My Top 5 Exercises

As you know by now, I think that moving weight is an important part of health and longevity. Strength is one of the most important factors in how capable we are in our everyday life regardless of age, and if you stay strong, your golden years might actually live up to the name. If you are not lifting weights, or regularly participating in an activity where you have to pick up heavy objects, then I highly recommend getting involved. 

There are a few exercises that I place at the top of the list, and I wanted to share some of them with you. Now as a disclaimer, not all of these are appropriate for all people, and if you have never done them before, find someone that can show you the correct technique! So here are my top 5 exercises, I hope that you will try out at least one the next time you are at the gym!

The Turkish Get Up

This is the ultimate total body movement, and what is best, you don’t even need weight to make it a great move! I would recommend starting with no weight, and make sure you have perfect technique before adding on the 4kg Kettlebell. If the full get up is too much, start with the Half Get Up and work from there.

Single Leg Deadlift

I had a hard time finding a video that gave decent instructions on this one, so I will walk you through it. Start with the weight in hand, held at your side. Keeping one leg almost straight (let the knee stay relaxed), bend at the waist and press your other food back. You should be keeping your abs and butt tight during this move as to protect your back. Try to keep your hips and shoulders level so that one side is not higher than the other. Bend until just before your back can no longer be held straight, then squeeze your butt and extend your hip. Remember to stay in control, and if you need to, have a wall close by for balance.

NOTE: If you have not done standard deadlifts before, start there. Deadlifting variations are some of the best exercise you can do for overall strength, while also training the much neglected posterior chain (back, butt, hamstrings). For those of you that know the deadlift, try out the single leg as it will challenge your knee stabilizers and core to a greater extent.

TRX Row

In our society, we spend most of our lives in a seated, slouched position. This exercise can help undo the rounded shoulder look, while helping to strengthen the back and working to prevent shoulder injuries. If you do not have a TRX, you can use a barbell on a rack to do inverted rows, or use a dumbbell for bent over rows. 

TRX BodySaw

This is one of the best core exercise I have found, though I usually do not include the pike. This is an advanced exercise, so if you are still a beginner, try out a TRX Roll Out first, and work your way up.

Kettlebell Swing

The Kettlebell swing is both a power and metabolic move, meaning that it will help to increase your strength, power and core, while also increasing your cardiovascular capacity…what more could you want! Add this to your warm-up or to your conditioning and you will see instant improvements.

I hope you will try these exercises or at least their regressions—they are some of the best movements you can add to your routine. Have fun with your exercise, keep playing around and try new things. The brain likes to be challenged, so it is important to mix up your work and not let yourself get stuck in the same old routines. Good luck and happy training!




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Calories-In/Calories-Out: If Only It Was That Simple

It has long been thought that if you want to lose weight, all you need to do is move more and eat less. While a caloric deficit can have an effect on weight, there are a few things that we must consider before we jump on board with this theory. First, do you really want to lose weight? Isn’t the goal really to lose fat? If fat loss is the goal, then the mantra should really be, eat right and move better. This is because when it comes to fat loss, we are in need of a specific adaptation that results from specific stimuli. These stimuli must then work synergistically to produce the proper hormonal balance to allow such adaptation.


The other factor that must be considered is how healthy the individual is to begin with. The more overweight someone is, the sicker they are, and the more likely they are to have metabolic, digestive, and glandular problems. These factors should be the main focus when dealing with fat loss, but are impossible to address from a simple calories-in/calories-out framework. I believe that this is why a recent study found that sustained periods of binge eating can cause difficulty with weight loss down the road.

Binge Eating May Increase Difficulty in Long Term

In 2004 Morgan Spurlock released a film called "Super Size Me," which documented his personal 30-day case study in which he consumed only fast food. The documentary was an attempt to enlighten the public of the dangers associated with an energy dense diet that was high in fat, sugar and salt. If Mr. Spurlock had only known then what researchers have recently discovered he might have thought twice about his experiment.


Swedish researchers recently reported that people who overeat and stop exercising for a period of 4 weeks could have long-term difficulty in losing and/or maintaining their pre-binge weight.


Eighteen participants between age 20 and 30 were asked to increase their daily caloric intake by 70% and reduce their physical activity level to the sedentary threshold, or 5000 steps per day for a period of 4-weeks. Body fat and weight were assessed and compared at 6, 12, and 30 months post-intervention.


During the month-long experiment, participants consumed over 5,700 calories per day on average. This resulted in an average weight gain of ~ 14 lbs., and a 4% increase in body fat.
Although most of the weight had been lost 6-months after completing the study, participants had gained nearly 3 lbs. on average at 1 year. Even more striking was the finding that participants had gained nearly 7 lbs. by the 30-month point compared to the control group who had experienced no change.


Based on this study it appears that even a brief period of overeating coupled with a severe reduction in physical activity could result in long term metabolic consequences.


Ernersson, A. et al (2010) Long-term increase of fat mass after a four-week intervention with fast food based hyper-alimentation and limitation of physical activity. Nutrition and Metabolism 7:68doi:10.1186/1743-7075-7-68

This study is not surprising when you look at weight/fat loss through the lens of metabolic dysfunction. These people spent a month basically tearing down their metabolic system, ruining their digestion, and throwing their hormonal profile totally out of balance. It’s no wonder it is hard for them to lose the weight, and they only had an extra 14 lbs!

Now imagine they had done this for months, or even years on end, and you are looking at what the average American is dealing with. 25, 50, 100 lbs of weight could be added on over the course of a few years when eating high quantities of low quality food while sitting at a desk all day, driving to and from work, sitting on the coach at home, and never getting out to the gym.

What we must begin to understand is that the old calories-in/calories-out just won’t cut it anymore, and if we truly want to be healthy and live our lives to the fullest, we must start thinking quality not quantity.

So where should you start?

1) Look at your diet: Are you eating protein at every meal (dense protein like meat, eggs, or if vegetarian, tofu/tempeh)? Are you eating veggies at every meal? Is your fat intake balanced? Do you drink enough water?

2) Look at your lifestyle: Do you sleep 8-9 hours per night? Are you actually asleep the whole night? Are you stressed all the time? Do you take the time to de-stress and reset the system? Are you happy with your job, relationships, family life? Do you have a goal in life?

3) Look at your exercise: Are you moving every day? Is you exercise varied? Do you lift weights (strength training is one of the most beneficial forms of exercise)? How often do you stretch? Do you ever get a massage (professional or just from a loved one)?

These are all pieces of the puzzle, but we can all think of at least one thing that we know we should be working on right now. If fat loss is your goal, then it is time to start focusing on that one thing and start making changes. At least you don’t have to starve yourself to get where you want to be, though some people find that model to be easier. Unfortunately, as with all things in life, the truth is often more complicated than it first appears. So start today, figure out what that first step will be and take action!

Jack Lalanne - Sugarholics

Please enjoy this wonderfully simple but powerful advice from a man that has done more for the fitness and health industry than any other.

Here are the take aways points that I want you to focus on.

1) Sugar is addicting.

2) Sugar leads to fat gain / limits muscle growth.

3) The more sugar you eat, the less energy you have.

4) Cereal is not food (not exactly what he said, but between the sugar and lack of protein, it doesn't have a lot going for it).

5) Each animal protein (meat or eggs) and vegetables at every meal!

This video is from Jack's TV show that ran for 33 years, the longest running health and fitness program ever. Take his advice to heart, it will save your life!

Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Buy Organic

http://www.fullcirclesunnyvale.org/


I just found out about an extraordinary opportunity to buy produce in Santa Clara County. I am a big supporter of farmer's markets, but if I am not around on the weekend, it is hard to get to one during the week and I end up missing the opportunity to buy the best food possible. What I have now discovered (how did I not know of this before!?) is Full Circle Farm, a small, organic farm right in the heart of Sunnyvale. They have three days per week that you can go pick up food, and because it does not get any more local than this, all of you that are in Santa Clara County will only be eating those foods that are most appropriate for the given time of year. Check out their web page for the location and times.

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