A good rule of thumb is that if a diet sounds awful then chances are it is. If something is so restrictive on the things you can eat then it won’t last, trust me I’ve seen it happen. That’s why every nutritional plan I design is customized just for you.

To start, we will analyze your metabolic type, which will give me the proper breakdown of the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, as well as the optimal food types to fit you.
Once we establish that we take a look at your goals to determine what caloric intake you need to maintain in order to reach those goals. That number of calories is based heavily on what is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the amount of calories that you would burn through-out the day.
Next, you will be asked to come up with a list of any foods that you will not eat or don’t like, as well as what some of your favorite foods are.
Now comes the final part. Once all of this information is gathered you will take a look at your genetic background and ethnicity to determine what foods should be included in your nutritional plan. The importance of this is based on a scientifically proven principle known as Physical Degeneration which states that an individual should eat foods similar to what their ancestors ate, in order to to help fight against disease.

For more information on the 3 different nutritional plans that I offer check out my website at www.DanMelita.com

10. If you have trouble finding time to workout
9. If your job requires that you sit down for the majority of the day
8. If health issues run in your family
7. If you’re trying to recover from an injury
6. If you compete in any form of athletics
5. If you have a lot of stress in your life
4. If you need extra motivation
3. If you don’t know the correct way to workout or eat for your goals
2. If you are overweight or obese
1. If you want to live a happier, healthier, and longer life

Do you think you know how many reps you should do when you’re working out? If not than you’re not alone. Over 90% of people who workout are training in the incorrect range for their goals. Are you trying to Trim down? Loose weight? Gain muscle? Maintain?

Soon I will provide a simple guide to learning how many reps you should be doing based on your goal, but first it’s important to note that the human body has 3 different types of muscle fibers, all responsible for different goals. White fast-twitch are for size and power and fatigue very quickly. Red fast-twitch are for stamina and strength and are most used for incremental activities such as boxing. Red slow-twitch are for muscular endurance and can last very long times before reaching fatigue.

Alright with the above knowledge here’s a guide to how many reps you should be doing:

Size and Power Goal = 4-6 repetitions
Strength and Stamina Goal = 12-15 repetitions
Muscular Endurance Goal = 20-25 repetitions

It’s now the time of year when resolutions are made, as well as broken far too early. I’ve seen it every year of my professional career when someone decides that they want to change their lifestyle and get into shape. Some of these people succeed and some of them falter in the face of adversity; which will you be?

With the growing number of over-weight and obese people I hope that all of you who decide to make health a lifestyle exceed your expectations and blow away all of your fitness goals.

Here are a few simple changes that everyone can make to their daily routines in order to ensure complete success of your resolution:

1. Drink 16oz of chilled water first thing in the morning when you wake up. Your body will be dehydrated from numerous hours of sleep and drinking water first thing will help jump start your metabolism for the day

2. Take the stairs at work instead of the elevator. This will help you burn more calories through-out the day

3. If you MUST eat fast food than choose items off the healthier menu keeping calories from fat down, especially saturated and trans fats

4. Never sit for longer than 1 hour straight. Sitting too long will cause issues in flexibility as well as the hips and lower back

5. Eat something small every 3 hours. 3 square meals and 2 snacks

Put these simple steps into play and you’ll be heading in the right direction for success!

Good luck everyone and as always if you have any questions you know where to reach me!

Happy New Year!

This past weekend was a great one for the community of San Diego. The City Chase was in town (www.Citychaseusa.com) on Saturday the 20th of June and I volunteered to run a “chase point”. For those of you who have no idea what City Chase is, it’s kinda like the Amazing Race, but on a city level. Hundreds of teams of 2 signed up and flooded the streets of the city trying to complete various types of challenges. Anything went in the challeges and they were a true test to ones; mind, body, and stomach!

The chase point that I was running was at San Diego City College on their soccer field and it was FUN! Of course being a trainer I set out to test the bodies and team work of the teammates. In under 4 minutes EACH member of the team had to complete the following:
20 Push-ups
20 Sit-Ups
50x Jump Rope
100 yard Shuttle Run w/water balloons
50 yard dash
Score 1 soccer goal from 40 yards out with an OILED SOCCER BALL! haha

If they didn’t finsh everything in under 4 minutes, both members had to complete a lap around the field in under 2 minutes.

The good news is that EVERY team passed. The bad news is that 50% of them had to do the run! The record time for the day was 1:45! Very impressive!

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming events that I will be at. For more information about them take a look at the following links!

www.Danmelita.com
www.StayClassy.org
www.Citychaseusa.com
www.stayclassy.org/tailgate/index.php
www.stayclassy.org/firerun/index.php

Until next time!

Now it’s time to look into both sides of the coin.

Do – Bring your own towel. It’s really gross when you don’t.
Don’t – Forget to wipe your sweat off the bench/machine you just used.

Do – Remember to breath in through your nose and out through your mouth
Don’t – Make loud grunting sounds, it doesn’t help and it makes you look like an idiot

Do – Remember to re-rack your weights in the PROPER location. You’ll be appreciated
Don’t – Leave your weights on the floor or put them away where they don’t belong

Do – Eat something small that has both protein and complex carbs in it 1-2 hrs before the workout
Don’t – Eat any dairy within 2 hours of working out. It’ll curdle in your stomach!

Do – Make sure to drink water or a diluted sports drink during your workout. Your muscles need it.
Don’t – Drink things too high in sugar and don’t not drink at all

Do – Replenish your body with a protein drink within 30 minutes of your final rep
Don’t – Starve yourself after a workout. Your muscles will hate you

Do – Make sure each rep is completed in the FULL range of motion
Don’t – Forget that if it feels wrong, it is wrong

Do – Use weight clips on every bar your use
Don’t – Forget the clips. I don’t care how strong you are, weights CAN shift and cause injury

Do – Pull the lat bar down to your CHEST. This is proper form
Don’t – Pull lat bar behind your head. This is WRONG and will cause injury over time

Do – Stretch after your workout. You’ll build more strength and power
Don’t – Forget to stretch. You’ll limit muscle growth and increase injury risk

Alright, well I hope this has helped a few of you out there. There are tons more unwritten rules out there, but as long as you remember the Do’s and Don’ts that we’ve covered here than I’m sure you’ll be fine!