From Crispy Creme to Very Lean

For as long as I can remember, cops and doughnuts have always been synonomous. Here is a funny joke I heard a long time ago to get you all in the mood. " How do you know when a cop has been eating doughnuts? His eyes are glazed! Ha Ha.Now that I have your attention, here it is. I've been in Law Enforcement here in Las Vegas for the past 16 years and let me tell you, it has been a bit of an an adventure. I started my career at the age of 28 when I was in good shape. I wasn't concerned with my nutrition or what I ate. My metabolism was great and I didn't gain any extra pounds. There was one thing I did notice about certain officers that had already been on the job for a few years was that most of them were overweight. As a new officer, thast was very confusing to me.I would think to myself, "I thought that everyone who is in Law Enforcement had to be in shape. I quickly learned that this wasn't the case.
Regardless of how everyone looked, I still continued to workout like I normally did and still ate pretty much whatever I wanted to eat. I felt, as long I as I exercised, it doesn't matter what I ate. That was great philosophy at the time. Well, my career continued and I began noticing subtle changes in my body as I got older. There were increases and decreases in all areas of my life. The food intake began to increase and the exercise began to decrease. Not a very good combination.
Thats when a great relationship between me and laziness began to develop. It wasn't beyond me to eat several doughnuts in the morning with my coffee. They were one of my favorite snacks at the time but I didn't realize what damage they were doing do me. Now that I had my glutony intact, the drinking and partying were running neck and neck with each other. They ran together all the time and became very good friends, inseperable!
Fast forward now to March of 2009. I just reached my 41st birthday and I felt like I was in a world of hurt. I was fat, overweight, sluggish, and very unhappy and I needed to do something before I got worse. I realized that being in Law Enforcement and wearing a badge, there were certain responsibilites that I had to live up to. I felt that the most important one was being a good represenetative of my department, physically. When you are in the public's eye, the thing that appears most unappealing is an officer who is extremely overweight in his uniform. You then become that stereotypical cop that hangs out and eats doughnuts all day and I was not gonna let that happen to me. I decided to do something about and get myself in to shape.I started doing P90X and was the beginning of my fitness revolution. Fast forward

again to the present, April 2011. I am now in the best shape of my life at 43 than I have ever been. No more doughnuts for this guy. Being in Law Enforcement can be a very stressful job at times and can cause a lot of health issues for us who wear a badge. One of the best ways to combat that is a very healthy diet in conjucnction with regular exercise. I have seen too many people retire from this type of job and with in a few months, die. It's very tragic and happens way too often. I am not gonna be a statistic. I promote health to my fellow officers in my department and workout very strenuously 6 days a week. I don't claim to be a fitness guru, I'm just a guy who lives a fitness lifestyle who leads by example. So, if you wear a badge, please take your fitness seriously so that you may live a long healthy life.

When injuries happen- redirect

Being in great physical shape is probably one of the best feelings in the world. Knowing that your body is strong and more durable gives people a certain amount of confidence that enables us to accomplish great things. Then there are times your body will face an injury and you are limited to your exercise,certain moves, and even amounts of weight. This is the reason I feel it is very important for us to listen to our bodies when such things occur. These are the times that we need to analyze the severity of the injury, and re-channel our training in other directions.
I just recently suffered a knee injury and I didn't know how bad it was. I didn't want to take any chances so I went to the doctor's to make sure it wasn't nothing serious. I took a few days off from my exercising to give my knee a rest and change the direction of my training. Alot of people will use an injury and sometimes make excuses not to work out. An injury can sometimes be a blessing in disguise. These moments can be the times to take your physical fitness to another level. This is when we can focus our sights on the areas of our body that need more attention. So, just because we have limitations in our training, doesn't mean we have to sit down and pull ourselves out of the game. The key is perpetual motion. Even though we are moving at a slower pace, we are still making forward progress. So if you have a knee injury, and can't do any lunges or squats, you can say , "Hey, I can really blast my upper body right now and hit my abs even harder."
Don't make excuses! Work around the injury, change your level, slow your roll, modify, bring it down a notch, or whatever you want to call it, the key is to do something. Stay within a level that is comfortable to you with out aggravating your injury even more. Smart exercise, in some cases, can even heal you faster by strengthening the area that is bothering you. Train like an athlete with wisdom and good judgment and that will lessen the chances of you sustaining an injury.
From your Dedicated Coach, Rich
www.richsanchezfitness.com
(702) 234-7422

Exercise, Age, and Injuries

One of the things that I take in consideration while I'm training is avoiding injuries or doing my best to try and avoid them. The one things that I have gained over the years that I find most precious, is the fact that I have attained much wisdom when it comes to fitness. I know how to train and train smart. I don't go beyond my limitations to try to impress others.Once you begin to let your ego get in the way, that's when injuries may occur.That's where the wisdom comes into place.
Some of us have the warrior mentality when it comes to exercise. We love to push ourselves and in some cases, an injury can happen and you don't even know it. As we age, we begin to notice subtle changes in our bodies, like little aches and pains that never used to be there.Even getting out of bed sometimes tends to become a bit of a challenge. These are definitely of of the changes I have also noticed. 2 more important facts that comes to mind are recovery time and soreness.There are some days that the soreness is o great, that I don't even want to train, but I have to. I think to myself,"I never used to get this sore". Then I begin to think, I am getting older. The interesting thing about being sore is that people don't realize,is that being sore is a good thing. It makes you realize that certain muscles are being being used again and despite the soreness, you need to work through it. Some people stop exercising because of it, the soreness goes away, and then you workout. Then guess what? The soreness is back! Work through it! The healing process is just a little bit slower as each birthday passes. That is why I emphasize on training smarter as we age.Sometimes,the injuries just can't be avoided. It just happens!

As I sit here now, I am currently dealing with an injury to my knee which is specifically directed to what I am exactly speaking of. I don't know how it happened. I didn't fall, or trip, or stumble, or twist my knee. I trained like I usually trained and there it was. This is a perfect example why it is important to listen to your body, and not train beyond our limitations especially as we get older. Here it is now, I'm 43 years old. I know I am not a spring chicken but at the same token, I'm not ready to be buried either.LOL. This is a very important time in my life when it comes to my fitness. I know I plan on staying in the game for a very long time and in order for me to do that, I must "train with my brain", not with my eagerness to impress. I'm not in any hurry to stay healthy. Fitness is not a race but a lifelong commitment which should be run like a marathon. Take every step carefully, watch your surroundings, and try not stumble. Listen to

your body and do your best to avoid any and all injuries. As you age, it becomes more and more vital to exercise with quality rather than quantity. As we age, we may slow down, but we don't have to stop completely. Even as injuries occur, rest, wait until you heal, and then start again or modify your workouts.
I know as I continue to get older, I gain knowledge and I love it! I'm still gonna train hard! I just have to be careful! SO do you! So, if you wanna stay young, and try to avoid injuries..................... YOU NEED TO EXERCISE! SIMPLE!
From your Dedicated Coach, Rich
www.richsanchezfitness.com
(702)234-7422

Taking it to the next level!

Have you ever wanted to take your fitness to the next level? Well here it is, April, 2011! Since reestablishing a fitness and nutrition commitment since March 2009, I have made some significant progress in my all around fitness. I am stronger, leaner, faster, more durable, and more muscular. Along with the physical strength that I have gained, I've also made considerable gains in mental strength. I often have friends ask me, how I discipline myself to train 6 days a week and be as consistent as I have been. My answer to them is always the same, I envision myself the way I used to look and I don't want to look the way I used to. Most importantly, I don't want to feel the way I used to feel. I was miserable and very unhappy with myself. Needless to say, I am not that man anymore.

It all started with P90X and after 4 rounds, I knew it was time to try something else. My next venture was Shaun T's/ Insanity. I was a little bit hesitant about it because I was afraid of losing too much weight. If it wasn't for one of my BEST friends, Mike French and his great knowledge of fitness, I probably would have never attempted it.

Doing Insanity has propelled my fitness further than I could have ever imagined. I didn't lose any weight doing it, but I did notice muscle gains from this program. It's great to have people in your life that you can turn to when you have questions about fitness. Mike is a great friend and has been a contributor to my fitness accomplishments.

In March of this year, I turned 43 years old. At this moment, I feel better than I did when I was 33. I know 43 is not that old, but as time moves forward, I must continue to adapt and make continuous progress in my quest to be in the best physical shape possible. As I have gotten older, I notice certain changes in my body that accompany celebrating more and more birthdays. More aches and longer recovery time from intense workouts. I feel with a regimented and consistent workout schedule, and wise training methods, those cannot be avoided, but they can definitely be lessened. Over time and continuous exercise, comes wisdom. Wisdom, I believe is a key factor in fitness. The more you know your body, how it works, and how it reacts to certain exercises, the smarter to can train while avoiding injury. That's why changing your workouts often can also lead to you making progress in your fitness as opposed to getting to a plateau phase. Once your workouts start to become redundant, they become less effective and you just start going through the motions. Your excuse at that point is, "Well I'm going to the gym and I'm not seeing any changes".That's because you keep doing the same thing over and over again. Most people don't like change and most are not willing to put their bodies through any amount of discomfort to get the desired results.

Now, I have evolved and I am in a place in my life to go to the next level of fitness. I am willing and committed to make the sacrifices, physically and nutritionally, to get to the pinnacle of elite physical shape. I know now what I must do in order to achieve this. I have introduced more running to my fitness, swimming, more core work, TRX suspension training, Tabata training techniques, and kettlebell work. These next 3 months are going to be very significant, very trying, and very fulfilling. This season in my life, I don't look to it as a challenge. I look at it as an OPPORTUNIY! An opportunity, not to be the strongest, or the fastest,or the leanest, but to be in the BEST shape...........ALL THE TIME, ALL YEAR LONG! " Taking it to the next level!" Until next time everyone, your Dedicated Coach, Rich
www.richsanchezfitness.com
(702)234-7422

Tabata and time!

So tell me, what is your secret to getting in your workout when you are limited on time? There are some that will not workout because of time constraints and keep putting their workouts off another day. I still here from friends that they spend an hour to an hour and half at the gym not including the drive to and from there. So, by the time you get home, it's 2 hours of your day gone!
I had a phone call scheduled at 11 am yesterday with one of my Beachbody coaches and I was pressed for time. It was 10:30 a.am. and I thought to myself, if I don't get my training in, I won't have time later in the day. I knew the phone call was going to be a lengthy one so I had to resort to my knowledge of Tabata training and how effective it is when you are short on time. Tabata can be used with a number of different exercises.It can be done with dumbells, kettlebells, barbells, or just your body weight. The basis of Tabata training is 4 minutes of intense interval/circuit training. Let me explain how it works, you exercise all out for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds and repeat it 7 more times. Total workout time = 4 minutes. How great is that?
I had chest, back, and abs to complete. The 1st 4 minutes, I did dumbell presses. I had 1 minute rest in between sets. Next, I did dumbell rows with 50lb. dumbells. 1 minute rest, then my last 4 minute phase was abs. I alternated doing crunches and oblique moves. 15 minutes, and I was done. I still had time for recovery drink and make my Shakeology,and at 11am , I was ready for my phone call. Intense training in short amount of time! Right now, my back and my chest are sore! I'm feeling it today. So when you are short on time, Tabata is the way to go.
Have a great day, your Dedicated Coach, Rich
www.richsanchezfitness.com
(702)234-7422