USMC Fitness Boot Camp Briefing Room

Fear is Good — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s Blog Post for 5/16/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:05:43 +0000

Repeat after me.

“I, Tony Ludlow, (insert your name)

will never

do a triathlon

without sufficiently

training for it.”

I did the Memphis in May Mountain Bike Triathlon a couple of years ago – I actually did the very first Memphis in May triathlon back in 1983. But this Mountain Bike Triathlon was the first time, in over a hundred triathlons, that I did one without training properly for it. I know, I know … stupid.

Here’s a list of my training sins:
I hadn’t been in the pool to train in several months.
I hadn’t been on my bike since LAST YEAR.

And on top of those training evils, I had NEVER raced a mountain bike, ever. In fact, I hadn’t even RIDDEN my mountain bike in a couple of years!

On top of that, I did the swim wearing a wetsuit that was too small for me, making it difficult to breathe, gasping for air in the middle of a lake with others swimming on top of me.

Yeah, this was awesome!

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 to make maters worse, the straightjacket, I mean, the wetsuit, I was wearing, made swimming ridiculous — imagine a T-Rex, with those tiny little under developed 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 and ready to quit the race. 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 of the fog 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 the race without embarrassing myself. But I could see the headlines in the newspaper the next day: “Boot Camp Guy QUITS Triathlon” “Sergeant Tony Pulled Out of Lake by Teenaged Girl Lifeguard.” Oh, the humanity.

So I breast stroked. I backstroked. I side-stroked. I dog paddled. 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.

Dr. House says “Everyone lies.” That may be true. But here’s something for sure: “Everyone is afraid.” And anyone who tells you that they’re never afraid is proving what House says. What will you do, or what are you doing, when you’re afraid?

My 5 Strategies for Facing Our 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 shorts. 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. Have you seen the new Gatorade commercial with women’s soccer sensation Abby Wambach? It’s all about that look of defeat. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4q6muVH6FE) 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 to others. Don’t whine to yourself or to others. Don’t act like a crybaby, a chump, or a victim, not to yourself and especially 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 in that race. Just because I was afraid, didn’t mean I wasn’t fast!

- 30 -

—————————————

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 I miss you … 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 Sgt. Tony’s Fitness Super Hiway is uphill, pockmarked, littered with construction trash, and lined with people telling you to turn back.

Get out of Turdeville! Your spot on the Quarterdeck is open and waiting for you!

————————————————————–

SUB SEVEN CLUB

I’m bringing back the “Sub Seven Club!” You veteran Boot Campers will remember that we had such a club back during out U of M days. Well, I’m bringing Sub Seven back! (Eat your heart out Justin!)

If you’d like to join the club, meet me at the U of M track next Tuesday morning (May 22) at 5:15am. That’ll be 15 min before our Mt. Fuji Workout. If you run the mile in under seven minutes, you get to join the club! You’ll get a special t-shirt, gifts, prizes, and the praise of the masses. Okay, just the t-shirt and special recognition! Go ahead and do it. It costs nothing to try!

———————————————-

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST

Our 5th Tuesday PFT will be on May 29 at the church. The test consists of max push ups in 2 min, max sit ups in 2 min, and a timed 1.5 mile run!

It’ll be LOADS of fun! See if you can better your score from last time or do it for the very first time!

———————————————-

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

DID YOU SEE ASHLEY’S ARTICLE IN THE CA?

Our own Ashley Hofeditz wrote a brilliant article published in the Commercial Appeal a couple of weeks ago. The article dealt with muscle and muscle loss as we age. If you missed it, here’s the link:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/07/muscle-matters/

———————————————————

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

What is The Goofy Challenge? It’s part of the Disney Marathon Weekend at Disney World, Orlando.
You can run the half marathon on Saturday.
Or you can run the full marathon on Sunday.
OR … you can run ‘em both, The Goofy Challenge!

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Following are two links. The first one is the Disney link with all of the registration info and so forth. The second link is to Boot Camper, and Goofy Challenge Finisher, Margaret Caffey’s travel website. Margaret is an Independent Vacation Planner with MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

With the 8:30am class on hiatus, I have available time in mid mornings for personal training. Training can be general in nature or for sports specific for tennis players, runners, triathletes, chess players, etc.

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

Running the track, speed work, and running in the neighborhood are options! None of the above are requirements and you are free to do your own thing. I’ll be glad to give you an assignment based on your running goals and experience!

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

Mt. Fuji Workout at the U of M next Tuesday, May 22 at 5:30am!

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST ON MAY 29 AT 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

What Would Lance Do? — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s blog post for 5/9/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:28:45 +0000

I started lifting weights as a junior high school football player and have been at it ever since. I started running at about the same time too. And I’ve been at it ever since. But I never really understood either running or weight training until I was in the Marine Corps.

Coaches made us lift and run as part of the conditioning program associated with whatever sport we were playing. You guys know what I’m talking about. Coaches didn’t explain anything to us about why we were lifting or running. Those were the days of coaches who just told you to “rub some dirt on it” or “walk it off” when you got hurt. We were just told to run or lift with no explanation.

On the other hand, Marines are actually better at explaining why things should be done than my old coaches were. Learning why doing things a certain way will keep you alive in combat is knowledge that gets absorbed by the members of your platoon.

Early on, one of my Marine Corps roommates was Carl Johnson, an inter-service power-lifting champion. Workouts with him were like attending daily PhD seminars in exercise physiology. I asked him hundreds of questions and read all of his books on exercise and weight training. I became fascinated by human potential and endurance. In time, I earned my first certification in exercise and weight training from the Marine Corps Institute.

I’ve spent hours and hours in gyms and fitness facilities across the globe. When I was at Notre Dame, you could workout in the nice shiny fitness center on campus or the basement of the Knute Rockne gym where the equipment was old, rusty, and smelled like a real locker room and I loved it. I always liked exercising where Coach Rockne worked out, or allegedly worked out.

Since that first weight room I walked into when I was 13, I’ve probably seen every conceivable workout approach, plan, and strategy that you could imagine. Nothing really surprises me much these days. But every once in a while I’ll see something new that looks like fun. And plus my own diabolical mind works overtime to come up with interesting ways to abuse you Warriors on the Quarterdeck!

I’m very thankful for the trust that you place in me. Most of you who are active duty boot campers show up and throw your brain into neutral as I take on the job of planning and goal setting for each workout and drive you into oblivion. But some who are reading this don’t have the benefit of training with me. So for you unfortunate ones, let me give you some free guidance and advice about what’s “out there” in the fitness industry.

First thing, any program or trainer who doesn’t tell you that weight loss is 80% what you do about your diet and 20% about exercise is playing the shell game with you and just taking your money. Every program, including mine, plays a supporting, but rather minor, role in weight loss success. (However the percentages are different for strength and fitness.)

Next thing, exercises have a “what does this do” component attached to it. And that’s a good question to ask. “What does this do?” A given exercise may be strength oriented, cardio oriented, flexibility oriented, or the exercise may highlight balance and agility. But primarily, most exercises seen in gyms and in exercise videos fall into one of two broad general categories: strength and cardio.

Carl taught me about weight training for power-lifters. A body building champion friend of mine, Mike Baggs, taught me about strength training for body builders. At the same time, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book on body building was followed like the Bible. I wore out two or three copies myself, dog-eared, highlighted, and filled with notes in the margin. In the early 80s, triathlete and six time Hawaii Ironman Champion, Dave Scott, taught me about weight training for multi-sport athletes. Bill Pearl’s book, “Getting Stronger” is one of the very best books available on weight training for specific sports and purposes. I’ve worn out two of those books as well. I’ve read tons of books and thousands of health magazines and fitness journals.

All of those approaches to all of those sports and activities are vastly different, and that’s where I’m headed with this. Depending on your intentions, your goals, and what you’re aiming to accomplish with your training, the methods and strategies, will be very different.

Problem is, there’s a LOT of ignorance and confusion “out there!” Once again, Facebook confirms, almost daily, that good people are going about their training the wrong way. I read every day about someone going to the gym and doing this and that and I just cringe. More about that in a minute.

The approach that we take at USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP is the approach taken by the Marine Corps: functional strength and fitness that will keep you and your buddy alive in combat. And as it turns out, that functional battlefield fitness is more than sufficient for us engaged in our day to day engagements in East Memphis! If it’s good enough for The Corps, it’s good enough for us.

None of us are going to be on a battlefield in Afghanistan or some other god-forsaken place next week, but we might get asked to go water skiing, or white water rafting, or join a triathlon relay team, or go hiking, or something else physically challenging. And when that happens, we’ll be good to go! Won’t even have to think twice about it. We’ll just do it! We’ll roll. And that’s my goal for USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP … mission capable, ready to rock, anytime.

But if you’re not training with me, you need to do the things in the gym that lead to successfully fulfilling your goals.

So what kind of exercise stuff do I see on Facebook that alarms me. A lot, actually. But the thing that I saw on Facebook that made me want to clear things up had to do with what is called “the split routine.” East Memphis moms who need to lose about 20 pounds are doing split routines at their gyms. That’s a mistake.

What’s a split routine? It’s when you do legs one day, arms another day, shoulders another day, chest one day, and on it goes. In other words, you split the body up into parts and work those body parts on different days. Problem? It’s a body builder’s routine. It’s not an East Memphis soccer mom’s routine. Unless the soccer mom is planning to compete as a body builder.

The other thing is, a split routine requires going to the gym almost daily and a diet that is high in protein and calories. Recovery from a split routine is different from other routines too. The time devoted to the gym is high. And here’s the kicker, the results – read overly increased muscle mass – are different. And judging by what female boot campers tell me, you ladies aren’t interested in becoming body builders. Big bulky muscles aren’t what you want, you say. So why would a woman who needs to lose 20 pounds do a split routine? Lack of information, I’d guess. The blind leading the blind, I’d venture. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Here’s the thing, some of you who read this don’t even live in Memphis, so you’re not gonna be training with me. And others of you who do live in Memphis can’t workout with me because of your schedule or your fears! hahaha So here’s what you have to do. Homework. If you’re not training with a professional fitness trainer with deep knowledge and lots of experience in the field, do your homework. Pick a routine that leads to whatever your goal is. And if your goals line up with mine, you really really oughta be training with me.

When Lance Armstrong was riding professionally, he did NO upper body weight training. None. Zero. The added muscle would be additional weight that he did NOT need on the bike. A super high tech bike made of the world’s lightest and most expensive materials didn’t need to be weighted down by a rider with extra weight, even upper body muscle weight.

So, should someone not on the professional bicycle racing tour follow Lance’s routine? Of course not. And that’s my point.

- 30 -

————————————————————–

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

DID YOU SEE ASHLEY’S ARTICLE IN THE CA?

Our own Ashley Hofeditz wrote a brilliant article published in Monday’s Commercial Appeal. The article dealt with muscle and muscle loss as we age. If you missed it, here’s the link:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/07/muscle-matters/

———————————————————

THE Ohio State University … THE USMC Fitness Boot Camp

If you’ve ever talked to an OSU alum, or seen one interviewed on TV, you’ve heard them say that they are graduates of “THE Ohio State University.”

“The” and “a” are articles. “The” is a definite article and “a” is an indefinite article. “The” is specific and “a” could refer to any number of things. THE Ohio State University refers to the one and only Ohio State University.

Yesterday a guy said to me, “you run a boot camp, right?” And I thought to myself, “When I started this outfit, there were only five boot camp programs in the entire country and all of them were run by guys like me, military guys.”
When I started this program there were no other “boot camps” in Memphis. Now, someone refers to me as running “a” boot camp program.

No! I’m running THE boot camp program!

Today there are dozens of boot camp programs in town. Last week’s step instructor or pilates instructor is this week’s boot camp instructor. None of them have any connection to the military. None have actually been to boot camp.
I’m thinking that we might have to start referring to us as THE USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP … or THE Boot Camp. That refers to the one and only real deal. Feel free to start saying that!

————————————-

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

How about the St. Jude Half Marathon on 12/1/12?

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

Mt. Fuji Workout at the U of M next Tuesday, May 15 at 5:30am!

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST ON MAY 29 AT 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

0645: If you could park on the side of the building – not in the handicapped spaces, that would be great. And since we’re outside now, the parking spaces between the playground and the athletic fields would be ideal. Thanks!

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

Thanks everyone for your cooperation. Even though I pay the church a facilities usage fee for us to be on the campus, it would be helpful to them if we parked in areas that don’t interfere with their other ministries and activities.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

Waiting for Godot — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s Blog Post for 5/2/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:45:18 +0000

I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, doing what we all do. Thinking about shoplifting. No, of course not. I was looking around at the stuff that you can impulse buy.

The checkout lines give you another chance to buy candy bars, chewing gum, lighters, playing cards, and all kinds of reading materials. Tabloids and gossip magazines with their titillating headlines beckon you to buy it. They’re usually filled with information about people I don’t know about and things I don’t care about. I don’t watch American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars, or anything that involves a Kardashian or one of those “housewife” shows. I’m not interested in the latest young starlet’s shoplifting arrest, anything about Snooky, or looking at the unflattering beach photos of the mystery star who’s let themselves go. I don’t want to look at anyone’s cellulite or beer gut. I would, however, read stuff about the honeybadger.

I don’t want to know about those Duggars over in my home state or anything about the Octo-mom. (I don’t mind pictures of Jennifer Aniston, Cate Beckinsale, or Charlize Theron.)

And did I mention that the only political party I am willing to join is the one that has, as a part of it’s platform, “the removal of all things Kardashian from the media … forever.”

I also suffer from having done graduate level work in philosophy, theology, history, and language and that’s a curse. This makes reading stuff on Facebook and the cover of grocery store tabloids almost unbearable. I think I might write an essay someday called “Everything I Know About Metaphysics I Learned from Facebook.” Or maybe something like “Religion and Politics Championed on Facebook.” Or “The Soul of Our Republic According to US Weekly.” OK, I’ll move on. Sorry. Aannnnywway …

One of those tabloids was actually an astrology booklet. The booklet said something about how you can use the stars to be happy and lucky. Oh??? The stars, eh? OK. If that’s something you follow, good on ya! But …

The mention of luck reminded me of an article I wrote a few years ago about increasing your luck. Some people “seem” to be luckier than others. And most of the time, there’s a pretty good explanation for someone’s luck.

I thought today might be a good time to revisit those ways to bring more “luck” your way.

Ten Ways to Increase Your Luck

1. Pay attention to your surroundings. You won’t spot the $20 bill on the sidewalk unless you’re looking. Be alert! Look around! Keep your eyes and ears open! Noticing things, listening, and paying attention to what goes on around you and in the world in general gives you knowledge that makes you seem more lucky simply because you’re more informed and better equipped to make decisions.

2. Strike up conversations with strangers. (Ladies, you probably need to be a LITTLE cautious here.) You never know who you’ll meet, the contacts you’ll establish, the new friends you’ll make, or the people you can help. This is one of my favorite things to do! Clerks, waiters, cashiers, are usually pretty safe to talk to and an interesting conversation will often make their shift, if not their day!

3. Stay relaxed, especially in pressure situations. People who are tense and panicked tend to have tunnel vision, or no vision at all. They act out of fear, or anger, frustration, or confusion. And often react inappropriately, in haste, and almost always in error. According to Rudyard Kipling, a real man “can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.” Lucky people aren’t people who run their lives guided by the least reliable emotions in control of the situation.

4. Vary your daily routine. I know a woman who believes that God is going to give her a husband. She’s been waiting for over 20 years. She goes to work, comes home, and goes to church. Her routine never varies. I guess she’s going to marry the FedEx guy. I don’t think she’s met anyone new in years. If she wants to get lucky, she’s gonna have to get out of that little bubble that coddles her, insulates her, and which presents no risk … and no husband.

5. Be aggressive and decisive about making the changes you want in your life. I’ve learned a little about sailing. A sailboat isn’t maneuverable unless it’s moving. It needs wind in its sails. When it’s dead in the water, it’s impossible to steer. MOVE! Nike said, “Just Do It” And Shakespeare said, “The bow is drawn, make straight the arrow.” When I was giving initial thought to moving me and my family to Japan as a civilian, I realized that the only one who was interested in me achieving my dreams was me. And the only one who was going to DO anything about making that happen was … wait for it … ME! It would have been much easier to just talk myself out of it and forget about the whole thing. (Do you have any idea how daunting the task is to move yourself, your wife, and your three little kids to the other side of the world as a civilian? Try to imagine all of the details and concerns that go into making a move across town and then raise that to the 27th power.) Be aggressive and decisive about what you want in your life! You either pursue your own dreams, or you end up working to fulfill someone else’s.

6. Follow your hunches and gut feelings. Pay attention when something doesn’t feel quite right. I’m not talking about daily paranoia or constant suspicion of everything around you. But listen when the universe talks to you. Every time my gut has told me to run and I stayed, I regretted it. Every time my gut has alerted me that a situation or a person wasn’t right for me and I ignored the warning, I lived to regret it. I listen more carefully to my gut now and act accordingly.

7. Expect good things. If you think something good is going to happen you’ll be more likely to spot it when it does. And associated with this is giving people the benefit of the doubt. Miserable people assume the worst and usually get it. Remember the “reverse paranoia” I told you about a few weeks ago? Expect the world to be ready to help you. Have that attitude. Use that template to frame the world around you. Do you have any “Negative Nellies” or “Negative Neals” in your life? Don’t be them! When they post their negative crap on Facebook, or launch into their latest negative tirade in the break room, boardroom, or bedroom, move on, delete it, ignore it, unsubscribe, tune it out, or divorce it.

8. Smile. Not only does this inspire others to smile back, but it is the easiest and fastest thing you can do to make yourself look more attractive and accessible … unless you’re missing a lot of teeth. (Then you should contact my friend, and sometimes Boot Camper, Dr. John Whittemore, DDS.) Try it out. Smile at the people you meet. But not in a creepy way!

9. Outlast bad luck and look for opportunities. Often a negative turn of events creates unexpected opportunities for good things. I started USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP because I was strapped for money almost 15 years ago and needed to supplement my teacher’s salary to make ends meet. Now look at the EMPIRE that has grown from me being broke! A few years ago, a guy criticized and ridiculed my company and my work. He said, “too bad your business isn’t doing very good.” He’s not a friend, never been a Boot Camper, and felt a need to put me down. He was so full of arrogance and pride when he said those things to me. I said nothing in response or in defense. In the years since he made that comment he and his wife have filed for bankruptcy … twice. Outlast the “bad luck!” Outlast the naysayers! Outlast the arrogant and ignorant critics of your life. Look for opportunities in every situation to excel and succeed! Like a football player running with the ball, look for daylight in the whole of the chaos in front of you and run for it, no matter how small that light might be! And then don’t be like Lot’s wife from the Old Testament. Keep moving forward. Don’t look back.

10. Be positive, grateful, and thankful. Ever notice how people who exhibit those things seem to be so happy … seem to be so lucky? Putting positive energy out there into the world comes back to you! Your attitude determines your altitude, determines your luck.

Given my formal study of philosophy, you might think that my favorite philosopher might be Socrates, Voltaire, Aristotle, Kant, or Emerson. But you’d be wrong. My favorite philosopher is Eastwood. Clint Eastwood.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well … do ya … punk?”

Dirty Harry says, “Get lucky!”

I hope you all get lucky today!

————————————————————–

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP BUFFALO RUNNERS!!

Congratulations to every one of you who trained with me for one of the three half marathons this past weekend in Nashville, Louisville, and here in Memphis!

Many of these “Buffalo Runners” ran their very first half marathon!! How awesome is that!? I hope you make ALL of your family and friends SICK of hearing you talk about it!!

Training for the St. Jude Full Marathon and The Goofy Challenge begin on June 30th. Training for the St. Jude Half Marathon will begin on September 1st. If you’re thinking about running the St. Jude Half, you need to register NOW! The half marathon sold out last year in AUGUST! So don’t dilly dally.

———————————————————

THE Ohio State University … THE USMC Fitness Boot Camp

If you’ve ever talked to an OSU alum, or seen one interviewed on tv, you’ve heard them say that they are graduates of “THE Ohio State University”.

Yesterday a guy said to me, “you run a boot camp, right?” And I thought to myself, “When I started this outfit, there were only five boot camp programs in the entire country and all of them were run by guys like me, military guys.”
When I started this program there were no other “boot camp” programs in Memphis. Now, someone refers to me as running “a” boot camp program.

No, I’m running THE boot camp program!

———————————-

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

How about the St. Jude Half Marathon on 12/1/12?

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

M-16 Workout at CUMC next Tuesday, May 8 at 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

Schedules and Class Information

Tony Ludlow — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:36:03 +0000

I’ve been asked a couple of times about tomorrow’s schedule (Friday, 27 April) so I thought I’d post it: 5:30am and 6:45am classes meet as usual tomorrow. The 5:30pm class is meeting informally — I won’t be there — for “Sgt. Tony’s Fun Run,” details below.

The 8:30am class is officially on hiatus for the summer as of yesterday!

Sgt. Tony’s Fun Run
20 squats
20 crunches
20 push-ups
Swiss Army Knives: 10 reps per exercise
1/2 mile run (one lap around the entire church property)
Repeat three times.

Bar Patron — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s Blog Post for 4/25/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:47:47 +0000

A friend of mine posted on Facebook a collage of facial pictures of the Harry Potter characters. Next to each character was a description of traits and values associated with that person. You know, Harry demonstrated that “you never lose sight of the future that you want, that anything can happen.” And Ron showed us that “a true friend stays with you to the end.”

I was thinking about what movie a grown man could reference as instructive. Marines can’t really use a movie about a boy wizard and still have some Quarterdeck cred, you know? Though it could give me some Quidditch cred. But I digress. So which movie could an awesome man reference?

I’ve decided on the 1986 classic, “Top Gun.”

What do we learn from the characters of Top Gun?

Well, first of all, we learn that you shouldn’t join the Navy. Join the Marine Corps. That should have been clear from the beginning when “Cougar” wussed out. Besides, Marines look great in our uniforms. No one, not even Tom Cruise, can make those polyester khaki on khaki uniforms look like anything but a delusional North Korean dictator’s outfit.

Cougar taught us that if you ever become a fighter pilot, you probably shouldn’t have a picture of your wife and kid on your instrument console if you go into combat. In other words, don’t lose your focus in a crisis situation. Focus on the task at hand.

What does the bar scene and the singing of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” teach? First of all, don’t wear aviator glasses – or sunglasses of any kind – in a bar, or at night. (Sorry bout it, Corey Hart.) As far as “target-rich environments” are concerned, bars aren’t. Unless your target is “shallow, stupid, party-girl” then you’ve got bogies galore. There aren’t too many quality hot women with PhDs in Astrophysics hanging out at the Flying Saucer, Silky O’ Sullivan’s, or any other honky tonk, juke joint, or similar dive. Momma said you won’t find a diamond in a dumpster. Also, a ladies room is never an appropriate place for romance, Maverick.

What does “Maverick” teach us? If your ego writes checks your body can’t cash, you’ll probably get sent to a super cool fighter pilot school and meet a super hot (in 1986) Kelly McGillis (but have you seen her lately?) and have odd sex with her. Not really. But, if you take a chance and do something really outstanding, something that gets you out of your comfortable little box, something that scares you a bit, and react with courage and confidence, you might just get rewarded for it. At the least you’ll have some cool stories.

“Goose” teaches us that loyalty, despite all other things, is paramount and praiseworthy. Loyalty can’t be understated. You never leave your wingman. And if your wingman is even slightly worthy, you never ever leave him. Ever. Loyalty is a virtue second to none. Goose and Ron are the same sort of character. The Marine Corps has 14 Leadership Traits that all Marines are required to memorize, understand, and practice. Loyalty is on that list of 14. And I’d put it first on the list. And loyalty lost is hardly ever recovered. “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

“Iceman” teaches us that you can follow the rules and still be outstanding. He also teaches us that if you’re trying to be sincere and deliver a condolence speech after a fellow flyer dies in a flat spin crash at sea, you shouldn’t breathe in and out heavily through your nostrils as if you have allergies or some sort of respiratory problem. In other words, be appropriately sympathetic and sincere.

“Viper” teaches us that mentors must push their protégées without breaking them. Mentors must strike a balance between encouraging their charges and challenging them to do greater things. Viper is the best example of leadership and professionalism in a movie with plenty of strong personalities and super-charged testosterone fueled ego maniacs. He demonstrates the difference between cocky and confident.

“Jester” teaches us that you shouldn’t get pissy if someone beats you. The hard-deck my ass! Be a gracious loser, man. And also, quit smoking.

“Air Boss Johnson,” who can’t help but spill coffee on himself when “Maverick” buzzes the tower, teaches us that if someone does something spectacular, the pattern should not be full. Let him do a fly-by! In other words, celebrate victories, large and small, and don’t be such a putz! And don’t insist on “wanting butts” either! That just sounds so weak. Sometimes you just gotta cuss. And a real man ought to know how to do it properly, Air Boss Johnson.

“Charlie” (Kelly McGillis) teaches us that if you’re a hot woman with a great brain, who used to be Amish, you shouldn’t be led astray by some cocky guy on a motorcycle wearing a leather jacket. In other words, flashy guys with a suspicious story about MIG sightings might be for real or they might be full of crap. Look for character and integrity over flash and arrogance.

But maybe the best demonstration of endurance and determination in the movie is seen in “Volleyball Spectator.”

“And who is Volleyball Spectator?” you ask. She’s played by Wendy Wells-Gunkel and she’s not one of the people sitting in the bleachers watching the volleyball match between Maverick/Goose and Iceman/Slider. All of those spectators are guys, by the way. (Did I mention that this was a Navy movie?) Wendy has a very very brief walk-by during the volleyball match, not even stopping to watch. If you blink, you’ll miss her.

So why do I even mention her?

Since 1979, Wendy has been a working actress, slaving away year in and year out, in over 60 roles in movies and television shows pursuing her dream. Her roles, mostly uncredited, have names like “bar patron,” “party girl,” “cheering student,” “saloon girl #1,” “diner guest,” and most recently she played “art gallery attendee” in a 2011 movie. Wendy may never become a star. She may never have any lines to memorize. But she’s been out there for over 30 years, off and on, pursuing her dream despite the fact that she’s yet to “break out.” She also managed to serve two different tours in the Navy and was actually on active duty when she was in “Top Gun.” She, more than any of the other actors, actually WAS in the Navy! Since 2011, Wendy has been the official Sandra Bullock stand in.

We should all have Wendy’s kind of persistence and determination!

“We grow great by our dreams.”
~ Woodrow Wilson

- 30 -

———————————————

GOOD LUCK BUFFALO RUNNERS! YOUR HALF MARATHON AWAITS AND YOU’RE GONNA BE AWESOME!

———————————————
CLASS CANCELATIONS

THE FRIDAY 8:30AM CLASS IS CANCELED THIS WEEK AND THE NEXT: APRIL 27 AND MAY 4.

THE 5:30PM CLASS IS CANCELLED THIS WEEK, APRIL 27.

I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

—————————————–

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Would you be interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

How about the St. Jude Half Marathon on 12/1/12?

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

April is Bring a Friend to BOOT CAMP month!

Bring your friends to any class this month, no charge to them, and you get one point for each new person who visits. If your friend joins, you get an additional point.

The boot camper with the most points at the end of the month gets $100! That’s right ONE HUNDRED BUCKS! Cold hard CASH!

I’m going to give away $100 to someone in a few weeks. Why not you?

———————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

M-16 Workout at CUMC next Tuesday, May 1 at 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 M-W-F (will go on hiatus at the end of May. Last workout will be May 25th)

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

Tuesday Morning, 24 April 2012 Mt. Fuji at 0530

Tony Ludlow — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:41:26 +0000

Just a reminder that we’ll be at the U of M for the Mt. Fuji workout on Tuesday 24 April at 5:30am!

Fried Pataters — Sgt. Tony’s Blog Post for 4/18/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:08:48 +0000

I stopped at a huge yard sale and browsed around.

Tables were covered with items that people had been excited to pay full price for at one time in the past. But now they were happy to part with those things for mere pennies on the dollar. Treasures had turned into trash and the sellers were hoping that their yard sale slight of hand would turn their trash into cheaply acquired treasure for browsers like me.

The tables were filled with knickknacks, bric a brac, and all kinds of what not. In other words, stuff that a man would never buy. Boxes with old books – a weakness of mine – and old magazines were scattered all around the driveway. Tools and junk of all kinds were laid out among the toys that their kids had outgrown or no longer played with.

I’d found a few old books and a couple of tools and then started rummaging through the men’s clothes. When I found the cool brown jacket in my size and saw that it wasn’t damaged or torn in any way, I was pretty excited. And the price? Only 50 cents!! WHAT?? ONLY FIFTY CENTS??

JACKPOT!!!

I was in my first year of teaching high school here in Memphis after spending 10 years in Japan. I’d sold a lot of my clothes before I left Japan, sure that those clothes were probably not in style or fashionable here in America, you know, my wooden shoes, kimono, and samurai swords. So I was pretty happy to get some “new” cool American clothes at a yard sale for cheap!

When I wore my yard sale jacket to school, proud as hell, by the way, my first period class of high school juniors wasted NO time busting me out! Teenagers are brutally honest! They laughed at my Member’s Only jacket! I was dumbfounded and confused. After they quit laughing, someone finally explained that those jackets were no longer in style. They said that those jackets, along with parachute pants (what were those) and MC Hammer (who was he?) weren’t popular anymore. Apparently the Vanilla Ice cassette I bought at the same yard sale wasn’t hip anymore either. Ice ice baby … dang.

For the record, I’m still confused, I never understood why those were “Member’s Only” jackets. Why were they “Members Only” when ANYone could buy them? Members of what, I wondered. Oh well, I tossed that jacket and never wore it again.

In the years since I’ve been back from Japan I’ve tried, sometimes in vain, to fill my 10 year cultural history gap. I still find myself at parties pretending to laugh at something that everyone thinks is funny, but is something I have no knowledge of. I recently saw the movie “Slingblade” and knew instinctively that when that movie came out in the mid-90s that people were imitating Billy Bob Thornton’s character in jokes and at parties. And I wanted to do that too … but alas … that’s been played. “hmmmm … fried pataters … hmmmm.” Dang.

There ARE things that are timeless. Members’ Only jackets aren’t. Diamonds are. (My friend, Jay Mednikow, sells diamonds. You should buy some from him.)

Good advice and wisdom are timeless too.

Here’s some good advice and it’s true too. (Truth is another thing that’s timeless and not dependent on circumstances, geography, or culture.) I often tell people who contact me about joining boot camp that I might not be able to help them reach their goal of losing weight.

Really, Tony?? But … isn’t that kind of what you do? Help people lose weight?

Kind of.

The fitness industry’s dirty little secret is that 80 percent of a person’s weight loss success has nothing to do with the exercise program.

That’s true of every fitness program. It’s true of P90-X, Zumba, Pilates, Spin, Insanity, Cross-fit, Asylum, Pure Barrs, some unnamed other program, or personal trainer, etc., etc., etc., AND it’s true of USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP as well. It’s even true of training for a marathon!

It’s very possible to be fit and fat. I see fit and fat people running half marathons and marathons all the time. I even get passed by fit and fat people!!

Weight loss is a simple formula of calories consumed verses calories burned. You can lose weight without ever doing any exercise at all. None. Zip. Zero.

Will you be fit?

Of course not. You’ll be flabby, and squishy, and out of shape.

Getting into your skinny jeans doesn’t mean that you’re physically fit. It just means that your body size is small enough to fit into something you’ve labeled “skinny jeans.” I’ve seen plenty of “skinny” people whose percentage of body fat was 35% or more!

What will exercise do for you? The list of benefits is long and you’d have to be more clueless than I was when I bought that Member’s Only jacket not to be able to name at least five benefits of regular exercise. (We don’t live in a culture lacking in education and information about exercise. We live in a culture lacking in self-discipline.) Increased metabolism and increased calorie burn are part of the smart weight loss results of regular exercise.

So when that prospective boot camper calls me or emails me and asks if they’ll lose weight doing USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, I tell them the truth. The answer is “maybe.” But that’s the answer no matter what the exercise program is. Maybe. And any program or plan or trainer that doesn’t tell you that is simply trying to sell you something.

Not all exercise programs, group or individual, are the same with regard to structure, approach, purpose, intensity, objectives, goals, culture, atmosphere, or strategy. And quite frankly some programs are poorly designed, if not downright dangerous. Every good program will address musculoskeletal strength and endurance, cardiorespiratory strength and stamina, agility, flexibility, and balance.

What I want you to know is that weight loss can be achieved without exercise. But fitness can’t. If your goal is to lose weight, you MUST address your calorie intake. Period. And if you want to be fit, you’ve got to exercise.

Registered Dietitian Ashley Hofeditz, gives us this formula for weight maintenance. For a moderately active man (3 to 5 workouts per week), take your body weight x 16 = the number calories you can consume to MAINTAIN your body weight. If you’re a moderately active woman, same formula but multiply it by 12 instead. And you shouldn’t go below 1000 calories per day, no matter what your math might produce.

If you want to lose weight you’ll have to reduce the number of calories consumed per day. You can use that formula as a place to start.

(BTW, Ashley regularly gives us diet and nutrition tips during the huddle-up on Fridays at 0530. If you have a topic you’d like for her to address, let me know!)

Expecting your exercise program to be the answer to your weight loss goals is as goofy as wearing a Members Only jacket trying to look cool!

- 30 -

———————————————

THE GOOFY CHALLENGE

Would you be interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

I did this in 2009 and am in the preliminary stages of forming a training group for the next Challenge.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

https://www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret/info

——————————–

April is Bring a Friend to BOOT CAMP month!

Bring your friends to any class this month, no charge to them, and you get one point for each new person who visits. If your friend joins, you get an additional point.

The boot camper with the most points at the end of the month gets $100! That’s right ONE HUNDRED BUCKS! Cold hard CASH!

I’m going to give away $100 to someone in a few weeks. Why not you?

———————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

Mt. Fuji Workout at the U of M next Tuesday, April 24 at 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday (First and second Tuesday of a month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 M-W-F (will go on hiatus at the end of May. Last workout will be May 25th)

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

THE 0830 AND THE 0645 CLASSES!!

The 0830 Class meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Don’t forget that there is child-care available at the church for this class!

ATTENTION 0830 CLASS MEMBERS: please remember that no cell phone usage is allowed while you drive your car on the campus. So when you pull onto the campus, no cell phones please!

———————————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

Power Lloyd — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s blog for 4/11/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:04:53 +0000

“I’m not interested in your bull sh*t!” I said.

“I’m not interested in your lame ass excuses,” I yelled.

“I’m not interested in your love of leisure, your lazy behavior, or your pathetic impersonation of a man!” I said.

“I don’t give a sh*t about your self imposed limitations or your insistence that you can’t do this!” I continued.

“I couldn’t possibly care less about the culture of underachievement and low expectation you skulked away from, you miserable little puke! MAN UP!” I lectured.

I’m not sure when I started talking like that. I can’t remember when those things crept into my lexicon of things to say. I don’t remember the exact event that made me start saying stuff like that. Maybe it happened similar to the way I learned the multiplication tables or other things that I acquired or learned incrementally. It might have started with a simple “you suck, man!” or something like that. But after a while it escalated to the ability to strip the paint off the wall and lay waste to fearful, sissified, weak, defeatist thinking and behavior.

Outside of the Marines I trained and the players I coached, the target of those barbs, and that vicious tongue, has been restricted to just one person. Me. It’s a part of my own self talk. But it’s not the only way I talk to myself. I say other things too. More positive things.

How we talk to ourselves is critical. What we convince ourselves of, either by the things we allow ourselves to believe, the role models we admire, the dogma we accept, the culture that inspires us – or ruins us, the superstition that guides us, the wisdom that informs us, or the stupidity that corrupts us will make us who we are and what mediocre or minimal life performance we’ll accept and label as “accomplishment,” or what grand thing we do that will motivate us to replicate it or multiply it.

Self talk. What we think. What we believe about ourselves.

I have an absolute hatred of the cartoon character “Maxine.” She’s the patron saint of women growing old, getting fat, and becoming irrelevant in the most unattractive, unmotivated, undignified, and unimaginative ways. And judging from the cartoons posted on Facebook, she’s got a lot of fans.

I have a better role model for aging women. But more about that in a minute.

If Maxine had a male counterpart, say some cartoon grump, some old curmudgeon named Ralph or Phil or Eugene or something, I’d be vitriolic in my assessment of him too. In fact, I’d be twice as nasty in describing him.

I’ve got a better role model for aging men too.

Electrical current follows the path of least resistance. Henry David Thoreau said that the path of least resistance “leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” People generally choose the paths that gain them the greatest reward for the least amount of effort. And even though this may be the general way of human nature, it must be opposed, because it only leads to good enough. And good enough never is.

Resistance to that generally held “resistance truth” is what has led to advances in every endeavor of our species. When men and women take the path of resistance, it’s leads to advances! Otherwise, we’d still be living in caves on some other continent and there’d be no American flag on the moon.

Need a couple of role models for a life well lived and well living? How about Gayla Chambers. Gayla did the Ironman Triathlon Championships (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike race, followed by a full 26.2 mile marathon) in Hawaii last year. She’s 72 and didn’t even learn to swim until she was 58! But finishing ahead of Gayla was Harriet Anderson. Ms. Anderson is 76 and the oldest woman to finish that race.

Gentlemen, you should acquaint yourselves with Don Wildmon, an 80 year old athlete in California who challenges himself daily in ways that would make a 20 year old Olympian hurl.

If Don’s not old enough for you, there’s Lew Hollender. Mr. Hollender is 83 and finished that same Ironman with Gayla and Harriet last year.

And what about you and what about us and how will we navigate the remainder of our own lives? Will it be an adventure with new things to stimulate our minds, things to lift our spirits, and physical challenges to rouse our bodies? Or will it just be an ongoing repetition of meaningless days without color or contrast on our way to irrelevance, mediocrity, obesity and oblivion?

It doesn’t have to be that grim, you know. The new you starts now!

I love that scene in “Say Anything” where Lloyd Dobler, played by John Cusack, says, “The rain on my car is a baptism, the new me, Ice Man, Power Lloyd, my assault on the world begins now.”

Will you have an assault on the world?

- 30 -

———————————————

THE GOOFY CHALLENGE

Would you be interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

I did this in 2009 and am in the preliminary stages of forming a training group for the next Challenge.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

https://www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret/info

——————————–

April is Bring a Friend to BOOT CAMP month!

Bring your friends to any class this month, no charge to them, and you get one point for each new person who visits. If your friend joins, you get an additional point.

The boot camper with the most points at the end of the month gets $100! That’s right ONE HUNDRED BUCKS! Cold hard CASH!

I’m going to give away $100 to someone in a few weeks. Why not you?

———————————–

ASK THE EXPERT
With Ashley Hofeditz, Registered Dietitian and Boot Camper

Q: I love to run outdoors, but during the summer months, I seem to have a hard time knowing just how much fluid I should be getting. What do you recommend?

A: For those shorter runs and for some general hot-weather fluid tips, the American College of Sports Medicine offers the following guidelines:
Before exercise: Try to drink plenty of fluids in the 24 hours before your exercise session and drink two or more cups of fluid two to three hours before exercise. This will help keep you hydrated while allowing your body time to eliminate any excess fluid before your exercise session begins.
During exercise: Drink 6 to 12 ounces of cool fluids (water is fine) every 15 to 20 minutes. If, however, you are to be exercising longer than 60 minutes, you may benefit from the extra carbohydrates and electrolytes from a sports drink.
After exercise: Be sure to continue drinking after your exercise session is over. You can weigh yourself before and after your runs. Try to drink about 24 ounces of fluid for every pound lost. Don’t forget to include some sodium (salt) either in fluids or with the post- exercise meal. Sodium can help in the rehydration process and increase your desire to drink.
If you are curious to see just how much fluid you really need when you exercise, then be sure to check out the USA Track and Field’s Self Testing Program for Optimal Hydration. This test uses a formula to determine how much fluid you need based on your weight, the weather conditions and your exercise intensity. You can find this self-test at:

http://www.usatf.org/groups/Coaches/library/2007/hydration/USATFSelfTestingProgramForOptimalHydration.pdf

Knowing how much fluid you need is just as important as being fitted with the right running shoes or following the perfect training program. Too little or too much fluid can have serious, even life-threatening consequences. Be sure you know how to properly hydrate by following the above guidelines and by following your thirst.

———————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

—————————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

———————————-

SPRING HALF MARATHON!

It’s dress rehearsal time, everyone!

Our last training run is this Saturday at 7 AM. Saturday’s weather is expected to be good! But if it’s raining we’ll go on Sunday instead.

Wanna get your one hour of continuous cardio with a group? You can join us! We’ll be going 2 hours 30 min on Saturday, passing through the Shelby Farms Visitor’s Center parking lot every 25 to 30 minutes. You can hop on-board!

Half marathoners, you should treat this run like it’s your race. Follow all of your rituals and practices. Wear your race clothes, and have your nutrition needs available.

———————————–

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

Mt. Fuji Workout at the U of M next Tuesday, April 17th at 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES

0530 Monday through Friday

0645 M-W-F

0830 M-W-F

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

THE 0830 AND THE 0645 CLASSES!!

The 0830 Class meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Don’t forget that there is child-care available at the church for this class!

ATTENTION 0830 CLASS MEMBERS: please remember that no cell phone usage is allowed while you drive your car on the campus. So when you pull onto the campus, no cell phones please!

———————————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

Grammar Police … arrest this man.

Tony Ludlow — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:40:22 +0000

(I posted this on my Facebook page the other day. A couple of you who aren’t on Facebook wanted me to post this here. So here you go!)

I had a talk the other day with a former student. The subject: jacked up spelling and grammar wrecks on Facebook, making otherwise smart people look and sound, well, less smart.

She inspired me to post these simple grammar/English reminders. If one of your Facebook friends would benefit from this, just share it. You don’t have to mention their name(s) when you post it. You don’t have to say, “Hey BOB, read this, you bowlegged grammar clown!” Poor Bob doesn’t need to hear that.

Should you try to correct your friend’s grammar directly?

Only if you want to alienate him or her, piss him or her off, and make YOU look like a big ol’ grammar a-hole. No one likes a smart-ace, and ain’t nobody likin’ a grammar a-hole smart-ace.

Just share this little post and maybe your friend will hear their voice in it and say, “wow, I wonder if I could use a little grammar makeover?”

1. Plural subjects need plural verbs. Singular subjects, singular verbs. “Those boys are acting like fools.” “That chick is not right.” “They love bacon.” “He loves crack.”

2. “Your” is possessive. “Your ex-girlfriend radiates crazy!” “You’re” means “you are,” as in “you are incredible!” Today I saw someone post this on Facebook: “I think your awesome.” Your awesome WHAT?

3. “They” is a third person plural pronoun. They look like zombies. “They’re” is “they are,” as in “they were the droids you were looking for.” “Their” is a possessive pronoun as in “their tacos are nasty.” (Oh, and quotation marks go outside the punctuation that ends the sentence in almost every case.)

4. “Too” is a mater of degree, and “to” is part of an infinitive verb or shows direction. As in “it’s too noisy in here to hear what you’re saying to me.”

5. Add an apostrophe and an “s” to form the possessive of a singular noun. “John Calapari’s favorite word is ‘vacate.’” However, all bets are off with “it” and “your.” And there is no such word as “your’s.” Just like “irregardless” isn’t a word either. To form the possessive of it and your, you just add an “s.” But “it’s a beautiful day for Kansas to beat Kentucky” is a perfect sentence with perfect grammar!

6. Her and him and me aren’t subjects, well, except in this sentence. hahaha You would never say, “her is here” or “him got mad at Jill,” or “me ate at Burger King.” “Her and I ate hot dogs” won’t work either. If those personal pronouns give you fits or seem confusing, just use the person’s proper name, like “Brenda and I stalked John’s new girlfriend, that skank,” or replace it with “we.”

Here’s the test, if you can remove the “and I” or the “and me” and it still makes sense, you’re okay! “Him and I went to the game” might not seem obviously jacked up, but when you take out the “and I” and it becomes “him went to the game,” everyone, even good ol’ boys from Arkansas, knows that ain’t rite!

7. Have, had, has, are helping verbs that trip up a lot of people. “Have went” is so wrong it ought to be on the FBI’s least wanted list. And additionally, “I seen him yesterday” is equally awful! Arkansas boys sometimes like to make it sound fancy by saying, “I seent him yesterday.”

8. And double negatives are like fingernails across my face. “I ain’t never not read no book that wasn’t no good.”

9. There are, in fact, some sentences for which propositions may end. “What are you here for” is much better than “for what are you here” even though the first ends with a proposition. Like the time when my girlfriend’s dad said to me at his front door, “what are you here for?” I didn’t point out his prepositional dilemma.

Anyway, ending a sentence with “at” is never acceptable. “Where is the party at?” Doesn’t matter, dude, you’re not going. Maybe you’ve seen the birthday card that has two girls on the front. Girl #1 says to the other: “Where’s the party at?” Girl #2 says, “Don’t end a sentence with a preposition.” And then you open the card and find that girl #1 says, “Sorry. Where’s the party at, BITCH?!!” hahaha

10. “The effect of too much cologne will affect your dating prospects.” So then, “effect” is a noun and “affect” is a verb.

Well, that’s enough grammar talk. Except to say that if something is loose, it’s about to fall off and if you lose, well, you prolly didn’t win. (When did “probably” become “prolly?” Sounds like something a teenaged Kardashian or Paris Hilton would say.) Oh, one more thing. You graduate from something, since graduate is a transitive verb and doesn’t take an object. So, “it took Bob nine years to graduate college” is not only wrong, it’s just really sad for Bob.

Everyjuan rakes mistokes in schpilling and graummer. Me encluded. Know one’s perfeck.

But more and more, especially in a competitive economy, a person’s speaking and writing skills reflect something of the person. And that reflection ought to be the most flattering reflection possible, particularly if a prospective employer, client, or date is sizing you up by stalking your Facebook page!

Grammar Police … arrest this man! — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s blog for 4/4/2012

Tony Ludlow — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:44:33 +0000

I had a talk the other day with a former student. The subject: jacked up spelling and grammar wrecks on Facebook, making otherwise smart people look and sound, well, less smart.

Should you try to correct your friend’s grammar directly?

Only if you want to alienate him or her, piss him or her off, and make YOU look like a big ol’ grammar a-hole. No one likes a smart-ace, and ain’t nobody likin’ a grammar a-hole smart-ace.

Just share this little post and maybe your friend will hear their voice in it and say, “wow, I wonder if I could use a little grammar makeover?”

1. Plural subjects need plural verbs. Singular subjects, singular verbs. “Those boys are acting like fools.” “That chick is not right.” “They love bacon.” “He loves crack.”

4. “Too” is a mater of degree, and “to” is part of an infinitive verb or shows direction. As in “it’s too noisy in here to hear what you’re saying to me.”

8. And double negatives are like fingernails across my face. “I ain’t never not read no book that wasn’t no good.”

10. “The effect of too much cologne will affect your dating prospects.” So then, “effect” is a noun and “affect” is a verb.

Everyjuan rakes mistokes in schpilling and graummer. Me encluded. Know one’s perfeck.

—————————-

THE GOOFY CHALLENGE

Would you be interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

I did this in 2009 and am in the preliminary stages of forming a training group for the next Challenge.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

https://www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret/info

——————————–

I posted this on Facebook and mentioned this in class last week, but just in case you missed it …

I had my annual physical last week. It’s the one I have every year.
In addition to being in perfect health, my doc showed me a couple of areas where I scored in the 19 to 24 year old men range! And NO, it was not in “maturity”! The secret: Live well, eat smart, move your ass … and the rest of you will follow! If you haven’t scheduled your physical, do that today!
———————————–

(Repeated by popular demand.)

Healthy Muscle, Healthy You
by Ashley Hofeditz, RD, LDN

If you run on a regular basis, your body thanks you. Running and other forms of aerobic exercise offers many health benefits such as increased cardiovascular health, improved bone health, and it can even boost your mood.

To have the best physical health however, you need to make sure that your body is packed with muscle. Muscle makes up about 75 percent of your lean body mass. Lean body mass also includes your organs, bones, tissue, and skin.

Unfortunately, the amount of muscle mass you have declines with age. Your peak muscle mass is around age 30. By age 40, you lose about 8% of your muscle every ten years and around 70 years of age, this loss accelerates to approximately a 15% loss of muscle every ten years! The reason we all lose muscle as we age is due to decreases in protein synthesis (the process in which cells build proteins). Healthy college age males lose about 2% of their muscle mass when confined to a bed for 28 days, healthy elderly people lose about 10%, but amazingly, it only takes them ten days to lose it!

If you become ill or injured in some way, you also can lose muscle very very quickly. This is due to an increase in metabolism and an increase in muscle breakdown. The combination of being elderly and being ill is even more devastating to your muscles. Elderly hospitalized patients can lose 10% or more of their muscle in only three days time! This can have devastating consequences. Losing just 10% of your muscle leads to decreased immunity and increased risk of infection. The more muscle mass you lose, the worse it is.

Losing muscle and lean body mass leads to:
- the inability to heal and recover from surgery, illness or disease
- Decreased strength and energy
- Loss of independence
- Increased risk of falls and fractures
- Weakened immune system and increased risk of infections
- Impaired healing
- Weakness/fatigue
- Increased susceptibility to illness
- Decreased quality of life
To maintain and build as muscle you need to perform weight bearing exercises a minimum of 2-3 days a week such as USMC Fitness Boot Camp. But you need to have good nutrition plan. Nutritionally, to help preserve and build muscle mass some dietary manipulations of protein- quality, quantity, and distribution should be made.

In order to prevent age related muscle loss it is recommended that you eat approximately 90 grams (or about 12 ounces of meat a day). The type of protein should be high quality protein such as meat, milk, poultry, and fish. Some experts recommend that protein needs to be consumed in a more equal distribution throughout the day in order to benefit from maximal protein synthesis or building at each meal. Studies show that it takes about 25-30 grams of high quality protein three times a day to result in the highest protein-building rate. In regular terms this means you need to eat about 3-4 ounces of meat at each meal, or consume other foods that contain protein such as yogurt, milk, beans, etc. to help you meet your goal
Strength Training exercises and nutrition play a key role in helping you maintain and build lean body mass. Remember, having healthy muscles equals a healthier you!
———————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

—————————————–

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

This is just a gentle reminder that we all have different tolerances to smells and fragrances.

While B.O. might be bad (wash those nasty workout clothes!) strong perfume or cologne can be worse!

I once quit dating a girl in high school because she wore Secret Powder deodorant. I should have just told her that her deodorant was the most horrible thing ever and that it made me gag. But I was young and it just seemed easier to break up with her than to hurt her feelings about her deodorant. What? I know. I was young and all. But to this day, Secret Powder is a deal breaker!

I’ve run races before where I’ve literally sped up to pass someone simply because their perfume or cologne made it hard for me to breathe running behind them.

What smells nice to one person, won’t smell nice to another. So may I remind everyone that the Quarterdeck is a “fragrance free zone.” Soap and water are great, but perfume and cologne are going to be too overpowering for the lungs of people exercising and breathing heavy.

Thanks everyone!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

———————————-

SPRING HALF MARATHON!

Our next training run is this Saturday at 7 AM. We’ll meet at Shelby Farms in front of the Visitor’s Center. Saturday’s weather is expected to be good! But if it’s raining we’ll go on Sunday instead.

Wanna get your one hour of continuous cardio with a group? You can join us! We’ll be going 1 hours 40 min on Saturday, passing through the Visitor’s Center parking lot every 25 to 30 minutes. You can hop on-board!

———————————–

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

M-16 Workout at CUMC next Tuesday, April 10 at 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES

0530 Monday through Friday

0645 M-W-F

0830 M-W-F

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

THE 0830 AND THE 0645 CLASSES!!

The 0830 Class meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Don’t forget that there is child-care available at the church for this class!

ATTENTION 0830 CLASS MEMBERS: please remember that no cell phone usage is allowed while you drive your car on the campus. So when you pull onto the campus, no cell phones please!

———————————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145