Strength, Beauty, and Healthy....

Recently I came across picture that a friend of mine posted on facebook.  It was about strength coming in all sizes.... Its a fairly cool poster with multiple women of different stature's. (I am not posting it on here). A body builder, a couple of weightlifters, and a couple of gymnasts.  The tag line is "dont spend your time trying to look like someone else. Embrace who you are and build your own strength."  At first sight I thought it was a great picture and something that could come across as very inspiring for women out there.  Then a matter of seconds past and I came to my senses.  One of the weightlifters in this picture is extremely over weight.  She is standing right in the middle of some very impressive women, and I have no doubt that that young ladies strength is through the roof, but I bet her body comp, triglyceride levels, and who knows what else is too.  I'm not saying that they have to try to look like a supermodel, or even a Crossfitter, but she looks very unhealthy, and the picture is making that out to be ok.  Its NOT!!!  I love the idea of helping people get to a point to where they are comfortable with themselves, thats why I'm a trainer, but making excuses to allow yourself to be morbidly obese is not ok.  Maybe I have a skewed vision of the human condition, but I would think that we should strive to be healthy at the same time as striving to be strong.  We dont have to be little tiny models walking on a runway, I would put them in the same boat just at the opposite end.  I find it hard to believe that a woman who is 28yrs old 5'9" and weighs just shy of 300lbs is living up to her potential.  Like I said earlier I am sure she is freakishly strong, but I have to wonder if she is really happy with herself.  Hopefully to make myself completely and utterly clear, I dont want to downgrade anyones hard work.  She is a Oly lifter and obviously very good at what she does. Here is a view that I find more 


Written by one of our trainers this is just a small excerpt:  (For entire article click Here)

What a far cry from what used to be….

I used to want to be thin; now I proudly show off those lines in my shoulders and abs.

I used to want the pounds to decrease on the scale; now I watch them increase on the bar.

I used to exercise out of desperation; now I crave the feeling of a sub-5 Fran.

I used to eat for comfort, now I eat for fuel.

I used to do zumba, aerobics, random machines, i.e. waste my time; now I’m a Crossfitter.

I used to think being sweaty was gross; now I bask in hard-earned sweat angels.

I used to feel insecure about my physical capabilities; now I feel empowered.

I used to seek the attention of douche bags that also sought out the frail, skinny girl; now I’ve found the man that values and appreciates a strong woman.

I used to follow; now I lead.

I used to make excuses; now I show others how to get rid of theirs.

I used to cave under pressure; now I know discipline. 

I used to claim ignorance on nutrition; now knowledge is power.

I used to compare myself to all the other women around me; now I stand confidently, looking forward. 

I used to dream of doing things; now I just do them.

I used to be limited; now I’m unstoppable.

This is my new definition and my perspective of what a beautiful, healthy, capable woman should be. 

     I truly hope that this young lady takes into consideration what our trainer has said.  Girls, you can be strong.  You can be, do, and look however you want. Dont let others decide for you.  Strive for Healthy and strong and everything else will fall into place.

Our culture???

This past Saturday my Box had fairly large competition that we have been getting ready for over the last several months and my attention was needed there, so needless to say, I was not blogging as I should have been.  But now that the dust has settled for the time being I am excited to be writing again.

There is a show on TV that my wife really loves to watch.  So every Monday night after we put the kids to bed her and I watch Castle.  Its a funny show and worth watching.  Last night after my wife finished her workout (she does a video thing at home right now) she flipped the idiot box on to wait for her show.  I caught about 10-15 min of this sitcom that was on before Castle.  It was for the most part a funny show, but what I realized is that what was being displayed on the screen was becoming more and more the norm.  The show was about an alcoholic mother who's two adult daughters still lived at home.  One daughter was thinner, stupid, and had a different guy all the time.  The other sister was the level headed one of the group and pretty much took care of the other two, unfortunately she was extremely obese, and so was here fiance.  The entire show or at least what I saw of it was all about promoting unhealthy lifestyles from drinking to promiscuity and obesity. Worst part was they were making them funny. (I laughed).  But the truth is none of that stuff is funny, and in the long run there are a lot of consequences that come as a result.  Like I said earlier, this family is becoming the norm.  Why is it that our culture continues to get more and more unhealthy as time goes by?  We eat like crap and drink alcohol like fish because we think we are entitled to it, and if you comment to someone about their unhealthy lifestyle they look at you and say "who the @#4% are you to tell me how to live my life".  This is the world we live in today.  People at least for the most part are free.  Free to live as unhealthy as they want, and whats worse is we let them do it.  Should we?

The Jump Rope.

You are running short on time, you need a good quick warm-up, or you just want one heck of a Met-con (metabolic conditioning) movement.  Well pick up one of the most overlooked and cheapest pieces of equipment you can get.  The jump rope.  Jumping rope is an amazing workout if you do it right.  There are a crap load of variations that you can do and the whole time you are building up your cardiovascular endurance, as well as working your coordination.  Once you have mastered the basic jump, I suggest you challenge your self with a jump that has a little more "kick" to it.  Try the Double Under.  Doing a double under, and then being able to do them consecutively will shoot your heart rate through the roof.  All you have to do is jump a little higher and spin that rope super fast.  Thats it.  It will provide a better metabolic response than the treadmill or elliptical and you only need a rope and a few feet of space.  If you dont know how or need help on developing your double under check out my video, it should help.
If this vid helps let me know, or better yet shoot a video of yourself doing it and post it or a link in the comments.

If you need some more incentive to go out and buy a jump rope, the rope I am using in this video is only about $4 at Meijer.

Crossfit...

For those of you out there that know me, this is actually my second blog.  I wanted to start this one to simply stay on the health and fitness topic and not really talk about anything else.  I will be giving out lots of information on here so check back frequently.


Lets start with what I believe to be the best fitness program in the world, and if you have read about me then you should have an Idea.  CROSSFIT!!!   When it comes to being functionally fit, you cannot beat it.  Sure there are other programs out there for someone who wants to run 100 miles, but Crossfit should be a part of your training regardless.  Crossfit is not going to make you a great runner, but it will make you a good runner.  It will not make you a great Oly lifter, but it will make you good at it.  That goes for every aspect of fitness that you can think of.  To be specifically good at something you will have to focus on that area and Crossfit does not do that, it wants to make you good at all of it.  So is Crossfit the end all fitness program, well in a way yes, but it is not the only one out there.  It is a great compliment to any program you may be doing now, if you can handle the intensity.
Check out this link for a quick overview, far better then I could have written.  - What is Crossfit?