Hi, everyone! Football season as arrived and so have the tailgate parties! Go UGA! Go Tech! Go Clemson! Be careful and watch your front! A new camp starts Monday Sept 15th. If routine is the enemy, then I want to make sure that we don't fall into one. Here's my idea; the boot camp will gradually shift from a complete body workout into a running club during the late fall and winter months ( as long as my knee holds up ). The US 10K and the Olympics have inspired me to shift from our working on our backs to challenge the cold weather with the right gear and keep it rollin' year round. With the running camp there would be at no cost to you since there is no considerable cost of preparation. The blog and website are paid for except for minimal fees which I would gladly pay. I think meeting for a unique running workout and varying the pace and distances of the workouts would be awesome and it would be a safer way to endure the elements. Just imagine a group of us running off the Halloween treats and Turkey without much effort! Think about it, respond on the blog or by email. People who fail are people who stop working on themselves.

Raindrops kept falling on our heads. What a cool workout we had on Monday. The rains came during our warm-up and felt really good. We were "recycling". The workout was tough, with T-Push-ups, reverse crunches, step-ups with weights, Brazilian split lunges and inverted rows. # or 4 sets of each made for quite a morning. When the rain stopped it seemed as was continuing because of the effort we were giving. It was a solid and unique workout. You should have been there! People who fail are those who stop working on themselves.

What an awesome week for our campers. The running has gotten better, the push-ups easier, the sit-ups less challenging, the knowledge that the most strenuousl part of our day is behind us....priceless! THE CAMPER OF THE WEEK IS.......JULIE JARED! WAY TO GO JULIE!

Awesome workouts this week. A reminder to those of you who love exercise outdoors; get your outdoor gear now! Before you have to debate whether or not you want to get wet or a chilly. It makes such a difference to have the right mindset about your methods to success. Strength and determination will be evident in all that you do. We miss those of you who have had to take a break for various reasons. I hope that you are still working hard to meet your fitness goals. I personally have lost 10 pounds over the last month and I am looking at losing about 10 more. Please continue to work hard, because the calories of the holidays will be upon us before we know it. People who fail are those who stop working on themselves.

It's almost that time again! New stuff for the next camp. It's going to be crazy and fun! We start Monday at 5:45AM. I hope you've been doing something to stay loose and stay in shape. Do some stretching to keep your body ready for action. People who fail are those who stop working on themselves.

Hi guys, I just wanted to say HI! Please tell the people that matter to you most that you love them because there are no guarantees that they will be available to hear you say it tomorrow. Take advantage of every single day, make the most of it. Great news! Sharon Busby (wrist) is back to being active. She and her husband are out doing some light jogging at the park. It's great to see her back!

For me, the end of July means the end of summer, especially since I have to be at work on Monday. Ritefit, however will continue on through the fall unless a Hurricane or severe weather blows us down. This summer has been fun as I've met some great people and have shared many laughs with you. Don't tell my wife but I'm planning a little party at our home very soon. We had a party last year and everyone behaved so it wasn't that much fun! But we managed to have a good time anyway. We even served cake!
The beginning of the school year means a regular structure for many of us with holiday office parties filled with sweets and goodies we have difficulty avoiding. I have a love affair with sweets and have avoided refined sugar for the last two weeks. No cookies, pies, cake or pancakes is huge for me! My goal is to lose at least twenty pounds and get to 210. Changing my relationship with food and what it represents has been a big help. Avoiding Halloween, football tailgate parties, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be my biggest obstacles. Although when I really think about it, it's all in my mind. Remember when it comes to staying in shape, it's you versus you! One delicious fattening meal per week is okay. A whole day of binging on the wrong stuff is difficult for the psyche to continue to overcome. Much like a drug addict you've got to disassociate with the culprits. We're taking our week off to get the batteries re-charged, so we will pick up again on Monday, August 11th. People who fail are those who stop working on themselves, so keep working! If you have any suggestions or feedback positive or negative please me know. I'm a big boy, I can take it. I love you all. Thank you.

Great job on Monday and Wednesday. We did some real exhaustive work especially today with the Tabata work. 4 minutes has never seemed so long. Squats, Push-ups, Sit-ups, Box Jumps, and Mountain Climbers (whew). Half of the battle has been fought, now you need to remove one thing from your diet if you want those awesome abs. (Sugar) Removing the refined sugar will help you see some results quickly. People who fail are those who stop working on themselves.

A reader asks, "What's the real story on using sugar? What does it do to our body, does it get turned into fat?"

This is an excellent question, and one that I think applies to almost everyone. In answering it, I'm going to give you a brief description of the biochemical events that take place when a person consumes sugar.
In explaining this subject to many people over a period of several years, I found the most useful metaphor to be that of an automobile engine. Let's take a Toyota Corolla, one of the most popular cars on the street today. The Toyota Corolla has an engine that's designed to burn a certain type of fuel. That fuel, gasoline, has a certain flash point and a given output of power per gallon of gasoline. There are other fuels that power other types of vehicles -- for example, jets run on a high-octane petroleum product that has far more energy per gallon than automobile gasoline. Diesel fuel, on the other hand, burns more slowly.
So you have different types of fuels for different vehicles. Most people understand the idea that if you took your Toyota Corolla, drove it down to the airport, and filled it up on jet fuel, you wouldn't get a faster Toyota Corolla. Instead, you would get a critically damaged Toyota Corolla engine, because the fuel would burn too hot, too fast, and it would overpower the design of the engine. In fact, you probably wouldn't drive more than 10 miles before the engine burned up, and you would have to overhaul the entire engine in order to drive your car again.
This is sort of what goes on when it comes to the human digestive system and sugars. The human digestive system was designed to consume foods that are readily available in the natural surrounding environment. These foods can be compared to certain types of fuels because each food releases energy at a given rate during digestion (primarily based on fiber and fructose content).
As an example, let's take a look at an apple. It contains fiber, vitamins and minerals, and lots of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are the fuel. But the carbohydrates are bound up in the fiber of the apple so that it takes your body a fair amount of time and effort to release those carbohydrates and convert them into fuel. So you could call the apple a medium-burning carbohydrate, or in medical terms, it has a lower glycemic index than straight sugar.
But if you take straight sugar, that is, refined white sugar, which is something that does not occur naturally in the environment, and you put that in your mouth, then your body converts that into blood sugar very rapidly. It's like pouring jet fuel down your throat. This is the same as filling up your Toyota gas tank with jet fuel and trying to drive away. When you eat sugar you consume soft drinks -- which are even worse because they are liquid sugar -- you are trying to run your metabolic engine on jet fuel, and the human metabolic engine was not designed to run on jet fuel.
So what happens? When you first consume any sort of refined sugars or refined carbohydrates (like white flour), the digestion process begins immediately -- in fact, it begins even before you swallow the foods. There are digestive enzymes in your saliva that go to work on these sugars and start converting them into blood sugar, even before they hit your stomach. Once they're in your stomach, they are mixed with acidic digestive juices and physically churned through stomach muscle contractions so that it creates a liquid paste. This liquid, sugary paste is then very easily absorbed through the intestinal walls, causing a rapid spike in blood sugar levels.
So your blood sugar, which might have been around 80 or 90 before you drank the soft drink or ate that candy bar, now suddenly starts spiking up to 150 or 200, or perhaps even higher. This creates an emergency situation in your body. High blood sugar is very dangerous for human beings. If it is allowed to continue, it will cause symptoms that are more classically known as diabetic neuropathy, which means the nerves that feed various limbs in your body (feet, mostly) start to die. Diabetics who maintain high blood sugar over a long period of time often have to have their feet amputated because the nerves in their feet are wasting away. People who fail are those who stop working on themselves.

About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored more than 1,500 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors.

It's been great to see the effort and enthusiasm from all of you. I'm ordering tank tops so you can show your "buffed look" to your family and neighbors. The school buses are around the corner so enjoy the flow of traffic while you can!

The physical and mental changes we are striving for are beginning to take shape. Toning, definition and fitness goals are being realized. Be proud of yourself and how you've turned staying at the top of your game into a habit. We will keep varying the exercises and doing some new activities that will keep the muscles guessing so you can get the maximum benefit. Sugar creates fat, watch your diet and count your calories. Don't be fooled by fat-free products, they are not sugar-free. They are often still loaded with carbs. Sugar is not your friend.
If you are looking for an inexpensive outing with the family. The Berry Patch on Arnold Mill Rd. has some great blueberries for 1.69 a pound. We picked for 3 hours on Friday and enjoyed the time spent in nature even though we didn't see each other for at least an hour. It's a large enough farm that you can get away from loud people and still enjoy the outing! We look forward to it every year and find a new place to pick each year. Yes, city boys like and appreciate the country.

A great workout today! The abdominal emphasis is creating some much needed strength and will increase your ability to do more work. I know you are sore from Super Tuesday but you have to admit it is a good soreness! The effort this week has been phenomenal, BE PROUD OF YOURSELF! Even Michelle's husband was sore from Tuesday and he participates in mixed Martial arts (UFC), you really took it to a new level. It's good to test yourself to see what you are capable of. Much like our triathletes who enjoy grueling hours of fatigue, you can push yourself to the limit and beyond as well, except you find out what you're made of much, much sooner. (smile)

Please send me an email reply if you have received this blog request even if you are not a current camper.

What an awesome 20 minute workout. That was unreal. A huge, Hellboy, Batman, Hancock, Kung Fu Panda shout out to all of you. You perserverved, you kicked some serious butt!!!
Here's what you did in 20 minutes: 2.5 times

Hot potato kettle bell 20 reps
Reach overs w/ dumbbell 20 reps
Mountain climbers 20 reps
UFC’s 20 reps
Duck skips 20 reps (10 ea leg)
Jumping lunges 20 reps
Burpees 10 reps
Traveling push-ups 10 reps
Bicep curl to press 20 reps
Tricep kickback in
plank position 30 reps (15 ea side)

People who fail are those who stop working on themselves. Awesome workout today. We're missing you guys who are on vacation, hopefully you are not slacking too much. For whatever reason some people think that several days off from exercise is okay. The problem with that is you have to get started all over again. Missing 3 days in a row is painful. Super Tuesday is tomorrow, a 20 minute blast starting at 6:00AM -6:30AM. Everyone who is someone is invited. Bring a friend or spouse and show them what you are made of. Here's what we did today:

7 X circuit
one leg extension dips X12
traveling push-ups X10
Jump rope X100
dbell squat/bicep/press X12
crunches X25

cone sprints

On Tuesday, July 15th we will initiate a transformation camp day that will be our most challenging yet. The short term plan is to have at least two of these days per month in addition to the regular camp days. It will begin at 6:00AM and end around 6:30AM, including warm-up and cool down. There are no breaks for water or rest, we will train with high intensity that will exhaust your muscles. Most, if not all work will be done in the sand, so don't wear your nicest shoes. If you don't feel up to it, don't come. This workout is intense and not for everyone! Our athlete campers should be here! You don't want to miss this. If you want to prove something to yourself by raising the bar and push beyond your limits then you should be here on Tuesday, July 15th

Nutrition is 50% of the deal. Crunches don't work unless you remove the layers of fat that are covering them. Go to www.my-calorie-counter.com and get started today. If you have any problems email me. The resource is easy to use and it's free! Even if you don't have weight issues you should consider how your eating habits impact your performance.

Once again, another awesome workout. Give yourself a lot of credit. The air has been very heavy with high humidity, yet you persevered. Many people have found reasons to become a couch or mouse potatoes, but you are goal setters. Team day was fun. Do some stretching and get some exercise over the weekend and if you are on vacation some ab work and a run along the beach in the am or pm is a great idea. DON'T give it all back during your time off. Watch your diet and show some discipline. Don't feel bad when you slip, get up quickly!

Thanks to everyone for making my first day easier!! I am looking forward to Friday even though I am already feeling it!!! See ya'll Friday!!Fitness for life.

Wow, what a workout today! It was awesome! We now have three Michelle's! Darko, Donley and Knapp. That sounds like a law firm. The focus have shifted to some solid core/ab work with some resistance training and we are attacking the areas that have been neglected. Some soreness may occur. Ice down problem areas, do some stretching where ever, whenever you can. You can't underestimate it's importance. Did I say how awesome you were?
Here is what you accomplished today: BE PROUD!!! Check your diet at http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/
5 minute run
3X 40 on / 20 off of each of the following exercises:
crossovers abs lower
dumb bell squats thighs / abs
medicine ball crunch abs upper
wall balls legs/back/shoulders
tricep extension tricep/shoulder

3 sets of these 30 seconds each
body weight rows arms/back
barrier jumps (whew) legs
dead bugs abs/glutes
jump rope calf

On your days off you should do a 25-30 minute run/power walk.

It was a foggy, damp and wonderful morning and about 37 years ago Dr. Randy Beck was born (big ups to Randy). We missed a few of you who are still enjoying the holiday weekend or you are on vacation. One thing is for sure, you don't feel quite right unless you get up and get a good workout. A big shout out goes to all the people who showed up today especially Michelle Donley (newbie) who did the whole workout . This camps focus will be on resistance and core training. Our midsections need much more work, so our activities will focus on that area while we work others. Here's what we did today:
traveling push-ups
standing one leg rows
plank - ups
1/2 burpees w/jumps
dumb bell raises to chin
burpees w/ jump to rr ties
dips
kettle bell swings
planks w/ open lift
thrusts
Fitness for life.

I hope that all is well in ATL and that you are running or walking and exercising. We are enjoying the week off visiting our son in NYC. We cannot believe how fast this place is, even though I was born here. But the food is fabulous. If you haven't been to NYC you need to check it out. It's great every once in a while. I have some new ideas and exercises for the next camp that will challenge you in a different way with a focus on core training.
I've been checking out some of the camps here....they could learn a thing or two from us. See you on the 7th. Fitness for life.

The last day of June camp was excellent. Up and down the theater steps 30 times plus other goodies. Big ups to Tim who outlasted everyone in the plank competition. It was great to see Tim smile. I hope you are active during the next week and stay committed to getting the body and fitness level that you want. We will return on July 7th, ready to remove the layer of BBQ we will have strapped on over the holiday. As I said before. this is really about using it or losing it. A diet is great for looks; a diet and strenuous exercise at least 3 times each week is great for life. I know the cost of everything is rising. If the cost of camp is a factor please contact me and lets work it out. For most of you one camp will not yield significant changes. In reality it takes about 12-16 weeks to reconstruct one's self. A championship boxer will train 12-16 weeks for a title fight. In this case; it's you versus you. You will win! See you in July!