Sunday, March 8, 2009

Eat Less. Move More.



Eat less. Move More. It is that simple, but as you can see for some, it's just not easy.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Fish Oil Burps

Most people are aware now that supplementing with omega-3 fats can provide a whole host of benefits. Even with this knowledge a lot of people complain that when they take fish oil they get the "fish burps." Some go as far as not taking fish oil just because of this. The benefits of fish oil are just too strong to ignore and sometimes you've just got to suck it up, but fortunately for those wanting an alternative here are a few things to try to combat and hopefully prevent fish burps.

Barney just can't stand that fishy repeat

1. Refrigerate your fish oil - This tends to work for most people. I'm not sure the science behind it, but I'd imagine the colder you keep it the less likely it is to go rancid on you. Liquid fish oil should always be refrigerated and I've noticed certain high end brands of fish oil are now recommended that it be refrigerated as well.

2. Use liquid fish oil instead of capsules - Most people are repulsed by the thought of taking a spoonful of fish oil, but to be honest the taste is not bad at all. The Lemon Flavored Carlson's Fish Oil has a subtle flavor that is actually quite enjoyable. You can even use it to compliment the flavor of a shake. The downsides to this is that it has to be refrigerated so it's not "portable" like fish oil capsules. That said it's still an excellent choice and I've never gotten a fishy repeat after taking it.

When life gives you lemon flavored fish oil...

3. Take your fish oil capsules with a meal - This works less often than the other two, but some find it super effective (myself included). As long as I take my fish oil with food (which you should be doing anyway) I don't get any of those nasty burps. I'm not talking about a snack here either, I'm talking about a legit amount of food.

4. Try a different brand of fish oil - Cheaper brands of fish oil tend to be more burpy than others, so just make sure you are buying a quality brand, because lets face it you get what you pay for.

5. Take enteric coated capsules - enteric coating on capsules tends to be easier on the stomach and many people who switch to these kinds of capsules for fish oil never switch back. Costco (Kirkland brand) sells this type in a blue bottle.

Now what's your excuse for not taking your fish oil today?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Mark Martin Set to Dominate Daytona 500


Though I'm sure many of my readers don't know who Mark Martin is, he has always been someone who has inspired me. Some would argue that Nascar is not a sport, but not knowing the physical and mental demands of the sport I can understand that argument. That said Martin is a 50 year old I've watched race ever since I was a kid and though he's always a force to be reckoned with, he's never won the coveted Daytona 500 nor captured a Nascar championship.



So Close...


So what does this have to do with fitness and health. Well Mark is arguably the fittest guy out there. He trains harder than any other driver and now he can couple that with some of the best equipment which gives him the ingredients to a recipe for victory.

Today Martin will race in his 25th Daytona 500, and he's starting just outside of the pole. I don't think anyone will take him lightly in this race as he is sure to contend. There is nobody that deserves this win more than he does. Nobody is going to hand it to him though, he'll have to go out there and take what is his.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Eggs, 6 Pack Abs & Michael Phelps

Can you build a better body while eating 16 eggs a day? Check out this CNN article here.

The news managed to solve another mystery this week. Just how exactly does Michael Phelps get the appetite to eat 12,000+ calories per day.

Munchies!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Missing the Bigger Picture


I was recently at a meeting where they reviewed the "new" food pyramid. Yes I realize it's not all that new as it has been around for at least a couple years now.

These so called health experts went over the differences from the old to the new. One of which is that all food groups are essential. The thing that bothered me the most is that they missed what I would deem the largest change, which was the silhouette climbing the stairs signifying the need for activity.

They spent so much time going over the food that they forgot to mention the fact that exercise plays a crucial role in overall health and fitness. It's important to have a mixture of both. So oddly enough I think the food pyramid is making strides in the right direction. Though I don't necessarily agree with it 100%, it certainly can be a valuable tool to someone that is a nutritional degenerate.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Precision Nutrition Goes Vegan with Version 3

With all the hype surrounding precision nutrition, it was inevitable that they began branching out and listening to what used to be a small group of vegans and vegetarians on their site. With what I assume is the help of Ryan Andrews, the rising star nutritionist that eats a plant based diet, they've added a new vegan approach to the precision nutrition lifestyle. You can pick up a copy of Precision Nutrition V3 here. For those of you meat eaters out there don't fret. There is something in PN for everyone now.

In fact John Berardi is even giving a plant based approach a try. Blasphemy?

Monday, January 26, 2009

A New Kind of Dumbbell

I'm not sure if this is real, but it has been getting a lot of buzz on various sites and I was finally able to hunt down a video for it. Hope you enjoy.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Makin' Jerky

There is nothing more manly than eating a stick of dried meat. In fact it's one of my favorite foods and is undoubtedly my favorite portable food. Unfortunately good jerky is hard to find let alone some that isn't laced with MSG and sugar. I don't mind the salt so much but I feel like sometimes that is a bit overpowering as well.

The Solution To Crappy Store Bought Jerky

Anyway my point is I finally manned up and got a dehydrator so I could make my own jerky. Ironically it came with jerky flavor packets that included MSG, so didn't get much out of that. So my first crack at it was some buffalo that I just added some random spices in my cabinet to. The jerky came out in terms of texture but I definitely need to work on the flavor. I still have a lot to learn but overall the process of drying out meat is pretty simple. See below for the before dehydration pictures:

Raw Buffalo Meat!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Let The Resolutions Begin

Everyone knows that for the commercial gyms it is make or break time right now. They usually have some catchy deal that will lure the "resolution" people in. This is good news for the gym, but unfortunately for the rest of the commercial gym goers it just turns a crowded gym into an unbearable gym. Just as St. Patrick's Day is an amateur night of beer drinking, the new year brings roughly a month of amateur gyming (yes I know that isn't a word).

Fortunately for me, I don't train at a commercial gym and there hasn't been much of a surge in attendance of these chaps and the regulars, are well, still regular. I'd encourage those in search of a gym membership to seek out commercial gym alternatives. Often you'll find yourself with a more positive training environment that will keep you motivated. Definitely try before you buy. Don't get coaxed into a long contract when you aren't even sure you like the place.

Training in a commercial gym while home for the holidays made me realize just how good I have it. I also got a testing session in at Cressey Performance while back on the east coast as well, which was great for a number of reasons. It was even better than I had remembered. Before I get to the results I just can't say enough about the environment they've created there and it shows in the caliber of clientele they get. Three top notch coaches, one guy with an MBA and a pool of motivated athletes(and weekend warriors) and you've got the recipe for success. If you are ever in the Boston area be sure to check them out.

On to the results. So I completed all 4 phases of Eric Cressey's Maximum Strength, which took me about 20 weeks rather than the 16 because I was working around a forearm issue resulting from a bowling mishap.

With that said here was my starting point for packing day:
Deadlift - 315lbs
Squat - 240lbs
Bench Press - 210lbs
3RM Chin - 213lbs

And After for moving day:
Deadlift - 385lbs (+70lbs)
Squat - 300lbs (+60lbs)
Bench Press - 215lbs* (+5lbs, or 10lbs depending on how you look at it, see below)
3RM Chin - 230lbs

*I actually did a 220lb single at the tail end of phase 3. Some days you feel like you could move the world, unfortunately for me, testing day wasn't one of those days. Going to work on my bar speed in my next set of training. Hopefully that will help some.

So anyhow this brings my 3 lift total to 900lbs. Only 100lbs until I reach my goal of a 1,000lb total, which mind you is one of my 3 resolutions!