Sports Can Be A Catalyst

The last two weeks sports has been in the news for all of the wrong reasons.  I have followed sports closely since I can remember.  Usually for fans sports are an escape for the cares of the world.  But when we turned on our televisions or went online it was full of disturbing stories.  From Ray Rice, NFL competence, Adrian Peterson, Danny Ferry, and other stories.  The beauty of social media is that it allows us to express our opinions on a variety of topics.

Some of are the opinion as to why should we care about sports so much.  I’ve stated many times before sports are a microcosm of society.  They expose the best and worse of our society and can be a catalyst for change on issues that are larger than the game.  That is what we witnessed the last two weeks.

Ray Rice’s video being released just gave us a visual of what we suspected took place between him and his then fiancé in the elevator.  San Francisco 49ers Ray McDonald and Carolina Panthers Greg Hardy have pending domestic violence cases.  The developments Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings discipline of his four year old is just another mess the NFL has on its hands.

What became a bigger story with Rice is how the Baltimore Ravens and NFL mishandled the situation and whether McDonald and Hardy should be playing without due process being completed.   Did the NFL see the Rice video or not, etc. etc.  As Bill Simmons Grantland stated, “Doesn’t this feels like Nixon all over again?” How can the same scandal blow up in someone’s face THREE DIFFERENT TIMES? It’s impossible!

A lot of good will come from the events of last week pertaining to Ray Rice.  The seriousness of domestic violence is being discussed.   Law enforcement is being forced to revisit how they handle domestic violence.  Society is doing a self-examination on how it has not been discussed enough. 

The NFL is heads and shoulders the most popular sports league.  Over 40% of their fans are women. 

Then handling of the situation reveals what tends to happen in big business when it is booming.  It is easy to get complacent about processes and competence.  A recent poll done by ESPN had over 50% of fans desiring for Commissioner Roger Goodell to resign or be fired.  The problem is the NFL owners are his bosses.  They are pleased with the job he is doing because he stays on the front line and takes all of the criticism that they do not have to deal with. 

Football fans have the right to complain about the competence of the person who oversees a multibillion industry they support.  Not only do fans come to the games, but we also support the sponsors that fund the NFL.  That is why they are willing to pay such a high price for advertisements in stadiums, events, and commercials.  Goodell’s salary has increased to $44 million/year.  With the responsibilities that come with being Commissioner competence should not be continuous question.

This is not new from how he handled the New England Patriots Spygate, New Orleans Saints Bountygate, fines, suspensions, and other issues.  Goodell has overseen the growth of the NFL, but I do not think much credit should be given to him for it.

It is like President Bill Clinton getting too much credit for the economy’s boom in the 1990’s.  Part of it was he was President at the right time…and he is brilliant.

Leadership Author and expert John Maxwell states, leadership is focused on developing the organization for future success. Leaders tend to focus on long-term growth, and they set challenging goals for themselves and for their businesses. Innovation is therefore key to leaders, who are always asking themselves "How can we make this business better?"

Another Maxwell position that applies to Goodell from his Five Levels of Leadership (People, Permission, Production, People Development, Pinnacle) is Position Leadership, the lowest level.  People follow because they have to.  That is where Goodell appears to fall.  He seems overwhelmed by the many facets that come with the job.  Communicating with fans, players, and media about the NFL and reasoning behind major decisions.  His former position as COO did not require the same responsibility.  With all the recent developments and controversies he has cancelled recent public appearances.

Then there was Danny Ferry’s comments regarding then free agent Luol Deng, "has a little African in him” that were on a conference call with the audio tape released this week.  Ferry claimed he was reading from a report.  Listening to the audio it did not appear he was reading.  Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo stated they belonged to him because they belonged to a culture within the Atlanta Hawks where one of his underlings didn't think twice about inputting them into the Hawks' database. That person didn't fear the general manager's response. The words belonged to Ferry because no one else studying and re-studying the Deng intelligence report – a player with whom they would offer a $10 million-a-year contract – thought it necessary to delete from the file.

The comments were unfortunate to say the least.  What good came out of it was a part owner of the franchise demanded that it would be investigated.  Whether their motivation was because the Donald Sterling fiasco was still fresh or knowing that it was wrong, they knew that an insulting reference should not be tolerated.  Ferry has taken an indefinite leave of absence.

So what did I take from the last couple of weeks?  Sports can start the process on social change.  Competence can be compromised for profits and greed.    I agree with what Mark Cuban stated in March in reference to the NFL, "Just watch.  Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I'm just telling you, when you've got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That's rule No. 1 of business."

The recent events will not hurt NFL profits in the short term because fans are suckers for Sundays.  We just want to watch the games and it is an escape from our troubles and even those within the NFL.   I was reminded that the tolerances for insensitive remarks towards individuals are no longer being tolerated in a corporate setting.  Sponsors do not want to be associated with those thoughts and the public is responding swiftly.  Sports cannot solve the world’s problems.  We have issues with ISIS, Ferguson still looming, crime, and continuous discrimination on all levels.  But we can thank sports for being the catalyst to many of the issues in the past, present, and future.

Football was the same sport that was a catalyst for history with Doug Williams winning a Super Bowl to help change the perception of black men being able to lead a diverse group. From being the lowest paid starting quarterback in Tampa Bay earlier in his career and less than a dozen backups to Super Bowl MVP.

The Jackie Robinson Little League United States Champions inspired conversations on race, but also illustrated how when a community is invested into what can be accomplished.  The team is a beneficiary of Major League Baseball’s RBI program, reviving baseball in inner cities.   More than baseball needs reviving in many cities.  This program is an example of when resources are invested into communities what children can accomplish.  The same can be said for education and job training.

Sports, with their impact and influence, have always had a place in society. There can be many instrumental development objectives and lessons realized through sports. Their value is sometimes underestimated, but as anyone knows who has ever been to any sporting event, it can literally reshape the foundation of a community. 

View Your Body As A Sculpture

Let’s be honest, we all would like to look in the mirror and be pleased with what we see.  We stare at body parts and would like for them to look bigger, smaller, more muscle or tone, slimmer waist, etc.  In order for that to happen discipline and consistency will be required.  There must be a plan of action for you to see the results you desire and avoiding resistance/strength training is not the answer.

Are you a cardio king or queen?  The majority of your fitness activities involve cardio vascular activities such as running, zumba or the elliptical machine.   Cardio is a great way to burn fat, calories and build endurance.  Cardio exercises keep our heart and respiratory system in good working condition.  What resistance and strength training allow you to do is be very intentional about which body parts you would like to focus on.  It allows you to treat your body like sculpture.  A sculptor shapes and molds with precision.  That is how you have to view your training sessions.

The process is trial and error, especially the first time you attempt to increase your strength training to build the physique you desire.  Certain body parts may respond faster or slower than others.  You will constantly need to evaluate your program and make adjustments.  For example, your quadriceps might respond faster than your hamstrings.  Instead of doing legs one day/week it might require two days and increased volume of exercises that focus on your hamstrings such as dead lifts and reverse lunges.

Let’s say that you’re eating the proper diet to reach your goals.   Remember, you can not out train a bad diet.  Now you are evaluating your physique and would like to see changes in certain areas.  For example, if you would like more definition in your back, or  glutes to have more shape resistance training will be needed over an extended period of time to build the muscle.  Women don’t worry, you will not develop a bulky or heavy physique.  Women don’t produce anywhere near as much testosterone as men do which makes it essentially impossible to attain.  

Be careful comparing yourself to someone who has been utilizing strength training for many years or genetically their body responds faster than yours.  They have put their bodies through routines for months and years causing the muscles to become accustomed to strenuous activity as the body ages. The body becomes more refined and the muscles contract harder because they have the experience to back them.  Maturing muscles come with time, training, dedication, consistency and patience. You must learn exercises that target certain body parts and their purpose and what ultimately you to accomplish from doing them.  Foundational movements such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, deadlifts, and shoulder presses are stable of building a physique.  Isolation exercises such as bicep curls, shoulder flies, and triceps extension variations fine tune the physique.

You want a well-balanced and proportioned body.  That means that some body parts may need more attention than others, but it should not come at the cost of neglecting the body parts that are your strong suits.  Your body will respond to what you pay attention to.   For example, a sculptor uses clay and carving tools.  View your body as the clay and weights, resistance bands, and body weight exercises as the carving tools to shape the body you desire.

Jamaal Piper

Health and Wellness Consultant/Personal Trainer

www.piperpersonaltraining.com

Sometimes It’s Just About Business, Racial And Not Racist

Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson

After reading Atlanta Hawks majority owner Bruce Levenson’s email from 2012 that was labeled, “racially insensitive” in many headlines I was puzzled to why he felt the need to sell the team.  His choice of words could have been better, but I wasn’t personally offended by his remarks.  The email came off as a ramble.  It doesn’t negate the observations and concerns he had owning a team. 

According to Hawks CEO Steven Koonin, the Hawks held a meeting in early June to discuss potential free-agent targets. General Manager Danny Ferry cited a background report that included an "offensive and racist" remark about a player.  Yahoo! Sports and the Journal-Constitution reported in subsequent reports Monday, quoted Ferry as saying of Deng: "He is still a young guy overall. He is a good guy overall. But he is not perfect. He's got some African in him. And I don't say that in a bad way."

After the meeting, one of the Hawks' stakeholders called for an internal investigation based on the remark being in the team's research of a player, which lead to Levenson’s email being discovered.

Many business' use words such as “demographics” to justify their approach.  Whole Foods grocery stores and 4-5 star restaurants are one end of town and liquor stores and checking cashing establishments on the other side for a reason.  These business owners want profits, they will pick locations to customers that their respective businesses are convenient for and will support, like it or not.  In many instances those reasons touch on class and race and when it is publicly revealed it touches on the sensitivities we have. 

The Atlanta Braves announced in November 2013 they were moving to Cobb County, GA outside of Atlanta bucking the trend of building stadiums downtown.  The Braves claim their fan base is out in the suburbs. They claim there’s “nothing around” [Turner Field, current stadium] that people want to go to.  Atlanta said no when the Braves asked for hundreds of millions of dollars to make improvements or build a new stadium. So, the Braves found a place that would give them their $392 million.  They made a business decision.

Levenson states in the e-mail in reference to season ticket sales being low:

“…I was told it is because we can't get 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tixs and they are the primary demo for season tickets around the league. when I pushed further, folks generally shrugged their shoulders. then I start looking around our arena during games and notice the following:

— it's 70 pct black

— the cheerleaders are black

— the music is hip hop

— at the bars it's 90 pct black

— there are few fathers and sons at the games

— we are doing after game concerts to attract more fans and the concerts are either hip hop or gospel.

Then I start looking around at other arenas. It is completely different. Even DC with its affluent black community never has more than 15 pct black audience."

He mentions further in the email that he is not threatened or heard any incidents at the games, but knows that white southerners may not have a comfort level.  He raised the issue of disposable income that differ in the black and white communities in Atlanta.  I live in the Washington, DC area, which has an affluent black middle class.  The difference is that Atlanta, GA is a southern city and state and race relations there are much different than a transient city like DC.

This is coming off the tail end of Donald Sterling and the Pandora’s box it could open that Mark Cuban was concerned about.  "I think there's a [league] constitution for a reason, right?" Cuban said before Game 4 of the Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs series. "Because this is a very slippery slope. What Donald said was wrong. It was abhorrent. There's no place for racism in the NBA, any business I'm associated with, and I don't want to be associated with people who have that position.  But at the same time, that's a decision I make. I think you've got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It's a very, very slippery slope.”

These are discussions that every business owner has especially when offering entertainment, product and/or services.  That is why when you turn on a program like “The Voice” on NBC they always make sure they have a black male and white female as judges along with Adam Levine and Blake Shelton whether it was Usher, CeeLo Green, Pharrell Williams or Christina Aguilera, Shakir, and Gwen Stefani.  They desire to appeal to a broad audience and those respective artists represent different genres.  Is that racist or sexist or a thoughtful business decision?  I would say the latter. 

I watched CNN drill the mayor and Police Chief in Ferguson, MO regarding the lack of police officers in the city coming off the tragic death of Michael Brown.  They both explained the lack of black applicants.  St. Louis, MO is only 20 minutes away and their police force offers better opportunities.  The residual affect of that impacted Ferguson not having police offers that could relate to the community they serve.  The Michael Brown tragedy as been well documented and discussed ad nauseam.  But the issue of black officers in Ferguson speaks to the issues of those who run the city and police department have to face and think of ways to solve that involve race.

As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stated in his piece for Time magazine, business people should have the right to wonder how to appeal to diverse groups in order to increase business. They should even be able to make minor insensitive gaffs if there is no obvious animosity or racist intent. This is a business email that is pretty harmless in terms of insulting anyone — and pretty fascinating in terms of seeing how the business of running a team really works.

Unfortunately for Levenson a scouting report about a player resulted in an investigation that revealed his email.  The comments in the scouting report are offensive, Levenson’s email context was not the same but somehow the two got lumped together and now he felt forced to sell the team.  I am hoping we can get to the point that when a comment or issue is racial it doesn’t make it racist. 

It is easy to get intellectually lazy and not look for context behind comments.  The majority of commentaries I have seen in reference to Levenson appear to see the difference.    Levenson was addressing the issue that was affecting the profits for his business, the NBA with a predominately black league and marketing to a broad audience and corporate sponsors.

2014 Washington Redskins and NFL Outlook

Football season is finally here.    Before the season begins fans of all 32 teams have high expectations of their respective teams season.  It is no different in the DMV for Washington Redskins fans.   Last season’s 3-13 season was very disappointing coming off a division title and the excitement of Offensive Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III's rookie campaign.    The drama with Head Coach Mike Shanahan and Griffin recovering from his knee injury casted a shadow over the season.  Shanahan is gone, Jay Gruden comes in, and Griffin is healthy.

           

2014 Redskins Season

Robert Griffin III

Much of the talk this preseason has been about Griffin’s struggles and backup Kirk Cousins performing well.  This is a critical season for Griffin.  The coach that he did not connect with is gone.  It appears Cousins has improved since last season.  Other quarterbacks such as Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons struggled in their second seasons after successful rookie campaigns and broke out with very good performances in their third season.  That is what ‘Skins fans are hoping for Griffin.  Newton and Ryan did not have another highly touted quarterback in their same draft class serving as a backup.  As confident as Griffin comes off he knows Kirk Cousins is a young developing quarterback like himself who still has intrigue around the league on how he would perform as a full time starter.

            I am hoping that the ‘Skins let the season play out with Griffin at the helm and Gruden not get tempted to go to Cousins too early if things do not go well.  By the end of the season we should have an idea of what kind of quarterback Griffin will be.  Was 2012 an anomaly with Washington’s read option and a rookie running back Alfred Morris because opposing teams did not have film on them?  After two seasons there will not be any surprises.  Griffin has to evolve and make all the progressions and throws from the pocket.   I do not think he has slowed down from his knee injury.  It appears even in preseason games teams have schemed knowing his tendencies and in position if he runs.  He’ll have to beat teams with his arm and Morris continuing to gain yards in the running game. 

I was never a fan of Shanahan, but it does not mean his assessment of Griffin and Donovan McNabb was incorrect.  He just handled the situations poorly.  McNabb was washed up and it showed when he went to Minnesota the following season.  On what Griffin and Shanahan clashed over on what Griffin needed to do to become a better quarterback might be accurate as well.  Griffin’s comments to the media and on social media have impacted the perception of him that he just doesn’t “get it”.  Especially when quarterbacks in his draft class such as Russell Wilson of Seattle Seahawks and Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts do not have the same issues and in just two seasons have more playoff success.  Is Griffin a know it all?  Is he coachable?  Is he relying too much on his success in the past and rookie season?  When I listen to him he appears to say the right things without coming off as to understanding why he needs to.  The quarterback is judged differently and we are all watching.  I don’t anticipate the team making the playoffs, but an improvement from 2013 with 7-9 wins. 

New Stadium           

Owner Dan Snyder recently announced plans for a new stadium.  This was exciting news to me.  I have never been a fan of FedEx Field.  It was built in a bad location with terrible traffic concerns to and from games.  The stadium does not have any character and didn’t have the same atmosphere as RFK Stadium, something was must missing.   Snyder was coy about the new stadium’s location.  My feeling is for two reasons; one I think he would like to have the new stadium constructed in the District.  Washington, DC is about to elect a new mayor and this would not be the appropriate time to discuss a move back into the city until after the election.   

The site at RFK would be ideal.  The soccer team, DC United has plans for a new stadium on the waterfront near Nationals Park.  The RFK site has direct Metro access and easier access in and out of the stadium by car.  It just makes sense.  Secondly, there are 13 years remaining on the lease of FedEx field.  I am sure by the time a new stadium is constructed a buyout of the lease could be negotiated.  Teams in all major sports have or are planning to move into their respective cities and not build stadiums in the suburbs.    Virginia could come into play because many of the ‘Skins fans travel from Virginia and Montgomery County, MD to games and a stadium there would be more accessible to the majority of season ticket holders.  The Atlanta Braves plans to move outside of Atlanta are for similar reasons.  Again, we’ll have to wait and see.

Playoff Predictions

NFC

Division Champions

Philadelphia Eagles-East

Green Bay Packers-North

New Orleans Saints-South

Seattle Seahawks-West

Wild Cards

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

AFC

Division Champions

New England Patriots-East

Cincinnati Bengals-North

Indianapolis Colts-South

Denver Broncos-West

Wild Cards

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Diego Chargers

I need to see games before I start talking Super Bowl, let the games begin!

What's Behind The Struggle?

With all of the products, programs, professionals, and technology available our society is still struggling with obesity and adopting a healthy lifestyle.   All of these advances need to be utilized to make healthy living truly a lifestyle.  While financial health has a bearing on physical health, the correlation is a complicated one. Culture, gender, education, biology, and even politics play a role. 

Many experts predict that health and wellness will be a trillion dollar industry by 2017, yet childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.   In 2013 the adult obesity rate in the United States is 27.2 percent, which is the highest the obesity rate has ever been a year since Gallup-Healthways started tracking it.

Here are four observations I’ve made as to why a healthy lifestyle continues to be a struggle in our society.

1.  Lack of Motivation-Many desire to be healthier and look better, but do not want to do the work necessary.  The thought of changing their eating habits and having to exercise consistently is draining.  Procrastination occurs for a variety of reasons including feeling overwhelmed, being depressed, feeling anxious or fearing failure among others. When procrastination becomes a habit, it may appear that a person is not motivated in succeeding.

2.  Stress-It takes up a significant amount of cognitive and emotional bandwidth. Some people cope with stress and feeling overwhelmed by avoiding starting to change their habits or finding triggers to engage in bad habits. Lack of sleep due to stress can make it difficult to feel motivated even with proper eating and consistent exercise.

3.  Time Management- One of the excuses I hear often is, “I don’t have time to exercise or cook my own meals.”  Time management requires setting goals, prioritizing tasks, and monitoring where your time actually goes.   With the amount of resources available it is becoming more difficult for that to be a legitimate excuse.

4. Dealing With Discomfort- Changing old habits requires getting out of your comfort zone.  Changing your diet means your palate will have to adjust and consistent exercise means your body will go through fatigue and soreness that you are not accustomed to.

Exercise, healthy eating and sleeping patterns all help in improving your mood, anxiety and stress. By alleviating some of the roadblocks being motivated can become easier.

For long-term improvement of motivation issues, try to identify the root cause. Addressing this underlying issue is the best and most successful way of improving motivation. If you are unsure of your root cause take the time to attempt to identify it.

Jamaal Piper

Health and Wellness Consultant/Personal Trainer

www.piperpersonaltraining.com

From The Inside Out

The emphasis to adopt a healthy lifestyle can easily be on outward appearance.  It can be looking at old pictures or a celebrity/model of what you want to go back to or get to whether it is to lose weight and/or build muscle.   Your progress starts internally before you will see any results on the outside.  Remember that this is a process and changes will not come overnight.   There are countless advertisements of drink this or take that and you’ll lose weight in a short period of time.  Begin respecting the process and not a product.  Supplements are meant to complement your diet and can be of great assistance.  Depending on them may generate results in the short term, but in the long term will not be beneficial for your health.

Scientists have recently discovered that years of eating – and overeating – the typical American diet actually changes the brain. More specifically, it damages the signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates metabolism.  This can be overcome by changing your diet. “It’s about biology,” says Louisse Aronne, Director of the Comprehensive Weight-Control Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.  While some damage to the hypothalamus may be permanent, it’s possible to reverse much of it. “If less fatty food comes in, it reduces the rate of damage,” he explains, noting that it doesn’t matter so much which specific diet you follow, as long as it’s one that cuts calories, reduces fat, and reduces simple carbohydrates.

If you have taken a good look at a newly constructed or recently remodeled McDonald’s lately, you have seen the effect that fast-casual restaurants have had on fast food franchises, which are incorporating some fast-casual concepts into their models in order to meet the competition.   Taco Bell recently opened a new chain called US Taco Co.  Among those fast-casual concepts in the Top 30, Panera Bread, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panda Express posted healthy sales gains of 12, 17 and 11 percent, respectively, according to Technomic's 2013 report.  Cooking your own meals is ideal, but food chains are noticing that consumers want better options. 

Psychological disorders which obesity may trigger include depression, eating disorders, distorted body image, and low self-esteem.  Advertisers play on those emotions by offering quick fixes.  There isn’t a short cut.  Consistent health eating habits with exercise will improve your overall health, strength, and endurance.  You will feel the changes such as more energy and the ability to do more during your training sessions before you see any changes.  The key is to trust the process and be patient and diligent.   Enjoy the journey while you are pursuing the end result.

Jamaal Piper

Health and Wellness Consultant/Personal Trainer

www.piperpersonaltraining.com 

Reaching The Next Level In Healthy Living

Adopting a healthy lifestyle requires a commitment and consistency.    Even after making the choice evaluating your progress can become frustrating.  The pace of weight loss has slowed down or is not happening at all or you reached your desired weight/size, but now you want to focus on certain body parts or reach a new milestone.  The original program that has gotten you to where you are will not be enough to take you to the next level.  In order to do that a few things need to be examined before you panic.  A drastic change may not be necessary or it could be?  Before making that decision do a self-evaluation in a few areas:

Nutrition:  The first thing to examine when reaching a plateau is to examine your nutrition.   Are you getting enough protein, carbs, sleep, and drinking enough water.   Are you skipping meals, large gaps in between meals, too many calories, or too little calories?    If you're looking to lose weight, you might turn to a low-carbohydrate diet. However, carbs are a biologically important nutrient, so significantly reducing your intake can have negative effects of varying severity.  You may have reached your goal in size and weight and are getting stronger and conditioning is improving.  Increasing your carbohydrate intake will not set you back.  Just make sure they are the “good” carbs such as sweet potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole grains.  Be mindful of the sneaky carbs such as yogurt, fruit, and nuts.  The body slows down its metabolism in response to a lack of food or excessive amounts of exercise.  Make sure you have the right balance. 

Eating out often and not knowing all the ingredients and calories can set you back as well.  Frequently eating out usually happens because it is quick, convenient, and it tastes good. However, if you want to eat healthier or lose weight, making meals at home is often a healthier choice. Cooking your own meals can be just as fast, or faster, than restaurant eating when you factor in waiting for your order to be taken and food to be prepared.   It will require preparing meals ahead of time and not being an impulsive grocery shopper and eater.  Learn quick recipes for nutritious and healthy meals.  Eating healthy does not mean it has to taste bad.  You also have to give your palate time to adjust to the changes in your diet.  You did not acquire your taste buds overnight so they will not change immediately.

Do not fall into the trap of relying too much on supplements; they are called supplements for a reason.  Supplements fill the gaps in your whole food diet and help you get more from your efforts in the gym. They are not intended to be a replacement for a proper diet or hard work.

A diet of basic whole foods, supported intelligently with basics such as protein, fish oil, and pre-workouts are sufficient.

Make sure that your diet is nailed down before you start adding anything more than those to your routine. You'll get better results by mastering basic nutrition than if you have a subpar diet with superior supplementation.

Training Program:  Most of us have a picture in our head of the ideal body that we have seen before, "I'd like to look just like him/her. They look great!"  If you are close to your ultimate goal or progress has slowed on the way take a step back and reevaluate your training program.  Are you training as hard as you can?  Are you doing long cardio sessions and very little weights, long weight sessions and very little cardio?   Your ultimate goal may require a change.  Have you been doing the same routine with the same reps and weights for months?   Running the same distance in the same time?  It is great that you have been consistent, but some minor adjustments could be needed.

It could as simple as using dumbbells instead of barbells for a particular exercise.  Increasing the weight for the same amount of reps because you have gotten stronger and do not realize it.  Change is good, but how you change is even more important.  You should not panic.  In my opinion certain exercises are irreplaceable and should not be abandoned such as pushups, pull-ups, squats, deadlifts, and dips.    Bouncing back and forth between routines can cause some parts of your body to get overdeveloped while others remain undertrained.  Know what your body needs and what body parts need more attention than others.

Accountability is key with someone else and/or yourself.  Tracking your food intake and results each day will help you help you stay on course.  Your training sessions should be planned each week with a focus of what you want to accomplish in each session.  Use apps or spreadsheets to document food intake.  If you don't do this, it is just too easy to let the carbs and calories creep up.  It's a pain, but if you really want to make your weight goal, I think it's necessary to record what you are eating, and use this information to stay on plan.

Health Issues/Medication:  A food sensitivity can impact weight loss and muscle mass. For instance, some people find that dairy products stall weight loss, or perhaps gluten in some form is being eaten (low carb pasta, protein bars or some other processed low carb food).  Low nutrient levels in the appetite center of the brain can trigger a ravenous appetite and uncontrollable cravings! Our brain’s appetite center has receptors that know if we are deficient on key nutrients like iron, vitamin D, or B-vitamins.   It is easy to get consumed with counting calories and not focus on getting the necessary nutrients. 

If you are trying to lose weight prescriptions such as steroids, drugs for mental health, and beta-blockers can slow down the process or even cause weight gain.   Steroids such as Prednisone may cause weight gain, as steroids affect the metabolism. Approximately 25% people who are taking antidepressants gain weight as a result. Paxil and Zoloft are two of the drugs commonly mentioned in this regard. Weight gain may not be sudden but gradual, over weeks and even months.  Beta-blockers, which are prescribed for hypertension, may bring on fatigue. You may be less eager to be active as a result. Another side effect is water retention. Moderate amounts of weight gain have been observed with some of these beta-blockers.  

You can achieve whatever fitness goals you desire.   It is important to that you set realistic expectations about your progress and the timeframe required to achieve it. If you don't, you'll get discouraged, and that can take all the fun out of your lifestyle. I’m sure you have heard it over and over again, to be healthy, look good, and feel good, it is a lifestyle.   It is not a certain lift, program, or dietary trick that will lead to results.  If you have questions consult your doctor, fitness professional, and nutritionist.  If you are currently working with a personal trainer and/or nutritionist keep the lines of communication open and be honest about your habits away from the time you are with them.  That will help them help you.

Jamaal Piper

Health and Wellness Consultant/Personal Trainer

piperpersonaltraining@gmail.com

202-409-8674