Just to get a feel for what he does (and while remaining unbiased), I had my fiancee go through a series of performance testing they do (outlined below) and the entire process was fantastic.  One of the glaring issues discovered was low vitamin D, which has since been addressed.  Just two months prior to our work with Rick, I’d encouraged her to ask her primary care physician to check her vitamin D levels at a routine physical.  The physician’s response was “No.  You’re not post-menopausal.” The take-home message from this quick story is that not all physicians have all the information (or even a small fraction of the information, as Vitamin D plays countless roles in the body other than bone metabolism).

Since forward-thinking physicians are few and far between, it’s sometimes a challenge to find someone good in your area – and that’s where a guy like Rick and his company can come in to help out. I highly recommend Bioletics – to the point that I wanted to get Rick on-board for an interview to share some of his great information.  So, without further ado, Dr. Rick Cohen.

EC: Thanks for taking the time for an interview, Dr. Cohen.  Please fill us in a bit about your background, what you’re doing at Bioletics, and where the idea for the business really emerged.

RC: My pleasure.

It actually all started in your neck of the woods in Massachusetts. I had a medical practice with a focus on nutrition, athletic performance and aging there for over ten years. At the time, I was very dissatisfied with the assessment options available in the medical field. So, I developed a few of my own that could be done at-home with either a saliva or urine sample or a finger stick blood spot.

After moving to Bend, Oregon last year, I became involved in screening some of the girls on my daughter’s track team for iron deficiency and bone health. We also looked at vitamin D, which is a critical nutrient for both bone health and overall athletic performance.

When the results came in, it turned out that 95% of the runners low in iron. Additionally, 80% of the team was vitamin D deficient and more than 50% were mineral imbalanced.  After adding amino acid and recovery hormone panels to the screen, I repeated it with several local elite athletes.  Again, the results were shocking: not a single athlete was healthy from a biological standpoint.

At this point, it was pretty obvious that there was a need to turn the entire concept of human performance testing inside-out.  For years we’ve been obsessed with peripheral performance measurements-heart rates, VO2 levels and power output.  But the idea of looking inside an athlete’s body has been completely overlooked.

Giving athletes the ability to assess their unique, physiological needs represents a paradigm shift in athletic performance.  Despite all the marketing hype in the sports supplement industry, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all formula for improving your athletic performance.

As athletes, our basic, biological needs are all very different.  We would never think of buying a bike, a baseball bat, or a pair of running shoes without trying them on or out for size.  Why do we use nutritional supplements-protein powders, recovery drinks and vitamins-without knowing if they are a good fit for us?

EC: Now, let’s talk about some of the specific things you guys can test.  I’ve been a big vitamin D guy for years now, and I know that’s one of your core tests.  What are you seeing thus far?

RC:  Optimizing your level of vitamin D3 is the single most important thing you can do for your health and well-being-and quite possibly your performance.  Interestingly enough, vitamin D isn’t really a vitamin at all.  It’s a hormone manufactured by your skin during critical periods of sun exposure.

Vitamin D is both a key building block and a cellular activator of almost every physical process.  It regulates more than 2,000 of the 30,000 human genes.  It’s an essential part of the endocrine system, as it controls several of the adrenal hormones, growth of cells, and production of enzymes.  It’s a powerful immune booster that provides a front-line defense against colds and flu as well as cancer and autoimmune disease.

Vitamin D is essential for optimum athletic performance, as it contributes to muscular strength and recovery while controlling physical reaction time, balance and coordination.

So far, almost every athlete we have tested has had sub-optimal levels of vitamin D (less than 50 ng/ml) except for one professional triathlete who trains in the sun in Australia all year.  Many athletes have been extremely low-under 25ng/ml.

Unless you can train outside year-round and/or make a conscious effort to get mid-day sun exposure; it is almost impossible to restore vitamin D to an optimal level-between  60 and 80 ng/ml-without supplementation.  When supplementing, the best results have come from the use of a sublingual vitamin D3 spray.  Gel caps, tablets and liquids are less effective.

The most important thing to remember is that your vitamin D level needs to be assessed and monitored. You can’t just take a random dose of vitamin D3 and expect to get results. Bioletics offers an at-home finger stick assessment that is virtually pain-free; it takes only two minutes and two drops of blood to complete.

EC: Now, how about iron?  It’s traditionally been a huge issue for female endurance athletes, but are you seeing it as much in females who aren’t on that level of training volume?

RC: Yes.  We learned this is a huge issue, especially among teenage girls.  In general, low iron is a problem among menstruating women because they lose blood every month.  With teenage girls, the issue is compounded by the fact that their diets tend to be lower in calories, red meat and protein-all of which are critical for obtaining adequate iron.

Iron is critical for athletic performance, as it carries oxygen in the red blood cells from the lungs to the muscles.  Severe iron loss results in a reduction of red blood cells (a condition known as anemia).  What most athletes are not aware of is that you do not have to be anemic to be suffering from low iron.  The most common signs of iron deficiency are fatigue, irritability, poor performance and slow recovery.

Another important point to stress is that while the assessment of red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit and serum iron are needed to diagnose anemia, these are not sensitive indicators when it comes to assessing deficiencies in iron stores-the supply of iron that’s actually available for the body to use.  The iron-binding protein, ferritin, is a much more reliable marker of functional iron stores.  We like to see levels of ferritin in females between 40 and 70 ng/ml.

EC: How about men?  Is too much iron a common finding?

RC: Good question.

In men, we are much more concerned with excessive iron than with low iron. This is because men do not bleed regularly and also tend to eat more red meat and calories than women.

The problem with too much iron is that it can create free radical damage in the body.  Just as iron in metal rusts, it has a similar action in your body.  Fortunately, your body has natural antioxidants to protect against the free radicals created by iron.  But when levels get too high, it can become a problem.  As we get older, excessive iron levels can play a role in the development of heart disease, cancer and immune disorders.

Excessive iron is linked to a genetic variation in iron absorption rates.  Hemochromatosis is a genetic disorder where the body absorbs iron too readily and iron stores can get tens or even hundreds of times higher than normal and cause severe organ damage. While the full blown disorder is relatively rare, many people have lesser variants which cause gradual accumulation of iron over time.  The second cause is dietary-we take in too much iron by eating iron-fortified foods like breakfast cereals and breads.

Just as with vitamin D, it is necessary to know your iron levels before you begin to take any kind of iron supplement.  The restorative dose of iron is generally 36mg daily while the maintenance dose for those with a history of low iron is 18mg daily. Taking a restorative dose without knowing a benchmark can push iron levels too high.  Playing it safe and taking a maintenance dose may not be enough.

Ideal levels of ferritin in men are between 70 and 100 ng/ml.  If your levels are higher than that, it is important NOT to take any iron supplements or eat iron-fortified foods.

We have seen iron levels in the upper 100s and low 200s in younger male athletes.  For these men, we recommended they monitor the levels every few years and to consider donating blood twice a year.  This will not only keep their iron levels from climbing, but will greatly help those in need.

Part 2 of this interview with Rick will run tomorrow, but in the meantime, I’ve asked with Rick to arrange for a special discount for EricCressey.com readers only.  If you head over to www.Bioletics.com and enter the coupon code ECCPP25 at checkout, you’ll receive $25 off the cost of your initial basic or complete panel.

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Although we will talk about exercise in the later stages of this article, eating healthily is vital to obtaining the dream body that you have always wanted. If you exercise for an hour every day and then eat high fat and unhealthy foods, you will not see any gains at all.

Another important aspect to think about is your mindset. Do you really want to spend time at the gym or working out at home to define your abs? If you do not have any get up and go or any goals then this will be very difficult. Something helpful for a lot of people in this situation is to set a goal that they can try to reach.

If you are able to find a vision in your mind of how you would eventually like to look or feel about yourself then this can also help greatly. It has been proven that for those who have such goals, they are much more likely to achieve them. Those who just exercise for fun tend to lose less weight and become less defined in turn.

A good way to make sure that you balance your body perfectly is to split it into different muscle groups. On your first day of exercise, do you stomach, on the next do your arms and the following day focus on your legs. This way you will become evenly toned and not look off balance.

Should you have any excess fat around your stomach area then any muscles that you do have will not show. To enhance this area, do a lot of cardio work outs which will burn this fat away and leave your belly looking more toned, defined and healthy.

How you choose to train is up to you. Some prefer to use a gym and pay a monthly fee, others with a good level of enthusiasm choose to work out at home and run in their local area all for free instead. Within the home there will be many objects that you can use to assist you whilst exercising.

Tired of that ugly belly fat, can’t hide it anymore, I know how you feel. I use to have the same problem, the answer is to simply do something about it. Visit Six Pack Training for more Information, Tips, and Techniques on how to flatten That Stomach.

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If you stop and think what you are telling yourself by trying to do the most productive exercise schedule when you don’t enjoy it, you’ll realize you want to change. The unspoken message is that you just wish to meet a certain goal and then you can stop doing it. Seriously, why would you continue doing something you didn’t enjoy for the rest of your life? You have to find out how to make exercise more fun. Then you’ll enjoy it more, maybe even look forward to doing it, and you will not have to worry about how effective it is. You’ll have something you will stick to thru your life because now you’ve modified it from a dull, boring task into a fun, pleasurable way of life.

Try finding pretty parks to jog in. Changing up the scenery regularly can make your jog more pleasurable. Instead of staring at the clock when you run, try running a certain distance. Find someone to run with and start adding in sprints to switch it up. Listen to good music and change it occasionally, so you are able to actually get into a good straightforward mindset.

Get a cycle and go for bike rides. Find trails to use that make it more engaging and delightful. Get your folks to go with you and make it a fun family outing. Pack a picnic and ride to a picnic spot. Spend a few hours eating, lying on a blanket, or playing Frisbee together and then ride back home.

Get have some fun with your kids! Try playing tag, football, or other games that need physical activity. Play games they want to play, and dig into it. Take them to a park and get on the monkey bars with them. Do some pull ups while you’re there. Try to do things that make exercise part of your folks life. It can be really fun and rewarding and take the monotony out of your routines.

Take a minute to learn more about womens board shorts over at the writer’s other online writings at http://www.womensboardshorts.org. Look great and perform excellently while at the beach.

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EC: In your experience, what are the biggest mistakes aspiring fitness professionals make?

AC: Here are my top four:

1) They don’t understand that they are running a business!!!!

Most fitness professionals are running a hobby and trying to make money at it. That will never work long-term.

Being a great trainer is imperative in today’s market. You aren’t going to succeed unless your skill-set is of a high enough level.

However, it’s not just training skills – that’s only part of the big picture – the “client fulfillment “portion.

It’s also business skills. Michael Gerber – the author of The E-myth – calls this the seven essential skills: Leadership, Marketing, Money, Management, Lead Generation, Lead Conversion and Client Fulfillment.

You have to understand how to lead and motivate your team: leadership.

You have to understand marketing, which results in lead generation.

You have to have good sales skills – which converts leads to customers.

And you have to be able to understand cash flow and operating expenses before you can create a profit.

You need to have mindset AND skill-set before you can be successful. But skill-set consists of seven areas. Make sure you are studying each area (not just training) equally.

2) They don’t understand the client mindset.

Ask yourself these questions if you’re a trainer:

Do you think a good fitness professional is a valuable investment?

Do you think a good fitness professional can get someone to their goals faster than they can get there on their own?

Are you personally in the greatest physical condition of your life right now?

Are you ecstatic with your own strength levels and conditioning?

I bet that 80-90% of those who answered will say – yes, yes, no, no.

So – extrapolating from that – what is YOUR trainers name? Why did you hire him or her?

I bet most trainers don’t even have training partners – never mind a coach to help them with programming and getting to the next level.

In other words – if you tell me right now that you DON’T have a trainer – despite not being in the best shape of your life, not being ecstatic at your own fitness, and believing that a good trainer can get you there faster than you can alone, and is valuable — then deep down – you don’t believe that a trainer IS valuable.

What I’m getting at – is WHY, despite all the knowledge and beliefs and goals, most trainers haven’t hired (or used) another trainer to help them?

It’s the same reason prospects aren’t hiring you — they aren’t in great shape, and maybe don’t know (as we do) how much a trainer can help?

Lawyers hire other lawyers. Barbers hire other barbers. Doctors see other doctors.

So list the reasons why you didn’t hire a trainer personally. That’s why people don’t hire you.  And that’s the WHY we need to figure out for your next career move: the client mindset.

“If you can see John Smith through John Smith’s eyes, you can sell John Smith what John Smith buys.”

3) They Don’t Create TOMA.

Have you ever had a client tell you that “I’m definitely going to hire you as my trainer, but I am going to lose ten pounds first!”

I’m sure you have. But while we think it’s crazy, it’s a sign that you don’t have weight loss TOMA in your area.

TOMA is Top Of Mind Awareness. Are you the first person or business that jumps into a client’s mind when they think “weight loss?” Or “sports conditioning?”

Quick, name a soft drink company. I bet it was either Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

What is the number one sneaker brand? I bet you came up with one of three names: Nike, Adidas, or Reebok.

Your goal with all of your marketing is to position yourself, in your area, for your target market as the “top of mind awareness” obvious choice for that particular topic.

A lot of fitness businesses get hurt here by dividing their efforts and marketing to different demographics – and that’s ok – but two demographics should mean two different campaigns – not two “half” campaigns.

What do you want to be known for?

This is something that you’ve actually done very well, Eric (probably before you actually had your business systems in place). Think baseball conditioning in Boston and Cressey Performance springs to mind.

4. They don’t find mentors and coaches for the business side, and they don’t mastermind with like-minded successful individuals.

Okay, this is really two for one!

Mentoring: “All successful individuals have coaches” – James Malinchak.

Think about this: boxing and MMA are probably the ultimate “one-on-one” sports. Two guys, with no equipment (or even shirts!) face one another.

But when you look back to the corner – there are usually three or more guys helping him. They include a coach (known as the “chief second”) and several other teammates.

To me, a mentor is nothing more than someone who is climbing or has climbed the mountain before you, and has reached back and is helping you up, way faster and easier than you can climb yourself.

One of the fastest ways to success in any field is to find a mentor who will help you, and a “mastermind” group of likeminded people with whom to network. The key phrase there is “likeminded;” we’ve all had the situation of asking a family member or friend for feedback on a project and being shut down when they don’t realize or understand the big picture. You need to be around people who are thinking the same way as you.

Your mind is like a garden. Be careful what you plant in there.

EC: That’s fantastic stuff – and #4 certainly hits home for me, as you’ve been my primary mentor in getting my facility off the ground.  To that end, while all my education came via email exchanges between the two of us, you’ve now made it easier for folks to learn what’s made you successful by introducing some products.

Most recently, there is “The Evolution of Personal Training” DVD, and just a few months ago, you released “55 Fitness Business Tips for Success” book.  I’ve checked out each of them, and in my eyes, people should buy both!  However, can you go into a bit of detail on the difference between the two?

AC: The DVD is a live shoot of a presentation I did for Perform Better this year where I really go into detail about how to evolve your business in today’s economy. The old methods of one-on-one training, weight-training-only workouts, and charging people for a “ten-pack” of sessions are just inadequate or outdated practices. I cover a few things in more detail – like transitioning into a semi-private model, repositioning yourself as a consultant as opposed to a “rep counter,” and understanding the client or prospect mindset. If you don’t understand that, you’re dead in the water as a business owner.

The book “55 Fitness Business Tips for Success” should have been titled “55 things that we did wrong when we opened our facility and somehow managed to survive, but make sure you don’t repeat these!” It’s kind of like a “pocket guide” to basic business tips for fitness professionals. And when I say “basic,” I mean stuff everyone NEEDS to know and practice but usually don’t! I tell my business coaching group to keep that book in their office and read a couple of pages every day to make sure you don’t ignore anything crucial.

EC: Thanks for the time, Alwyn.

I’d strongly encourage those readers of mine in the fitness industry to check out these resources, as Alwyn’s stuff is fantastic.  You can find out more and order at Alwyn’s site.

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Your fitness can be enhanced quite a bit through a simple stretching regime that you perform every day. This kind of exercise program is suggested by almost all fitness professionals to get back or enhance your flexibility. Stretching will protect your body from getting injured during your workout, and also during your regular activities. Many other advantages can come from daily stretching as well. Following are a few of the primary ones.

Among the many advantages of regular stretching is that it makes one’s muscles more flexible and less prone to injury. You will maintain your current level of suppleness, and then increase it as time goes on. You’ll also notice greater muscle tone and suppleness, giving you smoother, less abrasive range of motion. Stretching particular areas can strengthen muscles in just a few weeks if you really work at it. There is no question that your normal fitness routine will benefit greatly from this.

A stretching routine can also help you prevent ordinary injuries. Injuries such as sprains, strains, and pulled ligaments are less of a possibility if you are flexible. This is due to the fact that your muscles are getting used to moving in various directions. Plus you will feel less pain in your joints if you make a stretching program a routine part of your day.

Your circulation will improve with regular stretching. Accordingly there is better flow of blood and oxygen in your entire system. This is the basis of making your body work as it should.

Stretching can enhance not only your physical performance but your mental functioning as well. After stretching, you’ll have improved your circulatory system and given yourself a more optimistic mindset. Both your ability to make logical decisions and your capacity to think and learn will be enhanced as a result of the additional amount of oxygen in the blood flowing to your brain.

However flexibility regimens only prove effective when the stretches are conducted correctly. You must be mindful of the proper form and do not stretch your muscles beyond their capacity in order to derive the most rewards from your routine.

You will notice that you have more self-confidence and feel healthier when you stretch daily. This is the case regardless of the aim of your stretching, be it for muscle toning or strength training. Daily stretching is ideal, however you ought to do it at least three times a week for the best results.

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1.  A few weeks ago, Matt Fitzgerald (my co-author from Maximum Strength) and I filmed a series of “Monday Minute” segements for Competitor.com.  Basically, it’s a weekly one-minute exercise demonstration and description along with the rationale for that exercise.  Here’s this week’s:

Wasn’t that fun?

2. One of the resounding themes at this past weekend’s Perform Better Summit in Long Beach was “invest in yourself.”  It’s no coincidence that all the presenters at this year’s event agreed that devoting time, effort, and funds to continuing education was a huge part of their success.  In a dynamic field like fitness/strength and conditioning, if you’re not getting better, you’re falling behind.

Alwyn Cosgrove wrote a good blog the other day about how he and his wife Rachel have used this mindset to establish one of the best staffs of trainers in the country.  Likewise, Mike Reinold published an essential list of the best titles in physical therapy, athletic training, strength and conditioning, manual therapy, etc. here last week. Just being around guys like Alwyn and the rest of the presenters makes you want to get better and better, and reading stuff like this from Mike reaffirms that mindset.  Not coincidentally, this weekend preceded my twice-a-year book buying shopping spree.  I purchased ten books online last night and can’t wait to start devouring them.

So, I guess the question for the weekend is, “What are you doing to get better?”  Let’s hear what you are going to do in the next week to set yourself apart in your chosen field.  Are you going to read a book?  Attend a seminar?  Watch a colleague in practice or call him/her to talk shop?  If you’re not getting better, you’re falling behind.

3. This is the most flat-out atrocious piece of journalism I’ve seen in my entire life:

Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin

Talk about skewing research to tell the story to which you’re clearly biased  in order to generate some controversy!  There is no mention of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or the difference among different types of exercise (steady-state cardio, interval training, resistance training). There isn’t any discussion of visceral versus subcanteous fat loss.

And, it isn’t that exercise won’t make you thinner; it’s that exercise combined with increased calories may not make you thinner. In other words, exercise is good, but morons are bad.

This is a perfect example of a journalist who clearly knows NOTHING about exercise interviewing a bunch of experts and then presenting one side of a story without making some very important qualifying statements (trust me, I’ve seen this multiple times before when freelance writers have interviewed me for stories for mainstream magazines).  In this writer’s case, those qualifying statements should be:

a. “Research has shown that exercise in conjunction with a maintenance or reduction in calories does increase fat loss as compared to maintaining or reducing calories alone.”

b. “I really am in no way qualified to write this article.  In fact, I’m probably not even smart enough to turn on a treadmill, so they just put me on this hamster wheel in my cubicle to make me feel somewhat qualified to discuss exercise.”

Honestly, I could go on all day ranting and raving about this, but such rubbish journalism isn’t even worth my time.  Instead, I’d just encourage you to give up Time Magazine altogether for publishing such crap.  I know I will be doing so.

Have a good weekend.

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