In the first post I reviewed the documentary “Food Matters” and detailed some of the main points from it. If you missed it click here. The purpose of this post is to share with you a change in perspective that helped me tremendously when selecting food options.
This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to watch the documentary Food Matters. This film did not disappoint. I was left with lots of new information and multiple epiphanies… jealous? It also inspired me to write this post. I want to share with you my most important take away notes. I do hope that you watch the film yourself and build your own opinion.
Laptop, 800$. Wireless internet, 45$/month(curse you Rogers). Chair, 12$. Desk, 142$. 3 interesting and informative resources that can help propel you into the depths of deezed-hood? Priceless. Today I have 3 free resources from highly experienced professionals that can help you in three areas. Strength training and program design, nutrition and life.
If you missed part 1 click here. If running is so bad then why is it that people still get results? I’ve seen it countless times, people want to lose weight so they start running and guess what? They lose weight! Here’s the deal, it’s not that running is bad, it is simply that running is not the most effective way to get the body you want. We already know there are huge injury risks associated with it and some theories as to why they occur, so what is the other reason as to why people shouldn’t prioritize distance running?
One of the most prevalent fallacies known to the world of fitness is this idea that to lose fat, or look toned, one must embark on a journey of becoming the next great marathoner. For some reason, whenever someone decides they are going to get in shape, they sign up for a triathlon. Don’t get me wrong, I believe people can do whatever they please, and I think it is a great idea to want to get in shape, but for their own sake, please stop. One of the worst ways to lose fat if you are overweight or out of shape is to begin a distance running program. Before you all condemn me to the depths of hell, let me explain myself. In this two part series we are going to examine the two reasons why endurance running shouldn’t be the first thing you do when trying to get in shape.
How many times have you told yourself you were going to start exercising? Have you started? How long did you keep it up for? Does the phrase, “I’m going to start once my exams are over” sound all too familiar? What if you have no idea what to do, or you cannot afford a personal trainer? If we all know proper exercise makes us look ‘hawt’ and feel great, then why is it we are getting more and more sedentary? I couldn’t tell you for sure, but if you are looking to start exercising, now is the time to take out your handy dandy notebook and pay attention.
Here are my top 4 principles of starting a fitness program:
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are six pack ‘abz’. The only thing a quick fix will do is shrink your wallet and leave you back at square one. Be patient young padawan and embrace the journey ahead.
To make something long lasting, you must make it into a habit. To do this, pick a habit and do it every day/week for 2 weeks then add a new habit. A progression to exercising 4 times a week would look like this assuming you completed each habit:
Wk 1: Use the stairs only.
Wk 3: Perform a short 15 min workout on every Sunday.
Wk 5: add a second workout each week, etc.
So every two weeks you keep the last habit you formed and add a new one, by the time 3 months rolls around, you could be in the best shape of your life! Progressions are key here, with habits as well as the exercises performed. Do something that is challenging but not too hard, once it becomes easy, increase the difficulty. We are looking for constant growth here!
Whether you are male or female, you need to build muscle in order to look fly and to be healthy. To do so, you need to overload your body somehow. Focus on doing compound exercises done with pristine technique for multiple sets of 5-15 reps with either bodyweight or added iron. Spending the majority of your time doing isolation exercises with light weights is not an efficient use of time, and won’t lead to the physique you are trying to achieve.
I heavily encourage people to learn the ways of the exercise from a qualified professional because they can speed up the process and offer excellent advice. I also encourage people to research on their own to have a base understanding of what they are about to do. However, spending all your time researching will only train your brain and not your body. If you spend more time acting on what you know the possibilities will be endless. A wise jedi once said: “The journey of 1000 miles starts with one small step.” So get steppin!
There are many rituals in the world. Some are for when a loved one passes away, while some occur when you reach a certain age. When the men of the Satere Mawé tribe of the Amazon reach the age of manhood, they put their hands in gloves filled with ‘Bullet’ ants for 11 hours while their hands get stung to oblivion. While this makes the ritual I’m about to explain extremely lame and unmanly in comparison, I thought it was pretty interesting!
I heard of the Sunday Ritual a couple years ago when I read Precision Nutrition by John Berardi for the first time. I tried several times to do like it said in the book, but I was inconsistent with my effort. I usually work on weekends so I rarely had time to do all the things I’d like.
Welcome back! In part 2, we’re going to take a look at isolation exercises, then see how to maximize the use of each type based on your goals! Let’s get right into it! If you missed part 1 click HERE.
Pros:
Cons:
First off, what the hell is a compound exercise? As Webster himself would put it, “A compound exercise involves a multitude of different joints and muscles to complete a a given movement. It also leads to a definite increase in the overall badass potential of said individual performing such an exercise.” Basically, when you perform a compound exercise, you are working a bunch of different muscles hard. How will this make me look/perform better? Keep reading to find out!
As some of you may know, I recently packed up all of my important belongings(Playstation 3) and left town to do an internship at Cressey Performance for the next four months. The day before I left, I noticed my car was a lot louder than normal. Since I had an 8 hour drive ahead of me, which ended up being a 12 hour drive thanks to Hurricane Irene, I wanted to make sure my car was doing well. Thanks to the help of my awesome girlfriend,who took my car to the garage for me, we found out my exhaust pipe had crumbled due to rust. When I took it to the mechanic they found several other problems with it and I ended up spending the day in the shop, which wasn’t so bad as they had massage chairs and free wifi. When I asked them why a younger car had so many problems, they simply told me the person who had the car before me didn’t take very good care of it. Pretty straightforward answer. This got me thinking about how a car is very similar to our bodies and how many of us don’t take care of ourselves until we blow out our exhaust pipe knee, which reminded me of an a article written by legen…wait for it…… hope you don’t have lactose intolerance…dairy strength coach Mike Boyle. It is entitled Only One Body and is a short but very thought provoking read.
To read it click here -> Only One Body
Marco Walker-Ng is a certified personal trainer and strength coach. He is incredibly passionate about working with others to improve their lifestyle and athletic performance. This website allows him to reach as many people as possible with the hope of making a positive impact in their lives. If you have a fitness related question, a concern or simply want to show some love, contact marco@marcoathletics.com.
