A short brain dump and some random things that come to my head at 2am.
One of my “resolutions” this year was to blog more and the first 2 weeks of this year didnt go so smoothly with that one. These past 2 weeks have been a blur.
With everything going on its been hard to even find a few minutes to sit and write. But all thats done now
Everything ive been working on full speed is done and and its time to downshift a bit (only to 110mph). One of the main things is I finally finished the certification ive been working on for a while.
Usually when it comes to certifications and even certain degrees im really iffy about them. Nothing against any of them. Some of the certifications out there are actually pretty good. Its just that the majority of them are pretty shady and will leave anybody off the streets certified in a weekend. Sorry if that sounds harsh but it leaves the good guys to have to clean up the mess of the bad ones. Id rather go and learn from the top people in the industry, the ones that have been there and done that that are actually changing lives and making breakthroughs.
Thats the reason I chose this certification as my next cert. Fast forward to now and its done and its been awesome! Working with some of the top people in the country.
Happy to be a part of the Precision Nutrition team
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The weekend before this past one I was finally able to celebrate my mom’s bday (it was at the beginning of the year, yes I know I was late).
So my mom, her friend Marisol, and my lil bro came up that weekend. It was good to finally relax a bit and have some friends and family time.
Oh and its always mandatory whenever my mom comes up that I give her a workout and a few weeks of workouts to maintain her back at home.
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With all the holidays around my inbox was flooded with questions about alcohol. Now with spring break coming up pretty soon I have a feeling my inbox is gonna get flooded again so im gonna answer it here.
My take on alcohol is easy, I can say dont drink. But honestly we’re all human and this is the real world so its gonna happen. So I have a 5 drink rule, as long as its 5 drinks a week or less you should be fine. It doesnt matter if its 1 a day or all 5 in one day just as long as it doesnt pass 5 in a week.
You dont like that rule? Would you have rather I said dont drink?
The other thing I do is green tea! Green tea is awesome when it comes to alcohol and its negative effects. Green tea is full of antioxidants that combat oxidative stress all over the body.
What does this mean and why should you care?
Well research shows that antioxidants in green tea will protect the liver from damage from alcohol. One study found that green tea eliminated liver damage from alcohol intake, and it may help you minimize feelings of a hangover because of better liver function. AWESOME RIGHT!!!
So next time you know your gonna have all 5 drinks in one night. Then consider drinking a few cups of green tea before and a few after or the next day if its been an all nighter.
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Got an awesome email from the good folks at Groupon.com That were getting awarded with Best of SA 2011. One of my goals for 2012 was winning something like that so that was awesome!!!
I know that award was for 2011 so its still the goal for this year. But youll be seeing this cool logo around us
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Lately ive been playing top chef and playing around with healthy recipes and creating new ones
I normally have my own recipe for pizza using really thin pitas or flat outs and its great. But for someone whos looking for a really low/no carb pizza I found the perfect recipe.
Cool thing is its a way to get veggies in with your pizza (If the schools would make pizza like this then it’d be cool to classify it as a vegetable)
I got this one from none other then Dr. John Berardi
Cauliflower pizza
The crust is 1 head of cauliflower with 2 cups of low fat cheese, 3 whole eggs, and spices. And on top there’s some peppers, onions, tomatoes, more low fat cheese, and Parmesan
Ill be honest I havent tried this one yet so my best guess is mix that up and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for a few min.
Ill try it this weekend and let you know how it goes.
This is the pic of what it looks like when its done.
Hows your effort? Well I think its time for a tune up.
Your results are mirrored by your effort. If you put in half assed effort, then expect half assed results.
With everything, you get what you put into it. With work, you get paid more for doing more. Relationships work better when you work for it. So why should your fitness be any different?
You think because you got out for a walk once in a while your results are gonna go full speed? Yes as long as youre moving is great. But once youve got the moving down, then its time to step it up a bit.
When youre working out and stop because you dont like an exercise, or just do 20 half assed reps instead of 3 full good ones, or just skip the entire workout completely who does it affect? who does it fall back on? You!
What kind of results do you think you get with that. You get what you put into it.
So start everyday of the week with these 2 questions.
What effort have you put into today that smashes yesterdays accomplishments?
Have you put in this much effort?
Youre gonna have to learn to get out of your comfort zone and do work. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Anthony Robbins
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
At the end of every year I like to look back and see what are the biggest things Ive accomplished and the biggest things Ive learned.
I always have a list of the biggest take aways the last year gave me. Here are 2011′s top
1. Do more mobility work- 3 years ago you wouldn’t catch me doing any of that. That’s for sissies right! We only lift heavy here! 3 years ago you would’ve also seen me have trouble to scratch my back or even bend down to pick something up.
I had the mobility of a 150 year old telemarketer. At the time mobility work was just an afterthought. I quickly learned how important it was one day when I bought this cool jacket that had the ipod and key pocket in the back. Well on the way to my car after a workout it started raining and I was fumbling trying to reach my keys on my back for 5 min. I looked like an idiot.
3 years later that’d never happen ;D
Me and this dude had the same mobility
2. Back off from training- Training heavy and hard all the time was cool when you were younger and could recover from it. Granted i’m not really old. Ive put my body through more than most and probably fast forward it to age 60.
Training 6 days a week heavy and hard for 1 hour to 2 hours was great when I had the recovery of wolverine.
Now that my time is limited my workouts are a little scaled back. They’re 30-45 min long and everything counts. Now don’t get me wrong. I have the same intense workouts, just more precise and a little less volume.
Recovery is full speed now and Ive never felt better and stronger. Focus on recovery. Train smarter not harder.
3. Foam roll and tissue work- Foam rolling reminds me of a multivitamin. It has tons of benefits for you and is recommended daily. The only difference is foam roll and tissue work you can feel the difference right away.
Helping with recovery and tight muscles. Foam rolling is like a deep tissue massage minus the scheduling and cost.
Anyone that’s ever foam rolled their I.T. bands before will tell you how much of a pain in the ass it is. But they’ll also tell you how great they feel after.
4. Find limiting factors- with any goal especially nutrition. The biggest tip that will skyrocket results and cut the time it takes in half is this. Find your limiting factors. Things that get in the way of you reaching those goals.
That’s the easy part, anything from work, kids, getting up early, don’t like certain foods can be considered a limiting factor. Now the main part is finding HABITS around them. Yes habits. For instance if one of your limiting factors is no time to workout. Instead of just saying i’m gonna workout, turn it into a habit outcome. Say I will do 20 min of exercise. Doesn’t matter what type as long as its 20 min. Then it turns into a habit and it overcomes that limiting factor.
5. You cant go full speed on all cylinders. I learned that alot this year. There alot of aspects to life like work, play, learning, relationship, hobbies ect. The list goes on. We as humans are specialists. Women do better at multitasking than men (or so Jen tells me) but still no one can go full speed on all them. You’ll burn out.
It happened to me this year and when I burned out I crashed mentally for about 2 days. Luckily it was the weekend so it was good recovery time.
Instead of fighting it, go with the flow. I learned to just go with the flow and do what my body says. I love to read and used to try to read about 4-6 books a month (if you would’ve known me in high school reading was my least favorite, don’t ask me how it changed I don’t know). One book would be a fitness book, one nutrition, one business, one just random, on motivational etc.
I noticed though sometimes for a month id be full speed eating up fitness related books but had no interest in any business or random books. As much as id force it I couldn’t read anything else at all. So id try to plow through all the books only to get burned out and not read any at all and not remember what I read.
So I learned to just go with the flow and if i’m feeling just like reading fitness books then go with it. When that happens ill devour like 7 and retain all of it and my productivity goes through the roof.
Just go with it.
No need to burn out
6. Find a doc that matches you- Ive heard so many horror stories this year about doctors that don’t match their patients. I’m not sure if its just the greed or what but its crazy now. Ive had people tell me that their doctor says squating even with bodyweight and walking and running are 3 of the worst things humans can do, they’re not meant for it.
WHAT!!!!!!!! So were not meant to sit down when were tired, walk from place to place, or run when a dog is chasing us! I don’t know about you but that’s DUMB!! You can follow that advice and get your ass bit by a dog if its your doctors orders. Me Ill run.
Recently Jen was feeling flu ish and we went to a doc that ran all these tests and couldn’t find anything, he wasn’t listening to what Jen was saying about how she felt and kept running tests and running up the bill. So we went to get a second opinion and that guy was awesome! After 30 min of just listening to Jen he figured out the problem got her meds ready and were out the door and good to go.
He looks legit.
So does this guy
7. Keep things minimal. 2011 was the year of the minimalists. From minimalist workouts to minimalist living. Its a good thing too, keeping things uncluttered and purposeful keeps things simple.
Just this past weekend on Christmas day the house across the street from Jens parents burned down. You could see everything and it was sad. I thought about it if it were my house and all my stuff that would be gone. Made me think if I didn’t have so much stuff I wouldn’t worry so much. I don’t use most of it anyways. It just creates clutter and takes up room.
Lately all i’ve needed has been in my gym bag that I take with me everywhere. Its like my house in there. No way am I saying i’m a nomad and live out of my bag. I’m saying knowing everything I need is there keeps things simple.
Bob Proctor calls it making space I think. I cant remember but one of his books talks about making space for the other things you want. You want new clothes or a new wardrobe, then clean out your closet so the universe can put those things in.
8. Never be too busy for family. This one is the biggest and hardest lesson I learned this year. With everything I do from opening a bigger studio, doing camps, training, seminars, nutrition classes, athlete training, public speaking, article writing, blog writing, and my own research and study its easy to be too busy for family.I can honestly say I do more before noon on Monday than most do in an entire week.
This year I lost one of my closest cousins. She was my age and was my twin I guess you can say. Although in no way was I ever on her level. She was my age and had already had several degrees from UT working on graduating this may to scratch off another degree off her list. She also was the captain of the rugby team, had a great boyfriend, tons of friends whom she helped with school and motivating them to keep on track, tons of different hobbies, etc. And she still had the time to do any and everything fun she wanted to and be with family. If you ask me I think time went by super slow for her, either that or there was 10 of her. (Santa Claus would ask her for time management tips)
My biggest regret is taking things for granted and being too busy to be at alot of the family gatherings. I think back sometimes and see how many times I could’ve spent time with her or visited but was too busy.
I think of things now when everything’s going full speed and i’m super busy. I slow down now and think what would Stephanie do. If she can do a million and one things in a day and still find time to go to your birthday dinner or just give you a call cause you were having a crappy day, whats my excuse.
I miss you Stephy
9. 2 words I learned from my cousin Stephanie . 2 powerful words that will get you through anything and I think was her catch phrase. POWER THROUGH. Whenever things look overwhelming and feel crazy like I cant I look at my wrist at the wristband that was made for her. On it it has those 2 words in bold. No matter if its a tough workout that you feel like you cant do anymore or you have so much work piled up you cant breathe theres only one thing you can do. POWER THROUGH.
10. Veggies arent so bad. After 23 years im finally getting the taste for them. Ive always been honest with you and told you I hate veggies. Ill eat them because I have to not because I want to. But I dont know if im just finally outgrowing the whole veggies look like boogers thing when I was a kid but they are actually not bad. I crave them now.
11. Go to the movies. Go watch a movie more often. Slow down and watch old movies and new movies. Renting them is cool but theres something about actually going to the theatre and enjoying yourself that gives you a small vacation or reboot. Unless you work at the theater then youre better off renting.
12. Read more. Like I said earlier dont ask me how but when I was younger youd never catch with a book. It was boring and id always fall asleep. I dont know how I changed so please dont ask me to change your kids. I guess it comes with time.
Everytime I read something I want even if its just some blogs or articles I become more productive. Learning is good.
13. Test out what works for you and write it down. I dont think ill ever stop learning about myself and researching different things. Things that will get yall better results, what works what doesnt. Im always a guinea pig.
This year ive experimented with alot of things that ive learned from. Things like meat and nuts breakfast, nicotine gums for fat loss and energy jolt (good jolt just wasnt for me), different sprint intervals, gaining 10lbs of muscle while losing fat, gaining 50lbs of strength without gaining any muscle weight. A ton of stuff.
The nutrition one is the biggest take away. Try this. Write down everything you eat and the how you feel after.
It will show you exactly what your body doesnt do well with and what it does. For me, nothing makes me feel better than meat! A good steak and ill be happy all day. Pasta on the other hand leaves me feeling sluggish and tired after. Even if it was healthy pasta.
Try it and see what works for you
14. Rotate things. Your body is an amazing machine. It adapts well and fast. So rotating things like coffee, tea, preworkout drinks, workouts, intensities and all the rest keeps your body from getting used to it. Remember the very first time you had coffee and the jolt was crazy. Then after a while you need 2-3 cups cause your just not feeling it as good as it was. Instead of letting it get there, rotate things.
Take preworkouts for instance I love them. But I rotate brands and ingredients every month or so I can keep the same feeling with it. If not it doesnt do anything for me anymore after a while using it.
Food is another good one, rotate from bison to regular beef to chicken ect.
Please dont say muscle confusion for exercise. Thats a term some people take too far and use as an excuse to just throw a bunch of random crap together. Its like nails on a chalk board for me. I mean rotating like intensities and goals.
These people all said muscle confusion
15. Buy it once buy it right. I used to just get certain things cause they were cheaper or easier to access. Until I realized how much of a pain in the ass it is to replace it all the time and keep fixing it.
Things like car phone chargers that break in a week. Or a cooking pan that wont stick and last forever. Yea theyre more expensive but its an investment. Buy it right and youll only have to buy it once.
16. 20 min of me time. Everyone has 20 min. Use that as me time. Do whatever you like to do like video games, read, go to the park. But do it for you. We go about our day pleasing everyone most of the day but if you dont reboot and charge your own batteries you cant spread the good vibes.
17. Try to get better- at everything. Try to become better at your job. Try to become better at your hobby. Try to become better with family.
kekich credo #28. Keep an active mind, and continue to grow intellectually. You either grow or regress. Nothing
stands still.
18. If it makes life easier do it/get it. Technology is amazing now a days. Im the most unorganized person but with things like evernote, youd never know that. If certaint things make life easier than do it or get it.
19. Breathe. Alot of people who know me know I dont really ever get mad. I could get cut off in traffic and it wont bug me. Things can go wrong and I wont panic. Somebody can screw me over and I wont wanna cut their head off.
Lifes too short to be upset because the guy in front of you is driving 2 miles under the speed limit. Look at the big picture. If you can see your life all in one timeline whats really gonna worry you more a relative being sick or somebody getting the last coffee at work. Some people have bigger problems.
Breathe, relax, things will play out how they should. Youll be alright.
Kekich credo #52. Don’t be preoccupied with things over which you have no control, and don’t take things
personally.
If you have the power to change it then do so. If not dont worry. Shit happens
20. Scar tissue. Have you ever noticed when you get a cut and it heals the scar tissue from where it heals is alot harder and stronger than before.
Anytime things get tough or you get hurt, think of it as scar tissue. In the end youll be stronger and if it happens again no worries, it wont cut the skin, your tougher now.
I put this on facebook a while back and I got so many messages from it. It reminded me of this lesson.
“Think of tough times as a workout. Yea it’s a pain during but it always makes you better, faster, stronger. Smile through it
“tough times don’t last, tough people do” -(don’t remember who said it)”
21. Successful people do daily what mediocre people do occasionally.
Kekich Credo #74. Patience is profitable. Achievement comes from the sum of consistent small efforts, repeated
daily.
22. Localize! This past year ive had the privilege of meeting alot of local business owners and seeing first hand all the awesome stuff they do.They are amazing!
Shop local, drink local, eat local! As much as possible!
23. Dont grow up. Be a kid as much as you can. Doesnt mean you dont have responsibilities. It means to lighten up a bit.
Have fun! Its cool to have a tight ass, Its not cool to be one!
The more you have fun and enjoy things the more people will enjoy you.
24. One time at chruch the pastor said something that stuck with me. He said be where youre at when youre there.
Didnt seem like much at the time but after a while it fully sunk in. Just because you are acutally there doesnt mean youre really there. Get me?
Dont just show up, but be there. It makes no sense to go to the movies only to be on your phone. If youre in a meeting then be in that meeting, not daydreaming about after the meeting.
25. Any trainer can deliver an ass kicking. It takes a great trainer to deliver results. What would you rather have a workout that leaves you crippled (literally) every day. Or a program that delivers progressively kick ass workouts that get you closer to your goal instead of closer to the E.R.
Im pretty sure theres another 75 things on this list but these are the ones I can really remember off the top of my head. Looking forward to a FUN 2012
This past weekend I had was able to relax a bit and hang out a bit. On sunday I met up with a friend of mine I hadnt seen in a while and we grabbed something to eat.
It was pretty cool because I havent seen this dude in a long time.
This guy has always been a positive person always seeing the good in things and looking at the big picture. So I was surprised when while at a stop light a ferrari pulls up next to us and my friend starts talking smack. Look at this a**hole in his ferrari, he probably inherited a bunch of money or something. Prick!
By a show of hands how many of you have friends or know someone like that?
If you dont know anyone like that ill explain why at the end of the blog post.
Like I said I freaked out that this was his reaction, the main reason why I freaked out was because I actually know who the dude in the ferrari was. He was an old client of mine that was a retired plastic surgeon. What freaked me out the most was that my friend didnt even know my old clients story or background yet went on about how he was lucky and got it all handed to him.
My old client was an immigrant who struggled to put food on his kids plates when they moved here. Worked odd jobs and went to school part time, did that for years till he finally graduated and got a job. Then years later opened his own clinic. Then years later finally got himself that car after he retired at 71 when his hands werent steady for procedures anymore.
Point im getting at is without knowing how much work it took, my friend just bashed him.
I asked him why he wasnt in a ferrari? He had excuse after excuse about how its hard for him to study because he cant retain anything.
How he cant get a job because he doesnt have the time because of school. How he couldnt work weekends because he needs those to relax.
This could go for fitness too. How many times have you heard someone say of course that persons in shape, they dont have kids. Only to find out that person has 5 kids.
Or of course that person is fit because they dont have a job only to find out they have 3 jobs.
A friend on facebook shared this video and ive watched it all weekend. I STILL GET CHILLS WATCHING THIS!
Michael Jordan said it perfectly………maybe its their fault for making it look too easy or effortless
Remember earlier in this post I asked if you knew someone like that? And that if you didnt know someone like that id explain why at the end of the post.
Heres why……………..
Take a step back and look around at your friends……….if they have their hands raised up and are staring awkwardly at you
………………….maybe you dont know anyone like that because that person is YOU.
Experience is not what happens to you. It’s what you do with what happens to you. It takes a
wise man to learn from his own mistakes… and a genius to learn and profit from the mistakes
and experiences of others.
I really like it cause its true. Mistakes arent bad if you learn from them. But why go through the mistakes when you can learn from the mistakes of others and avoid it.
Now with that I leave you with these videos and give you the best advice ive probably ever given anyone.
DONT BE THAT PERSON!!!!!!!!!!
Now first up, a perfect example why the garage or backyard is the perfect place for weights. NOT YOUR ROOM
Heavy squats should have a spotter so you dont have to drop the weight. Like this dude
Anything made by Chuck Norris should only be used BY Chuck Norris
Deadlifts are one of my favorite exercises. If I could only do one exercise itd be deadlift. But not this guys way. Aside from horrible form and lack of breathing, this is the perfect example of why yelling is stupid.
Another reason why machines arent your friend. The bandanna didnt help him much either
This one might be gross for some…….but remember timing your meals around your workouts is important
If youre interested in kettlebells this one is great. Kettlebells are great once you learn the fundamentals of them. If not then youll end up like her. The only person probably worse off then her is Jillian Michaels
Another reason why you dont hold your breath during exercise.
Friends dont let friends kipping their pullups
And last but not least heres a compilation of different people not to be like. Some youve seen, some new. Have fun!
By a raise of hands how many of you have stayed up late and seen the infomercials of the latest and greatest fitness machines?
Ok good.
Now how many of you have actually bought them?
Ok bad!
Weve all seen the super awesome shake weight! The one exercise machine that brings you back to your adolescent days fellas.
Now theres a new one out called the Free Flexor! I have no idea whats worse the people that come up with these products or the people that buy them. Since youre a reader here I trust you dont buy them right?
I think Jimmy Kimmel actually has the best one out there. Check it out
Anyways all these late night products got me thinking………What is the best and most effective exercise machine?
Weve already ruled out those top 2. So what could it be?
The Answer is…..drum roll please……….Ta da! YOU!!! Yeah you. The best exercise machine is the one you were blessed with.
Your own body and bodyweight are perfect machines. Still dont think so? What if we add some tools.
Lets play a game. Look at the picture below and see what exercises you can do to create a great workout.
Lately i’ve been playing around with bodyweight workouts. More recently playground stuff. Now before you go and label me a bodyweight guy ill have you know im weight guy at heart and love nothing more then a heavy barbell. But its good to go outside your norm and add variety.
Reason 1- Ive been playing around with these kind of workouts lately because I got spoiled having most of my workout equipment in my garage. Now that its in the new place my garage is empty, pair that with a super busy october and youve got my 5 day a week workout cut down to 3.
So adding in bodyweight workouts saved me tons of time without sacrificing strength and muscle. Great Success.
Reason 2- Recovery. Ever wonder why it takes you 4 days to recover from a weighted leg workout? One of the main reasons is spinal compression. So by doing bodyweight workouts, it limits spinal compression thus shorter recovery time. Shorter recovery time=more workouts could be done. More workouts being done with great recovery=greater results!
For example push presses. They are great and build upper body strength and shoulders. But they also compress your spine. So what if you change that to hand stand pushups. Little to no spinal compression but still a heavy load for the press.
Now dont get me wrong, compression is neccessary. Without it we’d be weak and injury prone. This is just training smarter.
The list goes on and on. Point is easier to recover from so you can train more frequently. Take a look at gymnists. They do the same thing almost everyday and have the bodies to prove it.
Reason 3- Youll be surprised how rough a bodyweight workout can be. I only know a handful of people that can throwdown and good bodyweight workout and complete it.
Now back to the picture above. Here it is again.
Heres a cool workout you can do with the machine you were blessed with and the tools above.
Warmup (dynamic type warmup)
Frankenstein walk 10 each leg
Run in place 20 sec
pushup 10
lunge 10 each leg
jump jack 25
squat 15
Now the fun part-
Decline pushups 3x 15 or 2 sets of as many as possible
Ring pullups 1 set as many as possible
jump squats 25
suspended rows (using the swingset) 2x as many as possible
Pistol squat (using the swingset to hold on to) 3x 10 each leg (turn it into a jump if too easy)
Pike pushup with elevated feet 2x as many as possible
Dips 1 set as many as possible
Suspened lunge (back leg on swing) 2x 15 each leg (turn into jumps if too easy)
Ab rollout with swing 3x 15
Finish with some sprints- 3x 20 yards 1 min rest in between.
Now wasnt that fun? Do you think that workout will get you closer to your goals then the video above? Tired of me asking all these questions that you already know the answer of? Perfect!
I dare ya to test out that workout at any playground you can find. Side note- Try this workout when its not a peak time for kids. Nothings worse than a dozen kids trying to copy what youre doing and then parents thinking your the pod piper trying to whisk theyre kids away into a healthier lifestyle.
If you want a part 2 to that workout let me know Have fun!
Have fun!
