Post-V Day- Phase 2 Begins

Been trying to stick to this...Had a couple late nights though that ended in pizza or burritos. Not good. Diet is 85%. Not that this should be a confessional, but its purpose is to motivate me- and maybe someone else. So gotta work harder. Think stress affects sleep and sleep affects brain chemistry. Often if I sleep poorly, I'll crave sugar. Think coffee may be a bad habit too. Definitely been drinking more coffee.On the plus side, went into Wildcard Boxing on Thursday and paid $25 to train with a guy for a half hour. Was really cool and fun to hit some mitts again. We worked on the hook as well as basic jab and cross.



Starting Phase 2 of Mario even though I'm not quite ready. Phase 2 seems to boost everything up- so now you're doing two exercises in a superset with some cardio right after in a circuit. My plan is to finish this by March 15th (4 weeks), and then restart it for another 6weeks. Lastly, the NASM materials came over the weekend.





They came in the coolest packaging-a stealthy black box with ventilation areas- as if it was some dangerous beast. Inside was the book and a bag as well as a T shirt. Very cool. Read the first chapter about the history of personal training. Interesting stuff- and some very cool dedications in the book like the NASM mission statement- "NASM's mission is to empower individuals to live a healthy life." How cool is that? Or "I applaud you on your dedication and commitment to helping others live healthier lives and thank you for entrusting the NASM with your education." Awesome.

Have a great week!
G

Fit Expo 2015 and NASM CPT cert

Went to the Fit Expo down at the LA Convention Center. I didn't know what to expect, but wanted to sign up with NASM for their personal training certification for 30% off. Gotta say- NASM was about the only thing cool with the convention. The rest were like stands selling protein bars and supplements, gym clothes, shakes, and other stuff. Reminded me a bit of like a monster truck rally or the WWF events I went to as a kid. There were a lot of muscle-y guys and scantily clad girls, and a lot of metal playing. Then there were random feats of strength- pavillions set up with guys doing max amounts of pull ups or heavy lifts. I did see Jack LaLanne's son and wife (who's 90) demonstrating a juicer and a lot of folks with excellent posture. But overall, besides signing up for the online course, not much to speak of. I will say, for a fitness expo, they offered some seriously unhealthy food choices- greasy foods like fries and typical stadium stuff. It was interesting to see how many people were eating that stuff. Anyway- I have 180 days to take the test and get AED/CPR training or I'm out $500 (reduced from $700 bc of the Fit Expo). Hopefully, this will give me a knowledge base I don't currently have, particularly about mainstream views of health and nutrition and programming; also motivate me to stay in shape, and give me some credibility. Not to mention, I might actually make money training people.





Cheers, gentle reader. Tomorrow's week 2 of phase 1 of Lopez's Knockout Fitness. It's mostly circuits of supersets. Solid program with good emphasis on clean eating. And apparently Lopez is into boxing and trained with Freddie Roach, which is cool, since I've been wanting to try his gym, Wildcard Boxing. Last week was a good intro to the program, but too sporadic with traveling. I can understand why people would scoff at exercise books like this, thinking it's more bodybuilding stuff rather than functional programming. But I disagree, at it's core, this program offers a sensible approach to diet and exercise and encourages having fun and trying new sports- including boxing, cycling, basketball, running, and even dance. So we shall see..Got this coming up too!



Have a great week!

10 Minute Workout

Boom. Picked up Mario Lopez's Knockout Fitness for a flight back to Boston. It's a Men's Health publication and Lopez co-authored it with a very experienced trainer, Joe Dowdell. Some great ideas and plans in that book. Here's a ten minute workout I just did.



From back in the day:

Last Week of January 2015

The end of the first month of 2015 is approaching. Six days left. What can you accomplish? How did you stack up against your goals? The majority of people forget their New Year's Resolutions by March. How do you keep going?? Here's the answer...You set a larger goal- and if you do fall off, and you have that McDonald's or those beers, or even a bottle of wine, you get back on....



Tomorrow is Monday. What will you do this week to position yourself in February where you want to be? What if January was just a reintegration month? Like that scene in the Abyss when Ed Harris learns to breathe water, there's a re-acclimation process.


So this is what I want for myself this week:

1- Stricter Paleo. Let's tighten up that belt towards an end of February goal of fitting back into the suit I bought last June.

2- Three workouts with weights...Schedule them! Keep a journal!

3- One day sprints and one day of an activity I enjoy (surfing or boxing)....




But what is the larger goal?

The larger goal is to get into the best shape of my life by my birthday in June. I'll have to think of a way to quantify that...But I'm thinking of performance-oriented goals like 50 pushups, 10 pullups, 6:30 min mile.

Set achievable goals. Keep a progress journal. Find compatriots. Succeed. Set new goals. Be fit for life.

ATTITUDE => ALTITUDE

The Best Shape of Your Life in 2015 and Kelly Slater

Still taking on the 21 Day Mark Sisson Challenge. Their app was a no-go for me. Didn't work out- so I've been pretty much on my own. Been doing well overall. But my question is-
WHAT IF THIS WAS THE YEAR THAT YOU GOT INTO THE BEST SHAPE OF YOUR LIFE? WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU HAVE TO MAKE?



Kelly Slater is in awesome shape. He's 42 and he's still killing it. When I saw him surf in August in Malibu, it was crazy how good he was, just cutting up and down, owning waves, putting everyone to shame in the water. He did a 720 degree aerial in Portugal last year. He competes against guys half his age. So what's HIS secret? The new Outside magazine addresses Kelly's continuing relevance in surfing and great health. Also, there's the book, For the Love, by Kelly with Phil Jarratt.



According to the article and the book, he has a few healthy habits-

1- He swears off milk and makes his own almond milk.

2- He eats healthy fats. He mentions if he could (and sometimes he does), he'd eat Guacemole and chips all day.

3- He's experimented with CrossFit and some other stuff (yoga) ,but overall, most workouts are water workouts.

4- He's down with hot baths and massages, and spends a fair amount of time relaxing, listening to music, playing music, and trying to maintain balance in his life.

5- He's eating a largely protein based diet, though the article mentions some stuff like chia seeds and goji berries in granola for breakfast.

From the article:
"The one thing that stands out in his otherwise low-key program is his yogi-style diet. Most days his breakfast is a homemade pudding made of chia seeds, raw nuts, goji berries, and yogurt. At home he makes his own almond milk in a blender, straining it through cheesecloth. He frequently drinks a concentrated dose of omega-3 fatty acids from marine algae. Over the past couple of years, he’s cut out almost all caffeine. When he’s traveling for surf contests, his “very big suitcase” is packed “half with clothes and half with food.”



Pretty amazing guy...and a good role model.

21 Day Primal Challenge

It's a new year and you want to shape up, you say. Let's say you've put on some weight over the holidays. Not uncommon. Hit the gym harder? Eat less? Exercise more? That would be the standard advice. For years I did the same thing. I got stronger in the gym, but typically my weight was the same...until 2011, when my friend, Joe Bagg, introduced me to the Paleo Diet. He had done a nutritional certification with Robb Wolf, author of the Paleo Solution, through Crossfit. I had tried vegetarianism for mostly ethical reasons but it hadn't worked for me. I felt better about not eating animals, but had digestion issues with the emphasis on beans and tofu products. A few months later, I did Robb Wolf's 30 day challenge and it worked out well. By February of 2012, I was lean and my body had adjusted to burning fat over glucose. Joe was an important part of helping me stick to it and giving me some pointers (ex. Make sure you're eating enough fats- like avocados and olive oil). You can check out Joe's story here. I made this short documentary, Paleo Jazz, about him in 2013 (shot on 16mm b/w).



This January I'm starting Mark Sisson's 21 Day Primal Challenge. Sisson is the author of the Primal Blueprint and has started this challenge as a way to inspire others and connect those isolated Paleo folks with others around the world like them. The guidelines are simple. I've taken the basics Sisson's site, www.marksdailyapple.com:







If you're interested in joining me, drop a comment or email me at gabe.rosenn@gmail.com. I firmly believe that the Paleo or Primal diet is the key to health and longevity. I've also begun the Spartacus 3 workout...Spartacus 1 was a great fat-burning circuit, based on the workout that actors from the show used. Reprinted here from Men's Health:



Hope to hear from some of you.

Good luck out there! Happy 2015!
GPR

Fat Doesn't Make You Fat

In 2012, I decided to try the Paleo diet for 30 days, thinking I'd lean out. I'd heard about it through my friend who did Crossfit and I had Rob Wolf's Quickstart pdf as a guide. My weight went from 205 lbs to 185 lbs. I went from wearing large shirts to mediums. My waist size went from 34 to 31. There were other health benefits- better cholesterol and blood work, more energy, better sleep. Two years later, I still do a modified Paleo diet- which is more of a low-carb lifestyle. It seems like the mainstream media is catching on...I came across "Less Carbs, More Fat" in the new Men's Journal.



It lists in "A Better Way to Eat" the following:

1- Cut carbs

2- Eat your vegetables

3- Embrace fat

4- Redefine your version of "healthy fats"

5- Stop worrying about calorie counts

Additionally, it has an article "Do Athletes Need Carbs" that talks about how NBA players like LeBron James, Chris Kaman, and Kobe Bryant have started eating this way and are becoming leaner and have more energy.


I literally just sent someone an article by Gary Taubes- What if It's All A Big Fat Lie?" about whether the medical establishment has had it all wrong all these years (since the late 60's) about the calories in- calories out equation, fat making you fat, high carb diet it prescribes. And mainstream media has obviously caught onto gluten-free products...but what's missing is the research about sugar making us fat. It keeps insulin levels stoked (not in the surf sense), so cells hang onto fat...Stress can also trigger hormonal responses telling the body to hang onto fat...and one thing I've noticed is poor sleep can really make you crave sugar and carbohydrates. I'm just starting a new 10 week workout plan that emphasizes natural eating and in the gym a mix of dynamic warm-ups, big lifts (ex. bench, deadlift) with low reps, and smaller lifts with high rep work. I've been back to the gym 3x a week, and surfed a couple times since the Haunted Heats contest. My picture of me and Kelly Slater was featured in 90065 magazine in their Big Wednesday surf spread...but hahaha, I was cut out...



Was thinking though, I wonder if I'd be surfing at all if I hadn't switched to a low-carb lifestyle two years ago. I definitely am in better health, with more energy, a better blood profile, and fat to muscle ratio.