Tag Archives: Rebel Wear

Nov 23 2014

Holiday Rebel Shirt!

 

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Custom Rebel Shirt!

With the holidays coming up I thought I’d put out there that there’s pretty much nothing cooler in the world than a customized Rebel shirt!

*Spoiler alert: I’m slightly biased*

All you’ve got to do is fill out the form below and I’ll get it out to you as soon as possible! $20 even per shirt takes care of everything including shipping. Orders placed BEFORE December 11th are guaranteed to be there in time for the holidays! You can dream up whatever color scheme, theme, or motif you’d like and I’ll get it done for you! From classic movies to sports… inspirational quotes to music… Any words, sentences, or names you want on can be done too! You think it, I can do it… With my own Rebellious twist ;).

Payment is easy! With the preferred e-mail provided below I will send you a direct link payable from wherever you are! Although I use Paypal you do not need a Paypal account to pay :).

Secured by PayPal

– Rebel8

Jun 26 2012

80’s Night!

As promised, a little reminder for what 80’s night entails! At the very least, the entertainment value of these are worth it :). FYI the first minute on the first video are all pictures from Blacklight 5.0 Workout, then it’s all 80’s gear from there!

 

 

Can’t wait to see you all!

– Rebel8 

Jun 9 2012

If in need of a little inspiration…

Uhhhhhh!!!!

I felt that some of you partaking in this current challenge who are new to the Rebellion don’t quite know what drives him. Well, I just so happen to have a few videos that share his story in a nutshell, so when you hear his screams ring out in that aerobic room, you know this is where it comes from… The first video was made by a professional filmmaker friend of Tye’s to help tell his story to Anytime Fitness and more so, whoever would be inspired by it. 

The second video is a slideshow I made to “Fix You” by Javier Colon for Tye and his amazing/gorgeous wife Bobbi to commemorate how far they’ve come when Tye became a certified personal trainer through the NASM.

Also, in honor of the most amazing midpoint measurement day I’ve ever experienced, I wanted to reshare a video that never gets old. A reminder about the scale that we were ALL reminded of today…

Lastly, I also wanted to share the slideshow I made of our last Tough Mudder experience in Temecula this last February. I cannot WAIT for September. It truly is a once in a lifetime experience… I can’t wait to earn another headband but more importantly… go through another turbulent journey and become bonded with my closest friends all over again :).

 

– Rebel8

Jun 6 2012

Measurements!

Get a positive flower!

Hey everybody!

I just wanted to throw out a quick reminder that this Friday and Saturday, boot camps are replaced with circumference measurements! This means we are almost at the official halfway point!

I will be measuring your neck, chest,waist, belly button, hips, arm, and thigh as well as doing your halfway point weigh-in and testing your body fat percentage. That’s it! No photo, no fit test, no forms… Just those 3 things. Once you’re done, you can leave! Now, let me tell you why I love the midway measurements so much…

For those of you where the scale hasn’t dropped the massive lbs you’ve been looking for it to drop, it provides a MUCH better perspective. Your body is changing! I can’t tell you how many times someone comes up to me and says “I didn’t lose any weight this week… I’m so pissed… I mean, my clothes ARE fitting better but when’s the scale going to match?!”

If your clothes are fitting better, and your weight doesn’t put you into a health crisis, and you’re not a horse jockey who needs to make weight in order to have a legitimate chance at winning the triple crown, then why does the scale have to match? If your energy is up, you’re taking care of yourself, exercising consistently and with a purpose, eating better, clothes are  fitting better… Yet the scale isn’t telling you what you want to hear… Then isn’t the scale the LEAST important factor in all of this? 

The answer is yes.

Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that the scale NEVER needs to move. That doesn’t mean weight loss is meaningless and doesn’t need to happen. It means that the toughest thing to do in a fitness journey is to actually enjoy the journey. Becoming too fixated on something that is meant to be a LIFETIME HABIT is a quick train to frustratedburg (located just outside Peoria, Illinois).

The point I’m getting at is measurement day showcases a lot of things the scale can’t. For some it will be a defibrillator to your drive. For others, a reminder to step it up. For many, another mile marker on an incredible journey.

Lastly, I have a boot camp going on Saturday, June 9th at 1pm. It will be outdoors so dress accordingly! Claritin and sunblock and whatnot… The cost is $10 and the duration will be about an hour and fifteen minutes. We are meeting at the gym and taking off from there!

See you soon Rebels…

– Rebel8

PS Outdoor boot camps are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as well so be prepared! The week after that… Blacklight 6.0… 😉

PPS I don’t have time to do makeup measurements for any times other than the times for boot camp. Thanks for the understanding 🙂

Jun 3 2012

We Called!

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So today, a few of us happened to make a video to “Call Me Maybe.” Thanks to all the rebels who showed up and took part in one of the most fun times I’ve ever had doing something ridiculous.

Lord knows I’ve done a lot of ridiculous things…

AhhhOOOOO!!!!

– Rebel8

May 28 2012

Who are you trying to be Healthy for?

That’s exactly why I’ve never felt more alive. Join me? Welcome to the Rebellion…

“I Can”

Let me start off by saying that everything you are about to read is unfortunately the perspective of a great majority of people rather than the minority of a few. SOMEWHERE in this brief synopsis of how I’ve come about to the person I am today you will be able to affiliate yourself with a nugget or two of moments that make you say “I feel that way…” That is why, as a representative of the majority, I’ve yelled about change to the point where I have literally scarred my vocal chords and changed the pattern of my voice forever. Here is why…

I grew up in a household where money wasn’t abundant and there wasn’t enough hours in the day for the amount of hours my parents needed to work to raise 2 boys. Week days were “mom time” and weekends were “dad time.” While this worked out when I was younger, it turned a little tumultuous as my years started to advance. I started to crave television and cheap junk food rather than playing outside and coming inside when the sun went down. My parents were concerned, and definitely tried to coax me off the couch, but my brain always overrode their efforts. Kids are cruel, this is not a mystery, but for some reason they seemed to pay extra special attention to me. My triple chins, thick afro-esque hair, and shy demeanor made me an easy target. It didn’t help with each passing grade I seemed to gain about double the weight that is average for a kid to accumulate as he matures. 


This made its presence known through a variety of ways. I’d wear sweatshirts in 110 degree heat and tell people I ran cold blooded when the sweat on my brow and stains on my shirt were a dead give away that I was lying. The reason for this? When you are uncomfortable in your own skin, you are ALWAYS aware of it. Every second. Whether you’re going to bed, taking a shower, watching a movie, exercising, eating, hanging out with friends, working in the yard… ANY moment you can think of you are aware of how tight your pants feel. Of the crease in your belly hanging over your pants (or that very same belly resting on “its side” when you are laying on your side on the couch or in bed). Of your lungs seeming inability to work right when you do something as simple as climbing a half set of stairs. Of people taking pictures (making sure to keep your chin really high because if you can’t get rid of your chins, you can at least stretch them out, right??). Of eating whenever there is ANYONE around and feeling ashamed of it because all you can think about is how disgusted they probably are at watching you eat. It didn’t help that at every corner, at the bus stop, on the bus, in class, or walking home I was constantly blasted with every insult under the sun and beyond pertaining to how fat someone could be. If I responded, it riled them up and made it worse. If I didn’t, I was laughed off and called every colorful adjective to let someone know they are a “pansy.” I could go on and on…

To handle this, I developed several coping mechanisms. The first was to cut myself. In the thigh. With pens. In my room. By myself… I grew to crave it. There was something liberating and exhilarating about being able to CONTROL the pain I was in since I was going to be in pain all the time anyway… At least, that’s how my brain viewed it. My “pilot” (the area of my brain where I get to make conscious decisions) was on a psychotic break and wasn’t very good behind the wheel. My brain turned into a dark haven of self loathing and worthlessness. If I was Batman, my brain was Gotham City. The criminals, indeed, were winning.

Enter Freshmen year of High School… Even though I was coming in at a tiny 5’3″ and a not-so-tiny 265 lbs I thought “ok, kids are more mature now, maybe I can get a break!” To summarize how well this worked out for me, the INSTANT I stepped foot on campus I got greeted with “hey, nice shirt!” from a senior who earned points with everyone around him because everyone LOVED it. Literally the SECOND High School started, I figured out that older kids aren’t mature… They’re meaner.

After a traumatic event of bullying that I’m not quite ready to share with the world on a national scale quite yet (but soon. Let’s just say it involved bleachers, duct tape, and a secluded park corner) I decided to make a change. It was 2 weeks in to Freshmen year that this event occurred and I thank everything considered holy that it did. Not everybody is lucky enough to have a life changing event such as mine. Trust me, at the time I felt it was the extreme opposite of luck and fortune, but hindsight is 20/20… After all, you’re reading this now, aren’t you?

I was sick of being scared all the time. I was tired of feeling worthless. I couldn’t stand my own mind, body, or soul anymore and SOMETHING had to change. So, I marched home that fateful day on a mission. That mission was to join a gym. That’s when my mom saved my life… She not only got me a gym membership, but promised to drive me there every day. She made good on that promise. There came a time when I started to ride my bike to the gym, but at the realization that it was a great warm up not because she got sick of it. Again, my mom saved my life. 


Flash forward to Sophmore year. I’ve lost about 40 lbs and have successfully “cleaned up the streets of Gotham” for about a year now. I had even started the habit that has stuck with me to this day of constant self research and looking for the most optimal yet varied way to eat right and exercise properly. It was around this time there was a criminal uprising… My dark haven was starting to make a triumphant return. Things like “you really think you’ll always be able to keep up with this much exercise?” and “you were born to be a nobody, that was your roll… why fight it?” kept popping up. I also hit a plateau in weight loss and went from feeling accomplished to being convinced I was spinning my wheels. I thought to myself “something has to change…” That’s when my NEXT major coping mechanism reared its ugly head. After all, it was the only logical step…

So, I started to throw up all my food. In bags. In my room. By myself… Not only did this hurt my throat, give me horrible teeth I still pay for to this day, and cast doubts on my health by my peers, but I didn’t tell a SOUL about it and battled this new demon all by myself. I learned to hide it better and better as I went, and the more I put up a fake smile to assure everyone everything was alright when it was far from, the more the miserable the heavy feeling in my chest became. The more worthless I felt. The more I believed everyone who made fun of. I thought “so many people can’t be wrong… I mean, am I the only one who doesn’t realize I’m a loser?”

Then an epiphany hit. A “moment.” A strike of teal lightning. If you’ve seen the movie “Phenomenon” starring John Travolta, then the moment when he looks into the blue light in the sky… Well, it was kind of like that…

I had a realization that I didn’t want to settle for misery anymore. I was tired of being tired. Sick of being sick. I was worthWHILE, not worthLESS damnit. See, all this time I was trying to prove this to all the wrong people. I wanted my parents to be proud. I wanted love and admiration from my peers. I wanted girls to like me. I want to have nice abs like the jocks thought “I need the perfect body so that everyone will like me! Then, I can buy the clothes I want to buy! I’ll get a girlfriend! I’ll stop getting made fun of!” All this time… I was doing this for all the wrong people. It took years of mental warfare that manifested itself into physical torture on every level (cutting myself, obsession with exercise, and bulimia… The big 3!) for me to come to a conclusion that too many people never get the gift of realizing. A gift that has caused me to scream about this realization so passionately that my aforementioned permanently scarred vocal chords are worth ten times that if only one person makes the same “Phenomenon” style conclusion I was able to make at the very young age of 17.

Instead of “proving myself” to my parents, my peers, and family… I needed to be healthy for ME. I tell you… That day the clouds parted. I stopped everything cold turkey. I stopped throwing up everything I ate. I stopped cutting myself. I stopped LISTEN to the negativity that seemed to be the only thing swirling around me and realized that there was positivity everywhere! I just had to open my eyes to it! It was a scene straight out of the Wizard of Oz only I had made it to the destination. My yellow brick road was lined with Reebok cyclers, pens, vomit filled grocery bags, tear stained pillows, fake smiles, more hours spent at the gym than at home, and many more character building side stops along the way. The pain and sorrow was necessary though. For me at least. It showed me there IS sunshine after the storm! You just have to find out… All that glitters ISN’T gold! Sometimes though, gold isn’t what you need… The grass ISN’T always greener on the other side because if you take care of the grass you DO have, then who cares about everyone else’s grass! You’ve got your own to worry about!

Once I realized that the goal wasn’t the light at the end of the tunnel, but rather making my own LIGHT in the tunnel and ENJOYING the journey… Life has been the best roller coaster any amusement park has to offer. I’ve competed in several body building competitions, I’ve run (and led) 2 Tough Mudder teams, I’ve completed an 8k (a fat kids marathon), and more importantly… I enjoy the sunshine every day has to offer. I wake up with a vigor for the day, rather than a resentment that I woke up again… I’ve learned to ENJOY eating right and staying active for the sheer reason that I’ve never smiled so much in my life! I used to look at it like a chore, but now I remind myself that I do this for the friendships I’ve formed with everyone I’ve come to find who thinks like I do! Who have been down similar roads! Now, I can go to the river and take my shirt off regardless of whether I have a pudgy tummy or not. I can enjoy it! Why? Because I no longer huff and puff climbing down the sand hills to get there!

To conclude, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. They say misery loves company, but I find the exact opposite to be true… Misery loves to keep you to itself, where as euphoric bliss is TRULY the gregarious social butterfly…

The second you BELIEVE you can is the second your life is yours.

– Rebel8
May 23 2012

Join the Rebel-yum!

Welcome to the Rebel-yum!

Hey Rebels!

I just wanted to put out there a reminder that every Wednesday night at 7:40pm at Anytime Fitness off Santa Rosa Avenue there is a food group open to all members of Anytime Fitness and Rebel X! If you’re not a member but would still like to check it out, no problem! Just send me a quick e-mail (Alllevelstraining@gmail.com) and let me know! I’ll make sure you are properly set up to have a good experience (mandatory I get an e-mail though… We need to know and be ready for any non members showing up).

For those of you who don’t know,  We are the Rebel-yum. A group of people who get together weekly and discuss how our weeks nutrition intake was. We go over ups, downs, victories, disappointments, frustrations, questions, realizations… Everything that makes eating right and taking care of yourself so damn hard… because let’s be honest, we all LOVE having great energy, feeling good about ourselves, feeling comfortable in clothing of our choice, and feeling amazing when you’re being active… So again, we go over all the reasons why we know all of the latter yet it’s like pulling teeth from a shark sometimes.

Puttin’ down the cheese wheel and going for the greenery… I like it!

In food group, you’ll find new perspectives you might not have thought of before. You’ll find you’re not the only one having a tough time. You’ll be a part of a support group set and ready to keep track of you on the “My Fitness Pal” app that is all the rage (that app is awesome! It let’s people keep up with you and share information all while having an insane database of food to make keeping track of what you eat SUPER easy!). You’ll also have the ability to share what YOU know that could possibly help someone else! We’ve all accumulated a lot of experience on this journey we call life… Let’s put it all together and make figuring it out easier!

Every week, we will have a topic of discussion as well as a healthy food recipe provided by everyone’s favorite Bobbi Rivera. This week, the amazing and fantastically super Liz Rait (who co-leads the group with me… Thank you Liz!) will be offering up a special “exercise” (non physical) that all I can tell you is going to be a ton of fun while helping integrate some light bulbs hopefully turning on as well :).

Lastly, you don’t HAVE to speak. You are more than welcome to come join the Rebel-yum as a spectator until you feel comfortable enough to share! If you’d like to keep up with everyone via Facebook (CICK HERE), we also have our own group where The Rebel-yum posts daily. VERY helpful!

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at AllLevelsTraining@gmail.com. Look forward to seeing you there!

– Rebel8

When running the same monotonous rat race doesn’t work for you anymore.

May 21 2012

Let’s lose a LOT of weight this week!!!

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Here’s the scoop. As you saw in the video, I cleaned my room and got rid of a lot of literal excess baggage. I thought to myself, I says “Hey myself, that’s a lot of clothes you’re gettin’ rid of there. You should think about making a video and encouraging everyone to do the same.” So, I had that thought… and here we are!

It’s something extremely easy to do. It helps out countless others (it will ALL be donated to Goodwill). It clears space in your house. It gives you a reason to do that “deep cleaning” you’ve been meaning to do forever and haven’t gotten to. It’s a fun family bonding experience? Well, probably not… but maybe! \

Regardless, I am encouraging everyone to bring as many unwanted clothing items as they can ALL this week. Tuesday through Saturday, before boot camp, bring your clothes in. I’ll weigh all the bags of clothes and tally up how much “weight” we’ve lost at the end of the week!

I can’t wait to see how much weight Goodwill gains :). Rebels, this is your chance to make a difference in an EXTREMELY easy way. The point of ANY Rebellion is to make a difference. This is that moment. One of many. AhhhhOOOOOOO!!!!

It all starts with the person in the mirror 😉

– Rebel8

Don’t get rid of THESE shirts though! As a reminder, bring me a shirt and I’ll set you up with original Rebel Wear! Welcome to the rebellion!

May 16 2012

Rebel X 360 Challenge

You plant a positive seed, you get a positive flower!

I have a challenge for you… This challenge has been my own personal leg work (with some additions that won’t be listed here for time purposes) and I felt last week that it’s something EVERYONE can benefit from! It’s a play on my favorite leg circuit of all time and consists of 3 different leg exercises: Squats, step ups, and lunges. The way you DO them allows you to not only work on strength and sculpting but balance, coordination, oxygen usage efficiency, and heart rate as well. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Grab a BOSU

How you’ll feel at the end!

Step 2: Grab some dumbbells of your choice (decide on weight AFTER you read what you’ll be doing…)

Kettle bells (matching) work as well

Step 3: Grab a plyobox

The tallest box at the gym constitutes FULL 360. The shorter step is good practice to build up to the taller one!

STEP 4: Set it all up!

Configure your equipment so you have a place to do step ups, a place to do squats on a BOSU, and a readily available lane to lunge in (outside works as well!).

The Challenge: 

The number “360” comes from the amount of repetitions you will be doing. 1st, you are going to do 30 squats on the BOSU (black side up) holding the dumbbells at shoulder height. Once you are done there, you are immediately going to head to the tall plyobox and do step ups one leg at a time. Be sure to have the entirety of your foot on the box when you step up, always have one foot on the box at all times (alternating which leg you are stepping up with), and be sure that the leg lifting you up on each step is fully extended before you switch feet (no short changing yourself!). Your hands need to step extended and out to the side the ENTIRE TIME (no dumbbells, just body weight). After 30 total step ups, you are going to head to your lunge lane with dumbbells twice the amount of weight that you were squatting with (if you had 10s, use 20s. If you had 15s, use 30s. You get it…). After 30 steps, you get to start the cycle all over again! Let me break it down a bit simpler:

  1. 30 Squats on BOSU with dumbbells at shoulder height
  2. 30 Step ups on tall bench with arms fully extended out to your side
  3. 30 Lunges with dumbbells twice the weight of the dumbbells you squatted with hanging at your side
  4. Repeat 4 times in a row.
If you are able to complete the above task (minimum dumbbell requirement for squats set at 10 lb dumbbells, tallest box needs to be used for step ups, and weight needs to be MINIMUM double your squat weight for the lunges) in UNDER 25 MINUTES then you will receive a rebellion shirt saying so! Every shirt will be unique and feature rebellion designs all over. Make sure you have a witness!

Click HERE for a video on proper BOSU squats (soon to be replaced with videos from yours truly!)
Click HERE for a video on proper step ups (soon to be replaced with videos from yours truly!)
Click HERE for a video on proper walking lunges (soon to be replaced with videos from yours truly!)

 – Rebel8