➤ In 2017 there were approximately 61 Million members of gyms in the United States

➤ Planet Fitness is the highest grossing gym with revenues of 1.5 Billion in 2015

➤ 80% of people who have a gym membership do not go regularly (less than 2x week)

➤ 80% of people who join a gym in January have quit going at all by May

I (Blakley) grew up in Louisiana and this was a stable at dinner time.  Recently my mom and I cooked this dish together and put a healthy twist on one of our favorite dishes.   Since Jonathan is the self proclaimed ‘chef’ in the house… I had to teach him so we can eat it on the regular.

It’s a great wintertime meal and if you don’t mind leftovers you will be eating on it for a few days!

Our bodies are amazingly adaptable.  They can overcome just about everything we throw at it. 

 → Did you know that if you chronically under eat you can disrupt your body’s metabolism?

Under eating means consuming LESS calories than you are burning.  Also known as dieting.  If you’ve been on a diet for an extended period or have gone through many bouts of extreme dieting, your body knows it and it adapts to the lower food intake.

So what does that mean and why do we care?

Zumba, Kickboxing, CrossFit, Orange Theory, Sweatin’ to the Oldies, P90X… 

What do all of these methods of achieving fitness have in common?  They are all the perfect program!  They all work!  They can all get you fit.  They can all give you the results of your dreams! Ok, I don’t know about Sweatin’ to the Oldies, but the rest can!  

How can that be you ask?  

Have you ever tried the Devil’s Press?  We have used it a few times at Blakley’s CrossFit gym and it is a great conditioning tool (and not as frightening as it sounds).

Start with a light pair of dumbbells until you get the movement down.

To warm them up do 5x Burpee onto your dumbbells to get used to the spacing on the ground ( you’ll need room for your chest to hit the ground between the dumbbells ). Then do 5x deadlifts with the dumbbell ensuring your back is flat on both the pick up and put down of the dumbbells.  Finally do 5x press overhead to ensure you are locking your shoulders out completely at the top of each rep.

Now you’re ready to give them a try!

A successful, pain free bench press starts with the perfect setup.

1) Lay back on the bench and plant your feet flat on the ground behind your knees.

2) Position your body so that your eyes are just barely on the “down” side of the barbell toward your feet.  This will get the barbell safely away from the rack once you lift it off.

Let’s try this one again!  Accumulate 8 minutes in a standard plank position.  Every time you rest from the plank, perform 12 Air Squats, 12 Push-Ups and 12 Dumbbell Curl and Press (6 each arm).

When you're done, drop back into that plank and keep chipping away at that 8 minutes.