What is the unfair advantage?

The slogan for Cross Training Fitness System is “Building an unfair advantage,” but what does that mean? Are we talking about cheating? Are we talking about performance enhancers? Or are we talking about building an unfair advantage the right way? The way people today don’t want to get it, by busting our tails day in and day out in the gym?

The easy fix it seems to be what everyone is looking for these days. They want the easiest possible workout and the pill that will solve all their problems without them having to work to solve it themselves. But there is truly only one way to solve it. And that is a good solid mixture of blood, sweat, and tears, mixed with a good portion of iron and steel.
Ask any elite athlete and they will tell you, “For every success the public sees in the games, there were countless hours of hard work, drilling, lifting, running, and sacrificing that makes it all possible.” But even that analogy doesn’t seem to work in today’s society with the perceived wide spread use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancers. Even for what seems to be the normal everyday working class family, natural hard work to get the body, look, and results they want are speculative as to whether they are natural results from hard-work or cosmetically manufactured.
At CTFS, we do not condone the use of performance enhancers in the form of pills, injections, or powders. We do however condone and strongly recommend natural performance enhancement by putting your time and energy into the gym. Being the first one there and the last one to leave has always been one of the driving forces behind the success of CTFS, it’s employees, and clients.
Anything worth doing is worth doing hard. All out, no holds barred workouts and training is what we offer. If it was easy everyone would be doing it, but because it is not easy, because it’s difficult, because it requires you to sacrifice and change your lifestyle is why it works.

I have worked with people and trained at gyms that tried to straddle the fence on both sides. I’ve had clients ask about liposuction, and trained at a gym that actually partnered with a company to sell liposuction, meanwhile when they sold memberships, they preached losing the weight the right way. You can’t straddle the fence, you have to be decisive with what your goals are and put the work in.
I can’t count how many times I went running before school or after practice while I was wrestling to see a teammate or a member of a rival team driving by in their car, hanging out with friends, or just doing nothing. Then they would wonder why I was getting on the medal stand and they were coming up short of their expectations. Again, go hard, go heavy, or go home!
I have also heard from the women that I train, “I don’t want to get big muscles so I don’t want to lift an amount of weight that will push me.” Numerous studies have come out in recent years in the field of exercise science that have unanimously reinforced that women too must lift heavy weights in order to get the maximum benefit from their resistance training program. If you are doing sets of 15, 20, 25 and the muscles are not struggling by the end to lift that amount of weight, you are wasting your time. Heavy resistance is a requirement for bone density to improve, thus lowering your chances of developing osteoporosis. It’s ok to do lighter weights every once in a while to help shock the body and change things up, but if that is all you do, you are missing out on one of the biggest life-long benefits of training that you could be getting.
If you don’t know how to build an unfair advantage over your competition or over your own body (yes we are in daily competition with our body over getting to our goals.), contact CTFS and we guarantee we can help you reach your goals. They are within reach and by contacting us, you will be taking a huge step towards reaching those goals. Also, please refer any of your friends to this newsletter and CTFS, they will thank you in the long run.

Are you a champion or a challenger?

Are you a challenger or a champion in your story of life? Are you an encourager or a disparager to those around you? Are you helping others to reach the goal set before them or are you trying to bring them down? Are you the bad part of the story or the good? Are you trying to rob some people of their efforts to do the right thing?
All of us have people in our lives who play both roles for us, and sometimes we play both roles ourselves.  There are times when we lift each other up, encourage each other to keep pressing on, but at other times, we find ourselves just so discouraged that we end up pulling down others.  It is human nature, yet we do not have to settle for it!  We can overcome it by controlling our environment and begin living life to the fullest, like a champion.

There’s a unanimous quote that says: “Most look up and admire the stars. A champion climbs a mountain and grabs one.”
What are you doing to be a champion in your own life?

Kurt Angle holding the American flag after winning the Olympics

 In high school, I attended a wrestling camp just like all the other top wrestlers I knew.  I was one of the younger guys there (getting ready to start my freshman year), but I was pushed as hard and expected to do as much as the seniors that were there.  I learned one of the most important lessons in my life while at that camp.  The difference between first and second.  The difference between the leader and the followers.  The difference between the champion and the challenger.

The difference between the champion and the challenger

Most times the difference between being the champion or the runner up is not the biggest difference, other times it is.  It could be the champion ran that extra mile.  They could have done that one extra set in the weight room.  They woke up before school or work to get their workout in while everyone else was sleeping or taking a day off.  It could be a multitude of small things that make a world of difference. 

The difference between the champion and the challenger is also their leadership ability.  Now I am not saying to be a champion you have to be the leader of your team or the leader in the office.  What I am saying though is that if you conduct yourself and your life like a champion you will be a leader because your peers will look up to you.  I was not the most talkative person on my high school wrestling team.  I was not the one who got on the people that were slacking.  But I was the one who “took the team on my back” and was the team captain because of that.

If a dual meet came down to one match, I wanted that match to be mine.  My senior year, the league title was decided by a single dual meet.  In that dual meet, we had two options to take as a team.  We could have everyone just wrestle what they weighed in at and hope things came out our way or we could strategically move people around and hope one match nullified what the other team did in another match.  That dual meet, I weighed in at 126 pounds on my way to cutting down to 119 for the league championship tournament.  The other teams best wrestler was their 135 pound team captain.  The coach sat me down and discussed our options.  If I wrestled 130, I would easily be able to win my match, but we would be sending a first year varsity wrestler out against their captain.  The other option was that I bump up in weight and give up 10 pounds in the hopes of winning a match and hope that our first year varsity wrestler could just keep from getting pinned and we would come out of those weights even.  I took the tougher road, believing in my teammates for pulling off some upsets.  I knew I could beat their 135 or their 130.

To make a long story short, our team’s other wrestler won his match and I went out and pinned their team captain!  Our team then went on a roll and won the league title in that one dual meet!

 

Kendall Cross after winning the Olympics

Who are you taking on your back and carrying when they are struggling?  Do you have a friend who is wanting to start exercising but is scared or does not know where to begin?  Can you point people in the right direction who seem lost?  Can you take up another’s cross and help them bear it while still holding up yours?

Jesus struggling with His Cross

Jesus said in Mark 8, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”  Paul later said in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 6, “Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

In the gym there are leaders also, even though there are not teams or maybe even friends working out at the same time.  When one person picks up the intensity in the weight room and begins smashing their records, trying new and harder exercises, encouraging others to push themselves, that is the leader I want to follow and be like.

Just the other day there were three guys working out at my gym and they were doing curls and each set they kept adding.  One set they threw on another 10 pounds, the next they started throwing on some chains on the end of the bar.  By the time they were done, everyone else in the gym had stopped to watch what they were doing.  A fellow trainer commented to me and others, “this didn’t used to be that kind of gym.”  But in fact, every gym needs to be that kind of gym.  The kind where people are pushed to their limits and beyond.  The kind where champions are forged in the fire just like a piece or raw iron or steel would be forged into a deadly sword or axe.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”-Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)

 Are you looking for that kind of trainer?  One who will force you to reach the limits of your abilities and force you to break through and become the champion in the gym?  Are you looking for a place where you can train and not get that weird look from everyone else because you are doing things different and stepping out from the challenger crowd to become the champion that you were created to be?  Contact Lewis and get started on building that unfair advantage over all the challengers in your life!  If not now, when?  If not you, who?  I look forward to hearing from you and helping you reach all your goals and breaking all your records!

 

 

 

Are obstacles stopping you or collapsing before you?

It’s funny how these ideas come to you and you just want to write about them. My wife wrote a similar article on her facebook blog about a week ago talking about overcoming obstacles in both the Christian life and weight loss. At the end of this article, I will attach it so you can read it and get some inspiration from that article also.
 
Each and every day of our lives we are presented with obstacles that get in the way of us becoming everything we were intended to be. To keep us from becoming the parent we want to be, the friend we need to be, the person that God intended us to be.

The walls of Jericho dropping before God's people

How do you get around those obstacles? What is keeping you from becoming the person you know you should be?
 
The greats were all told it could not be done. But what made them great was the fact that they did not take no for an answer. Why couldn’t it be done?
 
“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”-George Elliot
 
What might you have been? Why not begin being it now?
 
As a strength coach and personal trainer who does not always follow the norms of those around him, I have been told that wouldn’t work.
 
“St. Louis will never buy into hardcore training.”
 
“That training won’t work here.”
 
“No one is gonna buy into the idea of building insane amounts of muscle and shredding
pounds of body fat at the same time!”
 
“What are you gonna do with a tire and a bag of sand? Thats not training!”
 
“You have to go slow on people or they won’t come back.”
 
The same goes for you in your training. It must be hard. It has to be difficult. I tell my clients all the time when they tell me how hard the workout is or the exercise, I reply, “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!”
 My wife always used to ask me why I put myself through so much in my training, especially when I was wrestling. That quote from Ali sums it all up. The thrill of just the taste is worth the pain.
 
In your fitness journey, whether you are a body builder, an athlete, or a mom wanting to lose weight, it all boils down to the same thing that divides the over-comers from everyone else. We all have families. We all have jobs. We all have friends that both drag us down and build us up.
 
I’ve heard it all! I knew, however, that the type of training you see on my website works better than any other type of training I have encountered as a trainer. I’ve tried the bodyweight only workouts. Doesn’t always work. I’ve tried the bodybuilder workouts. Doesn’t always work. The Cross Training Fitness System, if followed to the T by you, is guaranteed to work. It’s impossible for it not to! You never do the same workouts, so you don’t have to worry about hitting a wall. You never get bored with it because it is so challenging yet fun!
 
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
 　
What’s holding you back from reaching your maximum fitness potential? Are you wanting to lose those last couple of pounds? Put on a couple more pounds of muscle?Lewis Mendezwww.wrestlertraining.com

 

“The Christian life can be compared to a lot of things. Paul uses several allegories-boxing, wrestling, courts, lawyers, judges the list goes on. To me, at this point, the Christian life is like weight loss and exercising. See, the reason the Christian life can be a lot like things we can relate to is because God put in everyone an innate desire, a sense of longing and desire if you will for something and someone outside of themselves, outside of time and space. Whether you are a skeptic or an atheist, whether that voice is small, or really loud it is there; and in fact in the Bible in the book of Revelations, God says he will make everyone bow their knee and proclaim he is King

 of Kings and Lord of Lords whether you want to or not.

If the Christian life can be a lot like exercising and weight loss, if you are working at losing weight, most likely the first thing you come to realize is that there are obstacles to overcome. There are obstacles in the Christian life as well-we call it sin.

Hebrews 12:1 says we need to, “Lay aside every weight and sin that easily besets us and keep running the race”

Funny how Paul used the word “weight” in this verse because if anyone if over weight you know that trying to run with an extra 200, 300 or more pounds in almost asking the impossible!

We have to overcome those obstacles in our Christian life and in our weight loss living. We have to picture ourselves, sometimes, taking all of the things that we know keep us from reaching our goal and literally setting them aside.

If its a sin-whether it’s greed, pride, selfishness, a sexual sin, treating others as Christ would not treat people, we have to identify those sins and label it for what they are-sin-something we need to get rid of.

So to, in the exercise world and weight loss life-we have choices to make- we can either choose to eat healthy and “clean” or we can load our bodies with sugar, salt, and fat. We can choose to exercise or sit on the couch.

Either way, we have to get to the point where we say to ourselves “NO MORE!” “I’M NOT GOING TO LET THIS OVERTAKE ME AGAIN. THE BUCK STOPS HERE.”

and then we have to start starting and allowing the Holy Spirit to aid us on our journey-both spiritual and physical. Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH!”

You can do it, I can do it, he can do it, she can do it, we can do but it takes that first start-that first right choice, the first exercise, the first healthy meal, the first time passing up that sin, or bad habit.

We may need to not just set aside behaviors, thoughts, & feelings but words too.

-We may need to get rid of the word “Can’t”. That word should never be a part of your vocabulary. Start replacing that bad habit with the word “Can” Maybe your first step is to develop a “Can Do” attitude!

Just keep telling yourself-I CAN DO IT. WITH GOD’S HELP. I CAN.”-Carrie Mendez
Are you ready to accept the challenge and change the landscape of strength and fitness in St. Louis? Why not give it a try and call Lewis today and set up your free strength consultation at 314-437-6439.
　
ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer
Certified Underground Strength Coach
BFS Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach

Training IN Groups

There is nothing more beneficial than having a partner or group to work out in.  It keeps you accountable, and for people who do not like the one on one attention from an instructor or trainer, it fits perfect!

I’ve tried both ways, with a partner and working out solo.  Both have their advantages, but nothing pushes me harder than having someone there coaching me on, getting me to surpass what I though I could do.

Do you need someone to help you get to your goals?  Do you lack motivation?  Do you want someone to design the workouts for you?  Cross Training Fitness System in St. Louis, MO can help you!

Alot of us have such a busy lifestyle, the last thing on our mind is what exercises should I do today.  So alot of us end up just cutting and pasting from the latest fitness magazine we read.  The problem with this approach is that it does not take into account individual difference.  You are unique and need to be trained accordingly.

Bootcamps are the ultimate expression of this thought.  The workouts are always fun, yet challenging.  They are designed for your abilities and goals, not just a cookie cutter that someone took out of a book or magazine.  And they are forming now in St. Louis and Florissant!  Today starts the Ackerman School bootcamp.  You can get a few friends together, contact me, and we can find a park or school that we can get this done together at!  Check out my website for more information.  www.wrestlertraining.com

Overcoming Obstacles

People keep telling me it can't be done and I just keep proving them wrong!

Each and every day of our lives we are presented with obstacles that get in the way of us becoming everything we were intended to be. To keep us from becoming the parent we want to be, the friend we need to be, the person that God intended us to be.

How do you get around those obstacles?

The greats were all told it could not be done. But what made them great was the fact that they did not take no for an anwer. Why couldn’t it be done?

As a strength coach and personal trainer who does not always follow the norms of those around him, I have been told that wouldn’t work.

“St. Louis will never buy into hardcore training.”

“That training won’t work here.”

“No one is gonna buy into the idea of building insane amounts of muscle and shredding pounds of body fat at the same time!”

“What are you gonna do with a tire and a bag of sand? Thats not training!”

“You have to go slow on people or they won’t come back.”

I’e heard it all! I knew, however, that the type of training you see on my website works better than any other type of training I have encountered as a trainer. I’ve tried the bodyweight only workouts. Doesn’t always work. I’ve tried the bodybuilder workouts. Doesn’t always work. The Cross Training Fitness System, if followed to the T by you, is guaranteed to work. It’s impossible for it not to! You never do the same workouts, so you don’t have to worry about hitting a wall. You never get bored with it because it is so challenging yet fun!
Whats holding you back from reaching your maximum fitness potential? Are you wanting to lose those last couple of pounds? Put on a couple more pounds of muscle?

Are you ready to accept the challenge and change the landscape of strength and fitness in St. Louis? Why not give it a try and call Lewis today and set up your free strength consultation at 314-437-6439.

Kid’s and Working Out

One of the ladies I train told me once that she doesnt have time to do the workouts with her busy schedule living here in st. louis and on top of that, she has kids to take care of. Ladies, have you made excuses like this in the past? Don’t let your kids hold back your workouts, include them in them. When your kids are younger, workout in your house with what you got. Use odd objects around the house to lift and carry. Carry your kids for lunges, cleans, squats, etc. When they are older, have them jog with you. Turn your next visit to the park into your next record breaking workout. I’ll show you an example of this in my next video as I am taking my family to the park to work out and I will be posting how you can do it also!

Website Relaunch

I have worked out some of the kinks on my website and have now relaunched it making it much more user friendly and making it easier to find all the information you need. Are you wanting to train with one of the top personal trainers in St. Louis? Are you wanting to get into bodybuilding or become a strongman? I can help you destroy all your lifting records and build a modern day gladiator! Personal Training Sessions and Bootcamps are now forming!! Sign up today! Contact Lewis at 314-437-6439 or email him at cross.training.pt@hotmail.com.

Whats your angle?

In sports and in weight training, the name of the game is angles. If you are competing against someone who has mastered the angles of their sport, you are in for a fight. When lifting, angles will keep you from hitting that dreaded plateau. Vary everything possible, the angle of a bench, the angle the weight is moved at, the speed you lift at, how far you bring the weight down, and vary the weight type (eg. sandbags, tires, sled, kettlebells, dumbells). Don’t be like those people you see at the gym always doing the same exercise the same way. This goal of this workout was just that. On the squats, Jamie brought it down lower than usual. We used bridge pushups to vary how he did pushups. The pullups, we used the rings and chains. What will you change up in your next workout? How will you master your angles?

Quick Legs

Did a leg workout today that consisted of machine exercises along with some tire flipping:
Leg Press 3×10 (900, 990, 1040)
Hack Squat 3×10 (230, 280, 300)
Smith Deep Squats 3×10 (90, 110, 110+2 chains)
Tire Flips 2×20
Leg Extension 2×20 (150)

Outdoor Assault

The conclusion to a workout blasting full body I did with one of my personal training clients here in St. Louis Missouri, Jamie. It includes tire flipping and some kettlebell work.