Eat to be Heathly, Don't be Healthy to Eat.

Greetings Fitters,
  On my way back from IHRSA conference, and a three hour flight is a perfect time to reflect and share thoughts. Especially when someone in the seat in front of you is sharing their philosophy on why they neglect their fitness.
He begins talking to the person next to him with some light conversation, the jist of which is in reference to the size of the seats. He then asks his flyer friend, "how much do you think I weigh?", the question often asked as a defensive tactic by overweight individuals who think others might think negatively of them, and thus need to make it apparent that they are aware, perhaps even proud of the fact .(to clear up any confusion, I personally do not think negatively of you, as I think most people don't, although I'm available to help should you prioritize your health more highly). The answer, 285 pounds, and measures in around 6'0.

He then explains the reason why he is overweight. He hurt his back in high school football (he is now I'm assuming in his late 40's early 50's), then he had to have discs removed from his back, removing his ability to control his foot. Because of this, he has become grossly overweight.

The kicker of the entire conversation, and the reason for this post, was his following comment. "I eat healthy, like salads and stuff, but because I can't get the aerobic exercise..."

It is the misconceptions like this that both horrify me and give me hope that I can help the world. To be clear, there is no physical way, in any realm of possibility, to be a 285 pound human being with a "heathly stuff diet."

There are two very vital lessons to glean from this:

1) You can lie to the rest of the world, but you can't like to your body.

2) ANYONE can be healthy, without even an iota of exercise, through proper diet.

No matter what you tell your trainer, your wife, the guy next to you on the plane, you can't lie about calories. What you put into your body is going to have a profound effect on how you look, feel, act, perform, and more. Don't know what "healthy stuff" really is? That's fine! There are people to ask and places to find out (check out this blog post on the magical recipe for health). But lying is not going to tip the scales in your favor.

Nutrition is the base by which our health balances. Even without exercise (which is never the case, there are always options), eating a healthy diet can keep you away from the doctor for a very long time. You can eat your way out of a poor exercise program, but you can NEVER exercise your way out of a bad diet.

80% of your health is nutrition, so make sure you prioritize. No lies, and no excuses. Need help, ask me, I'm all ears.

Stay Fit.

From Shoulder to Overhead - The Straightest Path

Greetings Fitters,

 And let me begin by apologizing for the long hiatus.  Some crazy big things have been going on in my career and personal fitness lives, but that is no excuse to leave you stranded in the ocean of fitness knowledge, on your island of what you know, looking out to what could be. The biggest truth is that I began running out of deeply philosophical beliefs of my own personal outlook on fitness, and became completely entangled in the belief that I could not continue to post without some ground-breaking "truth" to enlighten you all with.

But after much debate, I have decided to set forth once more into issuing knowledge about fitness, nutrition, health, and what-have-yous to all that care to listen. But to continue these posts unabated, I have decided to mildly divert my focus to a wider breadth of topics. Thus leading us to tonight's post: From Shoulder to Overhead - The Straightest Path, or as I have subtitled, "Don't Hit Your Damn Chin with a Barbell."

This topic came too me abruptly, hell it practically slammed me in the face (pun intended). Tonight, as I was working on my Clean and Jerk (barbell from ground to shoulder, then shoulder to overhead, in a nutshell), I mistakenly failed to remove my head from the path of the bar. Well, if two objects try to occupy the same space at the same time, a collision is bound to occur. Thus, I got uppercut by a 155 lb. barbell that I forced into my own face.

So why is my pain important to you? Well, it teaches us all something valuable, the path of the barbell going overhead. 

Many people avoid training in the overhead position for two very common reasons:

1) They don't want to drop something on their heads

2) They hurt when they get overhead (shoulders, elbows, neck, etc.)

These are two very lackluster excuses, for two very important reasons:

1) You won't drop it on your head if you know how to lift it over your head properly.

2) You shouldn't avoid a movement because it hurts, you should learn how to do that movement correctly so it doesn't hurt!

Now this post isn't about overhead training in terms of the importance, working on overhead mobility, etc. This post is going to teach you one thing, the path of the bar overhead.

Any time we move a load of any sort, one commonality remains constant; the closer we keep the load to our midline, the easier it is to move that load (see figure below). Why is this? Because the farther that weight gets away from our center of gravity, the longer the lever (arm, leg, torso, etc.) is holding it, and the greater the force required to hold/lift it. Imagine holding a bowling ball against your chest. Now imagine holding a bowling ball three feet in front of you. Are your arms tired yet?

Center line of body in all planes. The closer you keep a load to the point where they intersect, the easier it is to move.

Don't lean back, move the head back!

 So, to move a load overhead from the shoulder (assuming a barbell is your method of transportation of said load), it would make sense that moving straight up through the head would be best. "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line", no? But to do so, we need to move the head, or else suffer the consequences (see video below for a good laugh).  But we must also consider this: moving the head back may lead to leaning back, which hyperextends the spine and places us in a poor spinal position. The cure? Press the head straight back, and out of the way of the bar, without extending the spine. Here's how:




1) With an extremely light bar for practice, and with the bar on your shoulders and elbows slightly in front of the bar, begin pressing the bar straight upwards.
2) When the bar gets directly below the chin, press the head straight back as if trying to make the biggest double chin of your life (it doesn't have to be pretty, it has to be SAFE, and this keeps the spine neutral), keeping the crown of the head as high as possible.
3) Once the bar is slightly over the head, replace the head in a forward position, and lock the arms overhead.
4) return in the straight line from which you came, and when the light bar brushes the tippy-top of the forehead, press the head back in the same way as before. As you get heavier, you will know the best time to press the head back, but touching the top of the forehead with a light bar is a good place to start.
5) Return the weight to the shoulders, return the head to neutral, and celebrate your first perfect overhead press (after you put down the weight!).

Remember to avoid the weight going out and around the head. This is fine with a light load, but we always want to imagine we have 300 lbs. in our hands. Once that load gets heavy, your shoulders won't be able to support that much weight being that far from your midline.


Look for more posts on overhead work, as we all need help in this department. Don't believe you need to do overhead stuff? Try going a day without putting your hand higher than your  forehead. Seriously...try it. Let me know what minute of the day you have to put your hand up there. If you make it past 9:00am, I'll give you a prize. :) But until then, work on that overhead, keep that chin safe, and remember...

Stay Fit.

Change is Unavoidable

Greetings Fitters!
Lately, the idea of change has come up a lot in my life. Changes at the club, changes in my training regimen, changes in my nutrition, all sorts of changes. I know for a lot of people, myself included, change can be a little scary, and maybe even a little daunting. But regardless of the anxiety that change brings, change is irrefutable necessary to better ourselves and our lives.
Consider this, if people were so afraid of change that they avoided it at all costs, where would our society be? We would still live on a flat earth, dying at 40 without advanced medication, and still wearing fur loincloths to exercise (somewhat of an exaggeration, but not that far...).
So yeah, we have to change. But to what extent? In my opinion, we need to change as often as possible to elicit a response that will help us adapt to our needs. For instance, I'm training currently for an athletic event. As such, the needs of my training regimen have changed immensely. My nutrition has altered to include a lot more calories to promote my increase and working out. But not all of us are training for a competition, so what does that mean for you?
Our bodies are amazing adaptive machines. If you give them a task, and it must repeatedly accomplish it, it will become very efficient at it. And in biomechanical language, efficiency for our bodies means less calories and energy consumed. So the more you run at a certain pace, the better your body gets at it, until the stresses of that run no longer elicit the adaptation you are striving for (i.e. better speed, endurance, stamina, etc.). You will also start to burn less calories, resulting in less body fat loss. This concept can also be applied to weight lifting, plyometrics, agility training, etc.
So make sure you are regularly changing your routine so that your body must consistently keep up by adapting (i.e. Getting stronger, faster, more endured). Don't keep fooling yourself into thinking the world is flat. Pioneer a new level of fitness for yourself. Change is imperative if you hope to

Stay Fit.

Empirical Fitness - Track Your Self

Greetings Fitters!
 What a week! I hope you all have been keeping up with your own fitness. Tonight I wanted to talk a bit on how we determine if we are improving in our own fitness. Many people continue to "go through the motions", finding themselves in the same routine because they either a) are comfortable there and fear leaving their bubble or b) don't know where to go from there. No judgement here, these things are understandable. But it is important that we do keep track of our improvement over time. Imagine spending thousands of dollars on art lessons, only to paint every picture in the dark, and never look at it. Who knows if you're becoming a better artist. So how do we track it?

Intensity = Work/Time

That's it, it's that simple! More work, less time. So let's break this down a bit. Intensity, or power output, is a physical measure. It is work performed over time. Take for example an Olympic rowing competition, let's say the 2,000m. Would it be safe to say that the individual that is more fit is the one capable of finishing the race in the fastest time? I would agree (if you said no, I wish you the best of luck in life, and please refrain from returning to my blog :)). In this instance, the work is set; 2,000m of rowing. So therefore the only way to be more intense in this exercise is to do it in less time. See how in the equation, less time as the denominator would equal a higher intensity? Of course you do (nod your head either way).

So why does it matter? Because in order to determine your increase in athletic performance (intensity), you need to proof it empirically, i.e. with data. If two people do 135 pound back squats for 20 seconds, and Dude B does 13 and Dudette  A does 14, Dudette A is more fit (only in this specific example, and in such an event that they are both going through full range of motion, and Dudette A isn't doing half reps). If Dude B was doing 185 lb back squats and Dudette A was doing 155 lbs,  and they both did 10 squats in 20 seconds, Dude B has done more work (lifted more load) in the same amount of time, and therefore is more intense.

A great way to test whether or not you are improving your fitness? Use benchmark workouts. Benchmark workouts are those workouts that you can use throughout the course of time to determine if you are becoming more fit. 150 wall balls with a 20 pound ball at a 10 lb target. You do it this month and it takes you 8 minutes. You do it again in 4 months, and it takes you 5:30. You are more fit (in the case that you do full range of motion, same ball weight, same target height). Max reps of 165 lb. bench press. You do 10 reps the first time, and two months later you do 15. More work, less time (or same time), you are more fit.

So make sure you are using empirical evidence to support your claim of increased fitness. Can you prove you can do more work in less time? I know I can. And if you can keep track of your own data, you can prove it, too. And this is essential in your lifelong quest to

Stay Fit.

My database. Some sidewalk chalk and a timer. More work, less time.

Express Your Fitness - Play Sports

Greetings Fitters!
 Tonight I had my first game of soccer in a league I was invited to play on. I haven't played soccer in about 6 years. However, I wasn't too worried about strapping on my shoes and hitting the field. Why? Because I train for things like this. No, I don't spend hours doing agility drills, or kicking a ball around, but I do train for something I find much more valuable: General Physical Preparedness. Why is this important? Because it is the currency of fitness by which all physical bills can be paid. By training the 10 components of fitness (speed, agility, balance, coordination, flexibility, accuracy, stamina, strength, power, and cardiovascular endurance), no matter what life throws my way, I am going to be able to handle it. Whether that be a puddle to jump over, a bus to catch, or a quick break to score a goal.

 So why sports? I would say that the large emphasis placed on children to play and value sports and athletes puts a large bias towards life skills that will never be put to good use. Instead, emphasis should be placed on children learning how to move correctly. Once that is addressed however, sports are invaluable. Why?

 - Expressing your Fitness: By playing sports, you are allowed to express your aptitude into the 10 components of fitness. Why paint a beautiful painting if you aren't going to hang it, or build an engine if you aren't going to put it in a race car?

 - Receive a Unique Workout: Not only can you show what you have gained from your dedication to improving your fitness, but you will also receive a tremendous workout just by playing. Pick up games of basketball are a great way to work on agility, cardiovascular endurance, speed, power, etc.

 - Enjoy Yourself: If you find something you enjoy doing, and do it with people who enjoy themselves, you will find yourself having fun will getting a great workout. Whether it is shuffleboard (accuracy) trail running, or soccer, you can enjoy your workouts. And it doesn't have to have a trophy at the end to be worth pushing yourself, or playing at all. Any competition with two or more teams, and a scoring system is a sport.

Get out and play! Do what you love to do, express your fitness in a fun workout, and always remember.

Stay Fit.

Me expressing my fitness in the exquisite sport of Extreme Engagement Pictures

By the way, the first game went well. We won 15-0, but from what I was told by my teammates, the other games are going to be much harder. I'm excited!

Virtuosity - The Common Uncommonly Well

Hello Fitters.

Merriam-Webster defines virtuosity as such: great ability or skill shown by a musician, performer, etc. But to me, that makes the idea of skill or ability seem beyond the reach of us "mortal" people.  You need not be a musician, performer, artist, or athlete to be able to show great skill or ability. These can be demonstrated with the most basic of actions. Do you want to know the best definition of virtuosity that I have seen? In gymnastics, virtuosity is defined as such:

Performing the common UNCOMMONLY well.

Think about that. Have you seen a 45 year old squat? I'm sure you've seen a person that age sit down and stand up. But have you seen a 45 year old man squat with a vertical torso, knees out, weight in the heels, good lumbar arch, and butt all the way to the ground? It's not as common. But we all do squats, right? I would say it's a fairly common movement, considering probably 95% of humans do it on a daily basis. But not like that, not that well. Now imagine doing it for 100 repetitions. Even more impressive, right? Now the 45 year old does 100 perfect squats like this in 3 minutes. Now this common movement is being done so uncommonly well, wouldn't you agree?

It is pretty obvious our society is bombarded with the "industry" of health and fitness, but with that comes the inundation of people with fancy movements, equipment, exercises, straps, wraps, bars and benches, and trying to move more and more weight. I will not say these items have no place in our exercise (they do, I use them myself), but it hides us from the reason we do it, to move and perform well. So it is important that we remember to train those movements (squats, lunges, pushups, and other simple gymnastics movements). And not only should we do these movements, we should strive for virtuosity in these movements. We should train to perform these common movements uncommonly well. From there, we can advance these other movements, like clean and jerks and snatches, and full on sport. If your squat is perfect EVERY time, you can believe you will be more inclined to perform better in your jumping, stepping, running, sprinting, cleans, and on and on. So don't let the extras bog you down from remembering to Do the Common Uncommonly Well.

Stay Fit.

Chad Vaughn, 285 snatch. Not as common of a movement, but his virtuosity in other movements most certainly translate to this. And is still done uncommonly well. And I'm a geek who loves kinesology. So here you go Fitters, enjoy.

Just Get It In

Hey Fitters!
Looks like Mother Nature wanted to ring in the New Year in style! Not sure about you, but we just got a whopping 9 inches of snow dropped on us. To top it off, it got down to 20 degrees below zero, and that was before wind chill! With the state shutting down the transportation routes, all of us Fitters were left with one option, workout at home (you'll notice I did not include "not working out" which was absolutely not an option!).

Many of us (myself sometimes included) can get bogged down on the fitness trends, fancy equipment, beautiful facilities, and forget that movement itself is the greatest exercise we can have, and that requires absolutely NO equipment. And to add to that, life never hands us a perfectly straight barbell, or has us sit down and manipulate a set of pads to perform work, so any object life throws your way is in essence workout equipment! So here are some ideas for you the next time you are stuck in your house, to get the most out of your body with the limited resources available:

 - High Intensity Calisthenics: Calisthenics (or bodyweight exercises) require no equipment. So here's what you do. Pick 3 movements from the following: Situps, pushups, lunges, squats, or burpees. Let's say you pick Squats, pushups, and burpees. Begin by doing 1 squat, 1 pushup, and 1 burpee. Then 2 squats, 2 pushups, and 2 burpees. 3, 3, and 3, then 4, 4, and 4, etc......Do this for 20 minutes and see what round you can make it to.

 - Stairs: Start by running up the first step, then back down. Then to the second step and back down, then the third, and so on to the top step. Then go in reverse, from the top down, then the second to the top and down, etc. If you have less than 10 steps do this 3 times, 10 or more, just twice. Time yourself, and try it again in a month to see if you've improved!

 - Dog Food Bag Workout: This can also be done with a backpack or hiking bag filled with clothes or heavier objects. Do 5 rounds of the follow three movements: 10 Back squats (bag on your back), 10 deadlifts (bag in front, picking it up from ground and back down, and 10 burpee jump overs (do a burpee, jump over the bag to the other side, that's one). Note: Make sure you know how to properly do these movements before attempting. Don't know how? Ask a trainer. ;)

If worst comes to worst and you just can't pull yourself together to workout (remember, there people out there that physically can't do these things, so give it your all), every day is a good day to mobilize and stretch. Work on becoming more flexible and mobile in the areas of the body that are lacking (hips and shoulders are a good place to start).

Stay Fit

Below is a video of part of my workout on this winter day. It took a while for that garage to feel warm, but it was worth it.