I am not sure how you feel about 2009, but I found it to be like that of a vicious roller coaster ride.  From the economic ups and downs to the monumental political changes that took place, we truly have been forced to absorb a lot of new information. With that being said, the new year of 2010 has officially started and this means we all can take advantage of creating more change for the better with the fresh start of the new year.

How should one go about creating the desired change? 

I always start with these simple suggestions:

Start small, be realistic, focus on reachable objectives and those that will bring you improvement and a better sense of well being.  All too often people try to do too much, too fast and in doing so only set themselves up to fail.  Be it the new freshman athlete in his or her first day of practice who desires to earn their top place on the team, or the man or woman who desires to lose a few pounds. Each must put in place a plan, have a positive mindset and find themselves surrounded by support systems.  Without these three things, the odds of them accomplishing their goals are not favorable. 

So what is it that you desire to change this year?  Interested in completing your first 10k run, triathlon, century bike ride or even a marathon?  These are all admirable goals that come with huge rewards.  However, each of these must have in place those things I mentioned above. 

Let’s start with the time factor.  One must set aside time each day for training and then must adhere to the schedule they put in place.  If one has never done this before, I highly suggest they either join a club, group or supporting cast who can guide them along the way so that sessions are not missed and emotional support is provided. 

Also, one must be sure to use the proper training gear. I highly recommend that it is attained through the services of a professional.  Be it the socks, shoes, shorts and eye-wear for running or the swim cap, goggles and trunks needed for swimming; it is essential to have the best gear for you. Your best “deals” may be found online, but the these deals are not truly deals if they set you up for failure be it that they are suited for someone else.  I think you get the picture…

If you are choosing to take part in an event for the first time, please spend some time conducting research.  Find other people who have participated in the event and ask them about the ups and downs of partaking in the event. In doing so, be sure to choose an activity you truly enjoy and that you believe will bring you personal fulfillment.  I know of many people who take part in race events that they actually are not all that interested in.  For example, if you hate to swim, there is no need to get involved in triathlons.  However, if you find yourself enjoying riding endless hours on the bike or pounding pavement with your feet running the Dallon may be an option best suited for you. If you hate running on the pavement but really enjoy running off roads on trails or even through the rough terrain of the forest seek events that provide this type of terrain.  I believe that too often people sign up for more popular events without considering what will be the best option for them.

If in 2009 you suffered many injuries and setbacks, this is a great time to acknowledge your short-comings.  Traumatic injury or chronic injury both require attention.  What I mean by this is if you have a muscular, joint, cardiovascular or other issue, you need to put a plan in place to attack your shortcomings or weaknesses. If a person fails to not only realize the issue but furthermore avoids dealing with them they are certain to do more harm. Often I see runners, cyclists, swimmers, tennis players, golfers and contact sport athletes attempting to battle through endless amounts of pain with the hope of finding enjoyment while training or competing. Simply put, if the issue is not given attention it will only become worse.  Our bodies will whisper at first, then will talk, turn that talk into a yell and will finally scream to a point where one becomes immobile.  Listening and staying in tune with one’s body is a must when it comes to training.  This is a fact both for the weekend warrior and the professional athlete.  No one can listen to your body better than you… so do it and when you hear a whisper, find a solution. 

Speaking of solutions, if you are a fitness minded person and participate in races, events and/or competitions be sure to train in seasons.  Divide the year up into pre-season, in-season, post season and off season.  Each one of these will have a different focus and will vary in duration based upon your schedule.  The main point is that repetition is avoided and each season is focused on a different purpose.  Your training programs, coaches, guides or mentors should discuss this with you on a regular basis.  Just like that of the new years resolution you have put in place, a plan must be followed with your purpose and mission in mind.

I wish you a strong start to the new year of 2010.  If you have not taken the time to think over what you desire to change this year, please do so.  Find a new challenge and prepare yourself for the road ahead.  Be it climbing a  mountain, ball room dancing, returning to the ice to play hockey or running your first 5k remember this fact; we only have one life, one body and it is your choice to live the fit life!

Sending you my best!

Coach T

www.trainingbytroy.com

According to a study done by Vanita Khetan, a BCC Analyst, an estimated 31.2 billion dollars were spent on nutritional supplements in 2008.  It is predicted that by the year 2013 this number will triple!  This data is amazing, as it shows people are willing to spend their hard earned dollars on items like protein powders, vitamins, minerals, energy drinks, and herbal concoctions. All of which are designed for the consumer to attain a higher level of health, wellness and overall athletic performance.

Why the sudden interest in nutritional supplements?  It all comes down to the fact that the average person desires to be at their healthiest and strongest. Many people are willing to pay to take a pill, use a powder, or apply a lotion if they believe it will assist them in attaining higher levels of performance, a quicker recovery and increased endurance.  The high school athletes, college athletes and weekend warrior type of athletes are all being targeted by those making and selling the products. The promised benefits for athletes paired with the availability and simplicity of using supplements led to the outstanding financial statistical findings.

Do these types of products hold any value to the claims made in their promotional advertising?  Some do BUT many do not.  The consumer should take caution before purchasing any nutritional supplement.  While many nutritional supplements work for the majority of the public, some products can cause issues when taken by people who have pre-existing health conditions and/or are also taking certain medications.  The bottom line is that great caution should be taken to avoid any negative consequences from supplement use.

Now, don’t get me wrong-many nutritional supplements hold to their claims quite well and provide enormous benefits to their consumers. Whether it is the ready-to-go nutritional shake, a protein bar or endurance based recovery liquid, these products do wonders when ingested by a healthy person. I am not sure about you, but trying to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat pita while competing in a bike race could be quite difficult.  On the other hand, ingesting an energy gel pack with a liquid recovery drink made of  carbohydrates and protein would be much easier to carry and consume.  So you can see that there is a purpose behind these nutritional products.  It is also more convenient to carry a protein bar in one’s training bag rather than a carton of milk or slice of cheese.

However, I do have an issue with the amount of money that is being spent on supplements.  Here is my hang up-protein powders, bars, and related products. Discussion about these products come up almost every time during my interaction with high school athletes, their coaches and parents.  Supplements are advertised everywhere, but are specifically geared toward the impressionable high school athlete of today.  The athlete tells mom and dad they need brand “x” protein powder to get bigger and stronger. Hey mom, “I will lift more weight, run faster and become better at my sport.” However, this leads young athletes to believe that a better performance comes from the pill, bottle, container, etc and not in hard work…Not true!

Allow me to explain why this is the case.  What is in that supplement, though it may be of high quality and value, is not going to be the answer to increasing the athlete’s overall performance.  Better training behaviors, nutritional eating habits, sleep patterns and the natural progression of growth contribute more to the athlete’s overall performance.  Also, that of what is found in most nutritional products today can be found in a more natural form of what most would call food!  Yes, I said food.

Two of my biggest attention grabbers when presenting to my various high school athletes is that of the pint of chocolate milk and the banana.  If I am without the banana, I may also discuss the benefits of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich made on whole wheat bread, tortilla wrap or pita.  These products are made from naturally occurring foods and contain within them the same products that many of the protein powders contain today.  Though hard to believe and very little advertised, it is a fact.  On top of this, we discuss how many sandwiches, bunches of bananas and gallons of  milk can be purchased for the the price spent on protein powder.  Oh, and let me add that the protein powder often times requires milk to be added to it.  I share this due to the added costs.  I think you get my point.  Natural is cheaper and just as effective as the powder-it is ready to eat or drink immediately.

I could go on about vitamins and how we can get them naturally in our foods by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables too.  I also would be able to touch on the fact that drinking water and eating bananas and/or yogurt can have the same effect on replenishing the human body in relation to hydration too.  However, I will save this for a future topic.

The bottom line is that nutritional supplements do work and are both effective and efficient.  There is a proper place and time to utilize them while in training or performing.  However, the majority of money spent on these products would be better spent on natural foods or better yet saved for other things of value.  Advertising today focuses in on the emotions of those vulnerable to believe that the answer and solution comes from a product when truly this is not the case.  Also, one must remember that nutritional products are designed for those that are without illness and or are taking medications.  One must practice caution and contact their qualified medical doctor before ingesting any nutritional product be it a vitamin, mineral, herb, energy drink, protein replacement etc.

I wish you the best and look forward to sharing with you more health based data soon!

Coach T

www.trainingbytroy.com

Education, Motivation, Inspiration!

Hello!  My name is Troy Eichers and most of  my clients and friends call me “Coach T.”  I am a fitness focused professional who owns a wellness based company called Training by Troy, Inc.  What does this mean you may ask? Well, I offer a wide variety of services to businesses and schools that focus on educating, motivating and inspiring those in front of me to choose healthy habits.  How , is probably your next question?  I do this by offering training sessions, seminars and speeches based upon the most important healthy based needs of those that hire me.  I sometimes wear the professional hat of the wellness consultant and at other times motivational speaker.  My background is that of a health teacher, athletic coach, personal trainer, fitness instructor, motivational speaker and metabolic training specialist.  I take these titles seriously and have taken the 16 years of experiencing such professions into each of my various consults, sessions, seminars etc.  I love all that is involved in health, fitness and wellness.  It has been my passion since the age of 16 and still is today as I near my soon to be new age of 38.  Gulp…..there is that age thing.

With that being shared, my audiences vary from grade school aged children to those who are old enough to be called grandparents.  No matter what the age, I have found that each person can learn and apply a behavior that is attached to living a higher level of life.  It brings me great joy to see the reactions that come with such new learned behaviors.  Be it something that once was lived in the past or learning from an entirely new experience.  It is the process of teaching others how to be better or more healthy, if you will, that lights me up inside.  Let me provide you with an example.

This past summer, my soon to be 10 year old daughter decided she wanted to run in her first official timed race.  She actually asked me if she could so this, so I showed her how to register and what the ideal process of preparation for her event would be.  Ashley was so excited that she wanted to start that very same day.  So, off to the track we went to complete our first training session.  We ran, jumped, sprinted, pushed, pulled, twisted and climbed.  At the end of our fun experience at the track, I looked to her and asked if she still wanted to do the event.  Without any hesitation she responded to me with an extremely energy filled answer of yes.  Oh, the energy of a child and how this reminded me of my upbringing.  She trained for several months and completed the 1 mile run in under 8 minutes with a huge smile and an extreme sense of accomplishment.  Not more than a few minutes after the race had been completed she shared with me her desire to do a 5k race next year.  We both decided that we could do this together and our new goal has been set.

Why do I share this type of  heart felt experience?  One, I share with you my passion and two, I use this as an example that we all probably can relate to from our younger years.  When we were young, we did not hesitate to set goals and were easily moved into doing things that could bring us benefit.  We did this without any issue and probably had a lot of fun making attempts at reaching out towards those objectives we had on our minds and in our hearts.  We were quick to listen to our guides, mentors, teachers, coaches etc…. and believed deep in our hearts that if we did our best, followed a plan that the end result would be great.  Somewhere along the line this has been lost in our society today.

No longer do I see our society setting healthy plans but more seeking short cuts.  Our medicine of today is quickly handed out to provide a solution to our laziness.  Our diets are a mess and our activity levels are reduced to laziness.  I hear endless excuses of why one cannot or will not make change and learn of very few plans that explain how new behaviors will be put in place to bring about reward.   Be it due to modern technology, simple ignorance or that of laziness, the end results are not kind to the human body.

I like the idea that my daughter has set goals and I love to see this whenever I can.  Set a goal, believe it can be attained and do all that one can to accomplish it.  If we make a plan to be healthy and learn how  it can be done, people would avoid the majority of preventable health issues of today.  The topics of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and preventable cancers are hot topics today because  many can be prevented with a healthy diet and exercise.  These are caused by the lack of plan and belief in ourselves to make good decisions.  We believe that it feels good to eat bad.  One has a sense of accomplishment by driving a car or even better a superior S.U.V. back and forth to work rather than riding a bike or even walking.  Watching television, playing games or cruising the web endlessly has overtaken the desire to be out and about playing with our children or using our highly valued public parks and trails.  You catch my drift.  The tendencies of today are terrible and come with expensive prices to pay.  I just told one of my audiences that the goal in life today should be for everyone to avoid the wheel chair!

I will explain.  As one ages he or she will atrophy at a rate of 7 to 10% each decade.  This means naturally we as humans lose our muscular strength, endurance and therefore our ability to move each day.  However, if we choose to use our muscles, move our bones and stimulate our nervous systems the process has been proven to be slowed and even reversed.  I joked with those listening and said my personal goal is to be able to lunge and or bend over to pick up my own golf ball after I hit a hole in one and not have to rely on someone else to pick it out of the cup for me at the age of 90.  The reality is I probably have a better chance of picking up the golf ball then hitting a hole in one, but that’s life.  I would much rather stick to fact than hope that it all works out in the end.

I hope you tune in more to this blog for a I have some really neat health topics to share with you.  My desire is to not only educate my readers but to motivate and inspire them to do the things in life that are attached to positive rewards.

In the mean time, I send you my best and wish you a happy and healthy day!

Coach T

www.trainingbytroy.com