The Penalty of Leadership

Oftentimes things that don't initially make sense to us can have something innately powerful to offer. For instance, look at this ad, which was run for Cadillac in the Saturday Evening Post, on January 20, 1915, almost a century ago.

As an ad to sell cars, it appears fairly useless. However, read it slowly. Really think about it and pay close attention to what it's saying. It's a little hard to process because of the “lingo” that was common back then. Nowadays it is antiquated gibberish, but it has a very important meaning inside the message that goes WAY beyond 'Cadillac'.

The headline read 'The Penalty of Leadership' and here's what it said:

“In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work.

“In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man's work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone - if he achieve a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging.

“Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass, or to slander you, unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done; those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it can not be done.

“Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big world had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by.

“The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy, but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant.

“There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as the human passions: envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains - the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live - lives.”

This is a reminder of what Detroit-born former heavyweight boxer Joe Louis once said, 'Everybody wants to get to heaven but nobody wants to die to get there.' Vince Lomabardi said it this way, “You’ve got to pay the price.”

The reality is this: everyone wants to reach the top, to be the best, the leader… but few are willing to pay the price to achieve this goal. Instead, they prefer to criticize and ridicule, jealous with envy instead of keeping their own eye on the ball. On your journey to the top, beware the critic. In fact, you'll know you're close once you start hearing them whispering behind you.

The same holds true in the area of health and fitness. You may have even heard the envy and jealousy behind the so-called well meaning comments of family or friends, “Are you sure you’re not working out too hard?” “You sure are losing a lot of weight. Is everything O.K.?” “I wish I could look as good as you.”

Keep this quote from Glenn Turner in mind: "Many statues have been erected to the criticized. None have been erected honoring critics."

The Firestorm Fit Camps can get you the body, health, fitness and wellness you desire, deserve and yearn for. But you'll have to do the work necessary.

All the information is just a click away, right here.

Are you going to take the challenge or instead listen to the critics in your life?

Steve

Your Prograde Professional

San Antonio, listen up: Fat loss is profoundly simple!

As in most facets of life, the most profound truths are inherently very simple. In fact, many of these areas of life are so profoundly simple that they are either ignored or overlooked completely.

There is one area that causes, in my opinion, more frustration, unhappiness, and potential failure if it is misunderstood. What is this phenomenon?

Everything counts.

Everything.

Not just the things YOU want to count...no ma'am.

Everything!

Everything adds up.

The great German philosopher, Herman Van Goethe, commented once that the greatest invention in his lifetime was double-entry bookkeeping.

That may sound odd to you, but listen to his reasoning. (He was brilliant, you know)

When asked why a simple accounting method had such a profound impact upon him he said that it mirrored in many ways a person's life. You see, in double-entry bookkeeping, every transaction is recorded as either a credit or debit.

In life, everything you do is either taking you closer to your goals or further from them. In bookkeeping, the more credits or positive transactions a business has, the more profitable that business is and the longer it will stay afloat and prosperous.

As in life, the more positive actions you take you become more healthy, happy and live a more fruitful life.

I recently ate lunch with a friend who is perpetually overweight by thirty pounds or more. When I ask if there is anything I can assist him with, he assures me that he eats nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and drinks only clean water. He laments again and again that he cannot understand why he seems to always be so heavy.

Later in the week I spotted him in a restaurant, unbeknownst to him, and watched him from afar. After his second trip to the desert counter for more cheesecake, and with roughly half of it left on his plate I approached him and mentioned the pastry. He looked me right in the eye, then pointed a stubby finger at the cake and said, "I don't count that."

We live in a world where hundreds of millions of people with too much fat on their bodies hope and pray and wish that some things don't count. But that is a fantasy.

Everything counts, and what you do (or don't do) is either taking you closer to your health, fitness and fat loss goals or further from them.

It's up to you.

Steve

Your Prograde Professional

Can exercise alone change someone’s body make-up?

I’ve been telling you for quite some time now the cold hard truth of fat loss: No amount of hard work can overcome a crappy diet.

Apparently I’m not the only one who’s noticed this.

In a recent study of almost 100 people who were inactive when the program began, about half remained sedentary and the other half took up some sort of training.

The exercise group was given a training program that equaled roughly 5 1/2 to 6 hours of activity a week and which lasted for 12 weeks. The folks who didn’t exercise just showed up to have their measurements taken until the 12 week study was completed.

Take note: NO ONE in the study trained or exercised prior to the study. It was determined that this fact alone contributed to the folks averaging 35% and 40% body fat. This is also significant because people who have never worked out, who are then put on a resistance training regimen usually ALWAYS make some great measureable gains.

Read on...

The folks trained as a group in this fashion each week: 3 resistance training days and 2 interval training days. These sessions were designed and supervised by some qualified folks.

The interesting aspect of this study is that no guidance or rules were given on eating or nutrition to any of the participants. The study was done to see just what exercise only would have on a person’s frame and body makeup (fat percentage, lean tissue composition, etc).

In other words: Can exercise alone change someone’s body make-up?

Or, “Can exercise alone REALLY overcome a crappy diet?”

12 weeks went by and you know what they found out?

They discovered that even someone who’s never exercised before (and in a body that should respond to the stimuli like crazy) made essentially no changes what so ever to their body’s compositional makeup!

None!

Nadda!

Nix!

Bupkis!

Does that shock you? It shouldn’t.

It’s like I’ve told you again and again, if you want to make changes to your physique and lose the fat, you simply must get control of your eating habits. I think we can see that this study proved that.

Imagine going through 12 weeks of intense resistance training for an hour per day, 3 days per week, and then hitting the cardio equipment for two hours on two separate days.

Five days a week of training for up to 6 total hours for 12 weeks, (by the way, that’s 72 hours worth of time) and for what? The study showed the average individual lost just 1% of body fat.

Statistically speaking that equals about 1 pound of fat lost and 2 pounds of muscle gained versus the sedentary folks.

What?

12 weeks of hard labor for a measly 1 pound of fat lost?

I don't know about you but I’d be really, really, RE-AL-LY ticked off.

The rules are the same as always:

1. Eat five to six times a day.
2. Limit your ingestion of sugars and processed foods.
3. Eat fruits and vegetables right through the day.
4. Drink more water and cut out high calorie liquids (beer, wine, soda, etc.).
5. Focus on eating lean proteins at each meal throughout the day.
6. Save starch containing foods until right after a workout or for breakfast.

I’m here to help folks. You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers. If you’re not seeing the results you deserve, check out The 28 Day Miracle Fat Loss Program, the Firestorm Fit Camps, or one of my personal training programs by e-mailing me here.

I guarantee, if you’ll do exactly what I ask, you will get results like this:

“I just wanted to tell you thanks for all your advice! I never thought I could ever get to where I am at and I have your advice to thank. Anytime I had a question, you were always there to help out. I have lost 52 lbs in 4 months and feel like a new person. Couldn't have done it without you! Seriously, I followed your training and nutrition advice and "ate from the earth". Thanks for the help! I feel like a new person. Started at 224 and finished at 172!” – Brian Walsh

So...what are you waiting for? Click the links above now and let’s get started on YOUR new body.

Steve
Your Prograde Pro

The REAL difference between success and failure.

Why is it that some individuals can make great gains from a training program while others on the same program struggle to make gains? They may have the same training age, muscle fiber make-up, have the same eating and recovery patterns, but yet do not see similar progress or gains from their training. What, pray-tell, could be the missing link in their training regime?

I believe it is an insidious culprit that I have discussed several times: It’s their quality and commitment to effort and consistency.

In group training, like the Firestorm Fit Camps, every individual within the group receives the same training program. For certain individuals there are the minor tweaks here and there based on injury history, movement capability, strength level and/or body type. Even though everybody has virtually the same training protocol, why aren't equal improvements seen across the board?

The variables I mentioned before obviously play a large role in how an individual responds to training, but I often see that the major issue is that the people who don't improve as much simply just don't work hard enough. Consistent hard work and effort are extremely vital to making physical and mental improvements in training, as well as in life. If these components are missing in my clients and athletes, it is my job to encourage them to strive for more so as get this out of them.

I'll be the first to admit, that can be a challenging and mentally taxing endeavor for the “coach.” It simply may be that I have clients who just don't know how to put out effort. This is where the art of coaching comes into play as I must find out what motivates and drives that particular person to train consistently harder and to eventually succeed.

I know quite a few trainers that are in the money collection business. They bring a client on board and simply go through the motions with that individual, all the while collecting a pay check from them.

I’m not like that. I just can’t, and won’t, do it.

I feel guilty when the people under my tutelage and guidance don’t receive more than their hard earned money’s worth. I feel bad when people don’t make progress, or obtain the results they deserve. People who know me well also know that I often don’t sleep well at night. This is one of the reasons: when my clients don’t experience success, I feel compelled to find out why and correct it.

I'm not sure but there may be a psychological explanation for it, or maybe it’s a “syndrome” that has yet to be graced with a name, but whatever “it” is, I’ve got it.

And I believe I know why: In my mind there’s a difference between a client and customer. With a customer, the transaction is over with the exchange of funds. With a client, that’s just the beginning. A client is someone under the care of another.

I take that translation very seriously. It resonates to the core of my being.

My reputation, integrity and credibility are on the line with each and every individual I am blessed to call a client. When they succeed, I succeed. When they do not, at some level I have failed them. It’s that simple.

Let’s get back to my original comments: I have found that there are two types of individuals when it comes to showing effort:

First are the ones that are easy to coach because they give everything they have in everything they do.

• They give their maximum effort on every rep, set and exercise.
• They are the folks who are very special and easy to coach.
• They make my job easy and are natural leaders.

The other type of individual is the one who gives an all out effort…sometimes.

• They either don't understand or know how to push their limits and thresholds and actually hold themselves back.
• They see hard work ahead and their mind and body begins to shut down.
• They don't allow themselves to be fully engaged in what they are doing.

From a training and performance standpoint, they are the folks who can be fantastic one second and absolutely garbage the next. If an athlete performs like this, they will need to be taught to give maximum effort at all times, both in training and practice. If they can’t do it in those arenas, what makes a coach feel they can perform on the field of play?

For the individual seeking to achieve a goal, the same rules apply. If you give maximum effort at all times, you're only going to know one way to show effort and will lead to great results. If you give maximum effort sometimes, then you'll have marginal results.

As Bill Murray said in the movie “Stripes”, “That’s the fact, Jack!”

Here's the take-away message and please ponder this: the quality of your effort will determine your success in any endeavor with and in which you engage. Strive to reach your full potential by giving consistently high quality effort at all times and your health and fitness goals will be a short distance away.

I promise you that.

Steve
Your Prograde Pro