For what reason does strength matter?

Consider these activities:

• getting out of bed,
• entering and exiting a slippery bathtub,
• walking up stairs
• protecting loved ones

Strong enough?

Are you strong enough to carry her to safety?

Don’t take these movements for granted.

Certain moments make you realize, there’s no turning back.

Ellison Fitness presents…

The secrets on how to empower yourself in fitness and beyond. These core elements represent both the lifestyle and the philosophy to live by.

Welcome to the Pillars.

Pillar of Strength #1: Focus on Basic Movements

“Basic” movements represent the foundation of human form and ability.

These are basic human movements:

1. To Push away from body
2. To Pull toward body
3. Lifting objects from ground
4. To Move with added weight (e.g. a baby, a heavy tool, furniture etc.)

At EllisonFitness, to focus on basics is paramount.

An Example of a Basic Movement:  The Barbell Squat: one of the best strength exercises known to man.

Squats force the entire body to move in unity. In a single exercise, you can work hard and your body shall reward you.

By doing this exercise, your body will gain valuable training adaptations, which include cool stuff like fat loss, a leaner body, and a stronger constitution.

Talk about bang-for-the-buck!

Pillar of Strength #2: Train both Regularly and Irregularly

To get results, it’s like everything else — time and effort DO payoff. However, too much time in the gym can actually impede on progress. It’s about pushing further and recovering.

Go forward, and repair.

Seek progress, and renew.

Make adjustments in your frequency of training to get superior results.

• Try training twice a week for a part of the month
• …then four times a week for a couple weeks straight.

It's also good to have friends at the gym.

Pillar of Strength #3: Your Progress is 15% resulting from exercise, and 85% from Ability to Recover.

Recovery is both the sum total and greater than the sum total of all efforts related to physical adaptations, neural improvements, and muscular development.

A vital part in Recovery

In other words, lifestyle is 85%.

Eat healthy to look amazing or eat healthy to live well. It’s directly related to how much you value health, fitness, and achieving goals.

You could discover more than a MILLION reasons why eating healthy is valuable.

Things I do for Recovery:

• recovery shakes
• post workout meal (within 1 hour of workout)
• vegetables, fruits,
• sleep, (passive recovery)
• quality of water,
• stretching (active recovery)
• foam rolling soft tissue (active recovery)
• massage (active recovery, foam rolling is cost effective alternative)

Attention P90X Users, Is this ultimate Recovery Shake?

Healthy food is nutrient-dense.

Healthy food promotes optimal function of living tissue which affects the brain, cognition, memory, immunity, vitality, sexuality, strength, joints, and more.

Listen to your body, focus 85% of efforts on recovery.

And when you’re in the gym for that other portion, make it 100% effort.

Pillar of Strength #4: If “healthy eating” doesn’t work, Redefine [To Eat Healthy]

If you want an idea of eating healthy, I strongly recommend the book: Omnivores Dilemma. This is the book for curious food lovers.

Eating healthy is different for every person. And if you aren’t focusing that effort on what it means to eat healthy for you, then how can you really know for sure?

People who aren’t even willing to examine their eating habits are in the greatest danger to health.

In this industry, I can tell you that the well-informed health consumer is less than 50% potential for nutritional understanding.

Why?

Consuming food is a basic human need which is pleasurable to do.

Humans only know HOW to eat.  We just want to enjoy it — not think about it.

But do you really know what you’re eating?

Which leads me to the next point…

Pillar of Strength #5: Know also What You Don’t Know

Even when I feel like an expert on a subject, I will imagine my mind creating empty space.

This manifests, for me, as a creation of “space” in my mind. This space is pure potential.

In this space, I allow questions to flourish and thoughts to dance. It is to encourage a greater depth of understanding to that which my mortal mind will allow.

Think of it as a glass of water.

Keep pouring the water, all the way to the top, but if you keep pouring… what do you notice?

It overflows, the cup cannot contain any more water.

Now you can get rid of the old water, which creates space for new, fresh thought and potential.

By creating empty space in your mind, you only then begin to truly realize potential in all areas of fitness and wellness.

Are you willing to receive?

We’re talking real outcomes. As a result of greater awareness, you can lose weight faster and keep it off.

Strong, it is a life in motion…

I had a recent customer experienced that moved me. A young lady weaned herself off of medication for Crohn’s disease by going all natural.

She eats almost entirely whole foods, a lifestyle which has been a difficult and empowering change for her.

So I asked her, “if the drugs worked for you, what compelled you to change?”

She looked around as if picturing many other examples of people she knew with Crohn’s.

Many of them are too weak to even leave the house.

Take a stand for You.

One day at a time.

Life moves forward always, don’t get left behind.

Your body is you, yet you are greater than your body.

Make it a life worth living — healthy movement should be standard procedure until you’re 100 years old… and even then!

Pillars of Strength represents that which Ellison Fitness stands for.

Results are experienced through positive mental attitudes, constructive thinking, effort to improve, and daily habits that promote the vitality of all systems in the body.

I welcome you to…

Think. Drink. Eat. and Sleep.

In your mind, I believe everything is possible.

At Ellison Fitness, this is my mind… where everything is possible.

Best to you, my friend.