In the article the subjects did a leg extension for +/- 34 reps per set with a load that was 30% of their 1 rep maximum.  If the weight is that light you’d have to assume the pace was pretty quick, either 2sec / rep (1 sec up, 1 sec down) or 3sec / rep (1sec up, 1sec pause, 1sec down or 1sec up, 2sec down).  The article did not say.

Let’s assume it was 2sec / rep x 34 reps = 68sec per set.  They rested 2 minutes and repeated.

I’m not sure how to get everything we do in a given workout while providing 70sec of work time for 1 exercise, especially a single joint exercise.  It is a much better use of everyone’s time if we hit large, multi-joint, compound movements if you only had 70 sec for a set.  Even then, 70sec is a lot of time to allocate to 1 exercise in a group setting, and then still have to do 2 more sets.  That’s 3.5 min for 3 sets.  If you did 4 different exercises (squat, hinge, push and pull) or let’s call it 5 if you had a right / left exercise (like lunges, 1-leg squats, 1-leg SLDL’s or 1-arm rows).  That’s 14min or 17.5min to be budgeted for work time only, not including rest, rotate & set up time for the next exercise, which would be the most efficient thing to do if nobody wanted to stand around watching, while they rested for 2-minutes.

If you stripped away the med balls, hurdles and dumbbell power exercises, you could make up that time, but then you’d be trading some really fun and athletic power development for more beach muscles, which might be o.k. for some, but not all and you never appreciate what you have until its gone.  You need both show muscles and go muscles.  The cool thing is that go muscles help to give you show muscles, but show muscles don’t necessarily give you go muscles.

I don’t know yet what to do.

How can we implement the principles and still get a similar effect?

Maybe we’re already addressing it, but we can fine tune it a bit.

Well, we know that HIIT training works and this study showed that it decreased body fat.  Decreasing body fat is what most everyone wants and if you decrease body fat, then it’s much easier to see your muscles and shape, which compliments the goal of working on show muscles.

Here are 2 ideas I have so far.

1.  Show Muscle Finisher (completed on own time)

2.  Head to Head Show Muscle Finisher (completed on own time).

1.  Show Muscle Finisher (completed on own time)

The first 2 weeks of every phase are teaching weeks (also guest weeks) in which members stand around and learn the new exercises and progressions we’ll be doing this phase while I do the demonstrations.  We tested in the 4th quarter of 2019, a show muscle finisher that members could do while they watched or while we rotated and set up for the next circuit or at the end of the workout to help them peak for holiday hotness.  Not everyone did it, but those that did really enjoyed it. Here are the exercises with guidelines.

DB Farmers Carry (full court down & back)

Push Ups x20

Biceps Curls x8

Triceps Kickback x12e

DB Lateral Raise x12

Band Pull Aparts x12

1-Leg Calf Raise x20e

One thing when lifting to failure is knowing when you really can’t do anymore.  The first thing to look for is if your form breaks down, but with light weights, you could stop, rest a second, collect yourself and mentally try harder to hold strict form.  The second is to have a workout partner or coach who knows you and can tell if you have anymore left or if you’re mentally choosing to stop (the body does what the mind tells it too).

 

Short answer:  Yes!

 

Long answer:

Back when I was training for sports and my DKNY club clothes, lifting heavy weights and lifting weights to failure were common methods I would use to help achieve sports performance, maximum strength building and body composition goals.  I was smart enough to know there were certain exercises it wasn’t worth the risk to intentionally go to failure on even though many times I did when I failed to hit a rep or fatigued mid-rep.  These were mostly the big muscle, multi-joint, compound movements like cleans, snatches, back squat, front squat, dead lifts, lunges, overhead presses and bench presses.

 

 

 

Other times I would intentionally go to failure, especially on pull up progressions, push ups, inverted rows, 1-leg squats, biceps, triceps, carries, delts, abs, forearms and calves.  More of your body weight and single joint exercises.  These seem less risky to me to get hurt on because the loads are much lighter, so the risk is low and the reward is still high, where as, intentionally lifting to failure on the big barbell loaded exercises seemed like a high reward and high risk that wasn’t worth it.

 

 

 

I have lifted to failure on those exercises both intentionally and unintentionally, however as I grew wiser, I stopped lifting to failure with large load, barbell exercises.  Stopping when I could only do 1 or 2 more, left something extra for the next day, and helped me recover quicker.

 

 

When I started Change Your Body Boot Camps ~ 12 years ago, I wanted to create a do anywhere program where busy adults, ages 30-60 years old, could come and work on their health, body composition and performance goals, using minimal equipment that they found at home or could get, could find at a gym and at a hotel if they traveled.  I wanted to eliminate the excuses, so if you had a simple home gym that replicated what you could find at a hotel, you’d be able to get a workout in, whether you were traveling or stuck inside because of weather, illness and deadlines for example.

 

 

I knew it was possible because I spent the previous 8 years training this demographic and with the exception of the outliers, we mostly used dumbbells and lighter weights.  When I would try to train my clients in the beginning like athletes with college, pro or olympic programs, they would get stronger and gain weight.  Often times we’d have to spend a lot of time on the recovery end (sore) because they’d be real beat up from training.  Then my programming evolved to include more preventive exercises and corrective exercises and later foam rolling as staples to compliment my, from day 1, inclusion of dynamic flexibility (first), core training (before strength) and stretching (at the end).

 

 

 

The more I listened to my clients and learned that even though they may have wanted to look like me and/or perform like me, they weren’t 25 or 22 or 30, they were older and had much more responsibilities and family demands that needed to be considered.

 

 

I remembered every time I did a high intensity (heavy weights, fewer reps) peaking phase with Dumbbells, I would get very cut and lose size (my clothes would be baggier on me).  This was a light bulb moment and led me to find ways to challenge my clients using Dumbbells.  People who wanted to lose weight, were now less likely to gain weight and size.

 

Then when I was training for a triathlon that I wanted to win (I didn’t), I thought that if I dropped weight, but kept my strength high, I’d be lighter and faster, allowing me to train harder, longer and recover easier.  I cut 14 pounds and 14min off of my sprint time, which is considerable on both accounts.  My main inspiration for the training I would do came from thinking about sports and what we did in sports to get athletes or myself in shape.  Coaches would use timed sets.  Drills would be set to time, so I started timing my sets and doing as many reps as I could in 30 seconds for example.  This led to some exercise modification, which also led to some exercises being lifted to failure.  Another light bulb went off.

 

Back to boot camp.  Ultimate Boot Camp was very popular at the time I started my business.  They had multiple outdoor locations and were extremely popular, so I studied them online, in person and talked with their past customers.  They did so many things well, so I had to find the things they were missing.  One thing that I noticed was the lack of weight training.  They didn’t have clients bring weights.

 

 

Who wants to bring weights to workouts I initially thought?

Since I worked at a gym, I only needed my program and a bar / shake / sports drink to train with because they provided everything, but, … then I remembered that I brought a basketball bag with my basketball sneakers, a hand towel, a sports drink, water and a basketball to my games.  I brought my baseball bag, with glove, cleats, balls, batting gloves, sunflower seeds, a bar, a sports drink, water, high socks and a uniform to practices and games.  I brought head gear, mouth piece, wrist wraps, gloves, shin guards, a towel and water / sports drink to Krav Maga.  Hockey players bring their hockey gear.  Yogis bring their own mats even though studios provide them.

 

 

 

But then why do people go to boot camps when gyms have equipment?

And why do people play sports if they have to provide their own equipment?  

Because they like to!  

 

 

I realized it wasn’t a big deal after all.  They could farmers carry their equipment to and from their workouts, which would make them more bad a**.  They wouldn’t have to wait or share.  They could just train and do.  If they invested in gear, they’d have more accountability to use it.  They could train inside at home if it snowed or rained or was too windy or too hot and they could train outside if it was an ideal day.  They could easily find the same equipment at a hotel they stayed at when traveling.

 

 

So I made CYBBC into a do anywhere workout, using minimal equipment you bring, program.

 

 

This is great and all, but how much weight should people bring?

I knew people were only going to bring so much weight.  I figured guys would be open to bringing 15-30lbs and women 8-15lbs. per hand, so I had to figure out how to get results using lighter weights.

 

How to Get Results Using Lighter Weights

• Timed Sets
• Lifting to Failure
• Multi-Joint Compound Movements
• Skill Progressions
• Paired sets, compound sets, super sets, ups with downs and vice versa and motion with no motion

 

We could address all 3 main goals of health, body transformation and performance using lighter weights.

 

Health (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, joint / muscle pain)

• easier to get started
• scheduled self-care
• easier to recover
• build lean muscle
• gain more energy
• welcoming, non-intimidating community
• easier to be consistent
• supports weight loss efforts
• decreased injury risk because of lighter weights

Body Transformation (weight loss, maintenance and gain:  fat loss & muscle building, decreased body fat %, decreased inches in some places and increased inches in others).

• people care how they look
• strength training helps build muscle
• makes you look better
• feel stronger
• have more more energy
• allowing you to do more
• lifting with weights would help preserve muscle
• lifting weights regular would help to promote it
• lifting weights in timed sets / to failure would help to make muscles grow
• lifting to failure would help enhance muscle definition

 

Performance Goals (play with their kids, participate in athletic and physical activities  recover from sports, run faster, play better, and participate more often)

• compound, multi-joint movements trains the active patterns of sports and life and even lighter loads would stimulate the CNS, muscles and energy systems to adapt and get better.
• light weights lifted fast (timed sets or to failure) conditions the body for physical activity
• when you do high skill movements you naturally have to lighten the load compared to less skilled movements.  You don’t see a lot of barbell, back loaded 1-leg squats on the internet.  It’s too skillful of an exercise, but you could use light dumbbells and do a front raise while 1-leg squatting that works as a counter balance while strengthening your legs, building muscle, making you more athletic and making your shoulders look even better.
• you can still get stronger using light weights if you add them to body weight exercises.  look at gymnasts.  90-95% of their strength training is from body weight exercises.  Add a little bit of light weights to their routine and they could get a little bit stronger, while keeping their body mass relatively the same (+/-).
• you can build muscle and become more durable to both take impact, give impact, reduce injury risk and to recover from both participation and potential injury, much quicker

 

As you can see there are a lot of reasons for using lighter weights, even though you can get much stronger, and build muscle using heavier weight, that’s why I was so fascinated by this article.

 

 

 

 

Subjects used loads that were 30% of their 1 rep max for the light loads and did ~34 reps to failure, whereas the high load groups used 80% of their 1 rep max and did ~12 reps to failure.  Both groups did 3 sets.

 

 

Nerd Alert – Volume

Leg Extension:  30% of 1 Rep Max vs. 80% of 1 Rep Max

Let’s say you can lift 100 pounds for 1 rep on the leg extension machine.  30% = 30 lbs. and 80% = 80 lbs.

Total Volume Lifted:  30 lbs x 34 reps x 3 sets = 3,060 lbs.

Total Volume Lifted:  80 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets = 2,880 lbs.

Difference:  3,060 – 2,880 = 180 lbs

 

 

Pros:

You can get stronger with low loads and build muscle if you lift to failure with low loads.

Cons:

You can get 2x stronger and build more muscle using high loads vs. low loads (see abstract) with fewer reps.

 

Summary

I was fascinated for obvious reasons because we use light weights (loads) in our program so this helps confirm that you can build muscle with lighter weights if you lift to failure (high level of effort) and you can get stronger if there’s enough volume.  We address both in CYBBC by aiming for max reps in timed sets for the high level of effort part (failure) to build muscle and we do multiple sets or rounds for the volume part to get stronger.

 

 

Take Home Message

Most people don’t want to lift heavy weights, get bigger and/or get super strong.  These people want to be strong for them, healthy and lean, while being able to participate and do well in physical activities they enjoy, so having research show they can build muscle by lifting to failure with light weights just as easily as lifting with heavy weights is refreshing.  And if someone wants to lift heavy weights, they can.

 

 

Using the same program my clients use,

 

 

Coach Mike

 

 

p.s.  when you’re ready to stop doing all the thinking on your own and get more support, accountability and possibly better programming, here are 3 ways I may be able to help:

 

1. Group Personal Training:  get an awesome team of people you’d like to be friends with; a caring coach who gets you and knows you; a butt kicking program that keeps you getting better; and a high energy place to get filled up;  all in a dynamic group setting and all very personalized.
2. Private Training:  can’t train at 6am, 9am or 6:30pm; don’t want to train in a group; prefer private training; prefer having someone come to you to save time and gain convenience or simply prefer to just show up and not think; have needs that are better addressed 1-on-1, then this is for you.
3. Program Design:  does our schedule not work for you.  are you self-motivated.  do you want a custom plan and the support of check ins and follow ups so you don’t feel so alone and you have some accountability?  then this is for you.

When you’re ready, fill out my contact form and let me know which option your interested in and how I can help you.

 

Did you play sports growing up?

How about activities?  Did you do any physical extracurricular activities growing up?

If yes, then you probably had gear and had to bring it in a bag.

Football players had cleats, cups, pads, helmets, pants, jerseys, water bottles and a ball.

Soccer players had balls, cleats or turf shoes, shin guards, cups, socks, shorts.

Field Hockey players had sticks, balls, cleats or turf shoes and goggles.

Basketball players have basketball sneakers, a basketball, hand towel for sweat and a water bottle.

Ice Hockey players have a giant bag, sticks, helmets, pads, tape, pucks, cups, jerseys, pants, skates and a water bottle.

Baseball & Softball players have bags, cleats, bats, balls, gloves, cups, pants, jerseys, batting gloves, hats, sun glasses and eye black.

Tennis players have tennis shoes, rackets, balls, water, towel and sun glasses.

Golf players have cleats, bags, clubs, balls, towel and water.

Cyclists have bikes, helmets, GPS, heart rate monitors, cadence readers, glasses, water and nutrition.

Skiers / snowboarders have winter clothing, skis, poles / snowboards, boots, helmets and goggles.

Musicians have instruments, a case, sheet music,  stands, mics, recording devices and maybe an amp.

Artists have easels, paint, crayons, pencils, mocks, writing surfaces and brushes.

 

You get the idea.  And it doesn’t include bonus items like:

• rollers,
• super bands
• mini bands
• mats
• stretch out straps
• valslides
• stability balls
• manual therapy trigger guns
• TRX’s
• dumbbells
• Kettlebells

 

Most every athlete has their own gear, brings it to practices and games and needs to take care of it and update it as needed.

 

Equipment We Bring:

The same holds true for our Newton athletes.  Our athletes are required to bring 7 things to every workout.

• Mini Bands 4-Pack (L, M, H, EH)
• Super bands (1/2″ and 1″)
• Dumbbells (pair of 8-15lbs women, 15-30lbs, men or Power Block (3-24 lbs, Sport 24 or 2.5-50lbs, Personal Trainer)
• Exercise mat
• Foam roller (1′ x 6″ round is most portable, the 3′ x 6″ round is most comfortable)
• hand towel
• water bottle

It’s what we need to do to be great at self-care as part of Change Your Body Boot Camps, so we do it.

And best of all there’s a way to carry your equipment so you look super cool, bad a** and get a great workout while doing it.

 

How to carry your equipment?

Watch the vide above again to see how to carry your equipment.  Skip forward to 3:18 to see how to pack the gear to carry it and to 4:38 to see what it looks like carrying all the equipment.

If you want to learn more about farmers carries, read this blog post.

If you have a question, fill out our contact form and let me know.

If you want support with your self-care, a scheduled appointment, awesome people to train with, a results-oriented program to follow and a high energy place to go, answer our 8 questions to make sure we’re a good fit, submit your registration packet and schedule a call to talk about your goals.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

Fellow athlete who brings gear,

 

Coach Mike

 

Self-care = taking care of yourself.

You know self-care is important.  You may or may not be great at it all the time.

If you want more from your life, you have to become more to get more.

To become more, you have to do more.

To do more you need to take action.

To take action you need to get moving.

And to get moving you need to just do it!

 

Once you do it, you need to do it again and again.

Some easy ways to do it again and again are to:

• do something you enjoy
• do something you can see progress with and get better at
• do it with friends and/or other people you like
• get support
• go someplace to do it
• schedule it
• have an appointment so there’s accountability

 

If you want to make a change happen.

If you want to change your identity to the person you always knew.

Or you want to change your identity to the person you’ve always wanted to be.

You need to imagine, paint and write down the picture of that person very clearly.

What does she do, what does she not do?

When, where, with who, how and how often does she do and not do those things?

Those things.  They’re processes or habits.

The habits, if you schedule them and make them super simple (how easy is it to fall into a bad habit), then you can more easily fall into a good habit.

 

Health, Body Transformation and Performance

If you want to

• see the scale go down (lose weight / weight loss)
• decrease body fat and tone up, so there’s less to pinch and less to jiggle.
• build muscle and get firm, so your strong, lean and defined
• lower your resting heart rate
• lower your blood pressure
• increase your circulation
• decrease your stress
• sleep deeper, longer and better
• wake up more rested and energized
• have energy all day long
• feel strong all day long
• feel better
• sweat
• decrease your waist, hips, arms, chest or leg circumferences (aka lose inches)
• increase your waist, hips, arms, chest or leg circumferences (aka gain inches)
• fit your close better
• look better, great or even hotter
• move better
• be and feel less tight
• have less aches in pains in your feet, ankles, calves, achilles, knees, legs, hips, low back, upper back, shoulders, arms, neck, elbows, wrist, hands and head
• run faster
• jump higher
• run a 5 or 10k, half marathon or marathon
• train for a triathlon
• hike or ski
• do sports and activities with kids
• play soccer, tennis, basketball, softball, volleyball, golf, … again
• do real push ups
• do a chin up
• do a pull up
• do a pistol squat
• do a handstand push up
• train like an athlete
• meet new people
• be in a positive environment where you get filled up and help fill up others
• be around healthful living
• listen to fun music and move to it
• laugh
• high five
• make memories
• share experiences

If you want to do any of these things.

If you want a scheduled appointment to keep you committed.

If you want a team and a coach to support you.

If you want to learn new things and track your progress.

Let me know.  You can fill out my contact form or start the registration process.  I’d love to learn your story, what your looking to change over the next 12-months and what needs to change to make that happen.

 

Your fellow human who values the things listed above and schedules them too,

 

Coach Mike

 

p.s.  set it and forget it is a nice phrase.  set it and do it might be a better one.  Or even set it and show up.  You get the point though.

 

If you’ve ever had a great workout, especially in the lower body and then sat for a long time because of work and/or travel, you’ve probably experienced hip stiffness.  Here are 2 easy to do hip mobility drills if you find yourself both stiff in the hips and near a wall and 1 easy to do hip activation exercise for sprinting.

 

1. 1. Linear & Lateral Leg Swings
   2. 1-Leg Hip Rotations
   3. Wall Marches

 

Try ’em and let me know what you think.

LeBron James, current superstar forward for the, Los Angeles Lakers was recently interviewed by Tim Ferriss, New York Times best selling author of the Four Hour Work Week, Four Hour Body, Four Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors.  

This caught my eye because James is arguably the best player in the NBA over the last 14 years and Tim doesn’t really interview current sports athletes.  

Turns out LeBron is launching a new supplement and lifestyle company, similar to Tom Brady’s TB12, called Ladder.  

You can look it up for yourself, but here are 3 takeaways from listening to what one of the greatest basketball players of all time does to stay on top of his game from a health and fitness point of view.

1. Consistency
2. Recovery
3. Nutrition

Consistency

LeBron and his trainer of the last 14 years, Mike Mancias, (how did I not get spotted as an intern for my hustle), talked a lot about consistency, leadership and routines.  The basketball season is 9 months long and they practice the same things almost everyday.  He credits it as one of the reasons he has played 16 seasons and hopes to play 5-6 more.  He sees it as one of the biggest leadership skills he tries to show and teach younger teammates.  He also tries to practice it with his family as he was born to a 16 year old single mom, so he wants to give his kids what he didn’t have.

Recovery

Mike and LeBron talked about training and its importance, but they talked more about knowing the individual, the unique body type, the training age, the current movement patterns, the injury history and checking in.  They didn’t delve much into his strength & conditioning routines, but I could tell that they do them a lot, what they did focus on was the recovery.  LeBron is such an elite athlete, who has played more minutes at a high level than probably anyone, ever, in the NBA, and as such, he needs to be able to recovery as quickly as possible to be able to do it again.

Here are some things they prioritized to aid in his recovery.

• sleep 8+ hours:  I’ve heard / read LeBron often sleeps 10 hours / day
• naps:  LeBron said he was going home after the 60min interview to nap for 2-2.5 hours
• hydration:  Mike says he’s in James’ face immediately after games with a water bottle, to start recovering asap)
• shakes:  right after the water bottle is a custom, plant based protein shake to help LeBron recover
• nutrition:  James and Mike were all about organic, clean eating, no artificial foods or drinks during the season
• accountability:  James is 100% in, but just like anybody, he can get distracted sometimes and lose focus, and Mike, great name by the way, keeps him focused with texts, calls, and actual face time.
• modalities:  LeBron was icing during the interview, so its obvious he uses that.  He also has his own cryochamber, uses ice baths, massage, manual stretching, does yoga and I’m sure he foam rolls.  
• stretching:  LeBron is all in on stretching to recover and has been doing it since high school

Nutrition

LeBron and Mike as noted above, eat clean, as they call it.  All or mostly organic and no artificial foods or drinks during the season.  They have their particulars and didn’t delve to far into it, but they’re starting a supplement company with the Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cindy Crawford and Lindsey Vonn, so you know he values them.  

He shared his breakfast for the previous day, which was an egg white omelet with smoked salmon, and gluten free pancakes with berries.

His lunch was salmon again and his dinner was a chicken parm with a cabernet wine.  He loves his red wine and drinks it in season.

Key points for nutrition

• set meals and snack schedule (doesn’t miss meals)
• practices it 7 days a week for 9-months
• doesn’t participate in splurge or joy foods that are artificial (fake ingredients or fake sugars) during the season
• prioritizes nutrition around workouts, especially immediately after to accelerate recovery
• prefers plant based protein shakes vs. whey protein after games as they feel the body accepts them better and absorbs them easier (I don’t know if this is true or not).  
• he’s all in on “clean eating”.  It’s not worth it to him to eat any other way as he knows it aids recovery, which helps him be consistent, which helps him stay at the top of his craft after so many years.  He also knows its an advantage over people who don’t do this regularly.
• he enjoys all foods during the off season, when he’s on vacation and not working.

You already know all 3 of these tips: consistency, recovery and nutrition to become and stay your best.  It’s the laser focus practice of them, having a strong why for doing them and having reaped the rewards of doing them for so long, while refining them, that makes it even easier to buy in and be consistent.  

We can all do this.  We all work, just like him.  We all take time off, just like him.  We all know life is so much better when we feel, are and perform at are best.  We have to eat foods that make us feel good so we can perform at a high level and recover from that performance.  We have to build all kinds of recovery methods into our lifestyle so we can recover from kicking butt, and start them asap after our work day finishes, including sleep because of all the methods, with nutrition as a close 2nd, sleep has the biggest bang for recovering; and we need to be consistent, 7 days a week, 365 with our practice.  You can always take days or weeks, off, but outside of those times, its all in, if you want to reach your full potential.

Listen for yourself

Go ahead and listen to the interview as it’s only 60min vs. Tim’s usual 3-4 hour interviews, to hear for yourself how LeBron does it.  

Finding joy in routines,

Coach Mike

My wife, aka, the Queen, has me reading this book to help raise a kick butt and competent human, especially around food.  One thing many people can relate to are hang ups.

Hang Ups

Hang Ups are defined by me as anything that you get stuck on or tripped up by.  It’s usually a long term pattern or habit you’ve developed that may or may not be obvious to you and sometimes is obvious to others.  Identifying your hang ups and letting them go is a fast way to make progress, even though its easier said than done.

Birth Through Pre-School = Adulthood

One of the really cool things about this book, is how it applies to so many people, not just infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers, school age children or adolescents, but everyone.  And how, so many of the hang ups that adults repeatedly get tripped up on, are possibly related to when they were infants or toddlers.  That thought, to me, is mind blowing, especially because I’m co-parenting a young child, and I don’t want to screw up.

Separate Comforting and Sleeping from Feeding

Don’t eat to comfort.

Don’t eat to sleep.

Eat to feed.

Ellyn writes, “separating eating from comforting and sleeping is intended not to make your baby go without eating, but to allow her to eat when she eats, sleep when she sleeps, and calm herself down when she is upset.  After feeding, keep your baby company until she looks drowsy; then put her to bed and let her put herself to sleep.  She may fuss a bit to get herself settled down, but not much.  DON’T FEED HER TO HELP HER FALL ASLEEP.  That hooks eating with sleeping.“

Chapter 5, pg 146, covers this big one.

And, “If you use food to help yourself sleep or to calm yourself down, you may have begun to form that tendency in your earliest infancy.  While eating can be calming and eating for emotional reasons is natural, having to eat to calm down or go to sleep is a learned distortion.  Feeding a baby to help her sleep teaches her that she has to eat to go to sleep.  Feeding a baby to comfort her teaches her she has to eat to calm down.”

Chapter 5, pg 146.

Take Home Message

• If you’re looking to see the scale go down.
• If you’re looking to get more restful sleep.
• If you want to manage stress better.
• If you want to create better habits for you and for kids.

Eat when you eat.  Sleep when you sleep.  Calm yourself down when you’re upset.

Don’t eat to sleep or eat to comfort.  

If you find yourself having to eat to put yourself to bed, most every night, it might be related to when you were an infant and your parents may have had trouble putting you to sleep, so they fed you until you passed out.

If you have trouble calming yourself down when you’re upset and you use food to calm yourself down when you’re upset or stressed, your parents, caretakers and/or relatives may have used food to calm you when you were an infant and were crying.  Any new parent knows, that a crying baby scares the crap out of you, can be super stressful and is super stressful if you’re sleep deprived, if you can’t get the baby to stop.  Some caretakers use food aka, the bottle or the boob, to stop a crying baby, even if the baby is not hungry.  If the baby pushes the food away, its not hungry.  Don’t force it.  Check the next item on the list for why babies cry.

So if you use food to put yourself to sleep or you eat to comfort your feelings, it may have started when you were an infant and its time to work through that and move past it.  No more hang ups.  Time to get on with your life.

Still learning to change lives, but now from birth to adulthood,

Coach Mike

How to do a proper push up?

Diane, one of my superstar change makers, asked me recently if I could shoot a video of how to do a proper push up, so she could watch it and practice her technique.  I said, “sure!”.  I handed her my phone and here’s the video.

 

Starting Position

Lie down on the floor.

Place hands just outside of chest.

Fingers wide.

Go to Knees.

Sag head, then pack it (pull head back as far as possible with chin tucked into neutral neck alignment).

Sink shoulders, then press body away from floor rounding shoulder blades into armpits.

Turn elbows out, then, corkscrew elbows down towards your feet.

Go to high plank (up on your hands and feet).

Place Feet Together.

Place knees together.

 

Intentions

Intentions are the thoughtfulness behind the exercise.  The added details, which takes a good exercise and makes it a great exercise.  Do these all at the same time.  Once all intentions are activated, do your push up.

Squeeze your feet or sneakers together.

Squeeze your knees together even if your knees don’t actually touch.

Tilt your pubic bone up, like your zipping up a zipper.

Squeeze your butt and tuck it.

Brace your abs.

Continue corkscrewing your elbows down.

Continue pressing as far away from the floor as possible.

Continue packing your head.

Claw the ground with your wide spread fingers.

 

Motion

Do PULL yourself down to the floor by tucking your elbows back 45 degrees from your body.

Don’t pull your elbows to your ribs, that’s a close grip push up and there’s nothing wrong with that, but we’re not doing that exercise right now.

Don’t let your elbows flare out to 90 degrees from your side.  That’s what most people do, and can cause impingement in some people.  It’s can be a good joint angle and exercise for some, but we’re also not doing that push up.

Do pull yourself down towards the floor.

Do pull your shoulder blades down from your armpits and in towards your midline.

In the bottom of the push up is where many people core gets challenged the most.

Do continue to squeeze your feet together.

Do continue to squeeze your knees together.

Do continue to tilt your pubic bone up.

Do continue to tuck your butt and squeeze it.

Do continue to brace your abs.

Do hold your breath for a moment.

Then press back up.

As you start to come up start blowing hard through pursed lips.

Do continue to keep your elbows corkscrewed.

Keep pressing and feel your shoulder blades rotate from down and in, to up and out towards your armpits.

Do continue to keep your head packed.  Don’t look up or sag your head.

Do press until your arms are fully straight and your pressed as far away from the floor as can be.

That’s one rep.

Now do it again!

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