Happy BDAY to me and more!!!

 WHAT'S NEW!?

Well it's April 27th, 2014! I'm sitting here in my hotel room looking at the walls thinking it's time to get back with the program. I went from working out atleast 4-5 times a week to barely getting in my 1 or 2 a week over the last 2 weeks. As a fitness professional I  know I need to do better however my other profession demands alot of my schedule and the 10-12 hour days take a toll on you sometimes.

I had a birthday this month which means I am one year closer to dying lol. I know that sounds grim but it is a truth of life. With that being said, I believe eating a good diet and exercising will keep you from aging and I know I look just as good or better than some of the 20 y.o folk I see from day to day. If I could only find a solution for these gray hairs though. :o)

When I am not personal training sometimes I travel the country and work long hours. I am no stranger to living out of my suitcase and spending more nights than I care to remember in the hotel. Sometimes your hotel has a good selection of gym equipment and other times, not so much!
But there are still plenty things you can do to stay active. Run the stairs. Use the office chair to do ab rollouts. Use the sofa to do dips. Don't forget you can always drop down and give me 20!!!

So for the many of you who work long hours and have minimal time to workout I do relate. But I believe in leading by example so if I can do it you can too. Sometimes you just have to make it a
priority that get in atleast 20 minutes of physical activity. Everybody has 20mins right!?

Examples of things you can do include the following: (Kind of redundant but you don't care, right!?)

1) Stairs
2) Jumping jacks
3) Jump rope
4) Pushups, abs, and body squats
5) Intervals of burpees
6) plyometrics
7) etc...
the possiblities are really endless if you are creative and the good thing about creative is that it keeps your body guessing.
 You could always do these as well!!!

The weather is beautiful today so I think I will enjoy some of this weather with a little jog/walk around the Nation's Capitol.

What are you going to do today?

The 300lb phenom! Inspiration of the week! D-300.

Hello again my fit family! The blog has been quiet for a while as I have been extremely busy and frankly just haven't been up to keeping it updated. I do apologize and hopefully, I can start doing better again. This entry is an easy way out for me today! It's always easy to find people that are inspirational and this guy inspires me to no end! Sure, CT Fletcher and those guys are mad impressive but I always have had a deeper respect for the mastering of your own bodyweight. The guy in the video below calls himself D 300. Yep, the brother was 300lbs and controlling his body like a light weight. This shows you the power of sticking to a system and just being consistent. It doesn't matter how big or how small, just keep working at your goals and you can achieve them. I hope you enjoy the video and I look forward to your comments!  If you're in New Orleans, HAPPY MARDI GRAS and DON'T EAT TOO MUCH KING CAKE!!!

Live a better life in 2014!!!

WELCOME BACK!!! 
2013 was a rough year for me. There was much more death than I am comfortable with in my circle.
I lost an old classmate (30something years old), my grandfather, my wife's grandfather and my wife's father! Talk about crazy! The weirdest thing about it was that those deaths were always right before or after holidays. Not to mention, the week of Christmas my wife's father succumb to his battle with Leukemia. Talk about a sucky way to end the year.

I didn't even mention the fact that I caught a nasty stomach virus the week of Christmas so I spent the first part of the week either hovering over the toilet vomitting or sitting on the toilet with EXPLOSIVE DIARHEA!!! Ah well, out with the old in with the New right!!! Today, I finally made it back into the gym. It's been about 2 weeks since my last lifting session. Matter of fact, the last day I lifted weights was the day I came home sick with the EXPLOSIVE VOMITING!!! At first, I thought I lifted too hard and had a problem with my pre-workout mix. However, after 3 different sessions over the toilet I realized this was something different, something more, SOMETHING CRUCIAL lol… Ah well, about 5 days later and lbs lighter I began my recuperation.

http://share.food.com/community/gailanng/style.esi?member_id=1072593

Being that it was holiday time and once again I re-iterate I am from New Orleans, bad food grabbed a hold of me.  Talk about an epic plunge, YES I WENT HEAD FIRST or should I say Mouth first!!! See my Moms is a really good cook! And my brother has MASTERED the recipe for his OOEY GOOEY CAKE.  Hell, I call it "CRACK CAKE!!! Seriously, it is DELICIOUS! Lol, it's so addictive that he can't just bring one pan to a party but he has to bring certain family members whole pans so they can eat it by themselves. Now, personally, I don't recommend anyone eat a whole OOEY GOOEY CAKE! That seems like a recipe for DIABETES, or OBESITY at the least lol. But like I said, it is tasty so I understand.

www.pumpjunkies.com

With that being said, today was time to atone for my holiday sins! The plan was to murder legs today however, it didn't quite workout that way. This was more like "attempted murder", I say that because my workout lacked a little. First my battery on my phone died prematurely! That means no music which means I lost a little of my AMP! Second, everything felt heavier than normal! Even 185lbs on the smith machine felt like a mountain.  Not to mention my endurance felt nonexistent, I could only muster about 8 reps before I had to give in. This was a far cry from my last BEASTMODE session 2 weeks ago. But once again, I understand I am rebuilding.

Thus, I went through my rounds did my best and pushed it as hard as I could. Smith Machine Squats, Free Squats, Single Leg Curls followed by Double Leg Curls, Single Leg Extensions followed by Double leg extensions and walking lunges to finish everything off. I can't wait until I feel like "ME" again but sometimes you have days like this. The important thing is to keep it moving, never give up and keep fighting! 

In essence that is the way we are supposed to live this life. When things aren't going your way, keep pushing and eventually things will go back to normal or even get better. As I will bury my father in law tomorrow, I challenge you to LIVE! Live hard! Don't just exist! Challenge yourself. It will hurt but so what, pulling muscles and not being fit hurts worse in the long run. My son reaps the benefits of having a fit dad everyday!


The next step is to get my body back on the Alkaline side of the Acidic/Alkaline Ph battle. You see, cancer can not survive in an alkaline environment. Acidic foods reap havoc inside of your body. And according to Dr. Sebi,  http://www.drsebiproducts.com the other hazard to our body is Mucus build up so that is the other issue I will try to get in order. I suggest anyone that has not heard of his teaching to look him up. He has done with modern medicine has failed to do…help the body heal itself, not just manage a condition. In the coming weeks and months, I will aim to not just post about exercise and workouts but also about healing the body and proper nutrition to help aid the body in healing itself. The more I learn, the more I realize a lot of the "healthy"foods we were taught may not be the healthiest for our bodies. Life is truly like the "MATRIX"



To my clients-
Sorry to have gone AWOL.
Like I told you, I was sick as a dog for a week and trying to plan this funeral the next week.
But, I'm ready to start working you back into shape. 2014 is here let's get it!
If you want a better breakdown of the workout feel free to message me or email me.

Here's to a productive, fruitful New Year!!!  CHEERS!
-Mark B Fitness

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BEAUCOUPFIT!!!

Hope your holidays is a blessed one! I have caught a little stomach bug which has kept me from doing anything spectacular. Anyway, don't eat too much! Enjoy the holidays and let's get ready for one hell of a NEW YEAR!!!

Should you do ab work everyday?

Should you do ab work everyday?

Well, it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The reality of it is this, if you want a six pack then you are better suited changing your diet and upping your cardio output. We all have abs, however our genetic make-up is different so some people will show a 4 pack, some will show a 6 pack, and some will show an 8 pack. However, the more fat you have covering your "pack", the harder it will be for it to be visible. Melt the fat, and your abs will begin to show.

Now there are ways to make your abs more pronounced! Some people have really small abs and some people have thick full abs. In my opinion, both are aesthetically pleasing, however if you prefer a thicker, fuller, ab outline then I would suggest doing weighted crunches, pulldowns etc… The weight will make the muscle bellies take on a fuller look.  So with that out of the way let's get to the meat and potatoes of the argument.

---Training for strength---
Whether or not to do abwork everyday comes down to your goals! If you talk to any professional track and field athlete you will hear that they work abs everyday! Numbers vary between 500-1500 ab reps on any given day depending on the intensity of their main track and field workout. This may seem like a lot but the goal is to have a strong core. This leads me to my point! If you want a strong core, there is nothing wrong with doing abs everyday. Your stomach muscles are stabilizer muscles, they are constantly in work everyday so working them won't lead to overtraining. For example, if you are a track athlete, on your high intensity sprint days you would do less reps. On your low intensity cardio days, you would do more reps. Trust me, your muscles recover quicker than we give them credit for.

Always try to vary the ab exercises so that you target the different regions of the midsection: Obliques, upper abs, lower abs. Great exercises to incorporate are hanging knee raises, oblique crunches, knee to elbows, alternating plank work, and jack knifes!!!

---Training for the six pack---
The six pack means tells nothing about a persons core strength! I have seen numerous people over the years with ripped stomaches who were weak as a baby! Conversely, I have taken ab classes with instructors who look like they have never even thought of a six pack however their classes were the hardest I've ever taken and yes, they were able to hang the whole time. This is because they train for strength vs aesthetics much like if you compare a powerlifters body to a bodybuilder. So basically, if your goal is to acquire that cover model six pack, think diet diet diet.  Abs are made in the kitchen. Remember, we all have ab muscles some or just hidden under what we eat everyday.

---Summary---

Remember, changing your body is a marathon not a sprint. Make healthy eating choices, and workout consistently and over time you will see your results. Fall in love with the process. Enjoy the journey and not just the thought of the destination. Working out is a great lifestyle so remember that you are taking steps to keep your body healthy which will in turn lead to a higher quality of life. I didn't really give a specific ab routine because the options are almost limited. Just remember to always challenge your self because if you are not challenging yourself you are not changing!

Let me know what you think.

Be sure to check us out on Facebook and subscribe to the youtube page!!!
-MarkBFitness

My junk food rant!!!

Hello my fit family! Been a while since I've been able to post so I figured I'd at least post a relevant video on a relevant topic. Working out is easy but the dieting/nutrition is hard. Even harder is choosing cheat foods(Junk foods) that won't kill ya! Below is my rant on MSG, ASPARTAME, and the like…

Enjoy!

The infamous 3000 rep challenge is back!

In fairness, I should have posted this challenge Friday instead of today but I was busy actually trying to finish the challenge myself. The first time I posted it, no one completed it. I mean come on 3000 reps is insane. That takes alot of endurance and most importantly mental strength. But, today I can tell you 100% certainty that it can and has been done. It took me probably a little over 3 hours give or take of total work time to complete but I took alot of breaks and did other things to keep the workout from feeling too arduous. So once again here's the workout

Being that I posted it a day late, your deadline can extend until Monday or if you are reading this during the week, you can just impose a three day deadline and give it a shot. But, just know that it takes time and discipline to get through it. 

The first time I tried it, I thought I would do my pushups on one day and my body squats on another. For me, this was very ineffective. I felt more productive breaking down my numbers into smaller sets/reps and just knocking through the workout one row at a time. 

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!!!

Working out is my drug, what's your's??