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!