Fitness

24 Dec

Most Important Thing I Learned from Paleo Eating: Cause and Effect

Posted by chris in CFB, Fitness

It took a little while to get my system tuned in with enough consistency in eating well per the Primal guidelines but once I was used to it - say about a month or so - I began to feel the the subtle differences that various foods had on my body.

Being dialed in on this cause and effect is now the cornerstone of all my eating habits.

I know the staple of foods we have around the house that keep me feeling balanced, energized, and digesting well and continually becoming more aware of how other foods effect my body. This plays into my decisions on when and how much I'll deviate.

I'm writing this on Christmas Eve and there will be a goody table in front of me all evening with lots of tempting treats on it. But by being aware that the sugar is going to get my heart rate up and make me jittery, followed by an energy crash later and general feeling of uneasiness that I'll probably shy away and head to the nut bowl.

Knowing the price I'll later pay makes it easier for me to decide what I put in my body. I'll cheat from time to time but when I do I know exactly what to expect in advance.

This makes eating easy for me. It's not a diet. There aren't a whole bunch of rules and guidelines I go by anymore; I go by how I feel and it so happens that the foods I eat that fall into The Primal Blueprint and other Paleo Diet regiments have positive effects on my body.

chris's blog

01 Dec

How to Deal with the Increased Cost of Eating Paleo

Posted by chris in CFB, Fitness

One of the toughest challenges to getting on a better path to eating paleo or primal is the cost. Simply put, it is more expensive and not as convenient to procure natural, healthy food.

When we embarked on this Primal Blueprint experiment, our first order of business was to swap out our pantry filled with grain-based snacks and stock it full of primal approved foods - nuts, seeds, butters (almond, cashew, sunflower are our favorites), fresh fruits and vegetables, and some jerky. We also needed to start buying a lot more meat which is more expensive than the heavy pasta dishes we were used to preparing for most meals.

Lisa's been buying organic for a long time but shifting from a diet where grains play a high role and provide a lot of relatively cheap calories to one that replaces grains with primarily grass-fed meat, organic vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds bumped our grocery budget into a tailspin... sort of... The way it really went down is we were spending about the same amount of money but burning through the food faster and finding ourselves hungry with bare pantries before the next grocery visit was planned.

What transpired has been a continually evolving system to find savings, make efficiencies, and cut costs out of other less important areas of our lives. I'd like to say I found a magic formula or found a secret supplier that can deliver organic, contaminate-free food for the same price the grocery store sells frozen dinners but that is not the reality. Eating the right healthy foods is more of an investment but these tips will help you get the best returns.

10 Nov

Weight Training: Vanity vs. Functional

Posted by chris in CFB, Fitness

Many people know that I was a personal trainer throughout college and continued part-time for a few years after. During that time of being in the gym all the time and around other trainers/friends of a bodybuilding mindset, I bulked up to the largest I've been - about 175lbs. For all intents and purposes, I appeared to be a fit guy. I was bulky where it mattered - chest, arms, shoulders - and ready for the beach.

I trained often, heavy, low reps, and isolated movements. I did various cycles and followed popular bodybuilding trends from mags like Muscle & Fitness.

The results: I developed bulky muscles where I wanted them.

But, I also developed these:

Multiple shoulder injuries
Poor flexibility and limited range-of-motion
Muscle imbalances that lead to back spasms
Inconsistent energy levels
Poor athleticism

That's right, all my time in the gym pumping iron lead to overall poor athleticism. These came to light during the random pick-up basketball game, joining in the pre-Thanksgiving tackle football game with the fellas, my Frankenstein golf swing, and most notably when I started rock climbing.

It was the latter when I threw down the gauntlet and decided something had to change. I enjoyed climbing and I wanted to make it a part of my life. My focus shifted from working out to look good to getting in shape to be a better climber.

The road to get there took some time, research, effort, and plenty of mistakes but adjusting my thinking towards functional fitness made a big impact.

Functional fitness is training your body to meet real-world physical challenges.

16 Aug

Resistance Stretching

Posted by chris in Fitness

Part of my health overhaul has been to improve flexibility. In fact, I've been working on flexibility for years now with little actual progress. Where I went wrong was focusing on static stretching which as it turns out leads to overstretching the muscles. Then I stumbled upon the concept of resistance stretching through a book called "Stretching Scientifically" and then again with "The Genius of Flexibility."

The concept, in a nutshell, is that to effectively stretch a muscle it is imperative to start the with the muscle shortened and contract against resistance throughout the full range of the stretch.

The downside for me with both books is that I wasn't sure I was doing the stretches correctly based on the pictures and explanations. I did a Youtube search for resistance stretching and found this series that includes Olympic swimmer Dara Torres demonstrating many of the stretches from "The Genius of Flexibility" (according to book, Torres trained with author Bob Cooley). After a few workouts, I already notice improvements in my range-of-motion.

The videos are embedded below (or on full page) for my own use but I recommend to anybody looking to increase flexibility to give the routine a trial run. Be aware that resistance stretching works your muscles for strength too and you may experience soreness. I highly recommend picking up one of the books listed to gain deeper knowledge into the concepts and for proper guidance with reps, intensity, frequency, etc.

Books referenced:

Good explanation of resistance stretching with diagrams and sample workouts. Skeptical on the personality interconnectedness but consider it a bonus if it works and not a big deal if it doesn't.

Equally good in terms of explaining resistance stretching but not as many pictures or specific exercises. Author is Russian so some terms have expanded or slightly different definitions.

29 Jul

The Colorado Experiment - Tips to Making it Work

Posted by chris in Fitness

Note: October, 5 2011 - CF

The below post is my most popular of all time on this site. Probably because it piggy-backed off of Tim Ferriss' post on the same subject that generated a lot of interest in the Colorado Experiment. I did this experiment and did have excellent results but it isn't the central theme in my health and well-being program. For long-term, sustainable low-bodyfat, high-muscle tone and strength, along with numerous other physical benefits, I recommend adjusting your life to fit the Primal Blueprint. The Primal Blueprint is written by former endurance athlete, Mark Sisson (www.marksdailyapple.com), and promotes a diet and exercise regiment similar to our early ancestors for the maximum gene expression that our bodies have evolved to do. This is the lifestyle I recommend.

Photo by bepositivelyfit (flickr) I first learned about the Colorado Experiment through Tim Ferriss' blog post From Geek to Freak and then further reading from the original study here. Few things you need to be prepared for if you decide to try this workout regiment on your own. First, the field is definitely not unanimous and many "experts" think it is not possible. That's fine but I didn't see any other valid study that proves otherwise and the track record of "experts" since humans walked the Earth is not very impressive. I'd rather see for myself. Another misnomer is that this workout is easy because you can do it in a relatively short amount of time per workout with greater time between workouts. If you are doing it right - that is going to total failure on each exercise - then you will find it may be the toughest workout you've ever done.

I recommend you read the two articles linked above and then read on for the tips.

1. Find your sweet spot with the weight. Too light and you expend so much energy going to failure and drag your workout too much longer time frame than required. Too heavy and you're not taking the muscle to failure in so much as not having the strength to move the weight. I recommend zeroing in on a weight that will have you at total failure between 8-12 reps. Comments are welcome on this but this is the zone where I feel my muscles significantly pumped and drained.

2. Go to total failure. This is by far and away the hardest component of this workout and requires as much or more mental toughness as physical. Going to failure is psychologically difficult; everything in you will scream to quit but in order to succeed at this workout you have to press on. Back in my younger days we would train our legs to the point of throwing up. This is the level of effort you have to give every exercise and you will probably experience some nausea.

3. Eat, relax, and believe it will work. Your body needs the nutrients so follow the guidelines and eat a boatload of protein. Also, rest thoroughly in between workouts. When you workout, give 100%, when you rest, give 100% - that simple. Stress induces the release of cortisol and cortisol inhibits muscle growth. According to the study completed at The University of Texas Medical Branch, "...with elevated cortisol, the loss in muscle mass is almost 3-fold greater than with inactivity alone." Finally, if you believe it will work then you are already closer to having positive effects. Go into anything in life expecting BS or failure and you will find it. Same goes for success.

4. Forget about other people's results. Research online will show you that many people did not have great results. Others might have had unbelievable results. Don't spend your time doing a comparison with these other people and only focus on your own progress. There are way too many variables ranging from genetics to discipline to diet to attitude that are taken into account. Forget about others and only focus on you, your routine, your diet, your rest, your discipline, and your attitude.

Like most things worth doing, you will get out of it what you put into it.