A few years ago I had a friend of mine from college offer to do my taxes for me for free.  I was single, and had a modest income, so I figured what the heck.  I asked him if he was sure he could do them and he responded consistently with, “Sure, piece of cake”.  I asked him if he had ever done taxes before.  He told me he had done his families since he took a few accounting courses in school and he does his every year.  At that time, my friend was bartending.  He had a degree from UMKC, but it wasn’t in business, finance, accounting (anything related to tax preparation). 

After a month of him, “getting around to it”, with my taxes, he had a completed 1040 form that looked like it had been through a tornado and an office fire (at the same time).  To spare time with the details I will simply say the calculations were incorrect.  At the time I could not do them myself because I had investments, which were to complicated for me to understand and feel comfortable with trying to file all by myself.  I went to a CPA as a reference from my mother.  He charged me $100.  I had my taxes back in 5 days.  And I only owed 12% of what my friend had calculated as an underpayment.  What did I learn with this life lesson?  Let a professional do the work that they are trained to.

Boy am I excited for this. I hope you are all as well. 8 Weeks of Boot Camp training for only $75. That is less than $10 dollars per week. You can't find a cheaper rate than from the level of experience that Mike and I bring. We do have to add on an 8% sales tax (total of $81), we are trying to keep this legit. The Sessions are going to work out like this - Saturdays, May 31st - July 26th (no boot camp on July 5th in honor of Independence Day). This gives us 8 weeks of Boot Camp Style training. Since the summer will most likely get hot, we are going to schedule this session beginning at 7am. We don't need anyone having major heat related illnesses. Water will be provided, however, you are encouraged to bring your own - just in case we run out. We will add sessions as necessary. Our plan is to have 10-12 persons per group, and if needed schedule more based on the demand. When this first session fills, we will add a new one. DON"T WAIT FOR A NEW ONE TO BE CREATED TO REGISTER. As of right now, all sessions are scheduled to take place at Electric Park (95th and Loiret) in Lenexa, KS. Each session will last 45 minutes. Plenty of time for a solid boot camp session. Our boot camp will consist of mostly calisthenics early on and will introduce total body resistance training as we see appropriate progressions. You do not need to be in shape for this, however it is highly recommended you contact Mike or I for a one-on-one crash course on what to expect. For those looking for a more consistent plan, I will have my early morning Boot Camp at the Mission Community Center all summer long. To pay in person just contact Mike or I. To pay online visit the online store at www.nakidfitness.com/store.html and scroll down to the Saturday AM Boot Camp. Sam Lenexa, KS, USA

A year ago I put together a newsletter over the topic of core training and what I perceive as some of the more prominent misconceptions among lay persons in regard to exercise training and physical conditioning, even in therapy.  Although with this article I am not going to debate with myself, I am going to try and expand upon the concept, the way I see it.  It would probably be a great idea to read my original article first, even if it is just a refresher.  The article is Volume 1 Issue 3 (1.3) which can be found at this link,

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfitness/files/

Core training has become pop culture.  Everyone’s doing it.  Everyone swears by it.  And everyone seems to offer some insight into their expertise on core training- including myself.  The popular consensus on core training has evolved to give us this notion that the muscles of our “center” – think of an apple and its core  – which is where we generate our power to produce and sustain movement.  No doubt, the muscles of the core are absolutely the muscles (not always the same one or group) activated earliest upon the onset of any given movement.  Your abdominal and hip musculatures become active first in healthy individuals beginning to move their arms/legs or when trying to balance.  Try standing on a wobbly surface while holding an empty cup.  Then, try standing on that same surface while holding a cup of hot coffee.  Your core musculature is going to “brace” your body for extra postural control to avoid spilling the coffee and potentially burning your hands.  The physical therapy community has embraced and promoted this concept for its value at reestablishing core stability in the injured, diseased, and debilitated.  In this setting, core training works, for it takes special consideration and training to know how to get someone to activate their core musculature when they have previously not done so.

I run a membership based website devoted to "extreme" fitness methods.  Not really extreme, just high intensity.  It is hard.  It makes most people a little queezy.  But it cuts the fat!  I have been involved in athletics and exercise phsyiology for 7 years now.  I have quite a bit of knowledge that I want to spread.  It is hard to embrace this style.  Visity this link, www.nakidfitness.com to find out a little bit more.