Back again with another video blog Q&A. Today, I discuss being “healthy” (in addition to being lean), drastic body transformation and fat loss results, “Whereto start” and alcohol’s effect on fat loss.

Please turn the heat back on in San Antonio, it’s quite chilly today!

Enjoy the blog!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Posted a late Monday video blog. Just covering a variety of topics. Exercise videos are coming very soon!!!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

I have been receiving a lot of emails from bodybuilders and fitness competitors asking advice on a variety of topics, from safe water depletion, “comp” week advice, tanning (and applying tanning products), where to buy posing suits and how to know if they fit well), so I’m going to work on a thorough set of articles for the bodybuilding comp.

Still working on exercise vids, and the library will be huge! Another bonus is that I finally figured out the microphone on my laptop, so I’ll be able to post more vid-blogs and have more of a face to face presence here on the net (not pleasant for you! lol).

Make today amazing!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Zero week will be here Monday! Here are the goals of the week to begin your fat loss and body transformation.

Let me reiterate – this is a program designed to maximize body transformation! That means fat loss and muscle maintenance to maximize definition and changing the way you look. This is not a starvation program designed to make you lose 50lbs. It is for re-partitioning what you have.

The goals:
1. Keep or increase what lean body mass you have. This is extremely important. I can hear women all over the world saying “I just want to be smaller” and “I don’t want big muscles.” Here’s the kicker: you are not going to gain huge muscles at a rapid rate. It is physically and hormonally impossible. I mean, think about it – how many guys do you see in the gym that DO want huge muscles? Ok, now how many of them actually have huge muscles?

Keeping what lean body mass you have is important for metabolic reasons. The more lean body mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate you have. This is important, because I want your body being a fat burning furnace when you’re doing nothing. LOSING lean body mass slows the metabolism, which means you have to continue to eat less and less. What does that do? It invokes the body’s natural defense: the starvation reflex. The metabolism comes to a screeching halt, making the body more likely to metabolize muscle rather than body fat. Lean body mass looks better than fat. Skinny isn’t always desirable. If you want the toned, defined look, it is important to control where the pounds you lose comes from.

2. Burn fat. This goes without saying. But the goal is not to lose sheer weight. Remove adipose from the body – that’s it. To do this, there is a lot of nutritional timing, nutrient manipulation and training strategies that go behind this. Forget what you think you know. I don’t care about “Well, I burned 300 calories doing this” and “500 calories doing that”. You’re wasting mental capacity and effort. I am concerned about nutrient intake more than I am concerned with caloric intake. A calorie is NOT a calorie, and the body DOES pick and choose where it burns calories from based on your current nutritional/fed state or the type of exercise your doing. Oh, but there is more – the body is picky and will go out of it’s way to compensate in a way you don’t want it to. If the body feels like too much fat has been burned during a given time period, it will go into a fat preservation mode.

3. 8 Weeks is NOT a long time, so there’s no margin for error. No excuses, no “I did OK”. You either commit or you don’t. I’m laying this all out to give you what you need to make the maximum amount of progress in a very short amount of time.

4. Set your baselines NOW. What are your baselines? Over the next week, it’s important that you figure out what your capabilities are in different exercises. I’d spread this out over a week’s time to figure it out, but the point is that we have to force the body to adapt by progression.

Cardio for the first 2 weeks is simple: 20 minutes on Days 2 and 4 at a very intense effort. What is intense? Warm up for 5 minutes and then push it at an effort that requires deep breaths before speaking for 20 minutes (and then cool down for 3-5 minutes). I PREFER lower impact machines like the elliptical or recumbent bike, but if you’re a runner, run. The goal is to go all out as much as you can for 20 minutes. If you need to take a breather for a minute or two here and there, that’s fine. But the goal here is to establish an efficient cardiovascular response.

On day 6, this cardio is much less intense, yet longer in duration. 5 minute warm up, moderate intensity (you should be able to talk, but should be breathing heavy and breaking a sweat) for 35 minutes. Cool down for 5 minutes.

Exercise baselines.
-Warm up for 5 minutes on your favorite cardio machine.
-For each exercise, do 2-4 light sets to acclimate the body to the exercise.
-Once perfect form ends, the set ends and that is your baseline. No swinging, rocking, cheating, leaning, etc.
-A rep range is just that. Find a weight heavy enough that you can’t do more than the higher number and light enough to where you can at least do the minimum reps.

On Day 1:
Determine how much weight you can do for 8-12 reps on db front squats

Determine how much weight you can do on the flat db bench press for 8-10 reps

Determine much weight you can do for 12-15 reps on the lat pulldown

2 sets of standing lateral raises x 15-20 reps
3 sets of 12-15 reps of standing db curls
3 sets of tricep pressdowns for 15-20 reps

Day 3:
Determine how much weight you can do on the leg press for 12-15 reps

Determine how much weight you can do on the db incline bench press for 10-12 reps

Determine how much weight you can do on the seated cable row for 8-10 reps

Standing Ez bar curls 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Bench Dips 3 sets until failure
Front db raises 2 sets x 15-20 reps

Day 5:
Determine how much weight you can do on a bb stiff leg dead lift for 10-12 reps

Determine how much weight you can do for 6-8 reps on a flat bb bench press

Determine how much weight you can do on a bent barbell row for 6-8 reps.

Seated incline db curls 2 sets x 12-15 reps
Flat bench bb skull crushers 2 sets x 12-15 reps

These are not the only exercises you will be doing – this is just to get your baselines on a few simple exercises and are the ones you will work to progress in. Weekly, workouts will include different exercises from the list that is posted in the 8 Week Program section here on the blog, including squats, dead lifts, lunges, bench press variations and several other that really stimulate the body.

IF you don’t understand how to do some of these exercises, I would suggest to either email me and ask me where you can find a video of someone doing it properly. I am in the midst of adding an entire library of every exercise that I can think of, but it’s going to take me a little bit. At least if you email me, I can tell you where you can find the correct way to do it, and not a video of someone with terrible form.

Of course, for my online personal training clients, I do offer webcam conferencing and step by step instruction for any exercise you may need help with.

For now, choose a few core exercises that you enjoy and finish your workouts with them, but once week 1 starts, I will be adding specific core exercises to your regimen.

Questions and/or comments? Feel free to email or comment!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Life is about balance. Sure, you can have extremes in your life, but it is definitely important to keep things evened out.

I workout extremely hard. I plan every meal. I make time for cardio.

But most importantly, I love spending time with my son, Peyton.

So, I find ways to balance this:
(click to enlarge)

With this:

Living healthy does not mean sacrificing “living”. It means living better and becoming better at everything else you do. Except it won’t make you a better drinker or partier, so if that’s your idea of living, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate priorities! I’m not preaching, and there’s nothing wrong with hanging out and having a good time. BUT if that’s “having a life”, than, well, you’re probably not reading this site anyway.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

I went to login to my main email today and noticed that my account was not working. So, after further research, I found that my main webpage had also been deleted! I’ve worked to keep that page current and full of information since 2000. I’m on the phone with my web hosting company right now, but I’m admittedly freaking out.

Of course, if I have lost my main domain forever, I’ll be working night and day to make sure I can make this one and my personal training studio’s main page the top two sites on the web for fat loss, body transformation and personal training.

Keeping my fingers crossed,

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

‘Tis the season for fat loss! I guess it is always that season in my business, but I love it.

The spring is also big for two other demographics: those who are planning a wedding (and I do a lot of work to make sure people look their best on their big day), but also, April-June is a big time for fitness, figure and bodybuilding competitions.

As many people that read the blog know, I recently competed in a bodybuilding show, accomplishing a major goal of mine. Luckily, many people considered my conditioning absolutely insane and it has parlayed into another niche for my business – helping others look their best for stage.

A couple of my friends and clients have enlisted me just for this reason, and have given me total control over their nutrition and training regimens. With me not currently preparing to get on stage, it’s very easy for me to focus on their needs and have the dialed in for their shows. I have a few different clients in different stages, so it’s fun to watch them go through what I just went through a couple of months ago. A couple of clients are actually located here in San Antonio and are working with me 6-7 days per week (with both nutrition and training). I have one client that is actually traveling into town every couple of weeks for me to track and advise, and I have one more client that I am helping via the internet more than 1500 miles per way.

As a competitive bodybuilder, I completely understand what they are going through, and I also understand that there’s little margin for error.

As their regimens unfold and the work starts to show, I’ll make sure to keep everyone updated on their progress!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

We will be expanding our boot camp training programs for 2010, so drop me an email at boyd@the-personal-trainer.com to inquire about availability. Also, we are expanding our two for one training programs, where you and a partner can train together for the price of one on any our our training packages.

Make 2010 your year for body transformation! Spring WILL be here quickly, so don’t hesitate!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

So, to give me something to focus on that will directly support my goal of competing in a bodybuilding show in August of 2010, I have decided that I will compete in bench press competition in March. Now, I had previously decided that I would be ending the strength and size gain portion of my training program at the end of March, so this is a perfect goal that can peacefully co-exist with my bodybuilding aspirations.

Both competitions are tested competitions. I bring this up because I feel that tested competitions are the easiest ways to level the playing field. I am NOT a genetic freak by any means, but my work ethic is second to none and I bust my tail in whatever I do.

While I will be primarily focusing on increasing my bench press, I will also be focusing on overall strength and size, and will train as if I were planning to compete in a full powerlifting meet, with the exception of more than likely reducing the volume on squats as I approach the meet.

Also, I plan on competing in both shows under 200lbs of bodyweight. Those who know me know that is a bit smaller than I typically walk around, so I will be staying lean throughout prep for both shows.

I feel the one thing I have gained getting ready for the next bodybuilding show is the basic experience. I was admittedly nervous and stressed for my last show – I did it all alone and all by myself. I liked that, but admittedly, I stressed out and was a bit crabby getting ready. I now know the pace I need to use to approach the competition and will be much more relaxed this time around.

I’ll be listing a few days of training and nutrition per week, just to give folks an insight of what I’m doing. Yes, I will be gaining muscle while losing body fat (or at least keeping it low). While I was down to the low 3% range for my last bodybuilding show, I am now sitting in the mid 6 range right now and I’m comfortable with it.

To answer a popular question, I will be doing a bit of cardio getting ready for the meet, but more to support my training and recovery. Of course, it will be greatly increased going into my bodybuilding show.

So, sorry for fewer updates, but now I have a plan in place and I’m ready to attack!

It’s busy season in the San Antonio Personal Training industry, and I like taking on many different obstacles at once.

Get that Christmas shopping done!!!

Live great!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Over the years, I’ve had many friends, clients, and loved ones that have had to deal with an adverse situation right when they had things rolling in their favor: an injury, loss of a job, or God forbid, the loss of a loved one.

When you are down, it’s very easy to stay down. To blame the situation at hand for you not reaching your goals or rising to the top. I’ve been there. Three months after opening my personal training studio, my grandfather, whom I cherished more than anything, passed away. The mere thought of waking up with him not in the world was a challenge for me, but I didn’t have a choice. I had a son and clients that depended on me to be strong and st an example.

No matter what you are facing, know that there are people looking at you for strength. They need to see you succeed in your body transformation because they’re using you as their inspiration, and your success is what they need to put them over the threshold.

When you are knocked down, you have to get up – you are judged by not how many times you are knocked down, but how high you bounce and how quickly you get back up.

Life is not easy. Life’s greatest rewards are not easily achieved. Some people pray for a lighter load, while others work toward a stronger back.

Which one are you?

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454