CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: 9/9/13

1.  To start I want to remind everyone that TODAY (Monday, Sept. 9th) at midnight is the last chance to take advantage of the early-bird special for the 2nd Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar.

As I noted a few weeks ago, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn.

The entire CP staff will be presenting alongside a few special guests, and it’s sure to be an eventful day.  Which reminds me, Note to Self:  don’t forget to drop off your Jedi cloak at the dry-cleaners and to call and touch base on that smoke machine.

Click HERE to see a full itinerary on presenters and topics.

Or, if your mind is already made up and you’re coming:

Click here to Sign-Up (Regular)

Click here to Sign-Up (Student)

2. A since I’m reminding people about stuff, lets not forget that there are spots still available for the workshop that Dean Somerset and I are running up in Edmonton the weekend of October 19th.

Much like what we did in Boston, this workshop is going to cover the gamut from assessment to corrective exercise to exercise technique to, I don’t know, maybe we’ll throw twerking under the microscope.

It’s designed to be more of an “intimate” affair because we want people to have as much access to the two of us as possible. Without being creepy, of course.  It’s definitely geared towards the personal training and strength coach crowd, but even if you’re an exercise enthusiast they’ll be a TON of applicable information.

For more information, please go HERE.

3. I also wanted to remind people that  last week my friend Jen Ator and the editors of Women’s Health Magazine released a new book last week titled Shape-Up Shortcuts: Score a Hotter, Healthier Body in Half the Time.

I know some may be taken aback by the title and think that I’m endorsing an “easy way out”  book, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

As Jen notes, “it’s about be being perfect 100% of the time.  Exercise, eating healthy, and losing weight don’t have to be such a burden.  You don’t – and I’d argue shouldn’t – have to feel like you’re following a set of strict or severe rules.  In fact, quite the opposite:  When you focus on doing things that are fast, easy, effective, and yes, even enjoyable, you’re more likely to repeat them.”

That’s what Shape-Up Shortcuts is all about. It’s not a book showcasing how to not exercise (the programs in this book will make you work!) or how following some pseudo-science “cleansing diet” will have you lose 17 lb in two hours and make you shit rainbows.

It’s about giving you ample ammunition to stop making excuses.  That exercise doesn’t have to be a chore, and that it can be fun.

As an example, you can check out pg. 168 where I break down the Ultimate Kettlebell Workout.  It involves deadlifts, swings, lunges, and even heavy farmer carries.

Sha-ZAM!

If you’re looking for something that will give you a bunch of useful tips and insights on how you can become healthier AND sexier, well, look no further.

4.  I gotta say:  Last week’s guest post series by Luke Serwinski on our food quality really struck a chord with not only me, but tons of other people as well.  There was a ton of great feedback from Luke’s commentary, and it was really nice to see the message spread throughout various social media networks.

If you missed them I’d highly encourage you to check them out:

How Did Your Food Live?  Know the Health Behind Your Food (Part One)

How Did Your Food Live? Know the Health Behind Your Food (Part Two)

One of the cooler things to happen after the fact was a comment that was left in the comments section by someone who’s involved with a start-up company that goes out of their way to sell humanly treated, 100% organic meats.

The name of the company is Bos Creek and after watching their video I have to say I was A) hungry, and B) definitely interested in reaching out to them to touch base on ordering some delicious meat.

For more information you can also visit their site HERE.

Of course this flies in the face of my non-eat meating readers (sorry!), but for everyone else – which will be the vast majority anyways – I truly feel there’s a lot to be said about where our meat comes from.  And to a lesser thought about – albeit equally as important extent (for me at least) – how our food is treated is becoming more of a talking point and something that’s gaining steam.

Either way, it’s something to think about and if it strikes your fancy, I’d suggest checking out the video above.

5.  Last week I put a message up on my Facebook wall asking people for any advice they could give on kettelbells and what I should look for – especially in terms of how many I should get and at what weight.

I got a TON of feedback (a BIG thanks goes out to everyone who chimed in), and as it happened I ended up touching base with a woman who was selling her Perform Better Competition bells.  What’s more, she was actually going to be in the city – less than two miles from my apartment – for Dr. Perry Nickelston’s Rock Tape Workshop at Reebok CrossFit Back Bay.

Some of you may recall a podcast I did for the good doc’s Stop Chasing Pain Podcast – HERE –  last year, and to say I’m a huge fan of his work would be an understatement.

So I ended up killing two birds with one stone yesterday and picked up my new set of kettlebells (a pair of 12s, 16s, 24s, and 28s) AND I got to visit with Doc.

Outside of the baller t-shirt I was wearing, you may be wondering what the heck is up with my right hand?  Why is it all taped up?

Well, as I noted above, Perry was running a workshop on Rock Tape geared toward fitness professionals – mostly PTs, ATCs, chiropractors, and the like – and how to use it to help get people out of pain.  For those familiar with the concept of kinesio tape….it’s the exact same thing.

Except Rock Tape is catered to the more rugged, athletic crowd.

Anyways, knowing I was there to pick up the KBs, Perry took the opportunity to use me as an impromptu guinea pig to demonstrate to the crowd how to tape up your hands so that they don’t end up looking like they passed through a meat grinder for long-duration KB use.

And yes:  sorry for the vertical video.  I know that that’s internet faux pas.  Deal with it……;o)

6.  And lastly, everyone knows I have impeccable fashion sense.  Exhibit A:  helllllllo?  Transformers t-shirt above!

Not to mention this bad boy which features a deep sea diver punching a great white shark in the face.

I was fishing at the time.  I seemed appropriate.

Lisa has been DYING for me to get fitted for a suit for about as long as I can remember.  As many of you can relate, buying clothes that actually fit can be a cumbersome endeavor when you actually have an ass and hamstrings (and a chest that’s much wider than your waist).

Like most guys, though, getting fitted for a suit ranks right in between going to the dentist and getting kicked in the balls as far as I’m concerned.

After we picked up the KBs yesterday, Lisa and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and decided to walk around the city for the day.

And goddammit we happened to pass by a Men’s Warehouse. As much as I tried to divert her attention – babe look, a shoe sale!!!! – as soon as Lisa saw the sign she went from casual walk to Mach 5 jet fighter status.

Two and a half hours later, I was a reinvented man. I ended up getting two form fitting, tailored suits and I looked gooooooooooooood.  And Lisa was thiiiiiis close to doing a cartwheel outside of the store.

A much appreciated kudos goes out to Men’s Warehouse located in the Galleria Mall in Cambridge.

Now if you excuse me, I need to go test drive a few Aston Martins……;o)

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Best Diet?, Dieting Gurus, and Tips to be a Better Person

It  finally feels like summer here in Boston.  Last week at this time it was 50 degrees outside, and I was wearing sweatpants to work. It could have been worse, though. On Memorial Day – which was earlier this week – there were people up in Vermont and in the Adirondack region in Upstate NY digging out of two-feet of snow.  A week before June!  Crazy.

I’ll take 50 degrees over two feet of snow any day.

Nonetheless, yesterday was the first 90+ degree day in Boston and it was glorious. I happened to have the day off from work so I was able kick back a bit and enjoy it putting in some quality time reading outside and rocking the early stages of a farmer’s tan.

Today is a bit hectic only in the sense that Lisa and I are hosting a girl from Colombia for the next three weeks, so I was placed on apartment cleaning duties for most of the morning.  And let me just say I can Swiffer like no one’s business!

To give a bit of the back story: Around two years ago Lisa made the trek to Colombia as part of a youth sports development initiative through one of the higher academic institutions here in Boston.  She stayed with a host family for ten days in Medellin and was immersed in their culture while visiting various sport/club groups and institutions in and around the city to see if she could offer any feedback as to how to make things run more smoothly.

Lisa fell in love with her host family, and likewise them with her. They’ve corresponded throughout the years and their oldest daughter, Christina, who’s expressed an interest in journalism, is coming to Boston for three weeks to stay with us as she completes a pseudo “internship” at a local latino based publication in the downtown area.

Lisa jokingly mentioned to me yesterday that “I’m so excited, we’re going to have a teenager for three weeks!”  To which I replied, “no boys”

Totally kidding.

But I’m not.

Anyways, I need to get back to cleaning.  So, here’s some stuff I think you should check out:

What’s the Best Diet? – Dr. John Berardi & Company

Paleo? Vegan? Low Carb? High Carb? Intermittent Fasting? The Unicorn Tears Diet?  Which is best?  Which is a fad?

There’s no shortage of diet “groups” out there, and likewise, there’s no shortage of people walking around wondering what the hell it is they’re supposed to eat.  One week eggs are the bees knees.  The next, they’re worse than Hitler.

In this excellent article by Dr. Berardi and the peeps over at Precision Nutrition, they lay it down like this:

I don’t believe there’s a single, absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt best diet for every person to follow, always, and forever.

How Your Diet Coach Is Ruining Your Metabolism – Jen Comas Keck

Running with the same theme as above, in this article Jen discussing an alarming, often popular tactic used by many online “diet gurus” that’s just flat out asinine.

That’s all I’m going to give you.  You’ll just have to click on the article to find out.

45 Things I Have Learned in 45 Years – Dr. Perry Nickelston

Some of you may remember an interview I did around this time last year on Dr. Nickelston’s popular Podcast Stop Chasing Pain.

You can listen to it HERE.

For those who aren’t familiar with the good Doc, he’s easily one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met and he’s someone whom I respect a lot.

He’s obviously learned a lot throughout the years, and this article, while not completely fitness related, offers a gulf of sage advice that will just make you a better human being in general.