Showing posts with label Wellness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wellness. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

How To Deal With The Unbearable Taste Of Lost Empire Herbs

 The herbs from Lost Empire can really put a fire under your ass when you first take it either in the morning or in the beginning if you're new to the herbs themselves. Honestly, some have even thrown up at times like one customer on Cistanche Extract: “The cistanche is really unbearable to take. I tried like the video to scoop it in and wash it down, was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever eaten. I tried mixing half a teaspoon in my tea… still so difficult to drink and gagging the whole time. Any advice?” There's an article you can find about this here...

There are reasons why there's a capsule culture even when it isn't the best option. As time went on, many customers became accustomed to the bitter taste to certain herbs like Tongkat Ali for example. Some however, just don't get to that point. I'm one of those people and I prefer the capsules like Pine Pollen or Thor's Hammer . If you do choose to take in the bitter taste of the herbs, here's some ideas for you to go for that cut and mask the taste itself...

It's never going to be perfect and everyone has different preferences but you can experiment with certain things that could help you get over that hump. Using something Sweet & Sour can be useful, some forms of juice can be another option as well that is sweet to a more tart taste such as: Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Grapefruit & Cranberry. The amount of volume you'll need to mask with these is not a general thing, it's an individual thing and experimenting with what could work for you. Is it better to take a 1/2 teaspoon in a shot of juice or taking a 1/2 teaspoon in a 16 oz glass? That's really up to you to figure out.

At times, using less can be more efficient, get that shit down quickly like taking a shot of tequila. The taste will be diffused but still won't be that great and you'll have to chug down a bit. The same idea can be used for the herbs themselves. For the "worse" tasting herbs such as: Hercules Formula, Phoenix and Shilajit, you can also use a mixture of the more sweet and sour herbs like for example; Beet Juice Powder, Goji Berry, SeabuckthornSchisandra. These not only give those other herbs flavor but also bring benefits themselves. 

For something like the Beet Juice Powder, it's one of the best things for Nitric Oxide Production which can be very helpful for working out or having a little fun with your significant other in the bedroom. It also pairs well with Hercules & Thor Formulas in a great way too. The taste has a higher chance of being better and works like a fucking charm. Double whammy I say.

Now, the next option would be to blend into smoothies. The same factors still apply here, you have quite a number of ingredients that can mask or cut the taste but be forewarned, sometimes one herbs or several can become undrinkable. Start with smaller doses and build up from there. You could use some of the more normal ingredients like fruits and juices or hell even options like honey and nut butters. 

At the end of the day, if the taste is just too much for you (I'm with you on this one), there are plenty of other options that have awesome benefits. Grab some herbs and make the best of them for you. They're top of the line and there's a ton of research done on them and learning what you can do with them. Be amazingly awesome and stay healthy. 

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Lost Empire And Athletes Drug Testing

With the complexity and ever-changing rules and regulations, you never know what they have on hand to find what can be used as a substance that makes a certain drug illegal to take for athletes at the highest level. Some supplements can be harmful to take and there's always a chip on an athlete's shoulders when it comes to staying clean or finding some perverse way to get a away with by fooling a drug test. I'm all for drug testing for any sport at the highest level because it is important that an athlete remains as pure as possible and don't condone the use of steroids or PED's that would be considered illegal, harmful and putting someone's life at risk.

To the best of my knowledge and of the team at Lost Empire Herbs, the herbs themselves should be safe to consume for competitors in their chosen sport that do drug testing. I've never heard of an athlete failing a test from taking these herbs nor have I heard of anyone dying or having some severe harm come to them from taking the herbs. I keep a close eye on that kind of thing because although I work for the company, I would never want any hurt or have problems that risks their life athlete or not. Some jokers have even repeated on their own sites that I'm selling herbs that are killing people which isn't true and having taken them myself, there has not been one incident that remotely suggests this. 

In all the years that I've promoted this company here and on social media, I was never told of anyone dying or read of a failed test. If there was, I would know about it but until then, this is still one of the very best companies on the planet that takes pride in using herbs that can be useful in the health of just about anyone. The majority of people taking these herbs have never felt better in their lives and Lost Empire does their research (it's on the site talking about ingredients and what's in them to ensure what a potential customer understands how they work). Do you know anyone that has failed a drug test taking these specific herbs and not from another substance while on the herbs as well? Or if you're a buyer from me experienced a failed drug test or has it been smooth sailing for you? If it's been smooth sailing, let Lost Empire know and if there's been a situation where the test came up and you or someone you know failed using the herbs, let them know, they will do what they can to see what they can do about the situation. Thank you. 

I know I normally don't write about this kind of stuff but it is important because I do care about someone's health and well-being, my wife has taken these herbs as well and I would never put her at risk and she never has experienced problems with them. These herbs aren't anything magical but they can be a great asset to one's health and being able to bask in the benefits they do provide. Not everyone is going to like them and some of them are not meant for everyone but I assure you, with the proper dosage and awareness of what's in them, there's great benefit to them that can help you with balancing hormone levels, give you great energy, clarity and can help you with your current training regimen. Are they the best tasting? No and even the company themselves acknowledge that but not everything is about flavor, it's about getting the most for your body's ability to adapt to its natural state and harness levels of your immunity and blood cells. 

Do the research yourselves and find out if they're right for you or not. You owe it to yourself to be in the best health you can be in and this is another output to help you on your journey. Be safe, check out the herbs and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Check out these herbs in the meantime.....

Hercules Pre Workout

Beet Juice Powder

He Shou Wu

Stag Swag Tincture

Horny Goat Weed

Pine Pollen Powder + Capsules

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Functional Fitness: Sometimes Lost In Translation

In 1998, the year of my 50th birthday, I decided to quit my comfortable but unfulfilling sales rep job and become a fitness professional. After getting certified (just means legal) I started working at a popular local fitness and tennis center as a trainer. It didn’t take long, about 6 months, before I knew their corporate centered business model was not what I envisioned for myself. So I left on good terms to open my own personal training business, Functional Fitness, in 1999. I thought my business name was so clever and unique at the time I birthed it. Soon however, everything I read was functional this and functional that, and I sensed a dilution of my “unique name.”

The concept of functional fitness still captures the essence of what I think fitness programs should be aiming for and that is the ability to perform our daily activities (ADL’s). Western culture seems to demand a “what’s new and exciting” approach to all things we consume, including fitness. For example, we have all seen various types of group exercises classes ebb and flow over the years. We started with aerobics, then step aerobics, Tae Bo, core classes, body pump, spin classes, Pilates and the list goes on.

I support anything that gets people up and moving. My point is the fitness industry keeps trying to redefine what fitness is, how to achieve it, and then put a full court marketing press to get people to buy into it. Originally, group exercise classes were led by highly energetic charismatic instructors with microphones, prompting everyone to follow along. Fortunately there have been some improvements in instructor education so that safe progressions are now usually offered for those unable to keep up.

Probably one of the most pervasive myths around these types of classes is that the longer and harder you work, the more pounds are going to melt off your body. The religion of “cardio” was born and anointed as the ultimate fat burning tool. The truth is as one of my mentors says: “You can’t out exercise poor nutrition.” We as fitness professionals need to be honest with people about the relationship between nutrition, exercise, and weight loss. Frankly, we have done a very poor job of physically educating the public when it comes to what fitness is and how each person might achieve it.

Over the years, there have been many systems of training offered but the ones that make the most sense to me have four components in common. I believe I first heard this from Paul Chek and later Mark Verstegan as a template for training. We call these the Four Pillars of Human Movement. There are other components that should be part of a training program but the bare essentials are: (1) Gait/locomotion, (2) Level Changes, (3) Pushing/Pulling, and (4) Rotation.




In essence every healthy human needs to be able to perform these movements at some level to complete their activities of daily living. Whether we are talking about the senior population or high level athletes, the only difference is in the training variables of: intensity, frequency, loads, volume etc.

Let’s look at exactly we are talking about with each pillar and some examples.

Gait/Locomotion:

Using our two ends of the spectrum, seniors need to be able to walk efficiently and safely at a minimum. Athletes may need to be able to run, sprint, change directions, and jump to meet the demands of their sport. I also include as locomotion anything that takes us from point A to point B (under our own power), to include: cycling, rowing, swimming, etc. All programs (for healthy people) should have a form of this component present appropriate for the population and goals of the participants.

Level Changes:

This includes any movements that change the level of our bodies such as: Squatting, split squatting, lunges, hip hinges, deadlifts, step-ups, jumping, etc. Comparing our two ends of the activity spectrum, seniors need to be able to squat onto and off of a toilet or chair (at a minimum). Athletes may need to develop more strength and power to improve their running speed or jumping ability. Because of our cultural bias towards sitting so much, we have almost universally, tight hip flexors, and weak glutes throughout most populations. Obviously appropriate progressions are necessary to meet the needs or demands of different populations. Ultimately all healthy individuals need to be able to perform level changes efficiently and safely.

Pushing and Pulling:

We will combine these two opposing movements to keep our model (Four Pillars) simple. There are basically only three directions we tend to push and pull things: (1) High push overhead or a high pull like a pull-up; (2) Horizontal push, as in a push-up or horizontal pull like a body row, and (3) Low push, as in pushing up out of a hole or a low pull like bringing an object from the floor to a counter. Considering our senior population they need to be able to put something overhead on a shelf (high push), push a lawn mower or shopping cart (horizontal push), or push into the arms of their chair to help them get up. The examples for athletes are more obvious, pressing weights overhead, doing push-ups for training, pulling a weighted bar from the floor during training.






Rotation:

This movement pattern isn’t often regarded as necessary but any activity that requires, swinging something (bat, racquet, club) or throwing activity (baseball) requires rotational capability. Conversely, there are movements that when performed, require that the body stabilize and NOT rotate. So training rotation involves both the initiation of rotation and prevention of rotation. Most of the time when people tweak their backs, the mechanism of injury is some type of rotation with flexion. The key to using rotation effectively and safely requires proper alignment throughout the kinetic chain.”  This usually means we are in an upright position, using our legs/feet to push into the ground, transferring that energy through a stable trunk (core) and out through our arm as in a throwing or swinging motion.

There is a phenomenon known as the “serape effect” (described by Logan), which observes the diagonal arrangement of the core muscles as they cross the torso. There is a direct relationship between the shoulders and the hips to facilitate or prevent rotation. If for example you are throwing a ball with your right arm, you are pushing through your right hip and your left shoulder rotates quickly to allow your right arm to follow through. Gait/walking/running is another example of the relationship of shoulders and hips. We walk/run in a contra-lateral fashion with the right foot forward, left arm forward, producing forward motion via rotation.

There are times when we are asymmetrically loaded i.e. carrying a suitcase on one side. The core muscular needs to stabilize and actively prevent rotation/flexion to protect the spine. The examples given also remind us that the “core” musculature is reactive in nature. Yes, we can do some core isolation exercises during training but ultimately it’s when we are using our arm/legs that the core muscles react to both complete the movement and prevent excess rotation to protect the spine.

Thus the Four Pillars of Human Movement can serve as a template for guiding your training. If you can integrate each pillar into your training you will go a long way towards maintaining your ability to perform your particular activities of daily living efficiently and safely. There are other elements of fitness that can be considered as well depending on the demands upon your body. Additional elements like: balance, agility, coordination, endurance, flexibility, joint mobility, and power are critical to optimize the Four Pillars. Many of these can be included in your warm-up. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss all the possible elements of fitness. It is my hope that you will consider structuring your exercise around the Four Pillars and sprinkle in some of the other elements mentioned. One other consideration is to vary the plane of motion you are level changing, pushing/pulling, and even running in. Most people only think about training in a linear fashion. Try mixing in some lateral and rotational variations to your pillar movements i.e. lateral split squats, rotational lunges, standing single arm cable presses and pulls, lateral shuffle runs.


Finally once you are comfortable with working the Pillars in all planes of motion, look for ways to integrate as many Pillars into one exercise. Typically we call these compound movements i.e. Squat and press (level change and high push), Split Squat and row (level change and horizontal pull). How about incorporating three pillars in one exercise? Try a walking lunge with medicine ball rotation (gait, level change, and rotation). Another example:  Squat with a single kettlebell, touch the floor, clean the kettlebell to the “rack position,” then press overhead rotationally by pivoting your same side hip/foot as you are pressing with. Wow that’s got a level change, a low pull (clean), a press (high push), and rotation! A senior might perform this type of movement naturally with a small box on the floor, picking it up (squatting/pulling) and then pushing overhead up onto a shelf.

I hope this article has sparked your curiosity to explore bodyweight movements and resisted exercises from a fresh perspective. Once you have mastered some of the bodyweight basics like squatting, push-ups, body rows, and planks you can start exploring the use of bands, cables, dumbbells, kettlebells, suspension training etc. You see it doesn't really matter what implement you use, it’s all about the movement (pillars). While not specifically stated here it is strongly suggested that most of your training be done in a standing position (that’s where life happens). Typical exercise machines are not going to train your pillar movements like free standing exercise where balance, core stability, proprioception, and gravity are waiting to challenge your body.

If you are uncertain about how to start this type of program I encourage you to consult with a local fitness professional. Talk to your friends or gym members about who they would recommend. Be sure to interview them (you are the boss). Make sure that they understand what you want to accomplish and ask them to explain how they would progress you. If possible find a professional that has a Functional Movement Screen certification. This seven-movement screen is what many fitness professionals use to determine how and where to start you on your path. Any exercise program needs to be first and foremost safe and effective and that is facilitated by proper progression. Don’t ever be intimidated to ask your instructor questions or tell them that something doesn’t feel right or hurts. You need to be responsible for your experience so always communicate accurately what you are feeling.

I welcome your comments, thoughts, and questions. Please feel free to contact me at: mailto:ken@zealcenter.com

If you would enjoy learning more I put out a weekly blog that includes an exercise of the week and random information and thoughts about living in Ecuador. The blog can be found at: http://www.zealcenter.com/blog

Be Well…Be Fit,

Ken

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