Our December Goals

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and the end of the year! 2015 is right around the corner and even though you might be working on those New Year Resolutions, we all need to realize we have three more weeks of quality time that shouldn’t be wasted! So let’s brainstorm… think of five REALISTIC goals for December. These will help keep you focused during the frenzy of the holiday season. They will also get the ball rolling so you have some momentum moving into January. It’s hard to go full throttle the first of the year, so build some steam in December by creating and achieving these reasonable goals.

Hungry’s Goals

1. Train every day! For what? Life! I don’t have any fitness related goals right now but after skipping the last six days of November, I’ve trained every day of December. Let’s keep it going since consistency is key for progress.

2. Perfect work attendance! Since starting at my new Y in October, I haven’t missed a shift. I want to stay healthy, or tough, enough to keep those paychecks flowing and build other’s trust in my abilities at my new workplace.

3. Bring all meals to work! Every time I forget to pack lunch or go grocery shopping, I end up spending an average of $10 on a meal. I can eat healthier and save crucial money by preparing simple meals once a week.

4. Continuing Education Rush! I did a TRX GSTC on Sunday and have loads of YMCA training courses lined up for December. Still, let’s push the envelope and finish one more I didn’t plan to do! I have some ideas so stay posted.

5. Celebrate Christmas! I love Christmas. I love presents. I love the holidays, the decorations, the music, the meals with the family. And if I’ve done 1-4, you better believe I’ll be celebrating such a great month and year.

Fit’s Goals

1. Train six days a week. This means either lifting, cardio, yoga, OR all three! There’s always room for something. I’m letting myself have one day off, but I’ll always be doing with my walks with Noke at the very least.

2. Bake once a week. This was my jam every week back in Boulder, where everything was simpler and easier. I’ve baked only a few times since living here in LA, whether due to lack of time, lack of ingredients, or just laziness or tiredness. No more! Getting back on that baking…plus it’s great therapy.

3. Cook legit meals at least three times a week. This doesn’t mean I’m eating out the other times, but Hungry and I have what we call “lazy meals” which we’ve been thriving on lately. This means quick microwaving, or fridge food. I want to get creative and into cooking more and come up and try out new recipes! My work provides my lunch so I just have to cover breakfast and dinner!

4. Meditate every day. Oh this horse I have fallen so far off of! Yesterday, I was thinking how badly I need to get into meditation. It creates such a healthy impact on my life and I crave it especially during these stressful times.

5. Go through my emails every day. Boring one? Most certainly, but for me–necessary. I used to be good at keeping up, categorizing, etc with every single email, but during these hectic times, I just throw my hands up. Every day, I want to have my inbox organized by the end of the day. This doesn’t mean every email is taken care of, but at least it’s starred or in the proper folder. Even though it’s slightly more work, it will alleviate stress in the long-term.

For December, there be our goals. I’m excited for us to start this tradition every month. It’s always good to set goals. It keeps you motivated, it keeps you focused, it keeps you grounded while you dream. Remember to make them (or at least most of them) realistic so that you can reach it! It’s good to set standards high, but you want them completable so that you can feel good about yourself at the end of the month. Encourage yourself and those around you to create at least 3 monthly goals. It should help keep you in line ;). Make goals to stay hungry and fit!

Dec082014

Our Weekend in Pics

Our weekend involved food (what’s new)

Workouts

Work get-togethers

Fitness training courses

Happiness

Kitties

My favorite pic 2014

Nov212014

Don’t Lift Those Heavy Weights!

Last night while getting back into squatting regularly, someone else was making some serious mistakes in their form and training program. I was concerned for their health and said something to their friend, hoping he could convince him to clean up his act for his own good. Then, the friend asked me about his own issue relating to some pain in his shoulders when he is doing what his demonstration seemed like dual bent over posterior deltoid flyes with 35 lb dumbbells.

This all leads to my point, to stop lifting heavy weights… if you’re not ready for it. I know you want to get big and strong fast, but this process is a progression that needs to be taken slowly. The muscles in your chest are large and can handle a significant amount of weight, but with poor form (or even with proper form) your shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints might not be conditioned to do the same. It will take correct technique and a significant amount of training to make sure your stabilizing muscles that protect your joints are prepared for a larger load.

Here are five tips to protect yourself and maximize your effort!

1. Warmup! It’s important to perform warm up exercises to loosen muscles fibers that are shorter, tighter, and colder from inactivity. Some internal and externals rotations can really help maximize your bench results without fatiguing your shoulders for the lift.

2. Set a rep range and stick to it. If you’re going for five reps of 135 lbs on the bench press, you’re doing that for a reason. Make sure you can perform all of those repetitions almost perfectly before considering doing five reps of any more weight in the same exercise.

3. Use assistance when necessary. I’m not telling you to let your spotter row the weight from your chest, but protect your joints when performing heavier weights or higher repetition ranges. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of using belts, straps, and wraps often (because I want to strengthen my core and stabilizer muscles), but it’s important to protect your body!

4. Rest! Someone at my facility benches and curls weights every single day of the week. When you isolate a body part and damage muscle fibers to the point that they need to be repaired, you actually have to let them repair before you hit that muscle group hard again! Don’t waste your progress by being reckless.

5. Do it properly! When you walk in the gym, leave your ego at the door. No one is going to be impressed by your 1/3 squats with two plates on each side. Well, no one who knows what they’re talking about. Ask for advice, learn proper form, use a coach, and make sure you are getting the most out of the exercises without risking getting injured.

So there you have it. Be smart. Condition your joints and strengthen your stabilizer muscles. Everyone complains about elbow pain after doing chest and triceps with flared elbows and heavy skull crushers. Everyone complains about their lower back hurting when they deadlift and squat. Avoid being sidelined and train smarter! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

Nov192014

The Gym as a Community

Crossfit. One of the fields that Crossfit excels in is its tendency to build communities. Most of the boxes that I have visited or heard about are very supportive environments for the athletes that are either regulars or guests. Now, I’m not going to go into great depth in this post about the nature of the community. I won’t discuss the dynamics of the community in terms of the quality or availability of help and advice, just overall encouragement, support, and comfort.

As a member of many gyms, fitness facilities, martial arts studios, and public workout areas, I have a lot of experience with different fitness groups. The reason I continue to provide my services at a YMCA is because of the community aspect that it offers to the members and guests. Every day, individuals come in to check out our facility and as I give them a tour, they realize how much of a more supportive and friendly environment we offer. I ask them where they workout and the most common answers, in order, are Equinox, Spectrum, Dave Barton, 24 Hour Fitness, and LA Fitness. (We are in LA right now.) They change their memberships often and are much happier.

Now, without calling out any single organizations directly, every facility offers something different. Some open in order to make a lot of money, some want to work with celebrity clientele, some enjoy doing what they do, and others wants to help people. Most do it for multiple reasons. I’ve always worked at the places that REALLY want to help people. (Because I can achieve the other three through my private services, when I want.) So why is that supportive environment so important to others? I won’t tell you my reasons, I will tell you what the people say.

They don’t like it when the front desk staff doesn’t say hello and goodbye. They don’t like it when other members ignore them when they ask a friendly question. They don’t like feeling as if they’ll get in trouble for doing something wrong, when it might not even be the wrong thing to do. They don’t want to feel like an employee, member, or guest is going to steal their stuff. They don’t want to feel like people are talking about what they’re doing for their workout behind their backs. They want to feel comfortable, because they’ve earned that by paying for a membership and being a respectable member.

Everyone going to the gym is making an effort to look, feel, and/or live a better life. I respect that in almost every instance and recognize that these people, whether they are health-seekers, elite athletes, or any other level are doing something that they might not entirely want to do or enjoy doing, but are trying to make a difference. Maybe they are having health issues and need to strengthen their heart; perhaps they have come from hard times and becoming a professional athlete could help support a large family, or maybe they are retired, bored and looking for some friends and activity through a group exercise class.

The reason almost doesn’t matter, what matters is that they deserve an environment that is conducive to creating a healthy lifestyle. That doesn’t just mean reasonable rates, great parking, and the best equipment on the market. It also means a friendly and knowledgeable staff plus some members that at least have the courtesy to tell someone, “Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush, maybe next time.” Now, I’m not trying to change the world or force people at the gym to alter the way they workout. We all know what gyms are more welcoming and those that are a little colder.

If you like to workout alone with your playlist and hoodie on, I’m not stopping you, but if someone asks to work in with you, don’t ignore them. Give them an answer. If some popular facility hired you to work the front desk and you can’t help someone with a question because you’re too busy flirting with the attractive guys and girls that come in, well… to be honest, I’d fire you but maybe your supervisors are okay with that. Says a lot about the facility. Have some respect for the industry and leave some feedback about your facility and what category it falls into below! Finding a great community that supports you is one of the best ways to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Nov122014

Help Save Lives

Recently, I received an email from change.org. I’m subscribed by choice and I typically read the petition and sign it if I believe in it. Sometimes I even share it on social media if I think it’s a worthy cause. However, sometime last week I got one that really resonated with me more than others. The email was titled “My son drowned on a cruise” and the petition was titled “Make it Mandatory for Cruise Lines to Employ Lifeguards.”

The story states…

“October 13, 2013 remains one of the darkest days of my life. My family of five was enjoying the last day of our Carnival cruise in the Caribbean when tragedy struck in a matter of minutes: my six-year-old son Qwentyn drowned in a pool.

Although it breaks my heart, I have come to terms with the fact that I got distracted and let this happen. Accidents happen, and that’s why I couldn’t believe that most cruise lines do not employ lifeguards on ships. With all the activities occurring on a ship deck at any given time, I believe that properly trained lifeguards — acting as an extra set of eyes and ears — will help to save more kids’ lives.

It has taken me some time to pull myself together to start this petition, but I felt that I had to do it so that other families don’t have to go through what my family and I have during the last year. I’m here to ask Carnival Corporation and the cruise line industry to employ lifeguards to provide greater passenger safety onboard ships.

Research shows that nearly two million passengers under 18 board cruises each year. Many cruise travelers can probably relate to the distracting nature of the deck — music, people, water activity, entertainment and noise are all constant. Despite this, only Disney puts lifeguards on its ships, a decision made shortly after our son’s passing. The cruise industry brought $42 billion in economic activity to the U.S. in 2012, so why can’t it require that companies hire lifeguards to ensure greater safety?

Make no mistake, parental supervision should always be a priority, but it’s clear to me and many others that the presence of lifeguards can only help to protect lives. Please sign our petition so we can make this important change sooner than later. Thanks for your support!”

My reaction was not just sympathetic to the family that lost a child. Despite being a person that feels responsible for nearly everything that happens to me, there is something wrong with this picture. As much as we can blame the father, and he obviously blames himself, there has to be some accountability. As an experienced pool manager, I have used the old put a sign up to remove our liability trick, but my staff was still trained to respond to emergencies and make sure no one loses their life on our deck or in our water.

The cruise lines are not going to be there to respond to the emergencies if they have pools and no lifeguards. That is something only private facilities can get away with, and believe me, I know. I also was the Director of an Aquatics Facility that was privately owned and we did not require a lifeguard on duty. Still, we had certified lifeguards teaching swim lessons and managing the deck, because safety matters. This way, we saved money because lifeguards are a black hole for costs, but still never lost anyone.

I have been on a cruise ship and swam in their pools, and I would be willing to pay an extra dollar in order to pay for a single lifeguard because if every cruise ship had one lifeguard per pool area, that child would not have died. Many individuals would still be alive. I hate it when people lose their lives when it is completely preventable. A major company being cheap and wanting to maximize profits is completely preventable.

So, I’ll go even farther with this petition and say that cruise lines can raise the price of cruises to compensate for the wages given to putting one lifeguard on duty per pool area. It’s such a sad story, and it never had to happen. While we continue to teach parents and children about water safety, let’s encourage the other side to have professionals keep us safe. Thank you for reading and please sign the petition.

Nov072014

Mark Bell at Barbell Brigade

Last weekend, through my reliable Instagram feed, I found out that Mark Bell would be doing a powerlifting seminar at Barbell Brigade. For those of you who don’t know, Mark Bell is very well-known in the world of strength training. He invents and patents products for training, makes one of the most popular podcasts, competed in powerlifting and professional wrestling, and appeared in the documentary that his brother made. (Bigger, Faster, Stronger)

Also, for those of you who don’t know, Barbell Brigade is a training facility in Los Angeles located a few blocks from Union Station. It is absolutely amazing and I will be doing a video there shortly so you will find out more. (200 lb dumbbells, sleds on turf, olympic platforms, monkey bars, freedom to do what you want, etc.)

I decided to go because it would be a great chance to see Mark present and check out the facility. It was inexpensive, so well worth my time if all went well. And it did… I even dragged Fit along with me. Now in all honesty, I’m happy with my squat, deadlift, and bench press, so my reason for attending wasn’t to get advice for myself. As a coach, I wanted to see how Mark presented to a large diverse crowd. There were all sorts of people there so I won’t even start to describe them. Nevertheless, he had experienced lifters demonstrate technique as he explained what they were doing and why they were doing it.

Typically, I find a few minor, or even major, points that I disagree with in other people’s clinics, but strangely enough… I was agreeing with nearly everything he said. It was actually a little creepy seeing someone else that you’ve never seen coach before explain topics in a similar way. (With the exception of some choice of words… I keep it PG, because I work with a lot of young athletes.)

So, that kept my attention and I particularly enjoyed how he answered most of the questions. Very open-minded to implementing various training practices while still staying true to core principles of powerlifting. Very relatable for the general populace and extremely entertaining. He had the crowd participating a lot and everyone was laughing a considerable amount. The group seemed comfortable during the “lecture” portion, which is important to creating an effective learning environment.

Us taking a creeper selfie with Mark Bell in background

Now, I wasn’t there strictly for business. I also wanted to ask Mark about the Slingshot, a product he developed that assists in the bench press. In 2011, I performed my best competitive bench press ever, and about one month later suffered a full SLAP tear of my labrum in my left shoulder. I decided to forego the only way to repair it, which is surgery and just deal with it. It took a while to get strength back, but I’ve built the bench up to nearly 70% of what it used to be by developing other muscles in the shoulder girdle. I asked Mark what Slingshot model and size would work for me, someone with nearly a decade of proper bench press experience, and a torn labrum, and he told me to order an XL Reactive, the first stage of four different levels.

Fit posing with Silent Mike, Mark Bell’s assistant

I should be receiving it soon and will write a full review on it. In the review, I will talk about how the product works for someone with a serious injury and also the uses of the product. I am sure I will find a way to use it for my non-powerlifting athletes so stay tuned for that. All in all, it was a great experience and even though we had to leave nearly 2/3 of the way through, we left completely satisfied. Fit even enjoyed it more than she expected! As always…stay hungry and fit!

Oct292014

Do This Before You Go to Bed!

We all complain that we simply don’t have enough time. Does that sound familiar? I say it too. We all use it as an excuse–whether that’s in order to not do the dishes, not brush your teeth, or not exercise! Well I say bollocks! You do have time. You just need to realize it. Even though it’s easy to say you don’t have time to workout, you do. It doesn’t need to be an hour workout. It can even be six minutes! Something is better than nothing so do this before you go to bed!

30 seconds each

Crunches
Side crunches (right)
Side crunches (left)
Reverse crunches
Fast bicycles
Slow bicycles
In n outs (rows)
Scissors
Crossed leg crunches
Ankle touches

1 minute

Plank (you can side plank for a break)

The above workout is six minutes. SIX MINUTES! You can do that. Do yourself a favor and even if you “don’t have any time,” I promise you can squeeze this in. Not only is it good for your health and sculpting your core, it will make you feel better about yourself. You will feel that you have accomplished something, even if it’s a short workout. This is a great, healthy thing to do before bed. Make it a habit and do it every other day! Believe in yourself! This will give you power! Please leave any comments or questions in the comment section. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

meow

Oct242014

AMPY: A Charger Worth Running For

Recently, I learned about a new gadget in the fitness industry and I am quite excited about it. I have not tried it yet, but I thought I would share the news with you because I’m excited for it! I found it through a fitness newsletter I receive and learned more about it on Kickstarter. It’s called AMPY. It was created by a few PhD students from Northwestern who met together in a class. They had a great idea and ran with it. Do you know about those flashlights that turn on after you shake them? It uses kinetic energy. And guess what? So does AMPY.

You’re probably wanting the specifics. So I will give them to you! AMPY is a device charger that uses energy from motion. How freaking cool is that! Kinetic energy–pure and simple. This personal, clean energy, folks! You might be asking, “HOW?!” Well, AMPY is a wearable device in many different formats. You can strap it to your arm while you run, you can put it in your pocket as you walk, or around your leg while you bike! AMPY will literally generate energy while you bustle your way around town. Once you get to your destination, you can take it off yourself and charge whatever needs charging–anything with a USB port. I seriously can’t get over what a creative and useful idea this is.

Besides being totally awesome and useful by generating clean energy for our personal use, AMPY also comes with a pretty neat app. It will tell you how much energy you’ve generated, how many calories you’ve burned, and your carbon footprint offset! You can then share the daily info with friends on social media. Although the app isn’t necessary for the device to work, it still looks pretty cool to use.

This is the perfect tool to have on you (literally) at all times because we know what a bummer it is to have a device run out of juice when you really need it. With AMPY, you can just plug in easy, peasy. Now remember, I have not used it yet as it’s not out to the public. I am simply bringing the knowledge that I have learned researching this product. It’s something I want to back–it’s only on Kickstarter for a few more weeks now. I’m always interested about the newest fitness gadget and I am absolutely thrilled when they are creative like this. I am looking forward to trying it out! You should take a peek at it and see if it’s worth your money. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: Are you interested in AMPY?

Oct222014

How to Workout at Disneyland

As you saw, we went to Disneyland over the weekend. It was a blast–no doubts there. However, when you’re at Disneyland for 13 hours, it’s hard to fit a workout in at the gym. How do we remedy this situation? Workout at Disneyland! What?! It’s possible, I promise. Despite the churros, the popcorn, and the beignets, you can also fit in some good workouts. After all, you do spend a considerable amount of time waiting in line. Instead of wasting time being bored or on your smart phone, but that time to good use! Work it!

Some of these are self-explanatory, but others I will delve into.

When I say incline push-ups, you might be thinking where. I say incline, because you don’t want to put your hands on the gross Disneyland ground. So there are usually poles forming the lines, or huge flower bed holders and so forth. Find one of those in line, move your body in the correct place, and start doing push-ups! It’ll give you a rush and a pump and get you even more excited for the ride!
When I say partner shoulder raises or biceps curls, you obviously need a partner. Now, you can do loads of partner exercises, but there were only so much room on my thing. For example, with shoulder raises you would have someone press on your straight arms, while you try to raise them. There are so many options for this, you can really get creative.

It’s actually easy to fit in a workout at Disneyland or any other theme park because you spend some time waiting in line! Pair that with the thousands of steps you will walk and you’ve done a great workout for the day! Did you know that we took 30,000 steps (13.4mi) when we were at Disneyland? That could’ve been my highest ever. So instead of waiting in line doing nothing at a theme park, spice it up and exercise! Have fun and workout! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS PUPPY PIC

Wet dog wet dog!

Oct172014

Flex Belt Review

There are a lot of interesting products out there. Some of them are bogus, some of them are legit. It’s hard to determine what really works and what’s just a scam. As we were being sent the Flex Belt, we felt a little wary, because it had the “get fit quick” feel that we aren’t huge fans of. However, as my mum says, try everything once! You never know about something (truly) until you try it. So, we went ahead and agreed to review the product. You never know! And we can do what’s right for others and let them know if it actually works or not. Let’s get to it.

This has been tried by about four members of the “family.” We all have our different views, but it also shows more than one person’s experience with the product which is helpful in deciding for yourself. Let’s get to the how it works part of this review. First off, read the manual to make sure you do the steps properly. Basically you attach gel pads to a belt and wrap it around your stomach. Connected to a device, the belt uses electricity to stimulate your muscles. The gel sticks on your belly button and each of your obliques in attempts to get a large area of the abdominal. It feels like you’re wearing a bomb strapped to your torso, which is slightly alarming, but you get used to it. You can easily put a shirt over the belt. The belt stimulates your muscles in contractions. It will stimulate, then rest, stimulate, then rest, over and over until time is up. The higher the intensity level, the longer it will contract and the more intense it will be.

Does it work? I can’t honestly say yes or no. I could definitely feel my muscles contract on level 70 (it goes from 1-150) and I could definitely see Chris’ abs dramatically pulling as he put it on level 150. We’ve done it a few times throughout a few weeks. Sophie’s abs were sore the next day. Although mine weren’t, I could still feel the muscles pulling. So we know it works the muscles in some form, but does it chisel them? Does it make the muscles stronger? We aren’t sure. But I know that I will continue to put the belt on from time to time just because it’s kind of fun. It’s also good to stimulate your muscles in that way. Ever hear of stims? It’s an important part of muscle recovery. So we will be using it at the minimum for that.

Should you try it? Why not? Give it a try because it might work for you. Everybody’s body is different. If we could feel our muscles contracting, maybe it does work in a way. We will leave it up to you. At least check it out–you can just click here to learn more. Be open-minded, be critical, let your body try it for about 2 weeks before you make a solid decision. We are obviously in the middle of the road. It’s always fun to try new products! And as always, stay hungry and fit!