June 23, 2009

Join me in the fight

The 10:10 Wellness community is comprised of a lot of smart people like you who possess an above average value for health and fitness.  Your choices result in a standard of healthy living not experienced by the average American.  That's good.

 
Our mission here, to lead people into healthy lifestyles and activities they can get excited about, has some very positive consequences - better health and less sickness.  Adopting a lifestyle that maximizes wellness will save us a lot of money in the long term.  That's good too.
 
Because we're in control of our health, we can make decisions that have the greatest impact on our health and our finances.  I so firmly believe in this that I wrote a piece on this almost two years ago.  It was my healthy contribution to the cure for obesity - or any lifestyle disease.
 
 
As our government considers taking more control of our health care system, I feel provoked to speak (or type anyway).  If you read the post, I hope you'll agree with it that some of the solutions to our health care "crisis", as the politicians like to put it, can be found in the market.
 
As a first step, I signed a petition posted by the organization "Free Our Health Care Now".  They'll probably ask me for money and to participate in events.  I'd rather just go for a run.  If I'm truly an advocate for healthy living though, I'll need to do better than that.
 
If you feel the same, I hope you'll take action, starting with signing the petition.
 

June 19, 2009

Built For The Long Run

Thanks to those of you who contacted me to let me know there's an article in this month's Men's Health about the Tarahumara Indians.  I'll probably find it by September since I'm only on the February issue right now.  Multiply this backlog by 4 or 5 other magazine subscriptions and you can understand the hot brunette's frustration with my magazine piles.
 
Anyway, I wrote to you about this long living, disease free, injury free, marathon running, beer drinking, chia seed eating tribe in the summer of '06.  My fastination with the Tarahumara, combined with a very painful first marathon in '05, lead me to change my running style.  I now run like an indian, and I'm starting to do it in my 'Five Fingers".
 
Five fingers
 
If you're looking for some mojo to get you runnning or running again, without injury, check this out:
 
 
Also, the first Tarahumara article is still at the Men's Health website:
 

June 09, 2009

From Russia with Love?!

Even the Russians are condemning the decline of American capitalism.  After reading this I feel lead to act.  Hopefully it will be more than just posting an article.

American capitalism is gone with a whimper

June 05, 2009

8 Weeks to a Sprint Triathlon Bribe

It's that time of year again when I try to trap, I mean coax, some of you to do your first triathlon. Here's a few reasons:

  1. Triathlon is a wellness sport (easy on the body).

  2. A "sprint" tri is achievable within 8 weeks for 8 out of 10 people.*

  3. I don't like racing alone.

  4. In 2 months you'll be able to say "I'm a triathlete"

  5. Free Monkeys!

The absolute best first triathlon venue in the Tampa Bay area is the Top Gun race on Saturday August 1, 2009 at the Ft. DeSoto park. The water's warm, the park is spectacular, and I'll be there. And it just so happens that the race is about 8 weeks away.

So here's this year's bribe. If you complete Top Gun, or any other triathlon, and it's truly your first tri, submit to me a race photo** and a link to your race results, and I'll send you a case of Monkeys. That's a $68.00 bribe!

You'll find the Top Gun registration as well as trifind.com (to locate a race near you) at our "What's Happening" page. There's on-line training resources at our triathlon resource page. And then there's me or other tri-addicts who would be stoked to provide encouragement, training, and tips for your first tri.

You can do this! Make a decision now. Remember, not making a decision, is making a decision. If you can't say "yes, I'll do it" right this moment, at least forward this message to another potential first timer and utilize the power (or guilt) of peer pressure. Be an instigator!

  • this statistic was pulled from the rear end of an often delusional writer

** all photos submitted for this promotion become the property of Homemade Fitness, Inc. (you know, that "tiny corporation") and can be utilized on said company's website for promotional, entertainment, or embarrassment purposes

3 First Timers and an Instigator at Top Gun 2008 Top Gun 1

Are you in?

June 02, 2009

Take Care of Your Heart

If you've been to my crib or more specifically our "campaigner room" (study), you've no doubt noticed the plethora of healthy magazines (I can't remember the name of the movie that made fun of the word plethora - but it makes me go out of my way to use it sometimes). We have Runners World, Men's Health, Cyling (and they throw in their Mountain Bike companion mag), Competitor Southeast, Outside, and Backpacker. For the girls who want something just for them, there's Health and another one, Fitness.

Too many fur sure as I'm never able to read more than a tenth of the material. Mostly they just sit on the coffee table until they're about 6 months old, then I chuck 'em. One magazine however has risen to the top for me such that when it arrives, I go through it within a day - Outside.

For a guy or girl that digs the outdoors, it's the best. While looking online at Outside.com to find an article to share with you from the June issue (which isn't there), I found a classic piece on heart health. When you get 5-10 minutes, please scan through it cause I think you'll find at least one nugget of useful info.

The Owner's Manual: Your Heart

May 19, 2009

The Dimitri Dilemma

Last week I had the pleasure of going on the road with my friend and ex-business partner Dimitri. The occasion was work in the Florida Keys - and yes, we do actually work down there. We call on many of the same customers, so we've become accustomed to carpooling to save a few bucks and enjoy each other's company.

While driving south on the turnpike, west of Miami, Dimitri expressed his discontent with his growing mid-section. As you can see from some pictures below, he's still in good shape. However, he's aware of a trend that has begun, namely adding a pound or two a year mostly around the middle. Recently turning 40, he'd prefer to be 20 lbs lighter. He and I have had this discussion before.

"How do I get myself back in shape?" he asks. I used to suggest he try some running, cycling, and weightlifting. He doesn't like those things. You see, Dimitri's a board sport guy. He loves to surf, kite board, and occasionally snowboard. And he's very good at these things. But because he doesn't have large amounts of time to pursue these activities, combined with the fickleness of mother nature, it's challenging for a hardworking dad (he and Iske have a 22 month old girl) to maintain fitness on these activities. Fortunately, he mostly follows a very healthy Greek/Mediterranean diet (not from any book but from upbringing). But it's pretty hard, impossible actually, to maintain your fighting weight if there's no training in the picture.

Which brings me to point #1. The absolute best way to gain fitness and maintain your ideal weight is through exercise. Check that - the only way to gain fitness and maintain your ideal weight is through exercise. Yes diet is important, but diet alone won't get you there. As a sub point, the only way (ONLY WAY) to change your metabolism is through exercise. Ridiculously simple points, or laws if you will, but I find it amazing how many of us expect results while ignoring these truths.

So what's a guy like Dimitri to do? Well at least when he's with me in Key West, he has the opportunity to do the "10:10 Anywhere Workout". I've mentioned before this calisthenics routine I created in response to some of my hotel stays. But rather than exercising in a boring hotel room, we take it to Smathers Beach on the east side of the island.

Smathers Beach access

Smathers sign

I parked at the beach access point where a small pavilion awaits us. Do you notice something unusual about the parking meter here? This kinda stuff happens to me all the time. Seriously.

1010 parking meter

At the pavilion we start exercising from the bottom up in complimentary movements. Toe raise/calf raise. Squat/lunge. All the way up to push-up/pull-up.

Smathers pavilion

Here's our view from the pavilion. Notice the "campers"?

Pavilion view

Here we improvise with a coconut tree.

Dimitri row Chris row start Chris row finish

As I've said, it's a great workout, and someday I'll create a mini-book on it. But it's not my point. The point is I have a very athletic fit friend who doesn't like exercise. And because he's well into a career and family, it's starting to show. And he doesn't like it.

Tony Robbins tells us that we're all motivated by the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain. Has Dimitri reached a point where the pain of knowing he's not in his best shape outweighs his pleasure of not exercising?

I have no clue. I hate to say it, but I'm not encouraged by his prospects until he finds some kind of physical activity that he'll do and enjoy and that's not controlled by wind and waves.. He has a friend named George who's a personal trainer. He called him on our way back and George is gonna come by and hopefully get Dimitri going on a program he'll follow.

If he's unable to find an exercise routine, like many, he'll eventually get fed up and go on a deprivation diet to lose the 20 lbs. Then he'll go back to the old routine of eating and not exercising and adding 1 or 2 pounds (of fat) each year. Certainly, there are worse things than the dieting yo-yo that can happen to a person - but this is clearly not what I'd call 10:10 abundance.

I have a neighbor who experienced the pain of not being in shape - he had a heart attack. Thankfully, as heart attacks go, it was minor, and he didn't experience any significant heart muscle damage. But it sure woke him up. This scare made the pain of avoiding certain unhealthy foods and activities (smoking) quite easy. As much as I tried to get him on a regular exercise routine before the heart attack, he still hasn't made any new fitness habits after this episode.

Dimitri, my neighbor, you, and I all live in a world of laws. Like the law of gravity that says you're gonna look like a pear after adding too much blubber. Or the law of attraction that says those cookies you've been craving will end up in your belly. The most elemental of those is the law of cause and effect. Exercise and good eating (cause) result in abundant energy and health (effect). Who are we to think we can ignore this law? But we do don't we?

If we complain that we're overweight, get sick all the time, are lacking in energy, etc. but don't exercise and eat well, aren't we ignoring one of nature's greatest laws? The degree to which we choose to ignore this law as it pertains to our health will determine our lack of good health. Garbage in - garbage out as the saying goes. Here's another preaching point: everything counts and it's all cumulative. Remember that the next time you're presented with a decision of health and wellness.

"Dude, are you lecturing me?" you ask. I'm lecturing you and me. And I'm trying to address, as frankly as possible, the dilemma many of us face.

I have good news though. It's another law. This one comes from Sir Isaac Newton and his laws of motion. It's called the law of inertia and it has two parts. The first part says "a body that is not moving will not move until a net force acts upon it". Kinda speaks to the dilemma thing doesn't it?

The second part says "a body in motion tends to remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force". That's the good news! Once you get your body moving, it'll stay moving. We just have to avoid all those outside forces that would create excess friction to slow us down.

So the answer to our dilemma is to find a "net force" that will get your body moving. Preferably that force would come in the form of a workout partner, a trainer, or me vs. your doctor. Together you (we) will get your body in motion. Then you can begin to enjoy the fruits of that first law I mentioned - cause and effect.

So simple, yet so hard.

Here's my last point. You have to be the cause. You have to make the phone call, send the email, or reply to the blog. You have to join the gym, join the club, or sign up for the race. You have to say no to the poor food choices and yes to the good ones. Start putting the laws of the universe to work for you, not against you.

May 05, 2009

The humble push-up: a metaphor for life itself

Certainly a good suggested read from a corporation named "Homemade Fitness".

From my Bradenton Herald today

April 29, 2009

10 Lessons From a Raccoon in Palmetto

This has nothing to do with fitness. Or wellness. But I just had to share an instructive encounter with a raccoon on my way to work the other day. He taught me the following:

Raccoon

  1. Look both ways, left and right, before crossing the road.
  2. Know your mental limits: if you don't know the difference between left and right, just stay off the road.
  3. Know your physical limits: while you may think you're fast, cars are faster.
  4. Forgive anyone who has trespassed against you. Today.
  5. Have a will.
  6. Make sure everyone you love knows exactly that. Today.
  7. Know your maker. He might be coming. Today.
  8. Live, love, laugh, and have fun. If you have trouble doing this then...#9.
  9. Start making changes to your life. So you can do #8. Today.
  10. Carpe diem. Just in case it's your last.

Respect Your Temple (2)

From The Word For You Today posted on the Erie Christian Fellowship Church blog:

Part 2

April 28, 2009

Respect Your Temple (1)

From the Word For You Today, posted on the blog of Erie Christian Fellowship Church:

“GOD BOUGHT YOU WITH A HIGH PRICE. SO,,,HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODY.” 1 CORINTHIANS 6:20 NLT

At the resurrection, “Our earthly bodies…will be raised to live forever” (1Co 15:42 NLT), but in the meantime you must “honor God with your body” by observing a few basic principles like: (1) Exercising regularly: Half of us who start exercise programs abandon them within six months. The secret is to start slowly. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park the car and walk, play ball with the kids instead of watching TV. God designed your body to move, and strolling from the car to your desk every morning doesn’t cut it! Exercising thirty minutes 3 – 4 times a week reduces blood pressure and stress, and boosts your sense of well-being. (2) Eating right: Many of us eat for the wrong reasons, like fatigue, anger, and low self-esteem. Eat to live, don’t live to eat. Insufficient fruit, veggies and fiber and too much fast food can wreak havoc with your health. Practice self-control. Remember, “Those who belong to Christ…have given up their old selfish feelings and…things they wanted to do” (Gal 5:24 NCV). (3) Getting enough sleep: Pastor Tony Jenkins consulted his doctor about his wife’s snoring. “Does it really bother you that much?” he asked. “It’s not just me,” Jenkins replied, “It’s bothering the whole congregation!” Seriously, we live in a sleep-deprived society but most of us require 7 – 9 hours shut-eye. You can probably get by on less, but do you just want to “get by?” The Psalmist said, “It is no use…to get up early and stay up late…The Lord gives sleep to those he loves” (Ps 127:2 NCV). So turn off the TV and the computer and turn in at a reasonable hour!