Have you ever considered why you might not be physically creating the strength gains or “look” you desire? Chances are it’s because there are multiple methods of strength training, and the one you’re using may not be science based.

Research science factors in not only muscular adaptations but neural and connective tissue adaptations as well. These factors along with hormonal, cardiovascular and respiratory responses are all pieces of the strength puzzle that must be taken into consideration.

When it’s all said and done there’s just too much information for one to fully comprehend without a little help. Therefore, stop wasting time with trial and error and use the following three science-based methods to get results easily and effectively.

1: Muscle Endurance

This style of training will help you build your muscle endurance by having you do repeated contractions against a force for an extended period of time. Think bodyweight training exercises — like pushups — to fatigue, with little rest between sets. It can also consist of using dumbbells for exercises such as squats or lunges done with low intensity and high reps. If you’re new to strength training, or have been away for 6 months or more, this will help you build your muscle endurance before moving on to high intensity and low reps. 

2: Hypertrophy (aka Muscular Strength)

Hypertrophy is a fancy word used to describe a muscle that has grown because the cross-sectional area (CSA) has been enlarged. And in order to make this happen, you should be doing 8-12 reps using 75-85% of the maximum weight you could lift once. In strength training, we call this your one repetition maximum, or 1RM. (Your 1RM should be determined with the assistance of a certified personal trainer.) Therefore, it is very important that you know your 1 rep max because otherwise you may not be giving your body the stimulus or stress necessary to cause adaptation. And by failing to do so you will not change the shape of your body. No stimulus. No stress. No adaptation. No change. 

3: Muscular Power

“Muscular Power” is used to describe the way you train when you are relying on increased muscle recruitment to bring about strength gains. Increased muscle recruitment does not increase muscle cross sectional area like hypertrophy. It demands your body to call on nearly every muscle you have to lift the weight or mass. And the only way to do this is to lift 90-95% of your 1RM. You should only be able to lift the weight 1-3 times only. Any more than that and you probably aren’t lifting in the power range.

Yours in strength,

Preston

Let me tell you a little story about what occurred last Friday in Jack London Square. I was with my cousin Leon and dear friend Ron, both from Virginia, and both as equally excited to see me as I was them. We hooked up with another old buddy from college, Harsha, who lives in San Jose. Harsha hadn’t seen Leon or Ron in over 15 years — boy, were we going to do it BIG!

Well. Leon, Ron and I … we did not hold back whatsoever. If we wanted a $30 beer, Mai Tai, Manhattan, or Old Fashioned to accompany one of the delicious meals we had at Mua, Yimms, or Farmhouse Kitchen, we indulged handsomely. (Two of those four restaurants are Thai — my favorite cuisine, by the way.)

As for Harsha, not so much. He was right in the middle of a 60-day fast (day 29 to be exact) that required he abstain from meat, alcohol, dairy, and processed food. He told me he wanted to increase his energy, lose weight faster, and look his very best.

WOW! Of all the times to break or even bend the rules, I thought this certainly would have been one. (I know for me it would have been.) But NO! Harsha simply would not break his commitment to himself.

I was so moved by his desire to stay the course that I decided to stop drinking alcohol for 30 days. That was Sunday, September 22, 2019. So far, I am abiding by the rules I set for myself (no alcohol whatsoever) and I feel great for doing so. But I don’t want to do this alone.

Please join me by committing to remove at least one of your most unhealthy habits for 30 days. Whether it’s ice cream, donuts, fried food, or alcohol, just send me what you’re committing to eliminate from your life for 30 days as soon as you read this message.

Together we will inspire, hold each other accountable, and motivate one another to live our best lives.

Here’s your chance.

Yours in commitment,

Preston

This quote is what PRF is all about.

Why do you think I write these blogs, attend conferences, and spend nearly 40 hours in the gym just about every week of the year? Because I want to see you to excel in all areas of your life — especially physically —and I want be a part of that development.

I can tell you now that on my own journey, none of my success would have been possible if I hadn’t developed good habits that I do on a routine basis.

For instance, I have been reading an hour a day for the last four years — a habit I learned from a world-class trainer in Long Beach, California. He said to me that if I read an hour a day for 3.5 years, I would become a Master Trainer. And if I read an hour a day for 5 years, I would become nationally known. Do it for 7 years and be internationally known. Ironically enough, I became a Master Trainer right around the 3.5-year mark. (Fingers crossed on the 5- and 7-year anniversary!)

To me, this is powerful stuff. So powerful, in fact, that I talk to my clients about habits on a regular basis, and I want to share my habits with you.

I want to know your habits, too — will you reply with a few of your habits that I can share anonymously with the group in a future blog? Just hit “reply” to this email directly.

So here we go: The Top 10 Habits That I “Borrowed” From Others.

1. Read 1 hour per day.
2. Pray and meditate daily.
3. Lemon water with ginger every morning. At least 64 ounces.
4. Document workouts. And food when I want to lose weight.
5. Hot shower before I go to the gym. Epsom salt baths when sore.
6. Change modes and intensity of exercise.
7. Prepare most of my meals.
8. Get 7 hours of sleep minimum.
9. Massage, hot tub and sauna regularly.
10. Walk and listen to music daily.

Now it’s time for you to share. Please reply with a few or several habits if you so choose. Not only do I want to share them with the group, but the first 5 people to reply will receive a FREE session!

Yours in health and habits,

Preston

In today’s fitness industry, I find that there are far too many ultracrepidarians. An ultracrepidarian is a person who gives his/her opinion or advice on matters outside one’s knowledge or competence. 

Now before you go judging these practitioners, ask yourself if you have ever given advice in an area that you weren’t competent? Chances are you have. Same for me – it’s a natural tendency for many of us.

But this can be an extremely dangerous for a personal trainer or anyone in the health and wellness industry. Provide the wrong advice and someone could end up hurt or injured.

That’s why I push myself to read voraciously and attend conferences frequently. I want to give you researched information on a variety of topics that you can trust. 

Case in point-my new love affair with breathing. Not a sexy topic on the surface, but when you start to “go down the rabbit holes,” you begin to look at the movement much differently. 

For starters, our connection to the present moment begins with breathing. It is a “movement” that is done 18k-22k times per day and doing it properly can lead to greater stability, mobility and strength.

So, there you have it. Breathe better and gain greater satisfaction in your life. Understand better and make a difference in the lives of others.

Thanks for reading, and please send any questions you have my way.

P.S. If you would like to learn more about breathing, purchase Practical Solutions for Back Pain by Dana Santas. I have worked with her personally and use several of the techniques in her book in my practice.

The beginning of the new year has been somewhat traumatizing for me. I am suffering from jolts of electricity shooting up my spine at a moment’s notice. My chiropractor believes it is a result of my pelvis and neck being out of alignment. And, as a result, I have not worked in over 2 weeks. Not the way I wanted to begin 2019.

I have been anxious, sad and disappointed in not getting off to the running start that I had envisioned for the new year. I was somewhat relieved when a close family member came to visit from Virginia, but the visit was not enough to completely take my mind off the helplessness I had been experiencing as of late.

And, it wasn’t until this morning (I am writing this blog on 1/9) that I used the words “really scary” to describe my discomfort to my wife. She immediately lifted her head and replied, “I had no idea that you were feeling this way.” Wow! I thought for sure she knew how devastating this experience has been for me.

This conversation caused me to reflect on my behavior and come to grips with what I had recently learned about vulnerability from Brene Brown author of “Daring Greatly.” Brown succinctly describes my attitude and that of many others as, “I want to experience your vulnerability, but I don’t want to be vulnerable.”

How is my wife or anyone else going to fully understand me if I am unwilling to be vulnerable? Below are 5 ways to be more vulnerable in 2019 so that you can connect better with family, friends, and co-workers.

1. Get over shame. You are not your failures.
2. Get over scarcity. You are enough.
3. Get over perfectionism. You are going to make mistakes.
4. Get over judgement. You are exacerbating disconnection.
5. Get over comparisons. Your uniqueness is powerful.

Last, I offer the most powerful sentiment Brown shared in the book. The quote is a conclusion that Brown came to with the help of her husband after watching Ellen DeGeneres act silly and goofy while dancing on her hit TV show. And that is, “you can be loved for your vulnerabilities, not in spite of them.”

Yes! 50-75 years olds are athletes.  They are fitness athletes, lifestyle athletes, and competitive athletes. I train some of these amazing athletes in the Bay Area and have been doing so for the past eight years. Would you like to see these athletes in action AND do you know the 5 Mistakes The Best 50-75-Year-Old Athletes Never Make?

Meet Lloyd. Lloyd is 71 years of age, Chairman of the Board of a local bank that recently went “public” on the NASDAQ exchange, and one hell of an athlete. In addition to being able to jump rope with the best of them, Lloyd can complete 10, 3-min rounds of “mitt work” with only one minute of rest in between!

See Lloyd in action:
1) https://www.facebook.com/PrestonRayFitness/videos/1405488492891718/
2) https://www.facebook.com/PrestonRayFitness/videos/1751904288250135/

And it’s not a gender thing either.

Meet Kathy. Kathy is a 69-year-old retired female executive who drives a half hour each way to the gym and has been doing so for nearly 20 years. She recently enlisted my services to “hit the mitts,” and was totally shocked by her stellar performance.  I on the other hand, was not. You see, this same woman can do 27” box jumps!

Watch Kathy crush this box jump:
1) https://www.facebook.com/PrestonRayFitness/videos/1753851108055453/

Here are those 5 Mistakes that Lloyd, Kathy, and other 50-75-Year-Old Athletes Never Make…

• They Don’t Go to the Gym Alone—“Hire a coach. Olympic athletes at the top of their games have coaches….do everything you can think of to find the perfect coach and trust when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” -Jen Sincero, You Are A Badass At Making Money
• They Don’t Put Goals over Values—”Values are desired qualities of ongoing action…values describe how you want to behave as a human being…Goals are desired outcomes…what you want to get, complete, possess or achieve.” –Russ Harris, The Confidence Gap
• They Don’t Compare Themselves to Others— “It’s none of your business what other people are doing. All that matters is that you’re enjoying yourself and pleased with what you’re creating.” -Jen Sincero, You Are A Badass
• They Are Not Passive Observers—“Live in the active voice. Write the script of your own life, and in doing so, you will have greater impact on the world around you…have a do something mindset.” –Tom Kelley and David Kelley, Creative Confidence
• They Don’t Quit—”Talent is how quickly your skills improve when you invest effort. Achievement is what happens when you take your acquired skills and use them.” –Angela Duckworth, Grit

Now is the time for action! Age is really just a number. Are you 50-75 years of age and want to learn the proper way to train yourself like an athlete?  If so, give me a call (510-381-0240) to book your free consultation and let’s avoid Mistake #1 – Don’t Go To The Gym Alone!