The Ultimate Body- Stick a Fork in it!

Last night, Rachel and I were watching a movie called Forks over Knives. Perhaps,
you've seen it. It's a documentary based on the idea that if you focus on your
nutrition (the fork), you can avoid the knife (medical treatment).

It was a pretty infromative documentary, even though Rachel and I fell asleep.
Seriously, it's how we watch movies these days. The kids FINALLY get to bed,
we sit down to watch 30 minutes, then wake up at 2 or 3 am.

Aside from the documentary, it's important to realize that our culture of food is
very bad in the United States. Even eating food that you think contributes to a
healthy lifestyle most likely isn't what you think, unless you've already been vigilant
and have done your homework.

Until this upcoming UBC program, we've focused on eating foods that promoted
weight loss and muscle mass development. It wasn't until my father-in-law was
diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforma (brain tumor), then my mother with
adenocarcinoma (lung cancer) that we realized something is seriously screwed up.

Both my father-in-law and mother are healthy, active, fit, and non-smokers. So
what gives?? Well, that's what our quest has been to discover. As it turns out,
many people before us have already figured a lot of stuff out. Consequently,
nothing is going to change unless we take matters into our own hands.

We can no longer trust that just because it's sold in the grocery store it's going to
be good for us. This email is not the place to explain how most of our beef, chicken,
salmon that we buy in the store contributes to ALL sorts of health issues. Just
think about it... should there be any surprise that eating meat from an animal that
is sick because it's being fed corn, or being pumped with antibiotics is making us
sick too.

Or shouldn't there be a concern that the company that manufactures the most
powerful weed killer known as Round Up, which has been banned in several
countries, is also one of the biggest seed producers for soy, sugar beets, corn, and
cotton.

This company, called Monsanto, genetically modified THEIR seeds to resist THEIR
Round Up. Farmers simply plant the seed, then spray the crops with Round Up.
Everything, but the crop, dies. Nevermind the herbicide that is on the consumable
crop, or the "super weeds" now created, or the ground water that becomes
contaminated.

Nevermind the fact that Americans consume, on average, 147 pounds of sugar a
year, and largely not even realizing it.

Nevermind the fact that 43% of Americans will get cancer, and 1 and 4 Americans
will die from it.

Nevermind the fact that 1500 Americans died today from cancer.

Nevermind the fact that 43 children in America, today, will learn that they have cancer.

Grocery stores, government agencies, or the FDA are not going to look out for us.
For, Rachel and I, and all the instructors of our fitness programs, we have a new vigor
for creating momentum in the United States.

Our mission isn't to push for a cure for anything. It's to remove Americans from the
horrid statistics above. We feel we've already done that with several hundred people
that have already done the UBC through an intense fitness curriculum and nutritional
program.

Part of our new goal is help our UBC students take their health to a whole new level.
Not only do we want our students to one day look all hot and sexy again, but we want
them to live free of disease. In addition to that, we want them to pass this onto their kids,
and so on.

Our next Ultimate Body Challenge begins Monday, Sept. 12th at 6 pm. For more
details- http://www.bodiesinmotionidaho.com/body_challenge.html

Cheers!

Duncan Richardson
Vice President of Motioneering
Bodies in Motion
Ph: 208.381.0587
Web: www.BodiesInMotionIdaho.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bodiesinmotion

Weight Training vs. Cross Training Programs such as Ultimate Body Challenge

The other day, I read a comment on a YouTube exercise video, “Seriously, weight lifting is so 80’s.” The comment made me chuckle. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. I picture leg warmers, headbands and aerobics when I think of 80’s fitness.

Anyhow, I know the point this person was trying to make. She were arguing that a cross training program is ultimately the best sort of conditioning. The gentleman was arguing that cross training programs are too strenuous. It went on and on.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to lift weights in a gym to compare my strength to how it was when I trained in a gym all the time to now. Aside from being ABSOLUTELY bored out of my mind, I realized several things by this experience-

1. Weight lifting is very linear and heavily isolates specific muscles. No, that’s not what I realized. What I realized was that when I crash skiing moguls this winter, which I love to do (ski moguls that is, not crashing), linear, isolating movements will do nothing for me.

Traditional weight training will help me very little since I do NOT crash in a very nice linear fashion. When I crash, my body is in a contorted, upside down, ski behind my head sort of fashion.

The training that helps me the most when I ski are cross training programs.

2. Did I mention that weight training was absolutely boring compared to a high energy cross training program? I couldn’t wait to get done so I could go back to our academy and do one of our routines.

3. I couldn’t handle how depressed half the people looked. One half gazed at their muscles in the mirror, and the other half just gazed in the mirror for 3 to 4 minutes between sets.

So, was I stronger? The answer is no. Was I weaker? The answer is no again! Although I didn’t increase my strength, I increased tons of other things. I used to leave the gym pretty wiped after my workouts. I did the same exact workout, with the same exact weight I used to lift, and had plenty of energy to head to our academy and do a serious cross training workout.

Somebody reading this may ask, “Then, what did I really improve besides endurance?” It’s a good question, because it’s not an apples to apples comparison, so I will just tell you.

I used to injury myself quite a bit playing soccer in high school (hamstring pulls, groin pulls, sprained ankles, etc.) Even as a competitive martial artist, when I was younger, I was always doing something funky to my lower back. And, I did extensive weight training, even under the direction of trainers.

About 5 years ago, we adopted a new training program in our facility that challenged students in completely unorthodoxed ways. Competitive soccer puts people at risk for injury because you don’t strengthen yourself for when someone takes out your legs when you’re in a feel on sprint.
For the past few years I had been playing competitive soccer again on a men’s city league. The ONLY injuries I was ever dealing with were bumps and bruises. Never pulling a muscle, twisting a knee or an ankle. Believe me, several guys on my team and other teams were fighting chronic ailments that were being blamed on “age.”

Teaching these programs and doing them on my own have tremendously improved my endurance, core strength, flexibility, and agility. I have never been out of shape, but I can tell you this… at 35 years old, I have more energy and stamina than I did as a competitive Taekwondo athlete in my early 20’s.

That’s what this type of training has done for me. Now, what it’s done for others is very, very similar, except it’s burned fat off our students bodies like crazy. Students lose, on average, 7% bodyfat in a 10 week period of time. That’s amazing, because they do it by following an athletes diet, not some sort of fad diet for birds.

What are these programs I am speaking about?

The Ultimate Body Shaping Challenge! To learn more about this particular program, visit the following link. http://www.freekaratelesson.com/weight-loss.html

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
Ph: 208.381.0587

Should I do the Ultimate Body Challenge?

Over the course of several years doing the UBC, we've found that many people sit on the fence. They let time lapse trying to decide if they should or shouldn't do the program. Let's explore some of these reasons people have such a hard time, then I'll give my thoughts.

First, you ought to know just a little about the program. This program consists of 4 major components-

1. Nutrition. We teach you our philosophy of eating. Eating to win, I like to say! It's a way of eating for an athlete. Everyone wants shoulders and arms that have a nice chiseled look to them, thighs that don't touch, and a tight butt! It's the look of an athlete. To look like an athlete, you need to eat like one, and that's what we teach you how to do. We'll also do strength & flexibility testing on you as well as a body composition that tells you exactly how many carbs, protein and fat you ought to be eating a day. No, it's not some simple formula like the ones on the internet.

2. Cardio Training. Our cardio training is a program called Thai-Robics. It's a program that has proven successful since 1995. You've got to admit, anything that can last 15 years has got to be good, otherwise we wouldn't waste our time doing it. Believe me, we've had classes that were in and out within a week, and others have lasted a few months. Thai-Robics is just so unique and awesome that people keep the program alive and well.

3. Resistance Training. The program is called Sport Fusion. This program replaced another class that wasn't broken. It was sort of a risky move, but it was a hit! Not just a hit because it was popular, but because we were able to improve students percent body fat loss by 2% over the entire 10 weeks. The average body fat loss used to be 5 to 7 percent loss, now it's 7 to 10 percent with Sport Fusion! The program gives you the benefit of a total body, weight lifting workout, but with fun and explosive sport drills. You'll even get more cardio work in the class, unlike a typical weight lifting regimen.

4. Life Style Shift. We're going to teach you, if you need to be taught, that feeling healthy and looking your best is going to extend further than our workout floor. We're going to rub off on you and get you active everyday of your life.

Think about this for a moment. You may have a job that keeps you planted on your rear everyday. Essentially, 8 hours of your day is sitting. The time you spend standing on breaks or lunch is counter acted by your driving. Then you're on your back for 8 hours of sleep. That means 2/3 of your life is sedentary. Now, I'm willing to bet that you're just not motivated to do anything with that other 8 hours because you're tired after work. Isn't that funny, well not really, but seriously, you've been inactive for most of the day, you'd think that you'd have some more energy.

Anyhow, we explain how all this works and we get you fired up and leading an active lifestyle. Trust me, once you get that snow ball rolling down the hill, it really starts building momentum. There is a saying- Nothing Moves Until Something Happens.

Okay, so what are those things that keep people from making something happen-

1. Time commitment.
The program does require some time. We are going to ask you to invest 60 hours over the course of 10 weeks to create a healthly body so you feel and look great. Not everyone can do 60 hours. In fact, we have many that will do less, because they know it's the only way they'll either a) Get this type of awesome training. Or, b) With their work travels, it's just difficult to commit 100% so 70 or 80 percent is better than NO percent

Answer this-
Is 60 hours worth an extended life?
Is 60 hours worth enabling you to live more actively?
Is 60 hours worth setting an example for your kids?
Is the nutritional education worth passing on to the rest of your family?

2. "I want to get into shape before I do a program like this."
Here's my response- Nothing Moves Until Something Happens. I hear this a lot, and never see the person again! Seriously, you don't get educated before you go to school. You go to school to get educated. You join the UBC to get into shape. Sure, some people are in great shape when they're in the UBC. They're either former UBC'ers or they've heard it's a program that provides results. It gets the out of shape in shape, and the in shape in better shape!

3. Money.
Okay, I can feel peoples pain when it comes to lacking some green. When I first opened The Academy of World Taekwondo, I knew how to teach, but I hadn't a clue about business. In fact, we appeared to be super successful because we were busting at the seems, but I had little skills in business and were actually hurting. I remember being at a martial arts business conference when we first opened up and pulling out a credit card that was nearly maxed and dropping $2000 on a seminar I knew we had to be a part of. People might say, "Yeah, $2000 for a business is different." Maybe so, but does it matter when our gas was shut off prior to that, in the winter? My point is, there are certain things you know are right. For many people the UBC is right and the only thing stopping them is the cash. I'd like to remove that hardship from peoples life and make it easy to pay for the UBC.

We will make it easy for those who would like to not feel so impacted by the $299 tuition. We'll allow them to pay this down weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly.

Those are the 3 main things we see that stops people who are wanting to do the UBC. Before I close this post, I just want to share some more of my thoughts. I try and live my life with no regrets. I occassionaly run into old college or high school friends who seem so depressed. I'll ask them what they're doing these days, and they'll say, "Oh, I'm working for 'so & so'. It's alright. It's not what I pictured myself doing, but oh well."

Hold the phone!!!

What do you mean "oh well"! If something isn't what you pictured doing, then do what you pictured doing. I have realized that "doing what you have pictured doing" is something that doesn't usually happen overnight. In fact, it sometimes takes time and discipline, lots of discipline. If you have no discipline, you'll lead an "oh well" life. Check out my liscence plate some time. You know what it says? DSIPLND. I came up with this as a reminder for me for where I have been, where I want to go, and what I want to teach my children.

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
Ph: 208.381.0587
http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com/weight-loss.html