A very inspirational video clip. This guy lost 130 lbs in 270 days using the Yoga For Real Guys system. It doesnt really matter what form of exercise you use, what matters is your determination, dedication and willingness to work hard.

This is from Steve Maxwell, former Sr. RKC instructor and Champion Brazilian JuJitsu competitor. Steve has been doing kettlebells for years, even before Pavel started teaching them in the U.S. Visit Steve'sBlog at http://maxwellsc.blogspot.com/

Ten Reasons I Don't Do Aerobics

I spend my days at a corporate gym. It's a sweet gig and a temporary livelihood.

One morning, while observing a female member endlessly running the treadmill-to-nowhere-fast, I realized I see the same people returning day after day, iPods silently blaring or, worse, mindlessly captivated by one of the ten wall-mounted television screens, while grinding away on those steppers and treadmills.

The drudgery of their Sisyphean tasks compels their attempts to lose self-awareness by inundating themselves with external stimuli. Often, their bodies reflect this lack of self-awareness in skewed gaits and other imbalances.

These same people come in religiously to get the feel-good fix, believing somehow their mindless, movement addiction is in some way benefiting them. Interestingly, they stay fat, show no progress, and sometimes even get fatter, especially after holidays. Most of these people are loathe to touch a weight, much less engage in any kind of productive strength-training. You see this same phenomenon in gyms all over the country.

Some will say, "Well, some exercise is better than none,"

But I say, if you're going to spend the time, why not produce something worthwhile?

Here are ten reasons why I don't do aerobic exercise:

But first, what is aerobic exercise? Any steady state locomotion elevating the heart rate into the zone for twenty minutes or more. The zone is determined by formulas based on age and resting heart rate.

Now, ten reasons why it not only doesn’t work but is a poor use of exercise time:

1. Oxidative Stress
   Which causes a breakdown of tissues. It also predisposes one to cancer and heart attack.

2. Elevated cortisol production
   Which causes a breakdown of muscle tissue and increases fat storage or depot fat. People do aerobics to alleviate stress yet end up creating more stress.

3. Lowered testosterone and HGH levels
   For men, aerobics are a form of chemical castration. Low T-levels are associated with lowered libido, depression, anxiety, increased body fat and decreased muscle tissue. This contributes to muscle-wasting and lowers the basal metabolic rate.

4. Increased appetite and a tendency toward binge eating patterns
   Aerobic exercise makes people hungry!

5. Excessive Muscular Fatigue
   Making it difficult to do other more productive forms of activity. Aerobics creates muscular weakness.

6. Conversion of fast-twitch muscle fibers to slow-twitch
   The loss of fast-twitch muscle fibers contributes to aging and the loss of explosive power and speed. People become slower and slower.

7. Burns a relatively small amount of calories vs. the time spent
   One large meal completely offsets the pitiful amount of calories burned in an hour aerobics session.

8. Overuse injuries to the feet, ankles, and knees from excessive, continual force transmitted throughout the body
   This is exacerbated by over-engineered running shoes which cushion the feet in such a way to create a neural amnesia.

9. Shortening i.e., deformation, of the muscle tissue from repetitive mid-range (partial range) movements
   This creates inflexibility, immobility, and muscle imbalances. Besides being tight, the bodies postural alignment becomes compromised. Aerobics create tight, inflexible bodies that are in chronic pain.

10. Adrenal burnout
    A consequence of the “feel good” neurotransmitters which also stimulate the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the fight or flight hormone. Excessive adrenaline creates an addictive response and people going routinely for the so called “high” of running end up with adrenal burnout, e.g., chronic fatigue and depression.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobic exercise (and the person who coined the term) completely recanted his assertions regarding aerobic exercise. After observing a disproportionate number of his aerobic-enthusiast friends die of cancer and heart disease, he reversed his ideas on the benefits of excessive aerobic exercise. He now claims anything in excess of 20 minutes has greatly diminishing returns. In fact, he's now an advocate of scientific weight training.

In strength and health,

Steve

No more grunting, moaning, breathing heavy, dropping weights, yelling or anything else that others might find intimidating......

 It also has a "lunk alarm" - an actual alarm that goes off when someone grunts, groans, pounds their chest or does any other obnoxious gym behavior - and a staff trained to shoo away bodybuilder types.

"We don't cater to the big guys, the bodybuilders. Our whole thing is a non-intimidating atmosphere," said co-owner Ron Huling, who owns the local Planet Fitness franchise with Mahdi "Andy" Abro. "Eighty percent of our members have never been in a gym before. It's our judgment free zone - no body builders, no power lifters, no grunt and groaners.

"We simply are regular people and we guard that environment."

Not everyone who grunts and groans during workouts is a bodybuilder or powerlifter. Generally, making noise means you are working hard. 

If you want to be like normal people then you need to go to Planet Fitness, at IronBody Fitness we will scare you with our loud noises and dropping of weights.

 http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/02/planet_puts_new_spin_on_gym.html

There are four main health issues caused by coffee and the over-consumption of caffeine:

1) Exhausted Adrenal Glands: Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. It causes the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline, the hormone your body depends on in emergencies to elevate your heart rate, increase your respiration and blood pressure for a rapid flight-or-fight response. When you overuse stimulants, the adrenals become exhausted. If your caffeine sensitivity has diminished or you’re one of those who claims you can drink 3 shots of espresso and go right to sleep, guess what? Your adrenals have given up responding. This means you have less resistance to stress, which leaves you vulnerable to health hazards such as environmental pollutants and disease pathogens. As we age, the adrenals become more and more important to us as the production center of the essential youth and sex hormones including DHEA, pregnenolone, progesterone, testosterone and estrogen. Many people in their forties find they can no longer tolerate the same level of caffeine consumption as they could in their twenties and thirties. The multiple effects of aging become apparent in the forties and the body frequently shows an increased variety of reactions to the toxicity of coffee and caffeine. The adrenals can be considered the storage center for the vital force, your inherited reservoir of energy. They need nourishing to keep them in optimal health. Think of your adrenals as a bank account. If you continue to make withdrawals without any deposits, you will hit bottom with a looming overdraft in the form of depleted energy and health.

2) Severe Blood Sugar Swings: Caffeine forces the liver to release glycogen into the blood stream. The pancreas responds to the sudden rise in blood sugar by releasing insulin, the hormone which causes excess carbohydrates to be stored as fat. Within the span of an hour or two, the result is a sharp blood sugar drop resulting in a state of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). That’s when you think it’s time for another cup of coffee and the whole cycle starts up again. As Barry Sears advises in his book, The Zone, achieving a hormonal balance and blood sugar stability allows you to maintain your natural weight and optimal energy level. He counsels that the breakdown of caffeine causes the pancreas to release too much insulin, thus creating a climate in which excess carbohydrates are stored as fat and are unavailable for use as energy by your brain. Although caffeine is a metabolic stimulant, the ultimate effect is to increase your appetite and contribute to weight gain and thus caffeine should be avoided by anyone working to reduce body fat.

3) Acid Imbalance: Over 208 acids in coffee can contribute to indigestion and a wide variety of health problems resulting from over-acidity associated with arthritic, rheumatic and skin irritations. Many people experience a burning sensation in their stomach after drinking coffee because coffee increases the secretion of acid in the stomach. Optimal health calls for an alkaline pH balance in the body. Caffeine breaks down into uric acid, which the body excretes through the kidneys. An excess of uric acid taxes the kidneys and can cause kidney stones and gout. Additionally, men have to be concerned about prostate conditions that may be aggravated by coffee consumption.

4) Essential Mineral Depletion: Coffee inhibits the absorption of some nutrients and causes the urinary excretion of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and trace minerals, all essential elements necessary for good health. Women need to be concerned about osteoporosis as menopause sets in. Studies show that women who drink coffee have an increased incidence of osteoporosis compared to non-coffee drinkers. Men are not immune to osteoporosis either. ¬There are a number of health conditions for which doctors advise their patients to eliminate coffee and all caffeine from their diet.

• Acid indigestion
• Anxiety, irritability and nervousness
• Candida or yeast problems
• Colitis, diverticulitis, diarrhea and other irritable bowel symptoms
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other auto-immune disorders
• Diabetes or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
• Dizziness, Meniere’s syndrome or tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Gout (Elevated Uric Acid levels)
• Heart disease or heart palpitations
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Insomnia and interrupted or poor quality sleep
• Liver disease and gallbladder problems such as gallstones
• Kidney or bladder problems including kidney stones
• Migraines or other vascular headaches
• Osteoporosis
• Skin irritations, rashes and dryness
• Ulcers, heartburn, and stomach problems such as hiatal hernias
• Urinary tract irritation

NY Times Article  

Correction Appended

One of the great unanswered questions in physiology is why muscles get tired. The experience is universal, common to creatures that have muscles, but the answer has been elusive until now.

Skip to next paragraph

Multimedia

Graphic

A New Explanation of Muscle Fatigue

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

 

Scientists at Columbia say they have not only come up with an answer, but have also devised, for mice, an experimental drug that can revive the animals and let them keep running long after they would normally flop down in exhaustion.

For decades, muscle fatigue had been largely ignored or misunderstood. Leading physiology textbooks did not even try to offer a mechanism, said Dr. Andrew Marks, principal investigator of the new study. A popular theory, that muscles become tired because they release lactic acid, was discredited not long ago.

In a report published Monday in an early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Marks says the problem is calcium flow inside muscle cells. Ordinarily, ebbs and flows of calcium in cells control muscle contractions. But when muscles grow tired, the investigators report, tiny channels in them start leaking calcium, and that weakens contractions. At the same time, the leaked calcium stimulates an enzyme that eats into muscle fibers, contributing to the muscle exhaustion.

Due to my decision to get re-certified with Scott Sonnon and his Circular Strength Training systems (CST) I'm dropping some of my Goals that I stated a few weeks ago.

Here are some of them:

My training goals for 2008:

• Get more balance in my training by incorporating more Qi Gong/breathing/meditation

• Continuing the rehab of my shoulders

• Deadlift 2.5 x bodyweight (about 425 lbs)

• back squat 2x bodyweight (about 350)

• Jerk 2 24k bells 10 minutes

• continue to work on barbells cleans and snatches

• continue to improve in my martial arts practice

 I will be dropping the 2.5 x body weight deadlift and the 2x body weight back squat and replace that with deeper work with Sonnon's Intu-Flow Joint Mobility, Clubbell practice and some of his other materials.

To be more specific, Mills with 15 lb clubbell 130 reps each hand, 130 swipes with 2 15 lb clubbells and 130  2 handed swipes (65 in each direction) - this is Sonnon's Trial by Fire .

The meditation/ Qi gong I am trying to do every day, right now it tends to be every other day.

Always a work in progress.

 As my friend David Whitley reminded me in an email we are 5% of the way to 2009 have you reached the 5% mark in your goals for 2008??

Are you fed up with the big gyms?

Tired of not making progress?

Bored with walking on treadmills or spining?

IronBody Fitness, LLC is a unique fitness center offering:

• Small group classes for personalized attention and encouragement. 
• Emphasis on practicing technique.
• Improving ones self internally and externally, mentally and physically.
• Health, fitness and well-being.
• Unique programs 
• A wide variety of tools - kettlebells, sandbags, body-weight and barbells
• A balanced approached to health and fitness
• Work hard and have FUN doing it.
• Continually raise the bar -we will push you to ever greater levels of strength and endurance - work capacity.
• Strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility, agility, balance (both kinds), power, speed, coordination, accuracy.
• Guaranteed Results*.

Still not convinced? Read what others are saying about us here  

Ready to start? Our Beginner Boot Camp  will ramp up your fitness level and help you burn off those unwanted pounds.

Feel free to come by any of the scheduled classes to WATCH. We do not allow untrained people to participate in the Advanced Boot Camp classes unless you can demonstrate proficiency with a kettlebell (proper technique in swings, cleans & snatches at a minimum). 

*Guaranteed results only if you follow our recommendations completely including maintaining a food journal and a workout log

A client asked me about what her goal(s) should be for the year. Hmmm.

She doesn't need to lose weight so that's not a good one, she already trains with me 2 to 3 times per week & does yoga 2 to 3 times week.

My advice to her was to pick one thing she isn't good at and work it. Or improve in something she already does.

For example, learn to deadlift with a barbell with a goal of lifting bodyweight within 6 months and 1.5 times bodyweight by the end of 2008. If practiced 2 or 3 times per week and depending on her current strength levels this should be doable. She learns a new skill and gets a lot stronger - deadlifts with a bar are a great total body lift.  This could work with a barbell back squat as well.

Or take a lift you are already good at - the snatch. If you can do 5 minutes with 8k with 1 hand switch, start working with the 10k or 12k on the 3 minute sets and start incorporating the 12k into the 5 minute sets. Work on getting 2:30 with each hand then start picking up the pace.

Then there's the jerk. We work with it some and we practice it more often, but the same ideas for improving time & numbers in the snatch apply to jerks. However, jerks are a more technical lift so the first thing is to use an appropriate weight and work on the technique. Most people seem to have problems coordinating the drop under the bell and wind up doing a push press.

As your technique improves you can speed up doing more reps per minute and work towards 10 minutes with 1 hand switch ( this is for 1 arm clean & jerk or 1 arm jerks). Once you have reached the 10 minute mark ( a worthy goal in itself) you can increase the weight, reduce the tempo and duration of the set and build back them back up (increase work capacity).

As you can see deciding on a training goal gets to be, and should be, quite specific. Pick something, define it, write it down and start working on reaching it.

If you have a goal in mind but aren't sure how to achieve contact me and I will be glad to provide some guidance