Sergeant Tony's Blog

Sometimes you’ll get hurt.

I’m not talking about heartache, grief, disappointment, or rejection.

We all feel those things sometimes, don’t we? I told my youngest son, Nathan, that he ought to watch REM’s music video, “Everybody Hurts,” about once every 6 months. The boys of REM remind us in that video that the person or persons in the car next to you might be going through a pretty hard time. That jerk talking on his cell phone, oblivious to the light that just turned green, might be talking to his doctor about the results of the cancer test he took the day before. That woman poking along, slowing your arrival at Huey’s, might just be a single mom, laid off from her job, wondering what she’s going to do now.

You get the idea. We need to give one another the benefit of the doubt. Everybody hurts … sometimes.

No, the hurt I’m talking about is physical.

Last week, while doing some sprints on the track, I hurt myself. The same knee that I “tweaked” a couple of months ago, the same one I thought was about 90% good to go, decided not to act right. It started to misbehave. It got grumpy. IT HURT BAD!!!

When that happened, I exclaimed, “Holy mackerel Oh my goodness, gosh, oh gee whiz … I seem to have reinjured my knee … shucky darns.”

Oh no. That’s not what I said AT ALL!

I said, and I quote:

#&^*^^#^$ *#@%$%@*^( @#&*^(^Q@%%$*^&))^^!#&&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s right. For all of my attempts to use good grammar and select appropriate vocabulary (”A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold, in settings of silver.” … or something like that.) I just couldn’t keep my raw feelings from boiling over in the above internal tirade.

Now, almost a week later, my knee is getting better and I might be able to run again in a week or so.

I don’t “take time off” very well. I don’t want to rest. I know you understand. It sucks, doesn’t it? I can’t think of a better, more appropriate, more dignified phrase that conveys my frustration and disappointment. It just sucks.

When we get injured we simply have to emphasize what we CAN do and not beat ourselves up over what we CAN’T do. Accentuate the positive!

When you get hurt — not IF — you’ll have to work around the injury. When you make the decision to live an active lifestyle, you’ll also have to live with the fact that occasionally things will pull, pop, and ping.

So do what you CAN do. If you can’t run, ride a bike and swim. If you can’t do a certain exercise because you’ve got an XYZ injury, then work around that and do exercises ABC. I can help you with that! I know LOTS of alternative exercises.

When you have a soft tissue injury (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) ice the area as often as you can for the first 48 hours after the injury.

Rest and elevate that part of your body, if you can.

Take whatever pain management meds that work for you if you need them: ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or aspirin. If the swelling in the injured area is gone after 48 hours, apply heat and use compression to support that area.

If your injury is in the leg, below the knee, or foot, use cold and heat together after the initial 48 hours. This will increase circulation. (That area of the lower leg and foot gets less circulation than other parts of your body and will respond to ice and heat alternately.) Use cold therapy for 15 minutes and then heat therapy for 15 minutes. Do this for an hour or so, alternating from cold to heat to cold to heat. Keep this up until you’re good to go again!

It’ll be OK! You’ll be alright! It may require an adjustment to your schedule and an alteration in your activities for a couple of weeks or so, but you’ll be good in no time!

Don’t worry.

Be patient.

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$5,000 COMBAT THE FAT WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE — Second Challenge

The success of the First Challenge has inspired me to launch the second challenge beginning in September. This first challenge has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever been a part of. Lives are being changed!!

To date, the 10 members of the First Challenge have lost over 420 pounds!!!

That’s right, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY POUNDS!!!

In September this first six month challenge will end and the winner will receive a check for $5,000!!!

That’s right, FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!

In July I’ll begin taking applications for the Second Challenge! I’ll conduct interviews during July and the Second Challengers will be selected in early August.

Do you know someone who should be in this Second Challenge?

Briefly, here are the details:

- The Second Challenge will be limited to 10 people.
- Men must be 100 pounds or more over their ideal weight. Women must be 65 pounds or more over their ideal weight.
- Each Challenger chosen will be required to get their doctor’s okay to participate in the program.
- Entry fee is $1,000. Each Challenger must get at least $500 of that entry fee from sponsors: family, friends, co-workers.
- Entry is open to ALL, Boot Campers and non-Boot Campers alike.
- The Second Challenge begins on September 6 and ends on February 28.

Pass the word!! Forward this email to someone who might be interested in this highly successful, life altering, awesome program!!

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USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — COLLIERVILLE!

Sergeant Les Bonnett will start USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP Collierville on July 1, 2008 at 0530!

Faith Lutheran Church, at the corner of Byhalia Road and White, is the location; this is just down the street from The Home Depot. The excitement and interest in the program from the staff at Faith Lutheran has been awesome!

Tell your friends who live in Germantown or Collierville that USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP IS COMING!

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AND DON’T FORGET USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — MIDTOWN at Evergreen Presbyterian Church, 0530 to 0630, Monday through Friday, under the direction of Battalion Commanders Theresa Andreuccetti and Holly Guthrie!!

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PAYING THE PIED PIPER

You know how much I enjoy getting your money!

If you ask, “Tony, do I owe you money?” The answer is always “YES, YOU DO!”

A small favor:

When you pay with a check, may I ask you to please, please, please write the boot camper’s name on the memo line and the month(s) that are being paid for.

Some of you have a Sugar Daddy or a Sugar Momma, paying your fees — I’m cool with that — but if your name doesn’t appear on the check or on the memo line, then I don’t know who to credit.

Look in your check registry. If it’s been a while since you paid … well … you know what to do … I have plenty of ink pens!

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WARNING

After talking about sudoku last week, I discovered that some of you out there have a real addition to the little game/puzzle.

One of you even admitted that sudoku led to a prolonged trip to Turdeville. Oh my!!

If your sudoku is getting in the way of your Boot Camp, then DO NOT LOOK AT SUDOKU UNTIL AFTER BOOT CAMP!

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BLOGGED

You’ll find a couple of articles on these two subjects on the blog: http://usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/blog/

1. Heart rate monitor training and tips.

2. Alcohol and weight loss.

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“A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing. One that sounds good, and the real one.”
- JP Morgan

“A person generally has two reasons for not coming to Boot Camp. The one they tell Sergeant Tony, and the real one.”

To your continued good health and fitness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

I used to be a professional triathlete.

Okay, not EXACTLY a professional. I mean, I’ve never won a triathlon, and I’ve done over a hundred of them from the sprint distance — sprints are shorter events like a .5 mile swim, 15 mile, 3 mile run, for example — to the half Ironman distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) that I did last summer.

And in all of those races … I’ve never won.

I’ve never even gotten close.

I’ve never even been close enough to SEE the winner win!

In fact, in my first triathlon I got beat by an old guy 40 years older than I was!

So how did I become a pro?

Well, I’m using the term “pro” pretty loosely to mean “sponsored.”

I had a sponsor in 1987 for my last triathlon season before I followed a lifelong dream and moved to Japan. My brother-in-law, Ron Clifton, sponsored me that year. Ron and my sister Sharon own “Clifton Body Shop” in Fort Smith, Arkansas. (If you’re ever in my hometown, stop by the shop and tell ‘em you know me. Don’t be surprised if they throw you out and sic’ the dogs on ya! hahaha)

So for that one season my race uniform consisted of hats and t-shirts with “Clifton Body Shop!” printed on them! Ron paid my race entry fees, travel expenses, and even some extra money on top of that! Pretty cool, huh? He even promised me $100,000 prize money if I won a race wearing a Clifton Body Shop shirt! (He knew that wasn’t gonna happen!)

Last week several of us Boot Campers did the Dragonfly Triathlon in Sardis, Mississippi: Scot Bearup, Wendy Ludlow, and Daniel Shaffer, who finished second in his age group! Way to go Daniel! Incidentally, Daniel placed in his age group at the Memphis in May triathlons too!

So here I am. I’m still at it. Still doing triathlons … all these years later.

But I haven’t sat in a classroom in a long time.

What??

I haven’t really been doing anything to challenge my brain in the same way that I challenge myself physically.

I haven’t been doing any mental triathlons.

I abandoned my PhD work 10 years ago. And I’ve noticed that it’s really really easy to get mentally lazy. I used to scratch my head in confused disappointment at my Dad’s generation when he and his friends seemed to quit learning anything new and didn’t seem to care to learn anything new. They lived by the motto: “All I need to know, I already know, and I don’t need to know no more.”

Mental laziness, not as noticeable as physical laziness, can be just as insidious. Mental couch potatoes get soft and dull, mentally fat and out of shape. What if your mental laziness made your earlobes sag and hang down like a hound dog’s floppy ears? We’d all get busy then, wouldn’t we?

So, here’s my challenge.

Knock off the mental cobwebs and start firing the synapses again! Do some brain work, some brain teasers, crossword puzzles, or sudoku. Find something that makes you use your noodle, start playing chess or checkers (for you UT people). Read a book that isn’t related to all of the other books you’ve read before. If you’ve never read a book (you Ole Miss people!), now would be a good time to give that a shot! Learn something new, like a language or a musical instrument (”learn to work the saxophone” — my apologies to Donald Fagen!) … take up a new hobby that makes you use your brain! Get out of your mental comfort zone and take up something that requires you to be analytical!

Start doing some mental push ups!

We’ll tackle being creative next week!

For now … GET BUSY BEING SMART AND HOT!!

(If you’ve got a favorite thing that you do to stay mentally sharp, tell me and I’ll compile a list of ideas to pass on to the troops!)

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SPEED ZONE!

Tomorrow (Thursday) the evening class will meet at 5:45 at the track at the U of M, our old stomping grounds, for cardio! We’ll use the track there for some speed work! You are welcome to join in! Park in the parking garage on Zach Curlin. It’ll cost you a dollar but it will ensure that you don’t get a parking ticket. We’ll warm up and stretch out on the outdoor basketball court (our original Quarterdeck!).

Speed work is OPTIONAL! If you’d just like to meet there and run around the track or the campus, come out and join us!

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TOMORROW’S THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

See above announcement.

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USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — COLLIERVILLE!

Sergeant Les Bonnett will start USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP Collierville on July 1, 2008 at 0530!

Faith Lutheran Church, at the corner of Byhalia Road and White, is the location; this is just down the street from The Home Depot. The excitement and interest in the program from the staff at Faith Lutheran has been awesome!

Tell your friends who live in Germantown or Collierville that USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP IS COMING!

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AND DON’T FORGET USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — MIDTOWN at Evergreen Presbyterian Church, 0530 to 0630, Monday through Friday, under the direction of Battalion Commanders Theresa Andreuccetti and Holly Guthrie!!

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PAYING THE PIED PIPER

You know how much I enjoy getting your money!

If you ask, “Tony, do I owe you money?” The answer is always “YES, YOU DO!”

A small favor:

When you pay with a check, may I ask you to please, please, please write the boot camper’s name on the memo line and the month(s) that are being paid for.

Some of you have a Sugar Daddy or a Sugar Momma, paying your fees — I’m cool with that — but if your name doesn’t appear on the check or on the memo line, then I don’t know who to credit.

Look in your check registry. If it’s been a while since you paid … well … you know what to do … I have plenty of ink pens!

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DR. PHIL IS COMING, DR. PHIL IS COMING!!

The Dr. Phil Show will be launching a new contest that is a cross between The Biggest Loser and The Amazing Race. Starting with 6 teams of two in Times Square in NYC and “race” across America, they’ll stop in different cities to workout, run races, and be challenged until they reach their final destination and a winner is declared.

Memphis is one of the cities where the contestants will stop and be challenged. I’ve been asked to be the guy to challenge and abuse them in Memphis!

The Dr. Phil Show will be here July 29, 30, and 31st. It’s possible that part of their back story for their Memphis challenge will include them filming some of US doing Boot Camp! You could be on national television yelling out MARINE CORPS!!! They may even conduct some interviews with some of you! Wouldn’t THAT be cool?

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No doubt you have heard about the passing of Tim Russert, the host of NBC’s Meet the Press, who died of a sudden heart attack at age 58.

In Tim’s book, “Big Russ and Me,” he introduced us to his dad, a sanitation worker from south Buffalo, NY. Tim Russert knew all of our country’s most famous, most wealthy and most powerful, yet it was the simple lessons of respect and decency learned from his blue collar Dad that inspired a book.

Thanks Tim, for reminding us of what is important in this world.

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To your continued good health, physical fitness, and mental sharpness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

What’s in a Name?

TONS of you responded with your contribution to the possible name change for USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP!! Should it ever become necessary to change the name, you’ve certainly done your part!

I’ve posed the best of your suggestions on the blog (http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/blog/index.php)

Take a look and let me know which ones are your favorites! After reading them, YOU might have a brilliant idea of your own. Send it to me!

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USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — COLLIERVILLE!

Sergeant Les Bonnett will start USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP Collierville on July 1, 2008 at 0530!

Faith Lutheran Church, at the corner of Byhalia Road and White, is the location; this is just down the street from The Home Depot. The excitement and interest in the program from the staff at Faith Lutheran has been awesome!

Would you like to help?

Here’s how you can help in this new venture.

* Email me your advice to Les. What would you tell him to do in order to be successful? What do YOU like about USMC Fitness Boot Camp? I’ll share your advice with him (with or without your name, your choice) so that he’ll know more about what YOU think he should do in order to take Collierville by storm!

* Tell your friends who live in Germantown or Collierville that USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP IS COMING!

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CANCELLATIONS AND SUCH … TWO THINGS TO READ!

1. This Friday night’s workout is canceled so that you can run the Gibson Guitar 5K! This is a GREAT race with an awesome after race party on top of the Gibson Guitar building! This is Joe Birch’s favorite race! Register today!

2. The 0830 class will meet for the last time before the summer break this Friday, June 13. After this Friday the 0830 class will be on hiatus until the end of August. The 0530, 0645, and The Evening Class are not affected.

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WEEKEND HOMEWORK

This from Mike Barta and Queen Anne E:
“Mike Barta and Anne Emmerth are organizing an informal run on Saturday morning. Great way to complete your weekend homework! We’ll meet at 8am on the University of Memphis campus. From Central, go S on Zach Curlin to the 4-story parking garage. The group meets right in front of the parking garage. We’ll warm up and then run for 1 hour, using the 5 minute run/1 minute walk program. With a possibility of some speed work at the end!”

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GIBSON GUITAR 5K — THIS FRIDAY NIGHT

DO IT!!

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PAYING THE PIED PIPER

You know how much I enjoy getting your money!

If you ask, “Tony, do I owe you money?” The answer is always “YES, YOU DO!”

A small favor:

When you pay with a check, may I ask you to please, please, please write the boot camper’s name on the memo line and the month(s) that are being paid for.

Some of you have a Sugar Daddy or a Sugar Momma, paying your fees — I’m cool with that — but if your name doesn’t appear on the check or on the memo line, then I don’t know who to credit.

Look in your check registry. If it’s been a while since you paid … well … you know what to do … I have plenty of ink pens!

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DR. PHIL IS COMING, DR. PHIL IS COMING!!

The Dr. Phil show is coming! OK, maybe not Dr. Phil himself (though he just MIGHT come too).

As many of you know, The Dr. Phil Show will be launching a new contest that is a cross between The Biggest Loser and The Amazing Race. They will start with 6 teams of two in Times Square in NYC and “race” across America, stopping in different cities to workout, run races, and be challenged until they reach their final destination and a winner is declared.

Memphis is one of the cities where the contestants will stop and be challenged. Your most humble servant, Sergeant Tony, has been asked to be the guy to challenge and abuse them in Memphis! Many of you offered up suggestions for a good “Memphis” venue and the best idea turns out to be Tom Lee Park suggestion!

The Dr. Phil Show will be here July 29, 30, and 31st. It’s possible that part of their back story for their Memphis challenge will include them filming some of US doing Boot Camp! You could be on national television yelling out MARINE CORPS!!! They may even conduct some interviews with some of you! Wouldn’t THAT be cool?

If all goes well, I’ll be on Oprah soon, making her do Body Builders!

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OK, that’s it.

Oh wait, you probably read this far down looking for the “3 Minutes to Sexy Abs” info, eh?

Gotcha!

I get asked all the time, “Sergeant Tony, can we do more ab work?”

I always ask them (it’s always a female boot camper asking that question) why they want to do more ab work.

“Well … er … uh … you know … to get a flat stomach … I want a six pack.”

That answer, the one I knew was coming, is evidence of the misinformation being spewed out in infomercials and women’s magazines. (In other words, people trying to sell you something.) Put “sex” and “abs” on the cover of your magazine and they’ll fly off the shelf.

Good news: You already have a six pack. True.

You already have a flat stomach. No lie!

All of us have the same abdominal muscles as L.L. Cool J or female fitness model Theresa Hessler.

The reason YOUR six pack is hidden underneath a down parka.

All of our crunches and sit ups are designed to strengthen our core, our abs and lower back, in order to facilitate our active and athletic life style.

Those exercises make the abdominal muscles strong and tight and allow us to do everything from pushing on the brake peddle of our cars, to getting out of bed, to hitting a golf ball … just about EVERYTHING we do requires core strength.

But having those strong core muscles, covered with a parka, isn’t the same as “having a six pack.” You can work those ab muscles ALL DAY LONG, but if you don’t remove the parka no one will see them. Working the abs doesn’t remove the parka covering them … ok, let’s just call it what it is, it’s FAT … the “parka” is a thick layer of fat … and working the muscles under the fat will NOT remove the fat. You don’t turn fat into muscle.

In order to lose the fat, you’ve got to cause your body to require the fat for fuel. The problem is that stored body fat is NOT your body’s first source of fuel.

Stored glycogen in your muscles is the primary source for fuel. First you must deplete the glycogen stores in your body. That will cause the body to draw from the fat stores for fuel. This happens by a) reducing the amount you eat and b) engaging in strenuous exercise (something with a cardio effect) that lasts for more than 30 minutes.

Bad news: you can’t spot reduce.

Good news: you CAN lose the fat.
By reducing your calorie intake and by increasing your cardio specific exercises, you CAN lose the fat!

FYI: don’t waste your money on those electronic gut busters, ab crushers, stomach rockers, or anything sold in an infomercial that promises you “3 Minutes to Sexy Abs!” Instead, give ME that money and I’ll give you extra abuse that might actually work! Deal?

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“Your life is the sum result of all the choices you
make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can
control the process of choosing, you can take control
of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom
that comes from being in charge of yourself.”
- Robert F. Bennett

To your continued good health and fitness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — COLLIERVILLE!

The date is set! The location is secured!

Sergeant Les Bonnett will start USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP Collierville on July 1, 2008 at 0530!

Faith Lutheran Church, at the corner of Byhalia Road and White, is the location; this is just down the street from The Home Depot. The excitement of the staff at Faith Lutheran has been awesome!

You’ll be seeing Les leading a number of classes at the East Memphis location between now and the launch date in preparation for July 1!

Would you like to help?

Here’s how you can help in this new venture.

* Email me your advice to Les. What would you tell him to do in order to be successful? I’ll share your advice with him (with or without your name, your choice) so that he’ll know more about what YOU think he should do in order to take Collierville by storm!

* Tell your friends who live in Germantown or Collierville that USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP IS COMING!

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HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW?

Richard Bourland has a connection to some folks trying to find a good home for their 13 month old black lab. ‘Huck” has a few health issues (knee problem). If you’re interested in Huck, let me know.

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GROUP RUN ON SUNDAY!

This from Pam Jones and Lisa Park:
Lisa and I are running the Davies Plantation Ultimate 10K course on Sunday at 7am. (this isn’t the race, just a practice!) We’ll have already put water out for everyone at mile 2 and 4. It’s a slightly hilly course that runs through a shady neighborhood. We start at St Phillips Church, 9380 Davies Plantation Rd in Lakeland. Easy run!

Join us!
Pam

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PAYING THE PIED PIPER

You know how much I enjoy getting your money! If you ask, “Tony, do I owe you money?” The answer is always “YES, YOU DO!”

When you pay with a check, may I ask you to please, please, please write the name of the person on the memo line and the month(s) you’re paying for. Some of you have a Sugar Daddy or a Sugar Momma, paying your fees — I’m cool with that — but if your name doesn’t appear on the check or on the memo line, then I don’t know who to credit.

Look in your check registry. If it’s been a while since you paid … well … you know what to do!

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FIRE SURVIVOR’S THANK YOU!

My family and I would like to express our deep gratitude and appreciation for all that has been done to help us get through our misfortune. We were and are overwhelmed with the concern and help that friends and strangers alike have given. I would like to thank everyone for their generosity.

Teresa Mullally

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DR. PHIL IS COMING, DR. PHIL IS COMING!!

The Dr. Phil show is coming! OK, maybe not Dr. Phil himself (though he just MIGHT come too).

As many of you know, The Dr. Phil Show will be launching a new contest that is a cross between The Biggest Loser and The Amazing Race. They will start with 6 teams of two in Times Square in NYC and “race” across America, stopping in different cities to workout, run races, and be challenged until they reach their final destination and a winner is declared.

Memphis is one of the cities where the contestants will stop and be challenged. Your most humble servant, Sergeant Tony, has been asked to be the guy to challenge and abuse them in Memphis! Many of you offered up suggestions for a good “Memphis” venue and the best idea turns out to be Tom Lee Park suggestion!

The Dr. Phil Show will be here July 29, 30, and 31st. It’s possible that part of their back story for their Memphis challenge will include them filming some of US doing Boot Camp! You could be on national television yelling out MARINE CORPS!!! They may even conduct some interviews with some of you! Wouldn’t THAT be cool?

If all goes well, I’ll be on Oprah soon, making her do Swiss Army Knives! hahaha

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Have a GREAT weekend everyone and don’t forget to get your ONE HOUR OF CONTINUOUS CARDIO!

To your continued good health and fitness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120

In 1971 Fred Smith, a former Marine, founded a little company that now employs about 99.9% of Shelby County. He founded the company in Little Rock, but moved it to Memphis in 1973 when airport officials in Little Rock would not agree to provide facilities for the fledgling company’s airplanes.

(Hey Little Rock! … WHAT WERE YOU CLOWNS THINKING?!)

Smith called his little company “Federal Express.” You might have heard of it. That was a pretty grandiose title for a little company with a handful of airplanes and a small cadre of pilots.

After a few years people started using the shorthand, “Fed Ex” to refer to the company.

In 1994, bowing to the will of the people, the company’s name was officially changed to Fed Ex. It’s even become a verb. (”I need to ‘fedex’ this box to Charleston.”)

There are a lot of people known today by one word names, like Oprah, Madonna, and Cher, or names they weren’t born with. “Sting” is not on his birth certificate, but Gordon Matthew Sumner is. Alecia Moore is Pink. Robert Allen Zimmerman became Bob Dylan. And Paul David Hewson is better known as Bono.

Names are important. Aren’t they?

I’ve quoted Dale Carnegie to you before, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Our identity is tied to our names, for good or bad. We cringe when someone mispronounces our name or we become crestfallen when someone important forgets our name. But we swell with pride when someone important remembers our name!

“USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP” was simply called “USMC Fitness” when I started the program in 1999. But soon the name went through a transformation as people simply referred to us as “Boot Camp.” Back then there weren’t any other boot camps, it was just us. But soon the health clubs attempted to get in on our action with their own “boot camps.” And then boot camps of all sorts sprung up; there’s Computer Boot Camp, Bikini Boot Camp, Bridal Boot Camp, Baby Boot Camp, PSAT Boot Camp, Co-Dependency Boot Camp. You name it there’s probably a “boot camp” for it. And with so many boot camps out there, our identity was being diluted in the crowd of boot camps. So it became necessary to combine our original name with the one people were using. That’s how the name “USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP” came to be.

And now we may be on the verge of a name modification in our near future.

As “The Empire,” another name I like to use to refer to our little exercise cult, expands beyond our state line, it looks like it may be necessary to drop the “USMC” part of our name. The US Government, it seems, might not be willing to allow the national trademarking or registration of any implication to a department of the government. And since USMC clearly implies United States Marine Corps, we may need to change our name.

Now before you get alarmed or worried, the United States Marine Corps loves us! I enjoy a good, warm, and legal relationship with The Corps. Our use of Marine Corps images and names is well within the Corps’ guidelines. Our website has a disclaimer that is word for word the disclaimer that the Marine Corps suggested to me. Through the years I have worked with local Marine Corps recruiters on a number of activities and events. Right after 9/11 they even asked me to help prepare young men and women for the rigors of recruit training before they shipped off to boot camp.

But the Marine Corps and The US Government aren’t the same thing. And when it comes to private company name registration and trademarks, the Government is a little more hard nosed.

OK, here is why I’m telling you about this. I think you guys are a very creative bunch and I want to tap into your creativity and imagination. Here’s my challenge to you. In the event that national expansion requires a name change, what would YOU call USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP? What would you call us? What name would you give us?

Put on your thinking caps and start brainstorming. Get out your legal pads and start letting those names flow!

When you send me your suggestions (the deadline for entries is Friday, June 6th) I’ll compile a list. Then we’ll have a contest.

I’ll send everyone the list of suggested names in an upcoming newsletter and ask for readers to vote for their favorite name change. The person whose entry is chosen will win a FREE YEAR of USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP … or whatever we may call it!

A FREE YEAR!!!
A FREE YEAR!!!
A FREE YEAR!!!

… so let’s get busy!

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MIDTOWN BOOT CAMP

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — Midtown ROCKS! Evergreen Presbyterian Church, across the street from Rhodes College, Monday through Friday, 0530! Commanders Theresa Andreuccetti and Holly Guthrie are leading the charge in Midtown! Join ‘em! If you’re a regular at Christ Methodist, but you live in midtown, feel free to drop in!

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SUMMER CLASSES

Next week the number of classes at Christ Methodist go from 3 to 4!

We’ll add the 0645 class on Monday, June 2! This class will meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for June, July, and August.

The 0830 class is ON for June … on a probationary basis. Attendance will determine the future of the class for the summer. If you love that class, SHOW UP Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

There are NO changes to the 0530 class or the evening class!

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HOW TO RUN FAST

“Tony, how do I run faster in a race?”

“Run faster in training.”

The End.

OK, it’s a little more complicated than that, but not much. If you’d like more information regarding speed work in your runs, let me know.

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LET’S GO TO THE RACES!

In the next few weeks there’ll be several local FUN races for you to do: Harbortown 5K on June 6, Gibson Guitar 5K on June 13, Ultimate 10K on the 28th, and July 3 is the Firecracker 5K. Go to the Memphis Runner’s Track Club website for registration info: http://www.memphisrunners.com/

If you’ve never run a 5K (3.1 miles) NOW is the time! You don’t have to run the whole race, you can run/walk too. Just line up in the back of the pack before the race starts.

And while I’m at it, here is SERGEANT TONY’S RUNNING ETIQUETTE TIPS that will help create goodwill with your fellow runners.

1. Line up according to your pace for the whole race. Faster runners to the front, walkers to the rear. How fast is fast? If you run a 6 minute mile or faster, go to the front. If not, line up further back. (If you bring your kids to run in the race, make sure they line up in the rear. It’s safer there.)

2. If you’re passing someone in congested traffic, say “on your left” or “on your right” as you start to pass them. And then say “thank you” or something encouraging as you go by. Do not shove or elbow your way past them. Do not say “Git outta the way WIDE LOAD!” as you attempt to pass. Do not shove your age group rivals into sticker bushes as you pass. Be considerate.

3. Say thank you to race volunteers, road guards, and supporters.

4. If you must spit or clear out your nasal passage(s), using the “cover a nostril and blow” technique, get over to the edge of traffic, check your rearview mirror, and then let ‘er rip! You do NOT want to hock-a-lugi on a fellow runner. If you HEAR a fellow runner preparing to hock (a verb), take cover or pass them before the fur starts flying.

5. At water stations, do not STOP to drink at the station. If you ARE going to stop to drink, run THROUGH the station, check your rearview mirror, pull over out of the way and drink. Be careful when you discard your cup. You don’t want to throw your cup at or near a fellow runner when you’re done. Splashing half a cup of sugary Gatorade on your fellow runner’s leg will NOT promote goodwill with said fellow runner. Trust me on this one.

6. If you’re listening to an iPod while you run, turn the volume down and be extra vigilant. Not everyone is motivated by your Air Supply, Motorhead, or Clay Aiken. Also, since you’ve got music in your ears, you need to volume down to be able to hear things around you just in case someone makes that “pre-hocking” sound. You need to be able to dodge if you must.

7. At the finish, keep on moving but don’t pass anyone in the finish chute. Stop only if a race official or volunteer directs you to stop. Slow down to take a medal, or a finish card, or to sign an autograph. Don’t stop when you cross the finish line and turn around to taunt the guy you just passed. Be a good sport.

These tips will help to promote goodwill with your fellow runners … one of whom is me!

“When you stop moving, it’s over.”
~ Don Wildman, 75 year old athlete and adventurer

To your continued good health and fitness,

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

Repeat after me.

“I, Tony Ludlow, (insert your name)

will never

do a triathlon

without sufficiently

training for it.”

Some of you know that I did last weekend’s Memphis in May mountain bike triathlon. But what you probably did NOT know is that this was the first time, in over a hundred triathlons, that I did one without training properly for it. I know, I know … stupid.

I hadn’t been in the pool to train in several months.

I hadn’t been on my bike since LAST YEAR.

And I had NEVER raced a mountain bike, ever. In fact, I hadn’t even RIDDEN my mountain bike in a couple of years. Up until a couple of weeks ago it was in Chattanooga with my son Nathan.

On top of that, I swam in the triathlon using a wetsuit that was too small for me, making it difficult to breathe at all, gasping for air in the middle of a lake with others swimming on top of me.

Remember last week’s newsletter? I wrote about fear. Little did I know that I would be replaying those words in my head within days.

Here’s how it went.

At about 100 yards into the 1/3 mile swim I realized I’d made a critical error in judgment. I was already out of breath, my heart was beating out of my chest, my goggles were fogged up and I couldn’t see anything, and the straightjacket, I mean, the wetsuit I was wearing, made swimming ridiculous — imagine a T-Rex, with those little tiny dinosaur arms, trying to swim.

I somehow managed to flail over to a lifeguard canoe and grab the side of their boat. One of the guards onboard asked if I was done. Boy, was I EVER!! I couldn’t WAIT to crawl into that canoe and call it a day. “Permission to come aboard, sir?” was what I was thinking.

But instead, I heard myself say, “No, I just need to clear my goggles.”

No??? NO??? Just need to clear my goggles???

WHAT???

So I cleared my goggles and took off again. Somehow I managed to flip, flop, thrash, and splash around the swim course, on the verge of panic and distress, by an act of my will, trying every stroke that those about to drown make. I tried to imagine a way I could quit without embarrassing myself. But I could see the headlines: “Boot Camp Guy QUITS Triathlon” “Sergeant Tony Pulled Out of Lake by Little Teenaged Girl Lifeguard.” Oh, the humanity.

So I breast stroked. I back stroked. I side stroked. I dog paddled. And I was really glad that the swim cap and goggles hid my identity. According to the clock, the “swim” took me less than 15 minutes, but it felt like an eternity and I hated, hated, HATED everyone of those minutes.

Fear, ladies and gentlemen, for lack of a better word, is good … when you face it, embrace it, and do it anyway! Fear overcome makes you stronger and pushes the envelope and the boundaries of your comfort zone. That the comfort zone is for sissies and spectators ought to inspire you to get out of it. The comfortable seduces you to stay. But the comfort zone is boring, dull, and monotonous.

Yesterday I was the guest speaker at a business luncheon held at The Crescent Club (yes, I’m available to deliver a demotivational $peech to your group or event — seriously, motivational speaking has become a recent addition to the boot camp empire) and I spoke on the subject of overcoming your fears. I used last week’s newsletter as a foundation. Larry Heathcott was there nudging the person next to him saying, “I’ve heard this already!” hahaha

I’ll give you today what I gave them yesterday; my 5 strategies for facing your fears.

1. Scream like a girl. Seriously. If you ARE a girl you can get away with this. If you’re a guy, not so much. You’ve got to pretend that you’re not wetting your pants or that ball bearings of sweat aren’t rolling down your back, soaking your socks. What this really means is that you acknowledge that you’re afraid and move on to the next step. Naming the fear is the first step to overcoming it.

2. Breathe. Sounds simple, right? Especially if you’re out in the middle of a lake trying NOT to drown. But breathing deeply helps you to relax AND to bring more oxygen to your brain! Panic means quick shallow breathing which only leads to more panic and more quick shallow breathing, leading to hyperventilation and passing out!

3. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” And if that DID happen, you’d just deal with it, right? (This wasn’t a good question for me to ask as I floundered and flopped about in the middle of that lake.)

4. Get up on your toes and off your heels! This is about body language. If you want to guess which tennis player or which boxer is going to lose, ignore the score and look at their feet. Look at their body language. Winners are up on their toes and agile. Losers are back on their heels, slow, and sluggish. So stand up straight! Sit up! Heads up! Shoulders back! Look the challenge in the eye and with a shout, beg it to throw down its best shot! Think Lieutenant Dan in “Forrest Gump” up on the mast of that shrimp boat in the middle of the storm.

5. Tell yourself you CAN! Positive self talk wins, negative self talk loses. “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this … ” Momma always said, “if you can’t say something positive, don’t say anything at all.” That applies to how you talk to yourself too. In fact, the conversations you have with yourself are the most important conversations you have. Don’t snivel to yourself or others. Don’t whine to yourself or others. Don’t act like a crybaby, a chump, or a victim, not to yourself and not to others. JUST DO IT!

Face the fear and do it anyway … but, if you’re going to do a triathlon, train for it!

Oh, by the way, I came in second in my age group.

Yes, there were more than two of us!

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JUST WONDERING

When some of you are going to come back to Boot Camp. Some of you reading this newsletter haven’t been in a LONG time … and you KNOW who you are. Have the comforts and weight gain of Turdeville seduced you into being a slackerdog-loser-gutterslug?

The exit ramp to Turdeville is downhill, paved, smooth, and lined with smiling people. The ramp back onto the Fitness Super Hiway is uphill, pockmarked, littered with construction trash, and lined with people telling you to turn back.

Get out of Turdeville! Or … you can get on a first named basis with the staff at Casual Male XL, Lane Bryant, and your cardiologist’s office staff.

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MIDTOWN BOOT CAMP

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — Midtown ROCKS! Evergreen Presbyterian Church, across the street from Rhodes College, Monday through Friday, 0530! Commanders Theresa Andreccetti and Holly Guthrie are leading the charge in Midtown! Join ‘em! If you’re a regular at Christ Methodist, but you live in midtown, feel free to drop in!

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TRIATHLETES!

Speaking of triathlons, last weekend the following Boot Campers did one of the Memphis in May triathlons: Wendy Ludlow, Daniel Shaffer, Andrew Forsdick, and Lisa Park! This was Lisa’s FIRST triathlon! Way to go Lisa! Congratulations guys!

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NO BOOT CAMP TONIGHT, THURSDAY, MAY 22

Instead, let’s run the Zoom Through the Zoo 4 miler at 6:30. Race day registration begins at 4:30!

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MEMORIAL DAY SCHEDULE

Monday is Memorial Day. The day we set aside to honor those who’ve died in combat. We will only have ONE WORKOUT on Monday at 7 AM. Wear your running shoes, bring your weights, and bring a friend!

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FIRE SURVIVORS UPDATE

Thank you so much for your support and the donations you gave to help meet the needs of the family whose home was burned down. They are in a furnished apartment now and are actually helping yet another family who was burned out of their home too! Isn’t that the spirit of giving! Thank you everyone who donated!

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SUMMER HOURS

Traditionally the 0830 class, which meets only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, goes on hiatus for June, July, and August. If you’re a regular member of the 0830 class and you WANT that class to continue through the summer, you need to email me and let me know. If a significant number of you 0830 boot campers want to continue through the summer, I’ll keep that class on active duty.

In June we’ll begin a 0645 class at Christ Methodist. That 0645 summer class will begin in JUNE and go for June, July, and August, meeting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (Did I mention that it starts in JUNE?)

There are NO changes to the 0530 class or the evening class!

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“When you stop moving, it’s over.”

~ Don Wildman, 75 year old athlete and adventurer

To your good health and fitness,

Tony

“LET GO! I’LL CATCH YOU!” pleaded my older brother Jack.

I was little, probably 5 or 6 years old, and stuck up in a tree in our backyard. I’d climbed up, but now I couldn’t seem to figure out how to climb down. I was scared. Jack tried to tell me how to climb down, but fear had me frozen in place. Now he was telling me to let go and trust him to catch me.

Last year I gave my youngest son, Nathan, a “book” that I’d written for him. The book was to be one of his high school graduation presents. I’d taken 18 months to make regular entries in a journal that might serve as a guidebook about life and living, as best as I understood it. I wrote about all kinds of things covering a wide range of topics from money to relationship building to time management to decision making to confidence and insecurity. I wrote about lots of things. I even wrote about women! (That was a very short entry, given my lack of understanding of the subject!) Several entries in the journal dealt with the subject of fear and how to deal with it.

There’s a book out there entitled “Embrace the Fear and do it Anyway!” I haven’t read the book, but I love the title.

Courage is often mistakenly thought of as a lack of fear, but in fact courage is always accompanied by fear. Only crazy people don’t feel fear in a dangerous or threatening situation. Bravery is simply overcoming the fear and taking action anyway!

What are you afraid of?

Most of us are afraid of the same things. I’m not talking about snakes, or spiders, or the like. I think we’re all afraid of the unknown, death, rejection, and failure, to name a few. Those things are common to us all. But why do some people sit in one place and watch, while others do?

I’d like to encourage you to be a DOER!

Overcome your fears by acknowledging them and then DO IT! ENGAGE! EXECUTE!

Or as Larry the Cable Guy would say … “Git r dunn!!”

Today, look at your life though adventurous glasses and consider what you would you do if you knew you could not fail.

Ships are made for the ocean, not the harbor. You weren’t put here to “play it safe” but to live an “abundant life!” So set your course, weigh the anchor, trim the sails, hoist the colors, and get underway!

When I let go of the tree … Jack caught me, put me on my feet … laughed … thumped me on my head and called me a sissy!

And that was the last time he ever called me that!

Don’t y’all be no sissy!!

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Law Enforcement Memorial Week

This week we acknowledge those in law enforcement. In particular we honor those law enforcement professionals who’ve given their lives in the line of duty.

Our own David Townsend is a Lieutenant on the Collierville Police Department.

And new-ish Boot Camper Michelle Dunn is the widow of Shelby County Sheriff’s Patrol Officer Tim Dunn, who was killed in the line of duty in October 2004.

To David and Michelle, and to all of our law enforcement professionals, we thank you!

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FIRE SURVIVORS UPDATE

I want to thank you all for your continued support and the donations given to help meet the needs of the family whose home was burned down. Your donations are still greatly appreciated.

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SATURDAY RUN

Boot Campers Mike Barta and Anne Emmerth will be leading an informal group of Boot Camp runners on Saturday morning at 8 AM at the U of M. They’ll meet in front of the parking garage (Mt. Fuji) on Zach Curlin. This group will be going for 1 hour, 5 minutes “on” and 1 minute “off.”

Come and get your one hour of cardio with some fellow Boot Campers!

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SUMMER HOURS

Traditionally the 0830 class, which meets only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, goes on hiatus for June, July, and August. If you’re a regular member of the 0830 class and you WANT that class to continue through the summer, you need to email me and let me know. If a significant number of you 0830 boot campers want to continue through the summer, I’ll keep that class on active duty.

In June we’ll begin a 0645 class at Christ Methodist. That 0645 summer class will go for June, July, and August, meeting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

There are NO changes to the 0530 class or the evening class!

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CHEAP BOTOX

Every once in a while I need to remind you to increase the weight of your dumbbells. If you’re able to perform the exercises without “making a face” then you NEED to get some heavier ones. The grimace will help keep your face youthful and bright! (If you can scratch your nose while holding your dumbbells — I saw that this morning — you need heavier ones!)

—————————————

“When you stop moving, it’s over.”
~ Don Wildman, 75 year old athlete and adventurer

To your good health and fitness,

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances
are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess
what they have planned for you? Not much.”
—Jim Rohn: Author and motivational speaker

The power of intention is pretty strong. It’s the power to live a life with a purpose and a direction, a plan and a goal.

I know some people who have some pretty detailed plans for the things they will do in the next year, 3 years, 5 years, and even beyond. (I have a Japanese friend whose company has a 100 year plan!) One of my best friends is a detail oriented guy who has very specific plans extending several years down the road. I also know people who don’t have much of a clue what they’ll be doing 5 minutes from now.

A few years ago I was asked what it was like being a divorced dad.

That answer took a while.

Later on I bullet-pointed my answer in a journal entry. One of those bullet points was “I learned to parent intentionally.”

Sometimes we parent “accidentally.” It happens, it just doesn’t happen with a purpose or a plan. In the day to day hustle and bustle of domestic life, filled with after school activities, the mystery of “what will we eat for dinner,” book reports, homework, and American Idol … intentional parenting can often be lost within that over extended family agenda. As a dad who had limited uninterrupted time with his kids, I had to parent intentionally. I had to have a plan and a purpose. I would often jot down things during the week that I wanted to discuss with my kids face to face on the weekends.

What are you doing intentionally? You’ve got a lot of roles to play within the many contexts of your life. Which of those roles are being addressed purposefully and which ones are hit or miss?

When you consider the plans for your life, are you taking charge or flying by the seat of your pants? I’m not saying that having detailed plans for every role is the right way to live. I’m saying that living with intention and purpose, with or without a detailed plan, is the right way to do it!

And of course you know that I’d have to challenge you to approach your health and fitness with purpose and intention. One of you told me that the reason you come to Boot Camp is so that you don’t have to think about what to do. You trust me to guide and direct you. That works too. (That’s one of Boot Camp’s best selling points. “Just do what Tony says!”) You’ve got a purpose and an intention. Coming to Boot Camp takes you from the plan and intention phase to the key phase, the main phase: execution.

Yesterday morning, Les Bonnett and I tag teamed the 0530 workout together. (I’m training Les to become a USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP instructor in Collierville.) I told Les that three things happen before each exercise we do. First I announce the exercise, often twice: “PICK UP YOUR DUMBBELLS FOR ALTERNATING BICEP CURLS … ALTERNATING BICEP CURLS!” After the announcement of the exercise, comes the preparatory command: “READY!!” followed by a pause. And then comes the command of execution: “EXERCISE!!”

Without the command of execution, we’re all just standing around with our dumbbells in our hands.

Without EXECUTION, your plans, purposes, and intentions are just mental gymnastics.

The power of intention is awesome, but the power of execution is life changing! Life rewards action!

Plan with intention, approach the day with purpose … and …

EXECUTE!

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SATURDAY MORNING RUNS!

Would you like to run with some Boot Campers tomorrow? There are two informal USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP groups running tomorrow morning. One group is meeting at the U of M at 8 AM in front of the Zach Curlin parking garage. That group is planning on running for an hour straight. Another group is meeting at 9 AM at Shelby Farms in front of the Visitor’s Center. That group will be running the 1hr 45 min @ 5 min “on” and 1 min walk break format.

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SUMMER HOURS

Traditionally the 0830 class, which meets only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, goes on hiatus for June, July, and August. If you’re a regular member of the 0830 class and you WANT that class to continue through the summer, you need to email me and let me know. If a significant number of you 0830 boot campers want to continue through the summer, I’ll keep that class on active duty.

In June we’ll begin a 0645 class at Christ Methodist. That 0645 summer class will go for June, July, and August, meeting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

There are NO changes to the 0530 class or the evening class!

——————————————

CHEAP BOTOX

Every once in a while I need to remind you to increase the weight of your dumbbells. If you’re able to perform the exercises without “making a face” then you NEED to get some heavier ones. The grimace will help keep your face youthful and bright! (If you can scratch your nose while holding your dumbbells — I saw that this morning — you need heavier ones!)

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WHATEVER YOU WANT

In the day to day of my job, I hear a lot of excuses. Very few from you guys. Mainly because you guys know better.

I hear a lot of excuses from people who tell me why they can’t do BOOT CAMP with me.

“Your 5:30 class is too early, I can’t get up in the morning for that.”
“I’m too tired after work to come to the evening class.”
“It’s too cold in the winter!”
“It’s too hot.”
“You’re too mean.”
“I’ve heard too many stories about how hard your class is.”

Blah, blah, blah …

It’s the problem of too many too’s. Too hot. Too cold. Too early. Too late.

People do what they want. Period.

People change when the misery of staying the way they are becomes greater than the misery, work, or fear of changing.

If you’ve got a friend or family member who needs to change their lives, point them in the right direction. Encourage them to get on the right path. But the bottom line is: they’ll only change when they WANT to change.

“A man convinced against his will,
is of the same opinion still.”

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“When you stop moving, it’s over.”
~ Don Wildman, 75 year old athlete and adventurer

To your good health and fitness,

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

“Are you trying simply to avoid becoming unhealthy,
or are you actually interested in adding years to your life?
Are you after the status quo? Or improvement? You might
believe that you’re healthy enough — you feel pretty good,
your heart beats, you don’t look disgusting … But the fact is,
stable is no way to go through life.

The only time you’re stable is when you’re dead.”
~ Mehmet Oz, M.D. and Michael Roizen, M.D.

You might recognize those guys, Oz and Roizen. They’re the co-authors of “YOU: The Owner’s Manual and YOU: Staying Young.

Doctor Oz, as he’s affectionately known in “Oprah World,” is ubiquitous, and deservedly so.

The questions he asks in the quote above are worth thinking about and considering.

What exactly are we after?

Sometimes we exercise and eat right for vanity reasons. We want to look good.

Nothing wrong with that … so long as our desires to “look good” aren’t obsessive and our self esteem and sense of self worth aren’t derived from our looks. (I’ve personally got some issues with cosmetic plastic surgery, but I’ll leave that for another day.) But let’s be honest here. We all want to look good, or as good as we can. We aren’t satisfied with looking good “for our age,” we want to look good … PERIOD!

But more importantly, I want YOU to be the envy of people MUCH younger than you are, not because you necessarily look half your chronological age, but because the conduct and quality of your life, the energetic level of your activities, and the dynamism of your abilities are those of someone half your chronological age! Chronological age and Real Age aren’t the same age. (If you haven’t taken the Real Age test lately to find out what your Real Age is, do that at http://www.realage.com/ )

Each of us knows people who live their lives years older than their chronological age. They whine and complain, gripe and groan, existing through their days within the narrowing and restrictive boundaries of their myopic view of life and living.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Change begins with attitude.

Any of us can spend our time making excuses, imposing life limitations, living within nearsighted boundaries, acting old, sounding old, living a life of daily diminished capabilities and capacities … or we can be positive, vibrant, and energetic! It’s a daily decision. We wake up everyday with a choice. Today is all we’ve got! Yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn’t happened and today is the only moment that we have. How we live this moment in time is determined by our attitude. Attitude affects everything from our body language, the tone of our voice, the expression on our face, the look in our eyes, the course of our life.

It all begins with attitude.

Attitude is everything!

Attitude is EVERYTHING!

Adjust yours now. Crank it up! Pump it up! Jazz it up!

Breathe deep and let the frustration go … embrace the moment as the only one you’ve got. Smile more. Give that jerk in traffic the benefit of the doubt. He probably didn’t get in your way to annoy you or to make you late for your appointment. Maybe he just came from the hospital where a loved one is dying. Maybe he’s on the way to the doctor’s office to get the results of a test that they won’t give him on the phone. Maybe she just got fired from her job and she’s driving home in shock, wondering what she’ll do next. Maybe …

See?

Your attitude determines if you’ll be fit … and it determines if you’ll be happy. It’s a choice.

Attitude is everything. Choose a good one … right now!

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SUMMER HOURS

Traditionally the 0830 class, which meets only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, goes on hiatus for June, July, and August. If you are a regular member of the 0830 class and you WANT that class to continue through the summer, you need to email me and let me know. If a significant number of you 0830 boot campers want to continue through the summer, I’ll keep that class on active duty.

In June we’ll begin a 0645 class at Christ Methodist. That 0645 summer class will go for June, July, and August, meeting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

There are NO changes to the 0530 class or the evening class!

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COMBAT CHALLENGE — PROGRESS REPORT FOR APRIL 25, 2008!

The Combat the Fat $5,000 Weight Loss Challengers have completed their second month of the six month challenge! Here are the results as of last Friday’s weight loss, with the Combat Challengers identified by call sign. These results are the percentages of body weight each person has lost so far.

Puddin Head - down 6.70%

Rising Sun … down 4.73%

Lady Bug - down 10.38%

Gurkha Woman - down 6.5%

Dumplin - down 9.78%

Houdini - down 6.9%

Drake - down 9.13%

Lunchbox - down 8.25%

Bubbalicious - down 9.03%

Heavy G - down 11.67%

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NASHVILLE HALF MARATHON

Congratulations go to the following Boot Campers who ran and finished the Nashville Half Marathon (13.1 miles) this past Saturday: Wendy Ludlow, Margaret Caffey, David Caffey, Rob Norcross, Elizabeth Stacey, Tabitha Ottiwell, Cindi Pontoni, Patty Kallenburger, and Estelle Winsett! Way to go everyone!!

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GOLF ANYONE?

My friend, Karyn Waxman, is the Director of the local PKD Foundation (polycystic kidney disease) has an annual golf tournament and charity auction to raise money and awareness. Three years ago Team Boot Camp had a 4 man team that competed in this “best ball” tournament. We had a GREAT time and came in dead LAST!

Well, the sting of that day has subsided and I’m wondering if we might have a few brave souls out there to play again. The four person scramble is at 1 PM, Monday, May 19. Entry fee is $200 each and FEATURES: Welcome Gifts, Golf Clinic, Boxed Lunch, Mulligans, Putting and Driving Contests, Closest to the Pin Competitions, Beverages & Snacks, and the Dinner Awards Banquet.

Let me know if you’d be interested. You can get more info at:
http://www.pkdcure.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pkdchp_chapter_midsouth&JServSessionIdr007=5xd8osisk3.app45b

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STIMULUS PACKAGE

Our government is sending us some mad money. Spend it on a year of Boot Camp! Your Government will thank you and so will your Drill Instructor!

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When you stop moving, it’s over!
~ Don Wildman, 75

To your continued good health and fitness!

Sergeant Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
4888 Southern Cove
Memphis, TN 38117
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main

The ancient historian, Thucydides, wrote a history of the war between Athens and Sparta, known as The Great Peloponnesian War.

In 411 BC he wrote:

“We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.”

My newest hero is living proof of the truth of this adage.

Who is my newest hero?

He’s a 75 year old Californian named Don Wildman.

Don, a life long workout freak, leads — that’s right LEADS — a daily workout that he calls The Circuit. Mr. Wildman’s workout sounds much like our Storm Chaser. I read about Don in the May issue of Esquire magazine. (I’m pretty sure Don is my real father! Sorry Dad).

This man does it all … and has done it all, including 9 Hawaii Ironman Triathlons, the 3,000 mile Race Across America bicycle race, and lots of marathons. Name the adventure and he’s probably done it or is training to do it … at 75! He surfs, mountain bikes, snowboards, plays golf, rock climbs, bike races, runs, swims … meaning that’s what he DOES those things, not DID them!

And on top of that he leads The Circuit.

Here’s Don Wildman’s simple athletic/aging philosophy: “When you stop moving, it’s over.”

When you stop moving, it’s over.

Need the Cliff Notes for that one? Here it is: MOVE!

How simple is THAT? How incredibly accurate?

Just shut up and MOVE!!
Quit whining and MOVE!!
Check your excuses at the door and MOVE!

Don Wildman knows that Thucydides was right … and now you do too!

Just … MOVE!

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APRIL IS “BRING A FRIEND TO BOOT CAMP MONTH”

April is almost over, but it’s not too late! You can bring a friend to Boot Camp during April for a FREE DAY! No strings attached.

The Boot Camper who brings the most friends in April will get $100!!

Here are the rules:

1. You get one point for each visitor you bring.

2. Your visiting friends must be prospects for membership.

3. If your visiting friend joins, you get double points.

4. Repeat visitors don’t count beyond their first visit.

In addition, your friends can join USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP for only $90 in April! Only your friends and family can take advantage of this deal. New recruits taking advantage of this special discount MUST have a sponsoring friend who IS a Boot Camper in good standing. It’s for our friends and family only.

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WHAT’S ON YOUR iPOD?

It’s that time again, you runners who listen to your iPod!

It’s time to send me your 5 or 10 favorite song titles for running, or the last 5 or 10 that you’ve downloaded for the purpose of running!

I need some new tunes for the Nashville Half Marathon and I’m willing to download some of YOURS! Just send me the song titles and artists and I’ll check ‘em out!

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When you stop moving, it’s over!
~ Don Wildman

To your continued good health and fitness!

Sergeant Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main