Putting Movement First

When I talk about putting movement proficiency first, i mean being able to successfully execute the kinetic chain of an exercise. Did you know any of the following issues can put a damper on your movement execution:⠀
-excess or insufficient motor unit activation (typical offender for performing a movement incorrectly)⠀
-Inefficient fiber recruitment (typically leads to lost force output)⠀
-Lack of motor unit synchronicity (typically leads to a reduction in force output or speed)⠀

The good news is, this is all trainable.⠀
Want to improve your firing rate? Utilize both heavy and fast exercises to activate fast-twitch fibers⠀
Want to have better recruitment? Utilize activities that make the most of time-under-tension⠀
Want to improve synchronicity? Utilize rehearsal rills that replicate patterns and speed during specific plays or for life⠀

Let me help you move better! LetlerFit@gmail.com⠀


Biagioli, Brian Dominick. Advanced Concepts of Personal Training. National Council on Strength and Fitness, 2012.⠀

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

Exercise and Injury

If you’re new to exercise, I always say better too little than too much to start. As starting with too much leaves new exercisers more prone to muscle strains, muscle tears, and/or bone fractures.⠀

And if you’ve been exercising for quite some time and find yourself constantly with aches and pains resulting from your exercise. The problem is YOUR TRAINING….it’s poorly programmed…sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But you are not a badass for getting hurt all of the time and pushing through it.

Are you ready to move better and stop getting injured? DM me now!⠀

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

New Year, No Bloat

Last Monday was January 1st, however most people I know were still on holiday mode and officially started their “new years resolutions” today!

So if you started working towards those fitness goals today, feeling that holiday bloat, this post is for you!  I for one went up exactly 8.8 lbs last month..oops!  Already dropped 4.6, working on that last bit to get back to normal this week.  How did I do this without cutting calories drastically?

  • I typically drink 1 gallon of water a day because that’s what my body asks for.  During the holidays however, I felt myself getting dehydrated because I was barely hitting half a gallon of water a day.  So this passed week I over did the water with 2 gallons every day.  Flavored it with lemon because blehhh I need flavor in my life. Peed my life away, got re-energized, got rid of a lot of the bloat! This week I am back to my regular 1 gallon a day
  • I worked out!!
  • I cut out all the processed junk and ridiculous amounts of sugar.  Basically went back to my whole foods, healthy diet.  Overdosed on antioxidants (fruits and veggies galore).
  • I caught up on my sleep.  Ironically, I didn’t get much rest during the holidays.  Catching up on sleep helps reduce internal stress levels.  When your body is less stressed it’s more inclined to get rid of weight.
  • Started my 21 Day Cleanse

Was the 8.8 lbs all fat?  Definitely not!  Last week the weight was honestly just bloat, water retention, backed up plumbing.  The weight I tackle this week to get back to my normal weight is more than likely going to contain some fat, and therefore may not come off as quickly.

Good Luck with the post holiday de-bloating and remember I am always here to help you!

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

Eat Pretty: A Book Review

I just got done reading this book by Jolene Hart, entitled Eat Pretty.  I definitely give this one an A in the category of educating those who have no formal education in nutrition.

We are always taught that choosing healthy foods leads to weight loss and overall a more “attractive” physique.  Some people are lucky enough to get taught that good nutrition helps prevent or control diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc.  Very few people are actually taught how the foods we eat affect our complexion.

This book does an excellent job at classifying the foods that give acne, skin rashes, and more as beauty betrayers, while those those that promote a healthy complexion are deemed beauty foods.  The other great job the other did was classifying the foods by season, because as most of us know, not all foods are available year round.

The other also dedicated a section to non-nutritional factors that may affect our weight and complexion like stress, sleep, water, and hormone function.  Factors many people tend to look.

My favorite part about this book is how the author goes into how she perceives balance, which to me is the most important.  So many books stress restriction and don’t that they miss the overall point of a balanced lifestyle.

If you are interested in learning what foods and how they contribute to our radiant skin, I definitely recommend you Buy the book here, you won’t regret it!

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

4 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated To Workout

Working out is hard!  Feeling sore, sweaty, and smelly is not in the least bit glamorous.  At the end of the day a workout is typically 60 minutes or less out of your 24 hour day, so there’s really no reason you can’t set aside 3-5x a week where you make yourself and your goals a priority.  Here are 4 ways that I stay motivated, ways that work for ME and hopefully can work for YOU!

  1. I do what I like.  For example I HATE running, I HATE low intensity steady state cardio, I am not a major fan of yoga for myself.  Keep in mind I am not saying none of those have their benefits, because they do.  I just hate doing them for myself so instead I stick to what I love, weight training, interval training, and circuits.  You are more inclined to make what you enjoy a priority.
  2. This next method is a little vane, but it works in the short term. I buy an article of clothing that wearing it would require me to stay consistent in order to make the clothes/outfit look better.  It’s a great tactic to get me through those short term bouts of feeling lazy.  But you do need to hang it somewhere you will be constantly reminded.
  3. I don’t just set weight goals.  Sometimes the scale is not an accurate results provider, so instead I’ll make a goal like “I want to get my waist down to 27in” or “I want to gain 2in on my glutes” or less vane goals like “I want to get my squat back up to double body weight” “I want to be able to hit _____ rounds in this circuit”  This way we aren’t just fixated on the number
  4. Lastly, I am very much motivated by the fact that I am one of the first in my family to really make health and fitness a consistent part of their lifestyle.  I want to continue to do so because many before me let themselves go for a bit and are now scrambling to get it together.  I want to physically set the example for what a consistent health and fitness lifestyle during your 20s, 30s, 40s, and so on will do for you as you age.

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

6 Habits That Destroy Your Otherwise Healthy Lifestyle

Creating a healthy lifestyle is all about habit.  Just like good habits, there are also bad habits.  Some of them are killing your healthy lifestyle journey, and you may not even realize it.

  1. Lack of Sleep:  Sometimes, life requires you to lose sleep, and that’s ok.  The problem is not a few nights of lack of sleep, the problem becomes too many nights without adequate sleep. Sleep is so crucial.  I know we all know how awful it feels after consistent sleep deprivation.  What many people may not know is that lack of sleep triggers an increase of cortisol hormone to be released in our bodies, which may cause us to bloat and have difficulty losing weight.  Without Sleep our bodies cannot properly repair the muscles we just worked out.
  2. Restriction:  Leading a restrictive diet, leads to binges and constant yo-yoing and that’s not what we want.  I’ve said time and time again it’s about establishing a balance of consuming more health foods than junk foods.
  3. No Exercise or No clean foods:  Sometimes eating clean is the easiest part of the nutrition and fitness equation.  For others exercise is the easy part!  But they go hand in hand! Not exercising or not eating clean but doing the other is only half of it and yields not so great results.
  4. Alcohol:  Going ham on the drinks during the weekend, EVERY weekend, is KILLER to your healthy lifestyle.
  5. Not reading nutrition labels:  Never go by the front of the packaging, read the label and pay attention to the ingredients!
  6. Not Meal Prepping:  Buying “healthy” foods from restaurants is no where near as good as prepping and cooking your own foods where YOU control everything.  Sometimes the cleaner options are still loaded with hidden salt or sugar.

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

Get LetlerFit the Personalized Way

With the launch of the NEW LetlerFit.com I now officially publicly advertise my customized online training.

If you read yesterday’s blog post you know that I touched on the major differences between my e-book guides and personal training.

If you can check off any of the following I definitely recommend my online personal training:

  • Have any mobility limitations from past or current injuries
  • Have any diagnosed medical condition
  • Have specific goals
  • Want a training program that is 100% customized for your body and fitness level (everyone is different!)
  • want guidance and accountability

All of my clients begin with my online Needs Analysis (i’ll be touching up on this tomorrow).  What may differ between one client and the next are the different packages available:

  • Just the program:  This is for someone who has a good idea about how to perform the exercises and wants a program to cater to them and any specific goals or needs, but also does not want the coaching or accountability
  • Weekly Check Ins:  Your program will come with a 60 minute weekly check in to go over any questions, video critiques of you performing your exercises, etc.
  • Unlimited Coaching:  This is for the person that wants full access to me during the month of training to ask questions, record and send videos to, while still getting a personalized program

Are you ready to get LetlerFit? Fill out my Questionnaire and I will get back to you ASAP

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

Have you watched any Netflix health docs lately?

What the Health?, Forks Over Knives, Fed Up (personal fave), Food Matters, Vegucated, are just a few of the Netflix documentaries you can find on food.  There are plenty more, but those are the ones I’ve seen recently.  I must admit I have a love-hate relationship with most of them leaning more towards the hate than the love.

Here’s what I do love:

  • I love how they are bringing awareness to fruits and vegetables and how we need to increase the amount we are eating.  The majority of us don’t even get half our recommended daily dosage.
  • I love how they shed light on the atrocities of the meat slaughtering industry, because regulations NEED to happen.  The real animals are us humans, who choose not to find more humane ways to put down the meat that we do eat.  Personally I am a vegetarian, I believe in doing my part, but I also do not believe everyone needs to go vegan.  I’m a realist who believes it should be a personal choice as to whether or not someone decides to consume meat, and because I am a realist I know not everyone will remove or decrease the amount of meat in their diet, which is why more humane treatment of animals needs to be put in place.
  • I love that they shed light on the amount of garbage they are adding to meat, poultry, and farm raised fish.
  • I love how are they are raising awareness to the amount of added sugar the majority of us eat without realizing it
  • I love that they bring awareness to how food can help prevent more health issues than the pharmaceutical companies want you to believe.  YOU NEED A BALANCE PEOPLE!

Here’s what I don’t like

  • How EXTREME and one-sided they are.  The ones pushing people towards veganism more so than the ones warning people to stay away from wheat and sugar.  At least the one’s I have seen about wheat frequently give the disclaimer that the negative effects of wheat more so impact the gluten intolerant.  The documentaries about sugar also frequently express the need more consuming added sugar in moderation.  However the ones that promote veganism, never once touch base on the idea of grass-fed or organic meat and poultry alternatives that are worth the investment due to significantly less pesticides, etc.
  • I do not like how they neglect to go over the differences between complete and incomplete proteins and how animal proteins are complete proteins where as plant based protein usually requires 2-3 different sources to reach the complete protein status.
  • I do not like how they neglect to mention that for athletes looking to get stronger, IGF1 only found in red meat is a legal and natural “steroid” in the sense that is helps our strength gains.  I’m not saying you won’t get stronger if you only eat vegetarian or vegan because that is not the case.  The gains can come faster though with the help of red meat, but I opt out of that natural boost.
  • I don’t like how they neglect to talk about the dirty dozen (aka the most contaminated fruits and vegetables) that everyone should prioritize as buying organic because of the amount of pesticides found in them.
    • Peaches, Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Pears, Grapes, Spinach, Lettuce, Potatoes
  • I don’t like how they do not touch on the subject of how easy it is to also be overweight and have health issues has a vegetarian or vegan.  I personally know way too many overweight, anemic, or overall unhealthy vegetarians and vegans

Overall for people who do not have extremist personalities and tendencies I would recommend educating themselves with these documentaries, however also keeping in mind that there are 2 sides to every story.  I wish they would make them with less of a bias.  I believe they’d have more success reaching larger audiences if they did.  I also believe they would make meat-eaters understand the POV of vegans and vice versa.  We all know that vegan or meat eater that tries to make the other side feel like terrible people for choosing to eat or not eat meat.  We need to educate people on both sides and THEN let people decide and respect their decisions!  The lesson continues to be that everything in MODERATION is key!

Learn more about the best online fitness program which includes comprehensive programs focused on shifting towards healthier eating habits, staying fit, and building a better booty. You’ll also find a variety of fitness apparel to help get you that extra motivation to take your goals to another level. Contact me today to learn more about the best fitness programs available to get your body in gear.

Teas: Do they really burn fat?

These days we live in a world full of detox teas and miracle fat burning teas, but is there any actual truth behind it?

In this post I am going to briefly highlight the health benefits of Black, green, oolong, pekoe, camomille, lemon grass, white, and ginger tea.  Are these the only teas available on the market? Most definitely not, there are SOOOOOO many, but I chose these simply because I see them pop up most often. At the end I will be sharing with you guys the tea that I drink and why.

  1. Black Tea:  It is one of the highest caffeinated teas (the reason for your energy and focus going up), it reduces plaque formation because it contains polyphenols that kill cavity causing bacteria.  It is an antioxidant (detoxifies).  Amino acid L-theanine helps you relax and focus.  It contributes to bone health and it contains alkyl amine antigens that help boost your immune system.
  2. Green Tea: It is an antioxidant, it contains caffeine, which contributes to the claims of tea giving energy and detoxifying the body.  Because it increases your metabolism (mainly because of the caffeine) it is said to be a fat burner because a faster metabolism burns through energy (all food is converted into energy–some give you energy and some don’t) quicker.  Green tea is also good for oral health for the same reason black tea is.
  3. Oolong Tea: Is also rich in antioxidants, contains vitamins (A,B,C,E,K) and Minerals (Folic Acid, niacin, other detoxifying alkaloids).  Oolong tea activates certain enzymes in your body that help your body metabolize fat as well as contributes to skin and bone health.
  4. Pekoe Tea: Largest Grade black tea leaf (refer to black tea benefits above)
  5. Camomille Tea: helps with insomnia, anxiety, muscle twitches, stomach problems (menstrual crams, upset stomach, ulcers)
  6. Lemon Grass Tea: Is a killer source of vitamin A and C, folate, folic acid, magnesium,, zinc, copper, iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and manganese. It is also great for healthy skin and digestion because of its cleansing and detoxifying benefits (antioxidants).  Breast feeding moms can drink lemon grass tea to produce more milk (galactagogue properties), but it is said that during pregnancy lemon grass tea should be avoided.
  7. White Tea: Contains the same antioxidants as green tea, but in larger quantity.  It also protects the skin from the harmful effects of UV rays.
  8. Ginger Tea: Contains high levels of vitamin C and magnesium.  It is great for relieving nausea and is good for digestive health.   It is an anti-inflammatory and contains vitamins and minerals that improves blood circulation.  Women can drink ginger tea to help relieve menstrual cramps.

When I drink my tea for the most part, unless I am looking to relax, my goal is to put antioxidants in me to help cleanse and detoxify my body.  I am also looking for an energy/metabolism boost so I look for caffeine.  I drink my tea with aloe vera for added digestive health benefits.  The cool thing about my tea is that it contains black tea, oolong tea, pekoe tea, AND green tea! Which, as you already ready contain a plethora of health benefits.

P.S. I apologize for going ghost yet again, it is ALWAYS for a good reason I promise! I just released my healthy snack and clean cheat ebook yesterday! It is available internationally and contains 25 recipes (variety of vegan, vegetarian, meat eaters get 2 recipes, gluten free, and dairy free recipes!) Heres the link to go and check it out! it,s only $2.99!

Snack Like Letler

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