Free Yourself From Classicalness In “Dieting”

I know, I know some of you really were hoping for a post on my homemade Indian clubs that I have been talking about and teasing with pics on Facebook and Twitter this past weekend. Don't worry that post is coming. For now let's have a little diet and nutrition talk and hopefully shed some light on the past, current, and probably future buzz.

I borrowed and condensed a lot of this from a conversation I had with someone a while back. The discussion was about all the diet propaganda and marketing pushes that's out there drawing people into more and more crappy diets instead of lifestyle changes. For fun we're gonna look at a list of some of the most common diets, their basic principles (why it works or at least claims to), and the sales hoopla that goes along with it. See if you spot a common trend when you read through everything.


Fit for Life
Basic Principals: LOW CALORIE Vegan diet (with high fruits, high carbs and vegetables)

Sales Hoopla — Meticulous, detailed food combining.  Natural Hygiene is the 80's buzz word! Salads and juicing galore!


Atkins
Basic Principals: ANTI-CARB

Sales Hoopla: Protein is the friend, carbs are the foe and you can eat lots of pork bacon too! yummy!


South Beach Diet

Basic Principals: ANTI-CARB,

Sales Hoopla: Rice, carrots, orange juice fruit and other carbs are evil. Protein is your friend.


The Zone
Basic Principals: LOW CALORIE portion controlled meals (40,30,30)

Sales Hoopla: NO! it's not carbs, it's not protein. It's ... TA-DA! ratios and being in the ZONE! Thats the key!


Perricone Prescription
Basic Principals: LOW CARB, LOW CALORIE

Sales Hoopla: Riding on the coat tails of Atkins, with a bit of Zone, it's high glycemic carbs are the foe!


Weight Watchers
Basic Principals: CALORIE COUNTING!

Sales Hoopla: Neat-o! point values are assigned to foods, stay within your point limits and you WIN!  Yeah!


Macrobiotic Diet
Basic Principals: LOW CALORIE vegan

Sales Hoopla: meticulous attention to detail. Eat based on portions and percentages. Meditate. OHMmm!


Raw Food Diet
Basic Principals: LOW CALORIE - raw foods.

Sales Hoopla: Carbs are good. Fruit is good. Say goodbye to anything heated past 118 degrees. Cool Man!



The Warrior Diet
Basic Principals: LOW TO ADEQUATE CALORIES LOWER IN CARBS & EXERCISE

Sales Hoopla: NO! You've got it all wrong!  Don't eat your breakfast or lunch, eat one main meal at night. Eat foods in a certain order. Grrrr!

Now all you warriors out there don't get pissed at me. I'm not putting down the Warrior Diet, I actually think it has some noteworthy qualities.  Yes I know there are other benefits to the warrior diet as I follow my own version of Intermediate Fasting based off of the WD,  but there is still the element of sales hoopla surrounding it.  I'm just trying to make a point here that when you look across the popular diets there is a common thread with their own spin to it.

Contrary to what the Warrior Diet seems, you can't just pig-out and eat as much you want during the evening meal. If you eat 10,000 calories at night let's face it, you're going to gain fat!  There is sense of calories and carbs even though it's not actually counted per say, but the overall premise is what food, what food combinations, how much of the good stuff(colorful fruits and veggies) are you eating, and are you eating a balance of everything.

And let's not forget that exercise is the other basic principal. You can't sell swimming and weight lifting any more. There has to be a spin on exercise to make a buck too. What I'm saying here folks is you don't make any money these days just selling diet books just on the basics of eating healthy and working out. People have become sales hoopla addicts looking for the next workout craze and nutritional buzz. The magic pill is still being sought out even though the basics have worked for millenia. People just don't want to put in the time, effort, and work ethic.

The bottom line is that there IS NO MAGIC and it simply boils down to the fact that if you want to see results in order to be healthy inside and look, feel, be healthy outside then you just gotta work for it and it is ongoing. Think about this for a moment. If it was easy to get in shape and be healthy well then more people would already be there. Because it's not easy and does require daily effort is why the majority is not.

The common thread with all these diets is about calories, grains/starches, and exercise. Some people may feel better by incorporating this hoopla or that hoopla from this diet or that diet. Eating in the Zone, not eating any carbs, counting points or whatever is great if that works for you, but let's be true to ourselves it's really sticking to the basics that get results and when you don't follow the basics you don't get results.

We have to stop stressing over it and start living life the way it should be. The bottom line is if you're eating healthy and living healthy then wonderful, but if you're not then the real question is: When Are You Gonna Start? THAT my friends is the key!


In the end it is all about one thing: the basics. It is ALL about the basics and sticking to them regardless of what you do.  When I played sports, such as high school wrestling, I was able to do very well because I stuck to the basics.  Sure from time to time the special and more advanced moves came into play and sure were fun, but moreover whoever was better at performing the basics won.  The same holds true in top level sports today.

Nutrition is pretty much the same.


Exercise IS the same.  As many as there are diets proclaiming they are the best and the only way there are more fitness marketing fanatics who say the exact same about their product, service, book, or idea.  Have you seen the infomercials for the "10 Min. Trainer" or P90X, the same guy(Tony Horton) does both, and some of those others.  Nothing is new, but just some simple twists and variations of what's been around forever packaged in a glamorous marketing box.

The basics work and will always work.  Bruce Lee said it best: "I have not invented a 'new style', composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from 'this' method or 'that' method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds.

There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way."

I couldn't agree more.  Free yourself from the classical mess.  Use what works and leave that which does not.  In the end that is true in everything.

An Estrogenic Look At Soy & Who Eats It

Soy, and mainly soy food products such as soy milk, tofu, miso, etc., is probably one of the absolute worst foods (ahem I should say processed foods) you can eat; however edamame- which is the actual untouched soy legume is perfectly fine because it is in its raw state like any bean and legume. When it is processed it's chemical biproducts from the soy isoflavones become extremely estrogenic to the human body and it actually is viewed to be a toxic poison by our systems.

People then will say: "Ok, but what about the Japanese who eat it all the time."  Well that's not entirely true. They also eat twice as much, if not more in healthy fats from wild caught seafood. Americans are told to do the opposite and eat "low fat" which then directly interferes with good health. Additionally mainland Japanese are not too far from being in sync with the U.S. health issue epidemics of diabetes, cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.  The coastal Japanese are the ones who eat far, far less soy products and far more of wild caught fish (which keep in mind has about 85% more omega 3 than its farm-raised counterparts) and other healthier foods. Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine conducted a few studies and have found that farm-raised tilapia and catfish contain less than one-eighth the amount of omega-3's that are found in farm-raised salmon or trout. Additionally, and this is where a real health concern can come in, is that the tilapia and catfish also had much larger amounts of omega-6 acids than the salmon or trout which throws off the natural ratio. When Omega 6 is consumed in greater amounts it can have negative health potential.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin states that: "A crucial part of a healthful diet is the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s. Your immunity is supposed to be good for you by killing gems before they can harm you. However, if your immunity stays active, it starts to attack your own body to increase risk for heart attacks, certain cancers and even asthma and some types of arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids produce prostaglandins that turn down your immunity to help prevent inflammation and the health problems it can cause. Omega-6 fatty acids promote inflammation. A major explanation for the high heart attack rate in North Americans is the high ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s in the diet that contains lots of omega-6s from vegetable oils and low amounts of omega-3's found in fish and seeds."

Let's get back to mainland versus coastal Japanese for a moment. There is a big difference in what these two groups of people eat even though they reside in the same country. Look at the Asian folks who migrate over here to the U.S.  It doesn't take long for them to suffer the same adverse health issues as American born citizens.

Food industry feeds us a lot of ongoing propaganda regarding many of their money making foods. Let's look at the 'drinking wine is healthy due to the antioxidants' one. Now what they don't tell you is to get said antioxidants, which by the way you can easily get by eating berries and other fruit, is that you must cut through the wine's sugars, calories, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers all used when farming the grape crop and all of which contain MSG, and last but not least is the extremely, extremely estrogenic and toxic alcohol within the fermented fruit. They don't tell you that part do they? Nope.

Before you gasp and think that I'm such a radical because I'm saying to never drink alcohol simply consider the exact health benefit or non-benefit the substance actually provides. Everyone can make their own choice in that case, but there are always risks and consequences no matter what you put in your mouth- good or bad.

Stick close to nature as possible. When you stray too far or manipulate it too much you will always experience something negative- small or great. Nature has a balance in it for a reason. I encourage you to educate yourself on the food industry propaganda and overall what and where exactly your food comes from and does to your body. Michael Pollan has great resources and books. Read "In Defense of Food" and "Omnivore's Dilemma" and these will shed some real light on that subject. Let's always continue to enlighten ourselves and our community.

We should never sacrifice anything for convenience when it comes to our health and our body. It takes effort and work. There is no way around that. What you put into something is exactly what you get out. If you work hard on your health both in exercise and nutritionally only then will you truly experience great results.

"Wear Sunscreen" by Mary Schmich

I remember this when it was first released for the public's listening pleasure. They would play it all over the radio and television. It really is an amazing speech when you think of it in a condensed soup kind of way.  If you've never heard it or read it before, and even if you have- do it again, take the time to do both today. You won't be disappointed and probably enlightened. Either way it's a fun and motivating speech that pretty much sums up the all too serious society that we live in in order to help us view things just a little bit simpler. Enjoy!

Ladies and gentlemen the class of '99:
Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't know.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave it before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess around too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

-Mary Schimch

Are You Fit for MMA?

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a fast growing sport. Gyms are popping up
everywhere, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is getting huge and everyone knows how to put on a "rear naked choke". Some people know of mixed martial arts as cage fighting,
some think it’s human cock fighting, to me it’s my main hobby. If you
ever get the chance to watch any MMA event, you’ll see most fighters
are the in top shape.

MMA is not one dimensional like boxing is, therefore it requires a
dynamic typeset of strength and conditioning. Between the striking and
grappling it demands explosive strength, high levels of muscle
endurance, core strength and flexibility. I have the pleasure
(sarcasm) of trying to address all of these requirements to survive in
the cage because I don’t have a strength and conditioning coach
outside of my MMA gym.

The toughest thing personally was to balance my strength and
conditioning with my technique and sparring. My strength and
conditioning is made up of barbell complexes, bodyweight and light
dumbbell circuits, plyometrics, interval training, and kettlebell
training. Personally I don’t believe in working out like a body
builder, doing bicep curls or having bicep days (this is a mistake I
did). Anytime I am in the gym, I usually try to hit a full body
exercises using exercises that use “real” movement. Any type of
movement that will mimic something I would do in real life or in the
cage. The key phrase is functional training. My typical week involves
6 days of training and at least 4 double sessions. Strength and
conditioning in the morning and fighting technique at night.

Strength, Conditioning, and Technique are not the only important
things to making me a better fighter. I had to make a dramatic change
to my diet. Cleaning up your diet is important if you’re doing any
physical activity because what you eat will affect your performance.
With cleaner eating it’s easier to regulate your weight. When the time
comes to cut weight, I can drop pounds like it’s nothing with the
right kind of eating.

So you have to be strong, but able to go all the rounds and at the
same time have perfect technique. Better technique allows you to work
less just like in kettlebell swinging. In addition, you need to eat
right because you’re wasting your time in the gym if you are eating
terrible.


About The Author:
Jimmy writes for MMA Training Stuff and an amateur mixed martial artist.

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JimmyVo

Problem In A Reflection

I never like focusing on negative things, but I will in this audio vlog so that we can hone in on a couple very specific and obvious problems that hold people back from experiencing impressive results with their Fitness Coaches and Personal Trainers. Have a listen and see where you fit in with the points I make from A thru F and how working with a Fitness Coach/Trainer has effected you.

When You Don't Kill Yourself You Become Stronger

When I practice my kettlebell training, and that of my clients, we focus on strength endurance. This is a practice of working timed sets instead of rep sets. The best way to correlate this is to think in terms of running 2 or 3 miles or even more. You learn to pace yourself or you won't finish. You could never start off sprinting or you would be done in the first few minutes. You have to find a pace so that you can last the entire run and entire set.

The same is true for kettlebell strength endurance training. You go, without stopping or setting the bell down, for a pre-determined time. This time is typically 2-10 min. For one arm movements you have one hand switch. Throw ego out the door and begin with a weight that you can manage for the entire timed set. It's about being successful at what you are doing- never taking the body to "failure".

This teaches the body a whole lot of things as well as the mind. It's about survival. You survive you become stronger. I'm telling my clients all the time the Friedrich Nietzsche quote: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

After our workouts I say: Well I don't see any dead people lying around so I guess you all got stronger. That's a good result for working hard and hard work always, always, always produces results.

It is just that simple. You work hard at something you become successful at it. Think about that for a moment and think deep to what it actually means to "work hard at something". You cannot just lolly gag along and happen to have hard work take place. Nope! You must take the initiative, make the effort, and decide to see the duty through.

Ooops! Did he just say that we HAVE to do something? Wow! Yes he did. Success is the byproduct of positively persevered actions. Exactly what you put into anything will be directly translated into your results. This applies to anything. Am I being to rough and straightforward about this? Well yes, yes I am. I do this because there are too many sensitive people who feel they need coddling in order to do anything in life. Why not take initiative and do something for yourself by yourself. Be motivative and and decisive. This is how people are successful in what they do.

Let's look at fitness. If you show up to my Kettlebell Kamps and go through the motions not only will I see that and get you moving, but you won't get out of it what you have set as your expectations. Let's look at it a different way. If you how up to my Kettlebell Kamps and go as hard as you possibly can, but don't "clean" up your diet and eat nutritionally then your results will still be quite minimal. You will experience increasingly impressive results when you combine the direct efforts of both going hard while exercising and working hard while not to be nutritionally balanced. Of course you've heard that before, but how do you do it. Well that can be simple or it can be very difficult. It all depends on your habits.

We'll be talking more about that very soon.

Liberate Yourself From The Four Walls Part 3- Child's Play

In this segment of "Liberate Yourself From The 4 Walls" my son Brayden has some Liberation Practice. To him, it's just play time.

We usually do a lot of things together and being active is definitely one of them where we really bond. He comes with me to almost every training session and Kettlebell Kamp. This, fitness, is all he's ever known. I'm hoping as he grows up he keeps to what he knows and doesn't reject any of it.  I do my absolute best to make it fun for him and have it be a more playful atmosphere instead of a grueling workout.  If he stops having fun then we either stop what we're doing or change paces so he's still being active, but simply doing something else more attention grabbing. Enjoy the latest segment of our Liberation Campaign as we see it from a more simplistic approach outside the traditional box. Bruce Lee really hit the nail on the head when he said: "Classical methods like these, which I consider a form of paralysis, only solidify and constrain what was once fluid. Their practitioners are merely blindly rehearsing routines and stunts that will lead nowhere."  And this can and most definitely should be applied in all things fitness.

My goal in this series and Liberation Campaign is to liberate myself- and as many people as I can to come with me- from the four walled, stink, sweaty, meat market, closed in, machine based confines of the modern gyms. Be encouraged- do the same! Just because it's modern doesn't make it better. It simply means they are getting better and better at putting things inside the four walls that attract the public to toss more money at them. What did people do before these gyms? Actually they did a lot.

In case you missed the first 2 parts here you go:


Part 1
Part 2