The Time Isn't Right and Other Excuses You Should Abandon.

When I was 21 my girlfriend (now wife) gave me the news that she was pregnant. At the time the news filled me with anxiety and fear of the permanent uncertainty that having children brings.
I kept telling myself I was too young, didn't have the right job, the right car, the right house, not enough money and whatever other excuse I could cook up at the time. Bottom line for me was the time was not right!
Really I was just being selfish and didn't want to accept the responsibility. I was looking for someone or anyone to empathize with me to let me know that the way I was feeling was normal.
After some though I realized that everything was going to somehow work out and I was able to enjoy the time leading up to the birth of my first child instead of worrying about every little detail.
If I had waited for those circumstance that I thought I needed to be ready to have a child I would never have had any of my three children, I wouldn't have my family or anything else that is special to me today. The excuses would control every decision I make. I try to remind myself of this when I start to hear myself giving myself excuses for why I cannot get things accomplished.
As I write this, it is about 3 weeks into the New Year and I can't help but wonder how many people have abandoned resolutions for the New Year to change their lives to get healthy, to eat better, to sleep better, to exercise more. Even better yet, why do we wait to January 1st to make these changes or give up on them if we didn't stay the course from the onset?
That perfect time is probably not going to happen, has it ever in the past? Why keep working to make next week or next month the perfect time to make a change when you have today to take some action, some small step towards something you are already thinking about?
Thanks for allowing me to write this, I have some excuses I need to start putting behind me today!

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Workout

If you had to guess one day a year where you would expect to take in an excess amount of calories it would probably be Thanksgiving Day. So instead of just surrendering to the inevitable I snuck in this quick workout somewhere between the point where the 30 second lip sync performances at the parade started to irritate me and the beginning of the dog show (wouldn't want to miss that!)

Warm Up:
20 Kettlebell Dead Lifts
10 Single Leg Dead Lifts (right)
10 Single Leg Dead Lifts (left)

3 Rounds:
10 Kettlebell Front Rack Squat (right)
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Kettlebell Front Rack Squat (left)
10 Kettlebell Overhead Press (right)
10 Kettlebell Overhead Press (left)
10 Pushups

Finisher: 
3 Rounds (as little rest needed)
20 Kettlebell Swings
20 Pushups

Cool Down:
45 minute walk with the dog.....ironically this was Rex's (my boxer) warm up for the dog show!

We can always find a little time if it is important to us!

Beat the Week: How to Get the Most out of the Next 7 Days.

It's Sunday, and since the clocks have been turned, the only day that I can wait for the sunlight to peak through my windows as a sign for me to wake up. I will usually get up, make some coffee and take the first cup outside to get some air then come back in and start breakfast. A nice start to the day!

Sunday however is not only the last day of the traditional weekend but the first day of the next calendar week, Instead of waiting for New Years think of it as getting 52 brand new starts every year!

How often should I exercise a week is one of the most common questions that I will hear on a week to week basis. My answer is normally as much as your body is going to allow you to, taking in to consideration your current conditioning. Here is a more simple approach....Beat the Week.

A week has 7 days in it, an unbalanced number. Get in 4 days of exercise and you have beaten the week, get in 3 days and the week has beaten you! These bouts do not have to be super intense, you do not have to make it to the gym but put aside 10-15 minutes to get it done. After you read this article jump into this little routine if you are stuck on what you should do.

Ideally you would have a dumbbell of kettle bell but if not go with the Body weight substitute.

3-5 Rounds

10 Goblet / Body weight Squat
10 Renegade Rows / Push up with shoulder tap
10 Walking Lunges
10 Kettle bell(or dumbbell swing) / Double or single leg hip bridge

Knock out 3 rounds, pop in the shower and you have started to Beat the Week!

Ready for War?....How Focused Can You Say You Are?

I’ve been paying attention to the 2015 Rugby World Cup and what has shaped up to be a huge final match between the All Blacks of New Zealand and the Wallabies of Australia. Here in the States the World Series of Baseball has begun, the NBA has just kicked off and we are midway through the NFL season but if you are from “Down Under” your full attention will be on this one match that has shaped up over the last few weeks.

Prior to the start of each match the All Blacks perform a ritual unlike any other professional team in the world. The group comes to mid-field, faces their opponent and goes into a series of aggressive chanting, movements, and facial expressions. The ritual is known as the Haka and is a tribal war dance unique the the country of New Zealand.

The Haka is intimidating, impressive and adds to the aura around the All Blacks and their gaudy record in International play. The All Blacks do not have a losing record to any national team in the world and as a matter of fact a large number of countries have never defeated the All Blacks.

What jumps out at me the most when I see this pregame ritual is the passion and intensity that the players bring to this. In most American sports pregame is a very casual time for most players. Watch Odell Beckham Jr. on the New York Giants and you would think he was getting ready for a street ball game. Don’t get me wrong I love Odell but is he getting ready for war as he is showcasing his one handed grabs?

I can’t help but think that this intensity and ability to focus in the moment has more than just a little to do with the ability of the All Blacks to be so dominant. What would a fraction of that focus do for our ability to attain the goals we were chasing? Being a better father, husband, an overall human being, having financial success, success in school, health and fitness related goals would all be right there for the taking. We would dominate our lives! Sounds pretty amazing to me.

So where is your focus right now on the task you have to perform in the next 80 minutes (the time it takes to complete a rugby match)? Is it as serious to you as life or death? Should we perform our own little war dance when we get out of bed in the morning? Maybe. I didn't learn how the game of rugby was played by the All Blacks. What they remind me of, is that everything I ever want is right here - all I have to do is stare it down and remain relentless with my focus.

Training Log 9/19/15

Last night after the usual chaos that occurs once the kids get back from school followed up by some car problems my wife, I was able to get to the gym to on my sport kettlebell technique. The one thing I’m learning since my current style with the bells is modeled after the RKC is that I have to do the exact opposite of what I think I should do. So I am trying to just do as I’m told.

We worked for about an hour on the Long Cycle Clean & Jerk. Starting with 1 minute cycles and working up the weight to 3 minute cycles with appropriate rest in between. The amount of volume is going to give me the opportunity to work on the subtleties of the sport as well as build some endurance.

This morning I followed up with a short but effective workout to help improve my strength endurance and to maintain some power. I also put some focus on improving the grip as that is going to be instrumental If I plan on being effective.

3 Rounds

1. Back Squat X 20 @ 135lbs
2. Jump Squat X 5 (loaded w/ 10lbs)
3. Single Arm Swing for 1 Minute (two sets with the left hand (non-dominant) 1 with the right)

There was zero rest in between exercises, followed by 3 minutes rest at the end of the round.

I took the 45lb plates off the bar and finished the workout with  2 set of 1 minute plate pinch grips which pretty much finished the grip off but my hands feel pretty good .

How Often Should I Exercise? Some Advice for Longevity

“How often should I exercise?” is one of those questions I wish I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked. Here are some other questions that fall into the same category. “Should I be lifting weights?”, “Should I add in some cardio?”, “What about yoga?” and “Do those DVDs work?”.

Just recently I read an article that about the regions around the world with the longest life span and their similarities with each other. Two things were apparent with regards to their fitness routines. The people in these regions did not belong to or go to gyms and also they hand greater hand strength than the average person in other areas. How do these people with greater than average life expectancy and no physical fitness routine have better than average hand strength, a good indicator of overall strength?

The Nine Longevity Hot-spots 

The answer lies in the lifestyles of the people in these areas. The majority of the areas would be considered rural or at least separated from the conveniences of the rest of the world. Walking is a way of life and not a form of exercise and most likely daily chores are being performed as a means of supporting themselves such as agriculture, fishing, and gathering. When you spend most of your day walking, digging, chopping and carrying objects from one place to another the end result is that you are going to be pretty fit and pretty strong. All this and an excellent diet to boot leads to this extended life expectancy.

Here in our country, we have gyms on every corner, modern medicine, a cure-all for every ill. specialized care programs for the elderly and yet we live shorter, less productive, less enjoyable lives. We elect to invite a number of stresses into our lives that impact our health such as long commutes, long hours at work, constant communication with others through wireless devices, horrible dietary choices and dietary guidance but decline to invite in the positive stress, eustress, of physical activity.

If we are physically capable of lifting your butt off the couch, standing on two feet and walking to your car to drive ourselves to a local chain restaurant while the items in the “crisper” drawer of the refrigerator rot away, we are capable of engaging in some form of exercise.

So here is the special formula, we need to do engage in some type of activity every day, we need to make the right nutritional choices every day, we need to get out of your comfort zone to gain some strength and endurance so we are not winded after walking from the back of the parking lot to the store entrance.

There is a process here that takes a lifetime, it’s not meant to be fixed in 21 days, 6 months or any other time period you may have been lead to believe. Those people living those long healthy lives also tended to be happier than average, Small changes over time lead to big results, you deserve to be happy too!

Sunday Morning Training: Asymmetrical Workout

We all have a dominant side of the body and one that is less often used. Your dominant side will be the side that you normally use for daily chores, writing, lifting grocery bags, opening and closing doors and lots of things you do without even realizing it. If you are right handed, try brushing your teeth with your left hand!

Now while the dominant side may be stronger, it may also be less flexible and more susceptible to injury. To balance out these discrepancies you can perform a number of corrective exercises, incorporate unilateral lifts to your workout (using one leg, or one arm depending on what movement is being used) or using asymmetrical lifts.

In an asymmetrical lift you'll be receiving assistance from both side of the body but the load will be offset causing the non dominant side in the lift to self correct in order to maintain form.

I own a single kettle bell weighing 24kg (54lbs) and I have mentioned before a single kettle bell can accomplish a wide variety of tasks. Today I used it to do the following workout.

5 Rounds:

10 Single Arm Suitcase Dead Lifts (10 right,  10 left)
5 Front Rack Squats (5 right, 5 left)
10 Push Ups (to balance out the core) 
5 Single arm Swings (5 right, 5 left)  

I moved quickly between the movements in the set and took 1-2 minutes after to recover. Give it a shot. If you don't own a kettle bell you can use a dumbbell or other suitable tool you can control with one hand.