Justin Rivelli’s Physique Transformations

Year: 2012

  • Get Awesome Results (Part 2): Coaching the “M” Word

    (Even watching Rocky won’t keep you motivated for long)

    The phony idea of pumping people up, intense yelling, or even a “motivational movie” will most likely NOT cure unmotivated people to create lasting change. This is an inadequate way of thinking about this misunderstood and poorly implemented word. My goal for this post it to teach you more about the “m” word, how to maximize it’s potency and duration, and solutions to make motivation “work”. With that said, let’s get right to it.

    Motivation is literally the desire to do things. I believe every coach who understands the “m word” does not try to motivate others per say. People who want to accomplish something and have lasting must find a way to motivate themselves. Now saying this, (if you’re a coach) it’s your job to help guide them to do so. Below I list some pointers on how to go about doing this. Here we go…

    1. First, you must have control and be able to motivate yourself before trying to help someone else do so.

    Practice what you preach. Seriously. If you hate what you do and you’re trying to help someone at it, they will hate it too. If you’re bad at what you do or do, or you do not like what you’re doing, people can see right through you and they will in turn be bad at it too. Don’t you love the people who are awesome at what they do and or are excited for life? Aren’t you inspired by them? Passion is contagious.

    If you are one of those people who already have a passion and are good at what you do, learn what is that’s motivating you so you can inspire and help others. Just remember, when it comes to dealing with people everyone is different. You will read about this more specifically below.

    2. Have other “testimonials” or highly successful people being coached by you lead by example and inspire others.

    I think every coach needs individuals that lead by example and show others what is actually possible. Whenever you can show others demonstrating awesome levels of success it is fantastic, a reflection of what you do. Know who these “gems” of clients are, tell them, and keep developing and helping these people. They will become your “secret powers” that will lead and help others achieve ridiculous results and better progress. Inspiration and it’s power is a topic that will be brought up in part three of this series “How Successful People Think”.

    3. To help a person to motivate themselves, you must appeal to THEIR values.

    One of the major things you must figure out when trying to motivate another person is to recognize their values and what’s important to each and every one of them. Ask questions like…

    1. What matters most to you today?
    2. For what reasons do you want to achieve whatever it may be?
    3. What value do you place on a achieving these goals?

    Whether the goal is the same as yours or the opposite it does not matter. For example in the training sense, some people value hard work, where others are just happy to participate. Some value being with their family, others don’t. A simple often overlooked way to do this is to actually ask and LOOK AT and evaluate people’s lifestyles, starting points, goals etc. so you can help them determine what they can realistically achieve and how long it will take. It goes a long way.

    4. We do things because we want to fulfill our needs, we enjoy them, and because they matter.

    When you or others are not enjoying the process, feeling worthy or successful, I can almost guarantee you have lost motivation. Gain a clear understanding of what your client wants to get out of fitness and life. Understanding people as individuals will help you understand how reaching their goals will CAUSE them to reach their fitness and life goals. Find out why others are unmotivated. Do they even want to achieve something. Have they become bored? What can you do to bring them back to life and help them set an awesome goal they want to achieve. Some questions to ask could be…

    • Do you feel a sense of meaning?
    • Did you get caught up in the sense that you’re doing this because you think you have to?
    • Why are your clients signing up?
    • What do they want to achieve?
    • Who is important in their life?
    • Who do they want to please or make proud if anyone?
    • What are their hobbies?
    • What is their lifestyle like inside and outside of work?
    • How many food pushers, anti-fitness people or “threats” do they receive each day?

    Continuing on this idea, if you are looking to be successful at what you do, for the most part intrinsic drive (doing things because they matter, you want to, you enjoy them) will out-weight extrinsic drive (rewards, money etc.) any day of the week. This is the secret to high performance. According to Dan Pink, the science confirms this and proves it over and over again. If you want to know more about this guy look him up. His new ideas on business and how management is not needed are pretty incredible as well.

    5. Catch people when they do something good.  But before you do so, there’s another “catch” you must know as well.

    Complimenting people all the time on things they always do good get’s old. Instead, notice and praise people for great performance and on things they don’t normally seem to “get”.  Then they will see you really understand and care about them.

    For example, if your training a group and Sally always has great deadlift technique or always seems to eat a good breakfast, don’t repeat back, “terrific form!” or “nice discipline with breakfast this morning” every time. She will know in her head,” I always do this, whats the big deal?”

    On the other hand if John has terrible deadlift form, and you see him make an improvement, this is the time to give him a pat on the back, show some praise and shout out “excellent lift!” or something along those lines according to your personality. Acknowledge what he achieved and he will know you are not missing anything. Or in other words you pay attention to him ALL the time and notice what hes doing. Show the people you genuinely care.

    6. Have a  proven system in place, and set realistic goals WITH your clients not FOR them. Along with this, teach others to gain control of their individual success.

    Anyone can set a goal for someone but if they don’t want it in the first place you might as well flush it down the toilet. To create a successful environment where people can motivate themselves, help others develop goals that will lead to results they want. I believe successful people and coaches know what triggers each person to get strive for and reach success.

    Obviously setting SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely, Evaluate, Re-evaluate, Satisfactory) guidelines/goals are great. By doing this “the right way” at the least you will…

    • Be honest with yourself and lay out a good starting point. You must have total honesty about where you are at.
    • Have better time management
    • Have more self confidence now that you believe goals are possible
    • Know what expect from yourself
    • Understand what value you place on achieving a goal.

    I believe that when people achieve success, it keeps them “going”. It also boosts self confidence, and gives them hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. Having a coach that can see the future is a plus, but if you don’t have one that can or even one at all, just understand that if you’re not making progress something has to either be changed, modified, or progressed.

    7. MEASURE, show and explain to people what is possible once you have the above figured out. Set people up for success!

    I understand everyone is very different but if you explain  “on average” what happens, at least you have a starting point and something to work with. For example, with my systems if I have someone going for fat loss this is what I show them. Feel free to make something like this on your own but do not show anything if you cannot 100% guarantee it!

    Average weight loss in the first week (primarily water and glycogen) Average weight loss each week after
    More than 200 lbs 2 to 7 pounds 1 to 3 pounds
    Less than 200 lbs 2 to 5 pounds 1 to 2 pounds

    With measuring let’s stick with this idea of fat loss. If you never follow through and measure your progress, you will never know if you’re getting better or worse. Not dragging on just measure more often. No not everyday but more often. Measure at the same time and day every week. On the other hand, if you’re going for strength log your numbers. Etc. etc. etc.

    What not to do when setting goals…

    Have you ever had a coach or someone that compared you to the someone else with different genetics, tendon insertions, genders, ability levels? If they are comparing you to the best player you don’t have a shot of being like for a while or at all how do you think that will make you feel? If so, when you fail you and your coach will both be disappointed and in shock even though you did your best with the tools you had. Sometimes its impossible to reach certain desired outcomes and this failure crushes people, especially children.

    That said I believe 99% of people limit themselves way too much, and that everyone can reach goals much higher than they ever thought possible. For example if you have always carried a bit to much body fat and or think, “I’ll never look like I used too”, you are already limiting yourself and it’s not true. I guarantee you can get A LOT leaner than you think with the proper effort, consistency and intensity.

    8. Like I said in part one of this series, when setting goals find the optimal activation point.

    • For some people, if you set a goal is too hard: They will get anxiety, feel pressured, and get overwhelmed when trying to accomplish it.
    • Whereas for others if the goal is too hard: They will feed off of the challenge and get 10000 times better.

    It’s your job to understand yourself and or your clients. Don’t let people fail all the time who get worse by doing so. Don’t let people always achieve success easily when failing will make them bust there tail even more. Set goals near the upper limits of your own or other people’s individual abilities but not too hard to achieve. If the goal is too hard, you/they will fail, if it’s too easy you/they will become bored. It’s a very simple process often overlooked.

    9. Stop dabbling, stop “shoulding” and stop trying.  Passion, inspiration, commitment and consistency are what matters.

    (Counting how long you last here will definitely help you fail)

    For example, if you’re counting the days you have stuck to a new nutrition or training system that’s not going to stick forever. It’s really not that cool how long you lasted if it doesn’t make you better or help you grow to produce the results you are really after. You’re just seeing how many days you can last. Patience has a lot to do with this. We all expect things to fast. When what we want doesn’t happen “right now” we jump to the next thing.

    Everyone screws up, gets stressed, depressed, or in general just has mess ups. The real thing to think about is how did you get past this crisis? Consistency. passion and setting yourself up to win is the key. If you’re not inspired, what do you have? With passion and inspiration you feel alive, excited and in control of your life. A ridiculous combination for consistency, progress, happiness and success.

    Touching on the trying debate: “I am trying to do this because”…”I should do this because”…PLEASE STOP RIGHT THERE! Do not pass go, and do not collect $200.00. Trying or shoulding doesn’t work. Why MUST you have this? In short list and lay out strong reasons for achieving your goals instead.

    Now to conclude this abruptly and out of nowhere…Hopefully after reading this post you will now go watch 3 motivational movies, and have someone yell in your face to do something. Kidding! But on a serious note if you read over an implement the ideas above on how to create a successful environment to motivate yourself and or others, you will find a better road map to achieve some awesomeness!

    References:

    Successful Coaching. Fourth ed. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2012. Print.

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  • Cold Showers For Fat Loss

    Please, no cringing. I can’t explain how much more awake, energized, and awesome my clients and I feel after taking cold or contrast showers. Read on to see more benefits, then use your own judgement whether you actually want to start experimenting with them. You won’t regret it. Well actually, maybe you will, at first.

    We are all high maintenance.We have the luxury of using hot water to bathe in and or shower consistently. People in ancient times, did not have the ability to do so. Therefore, it is very natural to be using cold or room temperature water to clean ourselves in, especially in winter!

    Here are some of the benefits cold water showers:

    I’ll keep the explanations short and sweet, but if you want more information on an idea I mention, comment below or message me, 

    Fat Loss:

    One of the reasons this works, is because of the law of thermodynamics. If you expose your body to lower temperatures, it will use energy to try to heat your body back up, and therefore can increase your metabolic rate.

    Since we implement diet induced thermogenesis for fat loss, why not try cold. I’m talking about when people start consuming things like caffeine, and ephedrine to cause their body produce more heat, but rather here we’re talking about cold thermogenesis. I explain more below.

    Shivering and building muscle:

    Shivering is a method used to increase our body temperature. During this time the body releases hormones that have the ability to produce muscle growth, and also increase energy expenditure and burn calories for the fat loss mentioned above.

    Improves circulation throughout the entire body:

    This is another benefit of cold water. It causes your blood to move to your internal organs, where warm water reverses the effect by causing the blood to move towards the surface of the skin.  Therefore it can also keep the most important muscle in your body (your heart), healthy and strong.

    Increases energy:

    After a cold shower I feel like a new person. You will “wake up” your nerves, release endorphins, and feel awesome after.

    Helps you with your ability to handle lower temperatures:

    If you hate cold weather, or have no ability to jump in the ocean, lakes or pools, this can help. It’s weird cold water doesn’t phase children. Now it won’t phase you as much either, when they ask you to join them for a good time.

    As most of you probably already know, it keeps skin and hair healthy:

    In this case old water does not act like hot, so it will not dry out your skin. It will actually help prevent that from happening. It also closes up your pores therefore your hair and skin are better able to protect itself from any harmful substances and obtaining things like acne. It also makes your hair shiny, soft and sleek and your skin from becoming oily through perspiration. In addition, since the cold water also makes blood vessels constrict, it can reduce dark circles under the eyes causing the skin to look much clearer.

    Here are some more benefits that cold water is believed to have:

    • Whoever you live with will love you for your shorter showers and less money being spent on your bills
    • Less chlorine is inhaled through steam because less is made with cold showers
    • Increases fertility in men
    • Considered to be an anti-aging procedure
    • Has an anti-depressant effect on your mood
    • Balances the autonomic nervous system
    • Promotes growth and repair of the circulatory system
    • Contributes to your longevity
    • Strengthens the immune system

    How to take them, tips from experience, and things to take into consideration and look out for when starting:

    Note: You need to know what I mean by hot and cold. Hot temperatures range from 95 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold temperature ranges from 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit.

    1. When first starting cold showers, start with the water warm or hot for at least 2-3 minutes. 

    2. As you can better handle the water, work up to a longer “cold portion”. 

    3. Ask your Doctor if cold showers are okay for you to take.

    4. Use your own judgement on whether you think cold or alternating between hot and cold showers make you feel phenomenal like it does myself.

    5. Also take into consideration starting with cold water directly after a training session can cause some people to have muscle cramps. I myself have yet to experience this.

    6. You need to do this for at least 4 weeks consistently. Otherwise it will just be another 1-2 week thing you say is either too hard, or doesn’t work. Give it chance if you’re healthy enough to do so. You won’t regret it.

    7. Mark off on a calender days 1-28 or however long the month is: This will keep you reliable and so you won’t lose track of where you’re at.

    8. Don’t wait to start cold showers in the winter. You will make the experience twice as hard if so.

    9. Small steps lead to big changes: If you hop right into 10 minutes of a cold shower for the first time you attempt them. I can almost guarantee you will quit taking them in the long run if you do so.

    Note: You will also most likely have “good” cold shower days and “bad” cold shower days in the beginning as well. Don’t let this be a reason you “give up”.

    Being brutally honest, cold showers are terrible at first.

    I was losing my breath when I first started taking them consistently. Even though I do not believe enough research has been conducted to say whether cold, or alternating hot/cold showers prove most of the above benefits above to be true, what I do know about cold showers is now that when I take them consistently I feel great. So have others I know that have implemented this.

    All in all, there is some interesting stuff coming out concerning cold thermogenesis. NOT for acute injuries (actually quite the opposite), but for what I have mentioned above. 

    Getting your body exposed to colder temperatures, for a longer duration of time, and more often can be beneficial in numerous ways. Other modalities like ice baths, air conditioning, or keeping your windows rolled down in winter can also work well. The only way you will know though, is if you give this a true shot, and try this yourself.

  • Eggnog Blizzard

    Ingredients

    • 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 1 tsp of nutmeg
    • Dash of vanilla extract
    • 2 to 4 tbsp of water
    • 4-8 ice cubes
    • 1 ripe medium sized banana (optional)
    • 2-4 tbsp of unsweetened almond milk

    Directions:

    1.)    Add water, protein powder, banana, cinnamon, nutmeg and ice cubes in a blender.
    2.)    Mix, serve and drink. Top with some ground nutmeg if you would like.

    Nutrition Facts:

    Serving size: 1 Shake
    Carbohydrates:     25g
    Protein: 24g
    Fat:      3g
    Total Calories:     250

  • Self Massage (Video)

    Self massage can help…

    • Increase range of motion
    • Increase tissue quality
    • Reduce pain
    • Decrease activity of tight or overly toned muscle or neuro-myofascial tissue in the body
    • Increase elasticity of muscle, tendons, fascia, ligaments and joint structures
    • Increase performance
    • Maintain normal functional muscular length
    • Increases oxygen and blood flow to skin and muscles

    The videos below give you quick and simple self massage routines to follow at any time. I only recorded one side of the body to decrease recording time. Saying this do both sides, get evaluated, and work on the areas you need too most.

    When to use self massage:

    • Before your warm up
    • After your workout
    • On off days
    • As a recovery tool
    • In between sets
    • Before bed
    • When your feeling jacked up
    • Anytime or anywhere.

    Things to consider:

    Your tolerance for external stimuli and tissue quality:

    How sensitive you are shouldn’t be overlooked before you start performing soft tissue manipulation. If you have never experienced any self massage you may want to start with something that contains a little bit more surface area or that’s softer and less dense.

    For beginners: I recommend the perform better elite black foam roller here.

    For intermediate users: I recommend the grid here.

    For advanced users: I recommend the rumble rollers here.

    Once you feel less “jacked up, knotted up, and uncomfortable”  you can even take it a bit further to get more specific with a lax ball, a  t-spine ball (two tennis or lacrosse balls taped together)  index knobbers, theracanes, baseballs, etc. This will help when your tissue quality improves and you build up a tolerance to the more delicate tissue manipulation.

    What I performed in the video is listed below on paper:

    With the roller: Glutes, Hamstrings, Quad, Adductors, Lat, Pec, Erectors, T Spine
    With the lax ball: Achilles, Calf, Hip Flexor, Rotator Cuffs, Feet, Hands

    In sum:

    • Perform both videos above. It should take 5-10 minutes.
    • Start by rolling on the recommended areas, using your body weight to control the pressure.
    • Hit both sides of the body.

    If you have more questions comment below. If it seems to help,  roll out.

  • Mocha Frappucino

    Ingredients: 

    • 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
    • 1-2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1/2 cup of black organic coffee
    • 4 tbsp of raw or organic milk if you can handle lactose. If not just use water.
    • Banana (Optional)
    • 3-5 ice cubes

    Note: If you have chocolate protein powder you can choose whether you want the extra cocoa powder or not to make it double chocolate.

    Directions:

    1. Put all liquids into the blender.
    2. Add in all dry ingredients, ice cubes and fruit.
    3. Blend until it is mixed and smooth.
    4. Place in freezer for 5 minutes.
    5. Drink.

    Nutrition Facts:

    Carbohydrates: 5g (32g with medium sized banana)
    Protein: 24g
    Fat: 4g
    Calories: 170 calories (270 calories with medium sized banana)

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  • Blueberry Muffins

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 cup plain oats
    • 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
    • 1 whole egg
    • 1/2 cup of blueberries
    • Extra virgin coconut oil as needed
    • 4 tbsp of water

    Directions:

    1. Add the 1/2 cup of plain oats, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder and 4 tbsp of water into a large bowl.
    2. Stir until the consistency of muffin batter or a little thicker
    3. Use a spray on muffin pan to keep them from sticking to it
    4. Fill each muffin tin halfway up and then drop in the blueberries
    5. Bake at 315 degrees for 6-8 minutes (the top should be a little gooey, if not they will be dry)
    6. Let them sit for 2 to 5 minutes
    7. Take them out of the pan and devour

    Nutrition Facts:

    Serving size: 3 muffins
    Carbohydrates: 37g
    Protein: 24g
    Fat: 8g

    Total Calories: 404 for 3 muffins

  • Total Body Warm Up Routine

    Below you are receiving a complete total body dynamic warm up that can be used for resistance training. I included videos to demonstrate the exercises, and at the end of the post listed them out “on paper” so you can take the sheet to the gym with you.

    WHAT ARE SOME THINGS  A WARM-UP CAN DO?

    1. Improve tissue quality
    2. Increase elasticity and mobility of the major muscle groups, tendons, ligaments and joint structures. This also allows for better range of motion during training.
    3. Produce muscle activation.
    4. Prepares you for your workout ahead.
    5. Increases coordination and motor control.
    6. Allows you to work on some asymmetries, postural imbalances or anything of need etc.
    7. Raises body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and also oxygen and blood flow to muscle

    Lets get to the warm up already. All the exercises are listed in order below.

    YOUR TOTAL BODY WARM UP

    Stretching/Mobility/Activations

    Lying Supine:

    Prone/Plank Position:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzya33GTlcA&list=PLF0AF392E566E8662&index=19

    Kneeling and half Kneeling:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRXbl7RFKE&list=PLF0AF392E566E8662&index=20

    Transfers/Standing:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT-Xy3sPiCo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwasIlXPfNk

    Once you know the exercises, here it is on paper with the reps/duration mapped out for you so you can take it wherever you would like…

    Stretching/Mobility/Activations

    Lyine Supine:

    • Lying Alternating Knee Hugs (1×6/side)
    • Lying Knee to Knee Mobilization (1×8)
    • Leg Lowering Progression (1×10/side)
    • Hip Lift Progression (1×6/side)

    Prone/Plank Position:

    • Extended Plank w /Hip Flexion (1×8/side)

    Kneeling and half Kneeling:

    • Hip Flexor Stretch  (1×15 seconds/side)
    • Adductor Hip Rocking Stretch (1×5)
    • Half Kneeling Ankle Mobility w/Pole  (1×8/side)
    • T-Spine Extension/Rotation Progression (1×8/side)

    Transfers/Standing:

    • Shoulder Dislocates w/band (1×5) to Arm Swings (1×5)
    • Bear Crawls Forwards/Backwards/Lateral
    • Split Squats Forward/Lateral/Rotational (1×5 each)
    • Leg Swings Front to Back/Side to Side (8 each)
    • Hang Stretch (15 seconds)

    That is the complete total body warm up. Stretching, mobility, and activations included.  If you don’t know how to warm up and are planning on doing some resistance training, this should suit your needs. If you’re on an upper/lower body split training routine you can use these videos here. No matter the resistance training workout you plan on doing, you can use this routine. Enjoy!