Throw some D’s on that……

You know ……like the song. Throw some D’s on that……

Not those D’s……….

Or those………..

Nope still not those…………

Those D’s!!!

When people ask me what supplements are mandatory youll always hear me say protein powder, healthy fats, and vitamin D. Most of the replies I hear are stuff like, “really? vitamin D? like the stuff in milk?!?”

Yes really Vitamin D. More importantly vitamin D3.

I know you’ve heard of vitamin D but why is it so important?

First let me give you a crash course on what it is. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that has different forms. D2 is the plant form and D3 is the animal form.

The sun is another way to get vitamin D and youd think living in texas would give you an overdose of vitamin D. Wrong!

But I get it from being outside- honestly how long are you really outside? Especially with the weather weve been having recently.

But my office has a window and the sun hits me all day- Glass practically blocks all UVB which prevents your body making it.

But I really do spend alot of time outside- If you wear sunscreen or lotion even with as little as spf+15 decreases the amount of vitamin D made in your body by 99%

I eat cheese and milk- Vitamin D does not naturally occur in these foods, theyre fortified with it. Plus most people are allergic to milk. Why would you drink something youre allergic to?

Here are a few cool reasons why you should be taking it-

-Vitamin D deficiancy has been linked to at least 17 different types of cancers

-Parkinsons and alzheimers have been shown to have low levels of vitamin D

-Psoraisis has been linked to low vitamin D

-Low Vitamin D levels may contribute to depression, seasonal affective disorder, and chronic fatigue

-Vitamin D may protect against both types of diabetes

One of my favorite studies showed that mortality was 26% higher in people with low vitamin D. Let me put it backwards, people with great levels of vitamin D were 26% more immortal. That means Vitamin D prolongs life. Hell yea the closer to immortal the better right!!!

This immortal dudes oozing vitamin D

Ok enough of the boring but important reasons. Lets get to the REALLY cool reasons you should.

The Best Reasons-

- A new study by Dr. Shalamar Sibley showed adding vitamin D to a reduced calorie diet may lead to better and faster weight lost. To top it off when there was plenty of vitamin D3 in the body it got rid of excess body fat faster and the abdominal area.  What was even cooler was these same subjects retained muscle while losing fat.

-Insulin sensitivity is correlated with vitamin D3. Since keeping your blood sugar in check is important so is vitamin D3

-Vitamin D3 is needed in order to build muscle strength.

-Studies showed men with lower vitamin D also had lower free testosterone levels.

-Vitamin D plays a role in female fertility and hormone function.

Ok so how much vitamin D should you take?

I reccomend a higher range for athletes anywhere from 5,000 Iu to 7,000 IU. People who workout regularly I like a range from 4,000IU to 6,000 IU. People who dont workout at all should be about 2,000IU to 4,000IU.

To make it easier 4,000IU a day is a good range to shoot for.

That and being outdoors alot more. Sunlight isnt as crazy as the media likes to make it seem.

Maybe its the whole twilight vampire obsession that makes people scared of sunlight.

Spending more time outdoors leads to you being more active. Soak it up!

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.

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Told ya it was a short one. More stuff to come

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!

Im back!!!!!!

Well sort of……..still going 100mph which means ill throw you a motivational monday and a cool article a friend of mine showed me.

First a quick video.

Since monday is one of the hardest days to get over (its one of my favorites), I like to post some motivational stuff to keep you trucking on.

One of my favorite actors is the Fresh Prince himself Will Smith. Not just because he makes me laugh but because hes one of the most positive people around. I think if youre about 10miles around him youll be able to feel his good vibes. We need more people like that. Check out some of the stuff he sais.

“If you are not making someone elses life better you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other peoples lives better.” – Will Smith

What he sais about the treadmill is awesome! Thats the only time ill get on a treadmill

Second thing is a cool article by Jason Seib

He talks about a mind hurdle ive been getting to throw away. His example with Deb is perfect!

So if you still just look at the scale for progress, this ones for you

http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/06/22/attention-scale-addicts-part-2/

Now back to normal programming

When it comes to fat loss and looking better naked everyone wants the secret. The secret can be either a magic pill or mystical workout that will make you drop fat instantly.

I stopped believing in that when I found out the tooth fairy isn’t real. (my mom was really good and sneaking stuff under my pillow, The whole time I thought it was The Rock).

I thought that the whole magic bullet question was dead until a couple of days ago. The other day I did a  post where I put up Stefanie’s before and after pics. (if you missed it you can find it here). Well after that I had tons of emails, calls, and even some clients coming up to me asking what was her secret. Some were even upset thinking I had hid some magic secret from them.

Truth is there is no secret. That was my response a couple of days ago. There is NO secret.

Fast forward to today. I had finished my workout and was outside “recovering” ( laying on my back panting like a dog. Complexes are killer) and a thought hit me.

Maybe there was a secret. Maybe there is a secret that every successful person has. After comparing alot of things I finally found it!

I found the secret!

(Great book and movie by the way)

You ready for it? ok…

*Warning: if youre still expecting some magic bullet stop reading here*

The secret is ACTION! Just like filming a movie the magic doesnt start happening until the director sais ACTION! In this case youre the director and your body’s just waiting for you to take ACTION.

Even now if you arent part of any of my programs or anyone elses. Information is everywhere. You have all the resources you need. Whats missing is taking action on it.

What did Stefanie do to get those great results. She took ACTION. She started working out, got the nutrition guide and took action on it. Asked questions and took ACTION on the answers.

Taking ACTION goes with the saying “In order to get what you dont have, you must do things you dont do”. I cant remember who said it but its pretty spot on right. If doing what you normally do got you where you are then it only makes sense to do something else to get you where you wanna be.

Now that you know the SECRET that every successful person has what are you gonna do with it?

Mind hurdles are everywhere. Getting over them is usually one of the hardest things to do.

Ever heard of this mind hurdle? In order to burn fat you must eat more and exercise less.

Usually when a client hears this they laugh hard until they realize I’m serious. Its been burned into our brain that we have to eat low calories and exercise like a madman in order to burn fat. Its really hard to jump this mind hurdle and alter someones perception of this idea. But I promise once your perception has changed you’ll realize why you’ve been stuck in a rut for so long.

First lets rephrase that saying into Eat more (good food) exercise less (train smarter)

Let me tell you about my $10 of gas habit.

Since I was in high school I started a habit of putting only $10 in gas. I lived in small town so $10 would usually last me a good while until I needed to refuel again.

Now years later living in San Antonio I still have the $10 gas habit. Ill be honest I’m not sure why I do it, its just something I’ve always done. Ive been having to stop and refuel every other day practically.

How does this apply to eating more and working out less? Well lets say your body is a car. And gas is food. For a while your “car” runs good on what you put into it $10 of gas. But when the gas prices go up (your activity level) the more fuel gets used for it and the more gas you need. If you don’t start putting more than $10 your car wont perform good. It’ll start running out of gas quicker, then things like your fuel filter start giving out, your cars horsepower (muscles) aren’t fueled and primed for the drive.

So on and so forth.

Your body is the same way. When you work out more, your body starts to look for more energy (fuel). If it’s not getting it, it lowers your metabolism to try and preserve whatever it can for fat stores (yes hold on to fat), sensing that you are running on low fuel “starving”.  That’s where the term starvation mode comes from. Strike 1

To take it a step further after being in starvation mode for a while and not eating enough protein. Your body starts breaking down muscles. It sees your muscles as very energy taxing and if it cut down on muscle then it can use the energy from the muscles making it much more efficient with the energy its given. Muscle breakdown also slows the metabolism. Strike 2

So next time you wonder why crackers water and 2 hours of cardio a day aren’t getting the fat loss you want or why you’ve plateau’d take a look at food quality and energy expenditure.

In my opinion rotating is the key to fat loss. Even in a low calorie diet you must rotate to account for what you’ve lost. If you’ve lost 20lbs and are still eating the same then its time to rotate to the right amount of food you should be eating at 20lbs lighter then its time to change your food intake to accommodate the loss.

Rotating carbs is another great way to eat, but ill get to that another day.

Thats all for now

*UPDATE*- As of now I am no longer only putting $10 of gas. Ive bumped up to $15. I know its not alot but just like in nutrition its the baby steps that count.

Anyways a tv show was on last night that talked about a young boy who was obese. I know its not shocking anymore, 1 in 3 kids are obese. Crazy right.

Well what stuck in my head about the show last night was what he blamed his obesity on. BAD GENES.

Its in his genes because his parents were overweight and his grandparents were and his brothers and sisters are as well.

He said there was nothing he could do, no matter how hard he works out his genes always get in the way.

Now lets try something……………

What if we replace the word GENES with the word HABITS.

Now lets rephrase what he said.

His parents , grandparents, brothers and sisters were overweight because of their bad HABITS. He said there was nothing he could do, no matter how hard he works out his HABITS always get in the way.

That sounds a little more like it.

This generation is prone to so many hereditary diseases. Diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, thyroid problems etc.

Take me for instance my dads side of the family is prone to diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and some other ones ive probably forgotten. As for my moms side stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high triglycerides were possibilites.

The funny thing is I asked my friends and they all said almost the exact same thing. Hereditary disease is more common than you think. But why was it that some of my “Fittest” friends and colleagus also had the WORST hereditary diseases yet they were some of the healthiest people I know.

The reason was HABITS. They all had great healthy habits. Then it hit me. It might hurt to hear but its true, your parents didnt pass you bad genes they passed down bad habits.

Taking care of your nutrition and get some exercise in can control and even prevent most hereditary diseases. But bad habits are harder to break.

Creating better and healthier habits is the best disease fighter for you and your children. People often ask me why I do what I do and why do I eat this and not that. My answer, because my kids. But Jonathan, I didnt know you had kids. Truth is I dont. But I know someday I will and id like to know that my kids will be in an environment that will help them be their best. That my habits are passed down to help them live healthier and longer lives.

The “GENES” you pass down are predetermined. The “HABITS” you pass down are your choice.

Good news is we live in a time where information is only a click away. We know more now about fitness and nutrition then we did a century ago.

What legacy will you leave?

Ive posted this almost 2 years ago. Its probably gonna piss some people off (especially other people in my field) and im gonna get alot of hatemail because of it.

If you havent seen this documentary yet I suggest you should. Its one of my favorites because it shows the behind the scenes of some of the hush hush topics of the fitness world.

Its called Bigger, Stronger, Faster. It gives you a behind the scenes look on how some of your favorite physiques were made.

Im not calling anyone out or anything before I get hate. Im just opening your eyes a bit. You see the bad part about the fitness industry is its just like supplements. For every good supplement theres 20 bad ones.

Again im not calling anyone out. Just be careful who and what you choose.

Ok on to one of my favorite clips of the documentary.

Thats pretty crazy huh! I remember the first time I saw that I freaked out. I mean ive heard of it being done but actually watching it happen right before my eyes.

Watch the whole documentary if you get a chance. Pretty awesome things, good and bad.

Hopefully this helps you steer clear of the shady stuff.

Arm yourself with knowledge (I heard it on spongebob)

Raise your hand if youve heard of Tabatas………………Well if you havent heard before Tabata is a high intensity training protocol created by Dr. Izumi Tabata. If youve been to my camps before then youve probably heard the term “FINISHER”. Yes I know theyre fun and you love them.

Well basically the finishers that youve come to know and love are Tabata format……..with some secret sauce .

Basically 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for a total of 8 rounds which equals to 4 minutes of bliss!

Tabatas are one of the best thing you can do in a short amount of time. If youre pressed for time or wanna find a good way to make sure your beat at the end of a workout these are the way to go.

Ideal for fat loss and conditioning. Remember they are short and sweet for a reason, you should be gasping for air on these not cruising.

( Disclaimer: Im not saying to pass out or cough up a lung. If youre an extreme beginner then take it at your own pace.)

Try some of these

Killer legs

1. lunge

2. reverse lunge

3. jump lunge

4. forward reverse lunge

5. forward reverse lunge other leg

6. lateral lunge

7. lateral lunge other leg

8. lunges

If you have weights try this one:

1. Squat

2. push press

3. deadlift

4. power clean

5. stiff leg deadlift

6. push press

7. deadlift

8. power clean

Or my favorite Tabata of all time : THE ORIGINAL

20 seconds squats 

10 second sits at the bottom

(sorry this was the only sit pic I could find)

If you really wanna raise the bar then step it up and turn them into what I call the 2.0 version of Tabatas. Replace the 10 sec rest with 10 sec active recovery…………But well leave that for another day

By the way I was browsing around youtube the other day and found this cool ice cream recipe and thought you might like it.

I tried it and it was AWESOME! Im not the best in the kitchen but ice cream was pretty easy to make

Had a great time this christmas with family. But now its back on the grind!

Ill admit after a holiday like that and a little vacation, working out is far from what I wanted to do. But it has to be done

So how do you prepare for a grueling workout after a relaxing holiday?

And how do you make sure that workout is AWESOME?

Ill show ya.

PREPARATION:

This phase is all about the mindset. Remind yourself why you workout in the first place. If youre an athelete picture yourself scoring or winning. If your goal is to wear a size 4 pant then picture yourself in them and daydream about how youd feel in them.

Now imagine what would happen if you didnt workout. You wouldnt win the game, and you definately would fit into those size 4′s. You would be exactly where youre at right now Overdosed with holiday food.

Yup

So the only logical thing to do is workout right. Regardless of how uncomfortable itll be. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

If all that fails buy a preworkout supplement thatll have you roaring through your workout in no time. Every now and then ill get the bug where I dont have all the energy to workout. On those days ill drink a preworkout supp. Usually either M5  or Pump Fuel. Lately its been ACG3. All these can be found at your local family owned GNC’s.

THE WORKOUT:

Plan- You gotta walk in with a plan. You cant just go and do some push ups and stuff expect to get better. Have a set workout in your head that youve replayed over and over in your head. Unless youve got a cool trainer that has it all set for ya

JAMZ-    Crank it up to 11!!!!! Get your music ready and crank it up. I know there are gyms or some trainers that dont allow music because a research study said it distracts you from what your doing. Uhhh ok…………

I like studies too, but ive seen time and time again what a little music can do to enhance the workout. It doesnt matter what type you like as long as it gets you going.

Ill listen to hard rock and rap like lil wayne when its weights im doing. Or a little bit of Deadmau 5 techno when im doing intervals. And when its just plain old cardio like jump rope I listen to nothing but country. I dont know why, but it gets me going.

PATNAZ- Howdy patna! Having a workout partner thats like you or a little better always pushes you to do your best. WARNING: if your friend happens to have bad energy (excuses, not wanting to workout, not taking it seriously, thinking its time to gossip, etc) I would probably choose another patna.

ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES- Its time to get a little tough. Ladies you can be tough too . Getting uncomfortable is gonna hurt a little. You can either give up and stay in your comfort zone, or push through and get where you wanna be. To get where you wanna be, you have to do things you  havent done.

ZEN- Have you heard the phrase ” Im in the zone!”. Well its real. Find your zen. Find a point to where nothing else matters but your workout. If youve had a bad day at home or work dont let it in your workout. When youre in the zone its almost like a robot. Your a robot doing only what your programmed to do. Find your zone.

RELAX- Finally just relax. After your workout relax and enjoy yourself. Realize that everyday your bodys different so dont be hard on yourself if todays workout wasnt as great as your last one. Take it day by day and try to get better everytime.