Monday, October 9th starts a new cycle of the Ron Lyons Ultimate Body Transformation program. As a Body Transformer, you will be taught specific cardio, weight training and nutritional techniques as well as making new friendships that will last a lifetime. If you are ready to get in the best shape of your life, this may be the time and the way! Come see what we can do for you. If you join during the first week of October, we will give you your choice of either an Ultimate Body Tote or Gym Bag to carry your items to class. Mention this newsletter when you come in!

Our new General Manager is Jopseph Scott. Joseph is a certified personal trainer and has years of retail management experience with a national company. As the GM for Ultimate Body Studios, Joseph will oversee operations of the current studios in Frisco and Plano, the Body Basic Training Boot Camps and soon, the completion of the third Ultimate Body Studio in Collin County. Come on by and say hey to these guys. They are committed to your success!

What are the missing ingredients in most people’s workout program? In my opinion, it is intensity, consistency and drive. It seems that most people who start an exercise program never really reach the intensity level required to exact real change. They go to the gym, lift some weights or maybe walk around their neighborhood, but fail to realize that sufficient intensity is missing from their program that would really help speed up the process.

Intensity is what makes the workout "work." Without enough intensity, a workout is nothing more than a waste of time and effort. Muscles are not challenged and therefore do not grow. If you lack intensity with your cardiovascular training, your heart will not become more efficient.

Probably the main reason that people lack intensity in their workouts is because they think that higher intensity means more pain. In a sense, that is true. Lifting more weight or lifting faster to increase intensity certainly makes for more sore muscles. However, there is much more benefit than there is pain in the end. Without intensity, a workout is not going to produce results as fast and we all know that slow results means that you are more likely to stop training all together.

How do you add intensity? You can do so by lifting more weight than you "think" you can. That does not mean to get dangerous with the weights, but to a degree, it does mean that you should work to push yourself beyond your own self-perceived limits. Another way to add intensity is to speed up the training. That means that you should rest less between sets, do the actual sets faster or perhaps even add a set of some other exercise between your primary "working" sets. When people do my 20 Week Body Transformation Program, they are on a very specific rest time interval between sets to keep the intensity level up.

The next most important missing ingredient in most people’s workouts is consistency. All too often, people start a program and get their workouts done as planned for a few weeks, then, all of a sudden, they stop training consistently. By missing workouts, it is hard for them to stay focused on their original goals. It is also possible that by missing workouts, each time you do go back to working out, it seems like the first time again. Remember how hard it was to get beyond that first workout? Why would you want to do that repeatedly?

It is important that once you decide to start a fitness program of any type, that you stay consistent with it. Try very hard not to miss workouts; make them just as routine as eating lunch each day, if you do that consistently.

The part of a workout program that binds the other elements together is called "drive." This is what makes a person keep going even when the going gets tough. What I mean is that at times, we all have excuses and reasons to back off on our goals. We decide that we have either too much stress, not enough time or any other reason to not eat right and give up on exercising. With enough drive, a person can overcome these obstacles and succeed in their efforts. Without drive, a person will probably quit at the first challenge they face.

Look within yourself and find out what makes you want to change your life with fitness. If it is important to you, the drive to make it happen will also be found there. Sometimes it just needs to be brought out and used. Let your drive work for you by motivating you forward against anything that comes before you, including everyday life.

Ultimately, if you leave even one penny out of a dollar, it is not a dollar anymore, it is just ninety-nine cents. If you leave the chocolate out of the milk, it can never be called chocolate milk; my point is that you need intensity, consistency and drive to be successful at your fitness goals. With these, you will succeed where you may not have been able to before. I believe that there is a completely new world out there waiting for you to start enjoying it. It is a world filled with less body fat, smaller clothes, less health risks and a longer, happier life! A new cycle of the Ultimate Body Transformation starts Monday October 9th, don't wait another month to start!