Fit For Life: Join the Resistance

Saturday, November 02, 2013

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health + Lifestyle Contributor

The 'resistance' is a movement that involves trainers and educators inspiring people to be the best they can be.

Join the resistance is a term or mantra used by one of my favorite motivators, Martin Rooney founder of the Training for Warriors program. He is a guy that formed a system of training for MMA fighters and athletes. He now uses his knowledge and enthusiasm to teach personal trainers to be better at what they do. I have attended many of his seminars, as well as completed his certification program, and although his technical knowledge about training and nutrition isn't more advanced then mine, he has still made me a better trainer, by transferring energy, passion, and motivation to my skill set. We both believe in the work hard/smart, eat and rest well theory, and use the same common sense.

So what does he mean by "join the resistance"? Is he preparing us for a live version of the terminator, or some anti-government movement? No - the resistance is us (trainers and educators) trying to bring out the best in people, and inspire people to be the best one can be. We motivate people to get up and exercise, eat quality food, get plenty of rest, and take responsibility for our actions, and make changes for the best, both physically and mentally. To do this you have to resist laziness, temptation, and negative thought processes. I have joined his resistance long ago, and now I am here to tell you how to fight the resistance.

Be strong against those working against you

I have been a personal trainer for over twenty years and I encounter negative, overweight and/out of shape people that consider me and those who live this profession, neurotic, over board, too strict, and take health and fitness too far. Just because we take care of ourselves and live our passion. This is the resistance we need to fight - the negatives – the thoughts and actions that work against us. When I am out socially, or with family, and someone says: “Eat this dessert (usually some chemical laden fake food, from a supermarket chain), you need to live a little", this drives me crazy. I go out of my way and encourage others to have the knowledge and discipline to avoid these foods – so, how is this living it up? Eating something that is going to make me tired, feel lousy, maybe feed disease and sabotage the time I spent working out, is not living it up in my book. But! Eating a nice filet medium rare, or getting a good night’s sleep, IS! So, join me – and let’s fight the resistance.

Choose the lesser evil

I was with my nephew at a Cub Scout campfire, and he wanted to eat a burnt marshmallow on a graham cracker with chocolate. I couldn't let him eat a carcinogenic piece of high fructose corn syrup on a stick, just because all the other campers and parents were cooking them up and eating them. So I strategically dropped it in the fire and let him eat the cracker and chocolate. The lesser evil! Just because everyone does it, doesn't make it ok - Fight the Resistance!

It’s your choice

When you are out with friends, and you stay out later than you wanted to, or you drank too much, maybe due to peer pressure, or you get the" c'mon lets have one more, or I don't like to drink alone, or just one shot for old times", remember: you are the one that has to suffer the next day. You will be dehydrated, tired, have a headache, or feel nauseous - you will be useless and miserable because you didn't show enough discipline. It's your choice - Fight the Resistance.

Fight for what you think is right

So for some populations joining the resistance means taking a stand and fighting FOR what you think is right, and trying to instill methods of accountability, discipline, and self worth into people, and to shed a light on healthy living as a good thing that you can attain, enjoy, and feel good about. For others, fighting the resistance should mean avoiding something bad because everyone else is doing it. Not giving in to peer, or society pressure, and making the right choices. It's all about you doing it for yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you. Big food manufacturers don't want you to eat healthy food, no profit for them. Even healthcare settings are said to be more about managing illness than keeping you healthy. Same with big pharma. Imagine what could happen to specialties like orthopedic surgery if we all trained well, and learned how to move properly and avoid injury? If everyone eats healthy, exercises properly, and gets plenty of rest, much of this will be needed much less.

It’s your war

It's time to fight the resistance. It's your war, and you need to fight it. If you are following me on social media, or here on GoLocal, or on my blog, you are probably one of the 14% of people that works out. That's right, only 14% of this country’s population works out, so we (people that care about their health) are the minority. I say if you are a trainer or health professional? Join the resistance. All others? Fight the resistance.

Matt Espeut has worked as a personal trainer for almost 20 years with clients ranging in age from 14 to 86. His focus is on overall health, strength, and functional conditioning. Holistic health and nutrition is the cornerstone of all his programs. Matt works in private and small group training available at your home or office location or at gym facilities. Matt offers his services to everyone wanting to be more fit and healthy, overweight young people, youth/collegiate athletes, and seniors. Matt has worked and continues to train at several facilities in the Providence area including Gold's Gym and CORE Studio, and he believes continued education is a must in his field. Email Matt: [email protected], check out his website at www.fitnessprofiles.net or on Facebook at Matt Espeut or on Twitter @MattEspeut.

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