Having 16 years of weight training experience behind me I figured I’d make a living out of all the knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the years along with the extensive hands-on experience that I own. With this in mind I set out to become a licenced Gym Instructor during the first half of 2004, completing the esteemed Fitness Academy of Finland’s (FAF) Gym Instructor License course. If you are looking to get in serious shape, put your diet in order or just plain look and fell better about yourself then I’m the guy to ask for. Sure you’ll find other trainers that’ve got that slick, GQ model look to them and they might seem a lot “tamer” but this isn’t a popularity contest or then you’re looking in the wrong place! Judging from the programs I’ve compiled for others previously, if you want RESULTS then results are what I’ll guide you to. This means a change in lifestyle choices, such as eating habits and diet. Depending on who you are it may also mean setting a new rhythm for your day-to-day life. Training is 30% of the equasion, 70% is how much you sleep and what you eat! In addition to a proper training regimen, I can guide you to the “right” kind of diet to get you where you want to be. Without a proper diet you will NEVER achieve the results that you desire and your gains will be short-term. You will encounter a self-defeating lifestyle if you don’t prioritize what you put in your system and THAT will ultimately burn you out! A lot of people mistakenly go on “fad” diets that promise much but tend to deliver very little in the way of lasting benefits. Most dieters gain back the weight that they lose due to a lack of basic understanding of the body’s physiology. This is where you need to have someone like myself who knows the score. With “fad” diets that lack any form of true exercise and muscle training you may momentarily achieve a desired level of weightloss but your body will lack tone due to the lack of muscle. Once your “old” eating habits kick back in you will ultimately look fatter than you were when you went on your diet! This is due to the absence of muscle that would replace the fat which you momentarily got rid of. In order to keep fat off you need to raise the amount of active muscle mass in your body. Muscle burns energy, even in dormant state (sleep). All food turns to energy and is either stored or burned as blood sugar. Stored blood sugar turns to fat, which in turn acts as an energy reserve. Unless you burn off those reserves you will carry around unspent energy on the form of unwanted bodyfat, which is neither esthetically pleasing nor is it beneficial from a health standpoint. Muscle is much denser than fat and burns significantly more calories than fat. Muscle mass has a direct effect on the body’s metabolism. The more muscle you carry the more effective your metabolism is, point blank. Muscle also sculpts your body into a much more pleasing form to the eye, elevating self-esteem in the process! It truly is a case of mind, body and spirit working in unision! Smart dieting is a lifestyle choice. It’s like repentance -- you have to change the course that you’re on! When you get your carbohydrates, proteins and fats in check, eating correct servings of each at every meal, you’ll be well on your way to a better quality of life. You will literally FEEL better in your everyday life. The food you intake is like the gas you put into your car. Low-grade gas will not burn as well or as clean as high-grade gas. The bottom line is that in addition to your genes, stress levels and sleeping patterns, the ONLY thing that will dictate how you will feel not only from day to day but from year to year, all the way to your retirement and beyond is the FOOD that you eat. The kind of food that you fill you tank with will literally reflect on your hair, skin, nails, blood and bones! If you want a youthful appearance after the age of 30 you will have to work for it! Your diet will place a MAJOR role in how your skin reacts as you age. Are you beginning to feel like maybe you should take a more serious look at what I can offer? People want different things from life. The same is true for how they look. Most guys want to look either big and muscular or lean and ripped, whereas most girls want to look thin and fit or lean and sexy. In order to achieve these goals a proper understanding of body type (mesomorph, ectomorph, endomorph) is necessary as is a proper understanding of correct training techniques. When I was younger I made the cardinal mistake of training abdominals at the end of every training day. I’d do several sets of sit-ups and crunches and wonder why my abs never really got the separation that I was looking for. Everybody always seemed to train abs like I trained them and I didn’t think anything was wrong! It was only when I understood that I really WAS doing something wrong that I turned the tables. Abdominals are the same as any other muscle group in your body such as your pectorals or quadriceps. They react the same way as any other muscle in your body to the stresses imposed on them by weight training. Picture doing squats with only your own bodyweight as resistance. Do you think that your legs would grow big and muscular from doing five sets of 30 free squats? I don’t think so! You might improve the cardiovascular properties of your legs by doing so, but that training method is completely wrong for building muscle mass! The amount of weight that you use and the intensity with which you perform your exercises will have a determining effect on your muscle growth. Improper training methods lead to a lack of motivation due to poor results and ultimately you might drop training altogether! The principles of training abs are the same as training legs, chest, arms or back! Your abs need significant resistance, exercises performed at high intensity if you wish to get a cut washboard look. Examples like this exemplify many pitfalls that countless people fall into due to the lack of small details. After all, like the saying goes: It’s not the big things that count, it’s the small things! Misconceptions and wrong habits can deter you from maximum results and goals. Just like most girls are misguided in thinking that training with heavier weights is going to make their muscles look all big and bulky, most guys fall short of attaining the body they want due to wrong training techniques. With the proper knowledge the sky is the limit! For those interested in my services as a personal trainer/instructor feel free to contact me via the form at this website. Be sure to include your full contact information with your message. E-mail me at: starbuck (at) saunalahti (dot) fi