Death To Health In The Fitness Industry?

 With all the advancements in nutrition, sports science, exercise adaptation and manipulating the body to do many things, the fitness industry is still creating flaws that are slowly killing the real application for what fitness is in the first place....About TRUE HEALTH!!! Sure there have been enhanced breakthroughs where people have longer life spans than what the average age was let's say in 1930 but there are still problems that aren't getting attention that spills crisis and that's the issue with those who take things to the extreme.

Just yesterday I read more than 25 bodybuilders alone that we know of, averaging 35 years old and up dropped dead due to many factors beyond steroid usage. That scares the shit out of me cause I'm over 40 and outliving some of these guys when they should be having lives that end too soon. It has become a serious issue in the industry as to why these things are becoming a normal thing when in reality it shouldn't be normal at all. Granted Bodybuilding today is a sport that has little to nothing to do with health and since the dawn of guys like Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman, it is destroying the very foundation to what is healthy and living a long life of quality. 

With 8 billion people in the world, the speck amount that are bodybuilders and pro athletes dying young can go by the way side and I get it but when it comes to those who are focused on their health or are starting out, are already pre-conditioned to believe that those in the magazines, those videos of men and women on Generation Iron and the extreme training modalities are the only ways to be "fit" when those can be the very things that can kill you. This goes beyond bodybuilding, it's the flashy and "cool" looking stuff that gets the most attention when basics of movement and awareness are the true keys that keep you going. Coming from a guy who also promotes supplements, that aspect of the industry has gotten pretty ridiculous too. 

Supplements should be treated as the word implies, supplementary or small additions to what you're doing with your current training regimen or goals. Do you necessarily NEED them? That depends on the individual but from a general perspective, no you don't. People rely way too much on supplementation as if its the the true way to health which it isn't. If that were the case, why would we need food anymore? They can just come in pill form right? Again, it sounds contradictory coming from me who works with Lost Empire Herbs and take certain things like Creatine & Spark but I don't rely on these things to keep me healthy, they're just part of the journey. Like anyone else I still believe in eating well as best as possible keeping things stocked up like Chicken, Beef, Rice, Fruits, Veggies and other great stuff. Limit the amount of junk to near zero which isn't impossible but it's not so easy as knowing what 1+2 is. 

In a multi billion dollar industry, supplementation has had people taken aspects of real food out and taught to only use supplements as a means to be healthy. There are dark sides to what people will do. Luckily, there are people out there who treat health the way it is meant to and teach those how to balance things according to their needs and not some textbook generic outlook to what someone has to do. The problem is, many of those who practice don't get the credit they deserve or even get recognized for actually helping an industry that has many flaws. 

There are a lot of mistakes that need to be corrected. Will it ever be completely corrected? Most likely not but we will do what we can to help those find the best resources available so they can do things and research on what can be useful that will give them a long and sustainable life training smart, eating better and understanding how supplementation really works. 

There are those in this world that treat training and overall health like it's a fucking joke and think they can get away with teaching people that smoking cigs and drinking enough espresso to give an elephant a heart attack is part of a healthy lifestyle. Train to the extreme everyday without any repercussions and that if you don't go hard all the time, you're a F@ggot and Loser. To me, that's not inspiring nor MORAL, it's pure bullshit evil that can get a lot of people hurt while banking on their misery and pain. Training is about balance and understanding your body and what it needs to be successful in your journey. I've never smoked a day in my life and don't plan on taking it up ever and caffeine has different effects on me than others but I don't take it to be so wired my hair might stand up like from an electric shock, I take enough of it that it helps with focus and energy without crashing. As a matter of fact, caffeine barely gets my wired at all, it has more of a calming effect on me instead of jumping around like a madman on Angel Dust.

Overall, learn what can be suited to you and research into things that can be helpful. I do believe in questioning things because you never know who's trustworthy in this industry. There are 100's of thousands of people all over the world selling and making many things in their respective fields in fitness and health but at its core, you'd be lucky to find 10 (not thousand) people that are worth trusting and knowing the true aspects of what it means to be fit, healthy and pain free. You have the power to make something happen, make it worthwhile but don't stress or try to kill yourself doing it. Find your balance, make your goals come true and keep a good head on your shoulders in your journey. You do have options and I'm right here to help you find them as best as I can because I want you to kill it in your own life and be successful in your endeavors. Be amazingly awesome. 

Winter Is Coming: Keep Yourself In Shape For The Upcoming Holidays

It's almost Thanksgiving and it has already been a hell of a ride this year. Ups and downs throughout aspects of life, learning, making memories and killing it in the training department. When it comes being thankful, I'm very thankful to the love of my life, we've had moments like any couple but we are still strong and always have each other's back. To all of you for keeping me motivated and helping me stay passionate for this blog. I'm really thankful for the progress in my training as of late and maintaining my weight between 228-235 doing the Dopamineo Band, Animal Moves, Isometrics and Sprint Training. Although a 7 pound fluctuation, I definitely feel in way better shape than being between 255-265 which I was a couple years ago. Recent pics below.....

Staying in shape for the upcoming holidays can be a pain in the ass for some, but for others, discipline is the ultimate goal. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself, just be observant and do what you can to stick to your goals. Let's face it, in many places, food is everywhere and many temptations will come about. Keep your eye on the prize but yet don't think you can't enjoy a little something every now and then. I don't ever want anyone going hungry either since there are those who are unfortunate but I would love if everyone got a chance to eat. Help someone out, or just pay a lunch for them, it's the small things that count and seeing the smiles when someone is giving and doesn't want anything in return. Sometimes, making a person's day is just an awesome gift.

No matter what your goals are, keep in mind that you want to end the year on a high note, even if you only make a hint of progress, 1% stronger or better conditioned or even kept 1-5 pounds off of where you were before is still an accomplishment. Fitness is a journey and we all have our own routes that lead us to a better way of health. It doesn't matter if you lift weights, do bodyweight, do stuff indoors or outdoors, slam balls, carries or whatever; do what gives you the best benefit to make your goals a reality. 

I'd say one of my biggest flaws is talking about my own goals and end up jinxing them so I'm not going to mention what I plan on doing but what I can say is I have ideas in mind to keep things going and work on things closer to indoors. When it comes to winter, I'll train every now and then out in the rain or snow and being a built in heater it has its perks but I still get shit done no matter what I do and having the knowledge to workout anywhere is where I feel I'm best at. It's not a comfort thing more of a preference, plus I'm just more actively training in the spring, summer and fall outside but in the winter when temps drop down into the negatives at times or don't go past 30 degrees at the highest, I kick my ass either in my apartment or head down to the complex gym and kill it there. Adjust, improvise and do what works best for you. There are those that do far better than me training out in the blistering cold and I respect those fuckers to a high degree. Now if this was back in California, I'd be training outdoors all year fucking long man, even on a cold and windy beach day, I'm use to that but when it comes to freezing temps, I'll take a garage with a heater at best. 

Food wise, I've toned things down since I've lost and kept weight off over the past year. I do still eat above average than others but I don't push it like I did in my 20's and most of my 30's. We had homemade tacos last night with shredded chicken from the slow cooker and normally (I'm not joking about this), I used to eat up to 10+ tacos at a time, now; 6 is my limit and I feel like I've satisfied my hunger. Eat eggs often, make breakfast smoothies, don't eat fast food very much compared to when I was a kid but will go to a Red Robin or Texas Roadhouse on an occasion for a kick ass burger or something.  Love steak & potatoes (I know typical guy meal LOL) and love rice. When it comes to Pizza, that's one of my vices for sure (Pepperoni, Sausage & Olive) but even toned that down (for a large) going from eating whole pies by myself when I was younger to eating maybe 4 slices if that now, if I'm crazy hungry I'll eat maybe 5 but that's it. I'm a bit of a foodie but over the years, toned down the vices and eat better which helped my weight and fat loss. 

Food can be comforting but you don't want to rely on it otherwise it can bite you in the ass (talk about irony) and become something you don't want it to be. Keep the mindset that food is fuel, not a thing to keep you happy and overly comfortable. Comfort has its moments and something to enjoy but if you overdo it, like anything else, it can come back to haunt you so keep yourself aware and on alert. Train to keep things flowing and eat when you're hungry. Don't get caught up in emotional eating, that can lead you down a path that can be very difficult to crawl out of, I've been there and it isn't fun. 

Be amazingly awesome and keep killing it. Shoot me a comment or use the contact form to email and tell me some of your favorite workouts and food picks for the holidays. More to come and stay on track everyone, it'll be tough but you got this and I believe in you.  

40th Birthday Shenanigans

 This past Sunday, I officially turned 40. A new decade of my life begins and getting the most out of a great celebration. My wife surprised me the night before that we were going to the resort we've gone to twice before called Quinn's Hot Springs in Montana. She also surprised me with a cool cake of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of the first cartoons I grew up on which the Turtles also turn 40 this year from the first comic. 

On the day of my birthday. before we packed up for the Hot Springs, I took some photos to celebrate the building of my physique and going to the gym with her. Did some Farmer's Walks, Overhead Presses, Shrugs, some pulldowns, worked on Kettlebell Presses and other stuff. 

Got to the Hot Springs, checked in and just spent every moment of the trip relaxing and being together. At the pools, they have various temperatures from a Cold Plunge that was about 64 degrees all the way to a hot 105 degrees. Guess which one I always did first LOL. Interacted with people from various places and just felt happy. 

We would mostly have dinner at this little tavern next to the pools and ate mostly burgers and fish & chips, the first night I got a steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Wasn't too bad actually. The only breakfast we had there was from yesterday morning which for me was probably the biggest breakfast I've had in ages...A sausage and egg sandwich which already had a big patty, 3 scrambled eggs, 3 more sausage patties, Hashbrowns and 2 glasses of Orange Juice. Built up an appetite from an Isometric Workout before grabbing food. All the workouts I did was O2 Training 2x a day, 7-12 Second Isometrics hitting the full body and my Neck Mobility Work. At the pools, I would sit in the cold plunge for several minutes where my head was the only thing at the surface and hit the hottest pool to balance out, then go to the pool where my girl was and hang with her. 

Very beautiful place surrounded by trees, mountains and other things. It's on the outskirts of a highway about 25 minutes out from this little town called St. Regis. The first two times were for our anniversaries so this was a quite a treat to do a summer stay there. Family Friendly and has really good food. It's next to the Clark Fork River which is just awesome to look at. 

 Had a ton of fun and just getting to chill, watch the Olympics in the room at night, had some rain on Tuesday but still fun and tasted a few drinks that were pretty good. If anyone knows me, I'm not much of a drinker and wouldn't do enough to get buzzed or drunk but I'll try some things every now and then. Can't go wrong with a good Buffalo Burger though, holy shit that thing was just awesome and the Beer Battered Cod was tasty as hell. Can never get enough of this place, I recommend everyone go there at least once to experience the beautiful country next to it and hit the Sulfur Pools. 

This was a really great birthday and I'll cherish it for as long as I live. Love being 40 and get to continue to do kick ass stuff. 

Hope Everyone Had A Great Xmas

 I set a goal to turn off my phone back on Saturday to not only take a break from the social media stuff but to focus on more important things and not worry so much about what shit is going on in internetland. Last night at midnight I turned it back on and hey, still crap but got some cool messages from people. 

Got some great presents from amazing people but seeing the look on my girl's face when she saw what I got her was just priceless. As you know, we're Star Wars Nerds through thick and thin and have collected plenty of stuff over the 8 years we've been together including what we call the Chest Of Awesomeness where we store a few of our favorite collectibles. My gift this year for her was a (Repo) Autograph Framed Picture of a Empire Strikes Back Poster with the cast signed and since she's reliving her childhood recently with watching the original Charmed Series (1998-2006) I got her a Framed Picture of the original three women's Autograph. She was so lit up I should've taken a picture but it's just as beautiful in my memory.

For the most part over the weekend leading up to our day with each of her parents, mostly kept to myself and checking out documentaries, working out with my new toy and the dopamineo band. Just taking it "easy" mostly. Yesterday, we started Xmas with going to her mom's and spending a good portion of the day with her with my wife's brother and his daughter, watching the Raiders beat the Chiefs, having pancakes, watching them put together a Disney Puzzle that literally took the entire game for them to complete, kicked back, did an Isometric workout in the middle there and had a great time. 

Went home to chill for about a half hour and went up to her dad's up on the mountain behind us to finish off the festivities with tons of food including a kick ass pot roast his stepdaughter made and opened up presents. What I got was something I never thought I'd ever get or even thought about having in my lifetime. I won't say what it is but let's just say after learning a few things, you might see some really cool camera angles of my workout demos and workouts in the not too distant future. 

Overall, just having a great time with family and being with the love of my life is nothing short of awesome and fun. Hopefully you all had a great holiday weekend as well and was full of love, adventures, presents and plenty of food to scarf down. Now, it's time to get back on that horse and train with a vengeance to welcome the new year and set new goals so you can succeed in the endeavors you're in. Keep it up and don't forget to check out dopamineo.com and grab a bad ass band for yourself or for your gym, client, school, group class or whatever with the Customized Bundle Deals and get an extra 10% OFF  by using my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT. Happy Holidays everyone and keep on being amazingly awesome.