Random Thoughts (Vitamin D, Exercise Doesn’t Work?, and I’m Changing My Name)
1. There are two vehicles that drive fat loss; exercise and diet (thank you Captain Obvious). Everyone always seems to focus solely on the exercise part, particularly women who feel that 45 minutes on the treadmill is what’s needed to shed the weight. In all actuality, exercise isn’t that efficient when it comes to fat loss and/or general weight loss. It’s kind of like using a screwdriver to hammer nails. Sure, it will get the job done, but a hammer would work a helluva lot better (ie: diet).
Here’s a great analogy I like to use to get my point across to people. In order to lose fat you need a caloric deficit. Wow, I’m throwing down some knowledge bombs today folks. CNN has nothing on me. How long would you have to walk/run on a treadmill in order to burn off 300 calories? For many it would take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, and that’s not even taking into consideration the fact most machines grossly OVER-estimate one’s caloric expenditure. So you could spend 45 minutes on a treadmill (I’d rather watch paint dry, or I don’t know, kill myself) or just not eat that bowl of ice-cream right before bed. Controlling calories via your diet is infinitely more efficient than relying on exercise alone.
For a great read on this topic, check out an article written by John Berardi titled When Exercise Doesn’t Work.
2. Just a cool video of me, you know, being cool (I think).
That’s 315 lbs of bar weight with four chains (15 lbs each) on each side, which adds an additional 120 lbs at the top. And if that doesn’t float your boat ladies, I also like to sing hymns to blind orphans and I LOVE puppy dog kisses. Just throwing it out there.
3. Just wanted to give a shout out to one of my clients, Michelle. Michelle originally started training with me at an upscale club in downtown Boston. When I left to help start Cressey Performance, Michelle decided that she would still drive out to Hudson (45 minute commute both ways) to still train with me once per week. I’d like to think it’s because she feels I’m an awesome coach, but deep down, I think it’s because she feels her week isn’t complete until she tells me to f*** off whenever I tell her to push the sled or when I try to correct her deadlift form. I’ve transformed her from this spinning class whore to someone who laughs at other people who use a Smith Machine. She’s even gotten to the point where she’s volunteered to interview all of our prospective interns. Note to future interns: run away, fast! In all seriousness though, I just want to thank her for being a great client and I’m proud of her that she’s made such great strides in the past year.
4. This is completely off-topic, but I found this interesting so deal with it. Ever wonder whether or not it’s possible our names can affect important, life-altering decisions, such as the type of career we decide to pursue? In the book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive, researcher Brett Pelham suggests that the answer is absolutely.
To test this idea, Pelham came up with a list of names that sounded like the word ‘dentist,’ such as Dennis. According to census data, the name Dennis was the 40th most frequent male first name in the U.S population at the time, with the names Jerry and Walter ranking 39th and 41st. Pelham searched the national directory of the ADA, examining the number of dentists with one of those three first names. If people’s names have no effect whatsoever on what career path they follow, you’d expect there to be roughly equal numbers of people with these three names going into the field of dentistry.
The search revealed that 257 dentists were named Walter, 270 were named Jerry, and 482 were named Dennis. That means that dentists are about 43% more likely to be named Dennis than you’d expect if name similarity had no effect on career choice. So, mom, why couldn’t you name me something cool like “professional breast massager who happens to drive a tank?” I hate you! *pounds foot on floor and runs away crying*
5. Vitamin D is going to challenge fish oil in regards to being the next miracle supplement. Start taking it, now. Thank me later.
6. Just wanted to say good luck to Cressey Performance client Dan Toledano, who is competing this weekend in a push/pull meet. As of yesterday he had ten lbs to drop in order to make weight. Here’s hoping the extra fiber this week helped!
7. I also want to say congratulations to Cressey Performance client, Sahil Bloom, who verbally committed to play baseball at Stanford University. He’s worked his ass off and deserves all the success that will inevitably come his way. Way to go Sahil! Check out the article here.
8. This Sunday I will be co-hosting The Fitcast along with my good friend Leigh Peele, author of The Fat Loss Troubleshoot. Leigh’s made a great name for herself in the past few years and she knows her stuff. It should be a fantastic show and I can’t wait. Stay tuned Monday.
9. I’m off to try to find a place to live. Apartment searching is about as exciting as getting punched in the nuts, seriously.
