Without that, there is no stimulus to change. It just isn’t bad enough. I was reflecting on a few things that caused me to make some of the biggest changes of my life and I was either really upset or really disappointed and it hurt! In 2010 I was working a job for a company putting in over 60+ hours per week. I was hustling my ass off. I had a 4 month old baby and a wife at home to support. I met the owners to get my quarterly bonus that was based on a percentage of revenue. My agreed upon bonus was roughly $8000. I was told they couldn’t afford that amount, but they could give me a $3500 bonus. I took it and told them I understood if the company was in a tough position. The next day the owner pulled up in a brand new BMW. Talk about disturbed. I was irate, I was hurt, I was angry, I felt like a punk. I had talked and talked about opening a gym for years, It was always a someday thing, but now I had a 4 month old baby at home and felt like it was impossible to make the jump. How could I quit? It made no sense. Sure, I wanted to start a gym for the past 10 years and it was all I talked about, but now was not a good time! Well, I took a huge action and a leap of faith because I knew I had to do whatever it took to support my family. I quit my job with no money and the result of that jump was Evolution Fitness. At times I don’t know exactly how I got here, but I just had to keep doing what I was doing because failure wasn’t an option.

More recently I had a big shift and change happen with my fitness and health. Back in January I decided I wanted to run a mile because I hadn’t done it in a very long time. The result….. I barely survived the run, I was healed over in pain and could barely breath. The worst part was, I wasn’t running, it was a light jog.. I was embarrassed for myself, I was disturbed that I could barely put together a mile as a 40 year old man that has been a trainer for over 16 years. Sure I could lift a lot of weight and swing the heck out of kettlebells, but I could not move my body and make it do what I wanted it to. My conditioning sucked. I saw a huge area in my health that was lacking in a big way. It was eye opening, I was embarrassed for myself and it really upset me. I couldn’t just write it off anymore unless I just wanted to lie to myself. I knew I had to start slowly, but I started to improve my running so I set a goal to run a 1/2 Marathon. It gave me structure and something to aim for. If I didn’t feel so humiliated by my fitness and health, I wouldn’t have done anything about it. The fact was it hit me hard enough to make me want to change, I felt it deep inside of me. I really hope that things like this happen throughout my life. It takes a disruption to cause change.

ARE YOU DISTURBED ENOUGH?

What will it take for you to see a situation for what it is and make it so you can’t lie to yourself about it. When you are upset enough about something you will find a way to make it happen. You won’t have time, money, or work as an excuse not to achieve it. I really wish this gift of desperation, being disturbed, or embarrassed, on everyone that is searching to achieve something greater. Think about it for a few moments. Write out the following questions.

What do you want to achieve? What is your vision?

What is pissing you off?

What is it that you want to change in your life?

Why do you want to achieve it?

What are the consequences of not achieving it? Is it affecting just you or others?

Dig deep. Write out all the things you are missing out on by not hitting your goals.

In my job change years ago I did this drill and it shook me. I knew if I stayed there I was going to continually work harder, be away from my family more, and never afford the life I wanted to create for my family. Family, yes my family. It wasn’t about me. It was about my family. It had to affect my family to shake me. As I saw my 4 month old baby and thought about her future, I knew to my inner core my bosses didn’t give a damn about my family’s needs or my dreams. It was about them and their needs. I had a vision for my family and I knew they weren’t going to help me get there. I needed to get pissed off and that did it.

If this drill doesn’t work then take a different approach.. If you are wanting to lose weight, go buy some clothes you know you want to fit in, or grab some clothes you use to fit in and go and try and put them on. See how they feel on you, don’t sugar coat it. Really be true to yourself if they can’t fit. Don’t just take them off immediately, feel it, really feel it. If you are truly OK with it then move on, if you are not pleased keep the clothes on a bit longer. Do some everyday activities in them to really make you upset. If weight isn’t your goal and better fitness is your goal then go run a mile and try and do it in under 10-11 minutes. If you haven’t trained in years drop and do 50 (Real) pushups and and 50 deep body weight squats for time. See how you feel, see how you feel the next day. If you feel defeated, so sore you can’t move, or weaker than you would like to admit, then internalize it. Really feel the shitty part and use it to motivate you. I know when I was healed over after that mile run I was miserable, I was upset, because if I ever needed to run for my life I knew I couldn’t. That was the truth and I owned it.

BE YOUR HABITS

Habits are crucial to change. I’ll never forget a member of the gym I was a part of years ago. He saw an amazing transformation. He had the stories of not having time to workout for years, until he had a heart scare and woke up in the ER. He had tons of money and success, but not health. He started getting to the gym at 5am every day to do light cardio and return in the afternoon 3 days per week to do weight training. One day I saw him at the gym at 5am like normal. He came in, read the paper for about 5 minutes on the bike, and then just sat down for a bit. He said hi to some people and started to leave. I joked with him about having a short workout. I’ll never forget what he told me. He said he wasn’t feeling great that morning and knew he shouldn’t train, but he didn’t want to break his habit of waking up and coming to the gym. To him, he had to keep his ritual of waking up and driving to the gym. At the end of the year this man lost close to 70lbs and looked like he had trained his entire life. I didn’t realize how awesome this was. He was invested, he was committed, he was ALL IN. There were no sob stories of not being motivated, or how can I get the best results with the least amount of time. No, he was clear he had to change his thought process and change his life. He did the same with his nutrition. Guess what… He didn’t lose any business or money either because he focused more on his health. THIS, is the secret to change. Creating new habits and incorporating them into your life. The word incorporate means to take in and make part of the whole. It doesn’t mean something you do when you feel like it or when it is convenient. Ask yourself if you truly incorporating your habits into your life or are you just doing them because you have to or because you want to avoid (fill in the blank). An example I see all the time are those on a diet and counting down to their next cheat meal. This isn’t incorporating this is merely surviving and tolerating your current situation. I do know people that have tried just about everything to lose weight and there are situations that may be out your control with hormones and health. If this is the case then this is where habits are even more important to live by enjoying the journey of living a healthier life comes in.

I am not sure what this young mans story is, but this short video is awesome. It is inspiring, it is full of action, it is free of excuses, it is determination and persistence. It is focus it is failure isn’t an option. It makes me feel like I could be doing more.

Enjoy the Journey

Of course many of us set a goal and look to the future. Seeing where we want to go is huge. The most important part of the process is having a vision worth going after. One of the things I am really embracing with my goals now in business or athletics is enjoying the journey. It has been a powerful shift. While building Evolution I had such focus that it took me over 5 years to actually take a step back and take a breath to actually enjoy what was created. I always thought that being proud the accomplishments was counter productive. Once one goal was achieved I immediately set another one without taking a moment to enjoy what was accomplished, I didn’t want to get too sure of myself. I realize now that I robbed myself of a lot of fulfillment. I am currently training for my first triathlon. I am learning how to swim with correct form for the first time in my life. It has been the biggest physical challenge I have taken on as an adult. The first time I swam back to back 25 yard Iaps I felt like a dog that was thrown in the pool and just praying for the edge. The best part was being able to laugh at myself, and enjoy the moments of being a beginner again. I actually have been able to enjoy the challenge, embrace it, and yes laugh at myself. On your journey to whatever your goal is, I encourage you to enjoy the moments of being new, enjoy the little successes and use them to build upon, look at the little set backs as a way to refocus and not defeat you. Take them in and realize that when you get through these obstacles and build little successes you will be able to use your experience to help others.

The post Why You Aren’t Achieving Your Goals appeared first on Tucson Strength.