My training studio has as one of its core values; Innovation. We strive to always be up-to-date with our business practices and training techniques by …

Who is the Cooper Institute and what do they do?

The Cooper Institute (CI), established in 1970, is a 501.c.3. nonprofit research and education organization dedicated globally to preventive medicine. The Institute’s founder, Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., the “Father of Aerobics,” was an Air Force physician who became interested in the role of exercise in preserving health. When he published his first best seller, Aerobics, in 1968, he introduced a new word and was the spark for millions to become active. For More Information

Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH is the Chairman Emeritus to the current Board of Trustees that oversees The Cooper Institute’s strategic direction and educational and research initiatives. A few of his many accolades include:

• Author of the best-selling book, Aerobics, in 1968 and 19 subsequent book.
• After founding The Cooper Institute, he later established the Cooper Clinic, Cooper Fitness Center, Cooper Hotel & Conference Center, Cooper Spa, Cooper Wellness, Cooper Consulting Partners, and Cooper Complete

The Cooper Institute has achieved worldwide recognition for its outstanding scientific research on exercise physiology, obesity, hypertension, epidemiology, behavior change, children’s health issues, nutrition, aging, and other preventive medicine issues.  Learn More

Reason I’m Impressed

As a Fitness Professional with 2 decades in this industry, our core values and mission statement were all over this unexpected opportunity to visit The Cooper Institute.

YPB Mission Statement and Core Values

As a culture at YPB we believe that it matters to you that we …

• Are passionate, committed and love what we do
• Want to share and inspire “cutting edge” knowledge with you
• Attract and train the best staff to give the best service
• Will listen and communicate for better knowing and caring about you.
• Will motivate, challenge, celebrate, appreciate, set big audacious goals to make big things happen, and applaud your success.
• Continually improve, by ever learning, ever growing toward personal development
• Partner with, contribute to and give back to our community with integrity
• Respect, care and work together as a team

An Interesting Fact

IN his best-selling book, Aerobics, Dr. Cooper emphasized a point system for improving the cardiovascular system. His points system is also the basis of the 10,000 steps per day method of maintaining adequate fitness by walking. Read More

Feeling Affirmed

As the owner of Your Personal Best Training Studio, I’ve been encouraging health and fitness for 20 years now. I’m a published author and highly sought after Functional Aging Specialist and if you don’t believe what I share with you then take it from this veteran, 45 years in the industry …

Are you unsure where your health stands? Do you want to live a healthy lifestyle but don’t know where to start? Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, Founder and Chairman of Cooper Aerobics, developed eight steps to Get Cooperized, helping you live a longer and healthier life. Following these eight simple steps, such as exercising most days of the week and getting proper supplementation, will help you to live better, both sooner and later. Eight Steps Here

Overall, I found the Cooper Institute to be a premier facility, literally a compound of wealth and health. This inspiring slogan was everywhere, on the walls and t-shirts.

Since I felt no impediment from the visit only affirmed!

Dr. Cooper and his facility truly stood up to everything I have ever heard about him and this facility. When in the area be sure to to give him a visit! Or give us a call (361-549-4604) and WE will share OUR “cutting edge” knowledge with you.

If you could live a longer, healthier life by taking a small pill each day, you’d do it wouldn’t you? You’d be crazy not to! With this fact in mind, the incredible growth of dietary supplements makes sense. It’s estimated one out of every three Americans currently takes some sort of nutritional supplement each day. According to government statistics, more than $11 billion is spent each year on vitamins and minerals in the U.S. alone!

This extreme interest in health and nutrition is, unfortunately, fueled by false advertisement. The Internet, television, and product labels make claims not backed by science, fooling millions and reaping a sizable paycheck. And in America, supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration the same way that foods are, not as if they are medications. This means supplement manufacturers aren’t required to back their claims by science.

Here are three nutritional  supplement myths to be aware of.

Myth #1: “More Is Better”

If vitamins, minerals, botanicals, and herbs are good for you and available over the counter, they must be safe to take in high doses, right? Science has proven otherwise. You feel a cold coming on so you pop the vitamin C pills and lozenges to ward it off, but too much of certain vitamins and minerals can be dangerous. For example, when you overdose on vitamin C, your body loses its ability to absorb copper; too much phosphorous and your body can’t absorb enough calcium; vitamins A, D, and K can build up to toxic levels wtih large dosages; too much vitamin A will put you at risk for osteoporosis; vitamin E may increase your risk of stroke; and iron your risk of heart disease. And you thought those supplements came with no risks.

When choosing a multivitamin and other supplement, look for ones that contain no more than 100 percent of each ingredient and be careful of combining a multivitamin with another vitamin supplement.

Myth #2: “A Supplement Will Make Up for My Unhealthy Diet”

Hate vegetables? Drink too much caffeine? Like to skip breakfast? Well, be wary of relying solely on supplements to make up for your nutritional deficiencies. Supplements should only be taken as icing on the cake since the body is better able to absorb nutrients from real food. Besides, relying on supplements to fill in nutritional gaps can put you at risk for the overdosing dangers mentioned above.

With a healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, you’ve got little room for the need of supplements. Eating a healthy well-rounded diet will also provide millions of phytonutrients unavailable in supplement form. This increases the effects of supplements when taken, as supplements are made less effective when taken on an empty stomach.

Myth #3: “I Can Trust the Claims of Supplement Labels”

Many supplement containers describe the health benefits their ingredients aim to provide. These range from increased vitality to improved disease immunity. While such claims may sound great proper research does not back them. They are, however, great marketing tools that will pull you in and trick you right out of your money.

Supplement companies back their unproven claims with anecdotal evidence. Recently, independent research found that 30 percent of products labeled as multivitamins do not include the ingredients in the amounts listed on the labels and occasionally contain dangerous ingredients.

If you haven’t yet become one of my valued clients then now is the time! I’d like to show you how a consistent, challenging exercise program will dramatically transform your body – once and for all!

Are you feeling reluctant to create New Year’s Resolutions? After years of failed resolutions past, I don’t blame you. However, if you pick the right resolutions, you’ll face the New Year head on, ready to make good on your big plans from January 1 all the way to December 31.

What kind of resolutions will you actually keep this year? Good question. Here are seven resolutions that you can keep and that will help you achieve big strides towards your fitness goals in 2016:

Resolution #1: Get Fishy

Giving your health a boost doesn’t have to take an incredible amount of time. With this resolution, it doesn’t even take will power. All it takes is modifying your grocery list by buying fish on occasion. Enjoy fish for dinner once a week, and you’ll protect your heart from disease and increase your chances for a longer life. Go with trout, flounder, tuna or my personal favorites, salmon and tilapia.

Resolution #2: Lather Up

You want your skin to look young and healthy, so this is the year you do something about it. Keep a bottle of sunscreen on your counter. When getting ready for your day, make it part of your routine to spread some sun-shielding lotion on your face, arms, and neck. It’ll save your skin so it’ll look its best in years to come and prevent skin cancer.

Resolution #3: Sweat in the AM

In today’s world, it can be difficult to find the time to exercise. One way to increase your odds for exercising each day is to knock it out first thing in the morning. This year, resolve to exercise right after waking up. Adjust your wake up time to accommodate your morning sweat session.

Resolution 4: Swap One Meal

By swapping out one of your daily meals for a 1 or 2 scoop protein shake you’ll save yourself a few hundred calories each day while providing your muscles with much needed protein. While I prefer a protein shake right after my workout, most of my clients choose to make this swap for breakfast. It’s so convenient to shake up some protein powder and water to drink on-the-go as you race out the door to start your day. If you only choose to make one resolution this year make it this one – you’ll be astounded at the quick results this simple daily swap will deliver.

Resolution 5: Push Your Body

Know that half marathon you’ve been considering? Want to stop feeling the need to eat cake at every birthday party you attend—even when the cake is dry? This is the year you train properly for that race, say no to cake on occasion, and take up brisk walking in the sand at the beach. Find someone with the same goal, make a plan to reach the goal, and get started. Once you complete your first goal and see that it wasn’t as impossible as you once thought, you may just find yourself setting even bigger goals for next year.

Resolution 6: Down More H2O

Your body is primarily made up of water. Keep it that way by skipping soda and sipping on water all day long. A great way to make strides toward your watery goal is to fill up the biggest water bottle you can find and go at it. Preferably, you can drink from something that holds 2.2 liters (9 cups), as all you’ll need is a single fill up in the morning to stay hydrated all day long.

Resolution 7: Stretch Every Day

One of the best ways to avoid injury, as we age, is to take a few minutes to stretch daily. This is most effectively done after you have warmed up and before you begin the intense portion of your routine. By taking the best care of your muscles, with stretching, you’ll avoid taking time off for injury recovery and will be able to accomplish your goals quicker.

There you have it, 7 realistic New Year’s Resolutions to help make 2016 your best year yet. The most effective way to ensure that you stick with your resolutions is to become one of my valued clients. I’ll be by your side every step of the way as we get you from where you are today to the body that you want to live in tomorrow.

Call or email me now to get started on my best program for YOU! 361-549-4604

You want what millions of other people do—to lose weight. Whether you want to trim off extra pounds so you’ll feel better, look better, or be better prepared to tackle whatever demands come your way, you probably want to find the most efficient for weight loss.

Well, with this email, you can figure out if you should put your emphasis on diet or exercise to get the results you want. Without further ado, I present the contenders for your weight-loss attention…

In the Left Corner: Diet

While fad diets have tried their darndest to malign the fine name of dieting, proper diet continues to be a vital way to lose weight. In fact, research has shown that if you’re only going to do one thing in your journey to weight loss, it should be dieting.

What does dieting mean exactly? It means taking very careful note of every bite you put in your mouth. But you can’t stop there. Because paying attention to what you eat isn’t going to make you lose an ounce of weight. You’ve got to take note of it and then reduce the number of calories you consume. If you want to lose even more faster, you’ll even want to make sure your calories are good calories. In other words, you can’t eat just Twinkies and Big Macs every day. You’ll want to go with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, and lots and lots of water.

In the Right Corner: Exercise

Like diet, there have been all sorts of fad exercise programs that have spanned from dangerous to ridiculously funny. But exercise hasn’t lost its place in the race for weight loss. Why? Because savvy people realize you’ve got to hit the gym if you’re going to maximize your weight loss. The best technique for weight loss is to burn more calories than you take in, and exercise is your golden ticket for shredding calories.

There are other reasons exercise rocks in the world of weight loss. It is the best way to ensure your weight you drop is fat and not muscle. Also, when you exercise, your muscles tone up and grow stronger. With more muscle, your body’s ability to shave off calories increases, making it easier to burn calories even when you’re doing nothing at all. Diet can’t do that!

Who Wins the Battle?

More than likely, you read this hoping that exercise alone would help you lose weight because you hate the idea of watching what you eat. Or maybe you’re just the opposite, and you prefer to watch your diet but absolutely loathe exercise. Well, there’s bad news for you either way. This battle that has been waging on for decades (okay, make that centuries) is ultimately a draw.

If you’re not willing to eat right and exercise, the success you see today will be gone tomorrow. Try as you might, one of these ingredients alone is not enough to help you lose weight, keep it off, and have an overall healthy lifestyle. In fact, you will find that once you become serious about losing weight, you will be careful about what you eat because you don’t want to put all that exercise to waste. At the same time, you’ll push yourself harder in the gym because you realize you could burn even more calories and get closer to your weight goal today.

So stop pitting diet against exercise and do both. Your good health and thinner self await!

Most of us consider fruit to be healthy – something that we can enjoy without restraint. While fresh fruit does contain essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, the market has been flooded with “fruit products” that are sabotaging your fat loss results.

Is any product with the word “fruit” in the name a valid way to meet your fruit quota? Nope. Here’s what I mean:

Problem Fruit #1: Juice

Fresh fruit juice can be wonderful. It has great flavor, great color, and good amounts of important vitamins and minerals. At least it does when it is actually fruit juice. Unfortunately, many drinks labeled as fruit juice, contain a very low amount of actual fruit juice. For these hardly-fruit fruit juices, sugar and water make up the bulk of the contents, robbing you of the important benefits of all-natural fruit juice and leaving you primed and ready to fill your fat cells.

Always keep fruit juice indulgences to a minimum, as even the fruit-only kind is loaded with simple sugars.

Problem Fruit #2: The Fruit Smoothie

Now, now, don’t get all up in arms. Smoothies have long been considered a healthy treat, but this often a misconception. It’s not that all fruit smoothies are unhealthy. In fact, a smoothie can give a boost of vitamins and minerals that help you feel energetic and ready to face the day. However, it’s very easy to add more sugar than many desserts, losing all the healthy benefits and putting you at risk for fat storage.

To keep your smoothie lean and healthy, don’t add ice cream, frozen yogurt, processed sweeteners, or other items high in sugar and filled with empty calories. Use only fruit, ice, juice, yogurt, and protein powder to ensure it is high on the health chart.

Problem Fruit #3: Fruit-Filled Desserts

Lots of desserts are based around fruit. Cheesecake, pie, and upside down cake just to name a few. Though most of these desserts are unhealthy, there are a few healthy fruit-based desserts to enjoy. Fruit parfait and fruit sorbet are usually lower in sugar and calories than most desserts. And if you have to have your cake and eat it too, a light angel food will do just fine. Just make sure the slice of cake is thin.

Problem Fruit #4: Fruit-Flavored Cereals

Hopefully eating bowl after bowl of fruity cereals that leave your milk pink and orange is only a problem for your kids. But if you’re still hooked on cereals that claim to have some semblance of fruit, while being filled with added sugars and calories, it’s time for a change. Yes, these cereals may taste good, but sugar-laden breakfast cereals are ruining your fitness results. Wean yourself from the fruity cereals by chopping some real fruit into a bowl of healthy, sugar-free, whole grain cereal.

Stick with the Real Deal. The best way to avoid unhealthy fruit flavored products is to only eat raw, whole fruits and avoid packaged fruit. This will keep you on track with your fitness and fat loss goal.

Don’t forget that true fitness success comes from a combination of a consistent, challenging exercise routine coupled with a diet of wholesome, unprocessed foods.

I’m here to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals.

Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will have you seeing results before this year’s end.

A woman sits at a restaurant studying the menu with a furrowed brow. She has begun an exercise routine and knows that her frequent meals out could slow her weight loss results if she wasn’t careful.

When the waiter comes she is still deep in thought over what to order. “What can I get for you?” he asks with a smile. She looks up and frowns, no closer to arriving at a decision. On a whim she blurts out, “I’m trying to eat healthy but I have no idea what to order. What do you think I should eat?”

The young waiter looks startled but quickly rattles off his idea of a healthy meal. “The eggplant and roasted pepper pasta is filled with vegetables. You could get that with a salad.”

The woman smiles. Yes, vegetables do sound healthy. So she orders the veggie pasta with a side salad and a diet soda, then sits back to enjoy a few slices of bread.

That’s a true story. Not surprisingly the woman was unable to lose weight even though she was exercising regularly.

It is said that 80% of your weight loss results are derived from diet, and the remaining 20% from exercise—so you can see how important it is for you to stick with a healthy eating plan.

Use the following tips as your guide to eating out right:

Appetizers

Appetizers are a great way to start out a leisurely meal, but can also derail your good intentions with a quickness.

Don’t Order:

• Anything fried. Fried foods are a favorite, but will do damage that even the most intense workout won’t undo.
• Creamy dips. These are filled with fat and usually, come with something fried to dip in it.
• Bread. It comes smothered in cheese or seeped in butter, and even when it’s plain it fills you up with more carbohydrates than your body needs.

Do Order

• Green salad. Ask for very light dressing and no croutons.
• Antipasto. A plate of thinly sliced meats, olives and cheese will start you off with some protein.
• Lettuce wraps. These are delicious, protein-filled and low in carbs.

Beverages

Calories in drinks are sneaky because they don’t fill you up. This means that you end up taking in far more calories than you bargained for.

Don’t Order

• Regular or diet soda. On one hand, you’re drinking corn syrup through a straw, on the other you’re drinking chemicals that cause you to crave sweets. It’s a no-win situation.
• Sweet cocktails. Many restaurants are advertising sweet cocktails –resist the urge. Sugar plus alcohol equals loads of unneeded calories.
• Sweetened tea. You may feel righteous for ordering iced tea, but if it’s sweetened then you may as well be drinking fully loaded soda.

Do Order

• Water. Don’t laugh! Water is the best beverage of all.
• Unsweetened iced tea. Don’t ruin it by adding that packet of sugar. Learn to enjoy the natural sweetness to the tea.
• Red wine. Stick to one glass, and drink responsibly.

Entrees

This is where the real damage is done. When you order something carb-loaded you leave the restaurant feeling heavy and lethargic—you may not even realize this until you start eating better and experience the light, energetic way you’ll feel after eating a healthy meal.

Don’t Order

• Pasta. I don’t care if it comes with a red sauce or white sauce, meat or veggies. If you’re trying to lose weight and maintain a lean body then never, ever order a plate of pasta.
• Pizza. Another dish that has far more carbohydrates than you need. If you’re craving the pizza toppings then simply order those over a salad.
• Burgers. If you really want a burger then ditch the bun and the fries, and have your patty wrapped in lettuce.

Do Order

• Lean meat with vegetables. Fish, steak, chicken, take your pick and pair it with green vegetables.
• Salad with protein. Ask for very light dressing and make sure you have a nice piece of protein on it.
• Soup and salad. Stick with broth-based soups that contain protein and pass on the breadsticks.

If you want to expedite your results then consider working with me on a fitness plan that will turn you into a fat burning machine.

Call or email today—I look forward to hearing from you.

This email is only for those who are completely fed up with trying to lose fat and inches through diet and exercise…

You’re probably thinking: What’s the deal? Why won’t the weight come off? You are doing everything you can think of to make it happen.

There’s one simple thing standing between you and a slimmed down, amazingly fit body. One. Simple. Thing.

And here it is…You eat too many calories.

That’s it.

Solve this problem and your dream body will quickly and easily become reality.

Wait, don’t give me the excuse that, “I only eat healthy calories.” That’s great, but even healthy calories add up to extra pounds when we let them go unchecked.

Back to Basics: Why Calorie Counting Works

You may have heard about the professor from Kansas State University, Mark Haub, who performed a famous junk food diet. Professor Haub proved a powerful lesson for anyone who still has weight to lose, so let’s listen up.

In a demonstrative experiment for his nutrition class, Professor Haub ate a diet of pure junk food for 2 months. I’m talking candy bars and packaged snacks – the kinds of things you find in a snack machine.

You’d expect him to gain weight, right? Well, there was one catch. He was only allowed to eat 1800 calories each day. Yes, those calories were pure junk, but the limit was firmly put at 1800 calories.

Before the experiment, Professor Haub’s typical calorie intake was closer to 2600 calories. So his junk food diet put him at an 800 calorie per day deficit.

Boy did that calorie deficit pay off. Within 2 months he had dropped 30 pounds, bringing his BMI from overweight down to normal.

No, I’m NOT recommending a junk food diet as your answer for fat loss. What I am pointing out is how powerful a reduction in calories is when it comes to lowering your body weight.

Do you know how many calories you eat each day?

If you’re not sure, don’t worry. You’re about to learn the one fat loss tool that will change everything for you. First we need to get to the bottom of how many calories you’re eating each day.

Yes, even those healthy calories.

Before you start complaining, let me explain. Food journaling doesn’t involved lugging around a journal, writing down each food item throughout the day then looking everything up at the end of the day to manually total up calories like it used to.

These days food journaling has gone digital, and tracking your calories only takes seconds of your time.

Here’s what I need you to do:

#1: Download a food journal application to your smart phone. At the touch of your fingers you’ll be able to look up food items and instantly see your running calorie total.

#2: Meet with your doctor to find a daily calorie count that will allow for safe weight loss and then diligently maintain that number. Eat healthy, fresh foods and when you decide to indulge, make sure to do so within your target calorie range.

#3: Meet with me for a consistent and challenging exercise routine. My exercise programs are specifically crafted to get you into amazing shape as quickly as possible.

These three, simple steps will give you structure and clarity that you need when it comes to making food choices and will quickly result in pounds lost and goals achieved.

Once your goal weight is met, your target calorie range will be adjusted for maintenance. Sounds good, right?

I’d love to hear from you. Call or email today to get started!