Reason ###,### I love my job

Received an email today. It's the kind of thing that makes you sit back and realize why you wouldn't want to do anything but what you do. I get to help people everyday. What could be better than that? And the better I am at what I do the more monumental the affect can be for that person. But when you get to help a little kid do something that he didn't think he could, now that's more than just feel good. That's something special, something that s/he'll carry with them for the rest their life. I get to help'em out along the way and couldn't be more happy to do so.

My pal Clay (almost 7 yrs old) and I have been working together for about 3 months now on speed and agility. To be honest when we first started he had trouble picking up his feet, he was already weak through his glutes and core, and tight through his hip flexors, and was very self conscious of how he ran and also had some proprioceptive issues. This is pretty uncommon for his age and can lead to some big problems. Non of which would be good for him to know about, so from the beginning it was a challenge to progress him in the right way to make sure he was getting what he needed physically and psychologically.

I try and keep my sessions fun and with little kids especially, so I almost have to trick their bodies using games and different types of training that doesn't seem like they are actually training but that they're almost playing around. For instance, a shoulder bridge for gluteal activation is boring. So instead we did crab crawls and sometimes we'll even race. So we did tons of this kind of thing, catch with medicine balls, bouncing tennis balls, etc... It's a good time and Clay responded very well.

The other day I get this. Chalk it up as another countless reason why I love what I do. This is a message from Clay's dad.

First of all I wanted to thank you again for working with Clay. The improvements on the field are quite noticeable and he’s much happier playing sports now than he ever was.

Let me share a recent soccer game experience with you.

Clay is in front of the goal line waiting for a pass from a teammate. A kid from the other team intercepts the pass and starts working the ball down the field and passing it to his teammates. Clay, who started behind all those kids took off after the ball and not only caught the other kids but passed them and was able to kick the ball away before they could take a shot on goal. Let me tell you, that is something that never happened before. One of the parents even turned to me in a look of disbelief and asked “did Clay just run that down?”

Really Adam, he’s a different kid out there this spring. He actually engages in the games since he has more confidence that he can contribute. For that and more I say Thank you.


Couldn't be more happy for him. Show's what consistent hard work can do. Even though it seemed like we were just playing around most of the time.

Social Support for Fat Loss

So, I guess Berardi has another video up. He just sent me an email this morning. Well, it's good enough that I'm gonna do another post for him.

He got me thinking about social circles and studies show that what your mother told you was true it does matter who you hang out wit. In fact I'd say the studies are a little soft in how much your social network affects you and what you do in life. You don't have to further than spousal relationships to notice this one. It almost always seems that in a very short amount of time a couple will begin to acquire each other's characteristics, they'll start to dress more similar to each other, they'll use similar jokes, react similarly, they'll even being to physically look more like each other. It's very interesting. 

So this can be very powerful stuff when it comes to fat loss, and by powerful I mean it can go two directions. I notice it all the time, especially with spouses. One is very motivated to lose fat or change in some way and the other doesn't care. The nutrition side of things is where it gets really bad really quick. One doesn't want to eat spinach and chicken every night (cause that's obviously all you can eat when dieting, or so I've found to be the case in people minds too many times). But the one wanting fat loss is attempting a diet and the other just doesn't want change. Neither is getting anywhere. For one they don't realize healthy doesn't have to taste bad. In fact I love my meals, and they are still very healthy. 

  

But in the end, the spouse that doesn't care to change probably wont and the one that was motivated just got thrown under a bus and give it up. It's too bad but it happens all the time. And all cause it became such a hassle to try and make two things to eat, or being scrutinized, or hating all the food, and the worst part.....getting zero support in the endeavor. I can't tell you how much this bugs me. (Especially to all of you husbands out there that are not supporting your wives in their quest because I hear this one all the time and it makes me livid. Support your lady. Besides it could be possible that she is in part doing this for you.)

I really like gourmet nutrition but something that everyone can get in on is Dr. Berardi's lean eating coach program that he's doing right now. Here is a video of him explaining social support and some options that you can take to get help with your goals. What he's putting out there is well worth it. He may be a little animated but this guy is legit. I wouldn't take the time to devote even a piece of my day to him if I he wasn't. Here's a link to his video.

This is also a contest for you competitive types, and the prize is $10 K to the best male transformation and $10 K to the best female transformation.

Good luck.

Lean Eating Coaching Program Reminder

By the way, John Berardi is still accepting people for his lean eating coaching program where you could win $20,ooo. It's being given to the best body transformation (not the best body). 

Could be up your alley. I hope you'll look into it. This is a great option for anyone looking to change their bodies and begin living a more healthy lifestyle. 

This is the next video that he's put out. Here Berardi talks about motivation and how to punish yourself correctly so that you will continue to adhere to your diet in a way that it stays important to you. It's pretty cool. 

http://precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=778229&u=bm

Good Luck. 

Office Fitness Presentation

Dusty and I just finished our presentation on fitness with a sedentary job. I need no reminder of how wacked up people's bodies are but I'm still in awe of how interested people are in helping themselves. I suppose my realization today is that I'm glad that I can be one of those informers that can make the difference in helping someone out of their current situation. Makes me feel all warm and gushy inside. 

We received very good feedback and I feel really good about things when the audience asks a lot of good questions, which occurred. Chalk one more up for us and to them for coming up with the questions.  

But I really feel good about the information we laid out. We started with the affects of a sedentary job. For instance sitting, looking into a computer, and typing for long durations and how they lead to issues like: 

Structural Posture problems

Lordosis

Kyphosis

Anterior Head posture

Pelvic tilt

This part may have gotten a lil heavy for the audience we were speaking to.  We could go on for days about any one of those issues, so it was a little difficult to scale back. But in the end I think they were able to take in and make much of what we explained to be very useful. Which is our goal.

Second we explained how the body should work synergistically from the core outward to the extremities. I think we really tripped some minds during this part.

Last thing we did was actually take people through some mobility drills they could do on their own in their office that would help them dramatically. I don't think they realized how much each of those could help them but Dusty and I do, and because of that we're gonna keep hammering into your brains.

Overall I felt very good about it. I was glad to help and am excited for the next time we get called upon.  

$20k to the Best Body Transformation

John Berardi is my go to guy for nutritional information. I can be sure that he's not gonna lead me down a wrong path because he's too stuck in his ways or anything like that. He is anything but closed minded. He's kinda like me in that way, he uses what works, throws out what doesn't and is constantly looking to improve in anyway he can. 

This is Berardi

But, he's doing a big thing right now, and I'll be talking about it for the next couple weeks because it is of huge value to you. He sort of says it in his message, worse thing that happens is you get some of the best coaching in the world, amazing information given to you that you can use for the rest of your life, the best body of your life and probably the best shape of your life. Best scenario you get that along with a bunch of money. Sounds good to me.

Here's the link. Get there soon, I know the last time they did this it sold out pretty quick. I know they've changed things this time so more people get a chance. Anyway, Here you go.

http://precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=778229&u=20k   

By the way, Berardi is an interesting guy. Don't let the weird message creep you out. He's a much better nutritionist and coach than he is an actor. Go for the challenge, you're not really going to lose either way.  

I really encourage you to do this though. I can't say enough good stuff about this guy and I know too many people who could benefit from a resource like this. Good luck.

Steroids in the News and Today's Youth

Today I see it again. Roger clemens is in the news again. It's gonna be like that for awhile too. People are not going to let this fall. Dramatic finish in sports are incredible, dramatic finishes in real life seem to rarely be the same. It's too bad that we want to ruin the image and role model that they have become. 

What would you do if you found out that "Rudy" took steroids. I grew up living my life by looking to movies like Rudy, Rocky, and the Ninja Turtles. Yeah I grew up during the Ninja Turtle stage. Laugh if you want but EVERY guy close to my age knows exactly which Turtle he is/was and we can all tell a lot about ourselves just based off of that. 

Yeah I was definitely Rafael. 

The point I'm attempting to make is that we're ruining something in these athletes and we're ruining the image and role model that they are to the youth athletes of today and that is sad. We're also putting out mixed messages of accomplishment, and showing kids what is and isn't important in athletics. 

Legality

I believe in athletes, and would like to trust that what they've done was completely legal. In all actuality though, for the vast majority of Clemens career steroids were 'grey area'. I know this sounds crazy but it was not tested, and it was not worried about and until 2003 anyone could use steroids freely. It was not a big deal. Everything changed in 2003. All steroid and most boosters were done for to anyone without a Rx. 

Then there is also the problem with testing. What if it were a bad test, or tainted supplement, or a bad doctor. Here is an interesting link that dives into that as well. 

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=778229&u=www.precisionnutrition.com/tainted-supplements

Empathy

I can empathize with the athlete holding on to a career. It's all they've ever done, it's all that they know. Who are they if they are not competing?

And also with the athlete that's trying to make it. He/she needs to provide for themselves and their families the best way they know how. If all I knew how to do was play football (which was very true for awhile) and I had a family to support you bet your butt I'd pull out all the stops. 

Plus love and passion are strong sob's you try pulling away from something you love, it's a part of you, if it dies you die. These are just a few reasons, but when the clock runs out it sucks. I still have dreams that I'm playing ball again and I wake up sad as hell but it was fun while it lasted. 

Now would I juice myself up to get there from where I am now? No, there's something about it being legitimate that I would need for myself. I hope each of these athletes thought that through as well before throwing in. 

Hopefully soon we can find a way to put forth and image to kids that it takes work, guts, and mental toughness to be great. Cause right now we're missing the boat even if it is not our intention. 

Diesel Crew worthy Core Training

Just to let you all know. Yours' truly was just featured by Diesel Crew and more specifically Jim Smith (author of Combat Core). For those of you that don't know this is a group of guys made up of some of the best minds in the nation as pertains to Strength and Conditioning but they also practice what they preach. They're all strong as hell. But this it.

A New Look at Planks

May 12th, 2009

My boy Adam Rees just posted a very important new video.  Adam takes a unique new look at planks.  It is something I explored in great detail with my Chaos Training manual.

If you consider the conventional execution of a plank there are 4 stability points, both feet and both hands.  Adam performs a conventional plank BUT takes away one stability point.

In doing so, his body must transfer the “even” tension that was distributed through each point to the remaining three.  This shift requires muscular coordination, an adjustment in breathing and a forceful bracing of the abdominals and back musculature.

In addition to this modification, Adam is performing full range side rows (pulls).  This increases the tension and improves coordination, ie. one side of his body is rigid and the other side is engaging movement.

Great job Adam, great innovation!

For more “out of the box”, innovative strength training check out my Chaos Training manual.  It is over 700 pages and took me over 2 years to write, and 15 years to discover.

High Impact Tshirts

Putting in a note about shirts. Not to be given or easily bought, but to be earned. Get through a class with me and you'll have earned it. The only investment for your first class is sweat and effort. 

Cast Iron Balls Long Sleeved T: 

$20, If you can make it through

(these are a really nice quality fabric and fit that I really enjoy. Plus it'll mean something to wear this around.)

Training short sleeve T:

$15, same deal, gotta make it through. Good luck.

Here's one in Action:

Nice moves

Su Madre es su madre

My training is no panzy pilates, yoga or some dumpy aerobics class. It's difficult, you sweat, you get sore, your heart will feel like it's beating through your chest. Some may even call it Brutal. Most people couldn't handle this, same reason they're stuck looking and feeling as terrible as they always have. Gimicks are gimicks, this is old fashion grip it and rip it grunt work (with proper technique of course). 

This type of training gives tremendous health and corrective benefits but it also gives that leaned out, strong and very natural look to the trainees. Not the poor posture, no shoulders and no butt workout 'fanatics' that you regularly see at your training facility, whom have no idea what they are doing except to just keep going. (I really wish they'd take half that effort and put it towards studying from some actually good resources.) It's pretty simple really, our trainees look like true athletes. 

It's mother's day so here you go, a couple mom's that get after it in the best of ways. 

Taken after a grueling workout worth a memory solidified in digital imagery. From left to right your's truely, Julia, Janet, Heather, Donna. 

From left to right: Julia, Janet, Donna, Heather. By the way that's my mom holding the very respectable 24kg, of which she uses regularly. Pretty good for +50. 

Happy Mother's Day

My Top 3 Keys to Fat Loss and Health

What if I told you there were 3 simple tips that could very quickly change everything about your body? You're health, fitness, and performances. If you were to only concentrate on these three your body would...

• become a calorie burning machine
• You'd see fat drop like crazy
• You'd keep more muscle during cuts
• You'd build more muscle during gains while also acquiring less fat
• Would lead to a very noticeable difference in your training and competition.
• Reduce your risk of diabetes
• Increase your IGF-1 and testosterone levels (anabolic hormones: healthy fat burners)
  

You may think that only concentrating on three things would be way too simplified. Nutrition is very complicated and multifaceted, so that just cannot be. Well you be correct. But I was thinking of this last night, and trying to think how simple I could make nutrition for the average person on a very general scale (which is very hard for me because I typically like to throw way too much out there).

This is what i came up with. Focus on:

1. Fiber
If each and every US citizen was getting 40-60g of fiber a day our obesity problem would be close to ZERO. In fact many other health issue would dissipate as well. Hardly anyone would be even close to overweight though. Now this is quite a bit of fiber and on average I don't get this much in a day. But the point is, increasing your fiber is going to make dramatic changes. By no means am I refering to cereal bars and fiber supplements. Even though fiber supplements have there place, it would be much better to get a good mix of soluble and insoluble fiber from whole food sources like vegetables, fruit, and certain grains (oats and/or quinoa are both great).

Adequate amounts of fiber will slow the speed at which carbohydrates/sugar can be digested and enter your blood stream. Making sure that you have a steady state of energy circulating throughout your day. This will also drastically reduce your chances for late onset of diabetes, of which is the next big epidemic. Diabetes will probably kill more people in the next 15-30 years than cancer. That is what the high carb low fat diet is doing to America.
Also getting all those micronutrients from the plant sources is incredibly good for you. For your skin, bones, everything. You'll look and feel a ton better. 

Choosing good carbohydrate sources is key here.

2. Protein
Getting enough protein is essential, and commonly under appreciated. This, along with the other two is what holds people back much of the time. Please just for a second try and step out of your dogmatic thoughts and follow me for a bit.

First of all protein can have a similar affect as fiber. Your body is going to have to work hard at digesting it, so it's going to slow absorption down a bit. This is great, because that means metabolism is going to have to ignite and work that much harder. Increasing thermogenisis (body temp) slightly which in turn will allow you to burn more fat. And the slowing of absorption keeps the body's blood sugar/carbohydrate levels at a more constant or steady state throughout the day.

Then getting protein often and throughout the day (every 2-4 hours at least) is going to increase your body's natural production of testosterone and IGF-1 levels. These are your anabolic hormones which means they attribute to burning fat and gaining muscle. So if you are in a negative energy balance you are going to lose fat eating protein in this way, you'll also lose less muscle. Remember muscle is metabolic so it burns calories and we want to keep as much as we can. If you are in a positive energy balance you are going to gain muscle eating this way, and will put on less fat.

Females, do not worry about bulking or getting "man(ish)" as I hear so often. It doesn't happen or work like that. Girls need to produce testosterone also, and each and every girl in the world already does. It would take tons upon tons of time and work, while eating tons of food and probably getting supplemental hormone help to get a girl to look "manish". 

Girls that eat protein with every meal, often throughout the day, and lift heavy stuff are sexy as hell. Embrace it.

3. Water

Water is possibly your most valuable tool. What do you need? One big bottle to fill full of the stuff. Then every time you finish it go refill it immediately. 

How much? the daily recommendation of 64oz doesn't really work. It's only going to work for some people, and those people are going to weigh approximately 120lbs and not live very active lifestyles and are not trying to change their bodies in any way. So outside of those people lets get a system that'll work for you. How about AT LEAST 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water per day, that does not include the water you will take in during meals or workouts.Really in my humble opinion that is still borderline. You're just not going to drink too much water (it is possible but it's just a crazy amount of water that you would need to drink and you'd be hurting terrible before you even got close). 

Proper hydration is absolutely pivotal for performance, for fat loss, and for general health. 

It keeps your muscles operating efficiently and with strength, keeps the organs running perfectly, helps your body get rid of toxins. Being well hydrated drastically reduces your risk of injury, lets the liver function efficiently instead of having to help the kidneys out when you are not hydrated which will allow you to process more fat. It helps keep you from tiring quickly, helps to satiate you so you're less likely to overeat, then also keeps your blood sugar more consistent rather than up and down peaks and valleys that are unhealthy and lead to late onset of diabetes due to the overproduction of insulin and pancreatic activity. 

Your liver is a filter and it processes the fat in your body. Everything we eat, all the processed junk and all, it gets filtered out through the liver. If the body is not hydrated the kidneys don't do well and the liver helps them out, taking away from its main job. We only get one liver so it's not like the air filter in your car that you can replace when it gets gross, so we need to liver functioning properly. This means staying hydrated for one and getting good amounts of whole foods that wont have tons of the 'nasty stuff' in them. 

Fat is also holds some of our toxins. It is possible that your body is actually holding onto fat just because you're so full of stuff it doesn't like. This is where the hydration comes in again.

1 Month Challenge

Try these out for one month. Commit and you'll see what I'm talking about. The water will making you feel like you have to go the bathroom about every 15 min, and the fiber might make you wonder a bit, but believe me just these three will have dramatic benefits to anyone. Like I said 'commit' yourself to these, and you'll find exactly what I'm talking about.