Fight Twin - Personal Fitness Training

Your Obligatory New Year's Resolution Post

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:47:00 -0600

Happy New Year’s, everyone! Time for new things! New goals! A whole new you!

It’s the time of year when messages like these will bombard you from all corners. For the next two months, television, news, blogs, friends, the fitness industry and the government do their utmost to convince you that the turning of the new year should intimately coincide with the turning over of a new leaf.

Then there are the counter-resolution messages. The stories that endeavor to be more grounded in reality by talking about the tendency of many New Year’s Resolution to fail. These grow more popular and no less helpful each year.

There’s nothing wrong with either one of these messages. They’re both valid in their own way. Yes, many New Year’s Resolutions (or NYRs, as I’ll refer to them for the rest of this article) tend disappear into oblivion as Life demands to be lived. There are NYRs that hold on, however, that people actually accomplish and move beyond. How do they do it?

People who follow through on NYRs are no different from anyone who has decided to reach a goal or change their life on any other day of the year.

Setting an arbitrary date as your primary motivation for change doesn’t work if you haven’t done your prep work first. You have to know what you’re achieving, why you’re achieving it, and have some foreknowledge - by researching - of the huge amount of work required to achieve it.

This wonderful article on Cracked.com by John Cheese goes into further - and more entertaining - detail about why many NYRs fail, but here are his points as a quick list:

Setting a goal that is too vague.
Making the participation of other people an integral part of your goal.
Lack of knowledge of what achieving your goal entails.
Going cold turkey.
Setting a goal without considering how achieving it integrates into your present life OR You know that the person who’ll be working towards your goal is the same person you are today, and not a completely different human being, right?

Unless you set your goals the correct way, that is!

Set a specific goal
Set the goal for yourself.
Research what it takes to reach your goal.
Make gradual, doable changes.
Realize that you will be the same person post-goal as you are now. So make changes that integrate into your life. Not the life of your idyllic Superman self.

Hey, you became who you are today through a gradual series of adaptations. You’ll become who you will be tomorrow (figuratively) the same way.

And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Anytime.

Happy Living, my friends!

Free Yoga Classes All Day, Everywhere, in ATX

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:05:54 -0500

Free Yoga Classes All Day, Everywhere, in ATX:

Today is Austin’s Annual Free Day of Yoga, when Austin and Austin-area yoga schools teach free classes on Labor Day. The variety of types of yoga and available times (from 4:30am to 10pm) means if there was ANY day you were going to try yoga for the first or third time, today is it. If you’ve got one spare hour, you’ve got no excuse.

Last year I did bikram yoga. It was a challenging, sweaty and exhilarating experience. This year I may do something less hot, as I think our current weather situation has stripped away any interest in seeking out more creative ways to introduce heat into my life.

Where will you yoga this day?

Now You Can Do Even Less to Get Fit!

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:17:00 -0500

Now You Can Do Even Less to Get Fit!:

Just 15 minutes a day of exercise on most days of the week can improve your health. Seriously. No, seriously.

Normally, I prefer to link to the original source when posting about fitness and nutrition studies, but in this case, the original article is enshrined in a medical journal that costs about $32 to access. If you have the clams, feel free to purchase it (and don’t be stingy. CC your good pal, Brit, you’re at it).

This LA Times article I’ve linked to, however, is a digestible read, and seems to cover the main bits of the original rather well.

For those in search of greater convenience, here’s the breakdown on what Science has concluded about the minimum amount of physical activity it takes to improve one’s health:

The National Health Institutes in Taiwan surveyed over 416,000 adults about their daily physical activity, and then followed their activity for 8 years in order to find the minimum amount of exercise needed to improve health.

Researchers found that those people that engaged in a mere 15 minutes of physical activity a day - or 90 minutes a week - experienced the following benefits:

A 14% decrease in mortality.
Extension of life expectancy by 3 years.
Each additional 15 minutes of exercise lowered mortality by another 4%.

There are a couple more stats you’ll find in the LA Times article that you may find interesting, but the point remains the same: MOVE, people. It’s what we were built to do!

"Just had my first client pretend to choke me for making him work… I’m so proud."

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:29:40 -0500

“Just had my first client pretend to choke me for making him work… I’m so proud.”

In Case No One Told You, Exercise is Good.

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:47:00 -0500

In Case No One Told You, Exercise is Good.:

As well as filling the daily quota for the author of this USA Today article, this article also serves to reemphasize THAT WE ARE BUILT TO MOVE. Period.

However that movement manifests.

Have a great Tuesday!

"Naturally" Better For You... Honest

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:18:00 -0500

If you’ve been to a grocery store in the past three years, you may have noticed the trend of your favorite foods and household products acquiring “natural” doppelgangers. The labels on these new products are often embellished with flowers, the color green, or swirly new-age graphics or, as some take the opposite route, the new labels are stark white and bare, with a strategic “Natural” stamped somewhere near the title.

It can be tempting to take the product’s labeling at its word, and purchase something that seems healthier for you. Look at that natural deodorant above. It’s got a leaf on the label, you’re probably saving trees while you’re using a product that is more natural, pure, and free of potentially harmful and unnecessary additives.

To truly protect yourself, however, and continue to make good and healthy choices about what foods and household products to buy, read the ingredient list.

Advertisers and marketers will do all they can to make their products seem ideal. The industry spends millions of dollars determining what people respond to and design their visuals and advertising campaigns accordingly. Supermarkets even get in on the action by strategically shelving the products they really want you to buy by placing them at eye level - or your kid’s eye level - so that you think less, and purchase more, relying more on your immediate emotional response to their game than your critical response to their smokes and mirrors.

Okay, that’s all great. You probably know all this already, so what’s the point of this post? Actually, the point is my response to an advertisement I received in the mail today:

I’m an occasional coffee drinker, myself, and have sweet tooth that will never, ever (EVER) die. When I saw this advertisement, my eyes stuttered over it, just to see if there was a useful coupon I could use to treat myself in the future.

As I gazed, however, I couldn’t get past the eight or so uses of the word “natural” on this page. In addition, the minimal design on the labels, and the use of “All Natural” when describing the ingredients made me curious as to the reason for the hard sell. What’s going on Coffee-Mate?

After Googling, I found the nutrition facts for the product:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Tblsp (15mL)

Amount per serving

Total Fat 1.5g 3%

Saturated Fat 1g 6%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 10mg 2%

Sodium 5mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 5g 2%

Sugars 5g

Protein 0g

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Not a significant source of dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron.

INGREDIENTS: Nonfat milk, heavy cream, sugar, natural flavor.

You know what? I guess those sure all “natural” ingredients. At least I understand what most of them are (I’m going to let “natural flavors” slide). But we’re still coming in at 35 calories for a single tablespoon of this stuff, as well as a good chunk of your saturated fat allotment for the day (if 2,000 calories per day is your thing).

That’s just one tablespoon. What if you’re like me, and prefer to enjoy the taste of the creamer you put in your coffee? You’ll end up adding more than a tablespoon, not to mention any additional sweeteners (sugar, honey, and the like) that you’ll put in after that. Now the calories, fat and sugar starts to add up, and it’s not even 10 AM.

I’m not saying don’t put sweet, delicious creamer in your coffee, I’m saying: Read the labels of the products you buy. Labels are designed to make you buy stuff. And advertisers will use whatever insinuations and bending of perception they are legally allowed to employ to do it.

The place where they can’t lie, and where you can meet them on equal ground and make an informed decision about what you choose to put into your body and in your home, is the ingredient list. Take a few extra seconds and give it a read.

It ain’t naturally good for you just because they say so (or imply so). Stay ahead of the game.

Inappropriate Cardio...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:23:36 -0500

Me: You did great today!

Client LC: (Flushed and exhausted) So, can you pronounce me fit now?

Me: Sure I can. I'd pronounce you even more fit if you did 20 minutes of cardio right now... but since you've got your bag already, I guess you're ready to go.

Client LC: My cardio will be running out the door.

"But it’s JUST LIKE standing up … but sideways."

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:47:11 -0500

“But it’s JUST LIKE standing up … but sideways.”

- Client LC, after I got on her about lying down in between circuits.

Guess what? The tennis ball is a fitness tool! Outside of the...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:46:00 -0500

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Tennis Ball.

Assuming the Position.

Guess what? The tennis ball is a fitness tool! Outside of the obvious, of course.

Do you have painful or sore arches? Or maybe weak or less-than-stable ankles? The humble tennis ball can help!

Anytime you’re sitting down, just roll the ball around using the bottom of your bare foot. Apply a good amount of pressure that’s not too painful, but close to the amount of discomfort you’d feel lif a masseuse was working out a kink.

As well as massaging the area and prompting increased blood flow, over time, the muscles in your calves and shins (anterior tibialis, peroneus longus, gastrocnemius and others) will become stronger as you develop better control over manipulating the ball.

I bet you have a random tennis ball, or four (in my household anyway), lying around your home. Find it and give it a go! Even if you don’t have pain in your arches or another medical condition, it feels quite good, and you’ll experience the benefits of developing better motor control of the muscles in your lower leg anyway.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

This Arm has the Power OF TWO ARMS!!!

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:08:15 -0500

This Arm has the Power OF TWO ARMS!!!

How big are your boobs?

Oh shit... Does this thing log me me automatically?

- Anonymous

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:59:23 -0500

You are not anonymous, my friend.

The Fisher-Price Way to Weight Loss - A Theory

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:57:43 -0500

The Fisher-Price Way to Weight Loss - A Theory:

Yesterday, USA Today published an article about a study wherein Science found that people that ate using larger utensils tended to consume less of a large serving of food than their compatriots who used smaller utensils.

The people that used smaller utensils, consumed more of the same large portions.

Why is this so? Well, the guess is this:

When a restaurant patron sets out to demolish a hefty portion of spaghetti tossed with portobello mushrooms, grilled chicken and marinara, for example, he has a specific goal of satisfying his hunger. He’s already put in a lot of work to do achieve this goal: finding a restaurant, driving to it, making a selection from a myriad of options on the menu, and paying for it.

As he eats, his body continues to do more work towards satisfying his hunger. We all know there’s a lag between the amount you eat and the full feeling you’ve had when you eaten enough. That’s why a common weight reduction tip is to eat more slowly and “listen” to your body so that you can stop when you’re full.

While waiting to feel satiated, our patron uses the sight of the diminishing portion on his plate as a visual clue to inform him about how close he is to achieving his goal of hunger satisfaction. Using a big fork means that he’s chipping away larger portions from the amount on his plate at a time. The amount of food on his plate gets smaller faster, and in an obvious way, and allows him to sooner reach a point where he steps on the brakes and stops eating.

By contrast, those using smaller forks experience a more gradual reduction of the amount of food on their plates that can be trickier to detect, making it easier to over-consume before it’s too late.

What do you think? Do you think the conclusions of the scientists in this study hold any merit?

For one, I’ve concluded that it’s time I quit lollygagging over that over-sized, BPA-free plastic fork, spoon and knife designer set for Adults I’ve had on the backburner since 2002. They’re kid-safe, dishwasher-safe, and bulletproof. They go on sale tomorrow and there’s only one set that… I drew a picture of back in 2002 (image represents approximation of the drawing I may or may not still have).

Get yours today!

Fight Twin - Personal Fitness Training

Your Obligatory New Year's Resolution Post

Free Yoga Classes All Day, Everywhere, in ATX

Now You Can Do Even Less to Get Fit!

"Just had my first client pretend to choke me for making him work… I’m so proud."

In Case No One Told You, Exercise is Good.

"Naturally" Better For You... Honest

Inappropriate Cardio...

"But it’s JUST LIKE standing up … but sideways."

Guess what? The tennis ball is a fitness tool! Outside of the...

This Arm has the Power OF TWO ARMS!!!

How big are your boobs? Oh shit... Does this thing log me me automatically? - Anonymous

The Fisher-Price Way to Weight Loss - A Theory

How big are your boobs?

Oh shit... Does this thing log me me automatically?

- Anonymous