Active Concept Training

Just some new things to try on your next workout!  Mobility and strength in different techniques!

The first video is just  a mixture of different movements to provide the client with a challenge or two.  This was the second of three various movements that she was either ducking, crawling, jumping, or lifting over something...she had fun!  Maybe it's a day where you don't feel like doing anything.  Do this...it will be moving, and you may have fun too (maybe entertain others in the area!)

The second video is the Zercher squat.  Believe me it's tough.  It doesn't have to be done with heavy weight, just enough to be challenging...give it a shot, just make sure to think about your hips and glutes as you do them!

GO!

"Adaptation is obvious in muscle and bone, but the truly spectacular changes take place in the nervous system. We now know the process in great detail. Far from being a static system, the nervous system is constantly remodeling itself in response to experience. The fancy name for this process is “use-dependent plasticity.” When we repeatedly fire a neural circuit, that circuit becomes faster and more sensitive. Cells that fire together begin to literally wire together. The challenge, in other words, stimulates actual tissues changes: membranes, genes and protein synthesis are all transformed in the process. With this in mind, it now makes sense to say that “neural circuits are muscles,” and “the nervous system is a muscle.”

From the mind of Frank Forencich of Exuberant Animal,  Stimulating tissue change has been proven to help those with Parkinson's, learning disablities, stroke patients, and those with depression, among others with brain circuitry that is misfiring!

If moving the body changes the brain, why, then can we not find a way to help doctors actually prescribe exercise, instead of recommend it.  Write it down, put it in their file that exercise was prescribed.  Make the change.  Our brains can change, but onyl if we make the change.

Make the change, be the change...

GO!

I have to tell you, I was a little curious as to how, and if, I would be able to put forth the effort needed to finish this ride without eating the proverbial "carbo load" that most, if not all, endurance athletes say must be done.

The ride, 3 Mountain Madness, is a tough ride consisting of about 8000 ft of clmbing in 75 miles...good stuff!  Where I live in NC, there are few hills, so to train for something like this, I had to travel.  Travel to other parts of the state, and to Ireland, where the true climbs are!  Was my training perfect?  No, but it was sufficient, for I finished this killer route!

Above are the 3 big climbs, and the hills in between (no it is not FLAT between the climbs!!)

Nutritionally what did I do?  The night before I ate chicken and veggies, with two beers, which I don't think they are considered carbo loading.  Oh, and 2 pints of water and 12 ounces of coconut water.  The morning of, I ate from a friend's farm, two eggs, a few sausage links, some pieces of kiwi, peaches, and blueberries and drank more water and 12 ounces of coconut water.

During the ride I did not drink gatorade or powerade.  i do believe in some fluid-derived simple carbs so I drank one from Hammer Nutrition that fit the bill for electrolyte replacement and some simple kcals...without the dyes and fake sugar.  I drank two bottles worth of those.  For food, I ate raisins, an almond trail mix with some dried cranberries, organic peanut butter with coconut oil mixed in, one snickers bar (for my almost home chocolate fix), about 4 orange slices, one Stinger honey gel, and one power bar gel with caffiene for a little boost about 2o minutes before the last climb up Pilot Mtn.  Does that sound like enough?  Oh, and at least 4 bottles of water as well.  For any one day that would be way TOO much simple sugar kcals, especially if I am trying to lose weight, which I am not.  However, on a day like this one, where energy had to come from somewhere quick at times, and a little slower from fat sources, I think this was a good mix of macronutrients.

I felt good, and the next day my legs did not fall off.  I was even able to hike to the top of Hanging Rock with my family (most of the time holding our 3 year old!)  In hind sight, the only problem I had, was my training.  More climbing, to get used to, yep, you guessed it...more climbing!

All in all, a great ride with. friends.  A special thank you to my lovely wife, who put in as much time as I did by taking care of the house and our 3 year old without my help when I had to go ride.  Thanks, babe!

Don't worry about conventional wisdom.  Do what feels right to your body, your training.  What's more, have fun!

GO!

After my last trip to Ireland, I posted about some of my thoughts as I will this time.

As always, I am amazed at the freshnes of the food there.  Meat doesn't smell like anything, seafood smells the way it should.  Bananas, apples, tomatoes, root vegetables and other food has this "Pazang!" to it that you just don't get here...unless you grow it yourself!!

Now, don't get me wrong, there are the same cereals and pasta and packaged food there as we have here.  So stay away from that and you're good.  I did have some bread, that was homemade, but only a couple of times.  So other than the Guinness, I think I was pretty good for my consumption!

I will say that i did have some chocolate when I was there...because it was GOOD!  The other thing about the packaged foods that is different, is that there are no DYES!  Red 40 is replaced with "beet extract" or yellow 5 by "orange extract."  So the hard candies and sweets that are sold are much better thanthe ones here (once you get away from the sugar!!)

The other aspect I have to give the Irish good credit for is that they are exercising more!!  I saw more cycling, running, walking, than I ever have.  I even saw an ad for a fitness place with a kettlebell in the ad!  Kudos for them!!  Maybe it was the end of the Celtic tiger, or it was just finally time, I don't know!  Fair play to them!

I hope they continue to be energized to move.  Even in my wife's hometown there were plenty of movers.  Their cyclng club even set me up with a bike for a few days, so I was obligated to ride in the 45 degrees...and rain!  So upon getting back to NC, and training for my upcoming ride, the 3 Mountain Madness, there would be no excuse to NOT get out and ride!  Thanks fellas!

Find something that gets you motivated.  The Irish have...you can too!

GO!

So...

If studies came out saying that exercise, weight training, etc. helped you live better with less illness and disease, but

it made you ugly.

Would people still do it?????????????????

So, what kind of task do you need to perform?  Does it involve the ability to move?  Well probably.  Have you ever considered that sometimes, when your body is all jacked up from an ailment or pain of some kind, all we need to do is go back to basics?

Basics in this case means moving as we did when we LEARNED to move.  Crawling, walking, or in this video, the head lift...

Our bodies were built perfomring one movement, then the next.  Sometimes, our brains get funktified, jacked up, and more or less quit sending good signals to our bodies saying how we shoud move in coordination.  Going back to basics helps our brains find proper neuro fire and unclogs the neural pathways to our muscles saying "MOVE!"

Now, if you feel jacked up, try it...see what happens!

GO!

This is another page of exercises taken from a book I found a while back.  Are there reasons to do, or not do these exercises??  This post I wrote earlier showing a couple that may or may not be contraindicated...what do you think?

Exercise is not new.  Though, I think it's becoming too specialized--move this way to look good, move this way to make this muscle look bigger, etc.  Why not just move?  Why not just do some bodyweight training?  Why not just throw things, pick up something heavy once in a while?

GO!

These are a few things Paul Chek has to say about nutrition and health.  I tend to agree.  In all my years of teaching about nutrition to my clients and the public, these ideas hold true for lifelong health.

• Stop reading books on diet and nutrition.

• Listen to your body...it never lies.  (if your skin, weight, fatigue, sleep patterns, etc are wrong, so is your diet)

• Record everything for a week- 10 days...look for patterns and make adjustments.
  

• Simplify your life...cut out any unnecessary activity or food (i ate beets, or beef, and didn't poop for 2 days, i get tired 3 hours after drinking coffee all the time)  identify the offending cource of the problem.

• It's all an experiment...what works best for you?

I've almost NEVER had a specific diet that worked for everyone.  We are all unique in what we digest well, and what we don't.  Remember, any study you read about, did they study YOU???   N=1.  You are the experiment in and of yourself.

Take these ideas above, and begin to understand YOU.  Make it happen...

GO!

Today, my wife had a stem cell transplant...which didn't work.  She went through hell and still had more to go through in the Fall of last year.

She inspires me constantly to better myself.  I can only hope that just a little of what she does for me, I have passed on to you all.

I love you, my lovely lady.

Where else in your daily life do you hear the word "fit?"  Besides the use of the word in fitness, where?

I was driving down the road, and happen to see an obese woman chase after a 3 year old who was running away from her on a playground.  She couldn't catch up.  What I thought was how dangerous this was.  The inability to be able to watch your child, or niece, or grandchild because of her lack of ability to run faster than a 3 year old...

It hit me!  That woman was UNFIT to be watching this child.  How dangerous, and what a use of the word "fit!"  Honestly, I think it's a better use of the word.  I would rather be "fit" enough to take care of my child, than be "fit."  Whenever someone asks me "how long does it take to be fit?"  I ask, fit for what?  What is your task you want to achieve?

I hope the woman eventually asked for help, or else the kid is still running...

Self reliance.  Make sure you can!

GO!