Can you play up to pressure?

There is a rule in sports and in life as far as I can tell. It's the 30% rule.

Under pressure athletes will play 30% better or 30% worse. So are you an athlete that steps up or wimps out. Either way, you're training needs to prepare yourself for those moments. Every move, down, practice, every moment needs to be done with as if it were everything. Think of how much effort, focus, and tenacity that will take. This is how champions are made, and by that I don't mean all athletes that are good, I mean champions.

I don't know where I originally heard this saying but I use it all the time with my athletes. I'm sure it came from football though. It's

"Always move forward"

I used to take it simply as, on offense move the ball forward, on defensive drive them back, when you hit a guy drive through him, that kind of thing.

The cool thing is that the other day I used it in reference to playing football, my athlete complained about something else going on his life and I had to explain how it applies to more than just football. He texted me later telling me how he understood. I like moments like that.

New years resolutions are crap

It's about that stupid ass time of year again. When you all poop out your new years resolutions. Personally I hate these stupid things. If you really wanted to do something about it you would've by now. Everyone is guilty of it (some more than others) but there's a reason people come up with excuses not to do something, even when they really want to do it. You've heard it.

Why?

I don't know all the answers but what I've found so far is that people are afraid. Not afraid of actually having it, but of accomplishing it. Afraid of what it will take to earn it. In my life I've found one simple truth, there is no easy quick fix to the great things you want. You want to be the best athlete on the field, lose 80lbs, make a ton of money, etc....It's gonna come one way, and you gotta earn it. That means no excuses, no holding back, no tomorrow's.

You are the only thing holding yourself back. Fear is a terrible little deal.

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Work:Rest Rations don't matter....??

I'm gonna keep this pretty simple, but since everyone right now is on the holiday edge it would seem appropriate to promote a little way to reduce stress.

First of all, when it comes to program design everyone's worried about what cycle/phase their in. I will tell you some pretty great advice given to me by Paul Chek once, and it was that there is only one cycle to worry about, until that is mastered nothing else will matter, and that cycle is the Circadian cycle. Circadian rhythm is what gets thrown off when you travel long distances and get jet lag, and is based on sunlight. Get it?

So until you get the daily cycle and what you need to do during that daily cycle it is absolutely pointless to move on from there. So you need food, sleep, exercise, recreation, work, and relationships. Missing any one of these and you're missing out on life.

This is NOT me but he does a good job of backing me up. So in the end, eat whole foods that taste good, sleep, stay social, and enjoy relationships, exercise, work while you're at work then leave it there, and get outside and partake in something enjoyable. We may live in the midwest where it happens to be a nice and cozy cold and snowy, but there's plenty to do. Take your kids out and pull them on the sled. It's a great workout and your kids will love it.

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Lessons of Strength: Florida Gators

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Psychology will always beat physiology.

"Talent will never replace hard work."

These could go on forever, and you've probably heard most of them. But truth is perception of what's hard is a daunting idea. You're athletes might think they're working hard, but I almost guarantee you they've not even gotten close to potential....Yet.

Here's a clip from University of Florida. The guy might still be playing with a group he didn't recruit but like it or not he's getting it done and so are his guys. There's lessons here.

Even though I can't stand an immature, cry baby, wimp of a quarterback. But Urban Meyer says it just the way it needs to be said.

Just for the hell of it, this is one of my favorite quotes.

"You have to beat the best to be the best."

How's that for pressure? Get's me going.

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Lessons of Strength: Pete Carroll USC

This is what it's about man. Ask any coach anywhere. Strength practices, environment, and a relentless desire to improve and you have yourself an athlete that's gonna be successful.

You can say what you want about USC this year, they're still one of the most successful teams in history.

And Chris Carlisle (USC's Strength Coach) knows his stuff. It's not about being a weight room hero. The weight room is nothing but preparation to enhance what you already have.

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On board with Boyle...Getting deep with Squats

I've referred to Michael Boyle before in this blog and I'm about to again. B/c a few weeks ago, he came out with a new DVD set, and one of the things he came out with was so preposterous that it shook the very ground work of the strength and conditioning realm.

Coach Boyle is preaching against doing conventional back squats. WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?!?! (intened to be said with rapid succession.)

In history this type of innovation would be either hailed as heroic or dispised as lunacy.

Seems some really don't like this very much. As is evident here.

I don't know though. I've not met Coach Boyle personally but he seems to always have validity behind what he says (meaning he doesn't talk out of his ass). I do think it's possible that the reason he is so highly regarded for his strength and conditioning practices is more due to his incredible ability to communicate than his ability to transform athletes, but that's part of it too, and I doubt neither. (can we stop and appreciate the terribleness of that sentence).....

Now all in all, I personally cannot remember the last time I did a conventional squat. So am I with Coach Boyle? Yes and No. It wouldn't be me to give such a clear cut answer would it?

I find his reasoning for the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat without doubt to be ironclad. The weak point of a squat is the low back. It's the reason we cannot get maximal force output. So we switch to one leg and bang, we can do way more than half the weight of our max squat on a single leg.

I doubt I could squat 450lbs without a box under me, but I can do well over 225lbs on each leg for reps. See what I mean.

I also see safety as a benefit.

Crazy right? Well, a friend of mine was lifting the other day, sat back on the box and couldn't get back off. Along with that, the idiot didn't set the safety bars and could NOT drop it. He sat there for almost 5 minutes while some skinny little blonde lady tried to figure out how to move the safety bars so he could drop it. Nice huh?

Buuuuuuut.............. I do find good reason to still include box squats, other single leg squat variations, the use of bands and chains, along with variations of deadlifts.

One thing I will add to the pile is that I do quite honestly dislike single leg squats without the use of a box. Especially when performing them on ground level. Either sit back on a box (my preference 95% of the time, b/c you get more from the glutes and hamstrings, can load sooner, and don't get that ridiculous rounding of the back), or stand on the edge of the box.

I'll also add that I absolutely hate leg pressing. I think it's one of the biggest bullshit, panzy ass wastes of time. Go do something real. It's about as bad as a leg extension. I wouldn't be caught dead on a leg extension, ever.

All in all, I find pretty much everyone to be correct. Powerlifters have to practice squatting. Athletes need maximal force output from one leg at a time (you only run with one foot at a time, then the other), and both are trying to stay healthy enough to perform at their best. But I train athletes that need to be able to run, and they have NOT done any conventional squats for a very long time and wont be anytime soon. This is simply because there's too many other things they need that are going to help them excel.

Leave a comment. People are getting pretty ridic about this, so it'd be good to hear some opinions.

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Lunges of Death Challenge: Diesel Crew

This was the last nice day before winter arrived and pummeled us with snow. Good thing we took the opportunity.

I had been wanting to do this for awhile, and it seemed like a good day. The field was pretty wet and muddy, you can see me slip a few times. So not the best of conditions, but this would've been brutal either way. I don't train for this kind of endurance activity but really thought I could do it. Sadly disappointed even now.

Janet did awesome, she's quite the little badass. The lunges got a little shallow towards the end, but you can go try it and find out for yourself. It's tough.

And here's me. 20 yards in, I knew it was going to be much tougher than I expected. It sucked. My back was on fire the whole time, and it felt like someone was shoving screwdrivers in each of my glutes. Also took me forever, maybe next time.

I'd like to see you beat it though. 185lbs, how far can you take it?

Till next time. Peace.

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At some point everyone needs a pep talk

Professional athletes are lucky, they get pep talks regularly. Now I say lucky loosely because they earned it. No one got to the pros sitting on their butts playing play station and eating twinkies all day. But, at some point they had something that sparked them to action and lit a fire inside them to make them go for it all.

I've seen this before but it wasn't until today that I decided to do something about it. First of all share it and second of all challenge you. Watch and read on.

1. Personal Goal
2. Career Goal
3. Social Contribution

When he says that what pops into your head? I'm honestly asking you too. In fact I'm calling you out. I want you to write exactly what you feel below in the comments section for everyone to see. Reasons being:

1. People are much more inclined to act when they tell other people of what they plan to do. So you want to lift 600lbs off the ground, you tell everyone around you. You want to break your smoking habit, you tell everyone you know. You want to lose fat, and I guarantee you that if everyone knows you'll be more likely to keep your hands off the cookies and other crap.
2. We learn through our relationships and interactions with others. One goal, experience, phrase, gesture can be that helping hand. Relationships are pivotal. It's just like he says, at the end we'll always know we could've done more. Give back.
3. I'm purely curious (and you are too). I want to know what drives you, gets you out of bed in the morning, what makes you stand up and act as if you just got done watching one of the first four Rocky movies?

So, I told you I list mine so here you go:

1. Personal goal: One is that I want to take 600lbs off the floor. Second is relationships man, all of them. To be the best friend that I can be, and life hasn't called on me to be a husband or father yet but when that time comes I want to be the best that I can (both of those can wait as long as they like). But, when I look back at my life, I'm going to ask what kind of friend was I, what kind of husband, what kind of father, and I want no doubts in my mind.
2. Career goal: I want to be in a position where I can provide for myself very comfortably, without debt, and full peace of mind. I really have no interest in living a stardom life style or anything to that affect. But do I wanna take a trip to Hawaii at some point? Hell yes!! and more than once. But then I also that I'm comfortable enough to give back.
3. Social contribution: I want the programs that I run to reach and help hundreds and thousands of kids to give them a way to learn and grow with each other. Things like character, work ethic, relationships, and how to be their own success. That's why I do what I do, period.

Now it's your turn. Go ahead the box is waiting for you.

Food Source vs. Food intake

Today's post was actually inspired by an event from my long ago past. Back in 2006 Adam was pretty green in the performance and fitness field, and looking for a job. Even with the incredible amount of knowledge and experience I've gained since I feel as though I had earned a decent grasp of the goods, especially for a rookie.

Anyway, I had an interview at a commercial gym (that I'll keep nameless). Before this I'd never felt odd or out of place in an interview. I used to get nervous but that's about it. Too keep a long story short, cause it's really quite ridiculous. This girl walks up 30 min late, completely unprepared (but she was cute, I'll give her that). She hadn't even looked at my resume(commercial gyms will hire almost anyone that can talk and look halfway close to the part). So in some strange effort to make an interview out of this she starts badgering me with these weird questions that didn't make any sense and I had to come up with some BS answer. To say the least this girl's knowledge of training was idiotic at best, the interview went horrible, I almost stood up and walked out multiple times, and I didn't get the job (imagine that).

Well one of the questions was, "How many calories should a 130lb, 45 year old woman be eating per day?"

I remember it very well cause I'm sitting there thinking that is the dumbest question I've ever heard. I don't remember what came out of my mouth, but I remember thinking, "Are you kidding me?" To this day that question is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard from another fitness professional. All I remember getting out was something about not being able to tell without proper evaluation, like Metabolic testing, body fat testing, or even a food log or something.

But then it gets better. She asks me to give her a number of calories. It's all she wants. This girl literally says, "Just give me a number".

It deserves to be said twice. This is by far and away the dumbest thing I've ever encountered up to this point in my field. This literally rivals Ryan Gerot and I shooting each other with BB guns when we were in grade school. (Don't give me that, you probably did it too).

I said it then and I'll say it now. There is no way to tell exactly how many calories you need without proper evaluation. NO WAY.

We humans are an incredibly diverse group. We're incredibly different in the way we react to food, store fat, use macronutrients, how we age, eating habits, activity levels, lifestyles, stress, etc etc... I'll say it again: There is NO WAY to be able to just throw out a number and think your even close. Charts, ratios, pyramids, all that stuff.....It doesn't work.

It doesn't work 'exactly' like this, but for sake of argument we'll use it.

There are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat. There are 7 days in a week. If you overeat 250 calories/day, you'll gain 2lb in 1 month. 250 calories is not much, you wouldn't notice eating an extra 250 calories in a day (maybe even a meal). But over 6 months that is 12 lbs. One year=24 lbs. Put 24lbs on anyone in a year and it's gonna be noticeable. Try walking around with that extra weight. Would be sure to suck. You'd be slower, less attractive, have less $$$ (new clothes), and more prone to injuries.

The only thing I'm going to say about commercial gym's is this: They are open for $$$$, bottom line. Any and all of them. If there is a training staff, anyone on that staff that has been there for more than 4 years is there for $$$$ too. If they were good enough they'd have gone somewhere else by now, and if they gave a crap they'd have been good enough. So be ware. I've worked with trainers that are about the money, they don't care about you or what you get from your investment. They just want that muuneee.

In my eyes they are the scum of the industry. The ones that give the rest of us a bad name, and make a mockery of what we do. I have no tolerance for these people, they drive me crazy.

Sad day at High Impact Training

Yesterday was a sad day at High Impact. We lost a very integral part of our success, particularly my training success. See, I had to retire a couple olds friends. They were my first but they'd lifted their last days. It even hurts to say but I had to retire my first pair of Chucks.

As you can see they were well worn.

If you know anything about me, you may know how attached I get with my shoes. It's kinda weird, but you put a lot of miles (experiences) on (with) your shoes. But it does seem almost fitting how the last week/2 years has gone.

I originally bought these shoes in Minneapolis where I had my first job in this exercise industry (the commercial gym will remain nameless). Chucks are great for lifting and I had wanted a pair for a long time, but being as broke as I was these were what you might call a "splurg". I bought them for $25. They were way more than worth it and I've been lifting in them since.

Last week I was in minneapolis and while there I lifted with a friend. Just so happens it was at the same commercial gym where I'd started. This would be the place of me and my chucks first and last lift together. It was a good one. We went out with a bang.

Like I said sad day at High Impact Training.

I'd just like to say, thanks to my chucks. We've had some good times. We pulled 440 the first time for what seems like not too long ago. I'll always remember the early mornings, the foam rolling, the sled pushing, and the weird looks we used to get before everyone saw how much weight we were lifting. Even though you're retired from lifting but I'd still like you in my casual life. Thanks for being there. You'll always be my first pair of chucks.

The Age of the 'cop-out"

The Age of the 'cop-out"

starts with the word can't.

Personally I hate the word can't, and hate is a strong word. I hate it when I use it accidentally, when my athletes use it and especially when they are using it reference to an obstacle like a lift. It burns me up. It makes me hurt inside hearing people say they can't. It means they've shut down and given up before they even tried. It's an easy cop-out, and I hear it all the time. If they fail after they say that "they can't" do something it's not a big deal cause in their minds that couldn't do it anyway. It's much more scary to tackle an obstacle with "the best that you have" than it is to sit back and not believe you can in the first place.

In 1969 a man went to the moon. I wonder how many people said it couldn't be done. People used to say no one would be able to break past the 4 min mile mark. Roger Bannister ran a 3:59.4s mile in 1954 and many others have done it since. In fact just 46 days later John Landy broke that record with 3:57.9s. Within that year close to a dozen others would run under 4 minutes. A time that was said to be impossible. Belief is a powerful deal.

People used to say that no man will ever be able to run 100m in less than 10sec. People said the body could not withstand such a feat. As if it would just fall apart. Well, Usain Bolt just did in 9.58s, and he thinks he can break 9.5s, of which may be true. How about that?

Can't.....Such a terrible word. Such a defeated attitude. Such an easy way out. There is no victory in 'can't' because you're already done, out, beat.

The interesting thing is, I also secretly love the word can't. When other people are trying to use it against me. It drives me. I remember a few instances where I heard people say I couldn't do something and I was very young. They said "He can't....". You know what it did? It pissed me off. Looking back it's amazing the people that said these things. But it motivated me in a way that's stronger than anything I've ever felt.

You know what it led to? It lead me to find what I could and could not control and use what I had. I could control my attitude, my presence, my tenacity and I could be resilient. It lead to some great things and taught me a lot along the way. One of which is that, if you have any one of those things, then you are going to do well. You may not be the best in the game but you'll go far, and you'll be proud of it. If you attack every moment with everything that you have.

This one word is powerful. It can destroy and build great things. Be careful how you use it.

If I could only pick 2.....Top 2 exercises

Who would win, Superman or Flash?

Conan the Barbarian or Conan O'brian?

The Rock or Barack?

And the real question would be, The Incredible Hulk or Hulk Hogan???

Well that one's no contest. Hulkamania forever

But really, if it came down to a winner takes all exercise, what would I pick? Well this is very tough, and very general, and I actually consider it pretty stupid to boot. Who cares, you'll always be able to use other stuff. But anyway, just because I can I decided to ponder this query. Here you go.

If I had to only pick 2. They would be

1. Reverse lunge
2. Renegade Row

Both are ground based, compound movements that use a ton of energy (calories) and are completely functional. Both are great for the core and can be loaded to meet anyone at any level. Don't underestimate their difficulty either. They'll knock the shit out of you.

These two can meet Reggie Bush as well as your junior high athlete.

The reverse lunge is (if done correctly) post chain and hip dominant. Works through a large range of motion of which should stretch out the entire hip region, hip flexors and gluteals. It's unilateral so you're taking care of your bodies asymetries (problems caused over time by repeatedly using only one side of your body, or due to compensations). Balance is going to come into play as well here, of which will improve greatly with strength. Developing strength in this manner has been proven multiple times to improve balance and therefore also decrease injury rates and improve performance. This is why sitting on your wuss bosu ball isn't doing you any good.

This girl does a decent job. I don't enjoy her choice of shoes nor do I agree with the depth but you get the idea.

The renegade row is a true look at bracing through the core, but that's not all it's great for. You're also building strength through your entire back. The pulling motion is excellent for building strength through the upper back and healthy shoulders. Then there is also the stabilization that the opposite shoulder and arm is having to perform. Overall great exercise.

There you have it. Go try em out.

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Can you write me a Workout Routine??

To be honest this the reason why I have a Program Design service listed on my website. In order to spread good training habits further than one person at a time I enjoy the gravitation toward 'consultant'. This lets me train many more people, at a distance you could say, and it allows them to train with a program designed specific to their needs for a much cheaper price that they can sustain/afford throughout the year. Unlike the leapfrogging that usually happens with 1-1 training. But this situation happened to be a little different. It was my dad...d-d-d-d

So this is what I get from my mom,

"You're dad needs (I think she said wants but I'm sure she's full of it) a workout routine. His knees and shoulders bother him. Could you make a very short routine he could do that would help?"

At first three things came to mind.

1. If I write this program it'll never be followed. (stubborn, old farmer)
2. I'd be making this without a real assessment, and he wouldn't do that either. (stubborn, old farmer)
3. I wont be able to include any warm-up, or activation activities (cause he wont do them) and it's gonna have to be 3 exercises or less. What am I gonna pick?

Just these three alone are enough to make me puke. I get asked this kind of question daily, and I usually have many reasons why I don't just hand out programs anymore.

1. They are written with great thought and effort, but never get used. This took me about 10 programs to figure out and it hurt equally each time. Big waste of time.
2. People are much less likely to devote themselves to such a thing when they don't pay for it. Because psychologically there is no value to it, whether that be a subconscious or conscious outlook.
3. I spent alot of time, $, and effort earning the knowledge I have and a program should be valued somehow. In this case it's $ for a program that has the potential to help live a stronger, healthier, better life. (Make no bones about it, I'm not in this for the money. I'm in this to help people. I guess part of me would also really like to rid the world of all the a-holes that are the other.)

But this was my dad. So, with this all in mind, I went ahead and gave her the first 3 exercises that came to mind. I figured well, quick and dirty and they'll help. I said, everyday do:

1. Swings 1x15
2. pullups 1x5
3. pushups 1x5

This lady (Mom) is SO cool that she happens to have a whole set of kettlebells (respect) and a swing set outside where the pullups could be performed..............Equipment? Check and Check.

But I decided to change my mind. There was no unilateral work, which is way to important. I wouldn't be around to teach a proper lunge. Adam cannot stand improper lunges. Drives me NUTSO. Plus, 3 exercises was probably too much. So....

1. Sinlge Leg Box Squat: 1x5/leg (performed barefoot)
2. Pullups: 1x5

This is something almost anyone can do. Maybe you can't get five pullups that go through a complete concentric, eccentric and isometric contraction but almost everyone can perform the eccentric and/or isometric. Just jump up, hold and let yourself down slowly.

I should be honest though. If I had to pick two exercises based on every exercise that I know I wouldn't pick these, but they'd be extremely close to the top, at least top 5.

Soon, probably tomorrow, I'll give you my two top exercises. Don't be afraid to leave a comment below. I love to hear feed back and check in tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be glad you did.

Plain jane amazing...brawls, impossible shots, and weird thoughts

No need to explain. Just watch

Personally I think cocky, show boating punks are immature, insecure wimps that need to get put in their place. I think this is about what the situation called for.

It's also a good subject that I implement into the mental side of training with athletes. Many are sitting around planning how they're going to celebrate or react to good or bad circumstances during competition. This is without a doubt counter productive.

1. First, you have to score the touchdown first......"You don't score until you score"......Anyone on that movie line? Anyone? But really, until something happens there is nothing to celebrate.
2. Then as an athlete you don't have time to think, you have time to act and react. Simply put, thinking during competition is a kill switch to athletic success.
3. Also, you're head needs to be in one place. Does an athlete act/react with show boating or over the top tantrums because he actually feels he wants to or because of friends, family (especially parents), or the crowd in general. It shows they're insecurities. It also shows that they have trouble being in the moment because they can't go on with the game. They have their screw up or the crowd in the back of their head. Either way, bad deal, and athlete is hampered completely due to mental state.

You can think what you want about this, real/fake. Watch both videos and you tell me.

And just in case that did not entice you enough, here is the view from the field.

Wouldn't be surprised if we see this in a nike or adidas ad pretty soon. But you might want to keep in mind it's not Lebron or Vick throwing the ball.

This last one just made me laugh. I'm sure it works fine. But you can think what you want.

Personally I am LMAO!!!!

You want great arms try some variations of rows, pushups, and pullups.

You want great legs get your glutes functioning properly and do some single leg box squats, single leg RDL's and get on a glute ham machine.

Your clubs so called "PT-cert"

If this is all it took to be a personal trainer I would be ashamed. Dusty and I both have hours upon hours of hands on training and education, as well as countless books, articles and educational dvd's, along with highly regarded certifications, and not to mention the college degrees and our time spent training as collegiate athletes and internships.

The idea that you can call yourself a personal trainer simply by taking a weekend course embarrasses me. You want to become something more than the typical workout enthusiast than that is great. Go for it, come talk to us, we'll be happy to give you the nations best resources. But don't for one second think this a dream job of glitz, glamour, and fortune or that you're even close to being qualified to train anyone, more than likely that includes yourself. It's early mornings, sometimes with the crankiest of little brats, defeated attitudes, negativism, and not to mention the delightful smell of BO. It's all part of the job. I've seen a lot of personal trainers come and go, and the chances of you making it or being worth a shit is about 1/100. So you could be that 1% but it takes more than your BS cert and a couple letters behind your name.

Here's a few incredibly basic questions that I would expect any college student focusing on fitness and/or human performance to be able to answer without a problem. If you identify with or can't answer these than you have no business using our title or training anyone.

1. You think the biggest loser is a great show that has knowledgeable and qualified trainers.
2. You still believe in a 'fat burning zone'.
3. Can you list all four hip flexors and give their functions?
4. Can you explain the difference between mobility and flexibility?
5. Which joints should have good mobility and which should have good stability?
6. You advocate crunches.
7. You advise using a low fat, high carb diet.
8. You denounce deadlifts because you think they are bad for the back.
9. Can you explain why grandma is an inch shorter now than when she was 25? (I'll give you a hint, it has absolutely nothing to do with osteoporosis.)
10. And I'm going to sound vain here, but if you're anything but exactly what you want to see in the mirror or able to pick up some pretty heavy shit than you have no business ever ever training anyone. Because if you can't change you, then how can you ever expect to help someone else do the same. That's for all the trainers with man boobs and/or love handles as big as their butts and/or that couldn't deadlift or squat their own weight.

It's probably time you come talk to us. Either one we beat some sense into you or two we beat you simply because you suck.

By the way, Dusty and I both deadlift well over 400lbs, can do multiple single arm pushups, have single digit body fat %'s, and have yet to ever touch steroids. This isn't a job, it's a career.

Call me crazy, this breakfast was good

I get quite a few questions as to how I eat on a regular basis and to be honest my typical breakfast is the same almost everyday.

• 5 eggs
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1 big bowl of oatmeal(I do change what goes into the oatmeal periodically based on what's around.)

You might call me crazy, but I hardly ever cook the oatmeal. I just throw it together, pour some milk on top and leave. It takes me less than a minute to make breakfast and be out the door. I take my oatmeal with me and eat it in the car. So next time you try and tell me that you didn't have time for breakfast, just go ahead and save it. I find both of these recipes pretty good. Sometimes I'll spruce them up a bit more but this is pretty typical.

I have two go to oatmeals:

Oatmeal #1

• 2 cups thick cut oats
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp cinnamon (by the way cinnamon is an incredible spice, it has huge implications for dealing with blood sugar regulation. I often add them to my teas as well.)
• And I'll throw some fruit as I feel like it. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.

Oatmeal #2

• 2 cups thick cut oats
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 2 tbsp flax seeds
• and some granola (don't ask me how much I add, really it's morning and I just throw it all together.)

However, Lately I've been getting close to doubling my vegetable intake (one of my new goals, I'm kinda quarky). One way I've been able to do this and not feel like I'm constantly chewing, flossing my teeth, and withholding certain 'obscenities' (we'll call them that to be nice) is by using the blender. Drinking my veggies has become an extremely useful tool. I've also been taking more in during my second and fourth meals of the day. This lets me space things out a bit.

So, this morning I'm grabbing all the goods and I just happen to set it all right beside the blender. So.......My mind starts churning, and like all things that I do, I seem to take everything a bit further than it's supposed to (understatement, I do everything completely over the top).

I'll save the incident that occurred in my kitchen this morning and just give you the product of the process instead of the other way around.

So here you go. A crazy look at smoothies, but I liked it.

• 1.5 cups of snapped peas (like I said, quarky)
• 2 cups of mixed frozen berries
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 cups oats
• 5 eggs (raw).....I know, I know. Buy free range and your chances of food poison reduce to almost nothing. Your chances are extremely low to begin with anyway. By the way, I put two of those eggs in shell and all. Calcium.
• Chia seeds (there is actually some fantastic research buzzing around this little guy. It seems what used to clutter retirement communities has been found as an incredible little super food.)
• 1.5 tbsp Cinnamon

Sounds amazing right? Well no, actually it sound disgusting but I'm not gonna lie, I liked it. I was almost full, of which hardly ever happens. This is probably the healthiest breakfast I've ever made. It satisfies every corner that is pivotal for health: essential fatty acids, micronutrients, high antioxidants, polyphenols, catechins, soluble and insoluble fiber, this list could go on for a very long time. Mainly is satisfies my macronutrient needs while also being very antiinflamatious (therefore helping me be healthier and recover faster, as well as age slower, and make up words like antiinflamatious).

This recipe could also probably feed a small family so I wouldn't suggest the exact measurements. But that's part of the fun, play with it.

Workout splits for High School Athletes

I told you I'd write on workout splits and here it is.

Truthfully if a high school athlete has any kind of off season he/she needs to be splitting workouts. In season is an absolute must for this as well, you don't want/need to be using valuable practice time on lifting and conditioning. I encourage almost every high school coach to split workouts. The athletes are on a set schedule everyday, and the timing works out great.

Typically when setting up a daily split you want 8 hours in between your workouts. In any case, when designing programs you always want your fastest movements first. This is a common error among high school and collegiate coaches, and I'm guessing it's due to time constraints, but that just means that they didn't plan well. The way I've found splitting to be most effective is taking this programming guideline to heart. Doing your speed work in the morning/before school and your strength and/or conditioning work after school.

For Example
Wk 1, Day1: Lower body/linear day
Am:
1) Warm-up: SMR (6min), Dynamic Mobility(2min), Activation+Dynamic Flex (6min)

2) Explosive ground work
3) Plyometrics
4) Movement based speed work
Finish) SMR/static stretching and post nutrition

Then go to school.

PM:
1)Warm-up: SMR (6min), Dynamic Mobility(2min), Activation+Dynamic Flex (6min)
2) Explosive post chain dominate movement (clean, KB snatch, swing, med ball work)
3)Unilateral/bilateral strength exercise: max strength, max speed, or max effort depending on macro cycle
4) Post chain dominate exercise
5) Unilateral lift: 1leg squat, 1leg RDL, or lunge variation
6) Core: bracing, antirotational, or compound (absolutely NO sit-ups or crunches)
Finish) SMR/static stretching and post nutrition

Some Strength Coaches advise literally cutting all the sets and reps in half and doing half in the morning and half after school. Personally I don't agree. Your athletes are gonna get bored, worn down and there are much better options.

Doing all the speed work in the morning means a shorter workout and allows the coach and players to not have to wake up insanely early. If you've ever coached a bunch of high school athletes early in the morning (especially junior high girls) you know how important that is. I heard a lot about cloths when I first started. It also means they're more likely to eat breakfast, which is a big deal.

It also gives there bodies time to rest between bouts. Allowing for increased performance in each. Rest is extremely important at this age and this will allow them to be fresh for the each workout able to put more in, leading to better results.

They are getting 2 very active sessions during a day. I'd say kids probably average less than one hour of activity a day. Can you say pathetic? You can only imagine the sources of food they're getting when most of todays' schools are ridden with sugar vending machines full of "psuedo-healthy" and truly "death" food. bye working out 2x/day they'd be in a carb storage state for a much longer duration of each day (storing less fat). Leading to a healthier, stronger, and less likely obese/overweight athlete. Less fat also means they're faster, due to less dead weight to carry.

In my humble opinion I can also see academic and psychological benefits as well. Getting up for something they want to do (get better as an athlete) vs. something they have to do (go to school). And I'm not saying all kids have this outlook on school but all the ones I've known do. They're also waking up and being active, getting the blood running. Therefore not falling asleep in class all day. Learning work ethic and the importance of preparation. Building pride in their sport and a healthy lifestyle through the work they've put in.

Splitting Short workouts, big gains

Okay, yesterday labor day activities happened to keep me away till late and I ended up with only a short amount of time to workout. I typically run a Monday, Tuesday-upper/lower split and then do full body workouts Thursday and Saturday, leaving Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday as recovery days. This allows me to get 4 good lifts in each week in a way that makes the anabolic stimulus much longer and to the point where it's almost constant, and allows me to eat in the manor that I like and not get fat while still allowing adequate rest so I can throw more heavy shit around. So that one day I can do this.

Labor day was this monday (lower body) and right now I'm increasing my amount of speed work (med ball work, plyometrics, sprints, etc...) so I was either going to be able to get an incredibly rushed full workout in, or......I could split the workout in half doing all the 'speed work' on monday and the rest of the 'lift' on tuesday. In the heat of the moment I decided to go with the split. Monday would be all of my speed work and tuesday would be a day devoted to the lift. I haven't split workouts like this in a very long time, and I gotta say, I absolutely loved it. Was able to get ample rest periods between sets, I also had time for extra mobility and activation work between sets. It was perfect, and the same goes for today. Felt fresh, rested, and ready to get after it.

I bet the first question I get on this is working the legs two days in a row. Well to be more specific the question should be, could working the legs and nervous system in this manor two days in a row not allow for ample rest between the two. Well, we're talking different things here. We are going to put a certain amount of stress on the body's soft tissues as well as the nervous system with both the lift and the speed work. But by seperating them we're in a way using their differences to create a stimulus that doesn't break your body. Plyometrics are the fastest force your body is going to have to deal with, but your nervous system is going to be able to recover enough to perform a lift the next day. Plus, stressing the nervous system is the point, that is what we are going for. This is how we create progress in strength and speed. Just like stress on a muscle builds muscle, stress on the nervous system (in specific ways) improves speed and strength.

I heard from a coach once, of how his intern had asked why he had his athlete do squats and deadlifts during the same workout, and wouldn't it stress the nervous system. Supposedly the coaches response was one word, 'exactly'.

It happened to be Eric Cressey.

Really, to high school coaches that come to me, I almost always advise splitting workouts (though not usually in this manor). They are usually the coaches that actually give a crap about their athletes so I don't mind helping, actually I love it. It's great to find a coach that has wishes the best for his athletes and will work hard to help them. In fact I wish more coaches would figure out that their kids need more than just handed a sheet with a crap workout listed and told to do it. It'd be better for those kids to just stay out of the weight room if that's the case.

I think This subject is gonna be enough for another post and I'll get into it soon. The main point is that you can get great results splitting workouts. Sometimes it just works out I guess. I really needed to split it this week too. Good thing it happened to work out like that.

The Awesome'st....

Lately I've noticed that at some point I started sounding like one of those meatheads that only uses about 3 different adjectives to describe everything: awesome, kick ass, and sweet (not my personal use). Mine happened to be awesome, beautiful, and nice with an heavy emphasis on the "n" and "i" of nice. So, I've started working on it. But it lead me to what are some of the things that I think are pretty awesome.

Design your own protein literally you get to choose your own concoction.

Vitamin D is a pretty cool little vitamin. There seems to be new research coming out on the benefits of extra intake all the time.

Meatcards.com What else can I say. It's simply awesome. Business cards made of beef.

Possibly the funniest video I've ever seen. Also one of the best uses of a stability ball that I've seen.

I also have to give massive props out to my pal Zach. We've been working together on and off for about a year now and he's shown up every time ready to do what's necessary to be his best. I'm really impressed with this kid. In the last year Zach has taken off a considerable amount of fat while still gaining twenty pounds. We didn't do body fat testing so there's no real way to know how much muscle he's gained. The best part is, he is now the fastest kid on his football team and still one of the biggest. So of all the receivers and backs he's now moved to the top and playing fullback and linebacker.

One of many things Zach's been doing this year to get faster and stronger.

And that's pretty good considering that last year he was just a big kid that moved okay, a good linemen on his 7th grade football team, and he was also only about the 2nd or 3rd fastest of all the linemen. So of the slow kids he was one of the fastest. He also couldn't do one single leg squat, or a pullup, and could maybe get 2 good pushups in. Pretty crazy. Now, just the other day he rack pulled 265x6reps on his last set. His single leg strength is great and can do pullups on the spot.

That's what happens when you show up, work and listen. He also has a great dad that really cares about what his kid is getting from athletics but doesn't push anything on him. Zach has worked hard, it shows physically and I have no doubt he's gonna really make some plays this year.

Response to my eggs

I guess my recipe is catching a little flack. I actually saw this coming but wanted to wait and see what people said.

The main problem seems to be that I ate 6 eggs in one setting. Well to be honest that's not that big a deal for me. In fact in high school I'd eat a full dozen sometimes, no problem. That was just me at the end of the day. I was actually way more active then than I am now, and I'd still do the same now without thinking about it. If I wanted to that is.

Okay, yeah, I get it. Most people don't sit down and eat 6 eggs at a time. It seems like a lot but really you need to stop and realize I weigh 230lbs and sit around 9% body fat. That means my body has around 209lbs of lean mass and all of that is metabolic, meaning it burns calories. So my personal diet is probably much larger than most people simply because I need more calories to operate. I also have a very active lifestyle and career. I'm lifting 4 days a week and working out with clients 5-6 days a week. Then on off days I'm typically off doing something else. So in order to function and maintain my body mass I need a high calorie intake. This was actually a pretty small meal for me.

Scenario:

Let's say Mr. X is a 38 year old banker that is 6' tall, weighs 180lbs, has a body fat of 18%, and works out 3-5 days a week. Not too bad. But, Mr. X has around 147lbs of lean mass that is burning calories and he sits behind a desk 5 days a week. The 3-5 workouts that he gets a week are going to need to be fed but for the most part Mr. X is probably not going to need to eat 6,000 calories a day, of which I probably do most days.

The whole 2,000 calorie thing doesn't work for very many people. It's just a number the food label uses to calculate it's percentages.

The point is to eat for your body. Same as lifting and training. You don't need to be taking a diet plan written for someone else and try using it. It doesn't work. A 150lb woman going for fat loss isn't going to be successful using a diet plan written for Robert Gallery. She also wont be successful using his workout program. Just doesn't work that way. Just a side note, but she wont be successful athletically using that program either, cause it's not built for her and she's not ready for it because he's a professional athlete, and professional athlete's are the freakest of athletes.

Your typical 150lb woman is not this freaky.

Food industry crap, Probiotics, and a Total Eclipse of the Heart

I am in complete agreement. In every way he says it. Just watch.

This guy hits it right on the head, and as far as that goes pretty much anything that you buy from the store is going to be that way. In case you missed it in the video, I'm saying almost everything you buy from the store is shit. Shit with really good marketing.

I'm gonna throw out a number and say 1 out of 50 of a similar item in stores actually do what they are supposed to and are even half way good for you and even less likely are they to be worth your money. Sucks enough to want to rip the heads off all the top ass wipes of the food industry. Too bad the rest of them don't get the hate that the tobacco industry does. We'd be much further ahead that way.

I'm also gonna throw this in here. 1) to lighten the mood and 2) cause it's hilarious

Using what you have

Typically I buy groceries on Sundays, but I don't go until about 9pm due to the ridiculous amount of people shopping at the same time. See I'm one of 'those' people that goes grocery shopping and even though I don't have to I still find myself going through each isle. I'm also not the most patient person in the world when it comes to standing in line so for me it's a much better experience to go later.

Not a good time to go for groceries.

The trouble usually comes at the end of the week when I'm running low. Usually I have some back up plans and go to's for when I get in a bind but the past week food was running short for sure. For one of my last meals of the day I ended up trying to use what I had. Which happened to be: my last 6 eggs, 1 green pepper, 1 tomato, and the last of a bag of spinach.

This is what came out.

I ripped up the spinach, cut up the pepper, and scrambled it together with the eggs and about 1tbsp of evoo, some salt and a lot of pepper. I love tomatoes so I left that out of the skillet to add later. I actually planned this cause I like contrast and the cold tomato vs the hot eggs is really good.

I had this and after I was done happened to find some almonds to chew on. It was really pretty perfect for what I needed. I wasn't working out that day, and my activity level in general wasn't real high so I needed to take in fewer carbs, of which the tomato was my largest source. There's about 37-40 grams of protein and a solid micronutrient content. The only thing in question would be the amount of arachadonic acid (very inflamatory acid) intake from the eggs, of which is not a huge deal for me since I have a large intake of EFA's daily in the form of fish oils, Evoo, pumpkin and flax seeds, as well as a large vegetable and fruit intake. Plus, eggs are great. They're a very inexpensive protein source and have many healthy benefits.

Strong women strength train

I continuously hear how women wont lift at the gym because of the overbearing amount of testosterone coming from that area. Keeping the ladies from feeling comfortable in the place that is so vital to their success, health, and well being. What's the result? The majority of girls churning away on faulty training tools like ellipticals and treadmills, and joining spinning and aerobics classes right and left. Is it really that fun to step on a box and turn around repeatedly, I really doubt it. And I know people say they love to spin, but really? Really? You're not going anywhere. I guess I just don't get it.

I feel bad though. Terrible in fact, that women don't feel as though they should be lifting beside a bunch of men. Women need strength training just as much as men. This comes from a health and physique standpoint as well. This is a message to all women out there, I'm just gonna come out and say it. Strong girls are incredibly attractive and so is lean mass. Ask any guy you know, and I bet each one of them would jump at a chance to take a fitness competitor out on a date. and fitness competitors lift, and lift hard.

I guarantee you Jennifer Stano lifts weights, and good luck finding a guy that doesn't find her attractive.

I hear excuses like, "I don't want to bulk up so I stick with the elliptical." Yeah......Because gaining muscle is so easy (especially for women). Even for most men gaining muscle is difficult, and men's bodies are set up completely different and much more suitable for gaining lean mass. Most women are literally unable to gain large amounts of "bulk", but they do have an incredible ability to build a very nice foundation of strong, attractive, calorie burning lean mass.

In fact most women would benefit from this exponentially. Not only would they be that much more empowered and confident with the strength they've gained but in the long term their bodies will be much healthier. Increasing bone density and metabolism. Along with slowing down the aging process, including decreased skin wrinkles and more balance and strength retained over time. Nice! but I tend to find that most of the time people are more concerned with the here and now, and the here and now is what you see in the mirror and are capable of doing. So, do you look great in a backless dress and can you climb a rock wall or do squats with your best guy friend on your back? Good questions I think, and I know some women that it's true for cause they put in the work.

Here's a video of Donna performing a variation of a farmers walk working on core stability through the hips, trunk and abdomen. The walk creates and instability affect up the chain, the bells offset and pull the body in differing directions forcing the core musculature to contract in a way that will support itself and stay rigid, while also maintaining the change in breathing pattern that will occur.

Don't they look great?

In the background you can also see Janet performing swings, a more dynamic exercise working the core in a different fashion. During the swing the glutes (butt) and hamstrings need to kick on more to produce the force in order to create movement but she's performing them with one arm so the trunk muscles are having to work extra hard on stabilizing at the same time. It's also an extremely heart pumping exercises.

Here's another example of a great exercise being performed by two very in shape women, that have been taking my class 3 days/week for some time now. They really get after it and it shows.

This is a great exercise for the core. Holding the bell on one side forces the trunk to stay rigid and the elevation of the box allows you to lower the hips more than a conventional reverse lunge and use the glutes more. Great for athletes and anyone else that's trying to get their bodies into better shape.

Someday, I'm gonna walk in the gym and see a bunch of ladies doing deadlifts, squats, pushups, pullups and other functional strength training lifts and I'm going to ask one of them out on a date. Just kidding, but that is going to be a great day.

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Welcome back: Updates, Nicknames, and Shoulder health

Welcome back. You may have noticed the recent hiatus from the blog. Things are starting to come back to normal speed with High Impact and at NDAC. I truly enjoyed the spike in number of people we've been able to help, but it was fairly hectic to program and train that many hours.

To give you all some updates, we were able to help out some really great kids in West Liberty this summer, and at North Dodge Kettlebell classes and Personal Training went through the roof. It's been a blast working with everybody. There was quite a range as well. 35 athletes in West Liberty where the main sports were football and volleyball. At north dodge I've been seeing people needing help getting ready to hike mountains, lose fat and live healthy, some triathletes joined the Kettlebell class (very exciting), and even helping one female prepare to pass the physical tests for the army. It's been a great and challenging time.

Here's a few of the younger kids from the West Liberty camp. They were awesome. Tons of fun to work with.

By the end almost everyone at the West Liberty camp had a nickname. This is Sally, Amitha, and Goatcheese (from left to right). I wont go into how they earned their names.

To get on with the rest of the blog I wanted to cover an issue/epidemic that I'm seeing more and more recently, and it has to do with PULL-UPS.

Okay, the first problem I see with pull-ups is that people are not doing them enough. Shoulder problems are one of the most common complaints and problems I see on a regular basis and I'm sure there are many dr.'s and physical therapists that would say the same thing. The prime mover (muscle that does the most work) during the pullup is the Lat (latismus Dorsi), and it has huge implications when it comes to shoulder and back health.

It attaches from the lumbar spine to the humerus (upper arm bone). I talk about depression of the shoulder all the time, and this is one of the areas where I see that people are the weakest and many times the tightest. So their shoulders are left out to the wind and anything could happen.

The Pullup also requires requitment of the mid and lower traps which are also huge with shoulder health and scapular stability.

The trapezius is another area I see that is incredibly weak and many times stiff (which is different than tight, and is not good for the area at all).

The last place of functional anatomy I'll get into is the aspect of the core. I already hit on the lower back but with the pullup you'll also see a synergistic contraction through the anterior portion of the abdominals. Mainly obliques and rectus firing. I routinely get feedback that this is the area that hurts worse the day after doing this exercise.

These are just three areas, really it works your entire upper body. How many people do you know doing bicep curls every time they go to the gym? I'm just guessing but they're probably trying to make their biceps bigger when really a pullup is going to do way more for them in less time, make them much stronger, and look tons better than that bicep curl ever will.

For those that don't know me or have ever seen me, I haven't done one bicep curl or isolated type exercise like that in years and I weigh 230 lbs and sit somewhere around 9% body fat.

To get to the point I wanted to make in the beginning. What I'm seeing in the few people who do pullups is the lack of range that they get. Depth is important. Going down half way is not doing you justice. You must go down to lockout, which is when your arms are straight at the bottom. Like this,

This is actually one of our West lib high school athletes doing a very good job of locking out

If you are unable to do this and return to the top that is not a big deal. The majority of the people I work with are unable to do this at the beginning as well, it just takes time and effort. So start by lowering yourself slowly and jumping back up to the top with your legs. Working the eccentric (muscle lengthening) portion of the contraction can actually be more effective and safer anyway.

A proper Pullup should start at the bottom with the arms locked out, and should end with pulling the body as high as you possibly can, most of the time to the lower portions of the chest. Otherwise the pullup does not count. just getting the chin above the bar does not constitute a proper pullup. Pulling as high as you can (or starting as high as you can) ensures you are getting to most out of all the muscles.

Give me a break

These are a few things that I've been running into lately where all I can do is think "Oh, give me a break". Sometimes they are funny and sometimes they're just downright annoying. I try and deal with them in a very nice diplomatic way, but typically I just want to squish it right there. But in all honesty if there's one person with a question there's usually many others as well so this is my attempt to be slightly entertaining and informative. Here you go. Enjoy.

100 calorie snack packs.

1 lb of nails and 1 lb of feathers weighs the same. Just like 100 calories of fecal matter is the same as 100 calories of anything else. Just cause it's 100 calories makes it no more healthy than anything else. How about 100 calorie packs of ice cream, syrup or bacon grease. Give me a break.

Les Mills systems

I honestly did get asked by a body pump instructor if I'd ever done 5 min of squats straight. I laughed in her face cause I thought she was joking. Turns out I'm a jerk on accident. Oops. But seriously. Give me a break.

There's no way that doing squats with a barbell on my back for 5 minutes is ever going to contribute to any goal I've ever had. As far as that goes the only goal it could possibly help with would be doing squats for 5 minutes. But doing technical lifts for extended durations is not going to be a good idea. Actually it's a very bad idea. I'm not saying the word 'never' but I've not come across a situation yet nor can I think of one. It would be hard enough for an experienced lifter with incredible body control to pull this off without breaking form, hitting depth, and holding good position let alone the random gym goer, of which almost 100% of them have some sort of joint, postural, or functional dysfunction.

Flaring your elbows while doing pushups.

This is another les mills exercise that I can only describe as FUBAR. Seriously, if you have an instructor/trainer/coach that tells you to do pushups with your elbows at 90 degrees to your torso don't say anything just walk away, check that, Run away and fast. Why? Cause it's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in my whole life. Unless your goal is bombed out shoulders and pain for the rest of your life.

With the body form follows function always. The shoulder girdle sits in a position relative to the humerous and thoracic spine that allows the muscles to track in a very specific way. Go against that and it causes problems. You're looking at impingements, GIRD (gleno humeral internal rotation deficit), rotator cuff fraying, etc...all are bad bad bad.

I explain this one daily! It's ridiculously annoying. People, PLEASE pass the word along about this and Give me a break!!!

How about that diarhea yogurt stuff?

Yeah Jaimie Lee Curtis used to be hot back in the day, but biffidus regularis??? Give me a break. Any yogurt has cultured bacteria (that's what makes it yogurt, so does cottage cheese) and yogurt is healthy as long as it isn't chalked full of sugars.

This container is just a gimick sales pitch so they can make it more expensive. Of which seems funny considering they're selling you on pooping more. You want something that'll actually help you, eat more celery. You can even toast to it,"Here's to pooping".

EasyCurves.com

This might be the most funny one of all, but in all actuality it holds about as much water as any of the others. This stick somehow performs miracles. Give me a break. Click here and you'll see what I mean.

Breast Cancer 3-Day

I've actually wanted to promote this here for awhile now but was not quite sure how to give it justice. I'm not the best writer in the world and this is a big deal and it needs a certain amount of seriousness along with a certain amount positivity and fun as well. See this is a life threatening deal, at the same time it can leave a woman lacking part of herself. I don't care who you are or what you lose it's going to affect you. A very small portion of men actually develop breast cancer so I am not writing this because I myself am worried, but I have 5 reasons that I'll list here.

1. It doesn't just affect that woman. It affects everyone around them. Every friend, family member, and loved one. It could be someone close to me or you.                  
2. The process they must go through is horrifying and terribly painful. Not only is there a fear of death and loss, but even what is supposed to make them better is wreaking havoc on the body. The stories I've heard are nothing I want someone close to me going through.
3. Because without something 1 in 8 women will continued to be diagnosed, and that's way too many.
4. I'll attempt to say this delicately, and I mean it in the best of ways. Women are made beautiful just the way they are, and I appreciate it deeply. (nicest way I could say it. If anyone is offended than you are lying to yourself cause you know it's true.)
5. The number one reason: My brother's significant is on a mission. A mission inspired by her loved ones that were diagnosed with breast cancer and she's going to raise $2,300 for research.   This is Sonja

For those of you that have the money this is a good deal. You can truly help not just one person but many. I encourage you all to pass the word, forward this link to your friends and family. I live by having reasons for everything I do so here's a few reasons to donate. 

This is the link to Sonja's personal page. Give her some props.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/SeattleEvent?px=3283391&pg=personal&fr_id=1300&et=koXLKJTK8mLZ-uRpA4M6fw..&s_tafId=199522 

Picture of Sonja and Joe

• Girls, you have all the reasons in the world to donate. You have a Mom, Grandma, possibly daughters and that's enough of a reason

Sonja and her daughter Hannah

• Guys: You all have a mother.
• Girls: Those things do serve anatomical significance and function.
• Guys: I know you appreciate the female form. If nothing else. donate to prevent breast cancer from taking this away.
• On Sept. 11th, 2009 bunches of people are going to feel strongly enough to walk for 3 days straight and work their butts off to raise money for this.
•  
• The last reason is not a reason because I really don't think any of you actually need me for that part. You can come up with your own. 

Here's the link again. Help a girl out.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/SeattleEvent?px=3283391&pg=personal&fr_id=1300&et=koXLKJTK8mLZ-uRpA4M6fw..&s_tafId=199522