Had to share these links.  Bob Harper, from the Biggest Loser, apparently made a video demonstrating the turkish getup completely wrong.  Its pretty funny stuff.  Check out these two posts. 


http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/articles/2011/02/bob-harper-from-biggest-loser-how-to-do-turkish-get-ups-wrong.html

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/real-turkish-get-ups/#more-925

One of my clients, Vera Nowak, recently wrote a blog post about me and the passion I have for what I do.  Vera is an ideal example of a positive, hard working and open minded individual.  She is a very successful business expert and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be very successful in reaching all of her fitness and training related goals.  She works hard every workout and does her homework outside of the gym as well.   I am truly flattered with her post and clients such as her drive me to get even better at what I do. Be sure to check it out.  http://passiononpurpose.blogspot.com/

On a side note, if you happen to come across a copy of the February issue of Boomers News Magazine, be sure to grab a copy as I wrote a fat loss article that is published in the issue.

Training has been going great lately; feeling strong and moving well.  I've been getting some good soft tissue treatment done lately to hopefully finally get the tissue in my back that was torn back to 100%.  I've been feeling pretty good as of late. I had a good workout today.  It looked something like this.  This is an intro week for this cycle, so I kept weights pretty moderate for the most part. 

Soft tissue work, mobility drills
Overhead squat warmup
1) Reverse Lunge worked up to 205lbsx5 (kept it moderate with these, felt good)

2) 2bar Rack Pull worked up to 95lbseach 3x5 (I hold a bar on each side of my body like a suitcase deadlift, oblique killer, kept it moderate)

3) One leg short strap reverse hyper  3x8 w/ pause 
Long strap reverse hyper  2x20

4a) Half kneeling cable hold  3x5 (1 extra w/ left leg down)
4b)Offset farmers carry 3 trips each side

5) Hip flexor sled drag  3 trips/Kb swings 52lbsx20/squatsx10-20 3rds (conditioning)

6) Low to high cable chop  2x5, 1 extra twd right w/ 35lbs

One leg calf raise, one leg dorsiflexions  3x5-8

I'm really working on quality hip movement, glute strength and optimal development of stability and endurance in my obliques and low back extensors.  Tomorrow I'm going to do some heavy overhead pressing (going to focus on getting my overhead strength up for a little while and see how it affects my bench) and db work.  Saturday I will do some speed/technique work with squats and continue to hammer out the glutes and obliques.  Intense single leg work has been a focus over the course of the past year and I think I've made some good improvements there.  Til next time, train hard!

I recently read a great book called Primal Body-Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas (thank you Dan), who is a well respected nutritional therapist.  It is basically all about paleolithic diets and the true way that humans were meant to eat.  It covers a lot of things I already agreed with and taught me all kinds of new things I did not even realize.  While I don't agree with EVERYTHING in the book, most of the ideas presented are spot on (the author is about 1000 times more knowledgeable in the depths of nutritional science than me so it probably wouldn't matter if I agreed with everything or not anyway :)).  To sum up the basic idea:  Only during the last 100 years or so have humans had the crazy array of diseases that have come about.  Cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, add, atherosclerosis, hormone problems and the list goes on for far too long.  Only during this time has a RIDICULOUS amount of processing come about when it comes to foods; especially in America.  Garbage that is sold in most stores is full of man made, processed crap that our bodies are not capable of absorbing and digesting appropriately.  The amount of processed carbohydrates, trans fats, unhealthy oils, artificial sweeteners, and way too many additives to even think about has gotten to an insane level and most people are completely oblivious to what they are putting into their bodies. 

When you put too many processed carbs, sweeteners, sugars, etc. into your body, blood glucose goes crazy and insulin production goes on hyperdrive, causing glycation and all kinds of crazy hormone activity that the body can't handle.  Damage is done to the brain, organs, joints, muscle tissue, etc, the body is depleted of minerals and cells mutate into not so friendly cells.

  Our ancestors consumed a diet of grass fed meat and fat, wild game, seafood, fibrous/non starchy vegetables, fruits and berries in season, nuts and seeds, raw milk and dairy products (sometimes) and water.  These are the things that our bodies are made to absorb, not fake food with an essay of ingredients that it contains.  The saddest thing of all is that the USDA food pyramid is completely backwards and is largely responsible for the crazy and ever increasing obesity rate today.  Grains, breads and pastas should not be a large source of food for anybody.  Overconsumption of carby, starchy, sugary grains and the like  is what makes people fat, not fat.  The glucose and insulin spikes along with the inhibition of the master fat storage hormone Leptin will cause excess fat storage, and cause chaos throughout many levels and structures of your body. When you don't eat fat, your body will make fat because it needs it for so many bodily processes and functions.  The whole low fat, low cholesterol myth is so wrong on so many levels that it is not even funny.  The fact of the matter is when you eat "low fat" foods, the added sweeteners that they put in them are absolutely horrible for you and you end up much worse off even though your intentions might have been good.  Your body needs fat; quality fat.  Even a decent amount of saturated fat is good for you.  It is the trans fats (man made fats) that you want to avoid like the plague.  Getting enough quality protein, quality fatty acids, vitamins and minerals from grass fed animal sources, veggies, some fruits, nuts and free range dairy products is what needs to be done to develop a strong and healthy body.  (Note: Most people need to supplement with fish oil or krill oil to get enough EPA and DHA, which are essential fatty acids that the brain needs to function optimally and also help with many other things in the body such as fat loss, heart disease, inflammation and more)

Aside from all of this (and this is one thing that goes against this book to a certain degree), people still do need SOME carbs and SOME grains in their diets, but from the right sources, not too much and for many people (depending on the situation and person) not much at all.  Before and after a workout is one time carbs are important.  You need some before the workout to give you fuel and you need some right after to start recovery and restore glycogen in your muscle cells.   I'm a big fan of natural oats as a healthy source of carbs.  For post workout, I recommend a banana or apple and a protein shake (for the protein, duh.)  Make sure that any grains that are eaten are all natural and whole.

A lot of meats and dairy that you get in your average store were basically fed garbage such as prohormones, antibiotics and slop plates, which means that they are not ideal for the human body.  Free range, grass fed animal sources are what the body needs to function optimally.  Whole foods, Outpost, Sendix and some select stores carry some of this great stuff.  Getting as close to raw milk as possible is the way to go when it comes to dairy. (Note to self, I need to get a cow) In many states, you'll have to go straight to the farm to get raw milk.  Its the same thing with milk; a lot of the processing that goes on kills off many of the healthy bacteria, fats, and proteins that we need.

Getting things on track can be hard to do in this day and age with drug after drug being handed out to treat every symptom people have, government wrongly regulating diet recommendations and false information  constantly being given out in the media.  The money is not in the cure or in making people healthy; it is in feeding people false crap and making more money off of them since they have to keep coming back.  Oh you have this problem, then take this drug.  More often than not, the drugs and meds people are put on end up making the original problem worse.  I understand that sometimes, medications are a necessity with certain conditions; but often times I really feel that it gets ridiculous.  If people would clean up their diets and rely on naturally occurring, whole foods combined with appropriate exercise, health and disease would be so much better.

Ok, so I guess I've gone into more of a rant beyond a book review but it is a great book that could be paradigm shifting and eye opening for many people.  One thing I do want to mention from the book that a lot of people are mislead with is the truth about soy.  Soy has been marketed as some kind of great health food.  This couldn't be farther from the truth. Soy is absolutely toxic to the body.  (I've done some research beyond this book and trust me, its not good).  Here is a short list of some of the terrible side effects of soy that are mentioned in this book.
-Phytic acid in soy reduced assimilation of many important minerals
-Causes growth problems in children
-Soy phytoestrogens mess with endocrine function and can cause infertility and breast cancer in adult females
-Can cause hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer
-Increase the body's requirement for vitamins B12 and D
-Contains high levels of aluminum, which is toxic to the nervous system and kidneys
-Can alter the menstrual cycle
-Has been linked to alzheimers
-Not a complete protein and can deplete other proteins
-Messes with testosterone levels
And theres about two more pages of stuff that it has been linked with.  I don't know about you, but I'm not touching it.
Here is a great site that goes into some great detail about the toxicity of soy. http://soyonlineservice.co.nz/

As one of my mentors once said to a client: "If it used to have a face or comes from the ground, eat it.  Everything else, be cautious."  Having a great healthy body is as simple as eating natural foods and exercising effectively (notice I said effectively, not just exercising:))  Its just hard today because so many people don't have the right knowledge or mindset to do this and are not surrounded by positive and motivating people to help do this.  If you try buying quality foods but live with people who put garbage in the house, it becomes even harder.  Surround yourself with other positive and healthy people if you truly want to be successful.

Back to the book. It covers tons on top of what I've already mentioned including chapters devoted to digestion (very important to have digestion rolling efficiently), water, protein, insulin, leptin, vitamins, minerals, food allergies, add, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and the list goes on.  Just a great all around read.

Here are a few great links to some awesome sites that cover lots of great dietary information. Though I think I'm alright with strength and conditioning and fitness and know enough about nutrition to help get clients on the right track to supplement their training, I do not consider myself an expert in nutrition by any means.  However, I have been digging into this stuff pretty deep lately so if you really want to dig deeper, learn some mind blowing information and possibly change your life, check out a few of these sites. If you are feeling really ambitious, get the book. I would really recommend it to anybody who wants to get their diet on track and cares about their body.

First, be sure to read this
www.westonaprice.org
www.eatwild.com
www.realmilk.com
www.paleodiet.com
www.primalbody-primalmind.com
www.nutritionaltherapy.com
www.beyondveg.com

I am also rereading Stuart McGill's Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, which is a must read for anybody who deals with other people's bodies and will now be beginning The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which I think will be a great read.  I have also been studying Trail Guide to the Body, which is required for massage therapy school, and I must

On another note, I have recently began networking with Dr. Therese Miller, a great chiropractor and ART practitioner in the Milwaukee area.  She is the absolute best around and shares a lot of the same views on the body, movement and training as me so if you have any issues, be sure to check her out.  Yes, even if you've been to chiros who didn't help you, you need to check her out.  www.millerswc.com.  Do it!!!

Last and most importantly, my Packers are in the Super Bowl tomorrow and I'm amped up and ready to watch them bring the Lombardi Trophy back home where it belongs.  GO PACK!!!!!!  I got the Woodson jersey ready baby!!!!
 

So we got around 24 inches of snow in Milwaukee Tuesday/Wednesday and most people were stuck home.  I planned ahead the night before and brought home one of my kettlebells and some bands.  On top of at least 2 hours of shoveling plenty of snow, I got a great workout in at the house in the living room.  It went like this.

Soft tissue work and mobility drills to warmup
One leg kettlebell squat 3x8-10 bodyweightx20
One leg kb rdl  3x8-12
Side bridge w/ leg raise 2x8 Half rotating x10
Bird dog w/ band 3x8-10 each side
Band hip circuit   psoas flexion, adduction, side leg raise, clam shells
Leg lowering double and alternating 2x~20
Offset farmers carry w/ kb 2 trips each way
Kb swings x20/ squatsx20  4rds
One leg calf raise 5x8-10  Dorsiflexions
Lots and lots of shoveling

As you can see, it is very possible to get a great workout in even if you can't make it to the gym.  You don't always need tons of weight or equipment to get the job done.  Train hard!