Hey there I hope your doing awesome. Im excited! Christmas is almost here!

With Christmas around the corner and new years peaking over it’s shoulder i’ts gonna get pretty busy. What happens with new years is the famous  “New Years Resolution” .

You know where you sorta promise yourself you’re gonna do this and that this new year. Like look like this….

A funny thing happens though. As far as fitness, the majority of people make their resolution to be in the best shape. Being healthy, active, and fit seems to be the popular trend. So what happens? Gym membership sales increase by up to 40% between Dec. 5th through Jan. 31st. That’s expected right. But what’s really funny is gym memberships drop by about 35-45% by Feb. and March.

Have you ever done that before? C’mon be honest. Even I’ve done it. I’ve set a goal and started it great for the first month or 2 then it just fell flat.

Im curious. I wanna know what your thoughts are on this.

Here’s what I want you to do:

Leave a comment below on how you plan on keeping a goal this new year. Or maybe even a strategy that’s helped you keep one for so long (I’d love to hear that one).  Help everyone out by leaving your cool super secret tips or plan.

Have a great christmas!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! 

It’s a different feeling than the other holidays. Everyone is in a cheery mood, it’s cold, warm food, and family gatherings. But my favorite part about it is the gifts. Not the gifts for me though…..ok i’d be lying if i’d say that didn’t excite me. But the part I get even more excited about is giving the gifts.

Yes I love giving. I know you’re probably like uh huh sure, but I really do. The thing that gets me is I get stuck trying to find the right gifts. It’s hard to find a perfect gift for someone. Especially if the person is a fitness enthusiast.

If you have any friends or family you need to get a fitness gift for let me help you out a bit.

               Footwear is important so some cool new sneakers would be awesome. The new Asics Gel-Evolution 5 are awesome! Wether your a jogger or compete in marathons these would be the perfect gift.

                A massage to take out the kinks and kanks out of any athletes body. A gift card at a local massage center would be just what the doctor ordered.

               A kettlebell is an all in one home gym. One 15-20 lb kettlebell can give you a total body workout and improve your conditioning. Instead of buying one from an expensive fancy store or website look around craigslist for a good deal.

               Of course music has been proven to boost performance. So another great gift would be either an mp3 or an awesome cd.

               A cool outfit to workout in is another great gift idea. Gasp and Better bodies are my favorite brand and they also have online gift certificates. Check it out for more info http://www.fitgr.com

               A gym membership used to be a great gift but not anymore with their outrageous prices and long term contracts. On top of that most people use their gym membership about 3 times a month. Give the gift of personal training or bootcamps. They make the person more accountable and give quick and lasting results. Especially since some are doing awesome promos like Camps for $77 instead of $250

                Food is important to any fitness fanatic. I remember my eyes lit up when I got 10lbs of beef and 5lbs of salmon for christmas! I’m pretty sure there are gift cards to give for that you won’t have an awkward moment when you give someone a turkey leg. A gift card to a whole foods store like Greenfields Market is on my wish list.

               Valslides are another home gym must. This tool looks funny and simple at first but it’ll having you hurtin in no time. Guys don’t be fooled by their looks. These slides give me an awesome pump when I finish a chest workout with them. http://www.valslides.com

Also remember donating toys and things to charities is a real way to give a gift. Dont know where to donate? how about here http://bit.ly/87im4E

Have a great weekend

Hey Everybody!

Hope your doing awesome.

With the holiday season coming around I’m always in the giving mood. You see it took me a LOOOOOONG while to finally realize that Christmas isn’t all about cool toys and stuff (even though I still get myself some-what can I say im a kid at heart).

                                (some of my toys-yes i’m donating them)

Helping others and not expecting anything in return will take you a long way. But i’ll admit, getting something in return is usually pretty cool too

If your a regular on my blog then you’re getting tons of tips and tricks to living a healthier lifestyle and having a better body. There might be something I can do to take this even further in helping you.

Would you like to lose 1-2 lbs a week FREE?

 I am working with Boysville a texas home for boys and girls. We are working together give their kids an AWESOME CHRISTMAS! And my Bootcamps(Get Sexy San Antonio) are giving  FREE saturday workouts ($125 worth) if you just donate any one of the items bellow.

Use your POWER to GIVE and get FIT and HEALTHY!  Start your new year off right and workout for FREE!

Deadline for Donations is December 23rd.

If you’re in raise your hand?

Great! Now please call me at 210-627-0217. Or email me a jacosta_fitness@hotmail.com.

How does losing 1-2lbs a weeks sound? Does losing 1-2lbs a week FREE sound even better?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. If you know someone who would be interested please let them know. Help spread the word

This morning was just like any typical day.

I woke up, ate, taught bootcamp, ate, worked out, walked Rex (my dog) and ate again.

But when I ate again it was still 10 am. And I ate fish and sweet potato muffins. Yes I ate fish for breakfast. It’s something alot of my friends would make fun of me about. Not because of the fish, but because usually when it’s breakfast most people eat eggs or oatmeal. I tend to eat steaks, chicken, or fish.

It’s not that I’m weird or anything it’s just that sometimes eggs and oatmeal gets old or I get tired of it. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE EGGS. But after eating them for 3 months straight, my body sometimes gags whenever I see an egg!

So that’s why I switch it up and eat something different. Yesterday was some lemon chicken and brown rice. After about a few weeks like this I start craving “breakfast” again and i’ll switch back to it. Then it goes back to the normal eggs, turkey sausage, grits, oatmeal, etc.

Variety is one of the main things that will keep you on track. Unless your a pro bodybuilder or figure competitor who needs to eat the boiled chicken and plain rice to get ready for a show, mix your meals up a bit. I’m not saying eat steaks for breakfast but if your body is gagging at a certain meal then maybe it’s a sign to switch things up. Be your own food DJ and mix up your meals!

Your “diet” doesn’t have to be monotonous and boring. When people hear the word “diet‘ they think of bland, boring, dull, and flavorless food. Experiment with your meals. Find meals you like and use them whenever you feel you need a change. Who knows, you might like fish for breakfast too. The magic word for today is going to be VARIETY so lets use it from now on.

A quick anouncement:

 GREENSFIELD MARKET on Stone Oak is doing a FOOD FOR FAMILIES HOLIDAY GIVING PROGRAM going on now till January 3rd. Buy a pre-filled bag of non-perishable grocery items at a 10% discount and they will donate it to the San Antonio Food Bank or you can donate it to the charity of your choice. So we decided to throw in a little incentive. Receive a FREE WEEK of SA’s #1 bootcamp when you help donate. C’mon, all the cool kids are doing it.

Click here for more info:

http://greenfieldsmarketonline.com/newsevents/events

P.S. If you want a free $400 holiday gift and get into the best shape of your life look at http://bit.ly/6BAiRA

As you may know Im a big supporter for breast cancer awareness, and boobs are always a big issue for most people.

Man or woman, the chest is important. It’s a sign of power for men and femininty for women.

For women there are 2 ways to save them.

 The first way deals with health and wellness. Check them regulary and stay up to date with doctor visits. I have to women who I love dearly go through breast cancer and survive. So it’s all about prevention ladies.

The second way deals with the outside. The #1 enemy for women is GRAVITY! Gravity just wants to hold you down and make sure every part of your body goes down with you. As we get old gravity takes its toll and things start to droop. There are ways to reverse this instead of plastic surgery. Exercise is the solution to reverse this.

Whenever I tell a woman that working your chest helps them I always get the same response. “I don’t want my chest to grow” or “I don’t wanna look like a man”. Actually it’s the total opposite. Working your chest muscles result in a NATURAL lift. Cool huh!

Decline presses or any decline work are great chest exercises but as women you already have a “muscle”.  Use these exercises to TONE things up a bit. 

Incline dumbell press- Incline work is great for women because as your upper chest tones it lifts. Also dumbells allow a greater range of motion.

Incline fly- Make sure you focus on the top portion of this movement. Concentrate on the squeeze at the top. As you do this exercise more often you will learn how the “squeeze” should feel.

Pushup- Pushups are KING for upper body. Using your own bodyweight is awesome for your routine. Who cares if you can bench press 200lbs if you can’t do 1 pushup with your own bodyweight.

 As far as men there is a trend that’s been going around lately. Men all over the world neglected to work their chest and thus the word “MAN BOOBS” was born.

Now there are men who have a better upstairs than some women. Good news is now we are starting to reverse that. Go to any gym on monday and youll see practically every guy in there working on chest. Monday is universal chest day.

Try sticking these into your routine.

Decline dumbell presses- These have been proven to recruit more muscle fibers than any other chest exercise. This exercise helps with the sagging part of our chesticles.

Incline presses- The number 1 lagging part of most guys chest is the upper chest. This is what adds the fullness and gives the barrel chest look.

Incline flys- Like I said upper chest is the hardest part to grow and fill so it needs twice the work. Make sure you concentrate on the feel and squeeze instead of the weights.

Dips- Dips are traditionally thought of as a tricep exercise but they also work your chest. Lean into the dip a little bit to allow more of your chest to take over.

Now there is a SECRET WAY my clients get 10x faster results from these exercises. If you really want to know them leave me a comment here and ill put them up.