Colin R. Stuckert's Blog, page 31

What Bruce Lee Can Teach Us About CrossFit

Bruce Lee was my childhood idol. (He still is).

As a kid, I wish I had the maturity to appreciate him and what he stood for the way I do now. Lee was an internal movie star, a pioneer in martial arts, and a philosopher and motivational figure to millions. He is often given credit as an inspiration for many successful stars–Arnold Schwarzenegger being one.

In the following article I’m going to touch on some of Lee’s philosophy and how it applies to the current fitness industry. I’m also going to use Lee’s training ideology to show you how you can become a better CrossFitter (and if you aren’t a CrossFitter, you can use t he same methodology to be a better athlete, trainee, or whatever.)

A few quotes by the amazing man:

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless”

“If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life.”

“There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

-Bruce Lee

The Martial Artist and Philosopher

Lee’s book, The Tao Of Jeet Kune Do, has sold over 8 million copies in multiple languages. Lee wrote this book while bed-ridden from a back injury in which he was told he would never again walk. His wife, Laura Lee, penned it from his words during recovery (this was combined with notes he had taken earlier in his life to create the final manuscript).

Lee’s approach to martial arts (which is reflected in the book) was based on the premise that one should learn from all “styles” and avoid superfluous traditions or conventions of any one “style.” He believed a martial artists should be an effective fighter and not waste time with “showy” technique. This approach to martial arts was in stark contrast to the way things were in marital arts at the time. Most schools kept their teachings secret to outside practitioners–for example, it was not ‘OK’ to teach Gung Fu to “Westerners.” Martial arts was an archaic, political system with clear lines drawn between different schools and styles. Lee was ostracized among other martial artists because of this approach (also because of his willingness to teach Gung Fu to “Westerners.”

Lee believed a martial artist should have “no style” and that he should seek whatever is most effective in combat and waste no time with anything else.

“Don’t indulge in any unnecessary, sophisticated moves” -Bruce Lee

Approaching martial arts this way—which helped pave the way for the sport of MMA—led him to become what many considered (if only eventually) one of the world’s greatest martial artists.

For Lee, as a martial artists, it was about destroying his opponent as fast and efficiently as possible. As a philosopher, he believed in personal responsibility and self-improvement with then goal of being the best he could be.

Lee was into “self-help” before there was “self-help.” He was into weightlifting and training well before Arnold brought the popularity of bodybuilding and training with weights to the mainstream.

Recommended: I highly recommend watching “The Dragon” as well as “Enter The Dragon”—his breakthrough role into the American market.

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless.” -Bruce Lee

So, how can you apply Lee’s philosophy to your training?

Like this: Don’t shun other forms of training because they might not “fit in” with what is common for your “style.”

An example: It is my personal opinion that long-distance running is overdone by most endurance runners, and that a lessor volume will provide better results with more safety. Because I feel this way, my mind is likely to form a bias that will make it “OK” in my mind to not use long distance running in my program (I hate running as it is). The thing is, I totally suck at running–it’s probably my biggest weakness–and I know I  need to get more long-distance workouts in to better round-out my fitness. I shouldn’t shun running just because I disagree with what might be standard for other “runners.”

This is a common fallacy I see people fall into–in fact, I’ve succumbed to it exactly as I describe above.

On the flip side, for all the runners out there, you shouldn’t shun weightlifting because you think it’s just for meatheads. By incorporating weightlifting into your routine, you will drastically improve your running (among other parts of your fitness).

Athletes often like to label themselves based on their chosen style of training. Lifters are lifters, runners are runners, CrossFitters are CrossFitters (but more on that later). This “identity” follows whatever is standard for their respective style or sport. If you are a runner, you do this. If you are a weightlifter, you do this. If you are a swimmer, you do this. And so on.

And Herein lies then problem: Athletes should adopt the best from every style… just like Lee suggests for marital artists.

The New Kid On The Block: CrossFit

The newest identity that has entered the fitness industry is, “CrossFitter.” As a CrossFitter, you run into many preconceived notions from outsiders as to what it means to be a CrossFitter. For the CrossFitters that I know, this only strengthens their identity. (Plus, CrossFit has always been rooted in counter-culture.)

While I don’t think we should segment ourselves into any one athlete identity, if there was ever one identity to become (in its purest sense) it should be: “CrossFitter.”

Why do I feel this way?

Because CrossFit was founded on the fundamental principles of many modalities. CrossFit is to fitness what Jeet Kune Do was to martial arts: the best of all styles. (Tweet this quote)

The Principles of CrossFit (many of you need to be reminded of them more often)

‘To specialize in not specializing” and to be “prepared for the unknown” are the core tenants of the training program known as CrossFit.

The basic goal of CrossFit—the purpose it was invented—is to build elite fitness. Or, as it is defined by it’s founder Greb Glassman, “To be as good as possible at as many things as possible.” Glassman believed that an athlete should not specialize if it would come at the expense of other aspects of the athlete’s fitness. CrossFit defines this as the difference between the “generalist” and the “specialist.”

The cool thing about adopting an identity of a “CrossFitter” is the fact that you specialize in not specializing. You become as good as you can at everything. You aim to improve a form of well-rounded GPP (general physical preparedness) physical fitness that is prepared for the “unknown.”

As you see above, Lee’s methodology for developing his art was to take a similar approach of generalization. Like many who train CrossFit, Lee had a strong distaste for the “convention” of a single boxed-in style, sport or modality. I believe, just like Lee did, that we should take bits and pieces of every “style” and use them to make ourselves better. This is exactly what CrossFit aims to do. CrossFit has long been “open” to incorporating other styles of training that it deems most effective at improving general fitness.

I remember a quote from someone in CrossFit HQ–it mgiht have been Glassman or maybe it was Dave Castro–who said, “If evidence is provided that rollerblading with a hula hoop will better improve fitness, you will see rollerblading with a hula hoop as the next daily workout on CrossFit.com. (I’m probably paraphrasing a bit there, but this is pretty close to what was said and you get then point.)

What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is comprised of 1/3 weightlifting, 1/3 gymnastics, and 1/3 metabolic conditioning. In each respective category, there are many modalities–or “styles”–that are utilized for developing fitness. For example, Olympic weightlifting increases speed and strength (plus balance, flexibility, etc.) and falls within the “weightlifting” category. Powerlifting, as another example, produces raw power and maximal strength development and is also considered weightlifting. Gymnastics includes all bodyweight movements and even includes basic ring work and jumping and tumbling.

Next comes what CrossFit refers to as “metabolic conditioning” (what most people refer to as cardio). Within this category, you have a handful of ways to increase fitness such as sprinting, biking, swimming, running, hiking, lateral training, plyometric, circuit training, and so on.

The goal of CrossFit is to produce elite fitness as efficiently as possible, no matter the method.

As you can see, Bruce Lee’s methodology for creating Jeet Kune Do is exactly the same as Glassman’s CrossFit. To be as effective as possible at developing fitness, and to be as effective as possible in comabt–both using whatever means necessary. Basically, Lee and Glassman both aimed to find what works best for their goals while saying “to hell” with anything that doesn’t.

The Current CrossFitter

Bruce Lee was a true CrossFitter

CrossFit is now a global phenomena that includes the CrossFit games and a billion dollar industry comprising affiliate gym owners, supplement companies, apparel, equipment, etc. I don’t think any of this is bad. In fact, I love it. This is going to get more people involved in CrossFit and help them change their lives for the better.

But… (of course, there’s always a but)

Many trainees lose touch (and some have no clue) of the principles that CrossFit was founded on. I say that each CrossFitter has an obligation to understand and appreciate what this great training method is based on. For the average person that is training CrossFit to look and feel good, a return to the “fundamentals” is not only key for safe development, but it’s also a celebration of exactly what CrossFit is in its purest form. For advanced athletes, a return to the fundamentals–to master them–is also of paramount importance (refer to CrossFit’s “virtuosity“).

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -Lee

I’m not writing this to criticize the growth of CrossFit, or the sport, or the Games, or some of the not-so-great affiliates out there. I’m trying to remind you of the fundamentals that all of it is founded on.

This a calling to return to the basics. (The Level One Training Manual is all you’ll ever need to produce elite fitness.)

I hope this reminder will help new and old athletes alike return to the fundamentals of CrossFit–and to keep in mind that these fundamentals are the fundamentals of fitness and will always need their due credit.

“Stick to the basics and when you feel you’ve mastered them it’s time to start all over again, begin anew – again with the basics – this time paying closer attention.” -Greg Glassman

The basics of developing fitness will always be the same–even when the evolution of the sport and the CF glam muddles it down:

Shorter WODs will produce more power output and thus more fitness than long WODs.
There will always be a balance between too much and not enough, and it will always be a finely-walked tightrope.
You will always need nutrition, sleep, and active recovery to maintain any kind of regular CrossFit training.

For those competing CrossFit: You will never be able to compete on any reasonable level by neglecting these principles.

“When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water.  When one has no form, one can be all forms. When one has not style, he can fit with any style.”

-Bruce Lee

So how do you respect the fundamentals? Some guidelines to follow:

Concentrate the bulk of your training on WODs under 10 minutes with the goal of doing them AS HARD AND FAST AND CORRECT AS YOU CAN
Do chippers once a week
Train lots of skill work (lots and lots if you are trying to compete, the better you are at the movements, the better you will be competing.)
Balance your fitness: Regularly learn and play new sports
Move as many ways as possible: climb, play, run, jump, crawl
Keep your training under 1 hour
Get your Fran time under 4 minutes. (It is a sad reality that most competing CrossFitter’s have neglected the fundamental WOD’s that CrossFit was built on. The best athletes in the world all have exceptionally fast times in the benchmark workouts. If you are spending most of your time in Chipper-land, you really have no chance in hell of ever competing with the big boys. Want to know where you stack up? Do Fran, Grace, and Cindy and compare your times to the top athletes.)

Remember the point of your training. If you are trying to look good and be healthy, return to the basics. If you are trying to compete, see how you stack up with the shorter WODs, and make sure you have the basics mastered.

Utilize all modalities and all methods based on your goals and weaknesses. If your endurance sucks, train it. If your gymnastics sucks, train it. If your back squat sucks, train it. If you hate swimming, that’s a sign you should get in the water on a daily basis. If you like bodyweight exercises because you don’t want to get big–Hello Ladies–than you should start squatting and deadlifting because you are severely missing out on a sexier body.

Don’t shun methods that can help you. The ironic thing is the things we avoid the most–whether that’s a sport, exercise, or method–is often the exact thing we need.

“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” 

― Bruce Lee

Above all else, be like water, my friend.

-Colin Stuckert

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post What Bruce Lee Can Teach Us About CrossFit appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

Words Have The Power To Build or Destroy

I love this quote.

“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” 

-Elbert Hubbard 

It made me realize something about quotes. First, not every quote that someone posts online and labels “motivational” is, umm, motivational.

I just had to read through at least 50 quotes before stumbling on this gem.

None of the first 49 “spoke” to me. In fact, I often read quotes that don’t do much for me, that don’t arouse anything. Then there are other times when I come across a phrase that I can read 100 times and still feel the fire each and every time.

I think that quotes appeal to each of us in different ways. That said, I truly know that…

Quotes can be life-changing!

The late Gary Halbert—said to be the greatest copywriter of all time—proposed a thought experiment to his students at the beginning of his seminars: Take two envelopes and address them to your mother. Now, write two very different letters. 

For letter one, tell your mom that you appreciate her for all that she has done for you and that you are writing to say thank you and I love you.

For letter two, write: You are the worst mom ever and I was cursed the day I was born under your dictatorship… (and other hateful sentences to similar effect). Now seal those letters and put a stamp on them.

What do you think is going to happen if you send each of these letters?

What would happen if you sent letter one?
What would happen if you sent letter two?

Do you see the lesson here?

 Words are powerful!

The words used by leaders have helped end slavery and brought nations to war. Words sell products. Words tell people you love them. Words are hurtful. Words can change lives.

The power of words cannot be overstated. They can infect your subconscious in a way that brings out real change. They can make you a more intelligent and aware human being when used properly or they can create a prison of torment and pain if used improperly. Don’t ever neglect their importance.

Words also morph as they travel from individual to individual. It’s often people refer to something I said and as adamant as they are about the exact verbiage I used, they are almost entirely 100% flat-out wrong! Since words are so powerful, and they can cause massive damage to others, you should always tread lightly with using them. Be weary of repeating something you “heard” as fact (and be weary of believing it at all). Think clearly about what you want to say and avoid rash responses. These simple tips can save you a whole hella lotta grief in your life. The main thing I want you to think about is the power of your words. More often than not, your words can do massive damage to others while meaning almost nothing to you as the speaker. You see this often in people that live lives of quiet desperation that are the target of gossip, manipulation, bullying, and other forms of interpersonal relationships in which words are the primary ammunition. It’s sad in many cases and it goes unchecked until disaster strikes. This reminds me of another quote:

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” -Bessie Anderson Stanley

Aim to bring light into other’s lives. You’ll feel better doing this than putting others down or being judgmental, sarcastic, and mean. It’s just a better way to live. 

We are all brothers and sisters of this home we call Earth. Don’t let the size and breath of this fact cloud your vision as to the fact that the person next to you is your brother or sister. We are all related no matter if you believe that it was God’s plan or nature’s. Either way, we are all one big family.  Keep this in mind the next time you let your words go unchecked… you might be doing more harm than you realize.

Action: Think about the words you use when you write. Be careful what you say to others. Consider writing a pleasant “Thank You” letter to your mother (or father).

Your Brother on Earth and may your words be chosen wisely and to the benefit of all mankind,

-Colin Stuckert

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post Words Have The Power To Build or Destroy appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

The Most Common Fitness Exercises and Acronyms

When you first start training CF, the lingo is a bit tricky to grasp. It def takes some time. Here’s some help.

AHAP: As Heavy As Possible

AMRAP: As Many Rounds (orReps) as Possible

Box: The term which refers to a CF affiliate

BS: Back squat

BW: Body weight

CFT: The CrossFit Total | A best of three attempt at a 1RM of press, deadlift, squat

CFWU: The CrossFit Warm-up

C&J: Clean and jerk

C2:  Concept II rowing machine

C2B: Chest-to-bar

DL: Deadlift

DNF: Did Not Finish

EMOM: Every Minute on the Minute

FS: Front squat

Globo Gym: the common term to refer to what a big-box or corporate gym is | I.e. 24 Hour

Fitness, Fitness World, YMCA, LA Fitness, Gold’s Gym

GHD: Glute-ham developer. A device that allows for posterior chain exercise, such as a hip extension, sit-up or a back-exten­sion.

GPP: General physical preparedness. Also known as “fitness”

HC: Hang Clean

HSPU: Handstand pushup

KB: Kettlebell

KTE: Knees-to-elbows

ME: Max Effort | All out until you can’t perform another rep.

MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning workout

MU: Muscle-ups

OHS: Overhead squat

PC: Powerclean

PR: Personalrecord

pp: Push press

PJ: Push Jerk

 

PU: Pull-ups

Rep: Repetition

Rx’d |  as  Rx:  As prescribed; as written

RM: Repetition maximum. Your 1RM is your max lift for one rep

10RM: The most you can lift 10 times. (Commonly found in WOD’s as 1RM/3RM/5RM etc.)

SC: Squat Clean

SDHP: Sumo Deadlift High Pull

Set: A number of repetitions. For example: 3×10,would be 3 sets of 10 reps each with rest between

SPP: Specific physical preparedness, aka skill training.

SN: Snatch

SQ: Squat

Subbed: Substituted something

T2B: Toes-to-bar

TGU: Turkish get-up

UB: Un-broken/without stopping

WOD: Workout of the day

#: Symbol for Pounds

Download the printable PDF

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post The Most Common Fitness Exercises and Acronyms appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

50 Ways to Lose Weight

50 ways to Lose weight intelligently without the use of drugs or unhealthy protocols.

Please share this one with anyone that you know will benefit! Let’s keep fighting the good fight… Here is a snazzy click-to-tweet link.

This essay is about losing weight but it also doubles as a guide on how to live a healthy lifestyle. Overall, you will lead a better life if you make your lifestyle look something like 1 through 20.

1. Eat a Grain-Free Paleo/Primal diet

Health and longevity are centered around eating  a Paleo or Primal diet (meat, leaves, berries). If you can’t go 100% grain-free Paleo (you can, BTW), you should, at the very least, be focusing on eating only unprocessed whole foods from nature. Eat real food in its real state.

Food is fuel. Only ingest the highest quality fuel you can find. Weight loss becomes effortless when you are eating real food.

2. Get lots of Sleep

I have clients that look at me sideways when I tell them they need to sleep 8+ hours a night. If you are one of these sleep-deprived zombies, I challenge you to try it for a week. You will be amazed by how you feel and where your body composition goes with this little experiment. You may realize that you have been in a chronic state of sleep deprivation your entire life.

3. Practice Intermittent Fasting (IF): Eat Less Often

I follow the leangains approach: a daily 8-hour feeding window followed by a 16-hour fast. Check it out: Leangains.com. Whether you follow a strict fasting protocol or not, you can definitely benefit by skipping meals on a regular basis. Contrary to popular belief, skipping meals can help you you build muscle (it also provides a ton of other health-related benefit).

Further Reading: MarksDailyApple, EatSTOPEat

4. Eat Slow and Chew Your Food Thoroughly

This has done WONDERS for me. I used to inhale food like a whale gobbling up plankton. I would just swim right through the food until it was gone in a matter of minutes. Eating slow enables some important triggers for weight loss:

1. You reduce the insulin spike by slowing the release of glucose into your blood stream. This prevents insulin, a storage hormone, from storing calories in your fat cells–more insulin = more fat storage.

2. You eat less. Eating slow lets you feel full faster while also reducing how many calories you eat. We all hate that full, bloated feeling. That is the result of eating too fast and not allowing the full trigger enough time to tell your brain to PUT DOWN THE DAMN FORK.

5. Cook Your Food at Home

Restaurant food is just bad. Restaurants use cheap salt, sugar, sauces, thickeners, stabilizers and all kinds of other unnatural crap to reduce costs, stay profitable, and keep the food addictive.

The average restaurant margin is well under 5%. You better believe they do everything they can to cut corners and save on food costs. When this happens, the customer is the one that gets stuck with the health bill.

6. Don’t Drink Calories

When clients cut out soda/juices/beer they usually see 5+ pound weight-loss results within the first week. Drinking calories elicits a similar negative response on insulin levels that eating your food too fast does. The calories enter your blood stream too quickly and cause an overload of insulin. We are made to chew our food. Avoid drinking calories in any form.

7. Go Completely Gluten-Free

This can be life changing. Clean out your pantry and be super picky when eating out (say no to the free bread). This could be the missing link to that lean body you’ve been trying to achieve.

8. Don’t Snack. Snacking is The Bane of Weight Loss

One of the reasons Intermittent fasting is so effective is because it regulates your hormone levels through balancing your body between the fasted and fed states. Your body is made to burn fat when in the ‘fasted’ state and made to store calories when in the ‘fed’ state. Every time you put calories in your mouth you are entering the ‘fed’ state and thus shutting off your bodies ability to burn fat by introducing insulin into your blood stream.

Next time you grab that bag of almonds thinking it’s a healthy snack, you should think again; you are actually doing your body a disservice. Eat only during your meal times.

9. Take High Quality Fish Oil With Every Meal

Fish oil contains omega-3’s that help to balance out the omega-6’s that are prevalent throughout our modern diets (especially processed foods). Correcting this balance provides a major benefit to the body, especially weight loss. My favorite brand is Carlson

Further Reading: Read Robb Wolf’s post if you are interested in the science.

10. Take Vitamin D or Get Sunlight Every day

This could be the missing link in your weight loss efforts. Vitamin D is a hormone that is integral to many processes in your body. Take a vitamin D soft-gel or get 20 minutes of sunlight every day.

Further Reading: MarksDailyApple

11. Reduce Stress at All Costs

Do everything you can to reduce and avoid stress. Every time you get angry, stressed, or freak-out about something it is like taking a bite out of a candy bar. Stress releases cortisol and insulin into your blood stream just like taking a bite of your favorite candy bar.

As we discussed earlier, the extra release of insulin halts fat-loss and promotes fat-gain (cortisol also messes shit up). That’s a bad combination don’t you think? Take a chill pill and BREATHE.

12. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the act of focusing on a single object or task and turning off the rest of the noise (thoughts, worry, stress) going through your head. This helps with number 11 in lowering and preventing chronically raised cortisol and insulin levels. Our hormones get all out of whack as a result of our mind tormenting us with worry, stress, anger, resentment, jealously, and all kinds of other shit we shouldn’t be worrying about.

Techniques for being mindful: Counting your breath (breath meditation), sitting in a quiet place and emptying the mind (meditation), going outdoors and focusing on the sights and sounds (a form of meditation). I’m not a pro here, just a student, so I suggest you do some more research on your own. A little practice goes a long way.

Recommended book:  The Power of Now

13. Eliminate Sugar

It’s the absolute worst thing you can eat. Remember, fat doesn’t make you fat; sugar, seed oils, and processed grains are what make you fat.

14. Eat lots of High-Quality Fat

Fatty fish, grass-fed beef, lamb, bison, coconut oil, olive oil (I prefer it unheated), Kerrygold butter, avocado oil, macadamia oil, ghee, lard (make your own), tallow (make your own).

Fat is the most neglected nutrient for most people because of all the misinformation and anti-fat dogma that started in the 60′s. As a result, the majority of people still don’t understand how important fat is to the human body (especially for women and their wacky hormones).

Let me tell you something that is going to blow your mind: YOU SHOULD BE GETTING MOST OF YOUR CALORIES FROM FAT. Yes, this means 40%, 50%, and up to 60% of your total calories should come from quality fat sources.

Next time you sit down to eat, look at your plate. Are half or more of the total calories from fat? If not, go in the kitchen and grab more.

15. Eat lots of High-quality Animal Products

Keywords include: grass-fed, free range, pastured, organic, all-natural, hormone-free, humanely raised, family farms, local.

Your diet should look something like this:  

Protein 30-35% of calories or more

Fat 35-60% of calories or more

Carbs in the form of starches/veggies = ~25% or less

Remember, these are just averages. Everyone is different and some will prefer lower carbs while others will do well on higher carbs. Tweak and experiment to find what works for you.

16. Perform Resistance Training ~3 times a week

You probably already know why this is beneficial. Just do it.

17. Perform High-Intensity Conditioning ~3x Week

Think intervals; short, fast, and hard. Avoid long distance and moderately paced exercise as the bulk of your training.

18. Walk Everywhere

Take the stairs, park at the end of the parking lot, walk the long way. We are made to move at a slow pace often. Get up and get moving.

19. Play Sports

Great for overall health, mental relief, muscle building, mobility, social development, etc. We have been playing games since the dawn of man.

20. Get Outdoors as Much as Possible

It just works

Download the handy 20 Ways To Life a Healthy Lifestyle Poster

 

The first 20 are the fundamentals to living a healthy life. As you adopt more and more of this list, you will notice that you become a fat-burning machine, and you’ll soon realize how easy it is to tweak your weight based on what you do or don’t do. I recommend you incorporate these habits a little at a time until they become routine. Don’t try to adopt them all at once or you will probably get frustrated and fail.

More Tips For Weight Loss:
21. Drink a full glass of water before each meal

You will feel full faster and eat less as a result.

22. Eat your protein before your carbs and fat

Protein is very satiating and will fill you up fast.

23. Eat a bit of  healthy fat 15 minutes before each meal

Fat triggers the release of hormones that signal your brain that you are full. You can kickstart these hormones by nibbling on some nuts or dark chocolate before your meals.

24. Eat hot and hearty soups and stews

Soups and stews are filling. Eat them HOT and slow (prevents overeating).

25. Sprint

Fast, intense, full-body exercise like sprinting has insane thermogenic and EPOC effects on the body. Basically, it turns your body into a calorie-burning furnace. Sprinting also builds massive muscle (compare a pic of a sprinter to a marathon runner…scary).

26. Make things difficult for yourself (on purpose)

Why would you ever do this? So you can move more, DUH!

The more movement you perform, the more calories you burn. Instead of always taking the easiest route, try this: grit your pussy willow lip and get moving.

27. Buy some Chuck Taylors or Reebok Olys

The more weight you move, the more calories you burn and more muscle you build.

28. Drink green tea

Green tea is full of antioxidants and a bit of caffeine–both good for fat burning.

29. Chew More

Chewing has been linked to improvement in digestion and breakdown of food through the release of the saliva enzymes amylase (starch breakdown) and lipase (fat breakdown).

30. Drink black coffee (in moderation)

Coffee offers many benefits to the body, one of which is fat burning, but there are some caveats. You should drink black and organic if possible (or try Bulletproof coffee, it’s amazing). Only buy the best Coffee beans as they are one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world.

31. Take a digestive enzyme, probiotic, and/or eat fermented food regularly

These products improve gut health and digestion. The better you digest your food, the better it is utilized in the body and the less likely it is to be converted into adipose tissue. Adipose tissue is FAT ladies and gentlemen, the jiggly, cellulitely, unpleasant kind of fat.

32. Perform heavy, complex, functional movements

Anything that trains the body as a whole is going to eat up calories for fuel. If you are stuck in isolation-land, I implore you to start picking up, carrying, and moving heavy shit on a regular basis. Go big and compound, or go home.

33. Avoid liquid food

And yes, that includes protein shakes. You should avoid liquid calories in any form if you are trying to lose weight. We know that drinking calories produce a large insulin spike and we also know that insulin is a storage hormone that signals our body to store calories. Well, do you know where those calories get stored? Yup, as fat.

Disclaimer: If you drink a shake in lieu of eating a meal, then I say it’s not that bad as long as you keep it simple and low-carb. Avoid those 500-calorie oat, peanut butter, and fruit smoothie concoctions (those are for weight gain). If it keeps you from eating shit and you want to drink a shake, then stick with water and whey and drink it slow.

34. Skip the condiments

How did I lose 10 pounds and finally carve out my abs after many years of frustration? Dropping ketchup. I used to drown my chicken breasts in ketchup; they were swimming. Eliminating this single product allowed me to bust through a stubborn plateau.

Store bought condiments are filled with sugar and other processed crap. There is no reason to include them in your diet, especially considering how easy it is to substitute them with a homemade or organic option. These seemingly small tweaks are what separate those that have abs from those that don’t.

Stick with organic mustard or homemade ketchup.

35. Drink lots of water

You don’t need to drink as much water as the pundits would have you believe, but for reducing cravings and making you feel full more often, water is useful. Listen to your thirst; it’s there for a reason.

36. Think hard – Use your brain

Your brain’s primary fuel source is glucose, so obviously it is beneficial to use up as much of it as possible so there isn’t any leftover to be stored as fat.

37. Perform Tabata intervals

A Tabata interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. Pick a movement—Air squat for example—and start a timer. Perform as many air squats in 20 seconds as possible, and then rest. Go after 10 seconds of rest. Repeat until 4 minutes is up and 8 rounds have been completed. The Tabata Interval is a brutal, effective, and simple exercise protocol that you can do with any exercise or movement.

38. Replace soda, juice, sweet tea with a soda water and lime (sparkling and seltzer also work)

This is how my sister and I weaned off soda (a long time ago). It allowed us to satisfy our craving for carbonation without the calories or sugar. You can even fake it at the club with a soda water and lime—you will still look super-cool and no one will know you are just sipping bubbly water.

39. Do NOTHING

Relieve stress by turning off your brain and laying around like a fat-lazy Jabba the Hutt. This is something some of us do well (or too much) and others do terribly (never relax).

Examples of doing nothing include: watching mindless TV, movies, people watching, lying on the beach, napping.

40. Take naps

Sleep is one of the top 5 techniques for living a healthy life. Naps consist of sleep. Thus naps do a body good (milk does not).

41. Get social

Humans are social animals that have survived for thousands of by staying together. The benefits of enjoying time with friends and family are enormous. Anything that improves happiness and makes us feel good will help us lose weight by reducing stress.

42. Fast before you train and/or after you train

The longer you go without food in your body the more you will burn stored fat. Training increases your body’s need for fuel. Your body will utilize fat stores for fuel if there is a lack of glucose in your blood stream. Fasting helps keep glucose out of your bloodstream so your body can burn off fat instead.

43. Watch your carb intake

This includes sugar, rice, potatoes, fruit, and grains (hopefully no grains). Even good carbs can become bad if you eat too much of them.

44. Take ZMA before bed (Zinc, Magnesium & Vitamin B-6)

ZMA is hands down my favorite supplement. Not only does magnesium aid in weight loss and a host of other bodily functions, it improves sleep as well. You will sleep deeper, fuller, and longer. This should be a standard supplement in everyone’s program.

Recommended product: Natural Stacks MagTech

45. Do Crossfit

Seriously, everyone can and should do some form of Crossfit. You can do more WODs, Less WODs, strength-bias, endurance-bias, gymnastics-bias, powerlifting-bias, etc. It is great for GPP (general Physical Preparedness) and it results in a sexy bod.

Links: strength-bias, endurance-bias, gymnastics-bias, powerlifting-bias, outlaw, etc.

46. Utilize active-rest days

Those days where you can barely walk and your back feels like a giant bruise (I heart that feeling) are days that you should avoid training. This is the perfect time for an active-rest day.

An active rest day looks like this: Work mobility, do some light rowing or jogging, work on Oly technique with an empty barbell, foam roll, stretch, etc.

Go at a slow and easy, yet deliberate, pace. This will improve recovery, reduce stress on your body, help recover your CNS, and get your body moving. This also improves fat burning and muscle building.

47. Opt for gluten-free hard cider over gluten-filled beer, and opt for liquor+soda water over sugar-filled mix drinks

Beer and mixed drinks are the Antichrist to your abs. A long island ice tea has 780 calories and about 40 grams of sugar.  I used to drink those [Smacks forehead]. Try this drink recipe by Robb Wolf.

48. Avoid artificial sweeteners

This includes Splenda, aspartame, and other ‘naturally flavored’ sweeteners.  Sweeteners spike your insulin levels because your brain can’t tell the difference between them and sugar.  Thus the body response ends up being the same. They also might cause cancer. It just makes sense to avoid them.  *Stevia is ok but I would still go light with it.

49. Don’t overtrain

Avoid overtraining at all costs. It saps weight-loss efforts and promotes fat-gain via the huge amount of cortisol release you release into your body. Read “8 Signs You Are Overtraining”

50. Plan ahead/pack a lunch

The best way to avoid falling off the wagon and eating junk is to be prepared.  Always have something healthy with you. One-pot meals, the crockpot, and large roasts are great for making meals ahead of time.

How to Implement

Step 1: Be patient

Your new habits will take time to implement, and to show results. The people who get shit done in life are the one’s who stay the course. Stay the damn course.

Step 2: Test, Tweak, Test, Tweak

You must test and tweak regularly to find what works for you. All of these techniques will work for everyone to varying degrees if implemented in their purest forms, however, the dose and result can be vary wildly from person to person.

No matter what, we will always be learning, growing, and improving if we put in the effort.

Now get your ass in gear and get to work! Download the Printable PDF of this post.

Do you have any tips for weight-loss? Post below…

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post 50 Ways to Lose Weight appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

How To Gain Weight The Clean Way: A Hardgainers Guide

[image error]

Gaining weight is seldom covered in popular fitness literature. I guess that makes sense considering most people are trying to lose weight, not gain it.

But for some people, it’s a real problem.

Some people have medical issues where they need to gain weight to stay healthy. Some want to gain weight for a sports-specific gaol or to feel better about themselves. No matter the reason, gaining “clean” weight isn’t the easiest thing to do.

It’s easy to gain weight, sure, just eat a ton of junk food calories. But gaining “clean” weight, which consists of keeping body fat gain as minimal as possible while putting on lean mass, is very hard to do.

Most people would say, “just eat more” and brush this off as “case closed.” This seems simple enough, right? And who doesn’t love eating more?

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

I’ve been a skinny guy my whole life. My genetics allow me to gain weight just fine… gain fat that is. Obviously that’s not the kind of weight gain I’m looking for. Trying to pack on lean muscle mass has been a life-long struggle (and still going).

There are some guys who can go to the gym a few times a week, bench press and do bicep curls, and pack on 20 pounds of “mass” in a few short weeks with relatively little fat-gain.

Life. Is. Not. Fair.

For the females, there some who can’t gain a pound no matter what they eat and there are others who can look at a cupcake and gain 5 pounds. Life isn’t fair on both ends of the spectrum and we always want what we don’t got (just full of cliches today).

That said, this post is for the “hardgainers” that want to pack on clean weight in the healthiest way possible.

Maybe you want to gain more mass and stay lean. Maybe you are too lean and need to put some fat and muscle on you frame. No matter your goal, the principles below will help you with you regulate the kind and amount of weight that you gain. And you can stay healthy doing so.

Three Rules For Clean Weight Gain:

Consume more calories (from clean sources)
Become best friends with fat (the right kind)
Use a blender to make “mega shakes” (with clean ingredients)

While there are many aspects to gaining weight and being overall healthy—like sleep, water consumption, stres, etc—we won’t get into those here. (Check out this post to get the basics down)

By focusing on the “big three” above, you can start developing the a mindset that will get you gaining weight. Your actions are always rooted in your beliefs, so it’s important that you learn what it’s going to take. The better you understand what gaining weight actually entails, the more likely you will be able to actually gain weight. Make sense?

This seems obvious, but trust me, most fail here. They fail at the “belief” part and that keeps them from making gains.

Since you now have this guide, you will be able to create the “operating template” that will get you gaining weight the healthy way. But it’s still going to be a process so it’s time to strap in and get ready for some work ahead…

[image error]

1. Eat More Calories

To get a general idea of the amount of calories you are currently taking in, you need to track your current calorie intake for a few days. There are some useful apps for this.

Don’t Skip This: You need to know where you are at now so you can know where you need to be.

What I’ve found with people who have trouble gaining weight is they think they eat wayyyy more than they actually do. After counting calories for a few days, they realize how little they are taking in. (This is also prevalent in many things in life: we are terrible judges of ourselves.)

How To Eat More Calories:

Track your calories for at least 3 days. Take the average.
Set a target “daily calorie goal” that is 300-500 calories above this average.
Spend the next week forcing yourself to eat 300-500 more calories a day to reach this goal.

This process will be a struggle for some of you. You eat what you eat because your body has been maintaing the homeostasis for a while now. This is the main reason you have trouble gaining weight.

To break free from your body’s inclination to stay the way it is through homeostasis, you need to go above and beyond, and sometimes, to the extreme.

And this is often uncomfortable.

The next steps two steps help you go “above and beyond.”

Onward.

[image error]

2. Become Best Friends With The “Right” Fat

Contrary to popular belief, fat is the human body’s best friend. Fat fuels your brain and body and is essential–meaning you will die if you don’t consume it (the same goes for protein but not carbohydrates—we can live just fine with zero carbs).

Fat has been demonized in our society. And ironically, we are fat because of it.

We are fat because we stopped eating fat.

It’s a bit of a paradox, I know, but such is the case with most things that are “common knowledge.”

Without going too far down this rabbit-hole (use this post), just know that fat needs to be a HUGE part of your diet. It should make up somewhere between 40-60% of your total calorie intake.

Yes. That much.

Here are some of the best Paleo-Friendly Fats:

Fatty fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, etc
Pastured animals: beef, bison, game, etc
Coconut in all forms (MCT, Oil, Milk)
Pastured Unsalted butter. Kerrygold unsalted is my favorite
Unheated olive oil (recommended)
Avocados
Organ meats from healthy animals
Oysters
Raw, Organic nuts/seeds (in moderation)
Egg yolks

These are the products I use on a daily basis to get my fat calories in:

 

People always think they are eating enough fat. This is often what I hear, “I cook everything in coconut oil!”

In saying this, they are usually assuming that they have their fat “in check” and nothing further is needed.

Wrong.

Cooking in coconut oil, or any other clean fat, is simply not enough. Adding a few drizzles of olive oil or a teaspoon of butter to your meal is NOT ENOUGH.

Most of you just aren’t eating enough fat. Most of you aren’t eating enough variety of high-quality fat, either.

Healthy levels of fat consumption can range between 30-60% of total calorie intake. This can be more than HALF of the total calories you eat. Most of you are not even close to that. Everyone should be focusing on more quality fat intake and not just the “hardgainers.”

Fat is your body’s preferred fuel source, it regulates a ton of things in your body and it is essential. Fat is hormonally neutral, meaning it doesn’t spike insulin or glucagon like protein and carbs do. It also helps “buffer” (stabilize them) your hormonal response when eating carbs or protein. Unfortunately, fat has been villanized in our society as the result of faulty research in the 60’s and it has RUINED the health of our country.

Fat is awesome and we all need to eat more of it. Click To Tweet This Article – Some useful articles: High Fat Diets – Fat Food is Smart Food – Fats – How To Eat More Fat

So how do we start eating more fat?

There are two techniques that you can use to start eating more clean fat. The first thing I want you to do is to start partitioning out a part of your plate just for fat. This will make up about 1/3 of your meals…

Right between your veggies and protein, drop some fat bombs until 1/3 of your plate is covered with clean, yummy, nutritious fats.

The second way to get more fat into your diet is to start focusing on having a “side” of fat with each meal. This will be a tbsp or two of extra fat that you take like a supplement.

How To Have a Side of Fat:

Grab a small bowl, cup or tablespoon and get a scoop full of clean fat.
Get a glass of water to chase if desired
Take your “side” of fat in one bite or spoonful

This technique will ensure that you are always getting an extra healthy dose (pun intended) of this nutrient that your body so desperately needs (and is probably defunct in).

This is on top of having fat as a regular portion of your diet (30-60% of total calories).

Examples of a “side” of fat:

Half avocado and sea salt
Melt TBSP of Pastured Butter and slather it everywhere
Tat a tbsp or two of coconut oil and honey with a spoon (I love this).
Egg yolks – raw (at your own risk) or cooked
Can of sardines (my fav)
TBSP of unheated olive oil, MCT oil (link), or other
Piece of raw, quality cheese (if you can tolerate it)

Back to the “Hardgainers”…

One gram of fat equals nine calories and one gram of protein or carbohydrate is only four calories. If you want to gain weight the “cleanest” way possible, eat lots of quality fat.

Eating plenty of fat will help you reach your daily target goal that much easier (try doing that with chicken breasts… vomit). It also has the benefit of curbing your hormone levels. As far as fat gain goes, this is one of the most important aspects of gaining clean weight.

When you eat junk, your insulin and cortisol levels are all out of whack. Not to mention the inflammation and strain on your organs to digest all the poisons moving through your system. But you can avoid this. You don’t have to succumb to eating junk food or massive amounts of carbs to get lasting weight gain.

Fat + consuming more overall calories + mega-shakes is the safest way to put on clean weight in the most gradual and healthy manner.

That brings us to number 3…

3. Use a Blender to make Clean “MEGA Shakes”

I’m sure you’ve heard of using high-calorie shakes for weight gain—especially if you are a hardgainer.

And yes, shakes work…. when they are done right.

The main problems with the typical protein shake recommendations is they consist of “crappy” ingredients—peanut butter, cheap whey, milk, oats, etc—and they don’t include enough fat.

Another important tip for avoiding fat gain when using shakes that no one probably told you about is to sip the damn thing. The faster you intake calories into your system, then more fat gain you promote (due to insulin). So drink your shake gradually and keep from shocking your body with a massive flood of calories.

The typical “bodybuilding” shake is an insulin-ab-blurring disaster waiting to give you plenty of belly fat and little in the way of clean weight-gain. These are best suited for the “hormone-injecting” folks (And yes, they could totally benefit from a “cleaner” shake, as well).

Utilize high-calorie shakes using quality ingredients in intelligent portions and you have the most powerful tool in the world for gaining weight.

Below is a general “shake” template. Mix up your ingredients and always adjust to “taste.” There are no hard and fast rules for making shakes other than having some combination of liquid, fat and protein.

A  Template For “MEGA” Shake Making (download)

1. Include a bunch of healthy fat (2-6+ TBSP):

Coconut oil or MCT oil (Bulletproof MCT oil is perfect for this)
Grass-fed butter
Grass-fed cream (use gradually and test how you feel afterwards)
Raw nuts/seeds butter (use raw/organic and not roasted) (link)
Coconut milk (link)
Coconut flesh
Liquid fish oil/cod liver oil
Raw chocolate or Cocoa Powder (link)

2. Use a high-quality grass-fed whey (40-60g):

Bulletproof Whey (Get here)
Progenex
Choice protein

3. Add 1-2 cups organic frozen fruit (always keep this in your freezer):

Bananas
Berries
Mango
Etc.

4. Use 4-16oz water, coffee, unsweet organic almond milk, coconut water or milk as a base:

You need a liquid to help it blend and provide a drinkable consistency. My favorite protein shake is made with Bulletproof coffee (Recipe), whey, coconut milk and a touch of cream (sweetened with Xiltol).

 5. Add in random ingredients to taste:

Yogurt from grass-fed milk
Raw honey
Raw eggs
Avocado
Cooked sweet potato
Mint leaves
Spinach
Maple syrup
Cashews
Almonds
Macadamia Nuts (link)
Nut butter

Let’s Review

How To Gain Clean Weight

1. You need to consume more “clean” calories than you are now.

Consuming clean calories will give you the best chance at building lean muscle mass with the least amount of fat gain. What they don’t tell you about gaining weight is the fact that weight gain always comes with fat gain. It’s how the body works, you can’t put on weight while completely avoiding fat gain.

You can, however, mitigate how much fat you put on (And utilize fat burning techniques as well). If you take your weight gain slow and strategic, you can put on lean mass with a minimal amount of fat gain.

2. You need to become best friends with clean fat.

Adopting a “fat priority” mindset will help you in more ways than one. First, you will be consuming more essential fatty acids and this will improve your health more ways than you know. Second, you’ll consume more calories and this will help you break through your body’s current homeostasis that is keeping you from gaining weight.

3. Use your blender to make MEGA shakes.

The key here is using the best ingredients you can find. Don’t use milk or cheap protein or cheap fat or cheap anything. Use the best. Check out the products I recommend here. I use these products every single day… and you may or may not know, but I’m obsessive about what I put in my body.

I hope this guide helps you on your Clean Weight Gain Journey! If you have any questions please leave a comment below.

Yours in Fitness,

-Colin

The post How To Gain Weight The Clean Way: A Hardgainers Guide appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

Why You Don’t Have Abs: It’s Your Food Dummy

 

Today’s Topic: Training your ass off and screwing it up with your diet

Goal: Get you to make better food choices

How: Mindset shifts, informed decisions, and a damn Crockpot

Training Hard And Not Eating Well

 

I see this all the time:

Athletes work their ass off in the gym (some everyday)
They get stronger and fitter
But they never reach the body results they SHOULD

My box—CrossFit Estero—has over 350+ active members. I have observed many of these athletes train multiple days a week for long periods of time. What I see more than I would like to are plateaus. And it’s always the same body-comp culprits: lack of sleep, drinking too much, and a shitty diet. Diet comprises approximately 80% (or more) of what determines your body composition and health (granted you aren’t doing crack or smoking cigarettes).

People will usually listen when you give them nutrition advice, but very few of them will ever act on that advice. There are many factors why this is so: confusion, false food beliefs, not actually caring, not knowing where to start, skepticism, etc.

In my experience, it usually boils down to two types of people:

Those that seek answers, absorb information, and make changes
Everyone else

I’m hoping to reach the “everyone else” with this article. I want to motivate you, nudge you, scare you, do ANYTHING to get you to take action; small action, large action, any action.

I want you to understand how important your food choices are. I want every bite, sip, or nibble of your favorite junk food to elicit a pang of guilt. Then, with enough guilt and knowledge, you will start making changes.

Mindset is everything

If you can start viewing your food through new eyes, you can start making real changes. It’s all rooted in your belief system. Start thinking of food as a drug. Just like a drug, it should be consumed in moderation. If you take too much of a drug, you will overdose. Like any pill, your food should contain a warning and dosage label. Drugs and food both stimulate a hormonal response in the body.

For better or worse, hormones control everything in our lives:

Happiness
Depression
Motivation
Energy
Sex drive
Weight loss
Weight gain
Anger
Stress

Do you see how food could be pretty damn important? This list comprises just about everything you do in your life and your hormones are at the root of them all. Your food can improve your life or take away from it. It’s as simple as that.

Training is important but diet is where you see body composition results

Food is everything

We all want to look better, that’s a given right? Well, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret grasshopper…you ready for this?

Food determines your body

I don’t care if you have amazing genetics and can look ripped on a cupcake diet, you will pay for your poor food choices one way or another. Sure, you hear stories of NFL stars eating fried chicken all day and performing like machines; they are the exception, not the rule. And being jacked doesn’t mean one is healthy anyways. Your body is a machine that requires a certain level of maintenance, fuel, and loving care. And just like a machine, if you abuse it or neglect it’s maintenance, it will break down and end up in the junkyard (aka graveyard).

We all know the type of people that have the ‘skinny gene’ and regularly eat junk like it’s going out of fashion. Well, unfortunately for them, they are destroying their bodies and promoting cancer and disease and it’s going to catch up to them eventually. Think back to those girls that were perfect in high school. We all can know the type. I bet you can go on Facebook right now and find that many of them are now overweight. That is a diet that didn’t adapt to match an aging and deteriorating body. Your body eventually breaks down from misuse; it’s inevitable.

You are what you eat. You’ve heard this a thousand times, so why then are you still eating goddamn pop tarts? You want your ass or stomach to look and feel like gooey cherry-red filling?

[Face Palm] 

He eats clean

Colin’s “Three Most Important Food Rules”

(yes I referred to myself in the 3rd person, what of it?)

1. Eat Real Food

2. Cook something damn it

3. Utilize slow cooking 

Awesome steaks now at Target

1. Eat Real Food

It shouldn’t include chemicals or synthetic alterations
It shouldn’t last weeks, months, or years
It should be prepared well and respected
It should have been alive recently
It should be unprocessed
It should go bad if it sits on the counter

What this looks like:

Animals, Seafood, Tubers, Sweet Taters, Veggies, Fruits, Nuts, Seeds, *Pastured/Grass-Fed dairy products

What this doesn’t look like:

Grains, Beans, Lentils, Bread, Processed sweets, cookies, cake, juice, soda, artificial sweeteners, margarine, seed oils, refined sugar/salt

Eat Real Food That is Unprocessed Or Altered

Further reading on the subject: What is The Paleo Diet, How To Eat Clean With The Paleo Diet

Real home-cooked food

2. Cook something damn it

If you want to control what food you are eating (and you freaking should) then you need to do most of your eating at home where you have the control. Restaurants use cheap crap ingredients to save on food costs. They inflate meals with unnecessary calories and junk to make the food taste better and become more addictive (sugar, salt, msg, etc.).

Listen, I’m not demonizing all restaurant food. I love to eat out, but it’s best to choose places that serve local ingredients and focus on the food quality because the fact is: Most restaurants suck and most “eating out” food is extremely unhealthy.

Let’s compare the two:

Restaurant food:

Pros: Relatively quick (depends), no clean up or prep
Cons: expensive, processed, terrible for you, makes you gassy, makes you fat

Home cooked food:

Pros: Cost effective, healthy, clean/unprocessed, tastes way better if done right, the key to a six-pack
Cons: Shopping, Clean up, Prep

Further reading on the subject: Cooking Like A Badass

Reaching a high level in anything requires consistent action steps. You key is turning these steps into habits and staying consistent with them long enough to reach your goals. You want to build these habits into your being so that they are a part of who you are and what you do—they should become part of your identity.

With enough effort, you will eventually build a lifestyle, health, and body that you are proud of. And the first and foremost way to get there is to focus on your food. Never underestimate its importance.

3. Utilize Slow Cooking

A complaint I hear often about eating clean is the amount of time it takes and I do agree with this to an extent. This is why we must use techniques such as slow cooking, batch cooking, and leftover-saving to make our diet easier to maintain.With any new endeavor, simplicity is king.You want to focus on getting food to your table the easiest way possible.

Enter slow cooking 

Slow cooking is easy, can produce amazing meals, and requires minimal shopping, prep, and clean up. Buy a slow cooker and start using it. It may be the missing ingredient in your food program. Recommend book for slow cooking.

Further reading on the subject

Easy and makes plenty of meals

Review

1. Eat Real Food

2. Cook something damn it

3. Utilize slow cooking

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to go “all or nothing”.  It all starts with one step, one change, one habit, one meal, one dish, one anything.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” -Chinese proverb

Start making changes immediately:

Eat out less often
Start cooking more often
Slow cook ONE MEAL (and then another and another)
Skip dessert one time, then two times, etc

No one develops a new habit overnight. It takes time, and sometimes a lot of it. The key is to get the importance of the ingredients ingrained into your brain. After that, you will start making better decisions and your results will creep in.

Don’t procrastinate: you either start today or you never will. Telling yourself that you will start your diet tomorrow is nonsense; you are lying to yourself. There is no tomorrow, next year, or later. There is only now. Get your ass in gear and make your food important now and forever.

Yours in Fitness,

-Colin Stuckert

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

 

The post Why You Don’t Have Abs: It’s Your Food Dummy appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

The 9 Foundational Movements in Picture Form

[image error] The 9 Movements – A Master List

Whether you are a trainer, gym owner, or just an average Joe that wants to get in shape with CrossFit, I highly recommend you master the 9 movements.  Learning how to perform them effectively as an athlete or as coach will drastically improve your personal fitness and that of your client’s.

Remember: Fit clients tell all their friends and fit Joe’s take their shirts off at the beach…so become a better CrossFitter or Coach by mastering the basics!

The Air Squat

The squat is a fundamental movement that is a part of our human evolutionary biology.   It is not an ‘exercise’ created by a trainer or coach, it is a natural human movement.  Everyone can and should squat.  

Squatting is not bad for the knees, in fact, it is necessary for healthy joints (and helps the hips and back as well).  If you don’t squat you don’t have functioning and healthy knees.  The use it for lose it concept very much applies to the squat just as it does to the brain and the rest of the body.

Scaling options for the squat are many but my favorite is a box.  Position a box at the heels of a weak squatter and have them sit down.  Then have them stand up following the same knee-to-foot plane in which they sat down.  Then do reps of this.  That’s it.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Common Squat Fault: Dropping Shoulders

Common Squat Fault: Missing Depth

The “good but not great” Squat: Missing Depth

*Thanks to Carrie Norman for modeling these pictures 

The Front Squat

The front squat is tricky for many people because of the rack position shown in step 1.  The flexibility of the wrists and elbows makes it nearly impossible to hold a perfect front squat position for many new athletes.  

There is also the issue of improper form.  Many athletes try to hold the bar and don’t make a shelf with their shoulders by pulling the neck back and making a solid base to place the bar.  This is further compounded by the flexibility issues of the hips when in the bottom of the squat (the pocket) where very few athletes can hold a perfect position (even fewer with heavy weights).

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

The Overhead Squat

The overhead squat is one of my favorite lifts.  It offers so much bang for time-invested-buck as well as requiring a high level of skill to perform well.  A simple way to evaluate weaknesses in yourself or a client is to have the athlete perform overhead squats with a light load (PVC even).  It will be clear where the weaknesses in the athlete’s flexibility  balance, and strength.  

For those looking to get strong abs there is no better movement.  Train overhead squats with light and medium loads often, and sometimes at near maximal loads, and you will see a huge improvements in your fitness and strength.

From The CrossFit Training Guide:

“The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement.”

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

The Shoulder Press

The strict shoulder press is a fundamental move that is very neglected by many.  Even within the bodybuilding community you will hear things such as “never go overhead” to the detriment of many gullible trainees.  

The shoulder press is excellent for developing upper body strength and health as well as developing the power zone.  The power zone includes the hip flexors, hip extensors, spinal erectors, and quadriceps.  Developing power from the core to these extremities (the power zone) is a fundamental skill needed for athletic success.

A common fault I see with the shoulder press is not fully extending the elbows out at the top and the arms not fully pressing out.  Often times you will see athletes stick their head completely through like on the thruster and this is not necessary of advisable   You should press the shoulders straight up and avoid pushing your head forward or through too much.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

The Push Press

The push press is huge for developing power and strength of the upper body as well as the power transfer from the hips and core.  A secret of getting big and strong from old generation weightlifters was doing heavy push presses.  Because you can load more weight on the bar when you add the hips to the movement it allows for mega strength gains.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Video Demo:

The Push Jerk

The push jerk adds a jump and dip landing to the push press.  It takes a lot of practice to get good at this movement and you should train with a dowel or bar every workout as a skill warmup. In time you will develop the technique awareness to start lifting reasonable weights overhead.  

According to CrossFit, you can typically lift 30% more weight with the push press than with the shoulder press and 30% more with the push jerk than with the push press.

*Remember you will need to practice the jerk a ton if you want to take heavy weight overhead.

Push Jerk Video Demo:

 

Split Jerk Video Demo:

The Deadlift

If you had to pick one exercise, and only one, to train for the rest of your life it SHOULD be the deadlift.  This amazing exercise actives more muscles than any other exercise in existence (I consider tire flips the same movement btw).

Because I’m a skinny guy I have to focus on deadlifts and squats to generate as much HGH and testosterone in my body as possible to help my smaller frame build and maintain muscle.  If you are a guy and aren’t deadlifting on a regular basis you are doing yourself a major disservice.

Not only is the deadlift great for building full body muscle and fitness but it is also an amazing preventative exercise.  It develops many dormant muscles that don’t get the action they need from other movements.  It is as ‘functional’ and effective as you can get.  It improves you in any sport, prepares you to survive anything that can come your way, and gives you a shredded back. That sounds like a triple play to me…so start deadlifting today!

For the ladies: Do you desire a sexy back end comprised of firm thighs and butt?  Make deadlifting your go-to exercise (and squatting of course).  That is the secret formula for developing the female figure – deadlifting and squatting.

Safety: Yes it is safe.  Done properly the deadlift is super safe and is a necessary movement to be a functional human being.  We all pick stuff up and put it down.  Period.   The deadlift has been blamed for back injuries done by lifters not taking their time or using proper form on heavy lifts. Anything is unsafe when performed this way.

Step 1:

 Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5 – The Negative (way back down):

Step 6:

Step 7:

The Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

The Medicine Ball Clean

The medicine ball clean looks simple enough right?  Well don’t let it fool you, it’s not easy to do well, especially for those new to CrossFit.  It is the fundamental training tool that CrossFit has used to train the foundations of the Olympic lifts to newbies.

The medicine ball clean is the most complex of the 9 CrossFit movements and mastering it can pay huge dividends in your fitness or that of your client’s fitness.  It is a great training and teaching tool.

I remember how destroyed I felt after doing medball cleans as practice in a group for 10 minutes at my level one certification.  The first ‘official’ CrossFit workout I did was at the same level 1.  The end of day 1 workout was a 7-minute AMRAP of: 7 push-ups and 7 medball cleans.  Dude…do that workout and see for yourself…super gnarly WOD..(a great baseline WOD for intros at your box)

Step 1:

 Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

The 9 Movements As Individual Posts

Air Squat Front Squat Overhead Squat Shoulder Press Push Press Push Jerk Deadlift Sumo Deadlift High Pull Medicine Ball Clean

The 9 Foundational CrossFit movements

There you have it, the 9 CrossFit movements broken down step by step in simple terms.  Mastering these movements will be huge dividends in your training. If you can master coaching these movements you will be a world-class coach and your clients will thank you and tell their friends and family how awesome you are (no really they will).

Don’t forget the fundamentals. Each one of these movements is the foundation of more advanced movements.  When you master these movements you become inherently better at their advanced counterparts.  I see athletes forgo the basics all the time and their results suffer because of it. I see plateaus in PR’s, WOD times, and even physical results because of a breakdown of the fundamentals.

As Greg Glassman always used to say, “the beauty is in the movements.”  You will be a more effective CrossFitter, Athlete, and Coach by becoming a master at these 9 movements.  You will have the skills to train yourself or someone else anywhere in the world with little or no equipment. This is a sick skill to have I think…

If you enjoyed this article please consider checking out my Shop.

If you would like to contact me or hire me check out my Contact page.

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post The 9 Foundational Movements in Picture Form appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

50 Ways To Get Better At CrossFit

[image error]

 

Your Task:

1. Read the list and choose tips that will help balance your training

2. Implement and watch as you become a better athlete!

How to get better at CrossFit (in no particular order):

1. Gear up. Get Oly shoes, some inov-8s or nano’s, a speed rope, wrist wraps, and quality workout clothes.

2. Lift heavy weights regularly. Don’t just stay in comfortable 70% zones. Push your limit… which leads perfectly to #3…

3. Use a spotter and FAIL. If you aren’t missing reps, you aren’t training hard enough. Period.

 4. Work mobility A LOT. Before, During, After.

5. Take your training seriously. Always strive to become better.

6. Don’t take your training too seriously. Give yourself a break.

7. Train with others. It’s just better.

8. Show up no matter what. If you aren’t in the mood, here’s what you do. First: Walk to your car and drive to the Box. Second: Figure the rest out later.

9. Fast before you train.  ‘The idea that we “need” to consume calories before, during, or after training, is bullshit hype pushed on us from the bodybuilding and supplement industries.

When you switch your metabolism over to training without food, you will PR more often and feel better in general. And you’ll want to send me a thank you card… you’re welcome.

10. Don’t throw your barbell or other equipment. It’s just douchey.

11. Warm-up A LOT. Make sure you focus your warm-ups and utilize dynamic movements before you train. This will improve your results and prevent injury.

12. Motivate other athletes. To receive, you must give.

13. Practice handstands often. You have to get upside down if you want to improve them.

14. For Females (and guys who don’t have strict pull-ups yet): Have someone spot your ankles as you perform strict pull-ups (push off the spotters hands to assist reps and go for failure). This is the best way to develop the dead hang pull-up that I have found.

[image error]

15. Don’t cherry pick your WOD’s or days. Show up the days that make you want to hide. These are the days you should never skip (weaknesses… HeLLo).

16. Train your weaknesses. Really try to destroy them. This is the only way to become a better athlete in my professional opinion.

17. Utilize your coaches before and after class. They love to talk training, food, and lifestyle. Ask them questions and then shut up and listen. You will learn a LOT.

18. Ask other athletes for tips and tricks. We are all on different paths in this journey and have learned different things along the way. You never know who you can learn from.

19. Buy a jump rope and size it to you. Then never leave it at the gym.

20. Practice double-unders every day

21. Do a few strict pull-ups every day

22. Do a few one-arm push-ups every day

23. Meditate 5 minutes every day. This can improve your entire life (and CrossFit).

24. Practice your Olympic weightlifting every day with a dowel and empty barbell. The gains you will make doing this are insane.

25. If there is an exercise you are not good at, do the following: perform 3 sets of 10 as part of your warm-up every day.

26. Work on heavy, light, and moderately weighted squats every week. Doing lots of squats will produce big gains for men and women. Squats are king.

27.  Practice jumping in all modalities. Over, under, on top of, sideways, backwards, long, short, high. Get jumping.

28. Make sure you have a very good rack position. The barbell should be completely supported by your shoulders and not your hands.

29. Train planks often. And I really mean train them. The results from these come 30 seconds after your arms start shaking. You need some mental toughness for these.

30. Learn to bounce out of the bottom of a squat. This can be difficult for those of you that have tight hips and this is why you should practice squats often with a dowel and empty barbell.

31. Do pistols at least once a week (the more the better).

32. Make sure to hit all the major lifts at least once a week. Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench, Snatch, Clean, Jerk.

33. Have a recovery plan: hot/cold water, massage, foam rolling, nutrition, ice, Epsom salt, etc.

34. Get your family involved. Who cares if you come off annoying at first? They are your family and you don’t want to bury them, do you? If you really love your family, you should give a shit if they are killing themselves with shitty food and bad lifestyle habits. Start working on them NOW.

35. Do shoulder dislocates with a dowel every workout. Don’t force them. Move smoothly.

36. Turn the wrists out at the bottom of the muscle-up. This will ensure you reach full extension of the elbows, lats, and shoulders.

[image error]

37. Do lots of strict dips and negative holds on the rings.

38. Incorporate strongman work into your program. Sled work and the prowler can do amazing things. Walk with a sled attached to the hips as recommended by Louie Simmons.

39. Practice heavy farmer carries.

40. Throw things. We’ve been throwing spears and javelins for thousands of years.

41. Wake up to 20 push-ups every morning.

42. Do 30 air squats and 20 push-ups after every meal. No really..this is an awesome recommendation from Tim Ferris in The 4-Hour Body and I use it all the time. It’s even more effective after big meals. (The 4-Hour Body)

43. Walk after every meal. This improves digestion, prevents fat gain, and makes you feel less bloated and lethargic.

44. Do travel or home WOD’s if you can’t make it to the gym. Check TrainingBox.TV for free functional fitness workouts at home.

45. Practice L-sits often. Same with frog stands. These basic gymnastic skills are easy and low-stress movements that can help you become fitter.

46. Listen to your coaches! They see what you don’t see and they know CrossFit.

[image error]

47. Work on your lifestyle and nutrition. Here are some resources: Cooking Guide, The Paleo Diet, MarksDailyApple

48. Take REST days. I know it’s an insane concept, but you CAN’T train every single day. CrossFit is very stressful on the body and requires adequate rest. If you want to live a long life, and give your body time to get stronger, you must let it repair itself through proper rest and recovery.

49.  Take a REST week every couple months. This has done wonders for a lot of my athletes.

50.  The best thing you can do when training CrossFit is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. You must learn when you can push past your redline and when it’s time to back off. Listen to your body when it tells you to rest. Figure out what your body responds to and what it doesn’t. Self-experimenting allows you to develop a plan that works for your goals and body type.

Download the PDF: 50 tips

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post 50 Ways To Get Better At CrossFit appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

5 Books That Changed My Life

My first book (cover version 1.0): Grab a copy of “The Gym Life Essays” and show your support for the site and my writing!

The following 5 books will change your life.

No joke.

Read these books, absorb the material, and make changes in your life, and you will find success beyond your wildest dreams.

If you aren’t after millions, and just want to live a simple, happy life, you can still learn a ton from the lessons in these books. For the most part, the principles of building wealth are the same as building happiness. (You can even do them at the same time.)

Buying these books on Kindle won’t cost you more than $25 bucks… combined. And for this measly investment, you will take away wisdom that will make and save you truckloads of time, stress, or money (TRUCKLOADS).

Seems like a bargain to me.

I’ve always been a fan of buying books. To me, the cost of a book is an investment that repays itself many times over.  (post by Ryan Holiday on reading and books)

Enjoy the notes below and please support the authors (and this site) by purchasing from the links below! Click To Tweet This post

The Richest Man in Babylon

Buy Here: Amazon



You have to buy this book. I read this late in the game and it still had a profound effect on me. While I “knew” most of the concepts discussed, for some reason the way it was presented in the story resonated with me on an entirely different level. Some books have that effect–this was one of those.

It’s a “classic” in the self-help genre and teaches through a fable. The story is set in the ancient city of Babylon and the dialogue in the book reflects that. Read certain passages slowly, and again if necessary. Overall, the simple principles in this book are so powerful. The ideas might not be ground-breaking to you at first, but the way they will hang on your subconscious will surprise you.

Book Tip To Start Today: save 1/10 of every dollar you make in a safe, compounding interest account like an IRA.

Some of My highlighted sections:

‘Those eager to grasp opportunities for their betterment, do attract ‘good luck’. It seems to favor men of action best. Therefore, if a plan be for thy best interest, promptly accept it. If it be against thy best interest, with equal promptness, reject it. “ACTION will lead thee forward to the successes thou dost desire.

‘The more of wisdom we know, the more we may earn. That man who seeks to learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded. If he is an artisan, he may seek to learn the methods and the tools of those most skillful in the same line. If he laboreth at the law or at healing, he may consult and exchange knowledge with others of his calling. If he be a merchant, he may continually seek better goods that can be purchased at lower prices.”

“Always do the affairs of man change and improve because keen minded men seek greater skill that they may better serve those upon whose patronage they depend. Therefore, I urge all men to be in the front rank of progress and not to stand still, lest they be left behind. “Many things come to make a man’s life rich with gainful experiences. Such things as following, a man must do if he shall respect himself: “He must pay his debts with all promptness within his power, not purchasing that for which he is unable to pay. “He must take care of his family that they may think and speak well of him. ”

“He must make a will of record that in case God calls him, proper and honorable division of his property be accomplished. “He must have compassion upon those who are injured or smitten by misfortune and aid them within reasonable limits. He must do deeds of thoughtfulness to those dear to him. “Thus the seventh and last remedy for a lean purse is to cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself. Thereby shalt thou acquire confidence in thyself to achieve thy carefully considered desires. ‘These then are the Seven Remedies for a Lean Purse, which, out of the experience of a long and successful life I do urge for all men who desire wealth.”

 

The Art Of Living

Buy Here: Amazon

This book can (and likely will) change your life. This isn’t really a book; I consider it more a tool. You read it daily as a practice. It keeps you mentally vigilant; reminds you of the Stoic principles that are so powerful. It is written in a simple, easy-to-read tone.

I’ve read this book at least five times through (maybe more). This is an amazing gift to yourself and others. I also recommend buying the paper version.

Book Tip To Start Today: Know what you can control and what you can’t. With this understanding, you can become effective in how you spend your time and thoughts–instead of wasting both.

Some of My highlighted sections (I could share the entire book here because most of it is highlighted. Go buy it already!):

“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible. Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, desires, and the things that repel us. These areas are quite rightly our concern, because they are directly subject to our influence. We always have a choice about the contents and character of our inner lives. Outside our control, however, are such things as what kind of body we have, whether we’re born into wealth or strike it rich, how we are regarded by others, and our status in society. We must remember that those things are externals and are therefore not our concern. Trying to control or to change what we can’t only results in torment.”

“Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours. If you do this, you will be impervious to coercion and no one can ever hold you back. You will be truly free and effective, for your efforts will be put to good use and won’t be foolishly squandered finding fault with or opposing others. In knowing and attending to what actually concerns you, you cannot be made to do anything against your will; others can’t hurt you, you don’t incur enemies or suffer harm. If you aim to live by such principles, remember that it won’t be easy: you must give up some things entirely, and postpone others for now. You may well have to forego wealth and power if you want to assure the attainment of happiness and freedom.”

“Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers. They demand to be pleased. Desire commands us to run off and get what we want. Aversion insists that we must avoid the things that repel us. Typically, when we don’t get what we want, we are disappointed, and when we get what we don’t want, we are distressed. If, then, you avoid only those undesirable things that are contrary to your natural well-being and are within your control, you won’t ever incur anything you truly don’t want. However, if you try to avoid inevitabilities such as sickness, death, or misfortune, over which you have no real control, you will make yourself and others around you suffer.”

“Things themselves don’t hurt or hinder us. Nor do other people. How we view these things is another matter. It is our attitudes and reactions that give us trouble. Therefore even death is no big deal in and of itself. It is our notion of death, our idea that it is terrible, that terrifies us. There are so many different ways to think about death. Scrutinize your notions about death— and everything else. Are they really true? Are they doing you any good? Don’t dread death or pain; dread the fear of death or pain. We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”

“Don’t demand or expect that events happen as you would wish them to. Accept events as they actually happen. That way peace is possible.”

“Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control. Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But you are not merely your legs. Your will is bigger than your legs. Your will needn’t be affected by an incident unless you let it. Remember this with everything that happens to you.”

 

The Instant Millionaire: A Tale of Wisdom and Wealth

Buy Here:The Instant Millionaire: A Tale of Wisdom and Wealth

I wish I had this book early in my personal development/business career. I read it only a few months ago and it was still a great reminder of concepts that I’ve come to know. I can’t imagine what it would be like reading this book earlier in life. If you are new to the whole “success/personal development/financial prosperity” genres, than I highly, highly recommend this book. This might be a “refresher” if you are already into self-help, but I still recommend it.

The book is about a young man that wants to become a millionaire and goes on a quest to find a man who holds the “secret” to getting rich. It is written by a millionaire and outlines the principles of success in a short, fable-style story.

Some of My highlighted sections:

“Most people are afraid of asking for things, and when they finally do, they don’t insist enough. That’s a mistake.”

“People who waste time waiting for all the perfect conditions to fall into place never get anything done. The ideal time for action is now! “Another lesson this little exercise can teach you is this: If you want to succeed in life, you have to make sure you have no choice in the matter. You have to put your back to the wall. People who vacillate and refuse to take risks because they don’t have all the elements in hand never get anywhere. The reason is simple. When you cut off all your exits and put your back to the wall, you mobilize all your inner powers. You want something to happen with every fiber of your being. So why hesitate now, young man? Put your back to the wall. Make out that $25,000 check to me.”

“All right, then. Write down the amount of money you want and how much time you’ll allow yourself to acquire it.” “Do you think money’s going to drop like pennies from heaven just because I write a couple of numbers down on paper?” “Yes, I do,” said the millionaire. “I warned you that the secret would be simple. All the millionaires I’ve met told me they became rich the moment they set themselves an amount and a dead-line by which to acquire it. If you don’t know where you’re heading, the chances are you’ll never get anywhere.” “It sounds like magic to me.” “But that’s exactly what it is — the magic of a quantified objective.

“Now let’s test you,” the old man said. “You told me you’d like to get rich.” “Definitely.” “Tell me how much you’d like to earn next year.” The young man found of reasoning. In fact, he had agreed with it whole-heartedly. And yet he had to admit that he belonged to the vast majority of people who want to get rich but don’t know how much they want to make. He was embarrassed. “I don’t know,” he was forced to admit. “But I think I’ve just understood one of my mistakes — per-haps the most fundamental one.” “It is a serious mistake. Let’s try to correct it. Come on, write down the amount you have in mind.” “I really don’t have the vaguest idea,” muttered the young man. “And yet it’s so easy. Write down the amount you’d like to earn in the next year. I know what we’ll do. Take a few minutes to think it over. When the time’s up, you’ve got to write down an amount. 

Keep this well in mind: All the events in your life are a mirror image of your thoughts. Your mind can’t grasp this principle if you continue to accept the widespread illusion that external factors determine your life. In reality, everything in life is a matter of attitude. Life is exactly as you picture it. Everything that happens to you is a product of your thoughts. So if you want to change your life, you must start by changing your thoughts. No doubt you consider this a bit trite. Many ‘rational’ individuals stubbornly refute this principle.

“I’ve read a great many books on this subject. And what my own mentor taught me corresponds to the conclusions reached in them: The way to obtain faith is through the repetition of words. Words have an extraordinary impact on our inner and outer lives. Words are omnipotent. Most people are totally unaware of this principle and fail to use it — no, I take that back. They do use the power of words, but generally to their detriment.”

“Now you know that words deeply affect our lives whether we wish them to or not. A thought, even when false, can affect us if we believe it to be true. When you learn to distinguish the value of a thought, that is, the value you give it, your mind can regain or maintain its calm. It was your mind that gave meaning to the threat. If it had been written in a foreign language, you wouldn’t have paid the slightest attention to it.”

“You will also find the dual secret of true wealth: love for whatever you do, and love for others.”

“What you should remember from this simple example is that I dealt with this manager just as life deals with each of us. Life gives us exactly what we expect from it. No more, no less. We tend to forget, however, that it is generally ready to give us much more than we realize.

“It is a formula devised by the famous physician Emile Coué for patients in his clinic: Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better. Repeat this formula aloud fifty times, morning and evening, and as many times as you can during the day. The more often you repeat it, the greater the impact it will have on you.”

“When you do have doubts, apply some self-suggestion. Turn your words into commands. When your mind has become powerful enough, each suggestion will become a royal decree. Your words and reality will become one. And the time it takes for your commands to materialize will become briefer and briefer, and finally instantaneous.”

 

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Buy Here:Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

This was a great read. Of course there are going to be themes among any book that talks about millionaires. That’s to be expected. It’s not about having already heard it, it’s about pounding it into your subconscious so much that it changes how you think and the actions and decisions you make on a daily basis. This is why you should read many books on the same subject–and the same books more than once–so you can get the benefit of this increased “functional knowledge.”

Some of My highlighted sections:

“The key to success is to raise your own energy; when you do, people will naturally be attracted to you. And when they show up, bill ’em!”

“That’s because Donald Trump’s financial “thermostat” is set for billions, not millions. Most people’s financial thermostats are set for generating thousands, not millions of dollars; some people’s financial thermostats are set for generating hundreds, not even thousands; and some people’s financial thermostats are set for below zero. They’re frickin’ freezing and they don’t have a clue as to why!”

“If things aren’t going well in your outer life, it’s because things aren’t going well in your inner life. It’s that simple.”

“What you hear, you forget; what you see, you remember; what you do, you understand.” So I’m going to ask that every time you reach the end of a major principle in this book, you first put your hand on your heart, then make a verbal “declaration,” then touch your head with your index finger and make another verbal “declaration.” What’s a declaration? It’s simply a positive statement that you make emphatically, out loud.”

“Another word from the definition is important— action. You must take all the actions necessary to make your intention a reality. I recommend that you state your declarations aloud each morning and each evening. Doing your declarations while looking into a mirror will accelerate the process even more.”

“The first element of change is awareness. You can’t change something unless you know it exists. The second element of change is understanding. By understanding where your “way of thinking” originates, you can recognize that it has to come from outside you. The third element of change is disassociation. Once you realize this way of thinking isn’t you, you can separate yourself from it and choose in the present whether to keep it or let it go— based on who you are today, and where you want to be tomorrow.” 

“From now on, as you hear yourself disastrously blaming, justifying, or complaining, cease and desist immediately. Remind yourself that you are creating your life and that at every moment you will be attracting either success or crap into your life. It is imperative you choose your thoughts and words wisely!”

“It’s time to decide. You can be a victim or you can be rich, but you can’t be both. Listen up! Every time, and I mean every time, you blame, justify, or complain, you are slitting your financial throat.” 

Best quote in the book:

“Yet that’s exactly how most people play the money game. Their primary concern is survival and security instead of creating wealth and abundance. So, what is your goal? What is your objective? What is your true intention? The goal of truly rich people is to have massive wealth and abundance. Not just some money, but lots of money. So what is the big goal of poor people? To “have enough to pay the bills… and on time would be a miracle!” Again, let me remind you of the power of intention. When your intention is to have enough to pay the bills, that’s exactly how much you’ll get— just enough to pay the bills and not a dime more.” 

“I have a motto: “Action always beats inaction.” Rich people get started. They trust that once they get in the game, they can make intelligent decisions in the present moment, make corrections, and adjust their sails along the way.”

“Wealth File #6 Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.” 

“Consequently, the fastest and easiest way to create wealth is to learn exactly how rich people, who are masters of money, play the game. The goal is to simply model their inner and outer strategies. It just makes sense: if you take the exact same actions and have the exact same mind-set, chances are good you will get the exact same results. That’s what I did and that’s what this entire book is about.”

 

The Alchemist

Buy Here: The Alchemist – 10th Anniversary Edition

This is another one of those fable classics that I wish I would have read early on. I only read this 6 months ago. It’s a classic. It’s sold millions of copies around the world.

Some of My highlighted sections:

“Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.”

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”

 

Do you have any books that changed your life? I’m always on the lookout for more life-changing books so please share in a comment below!

Yours in Fitness,

-Colin

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post 5 Books That Changed My Life appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

What Kind of Work Are You Doing? (Asks Bruce Lee)

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. “

-Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was one of my childhood idols. (He still is.)

I wish I had the maturity to understand his wisdom when I was younger the way I do now. The quote above isn’t about Lee, it’s about you.

“How is it about me,” you ask?

It’s about you because you think about too many things that you want out of life… and thinking is all you are doing about it.

You wish, dream, vision, and desire a better life. Maybe you are making progress in some areas, maybe you are taking action, maybe not.

I don’t know exactly what you are doing, but I do know what I‘ve seen from the overwhelming majority of people…

People always want the end-goal, they love talking about it, but they seldom do anything tangible to get it. There is a big disconnect between wanting and doing for most.

Unfortunately, it’s crazy hard to “do” and stupid easy to “want.”

There’s nothing wrong with making plans and being a dreamer; we all do this to varying degree, and it’s totally necessary for progress. But are you getting up every day and immediately getting to work on these dreams of yours?

I wonder how many people actually do this. Like actually set aside time for making real progress on something “grand.”

How often are you setting aside a few hours a day of distraction-free, hyper-focused work to create something you need to create? How often are you taking risks and doing things completely out of your comfort zone?

Unfortunately, most people take no physical action for a better future (and even sabotage it with bad habit).

I have learned that there are two people in life… those that make reasons for the way things are, and those that do something to change the way things are.

Which are you?

The average person makes plans at night while doing the same thing during the day—every day.

Is this ignorance or laziness or what? I’m not sure. I do know this though: It’s one of the hardest things in the world to develop a mindset that is conducive to making change through action.

You can definitely develop this mindset… It just takes a TON of work.

“Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.” -Bruce Lee

All the time that you think you have

Your time is not finite or guaranteed—you could be dead next week (or in an hour). Why than, are you still sitting around assuming your dreams, goals and future are going to float into your lap?

Are you putting in work towards your goals? Are you taking advantage of the fact that you are alive and healthy? Be honest.

Spending a half-hour reading about something you dream about is not doing work. Work would look something like spending the next 8 hours in the library doing extensive research (or even 2 hours… you get the point).

Telling your friends about your new “project” is not work. Intention is not work. Goodwill is not work. Faith is not work. Dreams are not work.

Work is something you physically do that brings you one step closer to the realization of something tangible.

Don’t mistake desire for progress. It can sometimes feel like the more we think about something, the more we are “working” towards it. That’s bollox. Don’t fall for that psychological trap of your mind.

You’ll know when you’ll be putting in work; it’ll be hard, frustrating, and try to get you to quit every step of the way. That is the work that you should be doing. The most difficult things are where your results are hidden.

I’m not talking about trading your life in. That’s not necessary, and for many of you, it would be a prettty dumb idea. I’m just talking about setting focused time aside every day to work towards whatever you need to work towards.

We all have work inside of us. We all have a mission, a calling, a purpose. But life often gets in the way.

Do your work.

It doesn’t matter if you’ll get paid—don’t even think that far ahead. Think like the the artist: You must create because to not create would destroy you (and whether you get paid or not is irrelevant).

Feed your inner starving artist by letting it create.

A few hours a week of focused investment can provide out-of-this-world results. Really, it can. You don’t have to trade in your life, or quit your job, or wait until next semester or whatever.

Get doing, and get doing NOW!

Unleash Your Art

Each day that you sit around and think about your future is time you could have been creating your future. Consider that.

Don’t forget how valuable time really is: it is the most important non-renewable resource in the universe for us humans. Don’t waste another second of it…

Action: Set aside an hour each day to work on your dreams, to create your art. It can be anything. A novel, a business plan, a product, your memoirs, a play. Put the end goal out of your mind—just focus on the work, on the next step. Don’t think about whether you will publish it, what people will think, or any of that nonsense known as “Resistance.” Just get working. Get creating.

The Process is Simple:

Open a notebook or google doc.
Set a timer for 60 minutes somewhere quiet where you won’t be distracted or interrupted.
Do the work that is inside of you and create something that needs to be created. Let it flow. Ignore the end-goal.
Do this again tomorrow and the next day and the next day.

Yours in Doing Work You Are Passionate About,

-Colin Stuckert

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post What Kind of Work Are You Doing? (Asks Bruce Lee) appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.