Pt. 3

Probably the last of the biggies falls under both gym safety and gym etiquette… and is: Put away your weights.  Barring the safety aspect, there is really nothing more annoying than to finish up a set of 200 presses with 6000LB dumbbells (warm up of course) and picking them up so you can put them back in their spot, only to find that someone has kindly put incorrect weights there, which has inevitably thrown off the whole order of the rack.  Most people will follow suit and just put the weights wherever they can… me, I’m the opposite, I will fix all of the weights and put them into the right spot because it drives me nuts.

In regard to the safety aspect of putting weights away when you’re done with them, let’s borrow the afore mentioned scenario of finishing up a beastly set and wanting to put the weights back on the rack.  Person “X” picks up their dumbbells and starts to walk towards the rack and accidentally steps on some small 10 pounders that somebody left on the floor… barring the comedic acrobatics that would more than likely ensue, this person would face plant and inevitably throw up the weights they were carrying which would of course somehow ignite and burn the building down.

In other words, please put your weights (both dumbbells and plates) back in the correct spots.

Pt. 2

So last week I touched on gym safety, this week I’m going to brush the surface of gym etiquette.

Probably the most annoying thing for me at the gym are the grunts that are, in all likelihood, audible from space.  The expenditure of air from your lungs while you’re in the middle of a strenuous push/pull is very important.  Not only does breathing correctly help maintain your strength levels when involved in the movements, it also helps you keep a rhythm and zone out, in a manner of speaking.  All of that said, please don’t expel the air from your lungs in a way that makes babies cry.

Clamps and weights.  If you see a person or set of people either working out on or hovering around a particular machine, don’t just cruise up and take something from the racks.  There have been a couple of instances where I would finish up on a bench and help change the weight for my wife and someone would just roll up and take the clamps or the weights (I must confess that I almost went after someone once or twice – I blame the testosterone) that I had been using.  Unfortunately there’s nothing common about common courtesy… but it is still considered to be polite to ask if the items are being used, regardless of what the people are doing.

While this doesn’t really have to do with etiquette, I still find it annoying and funny at the same time.  At that gym that I frequent there are a couple of people who, in a given hour, spend about 15 minutes actually lifting weights, and spend the other 45 minutes strutting around the rooms as if they’re God’s go mankind.  I mean seriously, if you’re there to work out, then do it.  I’m ranting.  Whatever.

So Nick and I both agree that gym etiquette and safety need to be discussed just to lay down the best practice rules for those that are painfully misinformed.

First of all, please make sure that you’re using clamps to hold the weight on your barbells… I can’t say how many people I’ve seen up the weight after their warm ups without putting on the clamps, and then do ok for the first rep or two only to start struggling and have their stronger side push further.  Thereby angling the bar… and subsequently dumping weight off of one side.  While at times this is absolutely hilarious to watch (particularly if said person acts like they’re God’s gift to anything alive), it can also cause a lot of physical damage within the weight lifter (sudden torquing to one side because of no weight on one side of the barbell… not to mention potentially reducing a poor bystander’s feet to the depth of crepes.

The other biggy when it comes to weight room safety is something that is touted quite regularly but still doesn’t seem to click with people: spotters.  While the lack of a spotter can sometimes serve as motivation to pump out one last rep (you let the weight down and realize how stupid you’ll look if you get stuck underneath it), it can be very dangerous.  Weight can drop on your head/throat, you can dislocate bones by trying to force the move, etc.

In a nutshell, always use clamps to avoid making foot crepes, and always use a spotter.

In this endless hunt to find which supplements offer the best effects with the least amount of side effects, here is my assessment of the best “become so extreme that you explode” N.O. / pre-workout additions, I mean seriously… don’t we all want to look like a giant veiny/arterial aliens?

My hands down, all time favorite is Gaspari Nutrition’s Super Pump 250 (patiently waits for his endorsement check).  I’ve tried many of the N.O. supplements out there and none of them made me feel as awesome, or as strong, as this one did.  When I initially started drinking it before workouts I’d go through my regular routine and then have a burst of I’m-going-to-destroy-this weight aggression and I would up upping the weight to do an extra set just for giggles, like it was nothing (All of that said, I didn’t get any jitters after drinking SP250… it was a really smooth increase in endurance and strength).

The good stuff aside, the negatives were these: Just like with most creatine supplements, it’ll cause you to carry some water weight and look a little puffy (you should cycle off of it every 30 or so days).  Unlike most creatine supplements it’ll have you running for the bathroom about 30 minutes after drinking it (the effects were significantly lessened if I started working out inside of 30 minutes).  It can all be summed up when I say that many people have nicknamed this supplement “Super Dump 250.”

In a nutshell, good smooth energy and strength increases, a little water puffiness, and bathroom sides.  Everything weighed together with what I experience while using it… Gaspari get’s two thumbs up from me for SP250.

So, America is fat.  Occasionally this fact will be broadcast on the news, but the fact of the matter is, this is a serious matter.

• 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese (around 101 million people)
• The population of the United States is around 304 million
• 1/3 people is at least overweight
• Around 60% of CHILDREN already have a risk of heart disease
• “Political Nerve Injection” – Economic costs of obesity are around 93 BILLION dollars (9% of our GDP) – if you want to fix healthcare, help America not be fat.

Whist this post takes bit of a different direction from the more traditional fitness and supplement articles, it is necessary to highlight the fact that Americans are eating themselves into the grave, both financially and biologically (while it’s true that 10 out of 10 people die, there’s no reason we can’t live well and feel good while we’re alive).

All of the horrible statistics aside, the fact of the matter is that if you live well, you are in danger of: enjoying your life more, staying out of the hospital more, being happier, and enjoying EVERYTHING more.  Most people seem to think that it’s just way to difficult to be fit, the reality is that all that is required is a little self control.

Almost everyone will have soda when they go out to eat, what they don’t realize is that one twelve ounce can of soda will have upwards of 40 grams of carbohydrates… now if you factor in the size of the cup at the restaurant and the refills, people will consume around 120 grams just in what they drink (keep in mind your body converts anything excess to fat for when lack of food rolls around – the problem is that in America, there is no lack of food).  Now that we’ve gotten an idea about what the average person consumes in regard to carbohydrates, add on about another 60 to 100 grams for the bun and fries and you’ve got your daily allotment of carbs for the DAY eaten on one meal (if you’re an athlete there’s nothing wrong with this, your body needs the extra nutrients).

This was a little of a rant, but please, take it to heart and live well.  If you don’t want to live well for yourself, be a patriot and live well for your country! *insert patriotic music here*

Now that the two core steps have been covered we can get to the benefits of healthy living!  Obviously if you have a healthy physique you look better… everyone looks better with muscles rippling as they move and the sun glinting off of perfectly tanned skin, but there are even more benefits!  If you feel healthy and good physically, your confidence will go through the roof and you will feel better emotionally and mentally (which will probably come across in all of your relationships as well).  Aside from looking and feeling like “the hotness,” the quality of your sleep will also improve.

There are different levels of sleep and the restorative benefits, the best and deepest levels that you can have are “Deep” and “REM” sleep.  These levels of sleep are where your body gets rid of the stress of the day, increases hormone production and balance (especially key for muscle growth and repair), and gets you pumped for the next day.

The key thing to remember is that there are no shortcuts to health and fitness.  Everything boils down to creating a caloric deficiency on a daily basis and physical activity (at least 30 minutes a day).  There was a study done recently that compared the major “fad” diets… and the only ones that had any positive effect (i.e. weight loss) helped the dietee (I have just coined a new term!) use more calories throughout the day than they put into their bodies in the form of food and drink.  If you do these things regularly, your emotions will improve, you will look better, you will feel better, and you will be more productive throughout the day.

I tried to condense things into these few lines… but they are by no means fully detailed.  A great thing you could do would be to do your own research (and hopefully I’ve sparked your interest and desire to learn what a healthy lifestyle is) and educate yourself in regard to your body and how it works.

It’s over!

Sean

The second part, in my opinion, is the most fun of the two, namely physical activity.  The physical activity keeps your muscles strong and growing (because let’s face it, no one wants to cut down to their “ideal” weight and be blown over by a hefty gust of wind because they’re scrawny right?  We all want to have muscular definition and be called the hotness) as well as adding a supercharger to your metabolism and caloric deficiency you are creating by eating every two to three hours (despite how much we would like it candy, fast food, doughnuts don’t help us in a path towards health – that sure would be awesome though).

When you first start on a path to physical fitness, I’ll be the first to admit that it sucks;  It hurts, you’re out of breath, you’re sweaty, etc.  After the first few sessions however, your body will start to change, it will start to release more endorphins as you’re exercising (think of them as your body’s naturally produced “happy” drugs).  Have you ever wondered why all of the big trainers and fitness gurus are so upbeat and disgustingly happy and cheerful?  Of course you have.  It’s because they’re feeling amazing when they’re working out because of the release of endorphins in their bodies (I can also tell you that the best I’ve ever felt physically and mentally is when I’m exhausted from blasting through a workout whether that workout involves weights, sports, grappling, it doesn’t matter – I feel like I’m on top of the world).  Disgusting right?  I know.

To be continued at the next entry!

Sean

People are forever looking for ways to lose weight and bring out their inner “six pack,”  the problem is that when people lose things they virtually always find them again (the same is true with bodyfat).  The problem is that the majority of those in search for perpetual muscularity don’t view fitness as a lifestyle but as a temporary plan to reach a point where they look the way they want to, which means that they will never make it and will forever be stuck in a cycle of gaining/losing a few pounds.

There are no fancy formulas to reach a healthy and even muscular physique.  Despite all of the (often very unhealthy) get fit quick schemes, it all boils down to two things: having your body burn more calories than it brings in and making sure you have a decent amount of physical activity.

The first part of this is the easy part but most people fail because they don’t know how to eat, the key to the first step is eating every two to three hours (keeps your metabolism running all day) and making sure that you are eating a serving size – which is about the size of a fist – and that what you are eating has a good ratio of carbohydrates to protein (Complex carbs i.e. oatmeal, lentils, different beans, whole grain bread keep you full for longer which means you end up consuming less throughout the day).

Here’s the good part about (and I hate how cliché this phrase is) eating properly:  Eating properly doesn’t mean you can’t eat the foods you love that are otherwise known as heart attacks in a bag!  The key to this, just like life in general, is balance.  When you have a doughnut (assuming it’s not a cheat day – you should have one, maybe two a week) you just need to balance it out later in the day so you aren’t bringing in more calories than you’re sending out.

To be continued at the next entry! *Insert suspense here*

Sean

This year’s Tour de France has been pretty exciting so far. For one, there haven’t been any doping positives(yet) – which is a plus – And there have already been several breakaway victories – most notably by Thomas Voeckler, who has been a personal favorite since he held the yellow jersey for 10 days in the 2004 race.

I guess the main story of the tour this year is this Lance Armstrong character.  When he announced his return late last year, he said he was coming back to participate in races that he hadn’t done in the past, such as the Giro d’Italia. And while he did race and race well in Italy, I think it was pretty obvious that he had no intention of trying to win there. To me, it seemed pretty clear that he was aiming for the Tour de France in spite of his statements otherwise.  Did anyone really believe he preferred Italy or Spain over “The Tour?”

After 9 stages, he sits 3rd  overall behind his teammate, 2007 winner, and(I think) rightful team leader Alberto Contador after being in a virtual tie for the lead on days 4, 5, and 6.  In fact, he appeared pretty unhappy when Contador attacked near the end of stage 7 and leapfrogged him in the standings by two seconds.
I’m pretty anxious to see how things will unfold from this point being that there seems to be a rift developing between himself and Contador. It’s very reminiscent of the 1985 battle between teammates Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault, where Lemond was the younger and clearly stronger of the two, but was ultimately forced to wait for Hinault and allow him to take the overall victory in Paris. The following year after promising to repay Lemond’s loyalty by working for him, Hinault reneged and tried unsuccessfully to steal the race from Lemond.

I wonder if Alberto Contador expected to have to replay this drama  when he agreed to stay with Team Astana after the signing of Armstrong. I wonder if the only reason Johan Bruyneel asked(begged) Contador to stay was to avoid having to race against him.  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?