Fit for Life: Join the Resistance!

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

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 join the resistance, too.

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 join the resistance.

Choose the lesser evil. I remember one summer being 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 - Join 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 let’s 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 - Join 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 against the status quo, the acceptable, the pressures that be – and JOIN 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? Join the resistance.

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android