AgelessTimeless Blog

Do you remember the anxiety you felt prior to engaging in a sporting competition? The event was all you could think about for days, and when it was over, you found yourself craving that adrenaline burst again and again. It made you feel alive and challenged. If you can’t relate to the sports scenario, perhaps preparation for a stage performance or public speaking gave you that same anxious feeling. At one time in your life, you experienced the trepidation and the anxiety that accompanied novel and exciting experiences that made you reach deep inside to excel.

If you no longer experience such feelings, it is time to wake up those emotions that made you strive to perform at your best .

I have either competed or will be challenged by the following events in the next few months:

The Pennsylvania State Powerlifting Championships
Participating in a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu seminar conducted by Royce Gracie
Teaching and training with my martial arts students most days
Testing under my Grandmaster Jin Pal Kim for a 2nd Dan Black Belt certification
Grappling with Jiu-jitsu students, while being observed by my instructor Francisco Neto, for a possible belt promotion.
Preparing for the Iron Lion Powerlifting competition.

All of these events will create a great deal of competitive anxiety. Ultimately, I am competing with myself to perform at my highest ability level.

Most Ageless Athletes are competing with themselves or others. It is the will to improve and the challenges that each faces along the way that makes them youthfully inspired.

If you have lost that feeling of drive and determination, I strongly suggest becoming competitive, whether it be with yourself or others. Set goals that are quantifiable and aim to achieve. Tell others of your quest for encouragement and accountability. The anxiety, training and determination necessary to succeed will make you feel alive and youthful.

This blog was written by Walter Urban an Ageless/Timeless Featured Athlete.

Walter Urban President and owner of Urban Dynamics Inc a consulting company www.urbandynamics.net

If you are like most of us you have your hands full with life’s daily routine and frequently that routine does not include fitness! If that’s the case for you, trust me it’s not limited to you!World and national records or not, like just about everyone else, I sometimes struggle with motivating myself to get to the gym 3 to 4 days a week and give 120%!

Training or exercise is time consuming, takes me away for other pleasures and it’s hard, but remember that’s why they call it exercise or fitness!

In reality, it doesn’t matter how much weight you can lift, how many supplements you take, six-pack or no six-pack, motivation affects us all and is the key element in every fitness program. It’s one of the key factors that contribute to why such a large percentage of people do not exercise regularly!

While there are thousands of books written on motivation and self help, the first and most important step in fitness is start or don’t quit!

Sounds simple, but I know it isn’t.

Whether you are just starting out or already exercising but need help with motivation, the following suggestions will help:

•   Set a goal – any project or plan without goal will be a struggle
• · Develop a plan to reach your goal – this is a must no matter what activity you enjoy
• · Start small – if you are just starting set realistic goals
• · Set interval goals and reward small short term accomplishments
• · Create rewards that are pleasurable and away from your exercise
• · Change routines and change often
• · Develop a competition with yourself or a partner and relate back to rewards
• · Chart progress so you can monitor and remember successes

• If you are already exercising or have started
• · Remember good days
• · Remember the feeling of success and your pleasure rewards
• · Focus on the big picture
• · Withdraw during your routine
• · Stay grounded but dream big
• · Join a team or league if you are motivated by others and in a team or league sport
• · Know what your urges are to quit and be aware of them
• · Continue to mix things up
• · Visualize your success
• · If you get lost with mixing it up – get a coach
•  Forget but expect bad days – remember no matter how poorly you perform or how bad your workout is do not quit it is not an option……. just walk away and think about a past success

 Most of all remember if it was easy everyone would do it!

 Get up, get started and don’t give up!

 If you’ve already started, find enjoyment and just keep pushing on!

 To find more information on Walter Urban and his World and National records please visit www.walterurban.com

             George Kattouf, Founder of Ageless/Timeless will be interviewed by Tom Matt, host of the Internet radio program Boomers Rock, on Friday, May 11, 2012. The program is aired on the FTNS Fitness Radio Network from 6:20 PM until 6:40 PM. You may listen to the interview by clicking on the icon in this blog or by navigating to http://ftns.co/ on your computer. Once you get to the site, click on listen live. i-Phone users may download an FTNS Application.

George Thomas Kattouf,Director of Ageless/Timless, won the Masters II 220 pound division of the Pennsylvania State Powerlifting Championships held in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania on April 1, 2012. The Masters II division encompasses lifters ages 50-59. Kattouf, age 59, matched his best overall performance by totaling 1309 pounds, squatting 423.5 pounds, bench pressing 324.5 pounds and deadlifting 561 pounds. Kattouf’s deadlift broke the current USAPL Pennsylvania Masters II record which he held. He currently holds the USAPL Pennsylvania Master II squat, deadlift and total pounds lifted record. Kattouf plans to enter the national stage in 2013 by entering the Masters Nationals Championships to be held in Orlando, Florida.

If you choose the lifestyle of an Ageless/Timeless athlete, you may have to answer many questions
from your peers and others. There are those who will ask you if you are still participating in your chosen athletic endeavors. When you respond yes, you will often get an inquisitive look from the questioner followed by a disappointed demeanor. Peers will find it difficult to comprehend that you are functioning at an ageless level while he or she is not. Your chosen lifestyle raises questions regarding the typical aging process. Your enigmatic fitness level flies in the face of traditional thinking relative to the entire aging process. You have a choice: act as the gifted child who hides their abilities by sitting quietly and not responding to questions in order to mask their prowess or be humbly proud of your abilities and encourage others. Ageless/Timeless Athletes have chosen the latter option. We want to lead others to maximize their potential and disrupt the current paradigm associated with the aging process. When someone asks you, “What do you expect for someone my age?” you respond, “Excellence!”

George Kattouf, Founder of Ageless/Timeless will be interviewed by Tom Matt, host of the Internet radio program Boomers Rock, on Friday, February 3, 2012. The program is aired on the FTNS Fitness Radio Network from 6:40 PM until 7:00 PM. You may listen to the interview by clicking on the icon in this blog or by navigating to http://ftns.co/ on your computer. Once you get to the site, click on listen live. i-Phone users may download an FTNS Application.

Congratulations to featured Ageless/Timeless athlete Odd Haugen who once again proved that Superman is alive and well. Haugen, at the age of 61, competed in the Masters World’s Strongest Man event held in Belfast, Northern Ireland in September 2011. Chronologically Haugen was the oldest competitor by more than a decade. His third place performance once again proves that an ageless mentality and powerful work ethic leads to a lifetime of remarkable strength and vigor.

Haugen’s results are astonishing:
Truck Pull-20 meters-13 tons-43.44-seconds-Fourth Place
Strength Timber Log Lift-Starting Lift-(110kg 242 lbs) Maximum lift (130kg 286lbs)- Third Place
Flag Hoist-Five Total Poles 1st (250kg 550lbs) 2nd (275kg 605lbs) 3rd (300kg 660lbs) – 4th (325kg 715lbs) Fourth Place
Human Wheelbarrow-(600kg 1320lbs) 20 meters-19.75 seconds-First Place
Squat For Repetitions-(320kg 704 lbs) 4 repetitions-Fourth Place
Stones (100kg 220lbs) (115kg 253 lbs) (130kg 286lbs)-Third Place

To put this in perspective, one must have an understanding and appreciation for the aforementioned strongman events. The truck pull is self explanatory, Haugen had to pull a 13-ton truck for 20 meters while harnessed to the vehicle. He hoisted a wooden log overhead which weighed 286 lbs. The flag hoist required Haugen to dead-lift, hoist and pull flag poles to an upright position, as they became progressively heavier. He was able to hoist all but one pole, which weighed 770 lbs. The strongman had to lift an apparatus that seated a group of individuals weighing 1320 lbs and move it for 20 meters. This was Haugen’s best event and he was able to perform the movement almost twice as fast as the second place competitor. Squatting required Haugen to place a 704 pound weighted bar on his back and squat, breaking a parallel position, and then push the weight up to a standing position.

Finally, the stone event required Haugen to wrap his arms around a weighted circular stone which was on the ground and hoist the object to an upright pedestal which got progressively taller and heavier with each stone.

Haugen embodies the essence of an Ageless/Timeless Athlete. Very few, at any age, could reproduce the strongman feats that he performed at this event. At age 61, Haugen stands alone as an enigma in the world of strongmen. What did you do today?

Ageless/Timeless is proud to announce our new featured athlete Nolan Shaheed. He is a world renowned musician and world record breaking runner. His remarkable bio is posted on www.agelesstimeless.com

This advertisement is now in Fitness Star Magazine. The featured athletes in the ad were the first five athletes that were showcased in www.agelesstimeless.com. I want to thank James Erdt, Founder/President of Fitness Star for his kindness and willingness to support Ageless/Timeless. The magazine page is located at the following link:
http://issuu.com/fitnessstar/docs/fitness_star_magazine_fall_2011_volume_2_issue_4/112
Stay Young!
George Kattouf

George Thomas Kattouf competed in the Iron Lion Open powerlifting contest held on the main campus of Penn State University, November 5, 2011. Kattouf, 58, won the Masters II 220 pound division in this USAPL sanctioned event. His best lifts were bench press 290 lbs., squat 425 lbs., and deadlift 550 lbs. The 550 pound deadlift beat the current USAPL Pennsylvania record which Kattouf holds in the 55-59 age group category. The meet was sponsored by the Penn State Powerlifting Club.