Tag Archive for: strength

Sweating the Small Stuff

The sun is shining, you’ve just finished an amazing workout, and the coffee just finished brewing and will imminently be filling you with energy and warmth. You get ready for work, breeze through traffic, and get to the office early to get ahead of the day. You’re feeling on top of world, everything is working this morning and nothing could possibly get in your way! But then it happens. An email about something you forgot, you spill some water, or in my case you get a delayed Amazon delivery notification. Boom. Good vibes ruined, day is shot, LIFE IS OVER!

 

We have all been there. Riding high on positive vibes and the positivity of those around us, only to have some small setback send us spiraling into a bad mood. But why? How dumb is it to let a minor inconvenience ruin a great day?

 

Spoiler alert. It’s really dumb!

 

This past weekend was my girlfriends birthday. We shared an awesome birthday breakfast with friends and then took a trip over to Coco beach for the day and had a great time. Had a fun drive over listening to our favorite podcast, shared a nice bottle of wine, and had an unexpectedly amazing dinner (Shout out to Sage Bistro, AMAZING food). But the next day we were hanging out watching a movie, silent. I knew why I was quiet. I had a post food and drink bloat going on and was feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. Turns out she was too.

 

Two fit people, dealing with the expected aftermath of a day of splurging and fun, letting a temporary inconvenience taint a weekend filled with fun and friends. I rode this feeling of grossness through the night only to wake up for work with a flat belly and a more positive outlook. That’s when it hit me how absolutely stupid it was that I had been down in the first place. Nothing had changed, I just lost a bit of water weight in the night. I let water, H2-fucking-O, ruin the awesome experience I had celebrating with my girlfriend.

 

I am better than that. She is better than that. We are all better than that. Life is filled with too many truly important things, both good and bad, to allow trivial and temporary bullshit to bring us down. Reacting to every misstep and unfortunate circumstance not only ruins your ability to find joy in life, it also ruins the joy of those around you. Remember that at any given time you are like a germ, spreading negativity or positivity to those that are around, and only you get to decide which one. Choose to spread positivity, choose to stop sweating the small stuff.

3 Guidelines to Not Be A Shitty Human

You probably opened this thinking I was going to get on some moral high horse or tell you not to cut people off in traffic or something. Nope. I want to talk about health optimization. I kind of vomit a bit in my mouth saying it. It’s a bit of a millennial, entrepreneur, bullshit bio-hacker buzzterm right now. You can find articles and videos everywhere telling how you can optimize your entire life or bio-hack your way to the body of your dreams. And they aren’t totally wrong! I just have a problem with how they present it.

Now I understand that making outrageous claims gets clicks and that for some people those clicks equals money. So go on playa, get you some money. And if I’m being honest the title to this very article was SOMEWHAT clickbaity in nature. That’s not really the issue though.

My problem is that they make it sound so damn SIMPLE. If you just add this one thing or do this one activity, and BOOM! Life is different! But that’s just not the reality. Your body is a complex organism with a wide array of needs that change on a daily basis based on a million different factors. You need to have A LOT of things in line to optimize your health. I like to think of it like there is a little engineer inside of me turning dimmer switches up and down based on the input I give to my body. Do more things that it needs? More dimmer switches get turned up and I just feel better. Do less things right and those switches get turned lower and my health and performance suffer. That is optimization. It is finding the things that work and sticking with them, as well as finding what doesn’t work and learning to minimize its presence in your life.

I want to talk about things that work. Not for everyone and not for forever. But for most people and for most of the time.The tried and true activities and habits you should be doing to, gulps, optimize your health. These aren’t super stringent. They aren’t exact and your ability to wiggle within them gives you some room to breathe. But if you operate within their lines you should be good to go!

Get Some (more) Sleep

Are you a living, breathing, human person that has stress and obligations in life? Well then you probably are not getting enough sleep. Maybe you’re getting enough to make it through the day by the skin of your teeth, but much like living paycheck to paycheck, it aint a whole lot of fuckin fun.

Sleep is important for mental focus, hormone regulation, and recovery from vigorous activity. So if you are walking around cloudy, cranky, and sore I would recommend getting a little bit more sleep in your system.

 

Take Care of Yo Gut

You know how I said your body was a complex organism that has a variety of needs that can change often? Yeah you can thank your stomach for most of that. As strange as it seems when we first hear it, your stomach and the functions it does is the tone setter for your body and will determine how well the rest of your body operates. You should probably take care of it, right?

There are several ways to do this but none are easier than probiotics. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that can aid in gut health. Your stomach is full of bacteria both good and bad that help aid in digestion as well as help create 90% of your immune system (yet another minor function of the stomach), so logic would say supplementing with good bacteria would probably be a good idea. Good sources of probiotics are quality yogurts, kombucha, and other fermented foods such as sauerkraut or sourdough bread!

 

Probiotics aren’t the only way to take care of your gut though! It is also very important to make sure you are eating foods with a low inflammatory profile and that are of a good quality. Here is an article from Power Athlete that gives a very starting point for what should be eaten in quantity, limited amounts, and what should be avoided all together. It is very similar to what we would recommend to any of our clients.

 

Get Mobile, Agile, Hostile!

Left side! Strong side! No one else was feeling the Remember the Titans reference? Ok, that’s cool, my feelings aren’t hurt…much. But seriously people, we need to get active. Whether it is walking, running, playing with your kids, or lifting some heavy ass weights, getting movement is key. Each activity comes with its own set of benefits based on its movement patterns and intensity level, but ensuring that you get some movement in your day is key. Whether it’s building muscle and strength through strength training, cardiovascular health with running or biking, or simply learning to move properly by following the lead of a fuckin baby, just move! The endorphins you will receive will leave you feeling more positive and the challenge to your bodies status quo will spark physical and mental change that helps lead to a healthier and happier lifestyle!

 

Now remember I said these things are flexible WITHIN THEIR PARAMETERS. No exact thing will likely work forever, but an activity with these rules should always lead to a more optimized mind and body. You don’t have to add this stuff in all at once. You can do it bit by bit and see what works for you and what is most sustainable for you and your lifestyle. But try and live a life that follows this advice and i guarantee you will be happier, healthier, and  on the road to being the best human you can be!

The 5 Best Ways to Be Responsible For Your Health Without a Coach

So I have been on a bit of an abstract, more mindset driven kick with my writing lately (when I have actually been writing that is). But today I wanted to tackle one of the biggest questions we get and, truthfully, one of the biggest complaints we as professionals have regarding clients. What exactly should you be doing on the days you are not training with us?

The specifics of the answer will vary from coach to coach as each probably has very specific (or intentionally non-specific) things they like to recommend for their clients, but the underlying fundamentals of each coach’s advice should be the same. Those fundamentals are what I want to cover.

Most of these fundamentals are not exclusive to “off” days or days you are by yourself. To be honest most of them are just good guides to general health and wellness. But lord knows someone needs to hear them in THIS context so they don’t operate under the assumption that non-training days are a good day to just fuck off and not do anything. News flash, they aren’t.

With that being said, here are The 5 Best Ways Not to Screw It Up When You Aren’t in The Gym.

  1. Do SOMETHING Physical

This is an easy, yet often overlooked, portion of the client/coach relationship. There are 168 hours in a given week and only 2-4 of those hours are spent with a coach. I’m sorry, but if you are a person who would like to see some semblance of physical change, you are going to have to do a bit more than that.

Now this doesn’t have to turn into you becoming the ultimate workout warrior and running 5 miles a day or doing 500 pushups, 500 situps, and 500 crunches. This can be as simple as adding a 10 minute walk several times a week. It could be adding an additional yoga class one day. It could be taking a hike, chasing your kid, literally ANYTHING! My only caveat would be to consult your coach or trainer about any additional highly rigorous resistance/metabolic workouts you want to add to maximize the benefits of them as well as minimize the risk of injury. Other than that, let her rip!

 

  1. Stay Hydrated

This should be an obvious priority, not only on off days from the gym, but in general. And I’m not going to go into the issues surrounding a lack of hydration as they can basically be summed up in, you’ll feel and perform like shit!

Now most people have heard of the 8 – 8 ounce glasses of water a day rule, and this is a fine place to start if you are just getting used to proper hydration. But for the hard charging athlete this won’t do. Individual needs will vary based on the types of off day activities you are participating in, but generally men should be getting somewhere around 130 ounces of water a day, while women need 95 ounces. These numbers are not exact and need to be tweaked depending on certain factors, but they are good general guidelines.

  1. Do Some Light Mobility Work

Now this one could really fall under the first point of getting some more activity, but I felt like it needed some love on its own. Because if we are being honest, exercise is easy. Or at least the FUN part of fitness. Mobility is boring. It’s slow and uncomfortable and it doesn’t really give you abs. So why the hell would I waste time on it? Because big sexy muscles are cool, big sexy muscles that can move joints through their full range of motion are way cooler.

       Having more mobility within your joints not only allows you to reduce your risk of injury during vigorous activity, it also allows you to get more out of your exercise! Muscles that have the opportunity to go through a greater range of motion have even more opportunity to get stronger at a longer muscle length. And since a lack of flexibility is often caused by muscle weakness at a particular muscle length, increasing a muscles strength at more ranges of motion can lead to improved flexibility! More mobility = greater range of motion = stronger muscles at longer lengths = more freaking mobility! Isn’t the body cool?

Now how do you go about practicing this mobility? Static stretching is a good place to start. Finding a routine like this one to do daily can give you some great benefits. But the best way is to truly focus on taking your joints through their full range of motion. Circle your wrists, ankles, and hips. Swing your arms in light circles. These are the joints you need to focus on. You can feel generally the directions they like to move in. Now focus on this and do it often. Becca has a great video focusing on your hip capsule and restoring it to its full range of mobility. Foam rolling and using tennis/lacrosse balls to pinpoint muscles for a little massage can also be beneficial.

There are a million ways to skin the mobility cat, you just have to find what works for you!

 

  1. Don’t Eat Like A Dick Head

Once again, this is not just an off day rule, but an every day one. Don’t eat like an asshole. Eat lots of high quality animals, veggies, dairy (as you can handle), and fats (avocado, olive/coconut oil). Limit fruits and nuts. And avoid most wheat and processed sugars (and dairy if you can’t do it, like yuh boy).

Now don’t get your panties in a wad saying Jake is being too mean and restrictive. These are guidelines for people that fall in that big fat middle of the bell curve. There will always be outliers and people who need more or less of certain foods. These also aren’t things that must be followed to a T all the time or else you’ll die. But this what you should have MOST of the time.

Your body is a machine. Give it quality fuel and you will perform for a lifetime. Give it shit and you’ll be stuck in the scrapyard.

 

  1. Go to Shleeeeeeep

Ok, now I want you to go back and read everything I’ve said up until now. You do it? Good. Now literally throw everything I said out. This is what you need to do if you aren’t getting enough sleep. Sleep is the king of human performance, the true difference maker in ensuring you are the best human you can be. It’s so dang important, that yours truly wrote an entire article  on why it’s so important and how to do it better!

Whether it’s finding a little time in the day to sneak away for a nap, or ensuring you start your bedtime routine a little early to ensure you get at least 8 hours, making sure that your sleep is taken care of should be priority number one when you are thinking of ways to help yourself outside of the gym.

 

Now ultimately your days off at the gym are yours. Life is about a lot more than ultimate human optimization and the best off day routine or protocol is the one that prepares you mentally, physically, and emotionally for whatever you have coming up in life. If you need to sloth once in a while, do it. If you need a little junk food, go for it. These 5 rules are a guiding light, not an iron cage, and thus are meant to be broken from time to time. Except sleep. Because sleep is awesome.