To keep myself accountable and measure progress along the way, I’m writing down my goals for 2012:

Personal
Complete P90x2
As a personal trainer, there’s nothing quite like designing an exercise program for a specific activity. I see exercise program design for each sport like a puzzle or intricate math problem I’m trying to solve. And if you add in another variable like a bum knee or old shoulder injury, it’s even more enjoyable for me to set up a program.

That said, I also love the challenge of a well-designed fitness plan that aims to put you in the best shape of your life. It’s fun to see how it measures up with other activities and fitness programs that can do the same.

Last year, I tried P90x for the first time after my sister, a Beachbody Coach, suggested the program. She knew I liked the challenge of Insanity, and thought I’d like P90x as well. You can read my complete review of P90x here. P90x is definitely an effective program, but I prefer the intensity and conciseness of Insanity.

But the original was good enough for me to look forward to the sequel. If you’re already doing P90x2 or planning to, I’d like to hear your feedback.

Run Ruckus in June
After training a few clients to get ready for the Tough Mudder last year, I was tuned into obstacle races. Mud runs and obstacle course races may just become as big as road races and triathlons. I know there are doubters and critics out there of the new activity, but seeing that the obstacle races drew more than one million sign-ups last year, this “sport” will enjoy noteworthy time in the limelight.

This year, I have my sights set on the Ruckus in June, when they’ll be in my home state.

45 Days of CrossFit
Once I’m done with P90x2, I want to join my local CrossFit as a training block for the Ruckus. I’m also just interested in trying this training system, and now is a good chance to.

I’ve heard a lot of cheers from CrossFit veterans and jeers from some trainers because of how intense the program is at the onset. Overall, I hear it’s not for the faint of heart — I’m looking forward to the challenge and to brushing up on powerlifting techniques.

Any veteran CrossFitters out there?

Blog & Online Community
I’ve had a website for three years now. Initially, I had intended it as an address for my training business – a place potential clients can go to to find out more about me, my expertise, and my rates. I had started blogging sporadically, but not with a definitive plan or purpose.

Now, having a full-time job and a committed core of clients, I’m at a point where I don’t have enough time to take on many new clients, but I still want to share my passion for fitness and activity with as many people as I can. That was the reason why I became a trainer in the first place, and why I have the responsibility of managing market research for the health club industry at IHRSA.

With that in mind, here are my goals:

Post 100 blog entries
I want readers to have relevant, high quality content to read regularly.

Over the past six months, I’ve focused most of my blog entries on training for obstacle races and running. Looking ahead, this coverage will continue, but I also plan to cover training for other popular sports.

You won’t see much here on weight loss for its own sake because I’ve always preferred fitness for sport & activity versus a number on the scale. That being said, making weight is important in athletics and sports performance, so you’ll probably see some coverage of weight loss in this context.

Even though I’ve been writing all posts up to this point, I plan to have guest entries as well.

Reach 1,000 subscribers
I’m aiming to expand my community & reach up to 1,000 subscribers this year.

Right now I have 30, so I have a ways to go! Because I aim to make content here relevant to subscribers and readers, my open-rate goal is 40%, well above the industry average of 20%.

Redesign website
I haven’t redesigned my website since I started it, so it’s about time I do it. I hope to make it cleaner and more surf-friendly.

Reach 5,000 Twitter Followers
TweetAdder is making Twitter management a lot easier for me in sending messages and managing followers. I’m looking forward to unlocking the potential of this tool.

I’ve used Twitter to promote my e-mail campaigns and connect with other fitness professionals and exercise nuts. For me, it’s a little more personal than Facebook – it’s just more convenient to send direct & targeted messages for a larger community to see.

Reach 10,000 FB Fans
This just falls along with wanting to expand my fitness community. I’m learning more over the weeks how to make Facebook more engaging and fun for followers. And also how to distinguish the FB page from Twitter.

Some people prefer to focus their FB page on promoting company or business-only content and leave Twitter for everything else — comments, external links, etc. To me, that makes FB a propaganda page & undermines the ability of Twitter to grow your community with like-minded fitness aficionados.

When I’m on FB, I like when my “liked” pages include questions, videos, quotes, and other interesting and entertaining content that often calls for feedback or participation. Twitter has made it easier for me to keep up to date with news and training tips by just scanning over 140-character headlines…So, I’m still figuring out the best balance.

Now that I’ve written about it, FB is a great forum for not just getting the word out on your own content, but sharing external related content on your niche — like videos or article links from the Spartan Race or Active.com for me. It is a community and when you like other pages, why not share what you like with your own fans if you think they’ll like it, too?

So those are my goals for 2012. What are yours — including and beyond fitness?

Fueling properly for your mud run or road race is critical in order to be in peak form! The right nutrition will also ensure that you have the energy for your tougher workouts down the stretch.

So how do you have a healthy diet or eating plan for your next Tough Mudder or half-marathon?

Here are 11 rules of thumb to keep in mind.

Pre-workout
1. Keep it light, but make it sustaining. Your pre-workout meal should be low in fat with a some carbs and protein.

Think a shake with bananas, whey protein powder, and water. Or if you’d rather have breakfast before your morning workout: a hard-boiled egg and ½ cup of oatmeal.

2. Don’t skimp on carbs, but don’t overdo it. A pre-workout meal is not the time to think about carb-cutting. You’ll need some carbs to fuel your workout.

3. Eat at least one hour before your workout. After filling up your tank with healthy fuel for your workout, the last thing you want to do is let a stomach cramp inhibit your workout. Give yourself enough time to digest.

I personally prefer waiting an hour and a half to a couple hours before a workout. More than two means having to put up with an empty stomach during burpees.

Post-workout
Your post-workout meal could be a drink or meal. Either way, the recommended guideline for carbohydrate:protein ratio for post-workout meals is about 3 – 4:1.

4. Option 1: post-workout drink. There are a lot of good options: chocolate milk has been getting some good hype lately. If you don’t like chocolate, Beachbody offers a decent orange-creme flavored recovery formula that stirs in easily with water.

Most post-workout drinks have about 25-45 g of carbs, and you can control the quantity by adjusting the serving size – i.e. maybe one scoop instead of two or 8 oz of chocolate milk instead of 16.

You can also build your own shake with protein powder, unsweetened almond milk, and about a cup or one whole fruit of your choice.

5. Option 2: a meal consisting of 2-3 servings of a carb-rich food and 1-2 servings of protein. A sandwich with lean protein & veggie fillings usually fits this bill.

6. Don’t skimp on carbs. Post-workout is not a time to think about carb-cutting, either, especially after your tough sessions.

During Workout
7. Not all workouts call for Gatorade. Brands behind workout drinks do a good job of pushing them and making you think that you need them for all your workouts. This is not the case.

For your strenuous, long bouts, it may not be a bad idea to have a watered down sports drink close by. You could also use a half serving (1 scoop) of Beachbody’s recovery formula with water during an intense training session.

But on a recovery day, a short run, or other less intense session, you shouldn’t need a sports drink to get you through it.

8. Choose the right workout drink for you. This can take some trial and error.

Personally, I don’t like a sweet or strongly flavored workout drink, so I’ll often water down a sports drink with two or three parts water to the actual drink or powder.

Anytime/All-Day
9. Putting together a healthy meal for your run is a puzzle, and the right pieces are determined by your goals and where you are in your training program.

If you’re a few months away from your Spartan Race or other run, and you’re looking to shed a few pounds for your race, your diet will be different from your eating plan once you’re a few weeks away from game day.

10. If you have time to lose weight before your event, earn your carb-rich meals. Leave most of your carb intake for the day for pre and post-workout meals. Try to focus your other meals on protein, vegetables, and fruits.

That being said, this doesn’t mean that you have to eat salads for all your other meals.

You can steam most non-leafy vegetables. But you could also try roasting or sauteing some as well: asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, brussel sprouts, spinach, etc. You may have been a veggie hater your whole life, but who knows, you may just need to discover the right way to make it palatable for you.

11. Be sure to eat enough down the stretch. The month before your Ruckus is not the time to think about weight loss. You’ll want to focus your efforts on performance and fuel properly to get the most out of your workouts.

If you’re in the warmer South or West coast states, you may be training for Super Spartan, Tough Mudder, or Warrior Dash. In a colder region? You may be part of the few prepping for winter-oriented obstacle races like the Snow Dash or Tundra Challenge.

When your obstacle race is 4-8 weeks away, you’ll want to peak your fitness during this time and leave the week before the big day to scale back with light training.

How should you plan your workouts? Now that you’re past your “off-season” building blocks for weight loss, strength, and running endurance, your focus is on specific obstacle race and mud run training.

To fit everything in before your race, try the sample training calendars below. The first is a 5-day workout week with single sessions five days a week.

Sample Training Calendar: Single Sessions

The second is a 5-day workout week where you will be completing two daily sessions twice a week.

It’s not uncommon for athletes to work in a second session, especially when they’re a couple weeks away from scaling back or an active recovery week. It’s not always necessary, but it may be helpful if you’re an advanced exerciser, you have the time, and feel like one or two weekly double sessions will help you raise your game.

A few guidelines on double sessions:

• Fuel up. when you have two workout sessions a day, it’s not the time to cut down on calories. Be sure you have enough energy to get you through the day and two training sessions.
• Get enough rest. You’ll need good quality sleep so your body can recover from a double session.
• Listen to your body. If you’re just a few weeks away from your race, you don’t want to over-train at this point. If you experience any of the characteristics of over-training like plummeting energy levels, tiredness, loss of appetite, etc., it may be better to stick with a single session a day.

On double session days, it’s best to complete your priority first. So for example, if you’re weakness is cardio, plan to do a an intense WOD or other cardio at the beginning of the day & strength train later on.

For WOD ideas, be sure to check out the FB pages for the Spartan Race and CrossFit. You can actually sign up to receive WOD updates at spartanrace.com.

Sample Training Calender: Double Sessions

As always, try to take a recovery week every 3-4 weeks of hard training. Try to plan your training so that the week before your race is a recovery week.

*Please note that by submitting a contact form and/or engaging in any of the fitness recommendations on www.MyExerciseCoach.net, you agree to the terms and conditions of this disclaimer.

Although most obstacle races take place in the spring and summer, several notable mud runs are planned over the next couple months.If you’re in Florida, California, or other warm states, you may be training for an upcoming obstacle course race.

Ohio fireman preps for Spartan Death Race
Some may call him crazy, but Antonio DiDonato of Mentor-on-the-Lake (Ohio) is excited to participate in a race that warns “you may die.”…DiDonato, a firefighter, began to train four months ago after he found out about the race. He still has 23 weeks to go before his date with destiny June 15. His training consists of “short” workouts that last from one to four hours and extended sessions where he stays physically active for 10 to 20 hours.
Are Obstacle Races too extreme?
The latest form of recreation — if it can be called that, misery might be more appropriate — to burst onto the scene is the Warrior Dash. It’s a 3.02-mile event in which participants race through mud and fire and over or through 14 obstacles ranging from rusty automotive junk to quivering tightropes and barbed wire…Warrior Dash shares its DNA with other forms of extreme racing such as Muddy Buddy and Tough Mudder and more than 1.2 million adventuresome souls [have participated in an obstacle race].

If you’re a long-time runner or looking to improve your fitness for an obstacle course race, you may need an intermediate or advanced routine.

Look no further. These 10 exercises are for you. They should help you expand on the foundation you built for leg endurance and core conditioning.

Try to get them in a couple times a week on your off-running days. Each session should take you about 30-40 minutes.

Once you’ve warmed up, rest minimally in between both core and resistance exercises. Give yourself just enough time to set up for the next exercise. Be sure to stretch out at the end.

The hyperlinks to select exercises will direct you to pictures and videos from freeexercisedatabase.com.

Warm-Up
5 minutes cardio

Core
*Do each 2x in circuit with minimal rest in between exercises.
1. Supermans, 12 reps
(Start) Lie face down with your arms extended overhead. Squeeze glutes and pinch your shoulder blades together.

(Move) Squeeze abdominal muscles and lift your arm, chest, and legs off the floor. Hold for one second. Return to start position. Repeat for a total of 12 reps.

2. Push Ups, 10 reps

3. Scorpions, 12 reps
(Start) Lie face down with your arms outstretched so that your body forms a “T” on a mat.

(Move) Squeeze glutes and abs. Bend your right knee, lift your right leg, and reach your right foot towards your left hand.

You should feel a stretch in your quadriceps, hip flexors, and back. Hold for one second. Return to start and alternate legs. Repeat for a total of 12 reps (6 each side).

Click here for a one-minute video with in-depth instructions.

Resistance Training
Do 2x
1. Single Leg Stork Stance Squats, 10 reps per leg
(Start) Balance on your right leg with arms outstretched overhead. Keep your right leg straight and lean forward bending at the hips until your torso is parallel to the floor.

(Move) Bend your right knee and drop your towards the floor as far as you can go without losing your balance. Try to keep your arms straight with the inside of your elbows parallel to your ears. Return to start position.

Complete for a total of 10 reps.

2. Forward Lunges with Shoulder Press, use 5-10 lb DB pair, 20 reps total (10 each leg)
(Start) Stand tall and hold a pair of dumbbells at shoulder height with your palms facing in.

(Move) Take a big step forward with your right leg to complete a lunge. While in lunge, straighten and extend your arms overhead. Hold for one second, then return dumbbells to shoulder height. Return to start by pushing off your right heel.

Switch legs for a total of 20 reps.

3. Single Leg Alternating Rows with Tubing (medium-heavy resistance), 20 reps total
Attach tubing to doorjamb (see tubing below).

(Start) Hold onto tubing handles facing doorjamb and step away until tubing is taut. Your arms should be extended in front of you at chest height and feet in a staggered stance. Balance on your left leg.

(Move) Perform a row by bending your elbows and pulling handles in towards your rib cage. Repeat for a total of 10 reps (5 each arm). Switch legs and repeat.

4. Push-Ups with Knee Tucks, 10-12 reps total
(Start) Start in a straight-arm plank and activate your core: tuck in your pelvis and squeeze your abs and glutes.

(Move) Tuck your right knee in towards your chest. Straighten your right leg and repeat knee tuck with your left leg. Straighten out left leg and lower yourself into a push-up. Return to start.

Repeat for a total of 10-12 reps.

5. Alternating Arm Hammer Curls, use 8 – 15lb DB pair, 10-12 reps per arm
(Start) Stand tall with dumbbells by your side, palms facing in.

(Move) Bend your right elbow to lift the dumbbell towards shoulder height. Straighten out your right arm so its by your side again and repeat with left arm.

Continue for a total of 10-12 reps per arm.

6. V-Sit Ups, 12 – 20 reps
(Start) Sit down on a mat with your knees bent, arms by your side. Lift your knees off the mat so that only your butt is touching the ground.

(Move) Straighten out your legs and lower your legs and back towards the mat. Drop down as far as you can without losing your balance. Hold for one second. Return to start position.

Repeat for a total of 12-20 reps.

7. Ab Jackknife, 12 – 20 reps
(Start) Lie down with your back on a mat, legs straight. Extend your arms so that the inside of your elbow is parallel to your ears. Squeeze your abs and glutes.

(Move) Raise your legs and arms off the mat so that toes and fingers are pointing towards the ceiling/sky. Lift your hips and shoulders off the mat. Reach with your hands towards your toes. Return slowly to start position.

Repeat for a total of 12-20 reps.

*Please note that by submitting a contact form and/or engaging in any of the fitness recommendations on www.MyExerciseCoach.net, you agree to the terms and conditions of this disclaimer.

While some races are planned for January in locations with milder climates, most events take place in the spring and summer. So you have time to work on your Tough Mudder training program, Spartan Race training routine, and Warrior Dash workouts.

If you’re more than three months away from your race, you may be thinking about goals that will complement your obstacle course race training.

These goals can vary from losing a few pounds to outrunning the competition. Here are some common goals and how to plan your attack.

Note: Be sure to give yourself at least 4-6 weeks to work on each goal. And also be sure to give yourself a good 6-8 weeks before your event to do specific obstacle course race training.

Click here for a training calendar if you’re 4-8 weeks away from your race.

Goal 1: Weight loss
It probably goes without saying, but nearly half of health club members join gyms to lose weight.

Maybe you want to lose weight for overall health or to make some of the obstacles more manageable. It’s easier to climb the Spartan Race’s Mt. Impossible or Tough Mudder’s Berlin Walls hauling a fewer pounds.

To lose weight, diet is key.

If you need help with accountability, download an eating log app for your iPhone or smartphone. Log your meals and snacks for a few weeks to be aware of your intake. Remember that your eyes can lie sometimes, so you may need to use measuring aids to familiarize yourself with serving sizes.

What about exercise? The U.S. surgeon general recommends 30 minutes of moderate activity (or 15 minutes of vigorous activities) most days of the week for overall health benefits. For weight loss, plan on scheduling in twice as much worth of weekly activity.

Alternate moderate and vigorous training sessions five days a week. And for 2-3 of your weekly sessions, integrate resistance exercises through circuit training. This way you’ll maintain strength and muscle.

Sample Training Calendar for Weight Loss

Be creative with your training sessions for weight loss. Each workout doesn’t have to be time spend on an elliptical. If you’re at the gym, mix it up with other cross trainers, running, circuit training, Spinning, or other group exercise classes.

If you don’t belong to a gym, you can still run, you can do bootcamp-like training such as Beachbody’s Insanity or sign up for an outdoor bootcamp.

You can also try vinyasa-focused yoga classes at a local studio, and you can buy a pair of dumbbells (DBs) for resistance training at home.

Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable DBs at Perform Better ($549 + shipping estimate $82.35)

Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable DBs at Amazon.com ($328.60 + free shipping with Amazon Prime Membership)

Goal 2: Increase strength
Maybe your goal is to add strength so you can more readily swing from monkey bars, rope-climb, or carry logs over your shoulders.

Even though it sounds like these tasks require upper body strength mostly, carrying them out with more efficiently actually calls on your entire body: arms, legs, and core.

Even though your focus is on strength, you’ll want to be sure to get in come cardio to maintain overall heart-health and endurance. On days when you’re doubling up on strength and cardio, do cardio after your strength training.

Sample Training Calendar: Increase Strength

If you’re short on time, you can condense days 2 and 6 strength sessions by cutting back a set of each strength exercise. For example, if you usually do three sets of an exercise, do two on days 2 and 6.

Goal 3: Improve running pace and endurance

Maybe you’re focus is on running: you want to improve your finish time or you may want to take on a longer obstacle run like the Spartan Beast and need to build endurance.

Simple enough, if you’re goal is improve your running time or endurance, the way to do it is to focus on the actual activity.

Aim to run up to four days a week and complete a couple of conditioning workouts on your off-running days. I recommend leaving your long run for the weekends when you have more time for a longer session.

Your conditioning sessions should include core & total body resistance exercises as well as flexibility work. You can accomplish this through a resistance training program specific for running. You can also get in a good total body strength and flexibility session through yoga or Pilates.

Sample Training Calendar: Running

With all your goals for obstacle course race training, be sure to schedule in a week of recovery after 3-4 weeks of training. During this week, scale back and train 3-5 days a week with light-moderate activity.

Now get out your calendar and make time to train!

Other Obstacle Race Updates

Popularity
As of this morning, the leading obstacle races reached the following popularity points:

Tough Mudder
FB Fans: 1,408,801
Twitter Followers: 24,190

Warrior Dash
FB Fans: 745,010
Twitter Followers: 17,771

Spartan Race
FB Fans: 702,821
Twitter Followers: 16,133

Rugged Maniac
FB Fans: 86,980
Twitter Followers: 626

Metro Dash
FB Fans: 71,082
Twitter Followers: 583

News
Tough Mudder & Spartan Race among 2012 resolutions
Continuing with the rising popularity of obstacle races, some are setting their sights on popular mud runs in 2012. Stories by Patch.com, NBC news, and local media cover this development.

Warrior Dash ranks as #1 running event in Flint area of MI
The Warrior Dash took Genesee County by storm on July 30-31 at the E.A. Cummings Center in Genesee Township, attracting 24,912 entrants. That made the Warrior Dash the largest running event ever in the Flint area…event organizers decided immediately to bring the Warrior Dash back to the area in 2012.

Obstacle racing is the latest challenge for endurance jocks
For many years, the 26.2-mile marathon satisfied many endurance athletes as the ultimate challenge for stamina. Then the Ironman Triathlon came along, with its 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike course and marathon running finale. But now, for some, that’s just not a tough enough test. Outside Magazine, in its January edition, features an intriguing — and daunting — look at the rising wave of “obstacle races.”

*Please note that by submitting a contact form and/or engaging in any of the fitness recommendations on www.MyExerciseCoach.net, you agree to the terms and conditions of this disclaimer.

Health clubs love this time of year–it’s when many well-intentioned consumers join a gym club to take a step towards improved fitness

But once March (or even February) hits, many fall off the bandwagon and resolutions become just a memory.

Here are some keys to help you stay on board and focused on your resolutions.

1. Aim high.
What do you really want to accomplish this year? I bet it’s beyond just going to the gym or getting in a workout few days a week.

According to the recently published IHRSA Trend Report, two out of five American consumers use a health club to achieve personal goals.

Slowly fading are the days when you exercise just to reach a number on the scale.

So what’s your real reason for exercising? Do you want to complete your first obstacle race? Or maybe you’re aiming to start with a 5k.

Or maybe you want to be in the best shape of your life, enjoying a long, relaxing getaway in a warm, sunny destination.

Aim high and start with the end in mind.   

2. Set goals and an action plan.
Once you know what you want to achieve this year, set up milestones. Develop an action plan with these goals in mind.

If you have your sights on a 5k, aim to run 10 consecutive minutes. Build from there until you can endure the full 3.1 miles. I’ve said it before, but I highly recommend the Couch-to-5k plan.

If you want to complete your first obstacle race, build up to running the distance of your race of choice. Are you aiming for a 4-mile course like the Ruckus or a 10-mile trek like the Spartan Beast?

Plan 2-3 times a week to run for endurance and another 2-3 days of other training such as intervals or strength training. Be sure to work in a recovery week after a month or so of hard training.

Hoping for a relaxing vacation? Your milestones could follow a few steps: buying the tickets, learning how to cook healthy meals, and engaging in moderate-vigorous exercise 3-5 days a week.

3. Schedule time to reach your goals.
Get out your calendar and make appointments with yourself!

The Couch-to-5k program calls for three weekly 30-minute running sessions. Set aside the time in your calender.

Training for an obstacle race can take a commitment of several hour-long sessions per week. Make time for it.

There are many workshops and books with tutorials and instructions on how to cook and eat healthy.

Take time for a search and either attend a class or read a book. Set up 3-5 weekly appointments with yourself at the gym or commit to a group exercise class that meets a few days a week.

Determine how much time you’ll need to meet your goals, and be reasonable with your expectations.

4. Be accountable.
Once you’ve made appointments with yourself, be sure keep them. Honor the time you’ve set aside to reach your goals.

And reward yourself along the way for sticking to it.

Buy yourself a new pair of running shoes to finish up your program, a durable pair of gloves for your obstacle race, or a new set of clothes for your vacation.

If accountability is challenging for you alone, consider getting an exercise buddy or hiring a coach or personal trainer.

5. Have fun!
Bottom line: even though you’re doing this for the long-term benefits of good health, you’re also setting your sights on something you want to achieve.

Enjoy the ride and share your story.