James Novak

Where are you know? Are you happy? Where do you want to go?



It’s been a long journey since I decided to change my life. I was the kid at school that was shy and far overweight. I don’t have a photo because I didn’t like to have my picture taken due to my weight but I had gotten to 200 pounds. I want you to see all my highs and lows, I want anyone who reads this to know they can change themselves in to whoever they want to be. Each photo shows different stages of my life. Life, goals, circumstances and abilities change. As you can see in the last photo I’m not as strong, muscular or as defined as I have been before. The most important lesson I have learned is that it is OK! Nobody will always be at their peak performance and sometimes you fall flat of your goal. I hope that anyone I help along their fitness journey learns from me to love the process and growth of living a healthier life. Once you love the journey, you learn to love yourself more which helps in all parts of life. Fitness is not just getting in better shape, it’s a tool for personal growth. Thank you to everyone who has helped me on my way to where I am now. I hope to pass on the same help to others.

Do I need glasses? No I don’t, but these ones aren’t for clear vision.




These are my blue light blocking glasses. I wear these when I know I’ll be doing work on the computer or watching tv. They help reduce the amount of blue light coming in (by about 55% for this brand) which alleviates eye soreness and headaches. My favorite thing about them though is the reduced blue light intake helps my brain produce melatonin. These great pair of glasses actually help me get far better sleep and be able to sleep at an earlier time than if I was to just be staining at screens all day with them on! Pretty cool I think 😎

Sometimes it’s good to not lift heavy. Read on and I’ll explain why.




Another key factor in anyone’s fitness journey is creating a solid foundation of stabilization. Stabilization can come from a massive expanse of different exercises. For someone not used to working with the goal of core stabilization in mind the single arm dumbbell press is a good start. Now it may not be as fun as lifting massive weight or getting a pump so large you think your skin will explode... but it is just as important and gaining better stabilization will allow you to advance further and faster in the gym. Any stabilization exercise should be done at a slow to medium tempo with a weight that is easy to move and high repetitions of the movement. With the exercise shown it is important to stand up straight so the dumbbell is not directly over your center of gravity. Control the weight and press up and bring it back down without leaning your body. You can easily see proper form and poor form that most people use to compensate to move the weight in these slides. If you find the proper form is too difficult, either reduce the weight or some people may need to regress to the seated single arm dumbbell press shown in the last slide.

Lacking motivation? Well listen up and try this!




Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m a fitness fanatic through and through. Even I, a gym crazed guy like me can lack the motivation to workout sometimes. Now before I continue I want you to know you should listen to your body and if you feel over fatigued you should let your body rest. But if you just don’t want to go through the same motions, feel like one more day off won’t hurt or any other reason you lack that drive to better yourself you had before... well then just go do something that’s fun. For me it was tire flipping... cause it makes me feel tough. Maybe for you it’s pounding a sledgehammer, trying new exercises or equipment or even just a light bike ride. Whatever it is, if you can’t get that motivation that day, do something active you’ll enjoy. More important than having a hefty workout is being consistent to your goals. Now go crush it however you see fit this day!