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This Father’s Day be a Healthy Role Model: Ideas for Getting the Family in Shape, Starting with Dad, from Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson

Kevin Richardson — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:28:16 +0000

This Father’s Day be a Healthy Role Model: Ideas for Getting the Family in Shape, Starting with Dad, from Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson
As a father of five, personal trainer Kevin Richardson knows all too well the challenges of staying in shape when there are children to care for, but with a little creativity and commitment he believes anyone can get into great shape while involving the kids and even having a little bonding time in the process…

Thanksgiving 328- A Different Way Of Looking At The Holiday

Kevin Richardson — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:47:33 +0000

All,

I wrote this three years ago and stumbled upon it recently. It is one of my favorite pieces and I hope you like it.

Thanksgiving Day 328

Today is Thanksgiving Day 328 for me, and in my own personal calendar, there are so many of them each year (365, most years but sometimes even as much as 366), that it is really hard for me to celebrate each and everyone of them by going off my diet. This year marked the third holiday season that I have lived through without any concessions in terms of my diet. A lot of people ask me how I do it, and to be honest, I really do feel as though every day is special enough to deserve some form of celebration, and I choose to mark the beauty of every rising and setting sun with the same steadfastness and dedication that I have everyday.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the Thanksgiving Day holiday as much as anyone else, and I think many people are of the opinion that because I do not indulge, that somehow I am apart from the spirit of the day. Nothing could be further from the truth- I spend every Thanksgiving in the kitchen cooking the best Thanksgiving meal that anyone could imagine. I am a very accomplished cook (yes, the cook book is being written as we speak), and I cook every year for my friends and family- turkey, roast beef, fried plantains (well, I bake them, but don’t tell anyone, as they think it is fried), rice and peas, garlic bread, ham, my special potatoes and yams. I hear that it is delicious and son number one spent most of his afternoon doing the ‘dance of joy’ after eating dinner, so I think I scored another hit this year.

What is funny is that I don’t have the slightest clue what any of this stuff tastes like. I eat what I always eat, as I always eat it, even though I cook all those foods, I never taste them, but that does not stop me from enjoying the time with my friends and my family, and that is more than enough to be thankful.

A Day in The Life Part 3

Kevin Richardson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:03:23 +0000

A Day in The Naturally Intense Life- Part 3

12:01 pm- 1:00 pm.

We get back to smell the curry simmering on the stovetop and now the real work begins. Today I have to write some business proposals due by the next day and I spend the next hour typing away.

1:00 pm.

Lunch time. Woo hoo! The curry is fantastic and the chicken and potatoes are topped off on a bed of long grain parboiled rice. I make a point of getting only the freshest of ingredients, and of blending the seasonings myself (that way I know there isn’t any salt or msg hidden in them), and the chicken is actually chicken! Not the ‘free range’ fake chicken, the real deal. I grew up around chickens and can tell you now that they might have a free range label on them, but truly free range chickens do not look like the ones you see at a Wholefoods. The bones are far too soft and the chickens themselves are far too fat. The meat is too soft as well, instead I get fowl from butcher shops in the West Indian neighborhoods, which look and taste nothing like the ones you’ll find in the stores. They are far cheaper too, and why spend more money for chicken that claims to be free range and (heaven forbid I use the term), ‘organic’ (when last did you see and inorganic chicken?) when I can spend less and get the real thing? The wonders of modern marketing never cease to amaze me.

1:20 pm.

After the workout I was truly starving, and after a good lunch I am ready to go! I have a business meeting in the city at 4:30 pm, then start training clients at 5:30 pm, so I spend the next couple of hours working on updating dietary guides for my clients and the numerous people that I work with online, maintaining the website, which I built myself (took all of 4 months of working until the small hours of the morning). Then I am calling and confirming schedules for clients for today and the rest of the week while also getting back to those set to come in for a trial to see what this ten minute workout thing is all about. By the time I am done it is 3:45 pm, and a quick shower later I am ready to run out of the house (I see showering after a workout as part of my contribution to a more eco-friendly environment!). I grab a piece of curried chicken right before I leave the house and pack a ziploc bag with some peanuts to keep me going for a while along with a plain bison burger that I cooked earlier this morning to take along with me. I get to my meeting (kind of) on time, and by 5:30 pm I am at the gym and waiting for my first victim, I mean client of the day. Lucky for me, he is running about 5 minutes behind and so I sit in the gym lobby and have my bison burger, savoring every bite! I made it with another Kevin R. proprietary blend of spices and the combination is right on! My client walks in and I am ready to start my working day. I have 13 clients lined up for tonight and I am looking forward to it as I always do!

The fun part for me has always been working with my clients and I have to say that I have always seemed to have been blessed with some of the most fantastic people to work with! Many trainers complain about having difficult clients, but after working with the formerly homeless population for 14 years, I really don’t see anyone as being difficult at all! My last client was running a little late, he is driving in from Westchester and got stuck in traffic. He called to apologize, but my native Trinidadian sensibilities don’t mind at all. Several of my clients come from really far away, one comes in from Connecticut, one from Long Island and we have even had some commute from Boston on the weekends! I am happy to have them and have no problem waiting a few minutes here and there to accommodate them if they are running late. They are great people and I love working with them as well.

8 pm

I am out of the gym and heading home after a quick meeting with my business development manager (the team is certainly growing these days). I get home by 8:30 pm and dinner is ready and waiting (bless Stephanie’s soul!) I was a single parent for a while and I know very well what it is like to come home and have to do everything yourself, so I am always extra grateful to come home to a home cooked meal! Rabbit is on the menu, quite a surprise, and it is served with some greens on the side. At 10 pm it is time for my last meal of the day(except on Fridays when I teach my ninjustu class from 10 pm to about 1 am- then I eat a bit later), which is always some form of fish. I vary it each night and tonight I am having some blue snapper, a tropical fish that I know very well from my childhood in the islands. Some last minute emails, and checks online, and I am off to sleep and ready for tomorrow. Although Lucien has some other plans…

Celebrity NYC Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson is the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™, a lifetime natural bodybuilder and one of the most popular personal trainers in New York City. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here.

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A Day In A Naturally Intense Life- Part 2

Kevin Richardson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:44:22 +0000

Part 2 of the series- A Day in the Naturally Intense Life

Lucien- The baby!

9:45 am- 10:45 am:

After kissing the last one goodbye and dropping them all off at school there is a quick return home to begin the day. For me it starts with writing a piece for my blog, and then on to checking the emails and messages from my clients and of course the correspondences from Myspace and Facebook. I get a lot of people writing in for advice on weight loss and dietary issues and I am always happy to hear from them and I always respond as best as I can.

10:45 am:

Meal 2 for me- I and for today I have a slice of watermelon and some tongol tuna fish- water packed with no salt added. I would like to eat while typing away on the computer, but then she-who-must-be-obeyed will give me the look. It is in my best interest to take a break now and then and she does keep me sane and in check.

In the meanwhile I take out a defrosted chicken and start making lunch- today’s menu will be sumptuous dish of curried chicken and potatoes. It is really a popular one, and from time to time I wonder if the reason why everyone puts up with me is because they like my cooking? (If your mouth is watering at the prospect of all these healthy meals that actually taste good, never fear- the recipe book is on the way!)

11:00 am:

Gym time for me and the missus. We bundle up our little bundle of joy, who thankfully is asleep and rush off to the gym. When we get there, Steph goes in first while I wait outside in the car with Lucien, who is now fully awake and in my arms amusing himself with some bubbles he has learned to make with his mouth- hours of fun for the whole family.

Steph isn’t gone that long and, (you guessed it)- 10 minutes later she stumbles back out to the car with that look of accomplishment all over her face. Steph gave birth less than 2 months ago and was cleared to start back working out within 4 weeks. With the Naturally Intense diet- which she gets for free mind you, and the workouts she is already down from her peak weight of 170 lbs to 150 lbs (with shoes- she adds!). Throughout the pregnancy everyone has remarked that she didn’t really change body-wise except for her stomach. She has 20 more pounds to go to get back to her slim and svelte 130lbs fighting shape- and she is right on track to be back there within another 6 weeks or so.

I hand Lucien off to Stephanie and now it is my turn to train. I say hi to the guys and girls at the front desk of 19^th Street Gym where I train and have my personal training practice, but I can’t stop to talk today because I am on the clock! I go downstairs and start my own routine. Today I am training my shoulders and my back and I already have the sequence of exercises in my mind that I am going to do today. At this stage of the game I don’t need someone to push me through the pain barriers to train at my best, I have my own little ritual and system of getting the most out of each and every workout on my own.

I start with shoulder presses, and end 14 minutes later with a 150lb dumbbell in my hand as I finish off my last set of rows for my back. At this point the room is spinning slightly and I am gasping for breath. The average client workout takes just about 7 to 8 minutes (we say 10 minute workouts, but it really only lasts for about 7 or 8 as I said-most people really can’t last much longer than that and don’t need any longer either to be honest!) , and for they will tell you just how much of an experience it is! At my level, having been doing this now for 18 years, I can last for just about 15 to 20 minutes at most, and it took about 10 years to work up to that time as well.

I make my way upstairs, past the front desk staff who inevitably ask me if I am finished already- (I make some waving hand signals as I am too brain fried right now to answer them coherently) and get into the car. We drive back home to Brooklyn and are back by 12 pm, just about an hour for the roundtrip and the workout! I note the time as at 12 pm I always stop and say a short prayer, as I have done ever since I was a child.

Continued In Day In A Naturally Intense Life Part 3

Lose weight, build real muscle and get Superfit training only 10 minutes 3 times a week! That’s the slogan and the 100% guarantee of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ created by visionary NYC personal trainer, internationally renowned natural bodybuilder and fitness expert, Kevin Richardson. Get a copy of Kevin’s free award winning weight loss ebook here!

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