**as you can see in the picture of the circumferences of each leg they are the same but one has more muscle mass (tone look) and the other has depleted muscle (skinny flat non tone look). FACT: It is not possible to be very lean and be toned WITHOUT MUSCLE!!

Difference between fat loss and muscle building approaches:

Fat loss has two foundational differences from muscle building. First is that the person must be in caloric deficit to allow any fat loss. And weight training for weight loss should be more metabolic and functional styles that combine strength training. Also focus on eating consistently and accurately at correct calorie levels are a must. Timing isn’t as important than in muscle building but learning to keep insulin levels balanced is very important. If the client is someone who is accustomed to pre/post meals then timing could be utilized to increase lean mass while losing body fat.

Muscle growth’s nutritional Focus is eating more at a maintenance or surplus caloric intake. The workouts are focusing mostly on hypertrophy type workouts with proper progressions every week. To maximize growth and development not only is eating the right ratios of F, C &P; timing is very very important in making sure glycogen levels are where they need to be so the body can use protein to rebuild muscle. ***check out my article on pre/post meals

I feel it is much more important to focus on the development of muscle in the process of losing body fat because muscle is what allows calorie burning, movement, strength, etc. If we lose muscle we end up hurt or weak and have less abilities to move thus causing less calories to be burned and weight gain. If you only lift 5lbs Dumbells because they say to not lift heavy then when you get older you will only be able to lift about 5 lbs in real life. Does that sound reasonable only be able to lift 5 pounds when you get older. To have the best quality of life you must maximize all fitness levels: strength, endurance, strength endurance, flexibility, range of motion in different planes, reaction, agility, stability, stability strength, Power, posture, balance, and proper movement mechanics. This may sound like a lot but a fitness professional should be able to help you with all areas not just one or three but all areas. If you have anymore questions please contact me at my email address or comment below.

Calorie requirements are varied from person-to-person. It depends on their body weight, daily activity level, and goals.

Bodyweight:
There’re a few reasons why bodyweight has to be taken into account. First fat and muscle requires a certain amount of calories to be maintained. To maintain 1 pound of muscle it could take up to 7 cal per day and body fat a little bit less. Add to these variables the amount of weight you carry around burns a certain amount of calories. For example someone that weighs 350 pounds is going to burn more calories moving around the same amount as someone weighing 250 pounds. So as a general guideline someone that weighs more will need to eat more calories to burn body fat than someone that weighs a lot less than them. The reason being so they don’t lose energy, motivation, or ability to do exercise because of a too large deficit of calories. The effects of going to low in calories causes a depletion of glycogen which causes premature fatigue. Another fact is it causes increased appetite that is uncontrollable and an increased risk of overtraining syndrome.

Daily activity level:
Daily activity levels range from sedentary to extreme sports. The person that is sedentary weighing the same as another would eat less calories than someone that was participating in extreme sports with practices and games. Literally it takes calories to burn calories! For example if you’re wanting to burn say 500 cal with a given activity, and you under eat and don’t get the right amount of calories that can make you prematurely stop and only end up burning less than you wanted.

Goals:
People goals really determine if they should eat at a caloric deficit (fat loss), at a maintenance level (maintenance), or at a caloric surplus (muscle gain). The person should know all three levels to make fitness a lifestyle. With my clients not only do I teach them their calorie level to hit their goals but also I teach what calorie levels are needed to reach the other two goals.
Maintenance level is the calorie level that a person burns in it 24 hour period that equals resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn laying still) plus the amount of calories you burn with your typical activity in a day like work etc.
Proper caloric deficit would be 500 calories below calorie maintenance levels if volume and exercise is light, 400 cal deficit if exercise and volume is at medium levels, and 300 calorie deficit if workouts are high volume and real intense. The importance of tracking calories is essential to success. It takes 3500 calories to be burned above consumed calories to lose 1 pound of fat.
Proper caloric surplus for muscle gain is same as above but in the above maintenance zones. It is very important that one does not over eat because fat increase will happen. It takes 3500 calories to be stored to gain 1 pound of fat. So by over eating just 100 cals per day will increase fat levels 1 pound every 35 days. That’s 10.5 pounds of fat gain a year!

In conclusion these three variables that determine the amount of calories you need are the foundations in determining your magic number. This is what works to make this a life long achievement. Fad diets are ways to get you to eat extreme low calories. Make a choice to do it right! Have real success!

There are two types of motivation, internal and external. Motivation is essential to maintaining the drive and want to succeed even when there are forces wanting to bring you down.
The external Motivation:
is a trainer, spouse, etc is not the magic bullet, but does assist. This form has been dramatized on TV by the biggest loser and such as being why people reach their goals. Yelling and being a drill instructor is the last thing a person wants the rest of their lives. The ones who depend on this motivation eventually lose ground when it isn’t around because they never had a solid internal motivation foundation.
The Internal motivation:
is the bread and butter! There are people that say they want to lose weight but they really don’t do what is necessary because they really don’t want it. The ones who want it down to their core and existence are the ones who have huge success no matter the negative influences. The variables that cause loss of internal motivation are from all the misconceptions and mis-education given to the public by fitness “experts” themselves. This is a huge problem but misleading the public is what keeps the public coming back for more. This is sad because as a fitness expert we are supposed to be in it to change people’s lives the right way not using yo yo tactics that depend on repeat customers . Very unethical.
Back to the external motivation, the fitness pro’s job should be in educating the truth and keeping our clients away from bogus fitness garbage that cause premature failure. Education is superior to Hot Air!
Goal setting is also very important in reaching one’s goals. As a trainer designing programs I must know all the goals to be able to design a program that gets the client there efficiently.
Most the time goals are very vague! For example one would say I want to lose fat around my stomach. Or I want to be More toned. It is the fitness professionals or your job to find out what the real deep goals are. For example, “I want to be around for my kids as they grow up, not have a heart attack, walk the flight of stairs without being totally exhausted”, etc. When we search for the root goals they become our internal motivation. The emotional connection is what gives motivation. So both motivation and goal setting goes hand in hand.
So if you haven’t found that life time motivation follow these steps:
1) list your vague goals like fat loss or whatever it is
2) underneath each goal list as many in-depth goals as possible, like I want to lose weight so I don’t run out of breath going up stairs, etc
3) remind yourself of #2 goals everyday!

If you don’t have motivation or let others stop you from your goals then it is likely you’re really not serious about it!

If you remember my post about success and The Hip Hop Preacher’s Motivational speech,click here if you haven’t watched the video. It’s a must see!! There is always talk about ambition but this video explains what it takes past ambition.
In this segment I want to talk about what holds together ambition and the want, so success is reached- PATIENCE & DILIGENCE.
Very often a person puts so much into attaining their goal but because of this overload of “want” they lose their sense of patience and diligence.
If you have a sound system and your effort is maxed out, then you must believe and trust it is going to work. Don’t let perceptions of what is thought should happen in a given time frame make you act on making changes. These changes will cause a negative end result.
I like using analogies. For example when a farmer sews the field, plants the seed, and then fertilizes the crop, he doesn’t see the benefits right away. He is the expert who has mastered his system of making a plentiful harvest. He doesn’t wake up the next week looking out the window to look to see if any seeds have sprouted. And if they haven’t he doesn’t lose confidence and re-tills and lays a new round of seeds and fertilizer. He has patience and trusts that everything is going to happen perfectly and the crop will be prime at the time of harvest.
The main point is be patient & trust your system because if you are doing everything correctly and your want for success is pure, you will accomplish any goal you strive for. The most successful people had to be more patient than you could ever imagine.

Do you want to be successful or do you just say you do?

Hold your breath, fight it, fight that urge to take a breath until you just can’t take it anymore. And pay attention to how bad you want that gasp of air!
The amount you wanted that gasp of air is the amount someone really successful wanted to be successful. At that moment you didn’t think about what TV show was on or if you needed sleep or if you even need to eat. All you want is to accomplish the task at hand and you will do anything to make it happen. Just like at that moment you wanted that gasp of air! It is easy to say you are committed when there isn’t anything else going on but when somethings fun or tempting is available…that’s the true test.
So evaluate your goals and if you really want to be successful with fitness, health, career, or whatever you are going for, get your thoughts and priorities to where they need to be. No more BS excuses……let’s be more successful this year than ever before!

HOW TO MAX MUSCLE GAINS WHILE LOSING FAT!
Pre and post workout meals are very important (there are actually 4 stages!). New studies show that the timing of nutrients is critical in maximizing performance and increase potential muscle development and recovery. Truthfully the difference between fat loss and muscle building has to do with the amount of calories you eat in a day to what you burn. Fat loss requires a person so be at a deficit in calories and to max muscle gains it requires to eat at a certain surplus of calories. But with timing, the fat loss clients can maximize muscle gains while losing body fat. Timing of nutrients studies started with Athletes because most of the time when an athlete needs to lose some body fat they still need to have peak performance!! The same goes for any client of mine.

The problem is many “experts” use parts of this research and do not understand it as a whole.
I currently work with pro to youth level athletes and people wanting to maximize muscle and recovery.
What is published in most muscle mags are far from the truth and in efforts to sell products. Others are getting into an area that they just do not have experience with or mix myths with science. For example you would never ask a heart surgeon to do brain surgery even though both are very smart people.

Pre workout meal:
This MUST be in a liquid form because remember the timing of nutrients I said earlier? Those nutrients must be absorbed into the bloodstream to be used at a specific time. Digestion takes time to break down solid foods. So the most feasible thing to do is drink a meal replacement shake. When I say meal replacement I don’t mean a protein shake. It needs to have 20 to 40g of carbohydrates and 10 g of protein and 1 to 2 g of fat. Believe it or not chocolate milk is a great option but you could also use certain meal replacement powders. You want to drink this 20 to 30 minutes before your workout having time for it to digest and get into your system. The reason for the carbohydrates is to increase your glycogen because this is what your body uses when it does intense workouts. Low glycogen levels equals low performance = fewer calories burned. The importance for very low fat is because fat slows down digestion. So you can bet if you drink or eat something with fat in it that the nutrients will not get to where they need to be in time. The body doesn’t go, “well if I wait another hour then I’ll get what I need”.

During the workout:
During workout drink can be important if you’re doing a long or intense workout. You want to use a low-carb solution and Gatorade is a pretty good choice. An added plan is to drink a Branched Chain Amino mix. Studies have shown that Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine are important when it comes to preventing muscle break down. I suggest for my athletes or bodybuilders to do this to maximize results. Just make sure the quality is high. I only trust APEX fitness group and DotFit.

Post workout meal:
Your post workout meal is going to be within 20 to 30 minutes after your workout. Again this needs to be a liquid and no solids because of digestion. Those nutrients need to be in your system in that 20 to 30 minutes time frame. I usually suggest 20 minutes to play it safe. This time it needs to be around 20-30g of carbohydrates, around 20 g of protein a little bit higher than last time on the protein, and still 1 to 2 g of fat. Again it’s really important to get your glycogen levels back up after the workout because your body will not utilize the protein unless the glycogen levels are back up.

Fact: after work out when your glycogen levels have dropped your body searches to replenish those levels first. Hormones that have dropped are testosterone and insulin levels. These are the most important in building muscle and losing fat. If you slam down a bunch of protein your body will attempt to convert it to the sugar glycogen to restore its reserve. That is inefficient and takes more time and energy. In addition your testosterone and insulin levels continue to deplete and cause more harm than good. Most that swear by just taking in bunches of protein are really on illegal enhancement drugs and can get away with that until the side effects of using those things cause other health issues. Your body doesn’t try to rebuild muscle first, it’s main concern is replenishing energy. When it restores the energy levels, glycogen, the body will then start building muscle tissue with the proteins or amino acids that you ingested.

Post workout #2:
This should be done two hours after the workout or an hour and a half after you drink your post drink. This time it needs to be solid food something really rich in complex carbohydrates.(A couple of examples below) The reason for this meal is to continue the glycogen storage so the body could use the protein to rebuild any muscle tissue needed. Remember the focus is the carbohydrates.

In conclusion this method is based on people that are natural not using any enhancement drugs and using the body’s natural energy system to maximize performance and increase recovery time.

Many people asked me why are there so many variations of how to build muscle, recover or increase performance. The answer is there are a few people that take enhancement drugs and explain the way they increase muscle which is totally different than staying natural. And there are people who are bias because of an idea or product. For example holistic eating, diet or protein powders, gluten-free diet, and the list goes on and on. Sticking with the foundation of science is always right. Any other version usually has hidden varibles that make it seem right. Becareful in any health endevour you take on.

Strawberry Banana Blast pre/post workout drink
Ingredients:
?? scoops Pre & Post Workout Creamy Vanilla
.5 Medium banana
2 large strawberries
.75 cups nonfat milk or 2% milk
Directions:
1. place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add crushed ice as desired for a rich milkshake effect.
Nutrition Facts (per serving):
Calories
260
Fat (g) 2
Saturated Fat (g) 1
Cholesterol (mg) 23
Sodium (mg) 173
Carbohydrate (g) 40
Fiber (g) 3
Protein (g) 15
Calcium (mg) 396

Banana Raspberry Bread post meal #2 example 1
Ingredients:
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 large ripe or overripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup skim milk
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
Instructions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8″ loaf pan with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to blend. Make a well in center; set aside. In a bowl,
combine bananas, milk, egg, and vanilla; fold in raspberries. Pour batter into center of dry
ingredients; fold together until combined. Do not over mix. Pour batter into pan; bake 1 hour or
until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10
minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely. Slice before wrapping individually.
Serves: 8
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Calories 254
Fat (g) 1
Saturated Fat (g) 0.3
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)
Carbohydrate (g) 57
Fiber (g) 7
Protein (g) 4
Calcium (mg)

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges #2 post meal example 2
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Kosher salt and pepper
4 pounds small sweet potatoes, each peeled and cut into 8 wedges
8 sprigs thyme
Preparation:
Heat oven to 400° F.
In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add
the sweet potato wedges and toss to coat.
Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Scatter the thyme over
the top and roast, turning once, until the edges are dark brown and the wedges are crisp, about
1 hour.
Make-Ahead Note: The sweet potatoes can be cut and seasoned up to 2 hours before cooking.

Reward systems are very important when it comes to reaching a goal and even maintaining them. Most of the time a “good job” or a “pat on the back” just doesn’t do it! Some will go shopping for some new clothes or shoes because you have done so well but most will head for that favorite food. Now sometimes if done right this is ok but let’s get real. Food is what our lives evolve around (parties, going out, holidays, celebrations, deaths, and welcoming are just a few examples). The picture above was something a client sent me, and I thought it was funny. Then I thought about it, and I thought again here is another phrase that is far from the truth. So if you think you will not like food or need it then you have been fooled.
TIP:
1) Do not ever try to permanently replace a reward food that you like for an inconvenient food even if you like it. I can tell you that you will eventually stop eating the inconvenient food and might find a worse reward food when you feel frustrated of failing.
2) ALWAYS replace a food with another you like. For example (this is my preference, you will have another) if you are trying to stop eating the couple of 270 calorie candy bars each week, don’t eat an apple because it doesn’t satisfy you because the candy bar was a REWARD and very few think of an apple as a reward! Try 2x 40cal nature own honey wheat bread with 50 cal PB (1/2 tbs) and 75 cal Nutella (3/4 tbs). All that equals 205 cals. Not only is it a treat but it saves you 65 cals!!!
3) Rewards should progress like your fitness and health does. When you began you should reward yourself for things like sticking to your eating, doing all workouts, giving 100% effort, stuff like that. Then a little down the road you shouldn’t get rewarded for doing all workouts or giving 100% because by then it is expected!! You should reward things like doing an extra 5-10 minutes every other workout or an extra day. Or increasing on intensity levels or increased abilities. And when you are we’ll advanced you reward yourself by helping others! And your largest reward is you living longer, looking better, etc.

MOTIVATION is a topic that every fitness pro has talked or written about. Motivation is a must in anything you want in life. BUT it doesn’t guarantee success! SUCCESS is what we all want the outcome to be. You fitness trainers how many stories have you seen the motivation was high but total success wasn’t reached. This video explains the missing part.

SUGAR DEBATE – This is what made me post this topic…..……

A CLIENTS EMAIL:
So what do u say to the 150 calories per day of refined sugar?

ME:
8 ounces of milk has 56 calories of sugar carbs so don’t drink more than 24 ounces a day I guess. This is just ignorant ramble on TV.

CLIENT:
Besides, this another doctor on Fox, not Dr Manny, said today people should limit consumption of refined sugar to 150 calories per day. Most candy bars have at least 200, right?

ME:
Ok I’ll explain this all for you. It’s comical TV!! Realistically it should be dependent on the needed calorie level of the individual. There are two types of carbs, simple and complex. Complex takes longer for the body to break down to be used for energy. NOTE your body and brain use simple sugars for energy so I guess we are all going to get brain cancer and other cancer from what our body converts food to. All food is broken down and converted to sugar for energy or fat to be stored.
Now with that quick and short note let’s get back to how there are variables that these TV reports are not acknowledging.
Here is one example. The two extremes would be:

1) an athlete who works out or practices 2 hrs per day, 210 male, and is active with everyday life style (hikes, plays with his nephew outside, takes stairs not elevators, etc)
- this guy will burn up to about 3900 cals a day. This means if he eats less than 3900, he would lose weight. It would be impossible to not eat sugar with this amount of calories and he would feel horrible if he didn’t have sugar in his diet because of the demands he puts on his body day to day. He needs quick energy (sugar) and long energy (whole wheat).
150 cal a day is a joke to a high level athlete.

2) the lazy couch potato who weighs 350 burns in a 24 hr period about 3500 calories. If they eat less than 3500, there would be weight loss. And a weight gain if more is eaten.
NOTE: this type of person has the highest rate of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and strokes. Now these Doctors are saying his obesity isn’t the cause of these problems, it is SUGAR?!? Come on we don’t need to have a PhD to have common sense. The real studies show having a fatty pancreas causes diabetes and having a fatty liver causes the health issues along with a fatty heart.
Let’s do a study and get a 300 pound person eating 2100 calories. Have 50-60 percent of the calories carbs (20% sugar & 80% complex), 15-30 percent fat, and 20-25 percent protein, and watch that person melt off fat because now he has energy to build up his fitness level and do longer and more frequent bouts of exercise and doesn’t feel like he is dieting.

Now do you see if the extreme active person is overweight it is because he eats more than 4000 calories per day and if the lazy person gains weight he would have to eat over 3500 a day. It’s not directly the sugar!

What does this tell you. Eating too much sugar, fat and protein is all bad, when you over eat calories to what your calorie burning levels are per day.

I feel these doctors and others in these media outlets just don’t fully understand it all. Remember they didn’t go into weight management to get a PhD. They went into medical/medicine, unfortunately these doctors try to be experts in areas above their scope. Don’t get me wrong there are points made that have truth but when the facts are put in the wrong context the result is unethical.
Sugar can cause problems with energy and appetite control. I recommend to never eat a large amount of any simple sugar (fruit or candy) unless you expect to get hungry again shortly after. Always eat it after a meal that has fat and protein. But make sure by the end of the day you have hit your target calories. You can reach any fitness goal if you erase all the hype and stuck with complete real science an common sense.

Calories? What are these annoying little pests? They are difficult to track, they are always miss judged, and they are so mysterious that many people think there are different kinds (good ones that doesn’t cause fat gains and bad ones that make you gain fat).

Now on a serious note. I saw this and thought it was funny. It made me think about how so many people do not really understand what a calorie is and how it controls all fat loss and weight gains. In my new book I coauthor in, The Wellness Code, I point out many mis-conceptions that have you yo-yoing, frustrated, or feeling hopeless. All these misconceptions center around denying the Law of Thermo Dynamics. What this foundational law in science says is that you can not create or destroy energy, it is converted from one form to another. So if more energy goes in (CALORIES) than goes out (resting metabolic rate + active metabolic rate) then there is a guarantee that there will be a surplus of energy (weight gain). This also works the other way. If less energy is going in than going out then a deficit is guaranteed (weight loss). If both are equal In and Out then there is no change (plateau).

Keep this in mind as I explain what calories are and what Carbs, Protein, and fats are. The real definition of a calorie is that it is a measurement of Energy as it relates to food.
NOTE: 1 Calorie is 1 Calorie, 1 Inch is One inch, 1 ounce is 1 ounce, etc….
When it comes to F,C, & P, they are types of macronutrients of food. One gram of Carb equals 4 Calories and the same goes for Protein. Fat has more energy per amount. It has 9 calories per gram. And Alcohol has 7 calories per gram.
Why do weight loss programs that want you to take their powder shake or pill or exercise regimen say it is something about the product that allows results? It is because for them to make a sale they have to make it seem like something the person has never tried to do. Plus people have gotten so much lazier and want a easy quick solution to all their problems.
HERE IS THE TRUTH:
There will never be a long term quick fix because the Law of Thermodynamics would not exist any more. Come on folks it is the amount of calories you are putting in your stomach. It isn’t that you don’t eat enough of this healthy food or you eat this kind of food. It is straight out the calories you eat are not at a deficit. I go over all these misconceptions in my part in The Wellness Code. And explain them.

It really upsets me when I see people seen as experts say stupid things that just are not 100% true. You see to make a life change and get those life long results it isn’t one, two or even only 5 things, it is many many things.
Finding out the PROPER caloric deficit I can do easily. And design workouts to continually progress you to a guaranteed better quality of life physically. What has to be Coached and Learned is what the real cause and effects of what you do. No more BS talk about things like “oh you must not eat that because that caused you to not lose weight this week”. If someone tells you that just ask for a refund and walk away.
If you do not lose body fat in say three weeks it was because you did not eat at a deficit of calories in those 21 days cumulatively. There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat. To lose 6 pounds of FAT in 21 days you have to be at a 21,000 calorie deficit. That is a 1,000 calorie deficit a day!! If you had your eating and exercise set up to be at that deficit you CAN NOT blame it on- “oh my metabolism slowed down, “I didn’t eat enough so I stored fat”, “I ate sugar and high fructose corn syrup”, “I ate late at night”, and it goes on and on with these silly EXCUSES.
Exercisers use these excuses and even many fitness professionals do. This is how messed the fitness industry is, all the information has been polluted by media and big corporate vultures.
SOLUTION: Get a professional that can figure out how many calories you burn a day on a 7 day average with your normal activity included. Then put yourself 500 calories below that. That will guarantee you a pound of fat loss a week. Then have a professional design and keep you on and progress you on a workout program. You want to start with fixing all movement pattern problems that can cause problems with injury down the road and even current pains and injuries. Then the professional will progress you through developing all levels of fitness. Don’t fall into the workouts that you see now in media. There are no progressions! They say there are but what they call progressing is being able to do more, go harder, or do more difficult exercises. True progressions are you being able to master a movement in the exercise by maintaining postural control and proper movement patterns from beginning to end. Think of it this way. If you did 20 squats at the beginning burning lets just say 20 calories. Then after a few weeks you “progress” to doing 20 squat jumps. Now you are in better shape so it takes less energy (calories) to do this movement do now you burn 25 calories. YEA! You burned 5 more calories and your legs hurt more. These gimmick workouts say this is to shock the body to burn off that fat you want to get rid of. Do you remember how many calories are in one pound of fat? 3500! Did 5 calories of extra burning going to cause you to lose extra weight?? Technically yes, about 1/700th of a pound. What causes fat loss is the accumulation of calories burned from living, daily movement, and exercise compared to the accumulation of calories you ate in the same time period. Exercise has a purpose of increasing your abilities so you are able to more things in life as you age. So make sure there is always a plan on how a group of exercises will get you to a goal. Examples of fitness goals would be proper flexibility, stability muscle strength and function, balance in all planes of motion, over all strength, strength endurance, cardio capabilities, reaction time improvements, joint movement corrections, etc….
These are a few levels of fitness that you lose as you get older and can have you getting unhealthier. Try this: balance on one leg. Before you start square yourself to a wall, look at your foot and make sure your foot is perfectly straight with no slight angle outward, and balance. Now you are balancing without moving your foot make sure your pelvis/hips/shoulders are squared to the wall and don’t let your hips become unlevel (hip hike or drop). How long was you able to keep balance while keeping everything straight? Did your hips try to turn out or drop down?
Now with the same rules do a quarter squat like you are sitting in a seat. Did your knee buckle in? Or out? Did your hip drop or hike? Did you hip/torso rotate in or out in relation to the wall you squared up to?
If you answer yes to one or a few or all of these, then you have muscular imbalances that will worsen as you get older and your chances of joint issues like plantar fasciitis, shin splints, knee pain/injuries, hip issues, and lower back pain or injury is high. Esspecially if you are working out. So find a professional to help and teach you what to do.
Don’t forget about THE WELLNESS CODE coming out April 12th.