It’s a new year, a new start, a new me. I resolve to give up chocolate, stop eating before bed, cut back on my drinking, run 3 miles every morning, go to the gym 5 times a week, join a yoga class….
Junk.
This New Year’s, don’t resolve to give up sweets and hit the gym every day. I know, it’s not very trainer-ly of me is it? I like challenging people. Maybe I’m just a challenging kind of guy, but you know what? I know you’re better than that, so I’m challenging you again. Resolve nothing. Start 2009 resolution free.
Resolutions are like low carb, no carb, raw food, all natural, grapefruit only, or any other hair brained diet out there. They fail you. After your hard work, determination & energy, they fail you, rob you of your momentum and stick you right back where you started with an extra 5lbs to boot. Don’t do it to yourself. They failed you once. Then they failed you again a year later. So don’t waste your time. That’s insane. They’ll do it again.
Instead, try this. Make the next best decision for your health and fitness. That’s it. Just the next one. Maybe you just say “no” tonight when the waiter asks if you’d like fries with that. Maybe you choose to take the stairs to your fourth floor pad after work instead of the elevator. Maybe you choose the red wine instead of the vodka mixer. Maybe you pick up the whole wheat pasta at the market instead of the regular stuff. Small things. One at a time.
Make the next best decision for your health and fitness. It’s not a high pressure do or die resolution daring you to fail. It’s one choice at a time. Broke down and ordered the fries? That’s ok. You’re fine. Just make a better decision for yourself next time. Little choices throughout your day…Maybe it starts as just one decision in a day. Fantastic! You did it. You made a good decision for yourself. You made a start. The next time you do it, it gets a little easier. Then it gets a little easier the time after that. Before you realize it, it becomes a lifestyle.
Congratulations. You just lost that last 5lbs.
Above all else, have a happy, healthy and safe New Year’s!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Fuel Economy
Overdosed from holiday pie and brownies? Did you have a couple of those moments on the lips and are now awaiting the eternity on the hips?
Ok, don’t panic. Think of it like this. You’ve got to get from Portland Maine to Ft. Lauderdale. Which would you rather drive; a Suburban or a Mini? Easy answer. Mini. Why? Better fuel economy. Why? Well, the engine on that Suburban is huge compared to the Mini so it uses a zillion times the gas. Small engine, less gas. Bigger engine, more gas.
Ok, so now think of your body like a car. If you’re the car, the fat stored in your body is the gas. So what’s the engine? Muscle. Ok, so as opposed to our goal of highway fuel efficiency, when talking about fat loss, the goal is the exact opposite. For those of us with weight loss goals, we’re actually trying to create a more fuel inefficient machine.
So if you’re not burning the amounts of fat you want to burn, the equation is an easy one. You need a bigger engine.
Now, nobody’s talking about body building or mass bulk and creatine supplementation. It’s what I was talking about in the “Maintenance is Nothing” post, providing an elevated challenge to the body in order to stimulate an elevated response. Challenge your body. Even a little gain can make a huge difference. Be the Suburban. Burn a zillion times the gas.
Don’t forget, January 3rd at 6:30 we’re throwing the next Saturday Night Blowout at West River Health & Racquet Club. Stop in and burn some gas!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Moving Forward
A colleague brought to my attention the other day just how foreign a lot of the information I put out there can be to some people. Well, there's a revolution in fitness. It's a revolution born in garages and on blacktops across the country. Basements, car ports, warehouse spaces, living rooms. Anywhere people can twist, jump, throw, lift, pull & otherwise move themselves and other objects through space. It's a revolution against the "modern" model of fitness and training. It's a revolution against mirrors, "exer-tainment" & padded ass pampering lay-z boy machines that do half the work for you. It’s against men in the weight room and women in aerobics class. It’s moving away from $10,000 vibrators on the gym floor & tvs on your treadmill. It's a revolution & return to an older simpler way.
Everything old is new again. A sledge hammer and an old tire. A sandbag. A pair of rings strung from the rafters. A straight bar. Open space. Doesn't matter who you are just get out there and move.
It can be seen in the grass roots efforts of people like the guys at Sorinex, my fellow blogger Steve at EFC Madness, at firehouses & police precincts across the country. It can be seen in the already over commercialized Crossfits & infomercial home DVD fitness programs. It is happening in many forms and with many different approaches, but with a single underlying principle message, let's do some real work!
The contemporary gym model is about to change dramatically. Gym floors cram packed with expensive machines with weights, built in lights, fans, hand sanitizers…it’s all about to go. Take a look back at this gym floor circa 1880 and you get a good look at what’s coming.
Space for a human to move, gravity as your opponent, your body is your tool.
I’d invite anyone that doubts or is unsure of the process to come out for the Saturday Night Blowout on Jan 3rd. You’d be surprised just how much fun, and how much work working out can really be.
Everything old is new again. A sledge hammer and an old tire. A sandbag. A pair of rings strung from the rafters. A straight bar. Open space. Doesn't matter who you are just get out there and move.
It can be seen in the grass roots efforts of people like the guys at Sorinex, my fellow blogger Steve at EFC Madness, at firehouses & police precincts across the country. It can be seen in the already over commercialized Crossfits & infomercial home DVD fitness programs. It is happening in many forms and with many different approaches, but with a single underlying principle message, let's do some real work!
The contemporary gym model is about to change dramatically. Gym floors cram packed with expensive machines with weights, built in lights, fans, hand sanitizers…it’s all about to go. Take a look back at this gym floor circa 1880 and you get a good look at what’s coming.
Space for a human to move, gravity as your opponent, your body is your tool.I’d invite anyone that doubts or is unsure of the process to come out for the Saturday Night Blowout on Jan 3rd. You’d be surprised just how much fun, and how much work working out can really be.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Highly Unstable
Next time you're in the gym trying to figure out which toys look like the most fun today, Bosus, wobbles, half rollers and foam pads, ask yourself this question. Outside, at home, at work, what are you usually standing on? Hardwood? Low nap commercial carpet? Concrete? And when you're on them, what are they usually doing? Moving? Shaking? Tilting to and fro?
Then what on God’s green earth does a wobble board or a Bosu really have to do with anything? Really.
When you're bopping down the street running your Saturday errands, what is it that’s moving and shifting unpredictably; the earth upon which you walk or those plastic grocery bags? When you're standing in line at the movies, what is it that's challenging your ability to maintain control and equilibrium; the solid concrete floor or the impatient and increasingly grouchy 4 year old you're holding? Make sense?
So instead of wobble and foam how about a little sand and water?
Sandbags: One of the cheapest and most versatile training tools. Shifting, unstable weight that can be moved in any number of ways. The same can be said for water, although finding a suitably durable vessel you can actually lift & move w/o worry of spillage may be a tad more challenging. But I have to say, the slosh factor and necessary compensatory effects are well worth it. If you have access to an extra physio ball, use and old kitchen funnel and run couple gallons of water in there. As soon as you pick it up you’ll understand what I mean.
Try this: Take a regular old barbell at a semi challenging weight. Front load it & squat it 10 times. Now, bear hug a canvass duffel bag full of sand at the same weight to your chest. 10 squats. What do you notice? What was different? If you don't have access to sandbags, then do this with a stack of heavy books, one of those 5 gallon water cooler jugs, gravel from the driveway in a bag, anything that is going to want to shift or move in your arms.
The key here is that we’re training our bodies to deal with the world more efficiently. So, we have to bring very real challenges into our fitness regimen. Last time I checked, the American infrastructure wasn’t so far gone that walking across the mall parking lot felt anything like standing on half a beach ball. Meanwhile, I do distinctly remember racing down the sidewalk ahead of the oncoming ice storm yesterday with several shopping bags that just didn’t want to cooperate…
Bring fitness out of the gym and into your life. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback!
Then what on God’s green earth does a wobble board or a Bosu really have to do with anything? Really.
When you're bopping down the street running your Saturday errands, what is it that’s moving and shifting unpredictably; the earth upon which you walk or those plastic grocery bags? When you're standing in line at the movies, what is it that's challenging your ability to maintain control and equilibrium; the solid concrete floor or the impatient and increasingly grouchy 4 year old you're holding? Make sense?
So instead of wobble and foam how about a little sand and water?
Sandbags: One of the cheapest and most versatile training tools. Shifting, unstable weight that can be moved in any number of ways. The same can be said for water, although finding a suitably durable vessel you can actually lift & move w/o worry of spillage may be a tad more challenging. But I have to say, the slosh factor and necessary compensatory effects are well worth it. If you have access to an extra physio ball, use and old kitchen funnel and run couple gallons of water in there. As soon as you pick it up you’ll understand what I mean.
Try this: Take a regular old barbell at a semi challenging weight. Front load it & squat it 10 times. Now, bear hug a canvass duffel bag full of sand at the same weight to your chest. 10 squats. What do you notice? What was different? If you don't have access to sandbags, then do this with a stack of heavy books, one of those 5 gallon water cooler jugs, gravel from the driveway in a bag, anything that is going to want to shift or move in your arms.
The key here is that we’re training our bodies to deal with the world more efficiently. So, we have to bring very real challenges into our fitness regimen. Last time I checked, the American infrastructure wasn’t so far gone that walking across the mall parking lot felt anything like standing on half a beach ball. Meanwhile, I do distinctly remember racing down the sidewalk ahead of the oncoming ice storm yesterday with several shopping bags that just didn’t want to cooperate…
Bring fitness out of the gym and into your life. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Maintenance Is Nothing
In my first posting, I took the stand that life demands athletic performance from us every day. Your city, neighborhood, home & office are your playing field. By this line of thought, we are all athletes. I may still be waiting on my offer letter guaranteeing a CC Sabathia sized paycheck, but none the less find myself contesting with my world on a daily basis.
This is why we should be training like athletes. The first rule of competitive training is that you always strive to elevate your performance. You can be stronger. You can be faster. You can move through your world with more ease and efficiency. You can experience your day with more energy and enjoyment. So it only makes sense that we should always be reaching higher, further.
"Maintenance" is nothing. To maintain is to automatically lose ground. Adapt and accommodate; it's what the body does. We throw a workout, a physical challenge at it, it adapts, gets stronger or faster to meet that challenge. That's adapting to accommodate an imposed demand. That's also progress! But, keep throwing the same thing at it over and over...no more adaptation. Once you figured out that 6x8=48, your teacher didn’t keep asking you what you get when you multiply 6x8. She asked you something harder, made you grow just a little more. You had already accommodated that demand.
The difference in math class and the gym is you still sweat after you’ve accommodated. You’ve stop progressing after lifting that same 135lbs for the last few months even though you may still feel fatigued after 15 repetitions. Then why are you tired? Because you haven’t trained your body to go further. If all you do is 10 or 15 squats at 135lbs, then as soon as you hit 10 or 15, you’ll have tapped the tank dry. Want to progress? Push through it. Make yourself hit 20. Over time, that fifteen is going to feel like the appetizer and you’ll be looking for the main course. After gaining the strength & endurance to make it happen, the body doesn't work as hard to do the same thing. You begin to move by rote and your body checks out more and more each time, losing ground.
Maintenance is regression. Find a goal. Set a date. Drive yourself forward. Achieve!
Yes treadmill people & spinners, your trusted daily workout is failing you. Not because it's bad, not because you're not trying, but because your body is so smart. Those three miles or 60 high intensity minutes just can't keep up with your adaptation. You have to build in those curve balls that keep your body guessing. Throw an extra weight plate on the stack. Go the extra mile. Add an extra set. Crank up that incline by even 1%. Stand up off that machine and try to lift that load through space. As you’re adapting, you're burning, building and striving forward.
You can thank me when you have a hard time standing up out of your chair tomorrow.
This is why we should be training like athletes. The first rule of competitive training is that you always strive to elevate your performance. You can be stronger. You can be faster. You can move through your world with more ease and efficiency. You can experience your day with more energy and enjoyment. So it only makes sense that we should always be reaching higher, further.
"Maintenance" is nothing. To maintain is to automatically lose ground. Adapt and accommodate; it's what the body does. We throw a workout, a physical challenge at it, it adapts, gets stronger or faster to meet that challenge. That's adapting to accommodate an imposed demand. That's also progress! But, keep throwing the same thing at it over and over...no more adaptation. Once you figured out that 6x8=48, your teacher didn’t keep asking you what you get when you multiply 6x8. She asked you something harder, made you grow just a little more. You had already accommodated that demand.
The difference in math class and the gym is you still sweat after you’ve accommodated. You’ve stop progressing after lifting that same 135lbs for the last few months even though you may still feel fatigued after 15 repetitions. Then why are you tired? Because you haven’t trained your body to go further. If all you do is 10 or 15 squats at 135lbs, then as soon as you hit 10 or 15, you’ll have tapped the tank dry. Want to progress? Push through it. Make yourself hit 20. Over time, that fifteen is going to feel like the appetizer and you’ll be looking for the main course. After gaining the strength & endurance to make it happen, the body doesn't work as hard to do the same thing. You begin to move by rote and your body checks out more and more each time, losing ground.
Maintenance is regression. Find a goal. Set a date. Drive yourself forward. Achieve!
Yes treadmill people & spinners, your trusted daily workout is failing you. Not because it's bad, not because you're not trying, but because your body is so smart. Those three miles or 60 high intensity minutes just can't keep up with your adaptation. You have to build in those curve balls that keep your body guessing. Throw an extra weight plate on the stack. Go the extra mile. Add an extra set. Crank up that incline by even 1%. Stand up off that machine and try to lift that load through space. As you’re adapting, you're burning, building and striving forward.
You can thank me when you have a hard time standing up out of your chair tomorrow.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Saturday Night Blowout
A huge heartfelt congratulations goes out to this weekend's Saturday Night Blowout participants. Although, truth be told, not all started out as participants. Some started as protest-ants. "We're gonna what?" Then they started getting their feet wet and began to discover what it feels like to really push in this particular arena, thus making the transition to participants. As some came to understand how rewarding this level of exertion can be, they pushed for as many laps, lengths, throws & rows as possible. Now they become contestants. This is why we call the programs evolutions. Through this experience you become... something else. The experience is a transformative one in some ways.
The veteran team jumped off to an early and very strong start. Black & White seemed a little shell shocked at the whole proposition, but jumped on in. Team Kleidman...machines.
Into the courts. Am I imagining things? Do the Veterans actually look a little hungry for this?
Round 1 down. There's one or two in here that can't believe what they just did. There's another one or two that just discovered something about themselves and gave their teammates a thing or two to think about.
"Yes sir. We're going again." One blank, pale face staring back, team black & white mustering for a second helping of what they didn't even know they could do the first time...& I swear the Vets are still chomping at the bit. One is working through, persevering & pushing. The other drawing on...something and even smiling.
Beastly beastly team K. Machines.
Another round down. Evolution complete. Several of you took this workout to a performance level you didn't even know you had. For others it was a familiar feeling with a new face. Some of you tapped the tanks dry. Congratulations. Congratulations to you all. And thank you!
So far Carl walked away with the “Beast” at 250 points. Team Kleidman is leading the “Barbarian” with a total of 222 points. Scores are still coming in. I’ll update as I have more information.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
On a serious note
Understanding how it is one of the most devastating things anyone could ever have introduced into their lives, I am almost never comfortable when any one of the various ills of our world are described by our leaders, media personalities and spiritual leaders "a cancer.” Cancer is a devouring of the human body by a tumor so ravenous, so malignant that is can only be stopped by the introduction of toxins that attack both disease and patient, breaking the body down in every system, in every function to the point that the cure begins to resemble some of our world’s most notorious illnesses. Apologies, but I just don’t see talking on a blue tooth headset in public the same way.
There is one case in which I do not disagree with the application of “a cancer” as a label. In fact, I feel as though it is rather appropriate. There is one thing that is eating our population at an alarming rate. It is literally eating away our bodies, our friends, family and children. Attacking our hearts, our joints, our arteries, our livers. It attacks us economically. It attacks us socially. It attacks us emotionally. Right now it will be a significant contributor to the over $4 trillion we’ll spend on healthcare in 2016 alone. We would watch as our family & friends die around us at ever decreasing ages. The longer it grows, the more the treatment will cost, economically and in lives taken.
We educate. We legislate. But it isn't enough. At this rate our reaction is akin to taking a garden hose to the great Chicago fire of 1871. We are allowing the "cancer" to win. As reported by the CDC, the slideshow below shows the actual spread of obesity in America since 1985.
It even looks like a cancerous growth doesn’t it.
I’m not going to belabor the point. Simply put
Right now 2 out of 3 people in the room are overweight or obese. By 2030, 3 out of 4.
Right now 1 out of 3 children are in the same boat.
Obese 12 year olds show the vascular health of a 45 year old individual. Their bodies ages 33 years ahead of their chronological age.
For every 2.2lbs of fat a child puts on, their body must generate 2 miles of veins and arteries to support that tissue. Think how much harder that 12 year old’s heart has to work…just to feed the fat.
Obesity leads to:
Diabetes
Heart disease
Stroke
Arthritis
Gall Bladder Infection
and yes…cancer.
Take a stand and make a change today.
There is one case in which I do not disagree with the application of “a cancer” as a label. In fact, I feel as though it is rather appropriate. There is one thing that is eating our population at an alarming rate. It is literally eating away our bodies, our friends, family and children. Attacking our hearts, our joints, our arteries, our livers. It attacks us economically. It attacks us socially. It attacks us emotionally. Right now it will be a significant contributor to the over $4 trillion we’ll spend on healthcare in 2016 alone. We would watch as our family & friends die around us at ever decreasing ages. The longer it grows, the more the treatment will cost, economically and in lives taken.
We educate. We legislate. But it isn't enough. At this rate our reaction is akin to taking a garden hose to the great Chicago fire of 1871. We are allowing the "cancer" to win. As reported by the CDC, the slideshow below shows the actual spread of obesity in America since 1985.
It even looks like a cancerous growth doesn’t it.
I’m not going to belabor the point. Simply put
Right now 2 out of 3 people in the room are overweight or obese. By 2030, 3 out of 4.
Right now 1 out of 3 children are in the same boat.
Obese 12 year olds show the vascular health of a 45 year old individual. Their bodies ages 33 years ahead of their chronological age.
For every 2.2lbs of fat a child puts on, their body must generate 2 miles of veins and arteries to support that tissue. Think how much harder that 12 year old’s heart has to work…just to feed the fat.
Obesity leads to:
Diabetes
Heart disease
Stroke
Arthritis
Gall Bladder Infection
and yes…cancer.
Take a stand and make a change today.
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