Strength Challenge Update 3/28. PLUS Friday Fit Tip

Time for another workout update for the strength challenge. With 5 workouts in the books I am still making good progress. It's amazing how little time I am spending and how I am able to continue my triathlon training full speed ahead with no noticeable effects from strength training.

I will have to admit, I have gained two pounds. I believe this is probably due to my appetite. There are days where it seems like I can eat eat and eat more without ever feeling full. I know I said I would keep weight constant. I apologize for my lack of discipline in the kitchen.

Just as an example here is what last week's training looked like for me

SAT: 12x150m sprint 250m jog
SUN:Lift
MON: Spin class 45:00
TUES: 2hr moderate hike
WED:Spin Class 45:00
THUR: Lifting and 10x100yrd swim :30 seconds recovery.
FRI: Easy spinning 45:00


Most meat-heads would tell you there is no way I could gain muscle mass or strength with so much cardio. I seem to be able to defy all odds. It's funny how what is "common knowledge" can be defied when all variables are considered. I know I could gain more and be stronger without, but that is not the purpose. My goals were to get 10-15% stronger.

Here are the stats from my workout:

Deadlift 5x8 @275, 285,285,285,295
Incline Smith press (slow reps) 5x8 @155,155,155,155,145
Cable Row: 5x8 @120
Hanging Leg lift: 5x10

Here is my Friday fit tip:

How did static stretching come to dominate almost every warm up and cool down protocol of fitness? If you take a closer look at research, static stretching does almost nothing for actually warming the core temp, reducing injury, or increasing performance.

If static stretching does one thing well, it's probably making you able to touch your toes. In articles I have read about the matter as long as we have an acceptable range of motion, static stretching does nothing for us athletically. It doesn't "stretch" the muscles. Just inhibits your stretch reflexes making it so they lengthen further.

I know that as many of you read this you are shaking your heads wondering how I can write such a thing when everyone else in the gym, or the run, or in yoga class is doing it. If this is the case how can so many people be wrong? Like with chronic cardio, we are conditioned, taught, and brought to believe that we are getting something more out of it.

So what is a better option? You want to loosen up your tight back, get mobile, and be able to tie your shoes without sitting down. My answer for you is to look into dynamic stretching and mobility drills. I do these with all my clients. The basic principal is that we are moving through the range of motion rather than just standing there.

This accomplishes two things. First we are getting a good warm up in, and second we are actively stretching, such as you would be doing in real life. Research has shown this to be much more effective. Drills like leg swings, hurdle duck unders and many more.

If you would like to learn a little more about how to stretch dynamically get in touch with us!

The Last 12 weeks... well, 18.5 to be exact.

First off, thanks for the mention, Andy. This last weekend was great. I was lucky enough to go to Park Forest, IL with my beautiful wife and compete in a powerlifting meet. It was the first time that I have done powerlifting since 2007. I ended up tying the personal records that I had set the week before on the squat and on the deadlift with a 250kg/550lb squat and a 320kg/705lb deadlift. I was very happy with both of those numbers and it was great that one of them ended up being a state and American record for the AAPF. In the bench I managed to get 140kg/309lbs up, but that was down twenty or more pounds from where I was planning to be; I don't know what happened earlier in the week, but I somehow managed to put a pretty bad strain on my pec minor while I was benching at about 60% for sets of two. The strain caused me to have to bench with a narrower grip which was interesting. It was a little disappointing, but I don't much care about bench, to be honest, so I was still happy to hit 140kg easy with a narrow grip.

I was happy with all of my numbers, but I had to adapt my training more than usual while I was nearing the end. This was because it had slipped my mind, kind of, that I had been training for 16.5 weeks leading up to to the point when I realized this and that I would be needing a pretty big taper if I wanted to compete safely. I was starting to feel pretty run down and my numbers were shaky in all aspects of my lifting, which, for anyone who knows me, is something that doesn't usually happen during a training cycle. Feeling tired is a normal thing, especially with my programming, but I usually recover within a day or less and feel ready to go again. I was staying sore for two, sometimes three or four days and always feeling sluggish so I knew something was up. I decided to start tapering volume and intensity about two weeks out instead of my normal one week taper; it ended up working out well and allowing me to maintain the peak that I hit the week earlier, so I was pleased with that.

The reason that I had been training for that many weeks in a row was actually two-part. The first was that I had just been training to train and to test a new program that I had put together which included set-matching, a post that I wrote about earlier this year. I ended up seeing a lot of progress after six and a half weeks, which was great, but when I found out about my powerlifting meet and a strongman competition, I decided to use to program to train for both... So I took three days off and started my training for the strongman competition. The first five weeks of my program were devoted to training for it and then the last six were for the powerlifting meet. I say devoted, but by that I mean they were just the focus. Since my strongman training portion uses powerlifting and weightlifting, I was technically training for both; then my last two days of the week were strongman practice. After the competition, I took one of my strongman practice days and made it a powerlifting meet practice day. So, like I said it ended up being a long training cycle with a competition at the end. Haha...

I will post the video of my strongman competition as well, I wrote a bit about it back in February. It was a great time and I was able to get second place. I was happy with the progress that I have made in becoming better at the events -especially in the stones, a previous major weakness of mine.

Anyways, the videos will be below and as Andy said, if you have nay questions be sure to let me know!

Well, I apologize, but I cannot upload videos longer than a minute it seems, so here are the links below. Feel free to watch them if you have about 5 minutes!

Powerlifting Meet                                                    Strongman Competition

Strength challenge update!

Alright folks, I've got some results from the latest workout performed on Sunday. Sorry for the late update! 

Before we get started I need to give credit where credit is due. Our very own Chris Roth had an outstanding meet in Chicago and broke a weight class record in dead lift at 320 kilos if I remember correctly. Big ups to Chris, it's a real testament to how hard he works but more importantly how knowledgeable and persistent he is with his training. Please do not hesitate to get in contact with him if you'd like to get your own superhuman strength!

As for my own training, it is coming along quite nicely here is what the numbers looked like:

Squat: 5x8 @215lbs     10lb increase from my last back squat workout.

Standing dumbbell press: 45lbs 5x8 using a slow rep protocol

Underhand chinup: 5x10 using slow reps

Single Leg Squat: Onto bench with 25lb dumbbell at shoulder 5x5 each leg

TRX push up: 5x25,20,20,20,18

My squats have been increasing quite nicely, overall a 10lb increase for 8 reps would be 80lbs a set, times 5 sets = 400lbs increased total weight lifted. I would consider that a good increase in work capacity.

The presses have gotten better too, last time I used 40's.

Workout time went well, it was a 27 min workout. 

That's all for this addition, stay tuned for more updates! 

Strength Challenge Update....Plus Friday fit tip

This is workout Number 4 of the strength challenge  I've reached the halfway point on this journey and have made some big gains. Take a look at the numbers

Deadlift: 5 sets of 8 275,285x3 275   INCREASED 10lbs 
DB One arm press: 5x8 65lbs
DB Pullover 5x10 65lbs
DB one arm row 5x8 65lbs
DB swing (same as kettlebell swing) 5x12 65lbs

Total workout time 26:44

As you can see I am increasing weights, actually decreasing my workout time a little, and I added 5 lifts after week one where I was doing 4. Efficiency, and strength not a bad combo. Needless to say, lifting only twice a week, as long as you are following the proper protocol, can be very effective.

And now, it's time for the Friday fit tip.....

The law of diminishing returns is a simple concept we often misinterpret, or completely ignore.

If some is good, more must be better right?

Not so, the law of diminishing returns states that we start to see less results with the more we work. Imagine running for 30 minutes, you will get a great deal of health benefits, add another 30 minutes and you would expect to see twice the benefit according to simple logic? Unfortunately  it's not so simple, you probably get 85% benefit at 30 minutes then the next 30 would yield the next 15%. This is a very simplified example, but we can apply it to all aspects of fitness.

I see this all the time in health and fitness and people don't quite understand the basic idea. They slave over the treadmill, they lift set after set, they don't see improvement, they get discouraged, they assume they aren't working hard enough and make the excuse that being fit takes too much time.

Part of my experiment here with strength is that it is simple to get fit, in a 30min gym session you can see great results. I am all about efficiency, if I can get 80-90% results in half the time you know I am going to choose the more efficient option. 10% at twice the cost doesn't appeal to me.

Seeing as time is the number one excuse why people don't work out, I believe people need to take this into consideration. Apply the law of diminishing returns, evaluate how much that extra 10-20% is at twice the cost of time. If it is important to you, then go ahead, but if you just want to be fit, I would err on the side of getting in, getting out, and not having the time excuse ever deter you.

What do you think? Could your gym routine be cut shorter and still yield the same results? Need some help finding out how much to do, practical ideas, or advice, email me and I will help you out!

Andrew

Super Workout - Interval Trail Sprints

Super Workout:  A workout that kicks your ass in all aspects of your health.  It's on par with super foods and Superman.

While I'm in the process of writing my second post on "Improvement," I'll share one of my favorite super workouts (yes, I just made that term up) - Interval Trail Sprints.

Go to a trail, not just any trail, a trail with elevation gain.  Sprint 100% intensity down the trail, preferably uphill.  The sprint should last 10 to 20 seconds.  If this is a trail with short ups and down sprint uphill until you reach the peak.  If this is a constant uphill slope (like climbing at mountain) sprint until 10-20 seconds have been reached.  Now it's your rest period.  Short up and down trail - rest by walking until the trail heads back up gradient.  I don't want any of this distance runner stuff where you are able to jog during your rest period.  If you can jog during your rest period that means you are not running at 100%.  For the constant uphill trail - Rest 2-4 minutes and completely stop during your rest.  If you try to walk you will only be walking uphill and actually wasting more energy instead of recovering.  I recommend walking in place.  In any circumstance rest 2-4 minutes.  Repeat the interval 8-12 times.  By the time you reach your fifth or sixth interval your sprint speed will start to slow down.  This doesn't mean you can jog your intervals.  You are still going all out, even if it is only 70% speed.  When you get below 70% sprint speed, your workout is over with 8 intervals being the minimum. 

Workout short version:
10-20 second 100% intensity uphill trail sprints
Rest 2-4 minutes
Repeat 8-12 times

For example, Mt. Tabor is a few blocks from my house.  I run jog to Mt Tabor for a warmup and depending on which trail I take, it will be 1-3 intervals until I make it to the top (a 400 foot elevation gain).  During these intervals, I walk in place for my rest period.  After I reach the top, the rest of my workout is me walking back down hill on a different trail and sprinting back to the top.  By the end of the workout, I have climbed (sprinted) up Mt Tabor 3-6 times.

So why is this a super workout?
      -  High intensity: burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time
      -  Muscle Building: every muscle in your body will build muscle.  Legs are obvious by sprinting up a hill, but your upper body will also build muscle by your arm movement.  In order to obtain 100% intensity, your arms need to be pumping with incredible force and your legs will follow.  All of your lateral muscles will be working to help keep balance on the uneven trail surface
      -  Cardio: 10-20 second intervals at 100% intensity + elevation gain.  Enough said
      -  Stress Reduction:  Both being immersed in nature and exercise has been shown to reduce stress.  Read my "Fresh Air" post.
      -  Overall body health:  I don't feel like listing out all of the MANY different health benefits of being immersed in nature and exercising so I just grouped it in this category.  Again read "Fresh Air."

That's my super workout for the day.  Leave a comment about what you think about interval trail sprints (ITS) or results from your ITS workout.  I also want to hear from you!!  Share some of your super workouts that I can try.

Strength Challenge Update 3! The paleo diet: so easy a caveman can do it!

Today was workout number 3 of 8 for my four week strength challenge. Overall, good workout. I did 5 lifts today for 5 sets. This extra work pushed me over my 30 minute time limit, overall it was 33 minutes. If you would like to call the experiment a failure now go ahead.

Exercises, Reps, Weights:
Front squat, 8, 155
Standing overhead press 8, 95x3 85x2
Supported split squat 8, 50,55,55,60,60
Pullup (slow reps) 10,10,9,8,7
Dips (slow reps) 10,10,8,8,6

There you have it. Making some good progress. We will see how I feel here in a few weeks!

Now I would like to add a bit of scrutiny towards a common health fad. From time to time, it is nice to put things into perspective with fitness and nutrition fads. Remember jazzercise? how about the atkins diet, juice cleanse anyone?

Today I am calling out the "paleo" diet. That's right, this is nothing more than another one of the trendy fitness fads encircling the web, gyms, and whatever you call those places that look like garages that people "cross fit" in.

First let me lay down the premise of this diet. Humans, once roamed the savanna long ago, we didn't have agriculture, we didn't have twinkies, we didn't have teeth for very long. This lifestyle is what us modern homo-sapiens evolved into. Therefore, we should eat only what we have evolved to eat. They say that the evolutionary process takes hundreds of thousands of years. That long ago, there were no fields of golden wheat, no sources of grain, fruits, or genetically bred vegetables year around. We ate whatever we could scavenge  This is what the paleo diet is based on, eating the same components which our distant ancestors evolved on.

This means no grain, no legumes, no sugar, no milk, no flour, nothing in a package. Vegetables  meat, some nuts and seeds, and a little fruit here and there.

Sounds like a killer diet right? People have raved about this diet and particularity those closely encircled in the cross fit cult.

Let me start off by saying that this diet is instantly effective over the standard american solely on the fact that you are bringing awareness to what you put into your mouth. Imagine how much kale you would have to eat to account for the calories in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you are giving up. Cutting sugar and refined carbs is always a good call that is not my argument here.

Another hole in the paleo doctrine is that they say before agriculture humans didn't eat grains. This is absolutely false. According to discovery magazine fossils of human teeth during the paleolithic period have been identified with residue of grains similar to barley and farrow  It may be the case that we hadn't yet learned to grow it ourselves but it is likely we learned to eat the grain when we found it.

The next issue I have with Paleo is looking at what set us apart from the rest our species. Soon after we learned to cultivate our own food, our evolution took a turn. Because we didn't have to digest all the meat and foliage, which takes a great deal of effort on our system, our brains were able to thrive. This is because less energy was being put into our digestive system to survive. Also, look at monkey's they all have big mandible jawbones and protruded eyebrows. This is because they need it to bite through hard foods. The big muscles attach to the protuberances on their head. Because humans learned how to cook and cultivate food we evolved jaws capable of communication, our brains also had more room to flourish.

Last, did it occur to anyone that our ancestors evolved to crave salt, sugar, and fat? The three biggest vices in anyone's diet? We were destined to fail. This is because we know that these foods have the most energy, which used to be priority number one on the savanna  Walking all day scavenging burns a lot of energy, and when you don't have an abundance of junk food it would be hard to keep up. The average lifespan of our neanderthal brethren was significantly less. Who is to say this diet will provide lifelong nourishment?

Now I hope I have sparked an insight. Always be weary of the next biggest thing. I ask you all to be keen to the pseudo science, think deeply, and form your own opinion rather than just listening to any schmuck behind a keyboard......wait a second

All in good health,
Andrew

Strength Challenge Update 3/14

I'll make this quick and post the statistics for my second workout:

Overall not a bad day,

5 sets of 8 reps on everything

Dead lift: 255 for 3 sets, 275 for two

Smith machine press: 155 

Hyper extensions: 35 plate

Reverse grip bent over row: 155

Total workout time 35.27 with 6 minute mobility warm up.

That workout took a little longer than I would have liked. I am trying to keep strength training to 30:00 twice a week. 

Check back in soon for more results!

Just as a teaser, all you cavemen out there, my next post won't make you very happy!

Be fit, do good

Andrew

Andrew's four week strength challenge.

As of yesterday, I begin a challenge. I challenged myself to gain between 10-15% strength on on a 10 rep max for a variety of lifts. 

Why am I doing this you may wonder? My response to that is I truly believe that achieving fitness is much easier than people want to believe. As Jeff wrote, (thanks for the lob) we can measure a lot of things, take simple steps and grow. I am applying this first hand in an effort to show people that you can easily achieve goals with the right preparation and action.

Ok so let's establish my baselines. I have been exercising with resistance for a long time, usually just working out with weights that are challenging and adapting exercises as I see fit. I can't say I have recorded, made a specific plan, or exercised with a program any more complex than a template of lifts for a long time. I am still strong as I have recently gotten into more of a strength training model rather than lifting for general fitness.

Here are my baseline scores:
Deadlift: 10 rep max=265
Squat: 10 rep max=225
Strict overhead press (no momentum): 10 rep max= 120
Pull-up: Maximum strict= 20

Here are my goals:
Deadlift 300+
Squat 265
Overhead press 140
Pullup 30

Oh did I mention that I will be working out two times a week, for no more than 30 minutes? This is the real kicker. People spend hours in the gym, I am spending one hour a week, over 4 weeks this is 4 hours. I am keeping my weight constant, and still training intensively for endurance events. Let's see what I can do!

Start date: 3/10 End 4/10

Here is the data of my first workout on the program.
3/10
Squat (pause at bottom) 205 x8
Pullup slow descent pause at top x8
Walking lunge: 50x8 ea leg
Standing DB press (slow reps) 40lbs, x8
I did 5 rounds circuit style in 26 min.

Sound too good to be true? Follow me on my journey as I look to prove how easy it really is to reach goals with the right program, action, and data.

Interested in reaching a fitness goal in limited time and effort? Email Dynamic Training and Nutrition and get help today!

Knees, Squatting, Training, and Being Soft

A great example of what the doc and author recommended (bad idea)

          In an article that I read the other day, which was more just a question that was asked by a guy and answered by another guy that quoted a doctor, I read about aging and knee health and what can be done about it. The guy asking the question was worried about how much longer he can continue to exercise because his knees are hurting him; he is in his 60’s, does yoga, and does weightlifting. The response was ok… he told the guy that it sounded as if he was already doing the right things and that a doctor (PhD) of kinesiology as well as a certified athletic trainer, says that sturdy knees come from sturdy surrounding leg muscles. 1 point PhD; well said. The PhD then goes on to say that squats are great for the knees if done correctly. 1point PhD. Well, then things start to go downhill. The good doc goes on to say that you should start with your body weight and try to do 20 squats with your thighs just above parallel to the ground. Minus 1 point PhD. The author goes on to say that you could progress that by squatting with a milk jug. Minus 1 point responding author.

          First, you should always work the full range of natural motion on any lift that you do. Period. Failing to do so means that you are failing to become truly mobile, even though you may be flexible from yoga as is the guy asking the question. Flexibility comes with yoga, because you are stretching without weight; that is great and if you have the time to do it, I would recommend doing it. That being said, passive flexibility (meaning just being able to stretch without moving and is actually a little dangerous if you lack the strength to control it) and dynamic mobility are two very different things with one being much more important than the other for movement health.

          Dynamic mobility is a fancy term for being strong and flexible while moving; mobility is just being strong through an entire range of motion. So, doing squats with your thighs above parallel (tsk-tsk Doc) is not lifting through the full range of motion; if this guy follows this recommendation, he will not only be limiting his own mobility which can be harmful, he will also be getting weaker because the author thought it correct to tell him to start with his bodyweight or full milk jug which is a whopping 8lbs (tsk-tsk author). Limiting his mobility combined with his age is a recipe for disaster.

First, squatting all the way down or an ATG squat, is not bad for your knees! Everyone says it puts more pressure behind your patella, so what? Stopping early transfers much more strain to your quad and patellar tendon which can cause tendonitis. ATG squats also involve your knees traveling forward enough to allow your butt to sit down on your heels; this is also NOT bad for your knees or ankles, this is part of being truly mobile. Finally, ATG squats are also essential for back health; not necessarily because they make your back strong –which they do– but because most people injure their backs picking up something light and/or small. It is not heavy enough for them to think about bracing for the load (like a jug of milk), although they should have, so they lift it in a manner that is usually somewhat careless and they injure their backs. Something this light could have easily been squatted down to, as babies do naturally, and lifted with a set and braced back if they are mobile enough to do so.

Second, we are much too soft when it comes to training these days. We have never had to worry about things like this before because our lives were active by design and we were strong until we were very old; now our lives are not near as hard, there is not as much asked of us, so in our old age we begin to become very frail. This frailty is due to the thought process that just because people are old they can’t lift heavy or workout hard –both are wrong! To protect them into their later years, the elder population should be lifting heavy and hard as long as they can. Sure, heavy for them will not be heavy for a younger person, but it’s about taxing the body. So, to clarify, the bodyweight squats recommended by the doc and the milk jug squats recommended by the author are both fine if the guy is not active and healthy. If he is active and healthy, these recommendations will literally make him weaker through de-training. Your body likes very much to work by the principle of “use it or lose it” so if you aren't using the strength or muscle that you have worked so hard for, your body it will take it away because it takes energy to maintain that. So, squatting a milk jug when you can obviously handle more is just silly; this guy should be squatting with a loaded barbell at least once a week, if not twice. He doesn't have to be a gym rat, but he can’t be afraid to work hard and lift heavy either.

          Some different lifts that the older population could benefit from are squats (full depth!), deadlifts, overhead pressing, pull ups (assisted or pull downs on a machine), push ups, and rowing variations. These are all very basic movements that can be easily done in most commercial gyms (except the deadlift because commercial gyms are becoming more and more soft as well) that will help you maintain strength in all areas of your body as well as a great deal of mobility that will transfer to everyday life. As I said earlier, the rep schemes don’t have to be anything crazy either. Four sets of five reps at the same weight after warming up will be more than enough to start with and all you have to do is add a little more weight when those four sets become easy. After five or six weeks, do a lighter lifting week, and then repeat. Lifting and training doesn't have to be hard, you just have to be willing to put in the time and effort.

Jack Lalanne was a great example for physical health. He was 91 in this picture... give that a try young people!                               

          I don’t know where these myths of training began to stem from, but they have about as much merit as did muscle-binding; lifting through a full range-of-motion is really the best way for your body to stay truly healthy in to your later years. It will help your maintain your independence, your mobility, your weight, your energy levels, and your quality of life. If you are young, realize early that lifting is an important part of being active. Maybe it is because lifting through a full range is harder, takes a bit longer, and it is harder to lift really heavy loads of weight in short amounts of time –essentially beats people’s egos up. People seem to like to inherently take the easy way out –even more-so now than ever before. We are constantly looking for the quick fix, the magic pill, the best way to burn fat in a certain area (which does NOT HAPPEN under any circumstances) instead of finding the two solutions that will for sure make you healthy: eating right and exercising. Eating right will be what causes fat loss; there is no way around it –not even exercising! Exercising, which includes lifting through a full range-of-motion, is incredibly important for the reasons mentioned earlier in the paragraph. There are no quick fixes, six-minute abs, or magic pills out there that will do all the work for you. Old or young, buckle down and be willing to put in the work and stop being soft. With regards to lifting, training, and life: you reap what you sow.

-Chris

Growth and Improvement Part 1 - Measurements

By Jeff

Have you ever set a goal, got ¾ of the way to achieving that goal (in a relatively short amount of time), and then plateau never hitting the goal? This is a pretty common occurrence in every aspect of life. You want to drop 30 lbs to get in the normal BMI range (BMI is an entire topic of it's own but it is still an OK health indicator for the majority of the population). So you work hard and drop 15 pounds in 5 weeks, only to lose 5 more pounds in the following 10 weeks never hitting you 30 lbs weight loss goal. Or you want to break a 6 minute mile so you cut your mile time to 6:30 at first and plateau at 6:25. I'm sure this has happened to all of us on multiple occasions. This write-up will be a multi-post article geared towards what I talked about above – improvement or even better - growth.

Ask yourself the question, what is my purpose in life? If you are religious your answer would probably be “spiritual growth” - to grow closer to God, to your family, friends and neighbors. If you are not religious your answer would probably be “to live” (in a very generic sense). But I would be incorrect to say atheists aren't constantly striving for growth either. However, this is a fitness and health blog, why bring up the purpose in life? The answer is because everything is interconnected. Your physical health improves/grows, you feel better mentally, therefore your mental health grows, this could only lift your spirit (spiritual growth), all of which makes you more available to improve your spiritual health even further. So to sum it up, taking two hours a week (out of a total of 168 hours in a week) to grow physically, can have a drastic effect on your overall well-being as a human (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually).

The topic of the first “growth” post will be on measurement. 

Measurement can go a long way in growth. When you are little kid you know that you are growing bigger by always having to buy bigger and bigger shoes, and by measuring how tall you are. Those are obvious measurements that don't need any record keeping. In terms of fitness – you can measure your body weight, body fat %, heart rate, mile time (or any distance), length or heights (think field events in track and field), or weight of the object your are lifting. If you want to dig even further you can measure efficiencies, probabilities, percentages, standard deviations, or anything you can learn from a statistics class. The point is measurements are a bulletproof way to tell you if you are improving or not and recording your measurements in a spreadsheet and running statistics on them can help you develop a bulletproof way on breaking plateaus. However, you will have to wait for another post to hear more detail on these measurements.

The measurements that I want to talk about today are more generic then the above paragraph. They are tailored to help you identify what goals you truly want to achieve aka “how bad do you want it?” What I recommend is to keep a diary, for most people this would be their smartphone. And write down every single negative thought or complaint that ever crosses your mind. Yeah, this is a little extreme, but the more you write down the higher your chances to grow in the long run. Go back through all of your Facebook posts, emails, old diaries, tweets...anything that records your thoughts and look for negative thoughts or complaints and compile them into one location. You can probably sense where I'm going with this. All of this record keeping are measurements. Start tallying up which negative thoughts cross your mind the most often, and you know the high counts to the most crucial thing you need to grow or improve on. Not only will this help identify what goals you truly want to achieve, it will help you vent and will help your emotional health grow.

So there you have it. Step 1 for growth – measurements. The next post will be titled “goal setting” and will cover how to turn your measurements into goals.

Friday fit tip....insanity (not the tv infomercial)

Insanity, yes it's one of those infomercial workout videos, but insanity is also all around us. Insanity is prevalent in the gym. Insanity is in every aspect of our day to day lives. What do I mean? Keep reading and find out.

Insanity, you might think of it as a mental lack of controlling ones emotions, it might be acting extreme, overreactions, and being completely off the spectrum of what normal emotions and actions look like. Insanity brings images of "crazy people" but what if I told you insanity is probably something you're doing right now.

Albert Einstien, one of the most brilliant thinkers of all of humanity defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again with the same desired outcome, without ever seeing the results. Now you might see where I am going with this, we all experience a realm of insanity, and I am not one to cast the first stone here, nor will I get into the intricacies of insanity with life. I am here to talk about fitness.

What is insanity in fitness? How many times have you stepped on the treadmill, went fr a run, or got a simple resistance training routine in and done exactly the same thing over and over again. A person does this, expecting to see results, they go through the motions, they shortly are discouraged and give up. I see people in the gym with the tiny dumbells doing endless reps, (I doubt they're even counting) day in and day out. This is what insanity is, they expect to see results, they expect to slim down and "tone" up.

If you're fitness gains are lacking, take the insanity (no pun intended for the imformercial) out of your routine. Do something completely different, get on a structured training program, record your results, set goals. You'll see that fitness gains are simpler than we "experts" like to make it sound. You'll reach your goals, you'll look better, you'll feel great.

One thing I have learned over the years is that principals I apply to my fitness, have a direct transfer to everyday life. Something I can apply to training, eventually get intertwined into my everyday reality. Take this as a lesson, apply it to one realm of your life and watch it spread.

By the way, give our man Chris a shout out for his birthday 24 years young today!
In health and happiness
Andrew

Why we struggle with change

Is it any wonder why over two thirds of our population is obese? Isn't it hard to begin an exercise and diet program and become fit? Our society lives in an illusion that it is hard, it takes tremendous work, and there isn't enough time, money, or energy in their lives to be fit. I'll go ahead and lay that to rest right now. It is incredibly easy to stay thin, to be relatively fit, and to have a healthy life. 

Not what you wanted to hear? It is the reality, along with many other truths we run away from on a daily basis. It is very easy to cook your own meals on a shoestring budget, get out and spend 20-30 minutes exercising, and keeping yourself healthy. Why is it so hard for us to buy into it?

Humans nature is strange the paradox of our normal behavior is everyone wants a slim body, ripped muscles, and the ability to run, jump, lift, and play. However, as simple as it is to achieve this we wish for the outcome but never bother taking the steps towards making these intentions a reality. In order to do so, you must combine driven intentions toward the desired outcome.

How do we take steps toward our desired outcomes? It's quite obvious we don't wake up one morning with the motivation and drive to dive right in. Often we make the choice to try this diet or that program, but who can honestly say they're still on the program? The yo-yo dieting and flip flop fitness is a major issue here. To make anything stick you have to integrate it into your life.

As research has shown, it takes 21 days to form a habit, 21 days is a long time. Few people who are seriously out of shape can attest to maintaining something for 21 days. I know that it is quite achievable, and if you can, more power to you but starting small is a good step to take. Try 5 days. Then 10, eventually built up until you make it part of your life.

Another way to make something stick is to attach something of worth to it. Whether you pledge $50 that is only returned when you maintain a routine for a given time, or challenge yourself with a friend. The idea that you are working for something can be a great kickstarter (as if knowing you'll lif 10-15 years of a longer, active, more adventurous life isn't enough). This is only a starter though, once a habit you will no longer need these gimmicks to get yourself motivated.

Take a picture of yourself, in a not so flattering way. Attach this somewhere where you'll see it everyday. You'll be amazed at the power this has to ignite a fire of motivation. Review your progress every thirty days, it's amazing how quickly our bodies can change when under the right circumstances.

Now are you ready to take your intentions and turn them into driven actions? I know it's not easy, I struggle with it in many aspects as well. Message me for more advice and any questions about how to integrate a healthier, more active routine into your life.

as always, in health, and happiness
Andrew

Friday fit tip....getting more out of your cardio

In our modern times the notion is often held that is some is good, more must be better. This paradox blankets many aspects of our lives. In the gym, I see people plodding away on a treadmill for and hour or more. To me this seems like a nonsensical approach to fitness in a time where everyone has an excuse on how little time they have. Time, the number one excuse for why people can't make it to the gym is a sad excuse.

Although I can expand an entire post on time management, I assume you "don't have the time" to read an entire article on how to approach time management. Instead I'll give you some practical ideas on how to get the most out of a cardio session at the gym. The caveat here is that everything I will outline below will take you between 20-30 minutes and, you'll see better results than the typical jaunt on the treadmill, bike, of elliptical  Sounds like the start of an infomercial, but what I am about to share has very simple science behind it and there is no bonus for calling in the next 20:00 (although you could get a good workout in and still have time left in 20:00)

When many of us think of cardio, what comes to mind, the hamster wheel is what pops into my head, along with the skinny guys with a body fat percentage in the 20's plodding away at 4mph for 60min to "lose weight  (which is probably just further muscle wasting). This image should go the way of jazzercise and Richard Simmons  into the youtube vault of exercise comedy. Let's examine "chronic cardio" with basic scientific principals. Yes, you may argue that at 60% intensity, you are solely burning fat as fuel. However, you may not know that the amount you are burning is far less than say if you were at 90%. The other issue is the basic biological principal that your body will adapt to the stressed placed on it. Your 60min session, while at a comfortable pace still gets you breathing and sweating isn't doing much for changes in body chemistry that would invoke adaptations to body mass or fitness. At a comfortable level you're doing nothing but exercising within your current fitness.

The solution you ask? Interval training. With a solid interval set, we can improve fitness, spark our body to adapt, and invoke chemistry responses all at a minimal time requirement. Pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, for brief intervals of time, followed by recovery jogging or rest yield tremendous results. Let's apply some basic exercise science. MET's are the currency we use to measure the cost of activity on your body, its how much energy is required to perform a task. Brisk walking or a slow jog, requires about 4.5 MET's. Running, at a 6min mile pace (not even close to the speed you can achieve in a short interval) costs us 16 MET's. As you can see, that's over three times as much energy. Someone can easily jump up four fold from the typical cardio pace. If we are exercising at 4 times the MET's we are going to achieve much more.

Here is a little math if we do intervals at 20 MET's for :30 followed by :30 jog we end up at an average of 12.25 MET's averaged per min. Let's repeat the interval 10 times for a 10min total workout. That's a total of 122.5 MET's. To get the same energy expenditure from the typical pace, you'd have to jog for 28min. We get almost 3 times the energy expenditure all other variables equal. This isn't the only benefit, caloric afterburn, V02 max development, the rush of endorphin's  hormones, and enzymes also turn our body into a fat burning incinerary.

Now hopefully I have convinced you fitness can take as little as 20min of your day. Start slow, and build up. Intervals are an excellent way to get more out of your training. There are 100's of different ways too incorporate them into a workout. Message me for some ideas!