The principal of progression

The principal of progression. I will cover what it is and more importantly why it matters in just a moment. First let me say that although many people claim to understand this principal important to building real strength, there are many people who do not live by it. Although anyone who remembers being in any high school level or above weight training class has heard about this, many people are actully working against it.

So what is it? According to About.com, "The Principle of Progression implies that there is an optimal level of overload that should be achieved, and an optimal time frame for this overload to occur. Overload should not be increased too slowly or improvement is unlikely. Overload that is increased too rapidly will result in injury or muscle damage. Exercising above the target zone is counterproductive and can be dangerous." For our purposes that is pretty accurate.

Why does it matter?
Simply put, without it, there is little PROGRESS. Let me paint a illistraiton in your mind's eye. You walk into a public gym, and you see somebody in the corner benchpressing, say, 160 and struggling.  A month later same guy, same weight, but this time it is casual. So far so good. Yet next month he still is on 160. Months later he is only on 165 (or 160 still). What is the matter with this? It should be clear that the benefits of him benching are sliding substancily, he really isn't going to master that 160 any better than he already has. That's why to principle of progression is vital.

How does it apply?  In the book I have been reading, Dinosaur training by Brookes Kubik, he says rule number one to build mass muscle and strength is hard work (when it gets casual it's already past time to switch it up). If rule one really is that the work has to be hard, then  this guy in our example and you and anyone else training, should be throwing on weight whenever they can without compromising good from. If it ain't hard, you can do more.

Working out without machines, the way men use to?

I have been reading a book called "Dinosaur training", by Brooks Kubik, it is a book that my strongman friend Dan Cenidoza once reccomended to my friend Steve Moore. It is in large what inspired today's post. Brooks slanders today's 'breakthroughs' and 'miracle machines' passionately. His reason for doing so is simple though, they don't seem to work that well. Some may, but the latest off the assembly line with the extra hightech buttons seems to always be unneccasry. Instead Brooks would like to see more return to the old rules of the "iron game", and work like the strongman of the past use to. That is why it is marked "dinosaur training".

This goes beyond just lifting normal weights over machines. Brooks, like my own strongman friend, has toys. These toys help build raw strength even seeing their continuing rarity to hear of their use.

Before I list some toy ideas, let me tell of one of my own expierences. I have been wanting to build some grip strength lately. So one day on the job at a home where our company was remodeling a bathroom, I was asked to take some discarded (big) tile out to the trash pile. There was plently, while carrying I relized what a chance I had. I now have two tiles in my basement available whenever I wish for pinch grip training. I think this is the mindset Brooks encourages, almost childlike simplicity.


Now here are some toys right out of the strongman's toybox. Heavy and ocward to handle are the key themes:

• An anvil. Try picking even a small one of these up by the horn.
• A sandbag
• A barrell (or keg)
• Chains (for pushup bling etc.)
• Tires 

Be creative, work hard, build muscle.

Professional strongman: Žydrūnas Savickas

I thought it would be good to study a real life example. To look into the world of someone who has given their life to being strong: Žydrūnas Savickas. Žydrūnas (Za-dru-nas) won the Arnold Strongman Classic 6 years in a row. He has set 40 world records in different events from 2003 to 2009. He won all 15 strongman competitions he entered in 2005. He can do this stuff:
Squat - (938 lb)
Bench press - (629 lb)
Deadlift - (898 lb)
Just one thing, I don't think he has given his life. Stay with me here.

Unfortunately I cannot pinpoint a specific source saying exactly how long he works out. Yet according to http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_5_24/ai_n26903256/  he gives a breakdown of his regiment and his ideals behind them. "The most important exercises for building strength are the powerlifting exercises of squats, bench presses and deadlifts, and [practicing] strongman events; so I train six days a week, three times powerlifting and three times strongman events, alternating workouts. For each powerlifting exercise, I do six or seven sets of three reps."

SAVICKAS' WORKOUT

EXERCISE       SETS  REPS

Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Squats         6-7   3
Bench presses  6-7   3
Deadlifts      6-7   3

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Various strongman events





If you read carefully, you should see that although he does something everyday, 6 days a week, he only does a few reps and 7 sets is his ceiling.

That's not his life. That's working out and practicing. As I said, I did not find a place where it mentions his normal time to complete any given workout. I have not looked into his diet too much, although I assure you he eats a massive amount of calories to maintain his muscle weight.

So what's the point? It's simply this: the pros go above normal, but not by much. Not unreachable heights. Part of it is finding what works for you. So even if he read and studied health for an hour or so 6 days a week, even if he worked out for 2 hours a day, that's just 3 hours a day to be where he is.

Someone willing to work hard doing the right things can be considered 1#, imagine that. Yet, I have to be realistic. By realistic I mean he probably was working at about that level even in the beginning. He figured some things out and got better of course. Still, it is true that patience is a virtue until you hit that "overnight" success.





There will always be someone saying "I don't have 3 hours a day!", but there may be a point for that as well. You don't have to. Unless it is your passion, you probably don't need to. If you want to be fit an hour 4 or 5 times a day can have you super fit. It's been well established by study and example that an hour a day, 5 days a week with make you a pro in 3 years and a world expert in 5. That's for study though, with is essentially shaping the mind. Shaping the body is far easier so imagine what you could be in 6 months. I have gained 15 healthy pounds in my first 2 months.



If you would like a professional example look no further than Jack Lalanne. He is a favorite pick for my next strongman bio breakdown. I've heard that he worked out just 2 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. Yet, at age 70 he towed 70 rowboats, with passengers on them, while he was handcuffed, for a mile.  

Worried you are vunerable? Anwser: workout regiment

Martial arts and MMA schools seem to be growing in plazas and street corners over night. Maybe the news is to blame for this sudden panic and need to "arm ourselves". True some just appreciate the sport or hobby. Still, there is a good amount of people in these classes who want to know how to defend themselves. There is a good audience of people who want to be able to fight, if they felt they had to. This article is for those people. No, I am not going to tell you "5 tips to beat someone down" or anything of the sort. Yet, if you do this, you will be less likely to be attacked. Even better, you'll feel safe. Most of the time the threat is in our heads, so feeling secure is a great victory in itself.

Readers may remember me writing about my trainers rant on the need for phyiscal fitness in any martial art or style. I will cover it again for those who do not, becasue it is so true. If you are out-of-shape and get winded from basic things, knowledge of the best fighting style in the world can only do minimal for you. Minimal. If your body is not able to perform, there's little use. Some moves and techniques reuire peak levels of fitness. This is agianst the convential wisdom becasue noone wants to step on any toes. Yet, if you want to feel secure and lower the chance of someone messing with you, tighten your body up. The advantages will be big for those who really go for it.

Assuming you understand what was said above, which basically could be summed up as: to fight or defend, you have to be in fighting shape. An article I referenced on bodybuilding.com states, "Muscle endurance is key to self-defense, and using weights to increase that muscle endurance is a great thing to do. " Everything can stem from there. I now want to list some exercies reccomended to get you into that shape.  Core is a big part. If you have a strong core: you will protect organs, and everythnig else will work better together in general. Always protect the Core is one of the first things Iwas taught by my trainer, and part of that is teaching the core to protect it self.

Here are some great exercises for building your core (among other things, like confidence and sense of security):

• squats
• deadlifts
• oblique crunches
• normal crunches
• Bicyles 
• Plank

Going for gold with the dry heaves

Have you ever been doing a lot of moving or running around and suddenly became overtaken by the urge to hurl? I have three times recently, once during a kickball game and both times I did polymetrics (jump training) for the P90X workout regiment.. For those of you who have not experienced this, it is not fun. This is also not uncommon, but there are some steps that can be taken to seriously reduce this.

First we need to understand the causes. Although they can vary, the main causes tend to be  low blood sugar, too much or too little water in system, same for food.

Some tips to prevent it:

• Eat a small snack about an hour before to keep blood sugar stable
• Drink about 8 oz. of water for every 15 minutes of exercise is a good rule of thumb
• Warm up with a light aerobic activity beforehand
  
  
  
  Okay, but you ignored those tips or tried to follow them but you still are feeling ill. If this is the case, besides considering talking to a doctor if it is frequent, try these tips:
  
  
  • SIP-no matter how thirsty you are, sip water, do not drink quick. This also is good to prevent.
  • Keep walking, don't sit down or stop
  • try to focus on one object or thing 

  No matter who you are, meaning age, sex, location, physique, post workout nausea can happen to you. Still, you want to put the odds in your favor. Most people do not experience this often. Yet, these steps really are just giving your body to right stuff to persevere. With the right precautions chances are good you will outlast the competition, whether that is because you are not throwing up or simply because you are more nourished and hydrated matters little. 
  

Breaded 'n Baked Zucchini Chips

Last night I did not write a post, but nonetheless I was putting in time. I was preparing those
Breaded 'n Baked Zucchini Chips. Last night I was very tired, so I only made some last night as a test group. I think test groups are important if your a novice (like me) at baking and preparing meals, it helps to get all the mistakes out of the way without wasting or ruining to much food.

Still, the test group came out okay. One thing I feel I should add though, is that I should have kept them in longer to be more crispy. Last night they were warm and tasted pretty good, but I tried different size slices but no matter which slice, room temperature they just were not up to par.

The simple preparation for this one makes me more than willing to make a few real batches. I will most likely post a picture when I am finished the next batch.

Yet, this is a health blog. So I am going to end this post with some nutrition info about the summer squash known as the Zucchini.

    The skin is a good source of dietary fiber
    Great vegetable to control calorie intake as well as cholesterol
    Contains good amount of potassium which counters high blood pressure (caused by cholesterol)
    Has about 2 grams of protein
    0% trans or saturated fat
    Has traces of some important vitamins such as

    RIBOFLAVIN10%
    NIACIN3%
    FOLICACID9%
    PANTOTHENICACID2%

Also, to me it just seems like a good veggie to experiment with. Chop it up and throw it in a salad if you would like, people will notice your adventurous new eating lifestyle. 

Beets me

As a quick recap for anyone who did not read my last post, I went to the farm this weekend. They were appriciative and gave me some sqaush and beets. Oppurtunity must be knocking because I really do not know how to do anything with either. Yesterday I listed some of my picks for squash recipes, today I will do the same for beets.

Golden beet bread- I do enjoy bread, yet I cannot shake the feeling that this bread will not be a sweet as those flavored breads one sees at the grocery stores. Walnuts, butter, salt, water, flour and beets are the main ingredients. This one would definitly get attention at parties.

Beets on the grill- Seriously. One person recomends tossing them on the grill with some butter, then adding salt and pepper to taste. Another reccomends something slighly more complex, throwing some olive oil in a ziplock bag, add beets, wrapped it in tin foil, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. She combined it with Yam and says it was "to die for".

Roasted beets 'n' sweets- Sounds pretty straightforward. The "sweets"  are the potatoes and seasoning. It is roasted in a similiar way as the grilled beet, with a ziplock bag.
Most of the prep is just throwing olive oil, garlic, onion, sweet potatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar into a bag.

It seems I have new flavors in my future. I hope you have all benefited from these and consider getting a new vegetable or two yourself.

Ask me about my squash

Saturday morning I was on the farm. I brought my mom and we were weeding the potatoes for three hours. Quality bonding time I suppose. Fortunately it is getting deep into the season. That means that Simmer Rock (farm) has enough veggies to give away to volunteers as a gift of appreciation. I don't do it for the veggies, but they are nice and appreciated. This time I was given some beats and squash (2 shares if you count my mom's portion.) This is a gift in itself. After all, what do you make with a squash and/or beats? I certainly do not know.  As I write I am seeing some recipes via Google and will be recording some of the interesting ones that may be worth trying. Tomorrow I will do the same for beats. Update* Before I researched recipes I did not even know zucchini is a type of squash.


Caramelized Butternut Squash- First one I am seeing. It looks...strange.  Basically baked squash with cinnamon and brown sugar and whatever other seasonings are in the pantry that make it feel like Christmas.


Squash soup- varied from a regular veggie soup. If it is a vegetable I now just assume there is a soup for it. Still, not a bad backup. Grab some garlic, chicken broth, onion and some olive oil and we'll see how it goes.


Breaded 'n Baked Zucchini Chips- A good portion of my friends have heard of my kale chips I occasionally snack on. This is most likely my first choice. Milk, garlic, cheese, pepper and an egg. Only 30 minute estimate to make and only 15 of those are actual preparation of the meal.


That should do for right now. There are only 2 squash in my fridge so I will see what will happen. As a quick note, I really like how simple almost all the squash recipes were. In fact, I do not remember seeing one that I would really classify as complicated. I am sure there are some, but if squash can be made into a good dish easily then it's that much better in my opinion.

Packing on calories day

This is a follow up to yesterday's post. I have realized that I have fallen back into my light eater diet. I may not be malnourished as I was before, but I am not getting enough calories to be significantly growing muscle as I want to. I realize that this post is targeted to only a small percentage, but if you are not in the weight loss category, chances are you may be able to benefit from this in some way or another. Yet,to be honest, even if you are trying to lose weight, there is good reason to know what the healthy and high calorie foods are.

As a quick thought, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and he was talking about how his friend needed to slow down his metablism. Please no one make this thier goal, ever. Fast metablism is often a very good thing, it can be as difficult to slow down as it is to speed up. It's far better to learn to use the benefits of something and to find a good balance considering both will have some obstacles attached.


Okay, so today I eat at Bob Evan's with some friends. For 6 bucks and some change I got a chicken noodle dish with mashed potatoes a biscuit and some veggies. Not bad, lots of calories for the price. This also seemed to be somewhat nutritous. Sometimes you can find good deals at places like this. Yet, looks can be deseaveing. So now we will discuss what you can eat instead of continuuously risking it at fast food places or when you do your grocery shopping.

Everyone likes a good list, so here are some high calorie foods that will help you add (bulk up) without putting you in an early grave.

• Peanut butter- Peanut butter is great, mixes well in protein drinks, and sandwiches.
• Nuts-very similar to peanut butter, nuts have many good  vitamins, minerals, and heart healthy fats and fiber. Nuts are reletvely inexpensive and a good snack.
• vegetable oil- sprinkle this is over your salad and pasta, can easily add 100 calories to a meal.
• Fruit juices-try to avoid the high sugar, all processed type. Fresh juice such as orange or cranberry juice is an easy way to pack on calories.
• Yogurt and eggs-protein and calories. Eggs have some HDL cholesterol as well.
• Breakfast cereal-As stated with fruit juices, avoid the sugary high processed stuff. 
• Avocado and potatoes also are good for calories and flavor.
• Milk- Moderation is important with this one. Drinking milk daily is good, but do not look to this as your main source of calories. 
• B.A.N.A.N.A.S-Hope someone got the song reference, anyhow, quick 100 calorie snack and considered in America very affordable.
• Beans- cheap, easy to make in variation, healthy. 

Eating a high calorie meal does not need to kill you. I have a friend who is a vegetarian who claims he is on a 4000 calorie a day diet . He looks it, he has some muscle. True he may not be the healthiest, but if he can consistently hit that mark with eggs and peanut butter sandwiches than why can't any of us? Armed with this quick cheat sheet of healthy foods, go forth and eat well and glorify God with those awesome bodies he gave you that you chiseled out!

Insult and injury

Athletes get injured. It just happens at some point.  Good news though, It doesn't need to be dramatic. As long as you play it smart, the occasion small injury will be nothing to be concerned about. I wanted to write this today because I feel many people do not really know how to handle even a basic injury. Today's main focus will be pulling a muscle. Questions arise such as: how did I pull it? How long will it take to heal? How do I get it to heal faster? Soon enough, hopefully they'll even ask how to prevent this from recurring.

Okay, so you are doing that favorite exercise of yours. You are really feeling it today. In fact, you start feeling a odd pulling sensation, like the muscles are not so much stretching as much as pulling apart like adhesive on glue. That's how it feels at least. Then you have a sore body part, what now? R.I.C.E is a popular acronym for how to heal. Rest, ice, compression, elevation. Yet, that is more for a blunt injury like a broken bone, so I recommend focusing on the first two.

I say this because a pulled muscle is basically when a muscle is stretched too far and small tears develop. This is why rest is important. Your body will take care of business as long as you are not continuing to injure yourself.

As for the ice, swelling is common along with a sprain or pull. Swelling is the blood rushing to the area, so cool it down and slow it down to reduce swelling. Anti-inflammatory medicines are also recommended, such as Advil or Tylenol.

The length it will take to heal varies depending on how bad the muscle was torn. There is another thing that can speed up recovery. Stretching. This may seem counter intuitive. Yet, remember that a pulled muscle is not really "pulled" so much as it is torn. Stretching can aid in a speedy recovery and future injury prevention. This works because it stretches out the rest of the muscle, so instead of it staying there getting weaker in a tangled mess, you are sorting out the muscle and telling your body, "get to work."

Two extremes of eating

This post may hit home for a few of you.There are two types of eating we will be discussing today. Personally, I have struggled with the second type.. Still do from time to time..

The first is eating too much. Calories are energy. Michael Phelps and many athletes eat 9000 or 10000 calories a day. They don't have to worry about being fat. Why? That is just the way they need to eat to do what they do. The key is to be training hard enough. If you are not eating more calories than you are burning, you tend to get fat. Ever see or hear of someone who is always packing down meats and protein poweders then complains they made him fat? If he gave his body enough reason to use all he was putting in, there is a high chance even a bad protein poweder could do little damage.

The second, which I struggle with, is training hard but under-eating. Without the nutrients (calories) in your system readily your body won't get 100 percent from your workout. Many guys fall in this category as well, and even more women. Ironically, if some girls eat more after a killer workout they could build more muscle which would eat more fat away leaving them skinnier and more toned. If you have stopped growing, you either need to eat more or workout with more burning intensity. This is especially important for ectomorphs like me. The first month when I packed on about 10 pounds, I had to eat until I didn't enjoy it at all. It was a chore. Yet, I gained an inch on my:chest, arms, waist, and calves.  

How well are your eating and working out habits working out together?

How the (male) ego stops him dead

This post is mainly targeted at males, but I have no doubt at all some females are just as guilty in the same or similar ways. Have you ever been into a gym? You know that guy. That guy in the back screaming and jerking his whole body for what seems like a 3 minutes period. If you see this happening, don't miss the chance to look around. Many people will be eyeballing him, with that "wow, he sure is strong" look on they're face. If possible, try to find out when this guy usually works out and get there before this point. I say this because many people like this are pumping their egos, not their muscles. They get high off those looks and the occasional "good job man". Sometimes it's less obvious. I am not even saying that there is anything wrong with the occasional grunt or yell to push yourself through those last few reps, but sometimes, those "last few" were the first two. Once again, whether on the beach, gym, or anywhere else, you may have heard one of those guys talking about how much  he can bench. Well, sometimes they have to tell people because they don't look it. They don't look it because they did it just to say they could, not because it was the best weight for his/her body at the time.This is a vicious circle.

Don't fall victim to this.
There is even a Biblical proverb on it, "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." -Proverbs 27:2

Don't let yourself receive more than you deserve in this area. If you need to go around telling people, it is a little lame and far less powerful than showing it (with good form or none) or at least looking like you can. Make yourself work and tweak if you want this attention. There was a study I heard once about people and a project. Two groups. One group was allowed to tell everyone about they're progress and goals and the other was told to keep to themselves until finished. Equal time, yet the first group told themselves they were finished before the time was up, it was fine the way it was. The second group certainly was not behind, yet they worked up to the clock. I guess group 2 still had their reward to look forward to. Attention for doing good is good, but do something good first. 

Why measure results? (And what makes amutuers into professionals)

Write down your goals. Know what you want out of life. Keep a list of your responsibilities handy so you know what needs to be done when things get sticky. What do all of these have in common? If I say I want to bench press 500 pounds, or eat three vegetables a day, it should be pretty obvious to me whether or not  I achieved that. If you want to be a doctor, help feed 1000 kids in china, or make 50,000 a year, you will know when this happens. If your list tells you to take out the trash, or file away all files on your desk, a quick glimpse around will say whether or not you have hit it. In a large way, they are all measurable.

Most workout regiments worth their salt use this principal. Write down how much you did, keep a good record of how much of how many, says the pumped up fitness instructor. In Josh Foer's popular book, one of my favorites,  Moon walking with Einstein, Anders Ericsson a Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University suggests a few things stand out today for experts in all fields. One of those things is brought on by measuring, in fact, it is much like a interchangeable word.

Feedback. 
The professionals in any field  have this in common. They are looking and receiving constant feedback, which they use to better they're game. If you looked at your notebook and saw that about 48 hours after doing one handed pushups you could do 5 more regular push-ups, it would seem like a smart choice to do that if you are really trying to up your push-ups. Or, if you really wanted more defined triceps you could easily compare the days you were doing one armed push-ups versus the days you did handstand pushups for growth, but only if you measured.

Why do people persist to do things that kill them?

This is a post that I, and the human race could probably write and expand on for some time into the future. Anyone who keeps up with my blog should know, when I write here, I try to keep it brief. I like to give you some reasons I (and others) believe it to be a certain way. This post is no exception, so here are a few reasons people persist in things they say they know are bad.

One essay on http://www.helium.com claims the reasons are:

1.  It's a habit. Anything can be habitual under the right conditions, if it is a habit, it is hard to break. You probably have heard the saying, "old habits die hard". 
2.  extreme circumstances
3.  ignorance
4. poor training (lack of discipline)
5. inexperience
6.   lack of impulse

Yes, there is some truth to everyone of those reasons. I would say that sometimes it is they don't know how to change (ignorance), but very often, even this reason could be overcame if people learned to do what I am about to tell you next.

People need to do new things, occasionally including things they really have no inclination to do. There is a good saying for this, too. If you always do what you've done, you will always get what you've got. I have a quote of my own,

"growth is usually on the other side of whatever you don't want to do." -David Coeyman

Please, for the love of the lord, use good sense here. This is true though, what needs to be done tends to not be easy? Why? Not because life ain't fair, but because if you didn't want to do something and you knew what could be done to change it, and it was easy, you would have did it already. People tend to keep doing things that kill them because it is easier to deal with the stress and disappointment of persisting in this (what you know and are use to), than to persist in that uphill battle that a new habit building can be. Life is painful, so it's not pick your poison, it's pick your pain.

Why does quality food cost so much?

You may have heard the cliche', "why s it so hard to eat right?". Well don't be fooled, cost has a lot to do with this. Part of the reason it's more difficult is because there is so much unhealthy food near us at any given time. We have to search out and be able to differentiate the healthy food from the unhealthy. Why is there so much unhealthy food around us? Partially because we are so use to it, we actually believe it tastes 'better', but largely because it's cheap for all parties concerned.

I had an interesting talk today that made me question how much cheaper it really is.  

Today I was riding passenger as my friend Greg drove us back from the farm. Across from the farm is a shop in which he regularly buys organic meats and eggs. He was telling me how much he enjoys them and that he really cannot enjoy regular eggs anymore. He asked me if I had tried any yet, to which I responded, "no". I really wasn't into paying 4 or 5 bucks for 12 eggs versus 3 dozen for like 2 dollars. He told me he understands that. He went on to say that he believes all this cheap, non-food  ,food, is part of the reason Americans are getting so fat. In places like Russia they buy local as the standard, and most other places are similar, and they're all relatively thin. I happen to thing the amount we consume out of availability may have more to do with this, but I would imagine there is some truth to his thesis as well.

What he told me next interested me even more.
He said that with higher quality food, you may, if not tend to, eat less of it. He says his eggs are so flavorful that he only needs two or three (how much he would eat otherwise, I do not know). If this is true, maybe the extra dollars are worth it. Then he made a good follow up remark.

He said that it's about the nutrition. Like before a big fight MMA fighters focus heavily on highly nutritious foods. Really, we eat to give our body nutrition, or that should be the main point over just stopping hungry. So if eating high quality makes you need to eat less and gives health benefits like making you feel better, It may be worth it to think about that versus always saving the dollar or two. Investing in oneself is said to have a big return. I may need to think about this more myself.

How to bring it when you don't feel like it

No matter who you are, or what your exercise regiment is, or your goals are, there are bound to be days when you just do not feel up to it. Yet, you have to. Missing one workout is the easiest way to miss two, plus results hinge on consistency. So you have to get yourself to do it. How?

Well hopefully today's posts can give you a few jump-start ideas, but different things work better for different people. I wish there was a one size fits all, but you simply have to be willing to do what it takes to keep yourself in the groove. First though, let me say that drop off points are normal. No matter how cool your program is, at a certain point you will probably get a little bored. So one solution may be, if you tend to get bored around week 4 or 6 for a program, prepare something special to mix it up and keep you working that week. Be creative. Now here are 5 ideas:

1. Dress to impress. One quick way to give yourself some extra motivation is to dress as what you want to be. If you want to be a body builder today, dress like you thing one would dress. If you want to be a house mom, dress as such. Change, then look in the mirror, it  helps. 
2. Similar to the dressing idea, visualize. What you perceive yourself to be will determine how you act. See yourself really pumping it or already with the massive power and muscles. 
3. Get up early. Even if you don't consider yourself a morning person, this is a great way to start the day. Gives you more lasting energy and a better feeling than coffee, plus you are already checking things off your to do list, you winner. 

    3.5 Plan. This goes well with 3, but don't say I'll do it later. When is later? I'll do it at 8A.M or right after breakfast has more power.

     4. Stretch. Get that blood flowing.

5. Set up the reward. Sometimes I'll make my protein shake early and leave it on the counter. I know it will be a little less delicious warm, plus I don't get the feeling of accomplishment if I drank it until I felt like my body needs it.

The importance of resting for best results

Let me open by saying first start doing. Most people need to rest less and do more. Still, this is an important subject so I'll cover a few times when resting is best.

The first is to sleep. Sleep is one of the favorite forms of rest. Sleeping is good because it is important to store memories and heal (rebuild) the body. Without sleep, performance and quality of life suffer at a certain point. Some people spend the first half of their life trying to avoid it as much as possible, but if you want to hit things with your best, get some sleep.

The second is after a season. The important part is being picky about when to take this rest. I have a friend named Alex who is a long distance runner. When he was visiting from college we were working out and spending some quality time together. He told me about the crazy training regiment many middle and long distance runners put themselves through. There was how much to increase a week, what sort of training (should I do on and off sprints or long jogs this week?)  and a bunch of specifics to govern the training for a event in the future. Before a big run, do you know what he recommended? Provided you planned and stuck to everything just right, there is a week you completely take off. Then guess what? The week after is suppose to be you at peak performance. Many serious workout junkies take a week off at the end of a program before transitioning into a new one. This has a few benefits (reward for finishing, giving body rest, etc).

The last one is when you are ill. It is no fun, but rest up so you can feel good and get back to action faster.

There is little other time that serious resting should be needed.  The rest of the time would be better spent planning, or doing. Of course we all rest a little too much from time to time, but this shouldn't discourage us from trying to hit our own peak performance, even if we have to rest for a week at some point to get it.

Two types of people post

We'll mark this post in one of two categories. This can be a motivational post, or, it can be something to challenge and possibly benefit your philosophy. Here is another trend we ALL have to watch out for to some extent. Learning less and less about more and more. It's that idea that there is no need to really study something deeply as long as I can go to Google for a quick answer. This is bad. Things studied are more lasting and more importantly, able to influence who we are and how we think as a person. Yet, this is a health and fitness blog, so why am I bringing this up?

The reason is simple:there is another side to this, a incidental byproduct perhaps. We're learning more about less. So we are still learning, but only skin deep knowledge. At least we're still learning right? Yes and no. It is great to learn, never stop learning. That is a good attitude, a better one is: Never stop learning good and useful things. Unless you want to be a trivia nut, or are studying for a game show, you'll only know the basics on any given topic or question. If we don't really know something, but only how to find the answer via the internet, how well do we know it? The real problem is this, we are taking up our time learning small things we could often just go without.


One of my favorite thinkers is Jim Rohn, he illustrates what I am trying to say rather nicely. Jim says, "There are some things you don't have to know how it works - only that it works. While some people are studying the roots, others are picking the fruit. It just depends on which end of this you want to get in on."

The issue is simple, there are too many people who would like to live better, but are doing it wrong. They want to do it right. Yet instead of doing the workout, or preparing the meal, they are checking if it's better to eat ___ 12 minutes after a workout versus eating ___ 22 minutes after a workout. Tweaking can be beneficial, but this stuff can kill momentum! I heard in a sermon once that if you do what you know you are suppose to do, you'll find your next step after you have done all you know you can do. That's it- just do what you know works, tweak some throughout, but don't let tweaks cut out the ever important action part. 

How to move mountains.

Sweat sitting on his skin from the workout that had taken place a short 20 minutes earlier. He stood there speaking with a friend who seemed to be somewhat interested in signing up to train. He was showing his toys to him, a "strongman's toolbox". There was lots of metal to bend, and a few interesting grip training devices. Of course there was grip squeezers, but there were more interesting items such as an anvil that was collected to be lifted by just the smooth horn on the front. He pulled out a frying pan, usually reserved for big shows due to the price of the bend. All eyes were on him, and soon there was a feeling of amazement as he rolled it up with ease, the way you would a thick piece of paper. How?

Matthew 17:20 says, "He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

How do we move mountains? By having faith, knowing that it will happen. When you know what will happen, you'll get there. This passage is a little confusing, one you have to think about. There is another passage I could have used, to him that believes, all things are possible. I like this one though due to the poetic element and room for interpretation. I like that is uses a mustard seed. A mustard seed is very small indeed.  In a similar way,  usually you don't start at the highest peak, or the deepest part. You work at it, little by little. 


The guy looked at my strongman friend, and said, "wow, you did THAT in 30 seconds". Dan, showing some wisdom, proclaimed, "that is one way of looking at it, another way is that it took me ten years".

Men of achivement workout

To be honest, the title does a fair job of explaining the point of this post. If you wish to see some of the support for this, or get a better understanding of why this may be, read on and you will get that,too.

Theodore Roosevelt is my favorite president. Did you know when Theo was a boy he was very ill and could not keep up with the other little boys in almost all areas of physical activity? He was mainly bedridden. Indeed, his dad told him once that he had the mind, but not the body, and without the body he would not go as far as he could. Roosevelt was later known for his quite notable pec muscles and was known to workout and do physical exercise at any chance. Question. Have you ever looked down the Forbes list of the most wealthy people alive today? If not, feel free to look it over. It is very interesting. The reason I bring this up, is because even though it does not list whether or not they workout, they all have pictures. How many overweight much-billionaires or multimillionaires do you see?

 I'll wait...

 I skimmed, but haven't saw one. Even if they don't all workout, this seems to suggest a habit of high effective people is to take care of their body. Even if it is mainly they're nutrition, I would imagine most of them have an active lifestyle. This habit is true from others observation as well, in the bestseller by Stephen Covey, "7 habits of highly effective people", habit 7 is to "sharpen the saw". This means keeping your body and mind sharp.

It is more than just observation by a few. I'll show you a study, tell you my opinion briefly, and let you decide for yourself. In a sports and exercise study they looked at a diverse amount of people and their lifestyle. I am not sure If I would say that all college graduates (even the higher levels-like PHD) are successful, but I could agree they tend, on average, to be more so than the average person. If you scroll through the study you will see a section broken down by degree/formal education. The higher the education, the higher the chance is they do regular physical activity. 

What is happening here seems pretty simple, but it is sort of a chicken-or-the-egg situation. I am not sure whether successful people want the best from themselves, so they exercises, or if exercising makes a person just want to be more successful at whatever they're doing. I do know that it is well proven that working out gives a person more energy (to say the least). Whether the energy can motivate or the mindset comes first and seeks the energy is debatable. Still, if winners workout, do you think you should?

Fat has a bad rep, but it was framed.

Today in modern America, as a society we are struggling with obesity more and more everyday it seems. Children are overweight, parents are overweight, and to a much less important mention, are cats are even overweight.

We need to cut out the fats.

No. No. No. If there is one post I have written so far that the average person could benefit from, this is probably it. About 20 years ago it is estimated that the "low-fat diet" trend really started gaining momentum in America. Since than, things have gotten much worse. I heard a commercial about a new documentary coming up, a nutritionist actually said we may be approaching the first generation with a lower life expectancy than their parents. This makes me think of my long distance runner friend Alex. Alex was telling me about a time after a long run when he wanted a nice snack. He bought a jar of peanut butter and was eating it with his fingers. Don't judge my friend, I've done very similar. Anyhow, a girl was shocked at this behavior. She claimed that peanut butter was one of the worst foods (based on it's high fat content). 

I don't blame her so much for not knowing better, most don't. Did you know that fats are the main source of energy for your brain? It's not a small portion either, a brain uses 20-30 percent of your calorie daily intake. Now then, logically, you must be wondering why obesity is such an issue if some fat is good? Well, first let me state that some fats are good. This works two ways. There are good fats, and there are very, very bad fats. There are fats in foods, such as fast foods, that probably shouldn't be considered food. The fat types are

• monounsaturated fats
• polyunsaturated fats
• saturated fats
• trans fats

The first two are good, and are found in peanut butter, soy, olives, sunflower, very natural sounding foods and food products. The latter are worse. Some saturated isn't thought to be bad, and is usually found in pork, beef, and meats.  If you never ate trans fat (founds in lots of candy fried foods and margarine) you would probably do your body a favor.


Second, as you may have seen coming,  fats aren't the issue. The whole "low fat" really should be saying "low calorie". The misunderstanding may stem from fat coming heavy with calories, 9 calories per gram of fat. Yet, eating well does not mean cutting fats. If you are trying to lose weight, or encouraging someone else to, they should be getting an adequate amount of healthy fats. We all just need to remember the principal of in and out. If we are eating 4000 calories a day and only burning 3000, well it obviously will get stored at some point. Fats aren't to blame, too many calories for a generally sedentary lifestyle is to blame.

Your body type, and why it matters.

There are three simple body types: Ectomorph, Mesomorph, Endomorph. Want to change your body composition? A small amount of research into the body type God gave you can really help. After all, this usually effects diet needs, as well as certain parts of fitness that may need special attention.

First there is an Ectomorph. Some of my more faithful readers may remember me referring to myself as an Ecto in previous posts. Ectos are thin. An ecto tends to have a flat chest, slim shoulders, slim overall appearance. These are known as the "classic hard weight gainers". Very lean muscle and more likely to have long stringy limbs. Very fast metabolism. Ectos tend to have a young appearance as well. Maybe that's why I look 15 or 16 even now as a legal adult.

Mesomorphs are the natural Spartans. They can lose or gain weight easy. Strong, they tend to just look muscular and defined even with lower maintenance. Mesomorphs tend to have more energy as well.

Endomorphs are the big boys. Endomorphs are round and soft. Trouble losing weight. Gains muscle and fat very easily, sometimes short and stocky. Endomorphs tend to have seriously powerful legs, which helps mightily for exercises like squats.

You should have a good idea of what your body type is. If you need a simple test, try wraping your middle finger and thumb over the wrist of your other hand. Can they touch? If so, can they overlap? This should give you a baseline. Good news fellow ectomorphs ,and endomorphs.  Any one can change their physic drastically quite long term, and even better, most people aren't just one. That's right, most of us have some mesomorph in us. If you are a mesomorph, you probably have some endomorph in you, but in some cases you may have some ecomorph. So depending how much of a blend you are, will play a role into your diet and exercise needs. For example, I may be less of an ectomorph than I thought, or more unhealthy than I thought. I have been working out and actually eating (I was on the malnutritioned side) for about a month and a half now, and have put on about ten pounds.

A case for stretching

If we're honest, most of us believe already that it is a good idea to stretch. Why? If you are like me, you have probably heard it since you took gym in 5th grade. The reason I am writing today, is to expand some of the views on stretching. It's for more than just preventing injury.

Stretching is great, because like a good dead-lift, it does not take a lot of time, yet, it has benefits just about everything. Just yesterday I was with my friend Grant and he had me stretching for maybe 5 minutes and my muscles were burning like I was working them out. That is my type of warm up.

Let's dive into it. Why stretch at all?

• It does prevent injury, largely due to increased flexibility and coordination.. It also can aid in a speedy recovery due to:
• increased blood flow to and from muscles. This brings those nutrients
• Makes one feel more fit and in possession of greater well being. This is in part because:
• Stretching tends to reduce stress
•  Stretching can give your muscles enough of a second wind for to do even more reps

I admit, sometimes I skip over the stretching for a workout. Still, with all these benefits maybe I shouldn't, especially for those H.I.T workouts I wrote about in my last post. There have been quite a few times where I felt I was at the end of my body's ability, just to be saved and move some lactic acid around to make for a sweet finish and a job well done. 

H.I.T training, a brief word about it

Today I was on fire. Not literally (this time). I was training with my good friend and mentor Steve and our strongman friend Dan Cenidoza. Today we did H.I.T training.



High intensity training is a way of exercising that has a person doing a exercise until failure, than taking as short a break as possible (60 second intervals for example) then moving on to another exercise until a array of excises have been completed. After researching H.I.T training some, I was surprised to find out that it is actually a little controversial. I will save you from that. I can Google and give my finding of a few articles, and you could as well. Only personal study/testing really will do, as many variables play in. Here is my thoughts on this. I find H.I.T training pretty fun and would think it beneficial.

However. The objections are fairly similar, so I'll give an example. One objection I read was that studies seem to suggest that there are benefits from multiple sets rather than a continuous strand, at least for different people with different bodies. Seems like a small objection in my opinion...but it may have a point. This leads me to my conclusion. Do both. True High intensity training is recommended to be done only about 2 times a week by my buddy Dan. This is because muscles should take longer to repair after a full body shredding session. Some may try to just do the extremes here with long less intense training or do all H.I.T. Dan does both, he bends iron into art with his hands, that's good sense.

One rule most fitness nuts can agree on is the benefit of "muscle confusion" by mixing up your routine with new exercises and variations. So put in a good workout on whatever program you are doing, and throw in a H.I.T training session (with everything done to failure + a few negatives for extra credit) and you are very likely to see more progress. After all, no one is claiming much downside to H.I.T training, just whether it is enough alone to get maximum benefit. Who cares? It makes sense to me to really push it once or twice a week plus my regular program. What makes good sense for you to work with and try?

Also, through encouragement, and a lot of effort from a made-up-mind, I bend brass today.

It took some time and breaks (about 20 minutes), but If I can do this, anything is possible. Thank God for the strength for that one!

Insanity! The workout

Last week was the end of week 4 for the 1st class program in "You are your own gym". I do not wish to share the numbers or too much of my experience yet. I will say there have been some positive results.

Today I want to to do two things. The first is to update on my stepdad's P90X and the second is to talk briefly about the workout program Insanity.

Unfortunately P90X seems to be a fall off and get back on sort of thing. Miss a few days, then hit a week straight. Little else needs to be said. I will give some praise to the fact that through P90X, my stepdad has slimmed down some. The flip side is I am concerned how permanent it will be. Only time will tell and I hope for the best.

As far as Insanity goes, I've heard good things. It, like "You are your own gym", is a body weight program. It runs a 150 tag and is not for the faint of heart. It is suppose to be for those already in good shape, with experience on a program. I know of two men I could say are very fit who claim it is awesome. One of these men told me it was going fine, then when he bent over for a stretch or certain part of the workout, sweat rained down. I actually read one reviewer suggest keeping a mop or something handy. I'm sure a towel would do it, but when you actually need to wipe the floor to workout you have my attention. This one has only a 60 day challenge period but is said to get you very ripped. 30 day money back guarantee, which is always nice. This one has a specified nutrition plan of what to eat on certain days of the program...which I don't like as much. At a certain point these programs must get elite in nutrition to guarantee success though, so I understand. Really depends what kind of stuff they make people eat, if it's like a certain other program which cuts carbs for the first month, leaving you feeling very non-energized and tired. I'd be a little hesitant.

After I graduate from the master class of Mark Lauren's program, I might give this one a try.

Five high ranking vegetables for optimal health.

1. Kale- This is my favorite. Kale has vitamin A,C, Dietary fiber, magnesium and potassium, and various amounts of other vitamins. I have two ways I enjoy making Kale. The first way is the steam it. The second way is to make "kale chips". Kale is somewhat chewy, but if you eat sunflower seeds or don't mind taking time to eat/snack, this shouldn't bother you.These can be made different ways, but I tend to take a pan, cover it with aluminum foil, sprinkle some olive oil on the foil, rip up leaves and place them in the oven at 275 until crisp. Add seasoning and you have a super healthy and tasty snack. This one even has some fiber (mostly in the stalk).

2. Spinach. This vegetable kicks butt for vitamins A, C and K. Fresh spinach is good to consume raw or steamed, much like Kale and most other vegetables. Spinach is a great food to incorporate into your diet to improve your health, partially due to it is very easy to find. This is great to rip up and put into your eggs.


3. Broccoli. Broccoli is a great one to spot at parties. Chances are good if you look past the cookies, there is a vegetable dish and this one usually makes it in there. Broccoli is good to eat with cheese or old bay.http://www.foodfacts.com/NutritionFacts/Spinach/Spinach-Bunch/21565

4. Peppers. - The spice of life may be variety, but the spice of vegetables is a pepper. These are very easy to move around, or in most parts of Maryland, grow your own. Check out what Whfoods.com said on their website, "Bell pepper is not only an excellent source of carotenoids, but also a source of over 30 different members of the carotenoid nutrient family. A recent study from Spain took a close look vitamin C, vitamin E, and six of these carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin) in all commonly eaten foods and found that only two vegetables contained at least two-thirds of all the listed nutrients. One of these foods was tomato, and the other was sweet bell pepper!"

5. Soybeans. - A half a cup is worth about 8 grams of protein. Soybeans fit easily into any soup or recipe,  they're also available online to buy bulk for great prices (most beans are). Also a good source for dietary fiber.

What bodybuilders and bloggers have in common.

Any guesses as to what they have in common? Chances are, you think today's post will be about how bodybuilding and blogging is an art from that requires diligence....practice....commitment....etc etc. Good point, there's some truth in that. That's not where we are going today though, really the post title for today could say what bodybuilders, bloggers, and people in any area of life that hit a point and stop improving.

If we had a graph of productivity for the majority of people who have been doing something for a few years, you would see their skills drastically improving in the beginning than level out (sometimes even decrease if progress is halted long enough). Why is this? Briefly, people get into an autopilot at some point usually. Instead of ten years experience, they get one years experience repeated 10 times. What bodybuilders (and friends) have to do with this is that many get stronger and stronger, than go into maintaining mode. In some professions and areas of life backsliding happens when 'maintain' mode comes on, but bodybuilders can sometimes just hold it. It is easy to  see a ripped person and assume they hit they're wall, but c'mon. There are normal people who deadlift 400, 500 pounds. Yet you honestly believe that dude is at his max because he looks good in a bathing suit and can benchpress 220? If his life depended on him being able to bench press 275 by this time next year, think he could make that happen?


So the first reason is the ever present threat of being comfortable. I may have touched on that before.

The second is also very, very important. Guy (or gal) stopped learning. They stopped looking actively into what can help them squeeze that extra 10,20,30, 40 percent out. Believe me, at a certain point 10 percent is the difference between pretty cool and down right impressive when it comes to weight. Some bloggers risk the same thing, they stop learning, so they're posts get harder to write or more bland. Anything you can think of that a person could commit to, same thing. In my opinion, one of the best things for people who have been active in something for some time, as well as someone brand new, is to get a coach. A accountability partner may work if they understand some of what you are doing, and you can hold yourself responsible to them in terms of giving your best. Robert Kiyosaki says it well "Professionals have coaches. Amateurs do not."

 Coaches share expertise and are there to get the best out of you, if you want to get out of 'maintain' mode, or jump way ahead in your experience,  seek a mentor or coach who has gotten what you want.

Exercising : group or alone (plus a memorial day thought)

Monday madness, let's kick it off. Hope everyone is thankful and safe on this memorial day. In my opinion, I would like to say that if you enjoyed something as simple as a hot shower recently, you have a big reason to be thankful. I recommend a prayer of sincere gratitude, but if you refuse to that, you really may want to thank something or somebody you get to be apart of this great place to be.

Now on to today's post. Without researching or breaking out the statistics, I would say that the majority of people (at least in America) do some form of exercise once a week or more. This can range from rock climbing to a light walk around the neighborhood. This brings up a good question, is it better to work alone or in a group? According to the American Time Use Survey, in the section titled

"Companions During Sports and Exercise Activities", it states that it is divided pretty evenly. You are about as likely to workout with someone as working out alone. I personally believe it really can depend on where you are and what you want. LA fitness news claims there are some good benefits, including: competition element, motivation, accountability, and although usually more in the case of women, intensity (competition). 

From what I have seen, I recommend both; to have fun and trade workouts and tips (helps a lot if you and your workout buddy have similar goals). To be fair, I have heard and noticed that the people who usually get strongest, fittest, and most able are the people who train and workout alone.  We have seen those pair of friends or dating pair who have been going to the gym for months or years and have little to show for it. So why do I recommend both? Just because the most fit often are seen pushing alone, does not mean they always are. Basically, depend on no one to get you in shape other than you, if you buddies call out, push it anyway (in fact, push it even harder so you are extra proud the next day). 

On the other hand, there are some foreseeable benefits of hanging and working out sometimes. It may just be wise to watch who you bring to workout with you, if they aren't bringing the best out of you mentally and athletically, they may not be the right fit. It may be a good idea to have a set day to workout with a friend versus whenever it comes up, or maybe try setting the habit alone and adding in some occasional friend workouts as a reward for sticking to it.

The 5k obstacle course zombie race

 I may have a future fitness goal.

Today we are going to be talking about the zombie 5k. From what I know, it is played out as follows:
You are given 3 health flags at the beginning, they say go and you run through a park with obstacles such as crossing chest high waters, climbing over obstacles, and crawling through mud and tubes. Above all, you run like a mad man and try to avoid having all your flags grabbed by the zombies. According to their website, if they told us everything it wouldn't be as fun, such as the zombie speeds and such. From what I have seen on youtube though, zombies mostly walk and try to jump out from places. The problem is that, at least according to their website, there are hundreds of them. So keeping a steady hustle is probably a good idea. If you lose all your flags you don't get your name added to the survival time list, but you can still finish. You don't get to become a zombie.

Price is a little steep, depending on date it's $77-$88. Even though there are no weapons aloud, it has to be awesome to finish alive. Apparently they have a line up of bands also to play afterward in the "safe zone" a.k.a the finish line. So maybe it's a dream or future goal, first I have to finish my strength training. If anybody wants to join it's coming to Maryland and Pennsylvania and a bunch of other locations so I figured I would give a quick review and let my readers know. Enjoy.

Strongman Vs Bodybuilder

I was riding passenger in my friend Steve Moore's car a few days ago. We were chatting about working out, and training in general. Before long we got into talking about our strongman friend Dan Cenidoza. Somewhere in there I said that Dan Cenidoza is a bodybuilder as well since it is practically the same thing as a "strongman". Steve told me if I called Dan a bodybuilder he would slap me.


Okay, let's expand our vocabulary. 
 It seems that although "bodybuilder" seems to be the term our society grouped anyone with a fitness goal other than cardio. The difference is like a person who plays a good variety of sports versus someone who is pro is one event or sport. In fitness, it would be like someone doing bicep curls everyday, versus someone who does a different set of exercises depending on the day. Someone who does a large number of a exercise, of course would look good curling 200 or 300 pounds, but outside that exercise, they probably lose a lot of that impressive weight. 


Although someone can get big doing a few exercises a LOT, there is a good chance they will have many areas where they still are weak, because they have challenged themselves there. This is the difference between a strongman and a bodybuilder. Bodybuilders often are a little weak overall, only excelling in a few exercises which does not improve their fitness level as a whole very much. Strongman  are different because they tend to focus more on different speed exercises, different motion ranges, grip strength, sometimes even things like building lung strength. 


It is true that most strongman tend to care much less about looks, absolute extremes may not be for everyone. So although it may be a good idea to try to excel at some areas (usually the ones you like working most), it is probably a good idea to have variety so you can do more than look good, you can actually be strong for cases other than "quick, I need someone to lift this 250 pound bicep bar off my friend!".

Choose a winner's snack

A few days ago I woke up somewhere between 7 and 8. I was hungry,  I lied there awake thinking what I could eat before working out and starting my day. Fruity pebbles sounded tasty. I helped myself to a bowl, and in what seemed like one swoop, eat it all. Then I sat there for a minute looking at the empty bowl and thought, "eh". I have been eating whole grain bread lately so maybe I have started being able to differ quality ingredients from cheap products like the "enriched" grain in my generic fruity pebbles. This choice made me feel like my day was already a "eh" day.

This is the topic of today's post. Choose a winner's snack (and/or meal).
I believe in something called "eater's remorse". Much like buyer's remorse, it seems like a fine idea at the time, but later in the day you regret it and hate the decision. Whether it is a "cheat meal", "just a one time thing"or "a treat that I usually go without", most of us know the deal. If you have an internal debate over something, good chance it's better to just go without. Why?

Well not too long ago I was volunteering for a church/community project by doing some gardening and weeding at a elementary school. Someone brought donuts. They're were plenty for everyone, and I was hungry. This was one of those times I resisted the urge, and as a reward, somebody also broke up some Quaker snack bars for the group which I enjoyed. Most did not though, most helped themselves to these sugar filled treats. Now, I did not get to speak or observe them all for the rest of the day, but I would wager these donuts played a part. Besides the sugar crash many may have experienced hours later, which crashed productivity, it probably didn't motivate them very much.
Basically, even if they're bodies didn't feel awful later, what choices will follow that doughnut? What if you said no?

If you say no, who knows, maybe today will be the day to go for that 4 mile hike, or clean the garage. After all, if you can resist the doughnut, you can do anything.

Chocolate milk: drink up boys!

You just had a killer work out. You have been going practically non stop pumping iron, swimming, cycling or running, you are sweat drenched. Workout isn't over though, now what do you give your body? There are a few options: water, Gatorade, or some pricey after workout drink.  There is another option, chocolate milk.


Why chocolate milk? There was a neat little study in International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. This study took 9 cyclists and had them push it to their limits, then gave them different drinks (water, sports drinks, chocolate milk) and then a few hours later they biked again. The cyclists who had some chocolate milk had the best recovery rate. Basically water is great, anyone who knows me knows that I love water and enjoy it very much. Water only replenishes water lost though, Gatorade is similar, but has some salt in it. Chocolate milk seems to be a good choice because it has good amounts of proteins for muscle building, carbs for energy, and some fat for energy. So there you have it, this can even be your "cheat" snack for today if you want.

Word of warning: drink only after serious workout and your body is really in need of these things. If you are trying to lose weight and drink this tasty treat after every walk it will just be counter productive. Likewise for a light game or sport, you should be able to tell when you are just winded versus when your body is crying out for some nutrients. Solution: work out and push yourself harder and enjoy, also consider this as a "sometimes" post workout solution depending on your goals.

Ab myth #1 (agian)

As a note, be careful if you ever run a blog on blogger. There is no trash bin, if you accidentally delete a post, it's gone.

I am going to try to recreate my myth 1# posting, so here we go.

What hip-hop abs probably won't tell you.

Okay. So here is the deal. If you stay up late enough you will see a few commercials from programs like HHA and other things like that belt that vibrates and "shocks" your abs strong. I have not personally used any of these programs so I can not attest to them working or failing. My point here is to expose a pretty big misconception "ab breakthrough" programs tend to take advantage of. 

If you are in a rush, here it is: you can have very strong abs yet be a overweight man with a "beer belly". Now for those who wish to understand this, please read on. Six packs are look cool. Brad pitt has one. You want one. Yet, even if you are doing a 1000 crunches a day you may not get one. This is because most people simply do not understand that having strong ab muscles does not just destroy all the fat in the tummy area. This fat is not magically converted to muscle either. The closest thing that happens is that this fat can be burned off an give nutrients to the body that may help build ab muscles. Since burning excess fat is a pain, really it's best to start off pretty skinny, otherwise you need to rid yourself of that covering if you ever want to really see your abs. You probably won't be able to "burn off fat like crazy" while building abs alone-in 90 days. 

So basically be realistic with yourself,  if you have a real gut, don't aim for a six pack in 90 days. Luckily, there are some things you can work on much more easily while slimming down: legs, arms, shoulders, most things that aren't abs. Do some abs to keep them strong, but don't let that be your focus and whole plan to be skinny/slim. Just start, the real calorie burning strength training of tomorrow can lead to the six pack of tomorrow.

Ab myth 2# I need to work my:upper, lower, mid abs

This may surprise you, but were going to drive onto anatomy. There really is one. Your Rectus Abdominals IS your 6 pack muscles.  There are also internal and external obliques that should be strengthened to add show to your 6 pack, but really that's it.  So if you find yourself wishing the lower or upper part of your abs looked as good as the rest, it's not that the muscles are weaker. IT is still a good idea to have a mix of ab excises for best results, and to keep you from dying of boredom with crunches or leg lifts. If you want your lower abs to look better, you may have to strengthen your Rectus Abdominals all together, but more than likely you have more fatty tissue in that area which is causing this. Attention to diet and physical exercise, again, is important here. Woo, who knew a 6 pack was such a commitment?


A good rule is to just work as a whole. Sorry if this is bad news to anyone, but your body grows best as a whole.  Sometimes the best way to push, say, your triceps and arm muscles to the next level is to work on your legs or some other area that is underloved.  Same idea with abs, even more so because the abs are not their own section, they are apart of the core.  Without doing a full break-down, your core is essentially your abs, obliques and lower back. 


If I were to start building a brick house, and insisted on building a single wall that was 40 foot high, what would you say? Noooo David, build some of the other walls to keep it stable. The core can be viewed similarly. If you have seen someone with nice toned abs, chances are good they also have a well toned (lower) back.  Work your core as a unit if you want lasting results.

The magical liquid

What is the magical liquid?
Water. I cannot stress enough how awesome water is. Have you ever had a real workout?
Like a workout that you started pushing yourself an hour or two ago, yet you are still at it?
What did you want at the end? A couch to pass out on? Maybe. What if I offered you a soda, or Gatorade? Gatorade you may have accepted, soda less likely. You may have even turned down the Gatorade, and take a cool water or 6. Why? Most people feel water is tasteless and a chore to drink, yet if you have every been truly thirsty, it tastes as smooth and creamy as milk.

You crave it. Your mind puts it in the foremost part of your mind and you just know what you need. Things like Gatorade often work as well because it replenishes certain elements like salt, and has water in it. Water is essential to feeling good and performing. Whether tea, or flavoring, water is a winner. This is not just for the health nuts and vegans, many pros such as Vince Delmonte drink water around the clock to make sure their body can handle it's function at a peak performance. Bottom line is: If you are eating more, taking a new multivitamin or creatine, or doing more physical exercise, or anything that requires your bodt (or mind) to do more, water only increases in importance.

If you want to get more from your body, give it what it needs to succeed. 

Choose leanness.

Today I was talking to my friend Greg. He discovered that I have been bodybuilding and strength training lately. He even saw my collage of some pictures of myself without a shirt and some former skinny guys who shared their stories on the internet and I happened to read. He gave me a warning that I have thought about and will write about now. Greg told me that it will be hard to expand until I get older and/or my matablism slows down. He went onto say that it is true that with enough calories I could gain, but he knew some people who did that in college and as soon as they stopped lifted they turned fat. Finally he said, "just get ripped".


Did you see what happened there?
I thought it over and think this is important. Many people who transform they're body eat a lot. Big help when you are trying to pack on pounds, especially when you're an ectomorph. What I am trying to point out is that weight really has little indication into how fit or well off you are. If you are eating 4000 calories a day, and getting 100+ grams of protein, you're likely to gain weight. The point to ponder is that how much of those calories really become lean muscle? If someone is depending mainly on the food to pack on pounds and not really burning the majority of it (not enough working out to the high calorie ratio), you're also gonna get some fat.

And Fat begets more ____. Fat.
That is why I believe most those men gained more fat as soon as they stopped working out. It was like stop taking the medication and the virus spreads. It is important to have some fat, and some may be gained (temporarily or long term), but body comp is important, know how you really get those pounds. On the flip side, with lean meats and foods in controlled portions and working out hard in the gym may take longer generally, but it should be all lean muscle. This decreases the risk of gaining to much fatty tissue. The lean muscular type is more loved and convenient to maintain anyway. So don't worry so much about going from 120's to 160's as much just maximizing muscle while taking on a little fat as needed.

If you are strong as an ox and keep pushing yourself, even if you were just 140, it will show in time.

Safeway value meal of  Angel and banana.

Woo! Can't stop this man!
According to my computer it is 12:59 A.M. Today is Tuesday, this is about the second night this has happened and I will need to be up by 7. It's those mornings that make the other mornings sweeter. I am really just getting home, I am very tired but wanted to put in my post for today.

So I'll tell you about my dinner. I was at the office. Tummy growling, about 8 dollars with me. I walk out and take a sharp left. The golden arches are there, and I consider it. A nice Mcchicken could be tasty...or even a Cesar side salad. They may not be quality but they're cheap and tasty right? Well I chose to walk on by. I walked into a safeway in the same parking lot and made my own value meal. Angel cake and Bananas. Less than five bucks and I had dinner and a office snack for the week. Also, the angel cake had zero fat and no cholesterol and just 16 grams of sugar for 1/8th of the cake, ditto for the bananas.  Now what would you guess was in my mcdolanld's choices? Right.

So I think it is a understatement to say that if you are willing to look and be a little unconventional, you can get value, taste, and health with no cooking time needed still. Creativity helps some too. I got my Creatine in yesterday, I will probably be writing more on that tomorrow. Until then, feel free to gaze at my custom value meal.

Brief look into supplements for bodybuilding.

Some people may not know this, what supplements are a high grossing market. What most of them do is find ripped guys and pay them to flex and stand by they're product. "Buy this powder and take it just 4 times a day and build lean muscle fast!" Hmm. I wish to warn people here. Especially my fellow skinny guys who are tempted to believing that after all those hard nights in the gym the only thing missing was powder or tablet X.

Are all supplements bad?
Not at all. I have a friend who is a assistant instructor at a BJJ school, tries to eat mostly organic, and not too long ago took several multivitamins to ensure prime health. He is taking a certain brand of supplement because it is loaded with vitamins and minerals, about as much as all his vitamins. Good for him. The point here is that some supplements have good stuff in them, but they supplement things like vitamin__ not transforms people overnight from urkel to some body building werewolf. They can never supplement proper nutrition or hard work. Know why you are taking it if you are taking one.

There are a few basics (always are) that may help you build and achieve prime health. I will quote Mr. Vince Delmonte dubbed "the skinny guy savior" for this one. If there are any things you really want to get in there, Vince says they're,"a high quality multi-vitamin, fish oil capsules, powdered creatine and a protein powder. These products will cover your nutritional basis for health, healthy body composition, strength and muscle mass."

 Honestly you may not even need all that, things like Creatine, according to one study, have greater effects on some rather than others. Still Creatine is good in the right portions and naturally found in the body, some studies even suggest it is good for your bones and heart.

The point is to start a program or plan, and stick to it. Work on nutrition, get some sleep. Tweak some throughout, just keep going and don't look for the way out on week 2.5.

It's beautiful day.


Welcome to Baltimore. It is a stunning 78 degrees, few clouds and little wind, low humidity today with a high of 80 something. After being trapped inside and in long sleeves and coats for the last week of rain and chilly days, only one question persists.


What should I do today?
There are many possibilities, so instead of doing them all, I decided to blog about them. Just kidding, I have already been outside a few hours and will probably be back for more vitamin D soon.

So here are some things I suggest to enjoy a day like today. Besides making a list of your own you can:

1. Go fishing. Around here for 20 or 25 dollars and 15 minutes or less at a Walmart and you have the licensee to catch. 
2. Ride a bike or take a long walk or jog. Parks, trails, whatever. 
3. Go swimming. Or buy some supersoakers. There will be more days to come where you'll be glad you did.
4. Fly a R/C helicopter. If you haven't done this, it is worth it. Even when you crash land into the neighbors begonias.
5.  Go to a farm or local (flea or farmer's market) and pick up some organic yummy food. 
6. Cross off those errands. You most likely will feel best and the most energy to tackle that do-to list today.
7. Do something artful. Go be a photographer or painter for today. Go to a park or field and have at it. 

That's all for now. I guarantee you can add a few things to this list yourself.  "Get action, seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster" - Theodore Roosevelt.

Dude, what's in the bottle?


Who drinks soda? Answer: most of us at least sometimes.
I have and are likely to drink some more at some point. Today I walked in the kitchen. As I looked around I saw on my counter a bottle of Dr.Pepper with about a fifth left inside. I asked my mom and she said go for it. And I was going to...after all, it had been some time since I have drank any so...

Wait. Am I reading this label correctly?
Okay I am about to hit a sort of cliche here, but listen.
If most of us drink soda, most of us probably know what is one of the top ingredients in soda.
Any body know? That's right,sugar. I cannot tell you or anyone what really is the best level of sugar-other than the lowest amount. I can say you can learn a lot form skimming labels even if you are determined to drink soda for your whole life.

This brings me back to the kitchen.
As I look in slight shock at this label I see a whopper 64G of sugar in this small bottle. I was tempted to ask how did they manage to add that much sugar, most sodas I would guess at around 30 or 40 grams. Still, I could have told my mom, but I didn't

I had the technology, so with the help of my step dad and his special scale,I figured I'd do better by showing her and the major soda drinkers a visual and let them take away what they wish. Here is 64 grams of sugar and the bottle that contained the same amount.

 

No thanks-you can finish it yourself...

For anyone who wants to add an easy point on our 1-10 scale of health, here is a great place to start. Maybe it isn't necessary to cut soda out completely depending on your goals, but if you can replace a few bottles with water, two things happen. 1) Water begins to taste good. 2) You'll

probably feel better in a week or two (depends how much is half to you). So before taking on salads or whole wheat bread or swearing off pasta...put down the soda.

Good evening to all!

For anyone who has read through an earlier post or two of mine,  you may remember be mentioning the book "Moon-walking with Einstein" by Josh Foer. For the record it is thus far one of my favorite books on the mind/memory and the (brief) study of people. It actually covered what I was suspicious of in my last post- the part of working out (otherwise said: being strong) and then leveling out out of comfort and basically stopping progress. Basically there are 3 stages

1. Cognitive- intellectualizing the task and figuring strategies for the task
2. associative- less concentration needed, more efficient, less mistakes
3. autonomous-basically not paying attention and on autopilot

That's the usual order of things. Josh goes on to say that what makes experts, experts, is that they do all they can to stay focused with goals, technique and feedback . They stay away from the autopilot stage where progression stops, so they keep growing. I just wanted to briefly share that.

This brings me to my next suspicion that seems to be becoming a reliety. I talked to my stepdad today and he was in the kitchen while the P90X (yoga day) dvd was playing. Uh-Oh. I asked him shouldn't he be working out and he said, "yeah...but I already have been at it for half an hour and last night I worked out...went to bed late....tired...work tomorrow..."  Yeah.

Let it be said that I , David Coeyman, do sometimes wish to be wrong. Mostly in cases like this on people and where their behavior is leading them. This seems like a simple night off kind of deal, but that's how they tend to start. I should know, the words "good enough" have plagued my vocabulary and in some obvious ways, my life. Hopefully he raises his standards before it's too late, but cutting it short in week 1 defiantly is a sign of concern.

The magic of 90 days.

A few quick notes: In addition to my last post, my stepdad (P90X user), told me that the nutrition is broke into 3 parts and the first part is called "fat shredder". In fat shedder, you basically get so little carbs that you feel low on energy and hitting those workouts is all the more difficult (my slightly biased opinion). Unfortunately, I think I am right. He is already planning his cheat meals for next month. "Hitting a perfect 90 days would be great", he says, but if I can get to 30 I think my body will be okay.  Important to note I am not judging him for this, I may just be tempted the same way if I was on as strict a diet as he is.


Now, on to the meat (post).


Last night, as I was preparing to do a dead lift, something motivating dawned on me. I thought about some of the "heavies" I have seen in my school. I realized that most of them jsut worked out casually. They just did it now and then to mostly maintain, they probably didn't worry too much about proteins and calories. They also probably have slowed down their "work" load in the gym, considering as I said, I feel most just enjoy being big and having it since most have been that way for most their lives. Anyway, that is not what excites me. What excites me is that in 90 days-provided I get the calories and work,work,work, skinny 124 pound David can be on they're level...

My arms and body may take more or less than 90 days to match their pure size, but If I push myself I can catch up pretty fast in strength in 90 days. Imagine what I could do in 4 months, or 6 months. Good motivation for

1. me, to press on
2. People who are seen as strong to keep at it if they really want to hold their crown

The second one may be a little facetious, I admit. The reason? They will still look great having muscles even if they only hit 20 or 30 or 40 percent of their potential, some people will give them the recognition and not enough skinny guys like me are going to make the jump.  90 days is one whole workout program, general research suggests about 21 days to make something a habit. The magic is there, it's incredible, but most seem to put it off and wait until a new year's resolution wish list to think about it again.

My beef with P90X

P90X is a good system that I am sure would whip anyone into shape who stuck to it's program. Now with that said, I have an issue with this. P90X is probably the most popular workout program of its type, but let me tell a quick story. My step-dad has the program. He is just starting again, he has attempted one time back in 2011 but quit after about a month when after one too many "cheat" meals he lost his momentum. I am proud to say that he is starting up again somewhat sooner rather than later. If you know anything about P90X, you probably know it also has a nutrition plan with it. Long story short I opened my fridge and noticed strange ingredients for dishes, including: mushrooms, as well as cottage cheese.

Now I am all for a program introducing some new foods into a bland diet, but this is getting to the root of my concern. How many of you incorporate cottage cheese into your lunch or eat it as a midday snack? I am a firm believer that the less convenient a change/adaption is to put in place, the higher chance of failure.

It's one thing that P90X demands an hour a day for 5 days a week for at least 90 days, but a very strict diet is an all day challenge. What if somebody travels and forgets to bring their mushrooms? Not to promote, but as a comparative I enjoy my program from the 20 dollar book "Your body is your own gym". This is full of body weight exercises and most weeks are 4 days with about a half an hour (good intensity still). The best part? It tells you what you need. Trying to lose weight? Calculate this, incorporate about this much calories and this much protein to still build muscle. It even has some instruction for just bulking up for skinnies like me. What I mean is, it gives you the idea and tells you why you need it. I am unsure why cottage cheese is a good snack in P90X, but I am sure I could get most the same nutrients in similar proportions from other foods if challenged.


So in conclusion maybe P90X is more concerned with keeping it strict to make sure anyone who does finish defiantly got high results. Comparatively maybe Your body is your own gym places a little more on the user. In the end the results speak loudest, but, if by any chance Y.B.Y..O.G happens to finish with similar or superior results, P90X may want to give their supporters more to love for the big gap in price and effort.

Cheap eats, good food.

Chances are, you are aware of how easy it is to drop 50 bucks in a day just eating good (as in taste) food. Plus those fast food chains are on every corner, which may not drain your wallet so much, but will leave you with eater's remorse in a short hour or two.

Well you could eat at home,but what is there to eat? Hamburger helper...AGAIN? No, not needed.
I am currently transforming my body from a ectomorphic 125 pounder to something with more mass. So I am currently trying to start eating like a strayed dinosaur to enable pound gaining. Trouble is, I am trying to eat good food as well. Some good food just has that effect of making you satisfied without seconds, some good food tastes great-but takes forever to prepare.

I am still on the look out for some good foods in this area, but I have a few quick suggestions good for anyone trying to eat well, or pack in nutrients and protein.

• Vegetable soup-dice it and cook it in some chicken broth and it will taste delicious. I call this my "super-soup". Very filling and not hard to make, depending on how much you make, maybe 35 minutes (mostly due to cutting vegetables)
• Fish. Put some tin foil under this and broil it, some good fishes in the freezer department or fresh.
• Rice, beans, or potatoes can go with almost anything and are very cheap. Even more so when you buy it in bulk.
• Oatmeal and fruit is a great way to start the day. If you don't like the plain oatmeal, try the instants with some fruit and creme in them. Very sweet and delicious-and I mean that.

I also strongly recommend buying some local organic food straight from farmers or farmer's markets. There is one at a flea market not to far from me, and I buy Kale by the bag full at a stand 4 minutes up the road for 2 bucks. Great deals and flavors to be had.