Fitness Friday – The Unofficial Official Gym Rules

Image Credit: Pixabay

The gym can be a scary place, sometimes feeling more like an untamed jungle rather than a place people come together to do fitness. There’s treadmills, ellipticals, barbells, dumbbells, and machines all ready to be used once the membership fee is paid. It can be extremely intimidating for a newbie let alone a seasoned fitness enthusiast. Not only are there tons of different ways to work out but it feels like there almost as many rules, both official and unofficial. It can be a little overwhelming. Though many of the rules are posted by the gym for everyone to follow there are unofficial rules which can get you penalized by the other patrons.

For those who decide to take a moment to Google “gym rules” or “gym etiquette,” the results can be dizzying. Men’s Journal, for example, had a list of 5 rules while Nerd Fitness had 29 rules and Muscle and Strength had 50. How are we supposed to remember them all? Well, I’m here to help. The gym is scary enough without having to remember a million different Gym Rat rules. Let’s get started:

Follow the Rules at the Gym: I pulled this straight from the Nerd Fitness article on gym etiquette, I linked to above, but I think it’s an important place to start. While many gyms have similar rules, there will be differences. There may even be different rules within a particular gym chain depending on size and the type of equipment. Understanding what should or shouldn’t be done at a particular gym location is important. It doesn’t matter whether or not we feel the rules are “dumb,” to train there, the rules must be followed.

Clean Up: This might sound basic and simple but sadly some gross people attend gyms. When it comes to cleaning up first we need to ensure all the equipment we use is put away when we are finished. This includes barbell weights, dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, etc. This is not our home where we can leave things all over the place. When we’re are done with the equipment, put it back. Forgetting this rule will definitely get garner some angry looks.

Second, it’s important to wipe down the equipment when we’re finished. This includes the benches, machines, and the cardio equipment. I know it can feel badass to be dripping in sweat after a tough workout, but I promise no one else wants our nastiness on them. Not only will many gyms provide towels for free for those who forget one but they usually have Lysol/disinfectant wipes around the gym for this express purpose. Gym owners generally try to keep their facilities clean but they need help to ensure germs don’t get passed around like a preschool.

Lastly, we should carry our workout shoes with us into the gym and not on your feet, especially in inclement weather. This helps ensure the nastiness outside doesn’t get dragged into the gym for everyone to share. Sure it might take an extra couple of minutes to change our shoes out but it is better for everyone in the long run.

Shut up and Train: A gym is a place for us to work out and training. Many people show up to get in, run through their routine, and get out. This isn’t a social club for them. They are here for business. What does this mean for us? It means we need to be respectful of those around us and not hinder their progress. It means get in, use a piece of equipment, and move on to our next exercise. Sure we can take a few moments in between sets, but not to pull out our phone to check the news or mess around on Facebook. And let’s keep the selfies to a minimum. Get in and get out.

This also means observe the time limit on the cardio machines, especially during prime time. Typically, there’s a 30-minute time limit which more than enough time for a decent workout. Get off when times up. You can always get back on when someone else is done or come back later. Be respectful of other gym goers who want to work out as well.

Don’t Hog Equipment: The gym is a first come, first serve kind of place. If a piece of equipment is being used we might have to wait (weight?) or work on something else. This goes for everyone. If we are using a piece of equipment they’ll need to wait for us.

This being said, there is a difference between using equipment and hogging it. Using equipment for exercises other than what they are intended for, like the squat rack for non-squat related exercises, is a big no-no. Use the equipment and move on. Equipment like the squat racks tends to be very popular with the serious members.

This also includes routines which require a variety of equipment like circuits or supersets. Trying to commandeer too many benches, dumbbells, and other gym pieces will the anger people around us, especially if the gym is crowded. If the gym happens to be slow with a handful of people, go nuts. More often than not, however, we’ll need to change up our routine.

Be Courteous to Each Other: This is one of the bigger sections but also one of the most important. What does be courteous mean exactly? It means a bunch of things. Don’t be creepy. (I’m looking at you, guys). There are people of all types in the gym and none of them want to be stared at. Focus on the workout and keep it moving. At the same time dress appropriately. Sure everyone has a different personality they want to show off at the gym but it should still be tasteful. This isn’t meant to single out men or women. I’ve seen crazy things from both genders. Shorts which were too short and shirts that aren’t covering anything. This also means clothes should be clean. We shouldn’t smell like we worked out before we make it through the gym doors.

Ensure those around us have enough space whenever possible. I know I don’t like strangers in my personal space when I’m working out and I know I’m not alone. Stay out of other people’s bubble. This goes for listening to music in the gym as well. We shouldn’t be listening to our own music without headphones and the volume set at a reasonable level. No one wants to listen to my workout mix of N’Sync, Taylor Swift, and Britney Spears, but me. Similarly, phone calls should be done away from the equipment and while on the exercise bike.

Lastly, unsolicited advice is an unfortunate part of going to the gym, and I’ve heard is even more prevalent with guys mansplaining to women. (I’m sorry ladies but men are dumb). The only reason we should give advice is if asked or if someone is about to do something dangerous. If neither things have occurred, then we don’t say anything. It’s called unsolicited for a reason. There are times a Gym Bro will feel the need to share their wisdom with us. Feel free to smile and nod then continue with what you were doing. If they start becoming harass-y report them to a gym employee. I love the line Staci, from the Nerd Fitness Team, gives: “I appreciate your input, but I’ve got to finish my workout now. I’m on a tight schedule.”

All of this advice comes down to following the Golden Rule. We may pay to use the gym but so does everyone else there. Similarly, the gym employees are there to maintain the place for us, not to be our maid. This isn’t our house. We don’t make the rules. We are a part of a micro-society of fitness goers so don’t be a jerk. This means we should treat the gym better than we would want a guest staying at our home.

Is everyone going to follow the rules? No, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do better. I know the gym can be a scary place but it can be a little less scary when we know what to expect. Mistakes will happen but we will learn from them and do better next time. We’ve got this. Now go out there and get some fitness.

Fitness Friday – These are App-Actly What I Needed

Image Credit: Pixabay

Alright, we are almost three full weeks into the new year and still going strong, right? We have our health and fitness goals, we’ve made our plan, and we are killing it. “Hey, Joe, what happens if we don’t have a plan?” Wait, no plan? Of course we have a plan. We talked about this.

Okay, deep breaths. I’ve got us covered. For those of us who don’t want to scour the internet for a workout routine or build one themselves, myself included, it can be difficult to have a plan. I’ve been there many times. I know what I should do or could do but planning takes a ton out of me. Have no fear. Help is on the way. Here are some apps to get us started (I am not getting paid to endorse any of these apps):

Running:

Running is not my thing, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned over and over by now, but I know it’s fun for many people so who am I to judge. The important thing is to get in shape. Of course running can difficult and demanding for those of us who haven’t laced up our running shoes in a while. The apps below make the process of getting back into it a little bit easier.

Weight Loss Running: Created by Verv, this was the app I used a few years back when I wanted to get in shape and was preparing for a Spartan Race. I may not be a fan of running but this was the perfect way for me to get started. Instead of the constant long, slow runs with traditional running programs, this app turns it into interval training.

It starts you off with a walk/jog warm up for 5 minutes then cycles on and off between jogging, sprinting, and walking. The difficulty can be changed depending on your current training history and has several different training plans including for weight loss (obviously), 5Ks, 10Ks, Half Marathons, and Marathons. Each plan starts you off easy and becomes progressively more difficult with each workout. If followed properly, by the end of the training plan, you should have little issue completing the assigned program.

This app is free with an in-app paid premium version which includes more fitness tips, songs and music mixes, workouts.

Zombies, Run: For the gamers or those looking to add a little fun to their run, there’s Zombies, Run, by Six to Start. As one of the few remain survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse, you are a “Runner,” an individual tasked with gathering supplies, finding and rescuing other survivors, and traveling to other outposts. Each run is a different mission where you walk, jog, or run anywhere in the world and at the end you collect supplies to help your base. Basically, you feel like you’re on the Walking Dead and with 200 plus missions (both free and paid) boredom is unlikely.

I have not used this app before. I heard about this from the Nerd Fitness message boards and decided to save it for later. I love the idea of gamifying something life to make it more fun. Now after looking into this app even closer I need to add this to my fitness cycle. I’m excited. ZOMBIES!

MapMyRun: For those of us who just want to get out and run, this app is for them. Created by Under Armor this was one of the first and most popular running apps to track mileage. While they have training plans and a few other features, for those willing to pay to upgrade, it’s still one of the easiest click and go running GPS trackers when you just want to run. You can track how far you’ve run, keeps a list of distances, and share them with friends. Simple but effective.

Bodyweight/At Home:

Looking to get into shape but don’t want to run or have access to a gym? Try these apps out. These bodyweight apps allow us to work out just about anywhere, including our homes, getting rid many of our fitness excuses. Those these are great for beginners or people who are on vacation, the apps listed below have fairly limited functionality, however, without the paid upgrade.

Mammoth Hunters: Named after the founding company, Mammoth Hunters Fitness app is one I’ve used personally and I really enjoyed it. This app provides close to a dozen free premade workouts, a basic nutrition guide, and allows users to create their own tribe to help keep each other accountable. The paid upgrade version tailors the fitness program to the user, provides a personal meal plan, and weekly shopping lists.

Weight Loss Fitness: Also created by Verv, but has significantly less functionality than its Weight Loss Running counterpart when not upgraded to premium. While the free access is very limited, it is a great app for beginners looking to get their feet wet. Workouts are about 6-7 minutes long which is great for users who don’t think they have enough time to work out properly. After several weeks on the free program, users can either upgrade to the premium version or find a new app.

Strength Training:

For those of us who are looking to build strength and are willing and able to go to the gym these are great options to get started.

FitBod: This app, created by Fitbod Inc, works for a variety of individuals who want fairly customized workouts. The user can set the type of equipment they have available to them, their fitness goals (like get stronger, bulk up, or lean up), fitness experience, workout duration, and a bunch more. Then it creates a workout routine based on these preferences, which can always be changed. It even has videos of each exercise in the routine to ensure the user has proper form. The best part is it is free. Of course there is a paid upgrade version but there is a ton of free stuff in this app, most people shouldn’t need the upgrade.

Kettlebell: Have you seen the kettlebells in the gym and want to start using them but don’t know where to start? Fitify has you covered with their kettlebell app. The free version allows you to access all of their workouts except the lower body. Then you pick your workout duration and follow along to the videos. When the time is up, you move to the next exercise until the workout is over. According to the developer, Martin Mazanec, there are over 55 different kettlebell exercises in this app helping to ensure you never get bored. As with most of these there is a paid feature, which, much like Fitbod, could probably done without.

Hylete Daily Circuit: Though I’ve never used this app, I think it’s awesome and will be using it when I want to get Spartan ready. Created by the fitness clothing company Hylete, this app is completely free. No premium upgrades or plans to purchase. Download the app, click on today’s circuit, and get started. The workouts run about 20 minutes, not including the warmup and cooldown, making it easy enough to fit into most people’s busy schedule.

The best part? There’s zero need to think ahead or plan, and if you find a routine you enjoy you can save it to your favorites to repeat. Movements can be modified and there are videos tutorials for any exercise you don’t know how to do. This HIIT training app is definitely one to check out.

StrongLifts 5×5: This app from the creator of StrongLifts 5×5, takes the program and makes it even easier to get started. It helps the user figure out their starting bar weight for each exercise, automatically adds the correct progression amount for each workout, and tells the user how much weight belongs on each side. (For people who are not used to “plate math” this calculation can be difficult). Your workout history is logged and graphed to measure progress.

There is a paid upgrade with a quarterly and annual plan which offers the user a few additional features but I’m not sure it’s necessary. For those of us who are willing to put in a little work, the free plan is enough, though if you can afford the upgrade it’s worth helping the creator out.

Health:

These are the miscellaneous apps I find or have found helpful when wanting to get serious and healthy.

MyFitnessPal: For those of us who want to track what they are eating and aren’t doing Weight Watchers, this is an amazing app. I’ve used this a bunch before and Under Armor’s database of food is intense. You can scan barcodes from the foods you eat, choose the number of servings you’ve eaten, and it adds all the information to your daily total. You can also make recipes to know how many calories you eaten and save the recipes to reuse later. This is the app I recommend to anyone interested in tracking what they eat. It’s great for beginners and the premium version has even more information for those who want to get micro with their macros.

Calm/Headspace/Oak: Meditation isn’t just for hippies anymore. Fitness leaders, Titans of Industry, and the little, old lady down the street have meditation practices. There are plenty of benefits to meditation from reducing stress and anxiety to reducing blood pressure to improving sleep, to name a few. Unfortunately, meditation gets a bad rap from being too crazy and hippy-like to being too difficult. This is where these apps help. They allow you to access free guided meditations to start out and more advanced guides at a low monthly cost (except Oak. It was created as a Facebook tutorial/experiment by Kevin Rose and is still free at this point). For those who are looking to get into meditation but don’t know where to start, look no further. While I don’t have a regular practice, when I do meditate I always feel better.

Google Docs/Google Spreadsheets: I do most of my fitness related work on these two apps. I have my list of exercise and the overall fitness plan in Google Docs and use Google Spreadsheets for the actual workout routine numbers and tracking. They are simple, easy to use, and don’t cost a dime. These can even be used to keep recipes, keep a food log, count macros, or track weight progress. For those of us who want or are willing to put a little more effort into their fitness and wellness planning, these are great.

Okay, wow, that was a lot. Still with me? I know this list might look a little overwhelming but I hope it’s less intimidating than the app store. Like everything else I try to put out, the goal is to make things a little easier for you. Fewer choices, fewer headaches, and fewer reason not to start. Find an app and give it a try. If it doesn’t feel right, then feel free to move on to something else. The point is to get started. Good Luck and Happy Gainzmas!

Fitness Friday – Ringing in the New Year with Fitness

Image Credit – Pixabay

It’s a new year so it’s going to be a new us. (Sensing a theme yet?) We bought new workout clothes, found a gym near the house/office, and we’re full of fire and determination. It’s gonna work. Now’s the time. Carpe Diem!

Of course, it will. It worked for us last year, right? We had the clothes and shoes and a gym membership or found the PERFECT app. We were ready to go. What happened? By February we had given up. Life got in the way. We didn’t adjust and got steamrolled. Maybe we went too hard out of the gate getting burned out quickly. Maybe one, “I’ll get it tomorrow,” turned into two or three and then it was all over. It could have been any number of things but the point is we didn’t keep it going.

But it’s a new year and another chance to start over. We want to be successful this year making it the best year ever for us. But where do we start? How do we ensure we don’t fall into the same traps we do every year? Here are a few tips and tricks I find helpful.

Make Goals Specific and Attainable: Inevitably, every year people create nebulous New Year’s Resolutions of losing weight, going to the gym, or getting healthy. While these are great in theory they are vague and unhelpful. There is too much wiggle room and no way of knowing if we meet or fail at our goals. These “goals” are not measurable.

We need to add specificity to our goals. Instead of “losing weight” make it “I want to lose 10 lbs by the end of February.” Change “I want to go to the gym,” to “I want to go to the gym 3 mornings a week for 30 minutes, rotating between upper and lower body workouts, for the next 6 weeks.” Go from “I want to get healthy” to “I will reduce my soda intake to 3 times per week for the next month,” or “I will cook 3 paleo meals a week, for dinner, for the next month.”

See the difference? We made them specific: losing 10lbs, going to the gym 3x per week, and making a specific lifestyle change instead of a general one. They are also measurable. We either meet our weekly goal or don’t. Lastly, we’ve built in a time frame giving us an end goal to shoot for rather than a vague time frame of… whenever.

They should also be attainable. Want to lose 30 lbs in a month? I’m sure it can be done for those who don’t like eating and are on the show Survivor. Planning on working out or running every day for 2 plus hours? Hopefully, we were a bodybuilder or marathon runner in a previous life. Deciding to go strict Paleo, cutting out all our favorite foods, cold turkey. I pray we have the willpower. The problem is these aren’t attainable for the average person. We need to start with smaller more manageable goals. Most people can lose 1-2 lbs safely per week, 30 minutes to an hour at the gym 3 times per week is sufficient for general health, and removing foods slowly can make the change more sustainable.

I know we aren’t working to be average or “most” people but we need to start somewhere and remember getting “healthy” is a marathon, not a sprint.

We Can’t Out-Train Our Diet: If we run one more mile we can go get McDonalds or ice cream or whatever tasty treat our hearts desire. The problem is we can’t out-train our diets. If we work out in the morning then eat like shit all day, we will likely have a surplus of calories which only adds to the scale. This can easily become discouraging making it easier and easier to give up.

Jeff Godin Ph.D., CSCS, SGX wrote a post for the Spartan Race website which highlights this concept perfectly. As he lays it out, it’s easy to see how many burpees someone would need to complete to work off these various delicious items. For example, to work off one slice of Domino’s Pepperoni Pizza I would need to do 161 burpees. I hate doing 1 let alone another 160 of them.

This doesn’t mean we need to give up everything we love but if we want to meet our goals, changes will need to be made. Trade a glass of water for the usual can of soda, or two. Make an extra healthy meal at home rather than eating out. Buy the small “hundred calorie snack pack” instead of the full-size container of the same snack. By making smaller changes to our diet we can set ourselves up for greater success than going cold turkey.

That being said, some of us might have difficulty with moderation. (I’m pointing at myself pretty hard right now). I tend to be an all or nothing kind of person. I know this about myself and I’ve learned to be okay with it. For those of us who need to go cold turkey to make these changes in our life pick one thing at a time. Remove soda, cookies, or ice cream one at a time rather than cutting out ALL sugar at once. Once we master the removal of one item we can move to the next.

Figuring Out Where We Belong: I wrote about Fitness Communities a couple weeks back so I won’t beat it up too much here. The important thing I recently learned is, for most of us, it doesn’t matter what kind of fitness regimen we follow we just need to follow one. There are tons of different ways to work out and fitness sub-communities to belong to out there. It’s important to try a few to see which one sticks.

For years, I tried many different ways to get “in shape.” It’s was until recently I realized I wasn’t a fan of the cardio based workouts like running, spin, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). They filled me with dread every time I needed to work out. This was why I found it difficult to stick with CrossFit. I enjoyed the lifting but the circuit training scared me so I would skip more classes than I’d go. Now I only lift and I love it.

In comparison, I have a friend who recently found HIIT training through a company called D1. She wanted to get her kids physically active and decided to join with them. SHE LOVES IT and can’t get enough! Every week she tells me how difficult it was and how much fun she had doing it. She’s figured out where she belongs and her life is changing because of it.

Another friend of mine is running a 100-mile marathon in April. He’s been training for the last year and can’t wait. He loves doing the long endurance training but could care less about lifting anything more than his bottle of kombucha. Both sound exhausting and unappealing to me but exciting to them.

We have a tendency to follow the new fitness crazy or go along with what everyone else says we should do. Unfortunately, we ignore our personal goals to follow other people. Take some time, experiment, and find the right fit to keep the fitness train running.

Keep it Simple Silly (Stupid feels so Angry): Every time I decide to get back into fitness I usually spend a ton of time looking through different workout routines. I delve into sites like BodyBuilding.com, Men’s Health, or individual fitness “leaders” workout regimens to see what’s out there and to find my new routine. It’s doesn’t take me long to get overwhelmed by all of the information out there and the complexity of each routine. Each workout programs about 5-10 exercises per day, 5-days a week. They take forever and soon I’m too frustrated to continue.

Everything changed when I found Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program. It was SO SIMPLE! Later I found Starting Strength and Stronglifts 5×5 which were even less complicated. I’m using Stronglifts 5×5 right now and I’m finished within 45 minutes.

This led me to realize how difficult we make fitness on ourselves. We believe we need to find programs with an unnecessary number of exercises programmed in them but it’s not true. There are better ways and, depending on the community, it can be really simple.

For those of us who are looking to work out at home or alone there are plenty of apps to choose. I’ve mentioned a few free ones before like Running for Weight Loss or Zombies, Run for runners, Hylete’s Daily Circuit for HIIT training, and StrongLifts 5×5 for strength training. There are plenty more of these in the App Store. Those of us who prefer working with a partner or with a group most gyms have free classes or Personal Trainers, there’s CrossFit or other functional fitness gyms, Yoga, or Fitness Boot Camps.

The point is unless we plan to geek out on fitness, letting someone else do the grunt work for us is a good thing. This way we can sit back, relax (but still get at it), and enjoy the fitness ride. By making it more difficult on ourselves, the less likely we are to continue.

Don’t forget to rest: When we start any new habit there is always the fear of backsliding. It takes 21 days for a habit to stick, right? Not necessarily. According to the author SJ Scott, it can take up to 66 days, depending on the person, for a new habit to stick with us.

When we start a new fitness habit we feel we need to go all in every day to ensure our routine sticks. (We don’t need a rest day. We just had 365 of them). Then what happens? After a couple of days of working out, we get too sore to continue. Then we take a day or two or three to rest and recover which turns into a week or more. Now we are in pain, pissed at ourselves, and quit. We figure this fitness thing isn’t for us and we move on with our lives.

We didn’t give ourselves enough time to rest. Our New Year’s vigor created an all or nothing mentality, which told us not to slow down and we listened. We need to remember it’s okay to rest. It’s okay to slow down. It’s okay to get our bodies’ use to this new level of physical activity. We should put our heart into our workouts and give it our all, but burnout is really easy to do, especially early in our training. Again we are looking for sustainability over the long run and ensuring our bodies successfully recovers is essential.

Bringing it Home: Phew… Still with me? Alright! I’m going to end it with this recap. First, we need to make specific, yet attainable, goals we can measure to know we are making progress, not go off our feelings. Second, our diet is more important than physical exercise. If we are consistently eating like garbage we won’t be able to burn off enough calories to make see a difference. Third, we need to find the type of fitness which makes us excited to get out of bed. Don’t know what it is yet? Experiment. Fourth, KISS it! We want to make it as easy as possible to get excited about exercising regularly. Fifth, do not forget to rest. Our body’s need time to heal and recover to maintain progress. Lastly (and a bonus), slow and steady will win this race. We are participating in a marathon, figuratively but possibly literally, not a sprint.

There it is. I hope you are as excited as I am to start the new year off right. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Are you planning on using any of these? Were these tips helpful? Keep me posted and good luck.

*Didn’t get enough in this article and want more ideas to make your fitness goals stick? Check out these Nerd Fitness articles: The 10 Key Differences Between Weight Loss Success and Failure, How to Build Healthy Habits that Stick, How to Build a Batcave for Habit Change. Enjoy!

Fitness Friday’s – What Gets Measured, Gets Managed

Image by: Pixabay

Hey you. Yes, you over there. The one reading this article. I hope you are having a great holiday season and I want to thank you for taking the time to read my work.

I was blessed again this Christmas. Santa was very good to me and I got several things on my Christmas list. One of the things I’m most excited about is this Bluetooth scale from Renpho. I know it’s silly but I’m can’t wait to use it. “What’s so exciting about a scale, Joe?” Well, it has to do with a quote people miss associated with Peter Drucker: “What gets measured, gets managed,” which is crucial when dealing with fitness and weight loss.

January 1^st is next Tuesday which starts many people’s New Year’s Resolution season. We tend to see the new year as a time of rebirth and reinvention. Last year is over and next year is full of possibilities. The sky’s the limit for all of us. The world is our oyster and we’re going to shuck it.

The problem is we start of strong each year and by February we’ve given up. We stare down the Hydra and it swallows us whole. Change takes work and dedication, which we know, but life has a way of creeping up on us. Things happen, we hit speed bumps, and we get discouraged. We don’t see progress being made so we feel like failures slowly letting our resolutions slip away.

This is big with fitness especially. Everyone starts out, or wants to start out, strong but it slowly slips away. We don’t measure our progress so we use our “feelings” instead of actual metrics. We “feel” like we aren’t losing the weight. We “feel” like we aren’t getting stronger. We “feel” like we aren’t getting healthier. We feel, we feel, we feel. And even if we are measuring it’s not consistent enough to capture the highs with the lows.

“What gets measured, gets managed.” This idea is about taking the time to CONSISTENTLY measure what we are doing to see the progress we are making each day. This means creating a workout plan where we test ourselves at regular intervals, measuring the different areas of our body with a tape measure, and weighing ourselves every day. Then we need to keep a log of this information to track the progress instead of keeping this in our heads. This helps us see trends in the data.

“But, Joe, that seems like a TON of work.” I know it does and it does take some planning but it’s easier than you think. There are plenty of different fitness programs, apps, and ways to track health and fitness progress depending on your goals. (I plan on covering some of these apps in greater detail in a later post). It’s important to find one and stick with it. Interested in becoming a running machine? Check out the Running for Weight loss or Zombies, Run! apps. Looking for free daily circuit and HIIT training? Hylete’s gotcha covered with their app. Want to get super strong? The StroStrongliftsnglifts 5×5 app helps build brick houses. Need to track weight loss progress? The iPhone and most of the wearable fitness trackers, like Fitbit, have health apps or you can weigh yourself each morning and put it into a Google Spreadsheet (which is what I didn’t for several years before Fitbit). All of these are free and reduce the friction of measuring progress.

This is why I’m thrilled (Yes, I said “Thrilled) about my new scale. Since it’s Bluetooth capable it makes super simple for me to capture all kinds of information. I get my weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Fat Percentage, and half a dozen other things set to my phone by standing on it each morning. I don’t need to remember to record the data at all, which is something I have a problem doing. Now, there’s no hiding or forgetting.

The important thing to remember here is we want to use data to help us meet our goals and instead of using our feelings. The data will tell us if what we are doing is working or if we need to adjust fire. Maybe we “feel” like we are being healthier because we’ve cut out soda but still put too much sugar in our coffee. We “feel” better but the data tells a different story. Maybe we don’t “feel” like we are getting stronger but the data shows we are making progress each week. It’s the data which will help us make better decisions and, when used wisely, will help keep us on track. Good luck and stay strong!

*I know measuring things like weight doesn’t always give us an accurate picture of what’s going on but it’s an important start. We want the data we are collecting to be simple, measurable, and something we do consistently. This way if we gain a pound from the previous weigh in we can thing about possible causes and work towards making corrections. If we lose weight, we can give ourselves a pat on the back and try to replicate the success.*

**Important side note: If you are going to weigh yourself, it is important to remember to weigh each morning after you go to the bathroom but before you eat or drink anything. This helps to give you the most accurate assessment of your actual body weight without anything extra. Weighing yourself in the mornings ensures you are consistently using the same baseline. The more accurate the information the better decisions we can make.**

Fitness Friday – Fitness Communities

It’s amazing how life works sometimes. I have been struggling for the last week trying to figure out what to write about today when a topic fill into my lap. I went to the store this morning, after my workout, to get more eggs for breakfast. I walked in wearing my Spartan Sprint Finisher shirt (I won participant) when I was stopped by a guy in the front of the store. He was a part of a group of guys who got together on Fridays and just finished a “boot camp” style workout down the street. (We have a Starbucks in our grocery store. Don’t be jealous). After a minute or so he invited me to join their workout group. Normally, I HATE having conversation with random people in public places (Stay in your own lane, am I right?) but today I was intrigued. I shook his hand, thanked him, and walked away deciding to quickly Google the group’s name before I forgot.

The group is called F3 Raleigh (Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith). From their website it looks like their mission is “to plant, grow, and serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.” Now, I prefer to keep my fitness and faith separate but I found the idea of group interesting and important in a much larger sense, when it comes to fitness.

No matter where we are in our fitness journey, all of us started from scratch. We are all newbies at some point. The thing I find interesting is the longer we go without getting into fitness the harder it becomes to start. Our pride and insecurities get in the way and we start making up excuses as to why we shouldn’t work out. Fitness is intimidating. There are a million different exercises and a million different ways to work out. You can work out by yourself or with a partner but you would have to find your own programming or workout plan. You can work out in a group but it’s easy feel like you’re competing and being judged by the others in the group. With all of the fear and pressure to fit into this new group it is no wonder people quit their New Year’s Resolutions by February.

The thing I’ve learned over the years, bouncing in and out of fitness, is no one gives a shit about our fitness journey but us. Will there be people who will judge us when we show up to the gym on January 1st? Probably, but most people won’t give us a second look. They are too busy with their own journeys. They are focused on what they are doing.

I get it. We all know in our minds we aren’t being judge but it doesn’t stop the irrational thoughts from creeping in to freak us out. The resistance wants to gain access to every part of our lives. How do we fight the resistance? How do we get rid of those irrational thoughts? We need to join the community. The community of fitness enthusiasts and we do this by showing up regularly. Does a weightlifter, powerlifter, or CrossFitter look at the runner or the Zumba-er (I think that’s what they are called) the same way? Probably not but they are still a part of the same overall fitness community. Their specific goals are different but each of them care about the same thing: Fitness.

For years I bounced around doing various types of programs. I tried P90x, I ran, I took Spin Classes, I did traditional bodybuilding workouts, and I did CrossFit. I didn’t mind any of them, but something was missing. It wasn’t until my wife got me a squat rack for my garage, I found my niche… Powerlifting. I started doing Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program and was hooked. 5/3/1 helped me realized where I failed in the past. Wendler’s program was simple, unlike the tradition bodybuilding workout style, and though there can be cardio and conditioning elements added it’s a major part unlike P90x, Spin, Running, or CrossFit. The important thing was I found where I belong.

The point is we need to find our people within the fitness community, especially when we first start. This takes some experimenting and trying new ways to work out. If one doesn’t feel right, after giving it an honest shot, then quit and go find something else. The important part is to be excited about a fitness program to ensure we stay motivated. Grab a friend, try a class, and find a community. I promise you won’t regret it. And if all else fails it might be time to build a community of your own, much like the F3 guys.

The Broccoli Test

Image Credit: Viktor Hanacek

Last night I got home from work and was hungry, like one might be around dinner time. I quickly notice the bag of marshmallows were open on the counter, since my wife made the kids hot chocolate. Now, I love marshmallows and I decided to have a few and ONLY A FEW. Unfortunately, like the Lays Potato Chips commercial from the 90s, I couldn’t eat just one. By the end of the night, I had at least a third of the bag, not including the ones I put in my massive cup of hot chocolate. The funny thing is, as I’m doing this, I thinking about the article I wrote two weeks ago about surviving the holidays. Epic Fail!

Sure I was hungry and sure I was excited for dinner. (We were having chili and I couldn’t wait) but it wasn’t the reason I was eating. I was eating because I could, it was convenient, and frankly I had zero fucks left to give at this point. I was eating because I was emotionally hungry not just physically hungry. I didn’t pass The Broccoli Test (TBT).

“What the hell is The Broccoli Test, Joe? Sounds dumb and gross.” On the contrary, I find it to be a brilliant concept I picked up from Adam Gilbert founder of MyBodyTutor.com. In this article, he states there are two types of hunger: Physical hunger and Emotional hunger. Physical hunger, not surprisingly, happens when you’re ACTUALLY hungry. You haven’t eaten in a while and it is time for you next meal. Emotional hunger happens in just about every other instance. It’s those times when you “feel” hungry but you don’t quite know what you want or when you’re craving something specific. Eventually, you eat whatever you can find.

“Sounds exciting, Joe, but how do I know the difference?” This is where The Broccoli Test comes into the mix. If you’re hungry enough to eat broccoli, then CONGRATULATIONS you are physically hungry. If you wouldn’t, then you are emotionally hungry. “But I HATE broccoli!” Then pick a vegetable you will eat and use it as a gauge. There you have it. Simple right?

Okay, we figured out when we are emotionally eating, now what? Next is to figure out why. I’ve found there are a couple of common reasons people are emotionally hungry. For some it’s boredom. They are watching TV or messing around on their phones and they “need” a snack. They grab the bag of chips and, without thinking much about it, go through half the bag, maybe more. Then there’s the anxious/depression eating. They are stressed and are looking to fill a void with food. We’ve all seen that scene on TV or in the movies where there’s a breakup and one of the individuals eats an entire half gallon of ice cream. Maybe it’s happened to us? I’m sure I’ve been through a similar experience.

When it comes down to it, there are any number of reasons we are emotionally hungry. The point is to figure out why we are and deal with it productively before it gets out of hand. Start journaling, call a friend, clean your room, start a blog or some other creative endeavor if you’re bored. Find your thing and go to town.

One trick I’ve started using to help prevent my hunger throughout the day is eating more. This may sound counter intuitive but having larger, healthier meals can prevent hunger until the next meal. I’m not talking about overeating but eating until we are full. I find when I undereat at a meal because I’m busy or trying to drop a few pounds I’m hungry again faster. Then I’m trying to stuff anything and everything into my face to get me to the next meal. This, clearly, doesn’t help me at all and only makes me feel like shit.

Now that we know the difference between physical and emotional hunger, we’re better equipped to make better eating decisions. So, next time hunger strikes we can take the test to see where we land.

Fitness Friday – The 6 Things I’m Doing to Survive the Holiday Season

Happy Friday. I’m trying something a little different today in what I’m calling Fitness Fridays. Every week I’ll write about something Health and Fitness related to help us start kicking even more ass. I love talking about this stuff and want to share it with you. Feel free to let me know what you think. Let’s begin.

It’s that time of the year again. The Thanksgiving feasts are done but the holiday season is far from over. Between holiday parties, Christmas, Hanaka, New Years, and general meetups with friends it can be can be an enriching time, foodwise.

The cold doesn’t help either. As the weather gets colder we have a tendency to turn into bears and want to pack on the weight for hibernation. The food and the weather turn this time into a perfect storm shitshow for being healthy.

The next several weeks are about survival. Though it would be nice to lose a couple of pounds during this time, the goal is about keeping the belt at the same notch. We can break out our “holiday pants” on special occasion but should leave them in the closet on the day to day. If we set ourselves up right we will be ready for New Year with some sustainable habits.

Here are the 6 things I’m working on this holiday season while in survival mode:

Make one small change: How many of us have decided to start a new diet and within a month, a week, or a day throw it out the window saying we suck at diets? I know I have and, unfortunately, continue to even now. The problem I find is I’m trying to do too much all at once. I want to do paleo and intermittent fasting and only eat 1600 calories and not snack, and on and on and on. No shit I keep failing. I’m trying to do too much all at once. What sticks the longest for me is making small changes my diet, little by little, either by cutting out something I shouldn’t eat or by adding something I should.

When I first tried this my first small change was eating 30 grams of protein for breakfast. I’ll have more on this in a minute, but the important part it gave me a healthy foundation for the day. I eat 4-5 scrambled eggs and 3 pieces of toast each day to keep the foundation going.

“Don’t you get bored. I could never do that. I would get so sick of eating the same things over and over.” Sure there are moments when I mix things up a little bit by having cereal or French Toast for breakfast. I’m not perfect but I try to have as many protein packed morning as possible.

Remember this way my small change which got the ball rolling for me. Everyone’s change will be different and need to be tailored to the individual. All that matters is it is sustainable.

Minus 1 Rule: Bingeing is something we all love to do. Why have one when you can have seven, am I right? This tend to be how people, myself included, go through life. Hell, I’ll go to a restaurant and will pound 3-5 sodas without thinking because the refills are free. Then instead of only drinking the 30-40 grams of sugar, I’m into the hundreds. This combined with sitting most of the day leads to the sugar turning into excess weight. This can happen with extra helpings at dinner, alcoholic beverages, cookies, desserts (the second “s” is because you always want more than one), or whatever else is thrown at us.

One of the things I’m trying this holiday season is what I’m calling the -1 (Minus 1) Rule. Whenever I’m eating or drinking something and I think to myself, “Self, you could have just one more,” I’ll stop right there. Normally, I’ll go the extra mile and have an additional soda, cookie, helping of pie because I can (Hey, I’m no quitter and this body didn’t happen by accident). This will hopefully prevent me from feeling stuffed or the feeling of regret I’m left with by having just… one… more… Remember baby steps.

The 30 in 30 Rule: One of the tips Tim Ferriss gives in his book, the 4 Hour Body, is eat 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of walking up, each day. This does two important things for you body. First, it reduces the white carbohydrate cravings we have in the morning. Second, our body is in repair mood while we sleep and often dips into our fat stores for this maintenance. By eating carbs in the morning our body’s switch from burning fat to burning the sugar in carbs. Eat protein continues the fat burning process throughout the day.

Eggs, beans, spinach, bacon, sausage, and protein shakes are the easiest way to meet this requirement. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Like I said earlier, I eat 4-5 eggs in the morning. If I’m feeling really crazy I’ll add spinach and/or beans to the mix as well. Bacon and sausage are always a nice way to spice things up as well. The important thing is to keep our body’s fat burning furnaces going by skipping out on the white carbohydrates. Worried about not having enough time to make eggs in the morning? Tim Ferriss has a solution for that too.

Smaller Plates/Serving Utensils: I recently listened to an interview with Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating and Slim by Design, and he had some help tips we should use every day, and especially during the holidays. Two of the easiest ways to reduce the amount of food we could eat during those big holiday meals and parties are using smaller dinner plates and smaller serving utensils. Sound simple and impossible? Brian would disagree. Basically, what these two little tricks do is deceive our brains into thinking we are eating more than normal.

It also takes our body about 30 minutes to start realizing it is full. Using smaller plates and serving utensils forces us to take more time to eat. The longer we take to eat, the more likely we will eat less because our bodies realize it is full. Eating less food, means eating less calories. HOORAY FOR SCIENCE!

Get Moving/10,000 steps: This has become very popular since the birth of the FitBit but it’s not difficult to see why. One of the biggest issues many of us face is we sit at a desk all day decreasing our energy throughout the day, making us lethargic. Soon we spend all of our time sitting down instead of moving, the way God intended it. Moving the body helps get the blood flowing, raises our endorphins, and burns calories. Walking at least 10,000 steps has us going about 4-5 miles per day. Not too shabby.

“Joe, I don’t have time to take a 4-5 mile walk every day. I have a life and things to do, man!” First, you probably do have time but I’m not getting into this here. Second, I’m not saying to set aside specific time for a 5 mile walk each day. It’s the holiday season and we’re in survival mode not starting our New Year’s Fitness Resolutions early. What I am saying is to get up once an hour, or so, at work to walk around or take the stair instead of the elevator or take a few extra laps around the mall while you are shopping. These don’t need to be 1-2 hour long walks on a treadmill, the elliptical, or around the block but small repeated movements throughout the day. Moving our bodies throughout the day will not only help make us healthier but happier as well.

Be kind to yourself: We live in a very pass or fail society which can be extremely difficult on our psyche. We tend to be extremely hard on ourselves when we set goals but don’t meet them. We feel like failures and get frustrated because we “know” better. Of course we do but it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to stumble or fall. Every moment of every day is a chance to start over. If we don’t like the decision we just made then make a different one the next time around.

“I shouldn’t have drank that fourth beer.” Stop drinking and have water. “I shouldn’t have eaten that third slice of pie.” We can remember how we feel right now and skip the extra slice next time. If we forget next time we take a deep breath, forgive ourselves, and try again next time.

This doesn’t give us carte blanche to go nuts because “we can always forgive ourselves.” This isn’t the Catholic Church. The goal is to work to be better but not kick ourselves when we are down. We take a deep breath and try again. The more we try, the more likely it is for the habit to stick.

Voila. There they are. These are just a few ways to help get survive the holiday season without feeling like we gained 30 lbs. They may not seem like much but again we aren’t looking for radical. We are looking for simple. Try one of them or try them all and I wish you luck this season. We’ll see you on the other side.