Another day at the beach

I just rolled back into town from the beach where my 13 year old son played in a baseball tournament. His team made it to the finals before losing to a team full of man children. Seriously, most of the "kids" on the opposing team had more whiskers than I do (not saying much). Props to our coaches for squeezing every bit of talent out of our team.

We had the opportunity to meet some new friends while we were hanging out on the beach. This fella was the favorite of the Mrs. (on the right)



BTW- that is a thong he is wearing!








We nicknamed him "Banana Man" for obvious reasons. He explained that he walks the beach a few days a week and takes pictures with those who wish. Also, he said he has only been beaten up once- by a football team. Maybe he should hit the weights every now and then. You think?

I'll get back to more serious fitness info once I catch up a bit.

RM

Weekend Hook-up

I mentioned in a previous post that there was a study being conducted in our industry to determine the best exercise combination. The details are here, but the Cliff notes are... the adherence to the routine that was the most varied and interactive was twice that of the more traditional exercise prescription. I'm pretty sure adherence is important!

Can I get an Amen for my man Eric. I loved his opinion here on "internet trainers".

Dude?- and that's all have to say about this video.

Sled Work

I'm guessing this scene might inspire the fellas to do a little pushing!


Pushing and pulling are fundamental human movements. Exaggerating that movement with heavy loads is a great way to work your entire body with very little risk of injury. There are several ways to accomplish the loading. Pushing a car (not as hard as it sounds), pulling weights with a rope and pushing/pulling a weighted sled are all great examples. These exercises will not only increase your strength, but they are awesome for conditioning.

We like to use these exercises at the end of our traditional strength workouts. Here is a video of Susan A. demonstrating a straight leg drag with a heavy sandbag. This is an awesome posterior chain (glute/hamstring) exercise.



Action step- after you next weight training workout, push your car for a total of 400meters as fast as possible. Just make sure you have someone steering!

Weekend Hook up

Here are the links to three articles sent to me by Richard Terry, one of our awesome clients. Thanks Richard.

• Stop Doing Sit-Ups: Why Crunches Don't Work

• THINNER YOU: Kettlebell training, the hottest fitness trend you never heard of

• Quite a Stretch

Check out this video of Andrea Lewis rockin some plyo push-ups and pull-ups. Andrea just got out of an air cast for a partially torn Achilles tendon. She never missed a workout during her 12 weeks in the cast/boot. She is a little camera shy (creates a stage name). Great job Andrea!

Weight Loss Study- No Secrets.

This study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that test subjects lost an equal amount of weight regardless of the macronitrient (carbs, protein, fats) emphasis of the diet. Accordingly to the study, as long as the test subjects were eating a reduced calorie diet, they lost weight.

There are those who claim that there is only one approach to weight loss, whether it be low carb, low fat, vegetarian and etc. Typically, you are simply getting the opinion of the writer, trainer or expert based on their personal success or nutritional philosophy. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I don't believe in a one size fits all mentality when comes to nutrition. As we say in the south, "There is more than one way to skin a cat."

I have observed over the last 18 years that most of our clients do best reducing their carbohydrate intake to some degree. Before you label me Dr Atkins, think about the typical diet pitfalls. Cereal for breakfast, pasta for lunch and then a few sweets at night. Kept in check these foods are not the root of all evil, but let's face it, it's a lot easier to overeat these types of convenience foods than it is healthier, whole foods. Have you ever gorged yourself on broccoli? Do you get depressed and then eat a bushel of bananas while watching TV? Exactly.

If you are still hanging on to those winter lbs, try simply reducing your obvious convenience foods and relacing them with more fruits and vegetables. This one simple strategy will result in the loss of a few lbs of fat.


Actual size of 1lb of fat