30 day Weight Loss/ Fitness Challenge

As many of you know, there have been fitness & weight loss challenges in the past and they have all been VERY SUCCESSFUL in many ways However, I feel that, in some ways, because of the large number of participants in the challenges, people have been slipping through the cracks. It’s been a little TOO EASY for people to go back to their old ways and go unnoticed… and as a coach, THAT KILLS ME! I want to see you guys CHANGE not just physically, but I want to see your confidence levels rise, I want to see you start to believe in what is possible for yourself again… and I want to see you become STRONGER, inside & out! SO, I have decided to run a NEW kind of challenge.

This challenge group will only have 5 MEMBERS… They will ALL be doing the BEACHBODY PROGRAM OF THEIR CHOICE, STARTING ON THE SAME DAY.  THEY WILL ALL BE REPLACING ONE MEAL A DAY WITH SHAKEOLOGY (& yes, if you do not have Shakeology, that would mean you would have to be willing to invest in it… because if I am going to invest my time in working with you one on one… I need to know that you are willing to invest in your own health first!) Because each member will have a different starting weight and goals, we will also be using the Beachbody Club membership to customize a meal plan specific to YOUR goals to get you the BEST possible results! Even better… By being a CLUB member you will actually SAVE 10% on ALL of your Beachbody purchases!!! If you have not already, you will need to officially sign up to have me as your coach by going to MY site http://www.gregsiesz.com  and registering to join Team Beachbody and TOGETHER we will BEGIN OUR JOURNEY. Checking in EVERYDAY, without exception! I will be giving these 5 my cell phone number for anytime support and you BETTER BELIEVE I will be calling YOU if you don’t hear from you on the boards! This IS a commitment… ON MY PART and YOURS… Hence why I said that the people selected would NEED TO BE READY to SERIOUSLY change their lives! But I do believe it could be something that will not only make me a better coach for having gone through it… but will leave 5 people COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED at the end!!! If you would like to be considered and are willing to make ALL the commitments above, then… what are you waiting for?!?! Write me back, RIGHT NOW and tell me that you want in this group!!! Challenge packs are available on my site http://www.gregsiesz.com Next challenge group starts January 1st!

Review of the Warrior Dash

In July, the Warrior Dash made it’s first appearance in the state of Michigan and 26,000 of us showed up for the two-day event, making the biggest event in the history of Warrior Dash.  The Warrior Dash is an extreme obstacle course race which is 3.2 miles in length and has 12  obstacles.  It’s billed as the “Craziest Day of your Frickin’ Life”. Prior to the event, I wasn’t sure what to think since the majority of the ‘chatter’ about the event seemed to be focused on the after race festivities with the beer, bands, and turkey legs. Was this a serious race or just a big party?

The Main Stage area at the Warrior Dash

What I found was that this event could be whatever you wanted it to be; intense or just for fun. The atmosphere was great with live music constantly and everyone was excited or a little nervous but in no way shape or form was this some stuffy, high pressure event. If you were out to compete, there were plenty of experienced runners in the field to challenge you. If you were out to just say you finished it, there were lots of people in that category too. Either way you got your finishers medal, helmet, t-shirt and beer and lots of congratulations from everyone around at the finish.

My good friend Jeff and I showing off our Warrior Dash medals

As far as the Michigan course itself, it was very muddy, very smelly, and very very hot. The course we ran on happens to also be used as a horse riding trail. You can imagine the smell of manure in 93 degree heat with no wind, no clouds, and high humidity. The weather conditions made the course much more difficult than it probably was, for me, since I train indoors. You can see the course I ran in Michigan by clicking HERE. Unless you are way out in front of the other competitors in your wave, you will be around many other runners on the course and have to make adjustments accordingly and possibly wait at obstacles for people to clear. In my race there were 600 people in each wave, but it really wasn’t a big issue on the course. Despite the weather and smells this race was a blast!  I couldn’t help but smile as I was going through each obstacle because I loved the challenge.

My overall impression was that this was a tremendously well run event. We NEVER waited in line for anything with 12,000+ people around. Parking, check- in and bag check were a breeze. Even getting a beer after the race was super fast. The course was very fun, but, I wish I would have been in the first flight of the day because the heat at 1:30 pm was ridiculous.

If you are going to do the Warrior Dash, here are my suggestions.

1.Train. This event is not going to be as fun if you are physically unprepared for the challenge. I used Insanity and Insanity: The Asylum to prepare for the event and never had an issue with any of the obstacles.

2. Get registered early. I registered 6 months early and Saturday was already sold out.

3. Don’t wear anything you want to wear again, including shoes.

4. Hydrate, and bring your own shade. We got to the event early and there was no shade anywhere so we baked in the sun for 2 hours before our race which didn’t help matters.

5. Get someone to take pictures for you if you want to save some money. To purchase 3 digital copies from SportPhoto would have cost me almost $30.

6. Don’t be a hero on the obstacles. Take your time and get through them safely. I saw many people going through obstacles out of control and hurting themselves or banging into other competitors.

7. If you are going to compete and try to get and excellent finishing time, get to the front of the starting gate or else you will be trying to pass hundreds of people during the first mile. We stood at the end of the line for the wave ahead of ours. When they were released on to the course we just walked right up to the starting line to wait for our wave to be sent out.

I would recommend the Warrior Dash highly to anyone who is looking to challenge themselves in a new way. If you are already a  “Warrior” I’d love to hear about your experience! As always if you have questions or would like to talk about training, feel free to contact me. Let’s connect on Facebook or Twitter (gregsiesz)