Mackie Shilstone's Feelin' Good about Fitness

By Mackie Shilstone

"Shilstone . . . could make a small fortune if he bottled and sold enthusiasm. . . . Not only does Shilstone's philosophy include participation-he has [also] imparted wisdom." --USA Today

Why settle for fad diets and exercise programs you won't stick with for more than a few months? With Mackie Shilstone's Feelin' Good About Fitness, you will discover that eating well and exercising regularly are rewards in themselves. When you're in shape, your whole outlook is brighter, and when getting in shape is so much fun, you won't need to make any excuses for not sticking with your program.

Mackie Shilstone's "Feelin' Good About Fitness Program" is based on a healthy, sensible diet and a combined aerobic/anaerobic exercise plan. By following Shilstone's program, the nonathlete, the amateur athlete, and the more serious competitor all develop their fitness potentials and quickly begin to see positive changes in the way they look and feel. The fitness program begins with a commitment from you to exchange thirty minutes of moderate to intensive exercise four times a week for good health, a well-toned, firm body, and overall personal confidence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 1, 1986
• ISBN: 9781455608041

Mackie Shilstone

Mackie Shilstone is no newcomer to the fitness field. With a degree in sports nutrition, Shilstone has worked with an impressive group of professional athletes, including world heavyweight boxing champion Michael Spinks. Intensely athletic, Shilstone has a long list of his own achievements, including once being named the most physically fit male at the National Fitness Classic Competition. The president of Mackie Shilstone and Associates, Inc., Shilstone still remains a much sought-after trainer and speaker.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Path to Feelin' Good About Fitness

On September 21, 1985, Michael Spinks, undisputed world light heavyweight champion, made boxing history by defeating Larry Holmes, world heavyweight champion, in Las Vegas. For Spinks, it was the unheard-of dream of a lifetime: no light-heavyweight had ever successfully moved up to the heavyweight division and defeated its champion. For me, it was the culmination of fifteen years of preparation in the areas of physical fitness and sports nutrition education and training.

Less than seven months later, on April 19, 1986, Spinks staged a stunning repeat performance, once again defeating the heavily favored Holmes in a 15-round decision.

My interest in fitness and nutrition began during my undergraduate college days as a walk-on (nonscholarship) wide receiver in Tulane University's football program. At that time I was 5'8" and weighed only 140 pounds. Physical fitness meant survival for someone my size against athletes weighing in at 250-plus pounds. I knew that my competitive edge would be my high level of physical conditioning and proper body composition (ideal muscle/fat ratio) combined with sensible eating habits. It seemed to work, because in 1974 I earned a varsity football letter. During my tenure at Tulane, I was one of the smallest active football athletes in college to earn a varsity letter.

After graduation I designed and supervised the construction of the first modern weight room at Tulane and became the first strength and conditioning coach for the Tulane University Athletic Department. During my postgraduate years at Tulane, I had the opportunity to coach all types of college athletes, as well as those from professional ranks. I assisted the Pittsburgh Steeler strength coach, Louis Riecke, with the Steeler conditioning program prior to Super Bowl IX in 1975.

It was at this point in my career that I knew that some day I would develop my own conditioning and nutrition philosophy and achieve world recognition regardless of my physical size, which had been consistently pointed out as a detriment to gaining the respect of larger athletes. Perseverance, knowledge of my field, faith in God, and a belief in myself triumphed when Michael Spinks won the heavyweight title after following my conditioning and nutrition principles.

Spinks had been following my training regimen since 1982, when I was brought into his camp to help control his weight and increase the longevity of his boxing career. A light-heavyweight must weigh in prior to the fight at no more than 175 pounds. At 6'3" and with a large frame, Spinks normally walked around at between 185 and 190 pounds. I was given six weeks to get his weight down while maintaining his strength, stamina, and explosiveness during prefight training.

When the decision to fight Larry Holmes was made, I had to move in a different direction as far as his weight was concerned. I had eight weeks to bring Michael from a weight of 187 pounds to a championship weight, which I established at 200 pounds. Prior to my conditioning program, Michael had a starting body-fat level of 9.1 percent, which meant that of his 187 pounds scale weight, 17.02 pounds were fat pounds and 169.98 were lean-body pounds. When Michael weighed in on September 20, the day before the fight, his scale weight had climbed to 200 pounds, and his body-fat level, which was already at an athletic level, had dropped to 7.2 percent. At 200 pounds and 7.2 percent body fat, Michael had within his body 14.4 pounds of fat tissue and 185.60 pounds of lean-body tissue (muscle). In other words, he gained muscle weight almost equal to his starting scale weight of 187 while losing fat tissue.

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The Feelin' Good Fitness Program, whether your goal is to lose fat or gain muscle, will help you achieve your own championship status. You have taken the important first step to physical fitness when you opened this book. The next step is to make a commitment that you are going to be physically fit. This book will help you make that decision and obtain your goal.

Your decision to carry out the Feelin' Good Fitness Program should not be taken lightly. It will require a lifetime commitment of time and effort to be successful. Statistics show that many people who begin fitness programs usually fall off within the first six weeks due to a lack of commitment. To enjoy the positive benefits of the Feelin' Good Fitness Program—such as mental and physical alertness, weight control, stress control, and longevity—exercise must become as much a regular part of your daily life as taking a bath or brushing your teeth. To succeed at being a fitness champion, you must convince yourself of the benefits of the Feelin' Good Fitness Program and the alternative risks—such as obesity, coronary heart disease, and possible premature death.

Having the patience of Job is a prerequisite to fitness training. You can not simply regain in a few short days what you may have lost through years of sedentary living—but if you stick with your exercise goals and program, you can gain it back.

Before you begin your Feelin' Good Fitness Program, it is important to see your physician, expecially if you are over thirty-five and have been inactive for several years. A program of vigorous physical exercise involves minimal risks for individuals in good health or those following their doctor's advice.

It has been said that physical fitness is to the human body what fine tuning is to an engine. No truer words could be spoken. Fitness is a state of being that not only helps us to feel our best, it also allows us to look our best and perform on the job at maximum efficiency levels. Indeed, the case for prime fitness cannot be overstated. By achieving a level of physical fitness far above anything we have ever experienced, we are opening up all of our senses to the world around us. Dozens of medical and psychological studies have underlined the result of regular physical fitness workouts: people seem happier, fulfilled, more productive, and more creative. It isn't just a coincidence.

Strenuous daily activity conditions your body and mind to the idea that you can attain goals that once seemed impossible. Regular exercise requires regular self-discipline. Once you've made the decision to seriously begin a regular exercise program, and then you find yourself sticking to the program, you'll realize an air of triumph and exaltation. Instead of putting something difficult off, you've stuck with it and succeeded. This enormous feeling of victory easily spills over into everyday life. You suddenly realize that you do not necessarily have to spend the rest of your life putting off goals or abandoning plans. Gradually, almost subtly, you learn that you, too, can have a say in your own life. You can chart your own directions, sail your own course. You've unlocked the door to opportunity and success and self-fulfillment—nothing can stop you now.

Some people liken a regular physical workout to the elated high of an evangelistic experience. Former drug addicts say physical fitness is better than anything that can be purchased in the street—and what's more, it's legal, it's safe, and it's good for you.

Make up your mind today that you're going to be feelin' good about fitness from this point forward. Walk into the bright sunshine of making your own decisions and managing your own life.

CHAPTER 2

Feelin' Good About Yourself

Think about this: You're on a thirty-day diet, and less than two weeks into your program you've stopped at a nearby candy store and gorged yourself. How do you feel once your appetite has been satisfied? Are you angry with yourself? Do you feel guilty or frustrated?

Let's think about a more pleasant scenario: Not only have you steadfastly stuck with your thirty-day diet program, you have also— without fail—exercised every morning and sometimes during your free evening hours, too. How do you feel now? Happy? Proud? Self-confident?

The situations shown above are typical of the reactions and emotions we all share, especially as we embark on a program designed to help us lose weight and become more healthy. In essence, the effort to control your weight and the shape of your body boils down to one thing: How do you feel about yourself? Thousands of dieters every year fail because deep down they don't feel good about themselves.

While it may seem like an unimportant or minor factor, your feelings greatly influence the success or failure of your diet and exercise program.

It all comes down to a word we hear bandied about a great deal these days: motivation. Psychiatrists try to solve their patients' deep-seated dilemmas by searching for their motivation. Advertisers target the emotions that will most likely trigger customers to buy their products. (How do we