Armageddon!!!

As promised...Armageddon.

This workout consists of three levels.  I recommend a quick warmup:  Jump rope, few pushups, squats and wrestlers.  DO NOT OVER DO IT!!!  That is what the workout is for.  Remember, you get light-headed, dizzy, or even feel the need to purge the Denny's Grand Slam breakfast you just ate...step back and regain your focus.  Passing out during workouts benefits you, nada.

Level One:  5 minute time limit
     1 minute...Sprints-14 yards round trip
     1 minute...Alternating Leg Lifts
     1 minute...Horse Stance with Horizontal punches
     1 minute...Plank Hold
     1 minute...Rolling Wrestlers

1 minute rest, water up and mop off.

Level Two:  10 Minute Amrap (As Many Rounds As Possible)
     100 Jump Ropes (I used a 2-lb rope)
       50 Total Bicycle Crunches
       10 Pushups (I used Paralettes to get full range)
         5 Pullups (You can sub in Ring Rows)
         1 Super Squat Combo (Why?  Well two is just silly)

1 minute rest, water up and hose off.

Level Three:  Round-down 10 to 1 reps  (or as we say in class, "HOLY CRAP!!!")
     Burpees
     Plank Running, total each leg
     Thrusters with 25-lb dumbbells (Sub in Kettlebell Swings, or standard squats.  Your pain)
     Bent-over Rows with 32-lb Kettlebell, each arm (Or appropriate weight for you)
     Lying Hip Extension

All done.  Have a friend roll you over to the couch or your car.

Any questions, no...good.  Embrace the carnage.

Da

I haz a sick!

I have the sniffles, I am sick
I am fuzzy headed, I am sick
I weigh 600 lbs, I am sick
I feel the cold inside, I am sick.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know.  Be man, tough out these little imbalances.

It is this attitude that weakens us.  Guess what? You are not soldiers, let alone warriors.  When I notice these imbalances showing up, I adjust my living patterns.

I start with eating patterns.  "What?!" around Christmas with all that eggnog and alcohol and cookies and what ever the fourth part of that food group is.  Yes!  Is it easy, NO!  Does it suck?  YES!  But what sucks worse is being out of balance and sick for a week.


Resting patterns are next.  This is really NOT easy for me.  3 to 4 hours of sleep and I am off and running.  When the imbalances show up, I am a restless sleeper.  Brain says to shut down and sleep.  Body is twitchy due to all the little viruses BITING ME!!!  So I take my moments to calm and rest.

Training patterns.  This is to easy so I'll skip to the next one.

Socializing patterns.   I am already antisocial, but still need to put in appearances for the Christmas card aspect.  But does anyone realize how many socials they have and how stressful they are.  You need to dress appropriately and wear the proper masks.  And keeping up with all the gossip? 

So pay attention and respect your body or...later, your body just might start disrespecting you.

Good luck,

Decepticon Workout

The workout:
This workout is five rounds long.

Each round is a 3 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) with one minute of rest in between.

Exercises:
        - 1 Super Squat Kick Combo
        - 5 Pushups
        -10 Wrestlers

A Super Squat Kick Combo is:
      1 squat and Knee strike up in front
      1 squat and Front Snap Kick in front
      1 squat and Side Thrust Kick to the side
      1 squat and jump up and spin 180
         degrees to face the otherside.
         Repeat on the other side.

For those doing the math a Super Squat Kick Combo is 8 squats.

Sound easy?  Great go for it.  When you count rounds only count full rounds.  If you make it to wrestlers and the time runs out.  Doesn't count.

Here is my score, now CRUSH IT!!!!  I did 4 sets per round.  20 rounds total.  I am sure you can do the math on this assignment.  Still a little rubbery in the limbs.  The workout is deceiving, but worth it.

Good luck,

Big or small?

We have been trying to one-up each other since the days we drug our knuckles as we chased after mammoths.

I recently eavesdropped on a conversation about who had it tougher with their training.  One person was big and demanded they had it the toughest trying to move their mass about.  Another one was small, and complained about not having strength and a vital constitution.  Last one, was a woman, and her complaint was not have the genetics of a man.

They argued hard about who was right...and the irony is, they all were.

The problem is they all use a yardstick to measure with.  When a man holds the yardstick up to a woman, he can say "See, you are a few inches short".  When a woman holds a yardstick up to a man, she can say "See, you are a few inches short."  No one likes to hear this, it hurts...down deep.

Yardsticks are really worthless for measuring.  Too long, too short, you are always off.  They are great for measuring things that are 36" long or a yard.  But measuring humans beings...that is just dumb.

I'd like to bend that yardstick into a Mobius' Loop.  There, that is more like it.  This is how to compare ourselves to each other.  Imagine looking down and seeing someone.  You can easily say, do this, do that.  Help them out right?  Then look up, you see that same person and wonder how the hell they got up there?

So how do I know about being big and massive or small and weak, or even being a woman?  Well, two out of three anyway.  When I went into wrestling, I was small and anemic.  Incredibly weak, and to boot, I wrestled people 5 to 6 weight classes above me when we trained.  I got beat, spanked and a whole multitude of humiliations. Later, when I wrestled someone my weight, the strength showed.  Some opponents could not even stand to continue some matches.  Being small means you simply need more heart and more patience to overcome your challenge.

How about being big?  Well, 207 is the largest I have been.  Not terribly fun, but when I put on both weight vests now, I weigh 295lbs.  Moving 300 is a monumental task.  I would work out and sometimes could not get off the floor.  Other times, I could feel my joints about to shear in half.  At the end, I crawl out of my vests and wait to die.  But all you simply need is more heart and more patience to overcome your challenge.

So, it really does not matter where you are on the Mobius Strip Yardstick.  You will always have the challenge of overcoming your weakness.  Your true obstacle is seeing weakness as an excuse.  No excuses, no mercy, no problemo.

latest workout

So here is the latest workout.  Takes your breath away

3 Rounds for time
75 Jump Rope (2lb jump rope)
12 Rowing Pushups (25lb dumbbells)
75 Jump Rope (2lb jump rope)
12 Step up (30" Box)
75 Jump Rope (2lb jump rope)
12 Knees to Elbow

EHN!!!!

A rowing pushup is doing a pushup with a dumbbell in either hand.  After pressing up, Pull the dumbbell up to the chest with right hand and then the left side.

My time was 19:59.

Getum Killas

There's a hole

I have been a grumblesaurus lately.  Last week, I found a hole in the bottom of my shoe.

I know I should practice what I preach and go buy a new pair, but this hole symbolizes how precarious my life has become.

Buying a new pair of shoes is a monumental task right now.  Three years ago, I would not have thought twice.

I should backtrack a bit.  Three years ago, I worked at a job I was good at, Designer/Construction Manager.  My life was set up and I did everything by the book.  I had a savings, 401K and a team I had trained to handle projects.  I use to enjoy year end, five-figure bonuses.  And then...we got laid off.  Me and my team.

That was no problem for me.  I had a savings, 401K and job offers from all over the states, Scotland, China and New Zealand.  Well, four weeks later, those job offers dried up as well.  No one needed my skill of shaving months off a construction project.


No problem, I had my savings and 401K.  I had enough side jobs to make 10% of what I use to.  I could wait it out.  A year later, my 401K was nearly extinct.  I cashed in the remaining 5% and used that to live on.  Six months later, the savings was draining fast.

There were a lot of people saying to just get any job.  This is not so easy anymore.  Just look at the math.  We have like 300 million people in the states.  Only 150 million capable of working (minus disabled, children and retired folk).  We have 15 million un-employed and like 25 million under-employed (Yeah, i am one of the them.)  Drafters make minimum wage and due to the law of supply and demand, employers are looking for drafters with an Architectural license or an Engineering License.  I can do the work, but no license.  Puts me out of the running for a minimum wage job.

So I got a job doing construction.  40 hours guaranteed is better than gambling with side jobs.  There was a lot of work in the beginning.  But then, there was a week off here and then there.  A week without pay is serious.  A year of working a real job and my savings was gone...except for the $24 dollars I have.

I currently work or am on call for 7 jobs.

Martial arts teacher...no pay
Sales support...some pay
Laser Survey Tech...occasional pay
IT Tech...some pay
Construction...occasional pay
Solar Energy designer...occasional pay
Massage Therapist...occasional pay

DAGGUM! So why haven't I bought a new pair of shoes yet?  When I make money, I have to hoard so when I don't make money, I can still pay bills.  Right now, I am averaging 12% of what I use to make.  Go ahead and figure your current budget at 12% of what you make.  Now factor in a new pair of shoes.

I have more ranting about the subject, typical stuff: like the millions of jobs we have sent to other countries, the millions that work here illegally, the haves and havenots, but this is simply the tip of the iceberg.  Did you know icebergs melt faster on the bottom then the top?   If you are concerned about our economy's slow melt, maybe you should look under the water and see what is really going on.  Or just check out the bottom of my shoe.  It is a poignant lesson on what is happening.


So when my old glasses fall apart, or my car sits without gas, I get grumbly, When I get grumbly, I fall back on my warrior ways.

I keep my sword oiled.
I keep my sword sharp.
I keep my sword ready.

DarkArashi

Embrace the Dumbbell

Here is a quaint little workout for you

15 minutes to do as many rounds as possible.

Pick a pair of dumbbells that you will use the entire workout.

20 Side Lunges total
15 Pushups
10 Rows total
5 Thrusters.

That is one round.

I used 25lb dumbbells and managed to eek out four rounds.

Good luck.

Kinda of a pick your poison type workout

Here is a doozey for you.

You have a 30 minute time limit.  Should be plenty

At each level A thru E you need to complete a total of 80 reps in four rounds (i.e. all your "A" exercise need to total 80 max).  My numbers are in Parenthesis.  Each round 1 thru 3 is done to your max and then you move on.  No rest and then restart the exercise.  You can rest in between rounds and even in between different exercise, but remember your time limit.  It goes really fast.

Round 1
A One-arm Pushups-Total of Left and right arm     (18)
B Squats                                                               (40)
C Wrestlers                                                           (32)
D Alternate Leg Lifts-both legs count as one set    (25)
E Pullups                                                              (12)

Round 2
A Pushups                                                             (28)
B Side Squats-Total each leg                                  (20)
C Crunches (Wrestlers with out the hand support)  (22)
D Leg Lifts                                                            (30)
E Ring Rows                                                           (16)

Round 3
A Diamond Pushups              (18)
B Frog Jumps                       (12)
C Wrestlers                          (20)
D Hanging Knees to Chest      (8)
E Pullups                              (10)

Yeah, arms are not to happy right now.  Now round 4, where we finish out the 80 count.
Round 4  
A Vertical Fist Pushup                 (16)  Whew!
B Front Lunge-Total both legs      (8)  Whew!
C Superman rolls                        (6)  Whew!
D Side scissors with legs             (17)  Whew
E Ring Rows                               (42) DAGGUM!!!


My time was 25:58.  From this side of the workout, it wasn't so bad.

Dag-Gum Dharma

I recently responded to a potential client's email.  Gist of it is, he is suffer from some sort of neurological imbalance.  Doctors can not figure it out, natural healers have not had any luck.  Can I help?

Sooner or later, these folk hear about the school or me and our "amazing talent for curing".  (I am pretty sure I know who is spreading these vicious rumors and they are getting such a pinch.)  They contact us and I find it painful to read through their complaints.  Makes me want to curl up on the couch with kitties and sleep...for a year.

I believe before you can be cured of anything, you first have to understand one factor of our society.  The human life is distilled down to a unique set of numbers that reside in a cell on a spreadsheet.  That spreadsheet controls our lives, makes us work hard and then overtime.  We waste our health on making sure we are not deleted from our special cell on the spreadsheet

Most of my students have joined at this state, something is not quite right, and the experts are dumbfounded. And many students have found relief from their ailments, (not just postponing the inevitable, but actually reversing the downward spiral.)  And in typical human fashion, they blame me.

And when I call them on this behavior, they respond with "you're the exception".

...

That  may work in your world, but in the real world (my world thank you very much) I am not the exception.  I am the norm.  So what I am about to say is going to go over every one's head, but someday when you reach my level, you'll see that I am right.

Here goes (I'll use small words), there is nothing special about me.  I am simply a brute.  A brute with enough tools to help you.  You simply have to desire it.  You will do all the learning, working, recovering, and crying.  You have all the secrets to your "cure".

When you find yourself lost in the darkness, you'll find me.

DarkArashi.

Tough times don't last...

At some points in our life, it is like waking up to the aftermath of a battle.

I try to inspire by living the Way of the Warrior.  My example is not enough for most people and they wish to understand it better.

I understand and could recommend a whole library of books.  But just take this simple viewpoint.

When the universe conspires against you and drives you to one knee, just remember this.

I do not look down to see how close the ground is, I look up...and smile.

All obstacles before me, no matter how great or how many, become blades of grass in my mind's eye.
When you can master this simple technique, you are a warrior.

Now draw your sword and rise.  Be the gardener you were meant to be.

DarkArashi

Hertz Donut workout

Can barely type this out:

100 Jump Rope (2lb rope)
     3 rounds of:
         10 Ring dips
         10 Box Jumps (24" Box)
         10 Knees to Elbow

100 Jump Rope (2lb rope)
     3 rounds of:
         10 Straight Leg Kick (each side)
         10 Cross Behind Squats (total)
         10 Burpees

100 Jump Rope (2lb rope)
     3 rounds of:
         10 Squats
         10 Wrestler Situp
         10 Pushups
 And I wore my cool 18lb weight vest and no puking.  YAY ME!!!!

It took me 18:46 to finish, but kept seeing stars near the end.  Boo!

Good luck

Just Cuz I can

OH BOOOY!

Here is a KILLA for y'all.

This is a Super MAXX workout.

3 rounds, each round

to max out the exercise.                                                My Numbers

Pushups (sub, on parallettes)                                           16-17-21

Goblet Squats (with 35 lbs)                                              50-18-18

Wrestler Situp                                                                 25-24-26

Ring Rows (Subbed pullups)                                              7-6-8

Leg Lifts (Wish i could have subbed someone else's legs)  31-14-19

So round 1, go through all the exercises and max out.  Same for round 2 and 3

Oh, and I did not forget my weight vest this time.  18lbs just for giggles.

If you finish early, treat yourself to "Cappy America"

Get'um Killas

DarkArashi

Slogicon workout

Well, here goes;

The Slog Workout.

500 Jump Ropes (Sub in 2lb jumprope)
100 Squats
100 Wrestler Situps
50 Pushups

Oy!  That is insane!  No, not really.  Here is the deal.  I have listed the total effort, you choose how you are going to do it.

You can do one round of 500/100/100/50

or five rounds

or ten.

Your choice.  I did it in one round once.  (never again)

My numbers are:  200/40/40/20
                             150/45/35/21
                             100/15/25/9
                              50

Took me 13:41 minutes to do this.  Oh, and I "conveniently" left the weight vest at home.

Good luck with it and do post times to shame me. 

DarkArashi

Easy workout for y'all

Here you go, easy one so you can feel butch too.

As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 15 minutes.  I did six.

50 Jump ropes (I subbed a 2lb rope in)

5 Ring Rows (I subbed kipping pullups)

10 Pushups (Yeah, i know, I used Paralettes so I could go deeper)

15 Squats (um...nothing here)

Oh, I also wore an 18 pound weight vest.

Good luck,

DarkArashi

Now, I give you...a carb's story.

Now we can learn all about carbohydrates.

If you do the chemistry on proteins and fats, you will find you do not really need the carbs.  The body can produce energy from these types of intake.

"YAY!  Jerky and pork rinds for everyone!"  Yeah, um NO!

Carbs range from simple (fruits and vegies) up to complex (starches and grains.)  Classifications are confusing since scientist rewrite the definitions constantly.  No wonder diets are all screwy.

Best way to understand is to learn about Monosaccharides,  Disaccharides, Damn-imissedmyride, and Oligosaccharides.  Yeah, I'll stick to the small words thank you very much.

Immortal Peach

In my world, I think of simple carbs as items easier to digest and convert energy from; apples, bananas etc.  Complex carbs take longer to digest and hold more vitamins, minerals and good stuff for you.  Yes, I know you say alcohol is a simple carb, but I do not include this or refined sugars as a simple carb.  These items may give you a great sugar buzz, but are not helpful for training purposes.

So, what and when do I eat?  Good question.

Fruits, Vegetables and grains.  I tend toward more fruit and grains due to ease of use, but vegetables when I can.  This is another chemistry challenge for you.  Start with fruits in the morning (or vegetables) and then add in grains and then more protein toward night.

Also, depends on what is coming up in your training.  Easy workout, then fruits.  If you are running a marathon, maybe carb up with some heavy pasta two days before to prepare.  Heavy pastas or refined carbs take more energy to process, but will fully saturate your system for heavy workouts.  Down side is the coma effect of so much processing.

The best way to figure out why carbs to eat, is make a list of all your favorite carbohydrates (sans beer, soda pop, fruit loops) and check out the stats on these foods. There are many calorie counters out there, but I found www.livestrong.com to be a better source.

As for how much, use carbs to fill in around protein and fat.  You may even find yourself reducing fat and adding carbs for a particular belt test coming up.  That is okay.

Through constant diligence, you will become your own best judge and learn to effective modify your diet for the days ahead.

Good luck,

DarkArashi

EHN!!!!

Today's Butt Stomp...

This is a tabata workout.

That means eight round of each exercise and then onto the next one.

Each round is 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest.

Pretty easy right?!

Here you go

8 rounds of Lunge Crunches (alternating each side per round.  i.e. right side round one, left side round two)
8 rounds of Blade Kicks (alternating each side per round.  i.e. right side round one, left side round two)
8 rounds Push Press with 50lbs

8 rounds Ring Dips

Here are my numbers

10/10/10/10/10/12/13/13
14/14/14/14/14/15/15/15
4/9/6/7/8/7/7/6
9/5/8/7/5/4/3/4

Good luck and don't forget your sweat cup under your chin.

DarkArashi

ps. and sweat cups under your elbows too.

Diet Building Blocks.

Now that we know a little more about fats and why they are good, let's look at another diet component.

Before we begin we have to understand a basic fact about our body.  Most people will tell you that the body is an engine and needs fuel.  Yes, but that is only half.  You need to think of the body as a self-repairing battery.  What I mean is this:  every activity you do, breaks the body down.  The body will then repair itself in anticipation of the activity again.

So not only do we eat to fuel the body, we need to eat to repair and rebuild.  Protein is the body's building block.  It comes from many sources, meats, eggs, diary, nuts, grains, and beans to name a few.  You choose based on your beliefs or potential allergies.

I was raised on elk and deer meat.  It does not get better than that.  Living in the city, I tend to use eggs and turkey.  But how much protein?  Current diet recommends 0.4 grams per kilogram of weight.  That is not a lot, not at all.

Figure one gram of protein per pound you way.  Using our 150lb model, they would be ingesting 150 grams of protein or 600 calories.  You can tweak this up or down depending.  At most, you may range as high as 2 gram per pound of body weight.

Adjusting protein intake is a little more critical than adjusting fat intake.  If you are deficient you will not know until you workout.  You have had those days where doing 10 pushups is nothing, you could do 11 if you wanted to.  Then then next day you can barely do 7.  WHAT THE HELL?!

What the hell is that you did not ingest enough protein to repair the muscle.  You are working out at reduced capacity.  When the muscles are fully repaired then the body is ready for those 11 pushups.

Now ingesting too much protein could be another problem all together.  High protein intake is a major strain on the kidneys.  Be sure to drink plenty of water to help out with the passing of waste.  When your kidneys become overworked, this weakens the body.

And I also need to mention, especially for the ladies that are prone to bladder infections, you should add a glass of cranberry juice into the mix.

When is the best time to eat protein?  All through the day.  Divy out the protein in small doses and larger doses for after the workouts and before bed time.  When we sleep at night, this is when the body does most of its repair and really needs major amounts of protein.  And we all know what happens when we get a large dose of protein, we tend to slip into a food coma.  Digesting protein is a major energy drain, but it is necessary for recuperation.

Now that you have your protein goal, be ready to tweak it.  That 150 grams is an average throughout your cycle.  If you run 12 miles on day, you may not need as much protein as playing rugby all day with a 20 lb ball.  There is no way your body is going to be happy with just a burger.  You are going to need the whole cow.

Proteins, Carbs and fats, Oh my!

Now that we have a goal of calories (we'll just use 3000 calories for example), I am sure you have modified your diet. 

Breakfast: Mocha and donuts
Lunch:      X-large pizza with 42 ounce soda pop
Snack:      Whopper with Diet coke
Dinner:      Celery stick

Yeah...um no.  First you must promise no drastic changes to your current diet.  Kthanx.

I do not count sugars and caffeine as part of the equation.  Yes they give you energy, but do so by supercharging the Adrenal system.  If you think sugar crashes are bad, try adrenal system failure.  This takes time, but can be serious to one's health.

I wish to talk about the types of calories: Proteins, Carbs and fats.  FATS!  "Dude, I am already fat.  I don't need any more."

So let's start with FATS.  In simplest terms, fats are the grease that make our engines move.  They are transformed into hormones, into lubrication for the joints and so on.  Fats are the energy we use while we sleep.  Diet recommendations are anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of your calories come from fats.  This varies due to the activities involved.  Couch sitting is 15 percent max, working construction more like 30%.

Also, women will need less fat than men.  Genetically, women will convert energy to stored fat for pregnancies.  Sorry ladies, genetics.  As for men, we tend more toward protein storage.  It takes a lot of muscle to hunt down those Saber-toothed bunnies.

Fat, huh?  We spend time trimming this stuff off our porkchops and prime rib and carefully piling it up on the furthest part of the plate.  Now we have to stuff that greasy glop between some bread and eat it?  NO!  And if you were considering this, An Ick on you.

Nuts.  I found nuts are the best way to ingest the fat you need.  I know this does not help if you are allergic to nuts, but there are many forms of "natural" fats to be found.  Find one that works best for you.  Figure about half your fat intake from nuts and you should be set.

So let's say you need 30% of fat in your diet because you are so badass.  That is 900 calories based on your 3000 calorie level.  Now 1 gram of Fat = 9 calories.  So divide 900 by 9 leaves you with 100 grams of fat.  And if you get half that from the rest of your diet, you only need 50 grams of fat from nuts.  I know this seems excessive, but check this out.  Cashews, the yummiest of all nuts, has 16 grams of fat per 1/4 cup.  3/4's of a cup supplies you with your needs.  That is like six handfuls.  Pretty easy and you can just munch on them throughout the day.

Now this is just a guideline and whitewashed to appear easy.  Your diet will be more complicated, but if you maintain awareness, it is easy to adjust.

Adjustments to make.  Well, if you find too much fat in your diet, just cut back on the nuts or the higher sources of fat.  Indications are easy to spot, burgeoning waistline, thicker thighs, glutier glutes.

On the opposite end, if you are fat deficient, you will notice more joint achiness, lower energy when resting, and hormonal swings.

Yeah, I know people severely overweight tend to suffer the same ailments.  But be serious, if you are morbidly obese just start moving.  Any movement will burn calories and this is where we all start.  It is just some of us have never had the challenge of living with a 100+ extra pounds. 

Back on topic.  So like mechanical systems, remember to keep your fat intake up so we can move smoothly and continue are upward climb to optimum health.

DarkArashi

Dive bombers

Here is a quickie workout:

My time is 12:10

30 Walking Lunges total
30 Kipping Pullups
30 24" Box Jumps
30 Paralette Pushups
30 Side Squats total
30 Jumping Jacks
30 Dive Bombers

Oh, and don't forget to breathe.

Good luck and feel free to post your times and shame me properly.

Darkarashi

Men and Women

Before I get carried away on a long blahblahblah on differences between protein, carbs and fats, just a little perspective on differences between men and women.  Makes more sense later.

Take two people and have them divide up 9 oranges and 7 apples between them.  Anyway, they want without cutting them up into little pieces.  Someone is always going to have at least one more orange, but the other will have more apples.

Questions we argue about is having more orange better, or more apple.  Both are good, one has more health benefits against illness, the other more benefits against becoming ill.

So rather than being drug into these arguments, just accept your bad gender self and start living.

When you come across general statements downplaying your gender, take a moment to study them.  Is there a seed of truth or did this sprout from a seed of fear.

Good luck,

Bunnies!!!!

Here you go,

Disapproving Bunny workout (well actually more of a Disapproving Kit workout)

These totals are half of the regular workout.

4 rounds of:

100 Jump Ropes
25 Squats.

I used a 2lb jumprope for this.  My time is 7:08
Good luck, oh and bring oxygen.

Charles

First diet challenge.

Alrighty then.  Now that we know calories are both important and not really important, we can begin.

Next step is to determine how many calories we need a day to live, get through work, get through a workout.

We have all heard that if you ingest 3500 calories a day, you'll gain weight.  This is just a means and not really appropriate for you.  Three rules of thumb for determining daily caloric intake.

Rule One:  If you are sedentary multiply your weight by 10.  I weigh 180lbs so I would need 1800 calories to maintain.  Sedentary is where you sit on the couch, sit in the car, sit at the office.  Sit, sit, sit.  You are not doing much, but your body still needs energy to maintain.  This is basic life support.

Rule Two:  If you are a normal mortal and work out 3 times a week and play a sport like football or softball on the weekend, multiply your weight by 15.  I.e. 2700 calories for me.

Rule Three:  If you are an immortal and work out everyday preparing for the Olympics or work hard construction, multiply your weight by 20. I.e. 3600 calories for me.

I re-iterate, that these are rules of thumbs.  You may find a +\- of 25% on your totals depending on your bodies needs.

I both work construction and train.  I have had to cut back on my workouts since i cannot simply eat enough to fulfill my requirements.  Now this brings up an interesting point.  Average daily caloric intake is nice to spout off about, but isn't realistic.  Some days, I am putting away 6 to 7 thousand calories to rebuild my body from heavy lifting in the heat.  Other days, I maybe hit 2 thousand calories so my body can rest from trying to digest food.

Resting from eating?  What a maroon right?  Not really.  Heavy diets are a strain on the body too.  Sometimes your tummy just wants to nap in a sunbeam and relax.

We are scheduled from week to week.  We also need to schedule our diet accordingly.  We can not eat the same static diet everyday and expect to be on our game.

So now look at your "dear diary" of food from last week.  Kinda of a crazy assortment you have been stuffing in your pie hole.  This is OK.

"WHAT?" unhealthy diet is OK?  Not really.  If your diet consists of an extra large meat pizza with two six packs of coke everyday, then continue and change gradually.  If you decide the next day to switch to a diet of one celery stick, your body will rebel and mess a fool up.  This is an incredible stress on the body.

So here is your next step in changing your diet for the better.  Try to cut out High Fructose Corn Syrup.  HFC for short.  It is estimated that each American puts away 60 pounds of this stuff every year.  60 POUNDS!!!  Now you know why our pants have writing on the back like "Wide Load".

Start reading your labels and look for HFC.  You will most likely panic and go hide in the closet somewhere til HFC disappears from our food.  Not happening.  This is not meant to scare you, but bring awareness to what you are ingesting.  Juices, cereals, diet bars and canned goods are biggest culprits.  Now you have to decide what is a necessary evil to eat.  Your Noodly-O's may have to go, but the instant oatmeal can hang out longer until you find a better substitute.

By becoming more aware of what goes into your body, you can start making changes based on how you feel.  Out diet is not something we should stress about.  Small change by small change will bring about a better you.

Da

Counting Calories

So people ask me for advice on what to eat when they are sick, when they are tired, when they want to lose weight...and I figured to write down here to help everyone out with what I have found.

First, one blog is not going to cover it.

Second, two blogs just not going to work either.

Let's start with the basics, counting calories.  A calorie is nothing more than a unit of energy we get from food.  100 calories from an apple is the same as 100 calories from refined sugar which is the same as 100 calories from red meat.

Now there are two things to consider when selecting foods or drinks for our caloric intake.

Number one:  what type of food is necessary for energy, for rebuilding the body and/or storing up for future energy needs.  The different types of foods range from: proteins, carbs, fats, alcohols, sweeteners, fibers, and erythritol.  Erythritol?  That can't be healthy.  It will not kill you, but does not really help in the healthy eating arena.  All these categories can be broken down into glucose for the body to use as energy.  But here is the consideration, how much energy does it take to break these things down into simple glucose the body can use.  Meat takes a great deal of energy to break down.  This is why we often go into food comas after big meals.  Energy is diverted to help digest that large pizza, 5lb burrito or the all you can eat bar.

So now you are thinking, "Well, I'll just down a couple spoonfuls of white sugar and have all the energy I need."  Um...WRONG!!!

Number Two:  is about digestibility of food.  Our bodies have evolved over at least a billionty years.  It takes more than just calories to fuel us.  The quality of food is as important as the quantity.  You would actually gain more energy from a spoonful of Turbinado sugar than refined white sugar.  The less commercially processed the food is, the more we can gain from it.

The body digests, filters and distributes nutrients to where they are needed.  If you drink a soda pop, you may get some energy from it.  The body may send some of the moisture to parts of the body needing it.  And then it looks at the crap that is left over and promptly sends it to the tush (we may need this later) storage area.

What! No way, you say.  I give you diet sodas as an example.  Take an 18 ounce bottle.  What is in there that gives it one calorie?  We know there is water and a bunch of chemicals that makes it taste like the "real" stuff.  But why drink it?  Would you drink water mixed with beetle carapaces?  Or do you drink it because you can drink a twelve pack and the 12 calories won't add to your weight?

Guess what?  There are some things your body will not digest and if you are lucky, it will pass through.  Otherwise, it stores these "things" in the tush, thighs, belly or where-ever you store your potential energy.

One final note.  Just remember we do not eat to lose weight, we eat to live.  You eat well, you live well.  If you want to know the quality of your fuel, just take notes of everything you eat in one week.  And be honest to yourself.  You deserve at least that.

Latest workout to chew on and try to digest.

Here you go 15 minute workout divided up into 15 one minute rounds, no rest.

3 rounds for max reps                            My numbers met each round.

Kettlebells Swings (KBS) 32lbs                 21/18/21
Beat on Heavy Bag                                    -- -- --
Pushups                                                 21/24/20
Goblet squats with 25lbs dumbbell           29/19/22
Jump ropes (2lb jumprope)                     101/79/89

Good luck with this one.  It tends to burn up all the oxygen in the room.

C

Cough...cough

Time to dust this blog off.

Ack...ack.

So I am thinking of posting about habits and treatments I have found to keep myself healthy.

Let's face it, staying balance is a precarious past time.  You either over do it or under do it.  Being perfectly balanced happens for only an instant in time.

So, tips and tricks and workouts...OH MY!  Coming soon,

promise,

C

Digital Zen

As a martial arts guide, I hear a multitude of questions that are both humorous and sad at the same time.

A legitimate question from students is "What exercises can I do to increase my punching power?"

Punch is the answer.  Punch the air faster, punch targets and shields.  Punch the heavy bag and even punch cinder block walls.  When I was younger, I outgrew the standard heavy bag and tried out one of the water bags.  135 pounds of resistance for punching.  I eventually ruptured the inner bladder.

As I cleaned up the 20 gallons of water, I designed a heavy back in my head.  I created a heavy bag layered with foam and sand that weighed 275 pounds.  It was beautiful and scary at the same time.  I also wrapped my forearms in heavy chains to practice my punching power.

It is really about taking the time and making the effort to be good at something.  There are no shortcuts, mystical Qigong, or video games to help walk the path.

Another question, "Do you teach mixed martial arts?"  This question is like asking "What kind of water do you drink?"  Is not all water H2O?  Is the H2O different from a mountain spring versus the H2O from a reverse osmosis system?  I realize people are referring to MMA, but to answer yes is to betray their definition of MMA.

I do not believe folk know that the ancestor of MMA is Pancratium.  Check it out.

MMA is a combination of punching, kicking, sweeping, throws, joint locks and submission holds.  Yeah, I do teach all this.  But this is a narrow slice of what the martial arts are.  Think of this, you go to the Smithsonian (world's greatest collection of museums) and you look at one dinosaur bone.  It is the thigh bone of a Brontosaur.  Cool huh?

And then you leave to tell everyone what you saw.  Um...what about the other 4.5 billion years of earth's history? 

Despite my disagreement with MMA's narrow focus, I have high regard for their training.  Hour for hour, MMA fighters are tougher, stronger, and faster than most martial art systems.  But what is the training lifespan of these martial artists?  How long before they are on painkillers so they can continue training?

It is much easier to be tougher, stronger and faster than to train your Dragon's fist to be able to strike pressure points to end a fight quickly.

And now on to video games, or rather the new interactive Wii's and playstations.  Can you really learn yoga and martial arts from these?  I really like the idea, but where is the feedback from someone of skill.  How do learn about proper blocking or moving chi?

I realize this is a lot less intimidating than walking into a school to learn martial arts.  No one wants to fail, or be singled-out.  And heaven forbid, you have to fight a 3 or 4 stripe with decades of training.  How can you win?  It is not about winning, it is about cultivation.

A true proponent of martial arts creates a safe environment where students can grow.  A level of character, a level of skill is necessary to engender trust.  Once trust is established, the student can begin their ascension in martial arts.

It is my duty to make sure the training is challenging, enlightening, respectful and most of all, sweaty.  I use modulating workouts at the end to wring the last bit of energy from them.  When students feel they want more, they are invited to black belt workouts.  Same with black belts, when they want more, they train with me.  They all leave shaken, wide-eyed and appreciating the safety of their tough workouts.

To those not in the know, they will see my students down on one knee at the end of clas and say, "Wow! They dropped to one knee from that crazed workout."

As a martial artist, I look at the knee that is still up and say to myself, "Ah, their spirit is hungry for more.  I shall feed them more when they come back next time."

Over the hill

I believe the definition of frustration should be changed to, "standing around helplessly watching the world dissolve into a ooze of stress and unhealth...and having the key to reverse it."

oh, "and sitting in traffic."

I have had two separate people over the past few months tell my I am now over the hill in age.  I hear this a lot but these two people are ten and twenty years my junior and they were suffering from either flu or cold or both.

We use to call warriors like myself Long Fangs back in the day, old timers grizzled and scarred by combat.   They didn't move very well, but their experience made up for their decrease in strength and speed.

So I train to be my best.  Some days not so easy, but this is the true essence of strength.  If you ask me the last time I was sick....I have to sit and count on both hands the years.  What really makes me sick is how much is spent in the health care field; treatments, doctor visits, insurance, etc.  One article suggests the figure of 2.3 trillion spent.   A trillion?  Isn't that like a gazillion million?

I know I did not spend that much last year on "health care", but I am sure I spent it on being healthy.  My whole philosophy is to train to be healthy and to provide the best example of living well.  My first example was Jack LaLanne.  Remember him?  Back in the day of black and white TV?  The dude has been preaching body weight exercise and confusion principle longer than any of us.  And he is still alive, 96 years old.  Old fart still swims and pulls boats.  Boats full lazy couch taters.

I do not harbor any hope of stepping up to his fine example, I just do the best I can.  I realize it seems I show off, but I wish to inspire students to step up to my level.  I have like 5 different workout levels to keep the body going;

Easy
Medium
Hard
Daggum, he is f-ing crazy
Tell my loved one, I am not going to make this mission

We do a lot of the easy and medium workouts and occasionally a hard one.  I watch students stagger away wondering if this is all worth it.  It is.  They do not realize how far they have come, going from no pushups to 20 pushups at full range.

So, as I ponder the comment "you are over the hill", I say HELL YEAH!  Now that I am past the hills, I can truly start climbing the mountain.  What about you?  Feeling strong enough to follow the Long Fang, or is the couch just too coozy?