Monday, January 31, 2011

monday, back in full swing!

Howdy boys and girls!

Welcome to February!… almost.  We are 1 month into the new year.  Hopefully all of you guys are still going strong, because to be honest, I am running out of new years mumbo jumbo to keep the new years resolution jive going.  You are now on your own as I will officially retire the new years references on here and at the gym.  Keep your head down, full tilt, high speed low drag DUDEs!

warm up: body weight stuff and some mobility work before moving into...

str:  Bench press or HSPU

workout:  Today we did a ton of body weight movements with an emphasis on strict form.  Everyone did a killer job on the workout.  I was especially impressed with how much better everyone's pushups and pull ups are looking.  Keep up the good work guys and gals!

This shout out goes out to all my boot camp folks... YOU GUYS ROCK.  I know we only see most of you guys like 2 times a week, however all of you guys are showing up to our free workouts on Saturdays.  I can not tell you how happy I am to see a full gym on saturday.  You guys keep coming and don't be afraid to bring a friend with you!  Our gym is awesome right?  So why would you wanna hide it under a bushel?  I'm gonna let it shine!

Second shout out.  This past saturday Brian Page (a super hero chiropractor) came to the gym and did some FREE basic chiropractor magic.  I would try to explain what he does, but I'd probably mess it up and also not do it justice.  He'll be at the gym more often and I'll let you know when he's going to be there... Do Not Miss The Freshness!

This is a picture of hard work.  1001 calories on the Air Dyne.  Rick Ross, you are the Boss!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Finally!

snake oilOk

Ok, now I know that other gyms carry protein, sports drinks and other miscellaneous performance enhancement or recovery products.  But who in this area or any area for that matter carries good old fashion snake oil!?  Come by the gym on Saturday from 10-12 and Old man Willis will be on location with horse and wagon telling you more about this one and only cure all!

Warm up: row 10min

Str: Legs

Workout: Run, swing a kettle bell, do some body weight movements and then run again and then swing again and then body weight again and then run again and then swing again and then body weight movements again and then .... you get the picture.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.... like whoa.

Monday was rough.  All the movements were totally doable with the rep scheme provided, but the combo was just really really hard!  Pull ups, thrusters, wallball, kbs, and box jumps are nasty nasty nasty.

Tuesday: Tons of lunging with an unbalanced load was challenging for some and a breeze for others.  We threw in some push ups and some lunges for good measure.

Wed:  Today's workout should have shown you how far you have come or how much we have left to go.  1min of sprint rowing followed by 1min of high jump burpees.  Guys, some of the girls beat you on the rower... try 301meters in 1min.

What does thursday have in store?  Guess you will need to show up to find out.  I'll be at the gym waiting to share the fitness with ya!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

WED and Thursday

on wednesday we had a little burner... who says you can't get a good workout in 8min?  One weighted movement paired with a body weight movement for 8 minutes is pure torture!

thursday... well folks this week has been pretty hard.  Today we wanted to see what type of power output you had but also give you 1 thing to do instead of 55 rounds and 100reps.  Rowing a 2k TT or running a 1 mile TT was on the menu and everyone did very well today.

Are an under dog?  I hope so...

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Good Places to Eat

warm up: Row, then body weight complex

str: off day

workout: Make up day or row, kbs, and sit up.  The rain caused us to mix the workout up for our later classes however the morning classes got AFTER IT taking advantage of the cool air and no rain.

This question was brought up in one of our boot camps tonight, "So, where are some good places in town to eat?"  By good the person meant healthy... so here is a list of some of my favorite places to go that I KNOW I can get some food that isn't going to throw me off my nutritional wagon.

1. Subway.  I get breakfast from there a few days a week.  Sometimes I get it with bread sometimes I dont.  I get the sunrise subway melt with no cheese and I add all the veggies they allow.  I'll also get the double bacon egg and cheese or the western egg and cheese AGAIN NO CHEESE!  Lunch is always a salad with double meat, chicken.  If i get dressing, which I dont usually, I get the fat free honey mustard or sweet onion.

2. KFC- Yeah, you heard me.  Get the chicken grilled and get a side of green beans.  NO BISCUIT!

3.  Crescent City Grill-  They have a pick three of pick two option on the menu that is freaking awesome.  I get grilled chicken and two or three veggies.  TONS of food!

4.  Caliente Grill-  Charles is a member of our gym, he owns the joint.  If he is behind the line serving do not be afraid to ask him what is the most healthy option.  I always get a salad or burrito bowl with the following: black beans, NO RICE, half chicken, half steak, pico, hot salsa, guacamole, sometimes the fat free lime vinaigrette, NO CHEESE, NO SOUR CREAM, NO RANCH.  These two choices helped me lose 40lbs.

5.  Smoothie King-  I used to work there for 6 yrs.  In my 6 years there I saw many many customers getting the strawberry shredder with washed strawberries, the small size, with added splenda.  There are many great choices there, however, you have to watch out for sugar!  That is why I always stick with the shredder.

6.  Any steak house or restaurant in Hattiesburg with give you a cut of meat with some veggies.  However, you have to be particular about how you order it.  If you are serious, take the time to order the veggies without butter!  The steak with out the baked potato!

I'm outta ideas this second.  Feel free to add ideas to the comments.  I could be missing something!

Monday, January 17, 2011

monday

warm up with body weight movements

str: squats and push press

workout: partner workout with high volume body weight movements

How many of you guys have been sticking to your diet?  More nutritional info coming your way this week.  Have a great week!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Thursday

thursday:  This is for Greg

25 renegade man makers
50 deadlift
50 box jump
50 push up
50 floor wipers
50 clean and press
25 pull up
row 1000m

Friday:  Fun partner WOD.  I got called a lot of names for making this one up... it was fun though.  Snatches, walking lunges, and rowing.  Row Row Row your boat! 

So Most of you guys have been to the gym 3 times this week!  AWESOME!  To follow this good news... I am going to drop some bad news on ya.  You have been in the gym for only three hours this week.  If you goal is weight loss, I am going to be honest with ya... 3 hours just in the gym, without constant nutritional attention will not get you the weight loss you desire.  On your days off I would highly recommend doing some extra activity.  Yoga, running, biking, boxing, swimming, whatever... or try a sport or activity you have never tried before!  We will be open Saturday 10-12.  COME SEE ME!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wed

warm up with body weight complex

str: deadlift

workout: KBS, K2E, Ring Push ups, Squats.  All kinds of reps and all kinds of rounds!

Nice Article: 

Hey, It’s All About the Calories, Right? Not!

by Jonny Bowden Gather round, folks, cause I’m gonna tell you a story.

Once upon a time- around 1890 actually- a scientist named Wilbur Atwater got the bright idea of putting food into a special machine, burning it and measuring the amount of heat it produced. The machine was called a calorimeter, and old Wilbur decided to call the energy produced by burning the food into ash “calories”. Thus he was able to figure how many calories were contained in just about any food you could think of.

Shortly afterwards, scientists applied the same concept to exercise. Using a few calculations, they soon figured out how many calories were “burned” doing everything from sleeping to cross-country skiing. 

Within no time, an idea was born: weight gain happened when a person took in more calories than he burned up. The body, it was reasoned, behaves like a calorimeter. Put in calories (from food) use up calories (from living, exercising, digesting, etc) and look at your balance sheet. If more is coming in than going out, you gain weight. If more goes out than came in, you lose. Simple. Especially if the body behaved like a calorimeter.

But it doesn’t. 

The people who sell empty, useless, nutritionally dead calories- sugar anyone? - love the calorie theory. According to them, since weight loss is only a matter of eating less calories, sugar is perfectly acceptable. Just don’t eat so many darn calories and you won’t get fat. If you do, says the sugar industry, don’t blame us. Sugar doesn’t cause weight gain, as long as you don’t eat more calories than you “burn”.

‘Course that ignores all the other things that sugar does besides provide (empty) calories: like raise blood sugar, depress the immune system, rob the body of calcium and use up mineral stores. But that’s another story.

Then there’s one other itty bitty problem: the body doesn’t behave like a calorimeter. It behaves like a chemistry lab. 

Here’s an example: Eat a bar that’s 100 calories of sugar. Your blood sugar jumps up. The pancreas responds with a big shot of insulin, whose job it is to bring blood sugar down. In some people it doesn’t do such a great job, leaving them with high blood sugar and high insulin, both risk factors for heart disease. In others it does the job OK, but the sugar winds up in the fat cells. Either way, you lose. And we’re not talking about losing fat!

On the other hand, let’s say you eat a bar that’s 100 calories of protein, fat and fiber. The protein provides nutrients necessary for the building of the body’s architecture- bones, muscles, enzymes, neurotransmitters. It also makes you feel full so you’re less likely to overeat. The fiber slows the entrance of sugar into the bloodstream and also helps protect against cancer. The fat provides important building blocks for cell membranes and hormones. Protein has only a mild effect on blood sugar and insulin, and neither fiber nor fat have any effect at all. While both bars are equal from a calorie point of view, they are anything but equal from the point of view of hormones, fat storage and health.

The effect of different sources of calories on blood sugar and hormones like insulin is one of the most important concepts in nutrition, and one which dieticians still haven’t figured out

The bottom line: Eat foods that have the least impact on blood sugar- fiber, for example, and fat, along with green leafy vegetables, low sugar fruit and plenty of protein, all of which provide nutrients, building blocks and health benefits. Sugar on the other hand provides none of those, and will instead keep you on the blood sugar roller coaster that inevitably leads to health problems such as obesity. 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Tuesday

warm up with body weight complex and some running

no strength movement today

workout:  Who the heck is Curtis P?  Well you mix that guy in with some burpees and running and you will get one heck of a workout.

Sorry for the late post and lack of nutrition talk this week.  I will have a post with more content tomorrow and maybe just maybe some video.  Tomorrow is going to be a good one...

Monday, January 10, 2011

monday

Hi guys.

No Nutrition tonight.  Well here is one tidbit.  1. Go kill a deer or get someone to give you some deer meat.  2.  Get the deer meat made into sausage or ground beef.  End of story.

workout: 15 kbs or dead lift, 21 box jump or 100 rope, 500m row or 400m run.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Thursday

Warm up: row, body weight complex, row

str: off day

workout: Ladder

10-1 Wall Ball Toss, High pulls, 50m run.

Last night I let Rob Wolf give you an intro to the paleo diet.  Basically eating meat, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds and skipping out on dairy and grains.  In his article he has a statement that reads, "If you want to screw things up and not make progress, eat all the fruit you want, it’s your nickel, ride the ride as you like."  His statement pertained to fruit and the amount you should it when weight loss is being considered.

Ok.

My favorite quote that swims in the same stream as his is from Einstein.  Now Einstein may not have been a nutritionist or fitness enthusiast (well he may have been knocking out squats and deadlifts while pumping out the whole E=MC2 thing) but his definition of insanity is, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does this quote apply to your nutrition.  How is what you are doing right now working for your endurance during workouts?  Does it help you while doing pull ups?  I bet a pull up would be easier if you were 5lbs lighter...  Does what you are doing now help you in front of the mirror?  Does it help build your confidence for your upcoming beach trip or wedding?  My goal for everyone is not to be comfortable in your own skin, but confident in it!  Be proud of your hard work!

Here comes the nutritional info for the night: 23-1RULE.  What?  23-1 rule is: You are in the gym 1 hour a day.  You are on your own the other 23 hours of the day.  The 1 hour we have with you is important but the other 23 hours are CRUCIAL for your success!  So what should you be doing with your 23hrs?  Promote world peace?  Solve the world hunger crisis?  Sit at home watching tv or playing Xbox?  All great choices... especially the last, i mean first one.  Considering nutrition and how you should start your day and keep it going I'll use an analogy:  Think about living in a log cabin back in the good old days.  Its in the middle of the winter.  You are shivering because it is so cold outside.  You want to warm up so you start a fire in your fire place (your metabolism).  To get it going you get a bunch of logs, stack em up, put small kindling under it, pine straw, etc... Plenty of food for breakfast.  So, after you have the fire going, you have got to put a few logs on it every few hours or so to make sure it is still burning ( small snacks throughout the day).  If you keep adding a log here and there, your fire will burn strong all day long.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Different Pace

Warm up: Body weight complex with the added perfect push up

Str: Front Squat

Workout: Not for time

Push Press
Pull up
GHD situp

Rest
Then TABATA ROW.

Yesterday we covered what I did to lose weight.  Tonight we will continue to harp on that style of nutrition.  I'll directly quote Robb Wolf of www.robbwolf.com as he is way more versed in clean paleo style eating.

1. Clean out the Pantry 2. Go shopping 3. Cook! 4. Go for a walk
5. Sleep!

1. Clean out the Pantry
We do not have self-control. PLAN AHEAD! Don’t have tempting foods in the house. Remove the bread, rice, pasta, cookies, crackers, puddings, ice cream, waffles, juice, sodas, cereals, oatmeal, artificial sweeteners, yogurt, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, canned soups, apple sauce, noodles...all refined, packaged foods. Bag it all up, take it to a food bank or homeless shelter. No, the kids do NOT need crackers and Goldfish. They might actually be healthier if YOU are healthier!

2. Go shopping

Now it’s time to fill your cupboards with food worth eating.
Protein.
Ideally these options are grass fed or wild caught. If you cannot find those should you eat a bagel? No! Conventional options are fine. Beans and rice do NOT count.

Land: Pork, beef, lamb. Sea: Trout, salmon, shrimp, crab. You know...fishy type stuff! Air: Chicken, turkey, duck, ostrich. I know, ostrich is flightless don’t get cheeky.
Round things out with some good quality bacon, omega-3 enriched eggs and some items like chicken- apple sausage to help you with breakfast on busy days.

Veggies.
Ideally these are local and organic, but again, this should not be a deal breaker. Our local mega-food chain actually has the best produce outside of the farmers market, and at an amazing price. Shop with the season, which typically means what is on sale. Mix up the colors.

Fruit.
Limit fruit to 1 serving per day if fat loss is your goal. A serving is not a whole watermelon. If you want to screw things up and not make progress, eat all the fruit you want, it’s your nickel, ride the ride as you like. In order of preference: Berries, melons, citrus, apples, pears. Bananas, papayas and mangoes are great for athletes post workout but dodgy for folks who want to lose weight.

Fats.
Olive oil (extra virgin) coconut, avocado (oil and whole), macadamia (whole and oil), almonds, walnuts. If fat loss is a goal limit nuts to 1-2 oz. per day.
Odds & Ends.
Marinara sauce, herbs, spices-curry powder, garlic, ginger, cilantro, garam massala, chili powder, black pepper, lemon zest, allspice, cinnamon, cumin, oregano, and basil. Get at least 20 herbs and spices to keep your cooking lively. Stock up on espresso, teas and mineral water as these are your beverages of choice.

3. Cook!
The majority of your meals look something like this: •    4-8 oz of lean protein such as chicken, lean beef, turkey, pork loin or seafood. •    Several servings of vegetables, either raw, steamed, or lightly cooked. •    Finally, round out the meal with good fats from Avocado, olive oil or a handful of un-salted nuts
such as almonds, pecans, macadamias or walnuts.

Keypoints:
•    Protein every meal •    3-4 meals per day •    Limit fruit to 1 serving if fat loss is a goal •    Limit nuts to 1-2 oz if fat loss is a goal •    Beverages are coffee, tea, minearal water. Unsweetened, this includes stevia.

4. Go for a Walk!
Get outside and move. Gauge your fitness level and act accordingly. If you need help, find a trainer or coach.

5. Sleep!
Black out your room. No, REALLY black out your room. No LED lights from alarm clocks, fire alarms, TV’s etc. Do not watch TV or check email for at least 1 hour before bed. Go to bed early, get at least 8- 9 hrs of sleep. You should wake up without an alarm, feeling refreshed.

MORE TOMORROW!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tuesday

Warm up: row 500m, then body weight complex x's 2

Str: Bench Press

Workout:  "Blast Off"

Run 800m
30kbs

Tonight I will attempt to give you as much info on New Years Nutrition as possible.  Where to start?  First let me say that the information I'm giving you comes from my own personal experience of dropping from a heavy 225lbs to an athletic 181lbs.  With that said, understand that I am not a scientist nor or a nutritionist.  I am just a guy that did a lot of "reading and learning" and used what I learned to get 44lbs of weight loss.
 
Ok, Here I am around my heaviest at 225-230.  This is the best shot that I can find, but you can see it in my face a pretty good bit.  I had a pretty big gut and honestly I remember not being able to run for more than 10min.... and that was only one mile.  So, nutrition wise what did I do to change my appearance.

1. Cut out ALL soft drinks and sports drinks.  All of these drinks contain empty calories and at 225 I needed to cut calories.
2.  No fast food.  Most if not all fast food is a heart attack in a sack, so I stayed away from that as well.
3.  Limited alcohol to 3-4 drinks per week.  I usually saved all these drinks till saturday at the Keg and Barrel :)
4.  Cut out most if not all dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese) and limited my grain (cereal, bread, pasta, rice) intake.  By limit I mean I almost cut them out completely.  I can remember eating a few subway sandwiches but I mostly lived on the following: eggs and bacon or a smoothie from smoothie king for breakfast, a small protein bar or an ostrim stick for snack (ostrim is like beef jerky), a salad from Caliente Grill for lunch ( I didn't use dressing, instead I put Guacamole and hot salsa for moisture), again I used protein shake, bar or a combo pack of almonds, beef jerky for snack again, then dinner was usually a meat and a bunch of vegetables.

I didn't know about the paleo diet (google it) or the zone diet (google it) but I knew I needed to cut out processed carbs ie things that you can not grow, things that are man made.  People have a hard time letting go of breads and cereal type stuff because we have been told for so long that it is good for us.  "Whole Grains" are good for you.  Ok, I get it.  Believe me I do.  We live in the south and sweet tea, fried foods, corn bread and dinner rolls are a staple.  Believing in this got me to 225lbs.  If you continue to do the same thing you will continue to get the same results.  Its that simple.  You can not be mad at anyone but yourself if you continue to follow the same old pattern and refuse to give change a chance.  I have a list of foods under the nutrition link on the right and if you google the paleo diet you will find more information than you can shake a stick at.

5 meals a day, cut out bread and dairy and drink nothing but water and you are on the right track.  Meat, Vegetables, Fruit, Nuts and Seeds.  If you have any questions please feel free to post them to the comments section and also give me an email or a face book message.  I will gladly answer all your questions to the best of my ability.  I'll write more on this later.  Here is a photo of me at 181-185.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Thanks to the iPhone.

Monday: Warm up with body weight movements

Str: Pull up and wighted goblet rev lunges

Workout: "Dirty Martini"

Run 400m then 10 rounds of 10 push up, 10 jump squat, 10 sit up then run 400m

A great body weight workout to challenge your ability to move your own weight around for 15-20min.

The new year is upon us.  I am sure many of you have already set some resolutions.  If you have, Great!  If you haven't, Great!  Some folks set resolutions without thinking... Here is an example, "In 2011 I want to get in shape."  What type of resolution is that?  One that more than likely, will not get accomplished.  Here is another example, "By March first of 2011 I want to lose 10lbs and take 30seconds off my mile time and add 5 push ups to my push up max."  See the difference?  I want you to be specific with your goals, set a deadline and also share them with people.  Don't let this year slip by!  Set some specific goals, write them down, tell someone, and go and get those suckers!