March 2, 2016

Action, Art, and the Art of Success

Creating success doesn’t happen overnight; nor does it happen by accident. To be truly successful, you need to find what’s unique about YOU, and how you can use that to create success. A few days ago I returned from trip to the beautiful city of Austin, TX, where I spent the weekend eating, training, and pow-wowing with the RFS Mastermind crew. First, let me say that of all the BBQ I’ve had in my life, Texas BBQ is the best, hands down.
March 1, 2016

9 Characteristics of Successful Fat Loss Programs

“What’s the best way to lose fat?” This is by far the most common question I get as a fitness coach. Everyone wants to know about the best diet, the best workout plan, or the best supplements. And while I’d love to tell them what those are, I can’t. Because the truth is, there is no “best” anything. Every program or plan is going to work differently for each person. That’s how it goes. But just because different plans work for different people doesn’t mean they don’t share common characteristics. It’s these characteristics that make those plans success. In my latest guest post for MyProtein, I break down the nine characteristics of all successful fat loss plans. How does your program measure up?   Read: “9 Characteristics of Successful Fat Loss Programs” on MyProtein    
December 29, 2015

New Year’s Reflections

We’re at that point on the calendar again. The time when people start looking towards the new year, thinking about their resolutions, and what they want to accomplish. They make resolutions, and vow that this year is going to be different. Some succeed, many fail. Many people view the calendar turning from December 31st to January 1st as a new start; a clean slate. They look at the new year as an opportunity to start over and chance forget all the bad stuff from the past year. But that’s not me. Was 2015 the best year ever for me? No. But it was pretty damn close. It was exactly what I made it. And it’s what I will build my success upon in 2016. It’s easy to look at the sum of your year and think “Oh, I didn’t make enough money.” or “I didn’t accomplish this goal.” But if you break it down you may find that a lot of good things actually happened. And you can use these things to build upon. I’m not ending 2015 as successful as I had hoped to be by this time; but reflecting on the year that was made me realize that a lot of really awesome stuff happened… Coming into 2015 my main focus was building Jorden Pagel Fitness into something that paid me a livable income, allowed me to help as many people as possible, and let me work on my own terms. I was basically starting from nothing. I could count on one hand the number of clients I had. And if I lost three fingers on that hand in some freak accident I could still count how many clients I had. I was learning the business, learning how to work with people, exploring my writing style, and figuring out […]
December 15, 2015

Your New Year’s Resolution Blueprint

It’s almost that time of year again; a time to eat, drink, and be merry. But mostly eat and drink. And once December 26th rolls around, the ham and pie haze starts to lift, and we set our sights on the new year. Most view it as a new beginning; a chance to start fresh. They see it as a chance to improve themselves from last year. And for many, that improvement comes in the form of their health.
October 27, 2015

Lean Habits: 12 Tips to Help You Achieve & Maintain a Lean Physique

  Let’s face it, we’re all a little vain. Whether you’re like me and openly admit it, or you would rather hide your vanity in the closet, as humans being vain is only natural. We all at one point or another have walked past a mirror and picked out one (or in most cases more than one) thing that we would like to change about our bodies. Maybe you want bigger arms, a rounder butt, or chiseled abs.
September 30, 2015

The Complete Incomplete Guide to Supplements

As a trainer and coach one of the things I get asked about a lot are supplements. Almost everyone in the fitness industry has an opinion on supplements. Some hate them, while others depend on selling supplements to make a living. Neither side is right or wrong, it really just depends on your experience with supplements (or in some cases how slimy and money-hungry you are).
January 26, 2015

Why Willpower and Motivation Are Getting You Nowhere

Willpower.  Motivation. Whether it’s fitness, business, sports, or everyday life, we often search for willpower to help prevent us from doing things we know are bad for us. We look for motivation to drive us to get better, accomplish tasks, and get ahead. But what if I told you that willpower and motivation were just figments of your imagination; that they didn’t exist…at least, not in the way you think they do.
December 4, 2014

Creating An Effective Fat Loss Program: Part 3

    Welcome to the next installment of my “Creating an Effective Fat Loss Program” series. In this article, we are going to be discussing the third pillar of an effective fat loss program: Calorie & Macro Accountability Flexible Dieting Strength & Resistance Training Developing a Good Mindset In the first two parts of this series we talked about how to set a caloric deficit for fat loss, as well as discuss how to structure your diet to set you up for success in reaching your goals.
November 26, 2014

What I’m Thankful For

                Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and amidst the turkey, stuffing, pie, alcohol, football and whatever else, it’s important to remember the real reason we gather to celebrate this holiday…and that is to give thanks.
November 18, 2014

The Dieter’s Guide for Surviving the Holidays

                ‘Tis the season! At least that’s what the Christmas music playing inside the coffee shop right now is telling me.
October 21, 2014

Creating An Effective Fat Loss Program: Part 2

  In Part 1 of this series, I talked about the roles macronutrients and calories play when it comes to fat loss, and more importantly, how knowing how much you should consume on a daily basis will help accelerate your fat loss efforts.
September 30, 2014

Creating An Effective Fat Loss Program: Part 1

  Go to Google and type in “weight loss” or “fat loss”. Go ahead, I’ll wait. That is a lot of results, isn’t it? And for good reason. According to the Center for Disease Control, the number of adults in the United States who are either overweight or obese is 69%. Its no wonder that there are so many articles, programs, and diets aimed at helping people lose weight.