Some big “NO-NOs” when lifting weights

By David Tepera, January 29, 2020

As you know, the Ageless Muscle team frequents many gyms. It’s quite often we observe people misusing the weight equipment, which can ultimately lead to either hurting themselves or not really getting any true benefit.

I would like to share a few weight lifting tips that we see most common. First, for whatever reason, people think to lose “love handles,” they must perform multiple sets of side bends while holding weight.

Guess what? The only thing you accomplished was building your obliques muscles and NOT burn any fat in that area. So, what this means is you made your waist wider and more-blocky. It’s like the worst possible exercise to build a smaller waist.

Listen, the only way to make your waist smaller is in the kitchen. Yes, you should perform abdominal exercises to help build a strong core, but not side bends.

Another bad no-no is pulling the lat bar behind the neck all the way to your shoulders. Huge no-no because you’re over-rotating your rotator cuff and putting unnecessary stress on the neck. The safest range of motion is to pull the lat bar to the front of the body right below the chin. Just squeeze your traps along the range of motion and you’ll feel the difference.

We see the leg press machine abused way too often. Remember, place your feet up high on the platform, so that your knees will not flex over your toes. If not, you’re putting stress on your patella and achilles tendon which will result in injury.

Look, I understand if you’re not familiar with the gym, the above explanations probably didn’t make any sense to you. But, I have a strong presence of gym readers who’ve been asking for help, and we take pride in educating people all over the country.

I cannot express the importance of weight training, especially as we get older. It’s fantastic if you’re out walking, riding a bike or performing some type of cardio, but it’s a must to incorporate weight resistance.

Weight training is our path to the fountain of youth. I don’t care how old you are, weight training is a game changer. Our oldest clients are in their late 70s, and now have more energy than over the past 15 years.

I know the weight room can be a scary and intimidating, but don’t let that stop you.

We’ve created a friendly family environment at Ageless Muscle. Even though we are professional athletes, our gym is for people like you, who want to just be educated and train safely.

Ask for a tour at your local gym, along with no more than two or three personal training sessions. If you don’t gel with your trainer or gym, search and seek others.

The biggest lesson of all is to understand the no-nos, and keep it safe.

When you plateau, mix it up

By David Tepera, January 22, 2020

We frequently have people reach out to us because of being stuck with current exercise routines and diets. For some reason, even though they’re being strict and consistent, people’s bodies are no longer making changes.

It’s what is known as “plateau,” and it will happen to everyone who stays on the same routine week after week.

I’m going to try to explain this as best as possible. You see, our body’s job every single day is to survive. If we start overheating, the body will perspire for coolant. When we get too cold, the body will shiver to produce heat. When the body needs food for energy, it creates hunger.

When you lift weights, it produces micro tears within your muscles. At night, during rest, the body will repair itself and build more muscle tissue to take on that same weight. If you continue to use the same weight, the body will no longer build more muscle. It has already survived the weight you placed upon it. Make sense? To build more muscle, you must use more weight, including changing you weight routine.

The key is to keep confusing the body into building muscle tissue. If the body is confused, it has to keep making changes to survive.

This phenomena is the same process for dieting. For those of you who go on these strict or crazy diets, once your body has adjusted, you will no longer lose weight. Remember, after a period of time, the body has already survived. That’s why diets don’t work!

A good friend of mine went on one of those no carb diets and lost plenty of weight in the beginning. She was depressed and frustrated that she was stuck and plateaued. I told her because of the lack of carbs, it’s time to throw down some pizza, burgers and fries. She thought I was crazy, but when she did, her metabolism kicked back in and lost more weight. It was time to confuse her body.

If you deprive your body from certain important food vitamins and nutrients, your metabolism will shut down to survive.

When you start a diet, you must ask yourself, “Can I stay on this diet the rest of my life?”

Whatever is going on in your life, do not accept or be satisfied being “plateaued” because today, you’re going to mix it up.

Did you know?

By David Tepera, January 15, 2020

Today’s article was inspired from a longtime reader of my column Leroy Naschke III. Leroy, like many of you, is known as a gym rat. He loves weight training, plus all the proper dieting that’s involved. Believe me, once you’re immersed into this lifestyle, it becomes a lifer.

So, get your highlighters out, and be ready to mark some interesting diet tips.

Did you know eating different colors of the rainbow will have an extreme affect on your body? Without going into specific detail, red vegetables and fruits are good for your heart, white colored foods build your immunity, yellow helps with our skin, green is for cleansing, orange colors for inflammation and purple is for antioxidants.

Did you know a banana has been chemically ripened if it is brown spotted with a green stalk? If the stalk is black then the banana is naturally ripened?

Do you know the difference between fresh and frozen strawberries? Frozen is nutrient rich, will last for months, usually cheaper, but not as tasty. Fresh strawberries are nutrient rich, too, have better taste and texture, but only last for days and spoils quicker.

For all you coffee drinkers, did you know a large caramel macchiato has 3,500 calories, large caffe lattes have 2,660 calories, large cappuccinos have 1,680 calories and plain black coffee has zero calories?

So, what changes are you planning to make into your new 2020 diets? Are you one of those people sucked into another diet craze? Did you set yourself up for failure again?

Listen, don’t go on diets. Just start making small healthier changes. It took a long time to put that fat on your body, so it will take time to burn it off. Don’t get discouraged. If there are certain “so-called” unhealthy foods you like, then partake on the weekend. We do!

It’s time to enjoy life and not care about what others think. You only need to feel better to get out in this world to enjoy all that it offers. Love yourself first.

Oh, and one last tip about the importance of drinking water. Did you know if you drink a gallon of water per day, you won’t have time for other people’s drama because you’ll be too busy peeing? Stay hydrated my friends.

Lift yourself off the couch

By David Tepera, January 8, 2020

Throughout my body-building career, I’ve been asked countless times about how much and how often I lift. Today, my reply is “I lift my butt off the couch and hit the gym.”

That my friend, is the most important lift you can do.

When new clients come to us for their free consultation, I always express to them about how important it is that they’ve taken the first step of accomplishment by just walking in the door.

We understand that it’s extremely nervous and intimidating to walk into a busy gym. It takes us out of our comfort zone, plus to see a bunch of busy bodies on all the machines and cardio.

When Tina and I frequent any new gym that’s near our location, we always ask for a tour. Even though we have our own gym, we do have memberships at others. We like to use a variety of equipment, also being well known professional athletes, people want to talk to us about training.

So, what’s holding you back? Are you still hanging out on the couch to only talk about exercising? How many times have you said “I’m going to the gym tomorrow,” but it never seems to happen?

Start your lifting today by taking a tour at your local gym. Go in with a list of questions and make sure they not only demonstrate equipment, but you actually get your hands on it as well. This will help tremendously.

If you’re new to lifting weights, I would recommend utilizing a qualified trainer for a few sessions. Do not buy any additional products. I promise it’s not necessary when getting started. You’ll throw money away.

At Ageless Muscle, we have people who travel an extremely long distance just to learn proper and safe form. It’s our mission to make you comfortable to walk into any gym and lift weights without risk of injury.

Now, it’s time to start lifting. Lift your spirit, lift your mindset, attack this world with a vengeance and lift your butt off the couch. You got this 2020.

New year, new decade, new you

By David Tepera, January 1, 2020

OK, here we go. It’s not only a new year, but a new decade. When I was much younger, I’d wake up Jan. 1 with a hangover and not get anything accomplished. Now, for countless years, I’m up and ready to begin the year with my new set of goals.

If you’re in need of a list of goals, make your topics — mental, physical, occupational and spiritual. Believe me, none of these topics will be accomplished without getting into the right state of mind, thus mental.

Who do you surround yourself with? Are your friends in destructive behavior? Do you have a support system or negativity? Where does your mind spend its day? Successful people will tell you where they are going, and others will tell you where they’ve been.

Almost everyone wants to get in better shape and lose fat weight. Make your physical goals achievable. Set small goals per month where success will be attained. Don’t ever get discouraged over one bad day. Giving up on your goals because of one setback is like slashing the other three tires for one flat.

If you’re unhappy with your current occupation, what will it take to change? If you want to move up with your company, show your worth by taking on projects, getting there earlier and staying later.

Maybe, it will require night school, trade school or starting your own company because you have a unique set of skills.

When starting a new business, it’s important that your business creates a benefit or improves lives. If so, through time, you’ll succeed beyond expectation. That’s what we did at Ageless Muscle, and business is booming.

I understand many people question spirituality, and there’s multiple religious beliefs. My suggestion is if you’re not happy with current status of life, you have nothing to lose but to seek a higher power. I promise, it will change you.

Now, if you want 2020 to be your year, you can’t sit and wait for it. It’s time to get up and go after it. This will consist of all the little things like smiling more, being friendly, getting rid of all the clutter, delete negative people on social media, and just be fierce and brave.

Now, take a deep breath, get you game face on because today is a new year, new decade and a new you.