Photo Beach Boot camp 4/5/2014

Here are the troops who made it out of bed this morning at the Marriott Harbor Beach. www.beachbootcamp.net

Merrill Down & Dirty Mud Run Photos, Miami Zoo, May 2013

Just completed the Merrill Down & Dirty Mud Run on May 5, 2013 at the Miami Zoo. Grit Weinstein and Paul Kalil did the 5k obstacle course and Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein took on the 10k. Here are some photos:

Beach boot camp with the press

These are the beach boot camp troops that took care of business the morning along with the press and media.

www.beachbootcamp.net

Why I train on the beach

This sunrise is why I train on the beach.

Beach Boot Camp Holiday Newsletter, December 21, 2010

Beach Boot Camp Holiday Newsletter, December 21, 2010

Boost Your Fitness and Performance with Army Core Values

When we think of Army training we usually think of physical activity, push-ups, sit-ups and lots of running. The underlying and most important driving force behind the United States Army are the seven Army Core Values. The Army Values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honor, integrity and personal courage. Although I am retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, I still carry the Army Values wallet sized card with me. All seven values are transferable to civilian life and make us better people. Here is a good translation of the Army core values for civilians. Spend a few minutes every day assessing your behavior and interaction with others. Let us look at the Army core values. Whether it is at your place of work or at home, you will discover the importance of these basic values that are not only timeless but also essential.

The Army core values are timeless and universal values that have their civilian application. This is how I interpret these values for civilians.
1. Loyalty - Be there for your friends, family, employer, government or other organization. Be the one whom others can depend upon. I am sure you’ve heard the phrase, “I’ve got your back.” It is a great feeling when we know we have the loyal support of others. You are to be that same loyal support for others to rely on.
2. Duty - The same definition as used for soldiers applies to civilians as well. Accept responsibility and fulfill your obligations. Work on constantly improving yourself, especially your character.
3. Golden Rule - Practice and live by the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This, of course, requires you to be kind to yourself as well. Test your application of the Golden Rule every single day and learn from your mistakes so that you can improve and get better. So how do you get better at it? The best time to practice the Golden Rule is when you would like to respond in a less-than¬golden manner. Whether it is driving in traffic, grocery shopping, or speaking with a family member, friend, or foe, always practice the Golden Rule.
4. Selfless Service - Focus on serving others in every situation, whether pleasant or unpleasant, and you will gain the most out of life. You will have better relationships, make better business decisions, and see that service to others is an essential key to strengthening your character. Another great benefit is that you will attract more people who will help and support you in your worthy endeavors.
5. Honor - Live up to all the values. If you are wrong, say so. It is honorable. If you may be wrong, say so. It is honorable. If someone makes a mistake and has behaved towards you in a less than honorable manner, be honorable. Treat that person graciously. Make sure your mind, tongue, body language and attitude all express what is honorable. Fulfilling all these values is the honorable thing to do even as it relates to your health, fitness, how you eat and how you live.
6. Integrity - When standing at the crossroads of doing what is right or what is comfortable, do what is right. You cannot imagine how integrity – or the lack thereof – will affect your physical and mental performance. Doing the right thing is a huge energy booster and will actually help strengthen your immune system. Do that daily inventory on your level of honesty and take corrective action where you notice that you have fallen short. The right attitude will always lead to honest behavior. What is right is written on our hearts so always ask yourself what is the right thing to say or do when faced with a situation or decision.
7. Personal Courage - It takes courage to do the right thing when others may just take the low road -- or, better said, the comfortable road -- while sacrificing the right thing. That is moral courage. I would say moral courage is what is needed to carry out the values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor and integrity. Without courage, many of these values will fall through the cracks. Moreover, if they do, just get right back up again and say to yourself, “I’ll do it better next time.” And keep working it like a muscle. Character values, like muscles, need to be worked on a regular basis to get and stay strong. “Use it or lose it” applies to character values as well muscles. Seek out books that are about strengthening character. Seek out people who are on the same journey.

Quotes to Live By: Take back control of your goals, health, fitness, finances, relationships and spiritual life

Your Action Plan:
Pick one of the seven values of loyalty, duty, golden rule, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity or personal courage. Spend an entire week consciously practicing that value as you interact with other. Make a list of things you can do better or new things you can do to make that value a part of your life that you share with others.

Please mention the author and when using this article.
The author is Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret, also known as the Health Colonel. BEACHBOOTCAMP.NET

Overweight 42 Year Old Loses 60 Pounds - Weight Loss Success Story

Overweight 42 Year Old Loses 60 Pounds - Weight Loss Success Story



Greg Gregory shares his personal story about how he lost over 60 pounds. He is 42 years old and did not really begin his exercise and weight-loss journey until the age of 39. Fifteen years of gradual weight gain took him from his high school weight of 190 pounds all the way up to 262. He is self-employed, travels a lot and has a predominantly sedentary job. At 6’ 4”, his present weight is 202 pounds. Greg gradually lost 60 pounds over the three years of regular exercise and making eating adjustments along the way. He went from a pant size of 44 to his present size 33. His BMI or Body Mass Index when he weighed 262 pounds was 31.9, which classified him as obese. His present BMI is 24.6 puts him right in the healthy range. Greg will share with you how he took back control of his health and lifestyle in the following interview:

Colonel Bob: What lessons have you learned on your weight-loss journey?

Greg: It’s all about attitude. It’s about creating focus and determination. It’s about making gradual adjustments along the way until it becomes a healthy lifestyle. I realized that getting older doesn’t have to mean getting less active. What I have noticed is the significant impact it has had on my improved health and increased energy.

Colonel Bob: What were some of the phases of weight and eating habits you went through?

Greg: The first phase was fighting the battle of the bad habits and sticking with it. I made changes in my eating habits from unhealthy to healthier choices and I reduced the quantity of food I was eating to put it in balance with my weight-loss and exercise program. Once I lost the weight, the key was to balance eating and exercise with the weight I wanted to maintain.

Colonel Bob: What were your greatest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Greg: I first needed to recognize that I needed to get started. My present lifestyle without exercise and a healthy weight had to change since my health is of utmost importance. The best thing I did to get me on the right track was to put it in my calendar and treat it like any business meeting. I had to be there.

Colonel Bob: What keeps you on track?

Greg: My relationship with God keeps me on track. I started this relationship in 2001.

Colonel Bob: What is your weight history starting from high school?

Greg: During my high school and college years, my weight was between 185 and 210. My weight gain in college was mostly muscle. After college, my weight started to gradually increase over a period of 15 years, from the age of 25 to 40. I ended up tipping the scales with 260 pounds and that was not muscle gain. It was fat.

Colonel Bob: What changes have you made in your eating habits?

Greg: I started eating breakfast. I stopped drinking sodas. I drank my coffee without sugar and used a non-dairy soy creamer. I reduced bread in my diet. I reduced cheese. For many years my cholesterol was high and my doctor was about to prescribe medication. I experimented by eliminating cheese and dairy products from my diet for 30 days and my cholesterol dropped without medication. I am eating more fish and less red meat. I no longer eat big late-night meals. If I have to eat late, I will eat a small meal.

Colonel Bob: Did you use a support system or was someone else there to support and encourage you?

Greg: Yes. I used a support system. I sought advice on healthy eating and I continue to exercise. Accountability and encouragement have played an important role.

Colonel Bob: How do you see your health over the next five, ten and twenty years and how can you influence your health over the long-term?

Greg: Continue with the healthy lifestyle I have achieved. Set positive challenges and goals along the way to keep me on track. In high school and college, I was active. I now seek out recreational activities, such as biking, hiking and basketball. Staying active is key.

Colonel Bob: Have you or do you have setbacks and how do you or have you overcome them?

Greg: Yes. Every now and then I find myself wandering off eating a little too much of the foods I shouldn’t or eating too much. I make sure that these remain temporary setbacks and do not become permanent. This is where a system of accountability is important. My family helps me to overcome any setbacks that may occur.

YOUR ACTION PLAN: Allow this story to make positive lifestyle changes for you or someone you know.

Publishing Rights: You may republish this article in your website, newsletter, or book, on the condition that you agree to leave the article, author's signature, and all links intact.

The author of this article is Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret., boot camp fitness instructor and personal trainer.

Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.

Boot Camp Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer

Author of Weight Loss - Twenty Pounds in Ten Weeks - Move It to Lose It

Mailing address:

757 SE 17th Street, #267

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Office 954-636-5351

Cell 954-790-7111

Fitness Beach Boot Camp and Personal Training by Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein

TheHealthColonel@BeachBootCamp.net

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Corporate Wellness Program: Fitness Boot Camp Saves Money and Increases Productivity

Corporate Wellness Program: Fitness Boot Camp Saves Money and Increases Productivity

By Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.

Make fitness boot camp a part of your corporate culture and you will build strong teams, increase productivity and change the lives of your employees. Successfully organize and conduct your own fitness boot camp program. Implementation of a corporate fitness boot camp program costs almost nothing and results in increased productivity, less sick days, cohesive teams and lower health care costs.

For Whom Is Fitness Boot Camp?

Fitness boot camp is designed for all ages, all sizes and shapes, as well as all fitness levels. It is great for beginners and those who have never exercised before as well as for the regular exerciser. Fitness boot camp will enhance existing wellness and fitness programs or completely replace them.

Perfect For Busy Schedules

You will learn how – with little or no cost – to organize your very own fitness boot camp cells/teams. I call this the busy person’s workout, because it covers the strength, cardio and flexibility all wrapped into one workout session. Consult with your physician before beginning this or any other fitness activity.

What You Get With Fitness Boot Camp

-- Variety.

-- Fun.

-- Energizing.

-- Builds strong teams.

-- Incorporates company, family and life core values.

-- Complete-body, encompassing strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and cardio.

-- Can be started anytime.

-- No strict workout regimen.

-- Dynamic, always focused on progress.

-- Can be done indoors and/or outdoors.

-- For men, women, teens and children.

-- For pre-beginners, beginners, intermediates and advanced.

-- For young and old.

This workout is for the company looking for a creative way of getting its employees in shape while strengthening team spirit, increasing productivity and reducing absenteeism.

The purpose of implementing fitness boot camp cells/teams is to actively take on the role of getting employees, club members, family members and friends in shape and build strong, cohesive teams. 

Workplace Benefits of Fitness Boot Camp

-- Little to no cost.

-- Use existing employee and management structure to organize.

-- Enhancement of corporate culture.

-- Healthier and happier employees.

-- Enhanced team spirit.

-- Reduced illnesses.

-- Reduced loss of work time.

-- Reduced injuries.

-- Increased productivity and performance.

-- Weight-loss and weight management.

-- Nutritional guidance.

-- Stress relief and stress management.

-- Enhanced communication.

Appoint Team Leaders

Appoint team leaders for each cell, which will be made up of approximately six to twenty employees. This is a company-wide approach, from senior management all the way down to front-line employees. Any member of management can simply step in and join the workout with any of the teams to promote their relationships with employees while working on their own fitness and demonstrating, by example, how important this is. Management participation is a non-threatening way for senior- and mid-level management to join in on what is offered as serious fun with special emphasis on fun and teambuilding.

Decide on how best to organize your initial team cells and appoint team leaders or coordinators (one for each cell). Then, assign one individual to support all team coordinators of all the cells and to track the programs. That individual could be the wellness coordinator, supervisor, manager or some other employee. That individual should already possess a heightened level of enthusiasm for fitness and have a desire to help others.

Different Fitness Levels Train Together

All fitness levels train together. Have all employees sign a waiver for the program. If any members have medical issues, those employees would then only perform those exercises that are permissible by their physician; for example, walking but no jogging, no abs work, no squats or lunges due to knee injury. Often a simple modification of an exercise is possible. Those with medical restrictions would then perform their alternative exercises during the time the rest of the team is performing their (unmodified) exercise; or they will simply modify the team’s exercise to a safe range of motion suitable to their medical limitation.

Organize Fitness Cells

Those employees who work together on a regular basis should be organized as a part of the same fitness cell. You can organize the cells by department or cross-departmental. Have managers or peers come together; mix various management levels. Rearrange the mix of employees every six months, if you desire. Whether your business is customer service, sales, banking, law office staff, fire and rescue, hospital staff, law enforcement, school, college or university, or small business with a handful of employees, boot camp fitness cells are right for you.

Indoors or Outdoors

Another exciting aspect of fitness boot camp is these workouts can be done anywhere, whether indoors or outdoors. Keep it interesting by changing workout location, where feasible, and look for opportunities to incorporate your environment into your workout. For example, park benches are great for performing dips, and the entire team can wrap their resistance bands - also called exercise tubes - around a tree for a group upper-body exercise.

Flexible

You choose a time to fit your schedule. Whether it is 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes for fitness boot camp, it all adds up to an accumulative health benefit. I strongly recommend at least twice a week, once a week at a minimum, as a part of a corporate program with emphasis that the employees work out four to six times per week all told.

Combine Workout with a Business Meeting

Combine a meeting with fitness boot camp. There is no better way to get those creative juices flowing while problem solving than to engage in hearty exercise. Start with an issue to be considered or a problem to be solved, and then perform an exercise or two. Stop and discuss. Then do it again with the next agenda point, until all issues and muscle groups have been addressed. Who says you cannot combine work with pleasure?

Anyone Can Do It

The training is easy, and the exercises are very basic and easy to perform. The mix of exercises follows the principles of simplicity and fun. Technically, this is called functional training. Functional training focuses on training the body how it is used in activities of daily life.

Train the Trainers

Once you have identified your trainers, they need to be trained. To implement this program the trainers will only need a few basic exercises. Start with these basics and, with time, gradually introduce new exercises. The trainers are not just watching. They are performing the exercises with their team members as they guide and encourage them through the workout.

Three Basic Principles

-- Warm-up. Perform toe raisers to warm up the body.

-- Stretch. Stretch each body part briefly right after exercising it.

-- Strength and cardio. Alternate between upper and lower body exercises.

This approach is safe and does not require much training to implement. Participants are to stay in touch with their bodies and do only what they can do. If they can only perform a partial motion of an exercise, that is acceptable and is still working the muscles. Use the following list of basic exercises to get started. You will find a description of these exercises in the book titled Boot Camp Fitness for All Shapes and Sizes by Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret..

Start With These Exercises

-- Squats

-- Standing crunches

-- Standing lunge

-- Arms and shoulders stretch

-- Triceps and upper back stretch

-- Standing straddle and stretch

-- Standing hamstring stretch

-- Biceps curls, resistance band

-- Shoulder press, resistance band

-- Upright row, resistance band

-- Crunches

Ground Rules for Fitness Boot Camp

There are ground rules to follow. These rules are designed to build strong, supportive teams and team members. Focus on the basic approach of the workout to guarantee progress for all team members, while having fun.

Safety

 Keep the workouts safe. Ask about medical restrictions and remind participants to stay in touch with their own bodies. The workout is designed to take the employees out of their comfort zone periodically so that fitness progress can be experienced. The comfort zone will differ for each individual. A team member only modifies an exercise for medical reasons or due to fatigue level and then continues to exercise that body part.

Do not allow the question of liability to cause the program to be rejected or terminated. The advantages of this fitness program far outweigh any questions of risk or liability. Seek legal counsel to mitigate any risk. Require all participants to stay in touch with their own bodies and do only what they can do.

Simplicity

As a team progresses, new exercises can be incorporated into the workout, periodically changing the routine, location or sequence of exercises. Introducing something new keeps it interesting.

Fun

The fun factor cannot be emphasized enough. The workouts are all performed in a light, upbeat and positive atmosphere with an emphasis on mutual respect and concern for all team members. Humor is an important element, as long as it is not demeaning, inappropriate in language, or content. No foul language is to be used by any team member. Treat the workout like a game and have a blast.

Variety

Variety is the spice of life. In addition, variety is one of the principles that keeps the workout interesting and actually plays a role in surprising the neurological system into supporting greater fitness progress.

Complete Body Workout

Complete body workout means strength, cardio and flexibility. It also means upper body, lower body and abs. Every workout will include all of these in varying degrees. This is easy to apply. Simply spoken, what you will do is jog or walk; stop and work a body part; jog or walk; stop and work a body part until the entire session is complete. 

Are you indoors and can’t go outdoors? Be creative and perform the exercises while alternating between upper and lower body. You will get a cardio workout as well. Every session may have a different emphasis. For example, the upper body may be emphasized, while the other areas are still being worked. The order of exercises may be random, as long as there is alternation between upper and lower body.

Core Values

The core values of the company are to be consciously practiced and illustrated during the workouts. Core values are designed to make us better employees and better persons. For example, the core values of the U.S. Army are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honor, integrity and personal courage. A clear understanding of the company core values is an essential part of the training. During each training session, a particular core value or values should be emphasized to talk about. This can be accomplished by selecting an appropriate quote or quotes or a life or business scenario or anecdote that best demonstrates the core value.

Enhance Workplace Performance

The practice of core values of a company is very important for the long-term success of the company and for great employer/employee and employee/customer relations.

All people have different skill sets and different levels of performance. The object of fitness boot camp is to make all team members feel appreciated and motivated regardless of performance levels. That is the secret to enhancing the performance of all.

Team members will all have different fitness levels. Some will have stronger upper bodies, some will have greater flexibility, and some will have better cardio. Each team member focuses on his or her individual fitness progress based on his or her very own fitness level and not the fitness level of other team members. All team members support each other in their individual quests to improve. Fitness boot camp is not only about physical strength, it is also about mental strength.

Mental Fortitude

Mental fortitude pushes us to improve and go beyond our present fitness level. In order to improve mental fortitude, 100 % effort is required of all team members. One hundred percent effort means that if a team member, during the course of an exercise, gets so fatigued that the complete exercise cannot be performed, then that team member will not simply quit, but will modify the exercise to the point of being able to continue. Without a struggle, there can be no progress. This is where the mental fortitude is actually being strengthened again along with the body. Strengthening of mental fortitude will carry over into the workplace. This is very powerful. This keeps the mind and body in the mode of saying, “Hey, I can do this! I will not stop! I won’t quit!” This is what adds the challenge to the fun. 

Count Reps Aloud Together

All team members will count exercises with repetitions aloud and enthusiastically. The only exceptions are laryngitis and those who cannot speak. This works the diaphragm and has a very positive team-building impact on team members. If you happen to be in an environment that will disturb others by counting aloud, whisper instead.

Start your fitness boot camp corporate wellness program today.

Please mention the author when citing or reprinting this article. The author is Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.

Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.

Fitness Boot Camp Instructor and Personal Trainer

Author of Weight Loss - Twenty Pounds in Ten Weeks - Move It to Lose It

Mailing address:

757 SE 17th Street, #267

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Office 954-636-5351

Cell 954-790-7111

www.BeachBootCamp.net

TheHealthColonel@BeachBootCamp.net

Subscribe to Colonel Bob's Health, Weight Loss and Fitness Newsletter

Weight Loss Competition and New Fitness Boot Camp Programs (PDF)

NEW BOOK: Boot Camp Fitness For All Shapes and Sizes

Shop Amazon for Colonel Bob’s books and fitness equipment

NUTRISYSTEM limited time special price

Push-ups: The Best Most Complete Upper Body Exercise in the World

Push-ups: The Best Most Complete Upper Body Exercise in the World
By Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.

The push-up is hands down the best, most complete upper body exercise in the world. Here are a variety of ways to perform push-ups. A push-up demonstrates the portability and flexibility of the human body when it comes to staying in shape. From a health standpoint, you do not need one single piece of equipment or some special place to stay lean and strong. Whether it is in your living room, bedroom, hotel room, on the patio, in the yard, the break room at work or in your office, you can immediately enjoy taking care of your strength training.

600 Push-ups 30 Variations (The Health Colonel Series)

REGULAR PUSH-UP
Let us move on to the best and most complete upper body exercise in the world. It is the push-up. All right, now get down with me for this one. Let’s do it! Get down on all fours. Your feet are together and your body is straight. Your arms are a little more than shoulder-width apart and are spread in line with your chest. Go down to a 90-degree break in your elbows and come back up. Now, wasn’t that easy? Yeah, I know. For a lot of you out there, it’s pretty strenuous. That’s OK. If you find you can only go down partially, you will still be working those muscles and you will get stronger and eventually be able go all the way down. I recommend to my clients to practice the regular push-up even though they cannot go all the way down and push their body back up. This approach is better than just performing knee push-ups.

WIDE PUSH-UP
The wide (extra wide) push-up is performed the same way as the regular push-up with one exception. This time your hands are spread as wide as you can get them without collapsing. Your body is closer to the ground this time in the starting position. You will notice how the chest now enjoys a very beneficial workout along with your arms. 

TRICEPS PUSH-UP
Now get down for another great variation of the push-up. This time your hands are close together and your feet are spread about shoulder width for stability. Go down to the point where your chest is almost touching the ground and come back up. Feel those triceps work? You will notice that this one feels more strenuous than the regular push-up.

FOUR COUNT PUSH-UP
Now let’s put some real excitement into the push-up. These are regular push-ups with a twist. This time you will stop and pause between each motion. You will notice that you will get even more benefit from this strength training exercise. It’s a four count. Here we go and ONE, lower your body (pause); TWO, raise it back up (pause); THREE, lower your body (pause); FOUR, raise it back up (pause). That’s one repetition. Try five to ten reps and count them out loud. The count is one, two, three, ONE; one, two, three, TWO; one, two, three, THREE; and so on.

KNEE PUSH-UPS, 45 DEGREES
Get down on your knees for this push-up, which simply means that you will be pumping less body weight. Your legs are at a 45-degree angle. You can
actually perform all of the previously mentioned push-ups using this position.

KNEE PUSH-UPS, 90 DEGREES
This push-up position will allow you to lessen the body weight even more than the 45-degree angle push-up. The various types of push-ups described previously can be performed using the 90-degree push-up.

Please mention the author when using this article.
The author is Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.