Outstanding Store of the Year 2009

We just got back from the Annual Max Muscle Franchisee Convention. It was two days of meetings and seminars. We got to hear a lot of cool things going on at other stores all over the country. We met a ton of really great people. Lots of people just like us. We were inspired and motivated. There were owners who had been in the systems for a lot of years and there were owners who were just getting ready to open their first store.

There was an awards ceremony at lunch on Sunday. They gave out a few awards - one of which was Outstanding Store of the Year. The gave one award for the East, one for Central and one for the West. Max Muscle Vancouver won the award for the West. And here it is....


We are very proud to have been awarded this honor. We have this award displayed at our Hazel Dell store. Please stop by and see it - because its a tribute to our employees and our customers and we share it with all of you. We look forward to another Outstanding year!!!

The Reason

I was cleaning out the word documents in my computer and found the following. I copied it off of some blog I read last year, back before we decided to do triathlons. I hadn't yet learned to swim, but I was thinking about it, wondering about the possibilities. I read this and it spoke to me. I read it now and it has even more meaning. If you wonder why, as I often do, this may help...

When bobbing around the water, waiting for the world to turn, with the music blaring and the crowds gathering and the mass of swimcaps all around - we are, each of us, a tiny universe - with a story, a purpose. We, each of us, have somebody up there who's breath won't return until they see us safely out of the water. We each answer to something other than ourselves in answering why we are here. It is never a simple thing. And when you toe that line, in the instant before you step into the water to Take Your Mark, you are their ambassador. You represent everybody who believed, or doubted. Who showed up because of, or in spite of. You cross for everybody who hasn't crossed yet, who will one day, and who never would. And you can either pull that weight, or let it pull you.

Because if you know not suffering, or anger, or defeat; if you've never felt like you are more than who you are; if you've never asked yourself what you are truly made of - what absolutes live inside you, and resolved to discover what...well then, of course you'd never be interested in the first place. It is a thing we all have in common out there - a determination, a requirement, to be Who We Are Instead.

Yes, it is. It is that big of a deal. It is that hard. It really is. That's sort of the point.

The rest are just details. The rest figures itself out. There's never a "good time". It's never going to ideally suit your universe. You'll never think to yourself, "Geez, you know what I'm in the mood for? Madness." It will always be hard, you will always have to work to find the balance, it will never make sense to everybody, often not even yourself. And that, too, is part of the journey, and part of the forging. If you have to talk yourself into it, then wait until your time comes. Until you're drawn in. Until the current takes you. But if you're just making excuses...well then. Life is short. Get in already.

Training is the opposite of hoping

Apparently, this is a new slogan that Nike is using in their marketing. I saw it on a t-shirt and LOVED it. This is my new theme for life. I think it can pertain to any challenge that you face – not just an athletic event.

First, I’ll discuss this in the realm of events, specifically the Half Ironman that Trevor and I are training for. I don’t want to stand on the banks of Lake Stevens at 6:30 am August 16th and think “I hope I’m ready for this”. I want to stand there and know that I have trained for it and that makes me ready. I want to know that I have trained for the 1.2 mile swim, the 56 mile bike ride and the 13.1 mile run. I don’t want to just hope I’ve done enough.

Sure, we could spend the next few months working out a little more, swimming a few times, riding the bike when the weather is nice and running some longer runs. We could eat a little more chicken and a little less ice cream. We could sleep in and skip workouts – go out drinking on a Saturday night and miss our Sunday run. We could eat big breakfasts at Biscuits café. We could do all this and hope it was enough.

OR

We could come up with a plan. We could spend the next few months executing that plan. It could include sport specific workouts for swimming, cycling and running….weight and core workouts. We could practice transitions from the water to the bike and the bike to the run. We could develop a week by week nutrition plan to fuel our workouts and try out different supplements and fuel for long workouts and recovery. We could read up on what to expect, other participants’ experiences and advice. We could get good sleep and solid rest on days off. And then we could show up and KNOW that we had trained and that we are as ready as we could possibly be. We can hope the weather is nice, but KNOW that we are ready even if its not.

Just writing that makes me want to be even more diligent in my training. It makes me feel like I am in complete control of my future and that is empowering.

Now let’s talk about how this theme can transfer to the rest of our lives. Are there things that you hope? I don’t mean hope in terms of “hopes and dreams”, I mean home as in “I hope I don’t lose my job,”, “I hope these pants still fit”, “I hope I have enough money to retire”.

In the examples above, the word training can be replaced with preparing. Let’s say “preparing is the opposite of hoping”. Let’s prepare for losing our job, so that if we do, we will be okay – look at what it would mean for you and what you need to do in order to be prepared. Do you need to cut back on your month expenses? Start saving into an emergency fund? Start looking for a new job now? And those pants…you know if they are going to fit. Stop hoping – either be okay with the fact that they don’t fit, or do something to make them fit – alter them or alter yourself. Either way is fine, just don’t hope about it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. You can train and prepare and it may still not be enough. You may have a bad day at an event, you may be hit with something in life that is totally unexpected – that you didn’t even think you would ever have to prepare for. You can do all the right things and still not be ready. But wouldn’t you rather look at an event/challenge/experience and say “I did all I could do, I gave the best I had, I respected the challenge. I’ll learn from this and grow”. That is so much better than “I should have been more prepared”, “I should have seen this coming”, “I should have trained for this”.

So many people go through life in the passenger seat – they let everyone and everything control their path. Sometimes its okay to go along for the ride, but for the most part you should be the driver. Take charge of your life. Decide what you want, come up with a plan and GO GET IT. Stop telling yourself all the reasons why you can’t have what you want.

Training is the opposite of hoping. Start training for your life.

Vancouver Fit - Change your life

Vancouver/Portland Fit started last week. Trevor and I are assistant coaches in Vancouver, but we went down on Saturday to help out in Portland. There were over 800 people pre-registered for this season, about 700 of them in Portland. The other 100 or so come to Vancouver. I can tell you this - Saturday morning, 7 am in Portland WAS COLD. Like the coldest I have been in a long time. Trevor was shaking and I think his lips turned a color purple I haven't really ever seen!! Sunday was a bit warmer or perhaps we were just more prepared. I wore two pairs of pants and 4 shirts!

It was pretty exciting to see all these people, taking the first step towards a new life. Most of the new members had not run more than 3 miles, so to think of running or walking 26.2 miles in October is overwhelming. We've done this program before and as the weeks go on, the group gets smaller.

Trevor and I have both made it all the way through the program. From our experience, the secret to success is committing. Making the committment is the secret to completing 26 weeks of training and the marathon. Making the committment and following the program. It is a no brainer - just do what you are told! The program is all layed out for you - you look at the schedule and go do what it says.

Of course you have to take care of your body - get enough rest, eat right, be safe out on the road - but really, anyone can do it. ANYONE.

We looked out at all the faces in the crowd and wondered who had committed and who was leaving themselves an out. As with anything in life, if you give yourself an out, most of the time - you'll take it. If you say "I'll do this as long as I have the time" or "I'll do the long runs on the weekends I don't have other plans", you will never finish. There has to be no doubt. You have to say "I'll make the time", "I'll do the long runs, no matter what else I have going on". For example - the year we were training for the marathon, we took a motorcyle trip to Sturgis, South Dakota. With the limited space for clothes, we managed to pack in our running gear - this included a pair of Trevor's size 14 running shoes. Why? Because we had committed and when you committ - anything is possible.

When you commit, you can do anything. That is when your life changes. That is when you realize there is nothing you can't do - as long as you decided to do it.

So, the question is this...What are you going to commit to? If its running a marathon - get your butt to Beaches Restaurant on Sunday morning or ConWay in NW Portland on Saturday morning. Check out the schedule at www.Portlandfit.com and as they say "Change your life"

Fight Night.

If you knew Trevor Bryant growing up, you wouldn’t recognize him today. As a child and teenager, Trevor was overweight. Never known as athletic or slim, he played water polo and always wanted to take karate lessons. He graduated Sunset High School a year early and went off to college in Wyoming. When he moved back to Portland after college, Trevor started taking karate lessons at a school in Southeast Portland. Here he met Chris and Kristine Boyer. After several years, Trevor moved away, karate lessons left behind. He lost track of the Boyers.

A few years later, he moved back to Portland and met his current wife, Tracy. Trevor often talked of wanting to find Chris and Kristine so that he could start taking lessons again. Finally, he found their school – it was in Lake Oswego and Trevor lived in Vancouver. Trevor did not have the time to fit karate into his busy schedule. He was working 70 hours a week. He weighed about 240 pounds. At 6’4” he carried the weight better than most, but still was not in very good shape. His eating was sporadic, mostly due to his schedule.

Trevor and Tracy were at the Portland Auto Show in the winter of 2003 and they ran into Chris and Kristine. Afterwards, Trevor again commented how he wished he had the time to take lessons. Three weeks later, for Valentine’s Day, Tracy bought Trevor 5 personal sessions with Chris and scheduled them for Saturday mornings. She figured if it was scheduled and paid for, he would go. And he did go - once a week at first, then twice a week, then three times a week. Now, 5 years later, Trevor spends 10-12 hours a week at the karate school and has been training for his first Mixed Martial Arts amateur fight on March 21^st.

A year ago, Trevor decided he wanted to fight, for real. Locally, Rumble at the Roseland, in Portland seemed like the right venue. He talked with Chris and they spent the last 12 months training for the fight. Weighing around 230 at the time, Trevor figured he could get down to the 205-weight class. During this time, Trevor was laid off from his fulltime job and opened a business. The business is a sports nutrition store called Max Muscle. With the proper nutrition and training, Trevor now weighs around 190 and fought the 185 weight class. He is lean and strong, something he never considered himself. The people who come into his store don’t realize that he hasn’t always been this way, that he used to weigh a lot more. His blood pressure used to be way too high. At his last doctor’s visit – to get his blood work and physical done for the fight, his doctor told him he was the perfect specimen of health.

On March 21^st, Trevor achieved a life-long dream. He got into the octagon (the 8 sided metal cage used in mixed martial arts) and knew that he was ready. No matter what the outcome of the match, he will have won. Trevor did not win the fight that night – his opponent was declared the winner. In the hearts and minds of the 40 plus friends there to watch him accomplish his dream, Trevor was the winner. He set a goal, a goal that many thought crazy; he developed a plan, executed the plan and accomplished his goal. Nothing stood in his way. And now, nothing will ever stand in his way again.

I could've had a VO2!

The right equipment and the right knowledge are key to the right performance – in every part of our lives. This is especially true it athletic training. A few years ago I started using a heart rate monitor for my runs and my cycling. I used a formula to determine my max heart rate and then calculated my zones. The general formula is (220 – your age) for max heart rate – then multiply by .6, .7, .8 to determine your zones (60-70%, 70-80%). I usually focused on the zones for interval training and then just paid attention to what my heart rate was during a run. I didn’t try to keep my HR in any particular zone; I just noticed where I spent most of my run.

This year, we need to be smarter about our training – we are going to expect our bodies to do some serious endurance events and will need to train them to handle it. Trevor and I both decided that we needed to get as much information about our bodies and how to make them the most efficient – so we went to our favorite place – Clearwater Clinic in Portland. They started out as our chiropractor about 7 years ago and have worked miracles on injuries. They also have a naturopath who has helped me with food intolerances, recurrent sinus infections and gastro-intestinal distress. We always know that no matter what is wrong with us, they will set us on the path to healing. They are also very involved with Portland Fit and understand all the crazy things we do.

The clinic performs a VO2 test to find your anaerobic threshold – the heart rate at which your body stops using fat for fuel and starts to use only glycogen. This is important to know if you are doing any sort of endurance event. If your AT (anaerobic threshold) is 170 – like mine – you can go 2 hours at the most at a heart rate of 170 before your body will stop burning fat (an unlimited fuel source) and start burning only glycogen. This means that at that point, you would need to ingest a ridiculous amount of calories to keep yourself fueled. This is the reason for hitting “the wall”. Anyone who’s done a marathon knows what this is – your body says “enough”. You lose your ability to move forward and getting across the finish line seems impossible. This is because your body is out of gas.

If you can train in the right heart rate zone, you can avoid hitting “the wall”. If you work in a zone that burns mostly fat, you can go forever. I have been running at an average heart rate of about 165-170 bpm (beats per minute). Since that is right at my AT, I can’t maintain that for more than 2 hours. I can tell you, my marathon time and my IM time will be A LOT longer than 2 hours. I should be training in the 140-155 bpm zone. I thought that would be too easy. Well, today I rode my bike on the trainer and kept in that zone and when I was done, 45 minutes later, I was dripping with sweat. Hmmm….maybe there is something to this. All I know is that I can’t wait to see what happens when I train in the correct zones – how will it affect my training and my performance on race day? Also, if I work in the zone that burns the most fat, what will happen to my body fat percentage? All good questions. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Oh and Trevor had the same test done and found similar results. We are both shocked at how much there is out there to learn and help us perform at our best. We like to be a resource to our customers and by continuing to learn about ourselves, we continue to grow our knowledge base for them. If you have questions about this testing, our training or really anything, stop in and see us. Let’s learn together!

The road begins here.

We all have to start somewhere. So, we’ll start here. Its been a long road to this start line. Trevor and I have been together for 9 years. We both caught the fitness bug about 7 years ago – when I had the bright idea to train for and complete a marathon. A year later Trevor trained for and completed a marathon. The rest is history. We have spent the last 7 years coming up with crazy ideas of things to challenge ourselves. This past year we traveled to China to run a half marathon on the Great Wall. Trevor has his first mixed martial arts fight this Saturday, the 21^st at the Roseland in Portland.

Last August, we opened our store – Max Muscle Sports Nutrition – in Vancouver, WA. It is our passion. We love talking to our customers and helping them reach their goals. Our favorite thing is helping people realize what they can do – especially when it is so much more than they thought!

Starting March 30^th, we will be training for the Ironman 70.3 triathlon on August 16^th at Lake Stevens, WA. At the same time – we will be coaches for Vancouver Fit – a marathon training group that meets every Sunday between April 5^th and October 11^th – the Portland Marathon. These may be our biggest challenges yet.

Its going to be a crazy summer. Come along for the ride.