Cousin Kimmy is a happily married mother of one, who works 40+ hours a week at a desk job. Before the transformation, her life consisted of family BBQ's, pounding Silver Bullets, smoking regularly, and the slightest care in the world about what she would eat. As with a lot of people, there needs to be a motivating event to spark the exercise bug. Kimmy's was a trip to Hawaii in April. “I don't want to be a beached whale in April Chris.” Being the compassionate and caring cousin that I am, I vehemently expressed, “Kimmy you will be unless you SHOW UP!”
If you know me, you know that I'm a walking Nascar advertisement for Show Up. I'm usually sporting two Show Up Fitness wrists bands, a Show Up camo hat and shirt, and a glimpse of my Show Up tramp stamp. I'm still surprised at the reactions that I receive from it. I think it's classy; whatevs! Any chance that I get to drop a SHOW UP reference, I jump at the chance. Anywho, Kimmy wanted a program; that's what she got. Here's a glimpse at one of the days for her three month program:

With most beginning programs, the focus should be on proper movements (motor behavior), lighter weights (10+ reps) or body weight exercises, and SHOWING UP! Her equipment consisted of a pair of 10 lb dumbbells. I wanted her to perform 3-4 sets per exercise; we slowly increased the intensity and volume week per week. Today, it's common to be lead astray by media by thinking that copious amounts of weight will be lost, “Lose 10 pounds in 10 days!” I smell horse poop-(where are emojis when you need them?) During the first month of resistance training, neuromusucular communication is the primary adaptation that the body undergoes. In laymen's terms, the brain learns how to communicate with the muscles and the rest of the body. There'll be large increases in strength, but not a lot change aesthetically. It's not like you can't lose fat in the beginning of a workout program, it's just not what the body is focused on doing. Fitness professionals need to be transparent and explain expectations to clients. Here is an email that I sent to her about the program:
“Kimmy, don't expect amazing results the first six weeks of this program. Goal number one is to win the week- work out at least four days a week. If you can do that for a solid month, you've made it through what I call exercise bootcamp. Imagine if people today were to sign up for war and want to fight the next day? What would happen? They'd be the first people killed without a doubt. They need to train to be mentally and physically prepared for the perils of war. As with bootcamp, the first month of a fitness program weeds out the weak. After you've made it through the first month (NO EXCUSES TUTZ, YOU WILL, I PROMISE), you're gonna be primed for kick-ass results because your body is ready for greater amounts of volume. The time is now to SHOW UP cuz! P.S. have you or Greg met any rich cougars to take care of me yet?”
Feel free to copy and paste that email I sent; you may want to take out the cougar part. I cannot stress enough the importance of discussing this with your clients.
The next six weeks she bought some 15 & 20lb dumbbells, resistance bands, and increased her sets to six. Any time she had a question about how to perform a certain exercise, I would record a YouTube video and send it to her, just this this CLICK HERE. During the second half of the 12 week program is when you want to push harder. Feeling great at the end of the workout? Do one more round of every exercise until you get a burn in the muscle! You're not working, if you ain't burning (unless it's in your pants, you may want to get that checked out.) If you're not getting slightly sore, that's a great barometer to up the sets for the next workout. I don't like my clients being sore to the point of discomfort, but it never hurts to be a little sore. Here's an example of the second phase of resistance.

Guess what happened around the fifth week of of training? The results started coming around. She even sent over an awesome text from one of her friends for recognizing as well. Almost seems like The Biggest Loser, right; RIGGED? NOPE. Kimmy's dedication for her trip was 100% earned. All I did was develop a program that fit her lifestyle. As with all of our clients, I never make unrealistic expectations. You'll never hear from me, “You need to workout six six days a week, do tons of cardio, and eat peas and carrots!” NO WAY. Your sanity is my number one concern. If Kimmy told me that she wanted to work out two days a week and not change her diet, I would've made a program that fit her requests. Obviously, I'd explain that the results would take a lot longer. I want my clients to want it, not be pushed by some neurotic trainer. The process should be a learning experience, and mentally challenging to learn about yourself. I can speak for her when I say that she's proud of what SHE earned. Let it be noted that Kimmy lifted weights five days a week and one day she would go on a long hike. Before this program, she started running a lot until her knees started hurting. I told her to stop running. STOP RUNNING, AND DOING CRUNCHES unless you're a runner or professional Ab cruncher. Let's start working out smarter and not harder.

Additionally, I was most proud of her commitment to stop smoking! She downloaded an App, Quit Now. She would send me weekly updates just because it was pretty darn neat to track the progress! She CLAIMS to have before and after pics, but she's too embarrassed to show me. Probably because she knows I'll post to the world, as I'm doing right here. Kimmy's never had ANY shoulder definition, but now she does&.

If you're looking for a bad-ass success story like this, SHOW UP FITNESS is here for you. I design 90 day programs (as I did for Kimmy) that will be tailored to suit your condition. We'll consult over Skype, or a phone call to discuss your goals in greater detail. I GUARANTEE results; Ya, I'm that good. If you follow exactly what I write out for you, you'll end off in better shape than when you started. Half the battle is showing up. Look at what Kimmy did, I think it's your turn.
I've been asked a lot about where to purchase the resistance bands&. I like these RESISTANCE BANDS