My Tips For a Healthier, More Fit You for Life!

We have all seen the commercials on TV and the banner ads online:

-The secrets to being fit like Hollywood stars
-The Ten Facts of Fitness
-Three stage weight loss formula
-How to get ripped in 25 minutes a day

There is a lot of  people who want you to spend money on their products and you have to hope that what they promise is true for you.  These gimmicks may work, but not for everyone.  Some of these "fitness facts" are manipulative to entice you to buy a product.

The truth is that the real key to being fit and healthy is based in what you do every day, not in the products you take or whose workout program you use.  So instead of trying to sell you on a product or program, let me give you my fitness tips to live by that you can use the rest of your life:

1. Drink More Water!
Did you know that over 60 percent of the human body is H2O?  In fact, your brain and heart are composed of 73 percent water.  But as a society people spend so much time drinking coffee, soda, juice, and alcohol then forget they need clean water for their body to function.  Many people who suffer headaches, dizziness, inability to focus and muscle cramps it's  because they are not hydrated enough.

Here is what I recommend: when you wake up each morning, drink 6-8 oz of water first thing.  This will jump start the re-hydration of the body after hours of your body recovering during sleep.  Just drinking coffee in the morning is not enough because while the caffeine is a quick jump start for increased blood circulation, water first thing stabilizes the functionality of the brain and other organs.  Then through out the day, attempt to consume a gallon of water.  This seems extreme but over the course of the 12-18 hours per day you average being awake, drinking a little every 15-30 minutes some water will go along way to maintaining your body is hydrated through out the day.

2.Eat Good, Feel Good
Sounds too good to be true?  Well the food you eat every day has a profound affect on how your body functions.  The higher quality food you eat can directly correlate the better you will feel.  This sounds simple but in truth we live in a world with fast food places every few miles and "deals" at the supermarket on over processed foods.
So here are my solutions for you to eat better every day:

-If your great-great-grandparents wouldn't recognize it as food, then you don't need it.  There are tens of thousands of food dishes that have been around for centuries that are full of quality foods with macro-nutrients your body needs.  If something doesn't "taste any good" maybe it was made wrong; the solution isn't to drown all your food under condiments that pump your body full of sodium and preservatives it doesn't need.

-The 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the time eat healthy while treating yourself 20 percent of the week.  This method is proven to be healthy and help you with whatever your health and fitness goals may be.  The biggest problem with many of the fad/crash diets is that the initial shock to your system is not sustainable for your health.  But if you "treat yourself" infrequently, your metabolism will recognize what you are trying to do and will learn to function more efficiently.

3. Fruits, Vegetables, Protein, then everything else
When you eat enough fruits, vegetables, and protein you get valuable nutrients your body needs while also eating food that satiates hunger cravings.  When you eat until your stomach is satisfied you will have less room for "bad food" that you have become so accustomed to cramming your meals with.  Protein doesn't have to just be animal products; beans and nuts are also solid forms of protein.  So next time you order out or make a meal at home, make sure you are getting some fruits and/or vegetables along with protein every time you eat.  You will find over time you will feel better and by habit be less likely to grab snacks/desert so quickly

4. Exercise 4-6 days per week for about an hour per day
We all have busy schedules and we tend to think we don't have time for exercise.  The reality is that we have time for what we prioritize in life: our favorite TV shows, going out to the bar, playing Facebook games, etc.  All the stuff we cram into our days, but how much of it is truly "necessary"?  Prioritizing your your health is necessary for living a happy and functional life.  Exercising once a day 4-6 days per week only takes up 4-5 percent of your week.

Also being physically active consistently doesn't mean you have to lift weights or go run every day; do activities you enjoy half of the week then take the other days doing something that is challenging.  If you enjoy running or playing a sport, do that consistently every week, then take a couple days to do some strength based exercises.  Or if you love to pump iron, find a couple days per week to get in some cardio or balance exercises.  The more variety you have in your week with exercise, the more functional your body will be and the better your body will respond to the fitness regimen you are practicing.

5. Surround yourself with good people who support that you want to better your life
Being healthy and fit isn't a program you do for 90 days, its a lifestyle choice.  With any lifestyle choice your environment has a significant impact on you.  Many times when we want to better ourselves, whether professionally, physically, or socially there will be people who we thought were our friends and supporters who over time show their true colors because they dislike what we are turning into.  Whether this dislike is based on jealousy, insecurity, disdain, or resentment, the outcome is the same: they put us down.  Sometimes its passive aggressive with sarcastic humor or singling us out of the crowd for our lifestyle.  Or it can be overt with criticisms of what we are willing to do to achieve our goals.  These people who are suppose to be friends and supporters now want to bring you back down to their level because you are no longer one of them.

The solution is a hard one: change your environment, socially and privately.  You will never reach your goals of improving your life on any level if you are being held back by others.  You need to surround yourself with people who support you, offer constructive criticism and want the best for you.  If you want to be healthy and fit, you have to socialize with like minded people.  You cant be healthy, both physically and mentally, when surrounded by negative people who constantly criticize you and think your dreams are "stupid" or "unnecessary".  When you remove all the people and environmental influences that hold you back, you can be more clear of mind to make better decisions; then surrounding yourself with positive, motivated, driven individuals will uplift you to want to exceed even your own dreams and expectations.

Following these principles will not just help you to be more healthy and fit, but also will improve your overall quality of life.  And don't we all want to have happier, better lives?

Fitness for your lifestyle - What you can learn from Tiger Woods mistakes

As I highlighted in the video above, all of us have to consider how our lifestyle relates to our fitness and dietary practices.  Tiger Woods is a high profile, very visible example of what can go wrong when your goals do not match up with what you are doing on a daily basis with your workout program. 

Golf is a sport that calls for a balance between finesse and technique.  Historically the golfer who hits the ball the farthest is not the one who wins the most tournaments.  A proper golf swing involves a delicate balance in combining the inertia generated through the torque force created by the hips and lower body in conjunction with the angled swinging motion generated by stabilized operation in which the head, neck, shoulders, elbows and wrists are all involved.  There are physiological and technical reasons why some people are better at driving a ball off the tee compared to putting the ball on the green.  Golf reminds me a lot of playing Billiards: there is a lot of physical and mathematical science behind the execution within the confines of the game.

When you understand the sport science involved in golf you see how it relates to Tiger Woods.  Tiger is arguably one of the most fit and athletic golfers to ever play.  He also has one of the most violent swings in the history of the PGA Tour.  Tiger’s workout regimen over the years is comparable to that of a two-sport college athlete who plays football in the fall and baseball in the spring.  His physique is comparable to Florida State University Quarterback and Pitcher Jameis Winston.

 The biggest difference between Winston and Woods is their age.  Tiger is so driven, a perfectionist, that he keeps hitting the weights like he is still a younger man.  The body can only take so much “abuse”.  To have a physique like Woods, the individual spends at least 66 percent of their workout building and developing slow twitch muscle fibers.  The problem with this is that if you do not incorporate other forms of strength building exercises (cross training, flexibility training, balance training, etc.) when you go to execute athlete feats that involve the torch, balance and technique found in golf, the body is not built to respond fluidly to those actions.  Without enough diversity in an exercise program the individual limits the ability to maximize their physical potential and can potential hurt themselves.

Bruce Lee wrote in his books 50 years ago about understanding the difference between “Functional Strength” and “Visual Strength”.  A major example of this difference has to do with our Core Muscles.  The human core muscles is a group of muscles that stretch from the bottom of the hip complex at the top of the Quadriceps and extends up to the Diaphragm just below the Pectorals’ Muscles.  In order to “Strengthen your Core” you must strength more than just Abs, it also includes your lower and middle back.  Bruce Lee wrote about how many athletes only work on the top level of their Abdominal muscles and neglect the interior abdominal muscles along with the back muscles that are crucial for stability and protecting your organs.  Sometimes you see Models and Actors/Actress on TV with “Sexy Abs” yet if those same people with “Sexy Abs” get punched in the gut, they drop to the ground gasping for air just like a person who has a “flabby gut”.  Having Functional Muscle means your Core is Strong, Stable, Flexible and Sustainable for life.

When you see on the news Tiger Woods having “back problems”, “back spasms”, etc. and then they show on TV him swing the club followed by Woods immediately grabbing his back; this is a sign that Woods lacks the fluidity and flexibility to sustain his high torque golf swing.  In order to be able to execute and sustain such a golf swing, Tiger should cut back on the upper body resistance workouts and transition to more Flexibility and Core Synergistic Training.  Exercise routines found in Yoga and Pilates are general examples of Flexibility and Balance training.

The same goes for all of us concerning how our workouts affect us.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. What are your fitness/health goals?  How does it relate to my exercise program and nutritional habits?

-These questions are very important because there is no generic, “cookie cutter” program out there that works for everyone.  If you are skinny and trying to build muscle, you should not exercise and eat the way someone who is trying to lose weight and tone their body would do.  Some people have faster/slower metabolisms; some people are naturally athletic while others athletic achievements happened in middle school during Recess.  The reality is that in order to reach your goals you must understand what your body can handle and what you really want from your fitness program.

You have to take into account how what you are doing relates to your body and your goals by taking into consideration your lifestyle.  Do you sit frequently at your job?  If so, try to avoid the stationary bike at the gym.  Sitting for long periods of time puts pressure on your lower back and hips causing back spasms and relative flexibility which can lead to injury.  Instead of the stationary bike, switch to the Elliptical.  Are you a parent with kids?  Then you need to do workouts that enhance your ability to keep up with your kids and their activities.  What’s the point of working out if you are too sore to pick up your 6 year old? Understand how what you do daily impacts your fitness and health goals and Vice Versa.

2. What are your physical and metabolic strengths and weaknesses?

-This is very often overlooked by many people, even those in the fitness community.  Let’s use myself as an example.  My “Physical Strengths” are muscles such as biceps, abs, pectorals, quadriceps, and hamstrings.  My “Physical Weaknesses” include a history of knee, shoulder, and back problems.  I have to consider my strengths and weakness with my workout program.  Usually I plan the days I work on back and legs in the days right after my rest day so I can let my body reset before I go after muscle groups that can give me problems.  Also some cardio programs I have to modify because my knee lacks the stability to do certain explosive movements.  I have to take into consideration what my body can handle.

Similarly, my “metabolic Weaknesses” include Lactose Intolerance.  In the Nutrition and Supplement world many people and companies push the use of Whey and Casein Protein.  Whey and Casein Protein are derived from lactose proteins in Milk.  So, I have to watch the foods and supplements I ingest so I do not have an allergic reaction.  I substitute the use of dairy-based protein by increasing my consumption during the week of Beef.  It may sound very simple but think about it: Whey/Casein comes from Milk proteins, milk comes from cows, and beef is cow meat.  Lean Beef is an excellent source of protein and has all the nutrients my body needs without having to put a bunch of extra powders in my smoothies.

So before you start a new fitness or nutrition program consider these two important questions.  Improving your health and fitness is supposed to be a positive process, a journey towards a better overall standard of living.  It should not be a pathway to injuries or new health problems.  If you can discuss your options with a Personal Trainer, Health or Fitness Professional you can trust.