This blog has relocated!

For those of you following my Health, Strength & Fitness blog just a head's up - I've relocated the blog to an actual blog page on my website so take note - new location, same great info!

Click here to visit the new blog location!

Also, if you are interested in following my personal training I have created a training blog as well.

Click here to visit my training blog!

Thanks and see you over there!

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Squats – THE Best Exercise?

I was talking with one of my clients this morning and he said he had read an article online describing the benefits of the squat and that they are one of the best exercises you could do, particularly as you age.

When it comes to strength exercises, I’ve always been partial to the deadlift-but there is nothing that says you can only train one or the other-right?!?! 

In hardcore gyms the barbell back squat is THE cornerstone exercise.  It separates the men from the boys.  Many weenies try to claim that weighted Bulgarian split-squats or front squats are as good as, or better than, the glorious barbell back squat; but those that claim this typically have toothpicks for legs or are just trying to get a new book published-or usually, BOTH.

Ivan Chakarov with a perfect back squat - this legendary photo is of his famous no-no-no (no belt, no wraps, no spotter) 270kg triple.  Photo courtesy of Iron Mind.

The barbell back squat rules hands down.  Please save your “oh my back hurts”, or “front squats are more athletic” arguments for someone who cares.

The back squat allows for the greatest loading, I can’t think of anyone who front squats more than they back squat, thus it will make you stronger.

The back squat contributes to massive amounts of muscular development in the legs-read the book “Super Squats”- the exercise in the program is the barbell back squat, not the Bulgarian wobble board blindfolded super corrective non-contraindicated iso-lunge.

What if we get outside of the hard core gym?  Is the squat still king, even if it is performed without a barbell on the back?

As we age I believe the squat is a great choice to maintain leg strength and hip, knee and ankle joint mobility.  In fact, a full-range-of-motion body-weight squat is an incredibly healthy exercise.  If you can sit on your calves with your feet completely flat (this is imperative-heels DOWN!) you are working your hips and knees through their greatest possible range of motion while providing for a tremendous stretch to the low back and Achilles tendons.

We are born with the ability to squat all the way down with flat feet-just look at any toddler they will often squat down and sit on their calves as they play.  Unfortunately due to a combination of sitting in desks from pre-school on, and the lack of developmental physical education programs, this ability is lost over the years. 

A popular picture of a toddler with details of a perfect squat that circulated the internet and social media sites a while back.

I was talking with one of my instructors, Chen Zhe, at the Shaolin Institue where I study Taiji and he told me that growing up in China he often ate while sitting in a full squat position and that it was a position of rest as well.

Snake Creeps Down, this is one of my favorite Taiji movements. This beautiful posture is a fantastic display of  hip, ankle and knee mobility as well as strong legs.  Photo of Dong Zeng Chen courteousy of www.chipellis.com.

This makes a lot of sense to me.  Typically when we rest we sit on a chair, when we do this we can increase the compressive loading on our spines by up to 40% (according to an article I read a while back)!  This coupled with the typically weak core musculature most American adults display is a recipe for major low back pain.  Gee, can you think of anyone you know who suffers from low back pain?  However, if we possessed the ability to rest in a full squat position not only would we contribute to exceptional mobility in the hip, knee and ankles; we would also stretch out the lower back and Achilles tendons.  Say goodbye to back pain!

Granted the barbell version may not be advisable for everyone, but deep, full range of motion, flat-foot body-weight squats would be a good idea to do on a regular basis.  If you can’t perform this movement, then practice.  Strong, healthy legs are a good idea for everyone, particularly as we age.

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Strength vs. Skill

One of the biggest arguments I see with athletes, particularly fighters and grapplers, is "strength vs. skill".

This argument is absolutely ridiculous to me, typically because people act like you are only allowed to possess one OR the other.

Why not have both?

I've heard so many fighters or fight coaches say that a fighter possessing excellent technique will beat a stronger but less skilled fighter.  This may be true, however what about when the exceptionally skilled fighter fights someone who possesses a greater degree of strength and equal technique?  I'm putting my money on the strong, skilled guy personally.

My good friend Brian, a guy who knows his way around an MMA gym AND a squat rack, made an excellent point to me one day when we were catching a workout at the ATL's legendary ECF Gym, "Scott, if strength wasn't important to fighters why are so damn many UFC fighters failing their steroid tests?"  He's right, it's probably not to look good at weigh-ins.

I have been doing strength & conditioning work for a very good grappler, Jason, who is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  I saw Jason compete in November, 2011 at Grappler's Quest in Dalton, GA.   In the no-gi division Jason competed against a grappler who out-weighed him by 35 lbs--and won!  Jason took first in the no-gi division.  Later, in the gi division, Jason competed against the same guy and lost.  This guy won the gi division and Jason took 3rd.

After the tournament I asked Jason what happened, how did he lose to a guy he beat in the no-gi division?  Jason said the guy got a hold of his gi, pulled him in and was just too damn strong to do anything with.  

Consequently Jason dropped from about 215-220 lbs all the way down to 182 lbs for Pan-Ams!

Jason after winning one of his matches at 2012 Pan-Ams!

Obviously, Jason's skill allowed him to beat this athlete in the no-gi division, but the other guy's strength was a huge factor in the gi division.  Jason started adding in a steady diet of strength and power training to his grappling prep and his teammates noticed real quick. 

The strength vs. skill argument is old and tired.  If you are a grappler, fighter or any sport athlete for that matter, it would do you a tremendous amount of good to make sure strength and power training were part of your preparation program.  Just make sure it is not at the expense of your sport-specific work and you'll be fine.

Stay Strong and Healthy!

-Scott

Quick Update from the Vegas

I'm getting ready to board a plane B&J to Atlanta after a week at our second home and just wanted to let you all know about a couple things we have going on right now.

First-we are doing an anti-resolutionist new member promotion for our Extreme-Fit Kettlebell Boot Camp class. New members may join for $89.00 for the month of December a $90.00 savings off the regular monthly rate.

Also, if any of you current members refer anyone who joins we will give you 50% off next months dues!

Second-for 2013 we will be hosting a transformation challenge open to all personal training clients and class members. Registration info will be posted soon. First prize will be an iPad mini, 3 free personal training sessions and a month of free classes. Second prize will be 3 free personal training sessions and a month of free classes. Third prize will be a month of free classes.

We hope you will take advantage of these great offers and make 2013 your healthiest year yet!

Also, I finally started hammering away at my next book while enjoying a great view of the Vegas strip. This book will be different from anything else I've done yet. It's time to bring health and fitness back together!

Time to board! I'll post more information about this and other upcoming programs once we're back in the ATL.

Stay Healthy AND Strong!

Scott

Forget Healthy Nutrition, Just Take a Pill.

I saw the most ridiculous commercial the other day on TV. Typically most of the TV my wife Lisa and I watch is DVR'd shows that we like, thus allowing us to skip commercials. We purposefully avoid the news and prefer to create our own reality and opportunities instead of buying into the crap that gets spoon-fed to us via the tube'.

However, I was a little slow on the remote and got stuck watching a commercial that made me sick. Walgreens is running a commercial basically encouraging you NOT to pursue healthy nutrition as an option for wellness. That's right, don't listen to people who tell you to eat vegetables and fruits, no no no. Instead get down to the pharmacy and let one of their experts fill your prescription.

Seriously, when I see this bulls@$t it says to me, "Hey, you in front of the TV. We think you are a stupid mother-f$%ker. Here's another big heaping spoon-ful of s%#t. Enjoy, moron!"

Instead of pushing good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle as a means of preventing illness and maintaining wellness, just take a pill. (BTW - this works for weight-loss too!!!)

Give me a f*&king break.

If you haven't seen the video, fortunately the folks at I Live Chiropractic posted it. Hit this link to check it out for yourself.

Click HERE to watch this ridiculous commercial. Way to go Walgreens!!!!

Now please understand I'm not bashing Western medicine. I pay for my health insurance every month, and I have a fantastic doctor I see once a year for my annual physical for him to basically confirm how awesome I am.

I think doctors should educate patients on adopting healthy lifestyle practices, good nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, etc. Let's use medicine only when absolutely necessary. In a life and death situation YES give me the damn drugs. If I have the sniffles? Sorry, but I'm passing on the pills. We are over-prescribed. Yeah, it's great for big Pharma, but is it great for you?

Come on people, think for yourself and don't let these big corporations piss on your minds.

Wake up.

Stay Strong and Healthy,

Scott

The Mind and Body Connection for Optimal Health and Fitness

Today during Taiji class my Shifu, Grandmaster Shi Deru, talked about health and why we do what we do. He regularly sees people who are sick recover and get well again naturally. This is a huge topic of interest to me as it is the direction my personal training as well as the focus of my business has taken in the past year or so.

The founding fathers of Physical Culture-like George Hackenschmidt-knew the importance of developing the mind as well as the body.

I've always found it interesting that the fitness industry has become so far removed from health. It has become all about cosmetics, drugs, pills-look good at any cost. Unfortunately, in the fitness industry (I refuse to call it the health and fitness industry until things change) those who often look the healthiest are in fact very unhealthy. I fell victim to this myself. Supplements, pills, anabolics, fat burners, you name it; I tried it all in the name of (health) and fitness.

Then I had a realization. We have everything we need to be fit AND healthy. If we are not producing something, if we are getting sick, if we are not recovering-it does not mean we need to take a pill, potion or powder. It means we need to fix something within ourselves. I believe for most people this means developing the mind as well as the body. This is not just an eastern concept-it's a theme that is quite obvious in George Hackenschmidt's excellent book "The Way to Live in Health and Physical Fitness".

Shifu's comments about health today led me to ask him a question about why he thought that people who eat well and exercise still get sick. His answer was very simple but incredibly brilliant and insightful. He said they fail to do the internal work, to develop their minds. They succumb to negative energy and negative thoughts that ultimately manifest in unhealthy ways in the body.

Make no mistake, pumping your body full of chemicals and non-natural substances in an effort to "get fit" will result in anything but. Sure, you might look like Hercules for a little while, but there will be a price to pay for chemical and physical abuse. Many will argue this, and I would have to as little as a couple years ago.

Shifu told me we need to bring the mind back into training and focus on internal development as well as external development. Working hard is good. Training hard is good. However we cannot neglect the development of our mind. Strong healthy minds and positive thoughts will produce good energy and strong health bodies.

Meditation is one way to strengthen the mind, but don't let it end in the lotus position. Meditate in everything you do. Why is this important? When you meditate, when you truly quiet your monkey mind, when your mind becomes blank and allows thoughts to pass without attachment, you are now present. You embody your true nature which is pure being. Why not be present in all you do?

Shifu teaching us about the importance of mediation.

Think about how much of your time-your life-is lost to regretting past events and fearing future events. When your mind is living in the past and future it is preventing your from being here, in the now. And guess what? Now is all there is. The past is nothing more than a previous series of now moments and the future is a series of now moments that have yet to occur-so why let them rule you?

Instead, try to be present in everything you do-whether it is sport, exercise, study, driving, talking with friends and family, etc. Be present and give the present moment your full attention. I believe this is why people become addicted to adventure sports such as rock climbing-it's hard to be terrorized by the past or worry about the future when you are hanging off the side of a cliff by your fingers and toes!

When we bring our mind into training, we encourage internal development in addition to external physical development. If we truly want to be fit AND healthy we must connect the mind and the body.

I believe when good health is achieved, and all aspects of physical and mental development are in line, our potential is limitless!

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." -Lao Tzu

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Great nutrition blog by Matt Frazier!

I'm in Vegas this week and while I am teaching a kettlebell trainer certification on Sunday, the rest of the week is vacation, thus a less creative blog this week-the dreaded "re-post". However, this is a good one!

Here is a great blog with healthy eating tips from Matt Frazier of "No Meat Athlete". Matt's blog was recommended to me a while back by my friend Laura and I highly recommend subscribing to it. Don't let the name fool you, this post is great for vegans/vegetarians and cannibals alike.

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/simple-healthy-eating-guidelines/

My favorite advice is to focus on eating raw vegetables and fruits (yeah go figure!).

I think his recommendation to start the day off with a smoothie and to eat a salad in the afternoon is great.

I particularly like green smoothies (50% greens and 50% fruit) and strawberry/banana green smoothies are great post-workout. 

I do sometimes add some RAW protein or brown rice protein and raw honey to the post workout smoothie as well. 

I hope you enjoy Matt's post as much as I did and can apply some of these great tips to your nutrition.

Now back to the craps and blackjack tables!!!

Stay Strong AND Healthy,

Scott