Top 4 Reasons to Drink More Water!!

Chandi Schwab

I have always been a firm believer in drinking water. It may seem like this one is mentioned quite often,but when you understand the benefits of drinking water you can appreciate the reminder.

Coming from a large family,water was often what I was given as a child.So luckily it became a part of my lifestyle at a young age. Here are th Top 4 reasons why we should all become huge water drinkers...

1) Drinking Water Enhances Weight Loss: If you’re trying to lose weight, this can’t be ignored. You won’t be able to lose the weight without water to flush out the by-products of fat breakdown.When there isn’t enough water to dilute the body’s waste products, kidney stones may form. When the kidneys aren’t working to their full potential, the liver must step in and help. Once this happens the liver can’t optimally perform its other important functions. As a result, burning fat has to wait.

2)Drinking Water Combats Ailments in the body:In many cases, fatigue, headaches and back pain may be caused by dehydration. If you suffer from an afternoon nod off, try drinking more water at lunch. If you or your children complain of frequent headaches, the amount of water you’re drinking could be responsible. And, muscle spasms are also caused by not being adequately hydrated.

3)Drinking Water can Reduce Hunger:Experts say that hunger Pangs are often misinterpreted cravings for water. Try drinking water before your regular meals and see if it helps you cut down on the amount of food you eat. It really works as an effective appetite suppressant. Avoid counting tea, coffee, sodas and juices in your fluid intake. Coffee and tea contain caffeine which has a diuretic effect and makes you lose water. Sodas and juices are too sweet—because the body must dilute them, they cause more dehydration.

4)Drinking Water Helps make you Look Younger:When the skin is properly hydrated, it looks plump and more radiant. Water will keep the toxins flushed out and help you to cool off through perspiration. Muscles need to have enough water to make them look full too. Deprive yourself of water and you’ll see the difference in the mirror.

So I now would like to challenge you...Replace every liquid that you drink with water for one week. Take your body weight and divide it by 2.That is how many ounces you should be drinking.And if you are very active, you should drink 2/3 of your body weight. I can guarantee you that you will look and feel better!!

I would also like to introduce our guest blogger for tomorrow. Her name is Alissa Williams.She is currently attending Paul Mitchell in Rexburg,ID. She has always been vey active. She grew up developing her skills as a Dancer and also participated in Track and Field. She enjoys running and staying active. We look forward to her post.

Diet Right

Scott Schwab

No this is not a misspelling of the favorite drink of the late 80's and 90's. Although sometimes I wish I could still see people drinking the retro cans and enjoying themselves like the old commercials. I wanted to take a couple of minutes and point out a couple of things that can help regardless of what diet plan you have. Most diets fail! I say this purely based on what statistics say. The reason is that people do not find something that works for them. Some diets work on points, others you must avoid certain foods, and still other say eat whatever you'd like and still loose weight. The fact is; you must keep your metabolism running. The faster that it is going the better. Naturally as we age our metabolism slows to a crawl. However, we can stimulate our metabolism through a couple of lifestyle changes. We need to be eating 6 small meals approximately every 2 hours. This is great to keep the metabolism working and gravity goes to work. Another suggestion is to drink a lot of liquids. We have mentioned this in other posts, but here is the equation again. Your weight divided by 2 and that is the ounces in a day that you should be drinking. Not only does it help facilitate the digestion process, but it will also help you avoid more sickness and give you many benefits relating to blood flow and oxygen to the body. Toxins are flushed more often when you are taking trips to the restroom. Be prepared, because when you start the process of drinking the water as specified by the equation; you will be going often. Another tip or hint; is to know your body and know how it responds to foods. There is a book that explains the differences of food as it relates to the bodies blood type. Body for Life is a great book, with proven results. It is one resource that may help you achieve your goals. The main reason why diets don't work, relates to the person. You must know your body, what foods you can and should not eat, have control, and set an exercise routine that you will stick too. Most people become uninterested with their diets and board of their workouts and eventually stop. Take some time and read through some of the other blogs on any muscle group that you would like to focus on and do that routine for a couple of weeks. After that choose something else that you will do for another 2 weeks. This is muscle confusion at its finest and will get you in the habit of trying new things and enjoying different workouts. Again start the habit of eating more often, but smaller better meals. Also implement the water and see how you start to feel. I would like everyone to try this for 1 week and report back how you feel and if you can start to have more energy and your digestive system is working better. Let me know if it works for you and if you would like any suggestions on foods to eat.

Ultimate Arms

Scott Schwab

I wanted to share a workout that is sure to get your arms toned and ripped for whatever. I am a firm believer in the power of manual labor and plyometrics. I used to build log homes and have never found an exercise that was equivalent to the pealing of logs, carrying of logs, and building the actual walls. This was until I started to think about what you could do in a gym to reproduce what I was doing in building the homes. It is very intense and if you are not seasoned with lifting reduce the reps and sets of the workout. The first workout is a push-up. However you will take two small medicine balls of equal size and push up with those under your hands. You will want to do 10 reps and 4 sets. To improve the difficulty put your feet up on a bench, or for an expert workout put your feet up on an exercise ball. The key to this workout is balance and strength. It is difficult to keep your arms steady while doing push-ups on medicine balls. It becomes increasingly difficult as you keep your feet up and extremely difficult as you balance your feet and your upper body. Plan on a couple of falls when you are starting, its to be expected. The second workout I will call the super man. Put your legs up on a wall and be as vertical as possible. You will go from one end of the wall moving your hands and feet in unison to the other end of a wall and back. It is best to have a distance of 10-15 feet. You will do this 4 sets. It is also fun to stop on each side of the wall and try and do a push up in that vertical position against the wall. The third workout is to do normal bench press. Position your hands on the bar in different locations as to provide a complete arm and chest workout. Find the distance from the middle that when you you push up you are feeling it in your triceps. Do 10 reps and 4 sets at 75% of your max lift. The final lift is a doozie. You will put your feet up on a surface higher than a bench. Maybe a window well or a box that is used for box jumping. You will be in the push up position and raise one leg off of the surface and try and hold it up. It is difficult to balance but make sure you keep your left leg up for 10 reps and switch and keep your right leg up. Again 4 reps will be good, if you can finish it. Make sure you are burning out your muscles. I would suggest a creatine as well so that those torn muscles can heal. Finish off with a good abs workout and you should be good to go. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Branch it out!!

Drew Cavner

Supplementing has almost become a necessity for people that workout or stay active through various sports and exercises. Whether it be supplementing with creatines, proteins, amino acids, pro-hormones, vitamins, minerals, it is still considered supplementing. Obviously it can become quite cumbersome to supplement from every side of the spectrum, so lets start with trying one of the very very basics. Branched chain amino acids. Most people assume that amino acids are just amino acids. Obviously amino acids are amino acids, but when supplementing with them it is very important that you are choosing the correct ones for recovery or performance enhancing properties. The way I try and explain the importance of amino acids is as follwed.

Imagine your body as a motorcycle. You have a main gas tank (your body's amino acid stores) then you have the 2 gallon reserve tank (your body's muscle). When you are working out or participating in an intense activity / long duration, your body runs out of the gas in the main tank (amino acid stores). Once your body runs out of gas it begins to tap into the reserve (muscle). This is obviously the worst situation for you and your body. Now, picture this. While partaking in an activity, instead of just drinking plain water, put two scoops of amino acid powder in your drink. This will enable your body to never run out of gas (amino stores) and it will prevent your body from ever tapping into it's reserve (muscle). This is obviously good because you will be able to build muscle instead of burn it.

L-glutamine is probably the most popular (well known ) amino acid in the supplement industry today. What most people do not realize is that although Glutamine is the most abumndant amino acid found in the skeletal muscle, it might not be the most effective amino acid for recovery. In actuality, your branched chain amino acids are called upon more for recovery than glutamine itself. Your three branched chain amino acids are ; Luecine, Isoluecine and Valine. It is also very important to know that there must be a 2:1:1 ratio of Luecine, Isoluecine and Valine for it to be readily absorbed and untilized properly. For instance, if you purchase a branched chain amino acid supplement the label should read something like this ;

Luecine : 3.6 Isoluecine : 1.8 Valine : 1.8
Luecine : 5.0 Isoluecine : 2.5 Valine : 2.5

Obviously these are just examples. If you see a company within a tenth or two of the 1 to 2 ratio it's no biggy. Also, these days it is waay more cost effective to purchase a branched chain supplement with glutamine already in it. It does not make sense to buy a glutamine supplement if you can purchase the same amount of glutamine with your branched chains and other goodies as well. Another great ingredient that you should look for in an amino acid supplement is Beta Alanine. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on Beta Alanine.

Avoiding Sweets

Austin Taylor
One thing that seems to be a pretty difficult task in our strife to lead healthy lives is avoiding the goodies. I was probably one of worst at doing this while in my high school years. After realizing that now I can’t just eat sweets like I used to without paying a price I had to come up with some way to help myself avoid them. Here is what I found: It’s really quite simple. It’s nothing new, but definitely helpful. The mind is a powerful thing. We can be in control. If you tell yourself “That piece of cake or candy has absolutely no nutritional value to it and will do me no good”, you will have a lot easier time of being able to accomplish this feat. I even remind myself that when I eat those types of things I usually end up on the couch with an upset stomach. It is important to say it to yourself allowed, believe it, and you will be on your way to a happier, healthier life style.

Happy Easter

Scott Schwab

The quote from the week comes from a book by Og Mandino. The Greatest Secret In The World, is a short and relatively easy read. It does require from the reader application and responses and represents a personal journal in many ways. The quote is a very good one and very applicable today: "The highest order of mind is accused of folly, as well as the lowest. Nothing is thoroughly approved but mediocrity. The majority has established this, and it fixes its fangs on whatever gets beyond it either way." Pascal

The point here is that being exceptional is not a bad thing, but society, nature, and even some friends, would have you believe that you are weird or different. You are at a different level than others and that is ok. Do not let people hold you back or keep you down. There is no reason for you to feel different or bad based on you raising higher or giving more than expectations and performance of others. Embrace what you have, develop talents further, and grow into the person that you hope to be.

Our guest blogger for tomorrow is Austin Taylor. He is extremely disciplined with his eating habits as well as his work out regiment. He played soccer very competitively nationwide and continues his pursuits in many areas. Please welcome with me Austin Taylor.

At home ABS!!!

Chandi Schwab

Hey ladies! I know a lot of us are gearing up for summer. Which means that it is time to get rid of that extra cuish that winter bestowed upon us. I have an easy to do at home ab workout that I have been doing for years. I first learned it when I was on a dance team as a young girl.It has stuck with me though.Especially on those days that I am not able to make it to the gym. Try it out!You will see fast results!

1)Lay on your back in the normal crunch position (12 normal crunches with the small of your back flat against the floor)

2)Bring right leg straight up (12 more crunches, remember....slowly...breath in through your nose on the way up,out through your mouth on the way down)

3)Switch to left leg straight up(12 more crunches...don't bend your neck,keep it in line with the rest of your body)

4)Cross both legs straight up in the air(12 crunches)

5)Back to left leg straight up(12)

6)right leg straight up(12)

7)Normal crunch position(12)

8)Before relaxing your body... keep your neck and head up along with your legs balancing with the core of your body.(take three slow breaths in and out and then slowly relax your body back down)

9)Do a normal set of 50-100 obliques(normal crunches off to each side switching off sides each rep.)

10)Repeat step 8

11)Prop up neck and head with hands behind head...bring both legs straight up in the air and slowly lower them almost touching the ground and then bring them back straight up(10-20 reps)

12)Repeat step 8

I usually do the workout 3 times...you can do what times permits or adjust it to work for you.It works your upper,middle,sides,and lower abs.You will see your abs shape up fast!! I am anxious to get back into my ab routine after my baby girl arrives.It is so important to keep your core strong to help support the rest of your body. Try it today!!!

Good Friday

Scott Schwab

Greetings and Salutations. I wanted to touch on a couple of observations that I have been noticing lately and pass them on in hopes that they will help readers. I think all of us can remember a time when we were in athletics and stretching was just a part of the normal daily routine before the real fun started; the game or practice. For me personally, it was never ingrained in my head that it was that important. However, in recent years I have noticed that not only is it important, but it is essential. The great receiver Jerry Rice, spoke often that the reason that he was able to avoid injury and play to the level that he played, was he spent as much time stretching as he did with his workout. I currently am working out with a group of guys that bring a great accumulation of knowledge about sports and fitness. Yesterday we spent about 30min stretching all of our muscles. The obvious benefit to stretching is avoiding injury. The not so obvious benefits are increased muscle tone and joint and ligament strength. The core muscles to the body can be built by general to specific workouts. However, the muscles that really give the appearance of being cut and providing extra strength to the joints and connecting ligaments/muscles, are built through stretching and plyometrics. This is why in recent years there has been such a push to do workouts that involve the whole body and incorporate lifts that mirror manual labor. This is one reason that the 300 workout is so effective. It gets the whole body involved and builds those great connecting muscles and ligaments. One should definitely look for these types of workouts, but also include some serious stretching into a routine. I have noticed that I am able to work core muscles more effectively and the definition is better than doing normal core lifts alone. Also I have an old hamstring injury that will flare up every year, it seems. After our 30min stretch we did sprints and running exercises and I did not feel the hamstring once. I noticed that by taking the time to do an effective stretch, I felt no pain, but a good burn in my legs that I have not been able to have, based on not wanting to pull the muscle. In short take the time to do a stretch before the workout, but it is also just as important to do a light stretch after the workout. Also include one day in a week were you stretch for a long period of time and really work those connecting muscles, joints, and ligaments. We hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Easter weekend. Go and enjoy the beautiful outdoors that we are all lucky to have.

Hail to the 300 workout

Scott Schwab

Since the movie 300 came out, everyone has been in a craze to get the body of a spartan. Naturally some of us thought if we hit the gym hard and did our own type of a workout, we could obtain Spartan status. Unfortunately, the type of training and workouts that they did was intense to say the least. I also want to point out that this was there job and for 6 months they worked out in excess of 6 hours a day. If you had trainers, cooks, and nutritionists, you could do the same. However, we have to work with the time we have and the resources given to us. With that said, there have been very clever attempts to get this workout into the hands of the public. The workout is genius for muscle confusion, and getting the whole body working together for the purpose to get ripped. I attempted my first try with the workout on Wednesday. I am here to tell you that it kicked my butt. I will also admit that we were doing a lesser version, known as the 150 workout. Incredible! The short bursts and continuous cycle was nothing short of a solders regiment. I am not kidding when I say it is one of the most difficult workouts that I have done. I am feeling the effects today, being Thursday and it that good soreness that you know is really working your body. Also I noticed the burn that feels so good and provides the energy for the day. As I talked about before with getting proper sleep and setting a schedule; last night at about 10:30 I was ready to get some sleep and had no other choice but to surrender to the will of my pillow. It was hard to get up at 6:30 today, but I am starting my new habit. I am not saying that this is the schedule for you. What I am saying is make a schedule and when you do your workout; morning or night, make sure you work yourself to a light exhaustion. That way when it is time for sleeping, your body is ready to shut down and sleep. So with this post in mind, each of you can research the 300 workout and try it, or adjust it to fit you. There are many places that you can find what the workout is, but I went to Mens Health to read and learn more. Here is the link: http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=workout.plans&conitem=5e1790ecab7e1110VgnVCM20000012281eac____

Cooking your food and nutrients

Scott Schwab

Today I wanted to write on a topic that everyone of us does and needs to reduce. I decided to do some research to back up what I will be speaking about today. The microwave oven was a bi-product of research in the 40's with radar research using magnetron's. It actually was a mistake and stumbled upon by a Dr. Percy LeBaron Spencer. The first commercial sales of the microwave oven actually started in 67. The Microwave didn't become the thing to have until the 70's though. So now we are in the year 2009. The power and efficiency of the microwave continues to be improved and the aesthetic appeal is improved as well. However, lets talk about the power that is being generated by one of these incredible machines. I don't know if I could explain the scientific side of things even if I took a class and studied just the microwave power for a semester. This is why I have attached an article that I believe is very good and walks through the steps. It is a great article and also a site that has great information about health and living better. Essentially what happens as food is being cooked in the microwave; is the molecules are being bounced off of each other rapidly. This creates heat within the solid object, (i.e your food). The problem though, is as you heat up your food faster and faster, you are loosing valuable nutrients, antioxidants, and proteins. It is known that the more raw you can eat your food the better. However, cooking your food is something that is needed and part of our lives. Furthermore, the time that we take to cook foods and have meals is limited, thus making microwaves more useful. Here are some suggestions to get more out of your food, give you more energy, and receive the proper nutrients that you are expecting from your meals. The more nutrients, antioxidants, and proteins that you receive from your food, the more energy you will have for your days and weeks. The more you have energy, obviously the more productive you will be and more opportunities you will have to workout and live a healthier life. If when cooking with a microwave, cook on a low heat. If you must use a microwave, you must use the lowest heat possible. The final suggestion added is something that is being advertised more and more. With the harmful chemicals that are in plastics, much of these toxins are entering into your food. Cook on a glass plate, or paper towel. We don't know all of the harmful things that cooking food on plastic create. The thing that is for sure, is that these toxins have agents known to break down the immune system, and have cancer causing agents. Lets vow to live longer and healthier lives. This is only one part to the puzzle. The biggest piece has to be a workout schedule and healthy diet. Do it for yourself, your friends, family, loved ones, whomever; just do it!

http://www.naturalnews.com/022015.html

Toned and sexy legs

Scott Schwab

Many people right now are engaged in the tedious process of getting their beach bodies. When I am at the store in line or read online popular health magazines; the main focus is getting ready for the summer. Having great legs starts with the calf muscles. The best way to work them is doing calf raises with weights in your hands. Another great workout is to do step ups on a bench but focus on just stepping up just on the front part of your feet with a burst up on your tip toes with each step. Make sure you have light weight so you don't fall of the bench. Another suggestion is just to do step ups with your foot flat on the bench. This will ensure that you are working the hamstrings and buttocks. Remember 10 reps and 4 cycles. These two separate exercises can be done on different days, like a tues and thurs. Depending upon how hard you work the calf muscles you may be able to work them both days equally but lighter. My last two suggestions will come in the way of jumping and sprinting. I have talked about sprinting before, but I wanted to touch on jumping. Van Halen had a hit dedicated to the singular form of jumping that might be able to pump you up in the midst of your workout. Likely not, but you need to do things that will elongate your calf muscles and give those nice lines on the calf's and the thighs. Those lines are partly due to activity, but can be obtained by an increase and focus on leg exercises. So like before you need to stand shoulder width apart and jump as high as you can, reaching for the sky, ten times and again 4 cycles. The next exercise is to jump sideways 20 yards and back the opposite direction 20 yards. Again this should be done with the idea of 4 cycles. The final exercise is to jump as you are running with each step. Drive as you take each step into a jump, and push yourself 50 yards or more. It would also be valuable to get into the habit of running stairs, jumping with each step going up the stairs. Try this for a month a let me know what you think. It is important to do these 2 times a week and also work in running over 30 minutes in one of the days. It is important to know your body and start slow. If you are already working out, work in squats and lunges for one of the days. The best idea is to have a combination of all exercises for your legs.

America the Beautiful

Francis William Arellano

American disagrees about a lot of things, but we rarely quarrel when it comes to our food. For a nation built on grand democratic virtues, there is still nothing that defines us quite like our love of chow time. We have plenty of reasons to fetish our food-not the least being that we’ve always had so much of it. Is it any wonder that what might be our most evocative patriotic song is “America the Beautiful,” in which an ideal like brotherhood doesn’t even get mentioned until the second-to-last line, well after rhapsodic references to waves of grain and fruited planes. The song defines of what it means to succeed and a big part of that is access to an environment in which there is a lot of food to be consumed. The problem is, all those calories come at a big price. In 1900 the average weight of college-age male in the US was 133 lb (60kg); the average woman was 122 lb(55kg). By the year 2000, men had plumped up to 166 lb (75kg) and woman to 144 lb (65kg).
Humans, like most animals are hardwired not just to eat but to gorge. “We’re not only programmed to eat a lot,” says Sharman Apt Russell, author of Hunger: An Unnatural History, “but to prefer foods that are high in calories.” To eliminate the problem of obesity among our youth and in America we have to make a stand to not gorge ourselves on every garbage food that comes in our way. Stop the temptation and devote a healthy diet that you can create and sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Till next time, Good Morning Good Evening And Good Night!

Motivational Quote

Scott Schwab
We have decided to start a new idea for Sundays. Instead of leaving a post, we will leave a motivational quote and introduce a guest blogger for Monday. Today's quote comes from the book; Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. "Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater Benefit." This is a great quote because my personal belief is the opportunity is failure inside out. Fear is the opposite of faith and it takes faith to do anything in life.
I wanted to also introduce our guest blogger for tomorrow. His name is Francis Arellano. Besides being a State wrestler in High School, he also obtained various honors in Football. He continues to work his mind and body to always be his best. He spends many hours a week working on his balance of health and the application of what he reads. Please welcome a good friend and confidant, Francis Arellano.

Gretchen Cheney

Before I became a mom staying in shape was just a matter of routine for me. When I got up in the morning the first thing I did was either go to the gym or go for a run. It was the perfect start to my day. Of course it wasn’t always easy finding the motivation (my husband helped me out with that), but I always felt so good afterward. After a few months of this routine I couldn’t imagine not working out in the morning. It was almost like sleep for me—I needed it to have energy for my day. This routine helped me have a wonderfully easy pregnancy, delivery and recovery when I had my son. I credit all my success in birthing to my daily exercise.
Since I’ve had my baby it’s been another story...my life seems much more hectic and I have been finding it hard to make the time to exercise. At first it was mainly because I was so tired in the morning that I would have to take a nap instead of working out, then the weather was an issue (too cold to run outside and what would I do with Carter at the gym?) and my husband was so busy at school that he wasn’t much help. So my daily exercise routine turned into maybe once or twice a week if I was lucky!!! Not only was exercise going down the tubes, but eating habits as well. I use to be able to control what I ate really well because I brought my lunch and snacks to work with me—I had a limit to what I could eat because I could only eat what I brought with me. Now that I’m home whenever I get bored, I head to the kitchen! Something had to change. I could tell a huge difference in myself without exercise--less energy, less muscle, less confidence. I was starting to feel like such a slob. So, I haven’t TOTALLY fixed the problem, but I have found a few things that I can do with my baby that help me get through the day even if I can’t go for a run or go to the gym:
Dance
My little guy loves music and he loves to dance with me. After dancing with him for awhile one day I realized that I was really winded. So, when I know I am probably not going to make it to the gym I have a dance party with my son! I put on some fun music and we get jiggy. Carter thinks it’s hilarious to watch my crazy dance moves and I always make sure to throw in some jumping jacks and other aerobic moves in there. It’s really fun and I am always sweating afterwards.
Stairs
We have a set of stairs in our house that really come in handy for a little bit of aerobic stimulation. During the day I’ll run stairs either with Carter or when he takes his nap. Carter has a bit of an obsession with going up and down the stairs so since I am on the stairs so much anyway I try to throw in a few sets of calf raises in there!
Commercial Breaks
I have a few shows that I watch every week--The Bachelor and The Biggest Loser among them….I feel guilty and slovenly when I watch T.V, so I’ve made a deal with myself: NO Sitting during commercials. During commercial breaks I do my ab workout. This makes me feel better about watching TV.
Snacks
I realized that I need a structure to my eating habits or else I eat junk all day. Since I am feeding Carter little snacks every couple of hours I’ve made it a habit to eat when Carter eats. Of course I only feed Carter healthy snacks so I end up eating several small, healthy meals. It works out great!
Human Weights
Carter is the perfect size to double as my little weight machine; he climbs on my back while I do push-ups and I do bicep curls with him in my arms. He has fun and I build muscle; it’s a win-win.

None of these things can totally replace the value of actually going to the gym or taking a good long run, but it’s better than nothing! I am still trying to find the balance in my life between being a good mom and taking care of myself too. I am finding that the better I feel about myself and my body the more energy I have and the better mom I am—I need to remember that!

The value of the sprint

Scott Schwab

The other day I had spoken about a legs workout that included sprinting in the regiment. I want to revisit the discussion and point out some of the benefits to sprinting. I think in many of our minds, once we are out of athletics formally; it is time to hang up the towel and stick strictly to a moderately difficult workout to an easy workout. Participants lift a little bit, tinker around with different exercises, and eventually lose interest and the gym is an after thought at best. We have pointed out many times through posts that you must be doing something that you enjoy, be consistent, and mix things up for mental sanity and muscle confusion. This being the key, start doing the things that you used to do back in the day(whatever that day is), or have seen others do and enjoy. I used to detest sprinting; partly due to that being a punishment in athletics for being late, talking, mistakes, etc. As I exited my sporting career I used to laugh and say, "sprinting, yeah if someone was chasing me or if I had a ball", then I would give the little laugh that you find at times in a country club setting. Not funny. Anyway, I started to look into the benefits of sprinting and doing more cardio. The bursts of speed and exertion get the heart going unlike long distance running does. This being said it is important to first warm up so you don't pull a hammy and your out for the season coach. Truth is, sprinting adds stamina, heart strength, leg power and strength, and muscle confusion. Doing a set of ladders, sprinting a forty, or mixing your speeds as you are going on a long distance run, will do more for you then spending hours on the weights. Weights have purpose, however; adding sprints to your workout will give you an edge that you will see in all areas of your life. It also gives you balance that will give you the overall health and body we are all looking for. When on a long distance run, choose a road sign, park bench, whatever, and sprint to it. Keep your run going at the pace that you were comfortable with. Also try intervals of 75% and others. This may not work for you if you are marathoning, but I can tell you that the benefits will take you to a level that you enjoy your workouts more and get the maximum time out of your gym experience.

Foundation for success

Jarran Joshu

Hello there-
Well I would like to start out by saying welcome to a great bloging site and I look forward to making this a regular thing. I was born and raised in Arizona and took a liking to being fit in life and accomplishing any and everything that I set my mind to at a young age. I have been fortunate in my life to meet and befriend a endless amount of very successful people. With that, I have come to realize that by far, the most important things that anyone can do to consistently achieve their goals is to educate themselves thoroughly on what it is that they want to accomplish. I find that far too many people have goals in life, yet only a vague understanding of how to actually get the desired results that he or she is seeking. So time after time, people give up or fail to achieve what it is that they wanted to do. (I.e. Individuals that are trying to lose a few extra pounds or get that toned beach body they have always wanted). People love to say, “I have been working out for years and I just cant get the body I want.” This is something that I hear day in and day out and I ask them the simple question, “What it is exactly that you want to accomplish?” 9 out of 10 times this is what follows; “umm…” and then a whole bunch of vague wishie washie answers. Do you think if you asked Irving Morrow, the architect that created the Golden Gate Bridge, how do you build a bridge he would say “umm…”? No, he would have an extremely definitive answer to that question. That is the mentality that most people are lacking, yet everyone should have, when it comes to trying to accomplish a goal. You should know without an inkling of a doubt, in your mind, specifically what your goal is, then educate yourself thoroughly on how to achieve it. I find that those two things are the foundation to be successful at what ever it may be that you put your mind to. If your goal is to be healthy and in shape; you should be exposing yourself to very reliable and educational information on how to do just that. Do not just keep going to the gym and doing what you think might be the right workout to get the desired results you’re seeking. Go ask a trainer, read a book, pick up a health and fitness magazine, or read my next blog. I appreciate the time you have spent reading this and your input is highly valued and encouraged, so feel free to ask away.

Plan your week

Scott Schwab
I wanted to take a quick second to talk about planning. Sunday can be one of those days that you look forward to the week ahead. One of the things that I do is plan with my wife our week of what we are doing and our schedule for the week. One of those things that we schedule at the first of the week is working out and the time that we will do it everyday. The reason for this is to make sure it is scheduled and set in stone. There are of course times where things come up, but it is easy to adjust when it is already planned, then trying to put something in when it is just an idea. You will be able to have more effective days, weeks, and months when a simple planning is done. Remember, "schedule your priorities, not prioritise your schedule". This advice is sound for all areas of life. With a little bit of planning, you can get a lot of things done, when otherwise a lack of plans prevents opportunity.
I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce a guest blogger for tomorrow. His name is Jarran Joshu. He is a personal friend and has achieved many great things in his life. He played division 1 baseball at ASU, where he enjoyed a successful career. At this time he was getting trained to be a personal trainer. He moved to L.A. to pursue acting and a life around friends and family. He found himself in a position of coaching boot camps and training many Hollywood stars. This led into a couple of opportunities with acting. He has had rolls in Transformers 1 and 2 coming out and spent time taping for ABC's wipeout. Please help me in introducing Jarran Joshu.

Aileen Taylor

Three and a half months had gone by. To be quite honest, I'd been training my whole life. So despite my regimented three and a half month schedule, I realistically had been mentally preparing my whole life to run. Running is something I'm not naturally good at. I have to work very hard at it and it has never become easy, despite what everyone said. Each day that I would put my running shoes on, I'd mentally struggle: to work out vs. not to work out - for more than an hour! I'd eventually coax myself into it. After breathing in the fresh air I would think to myself. "Why didn't I do this an hour ago?"
So here I was again, staring at my shoes. I'd eaten breakfast. Check. I'd gotten dressed. Check. I'd weighed myself. (A gentle reminder to exercise.) Check. My mp3 player was ready. Check. Now the hard part - actually exercising. But alas, I'd found a secret weapon! Want to know what it is? I'll tell you. ...In a minute.
The half marathon was in 7 weeks. It was my first. I'd run far distances before, but never competitively. And since I'm being honest today, I never measured distances "exactly". So I'd bluff a little on my distance every now and then... big deal. Not this time.
I knew training would be hard. I'm not a morning person. I knew I needed help. I turned to my secret weapon - drum roll please.... TA DA! - my husband! I imagine you were hoping for a better secret than that. But just hear me out. It is obvious, I'm no ray of sunshine in the morning. There was only one person in the world that could handle my "chipperness" - or lack thereof, especially when I needed his help the most. I knew he wanted me to run this race as much as I wanted to run the race. Want to know how he did it? Competition. WHAT? Was he just threatening to run this race faster than me? Not only did he want to run the half marathon with me, he wanted to run it faster.
Week one. I chuckled. I knew my husband couldn't run this race. Well, he could run it, but I knew he wouldn't finish it. At least I had a running buddy.
Week two. My husband was a sprinter. He'd (being the happy, morning person that he is) try to pep talk me into running faster. He'd hype up each run. Each mile marker, I'd hear a grunting (supposed to be motivational) power cheer. "Slow and steady wins the race," I'd think to myself - mostly so that I didn't just punch him in the face. I hoped he'd exhaust all his energy early on.
Week three. My husband was keeping pace with me. And he was keeping distance. At least I wasn't lonely on my trail run, but now I felt like I had a happy dog on my heels.
Week four. It was midsummer. We found ourselves having to wake up earlier each Saturday to get our distance run in before the sun would heat up. At least I had my husband to carry my water, that will help bog him down.
Week five. I'm starting to realize that my husband who never ran further than 3.5 miles in his life was a better runner than me. I thought running was my sport?
Week six. I need a strategy.
Week 7 - gunfire. The race was on.
We woke at 3am to drive to the race. We boarded the buses at 6am. We started the race at 7:30. Now that it was actually the race, I could feel my adrenaline pumping. I wondered where all these other people came from - I'd never seen nearly as many people training on the trails. My husband was excited. Chipper. We let the fastest runners pass us and decided to keep our training pace. It was too slow for my husband. Suddenly, my mental focus had been distracted as he consistently reminded me that we were going too slow. "You're kidding me! ...You are NOT going to allow that girl to pass you. ... An 80-year old. You're going to let an old man pass you too??" He'd beg me to run faster. I knew he could run faster. But I knew he believed in me and wanted to be there to help me cross the finish line. We continued to keep pace and ... run slow.
We were a quarter mile from the finish line. My husband was my running companion. But I'm competitive.
I instantly decided that I needed to sprint. I booked it. I had all this reserved energy left in me and I put my dial on turbo. I bolted so fast and ran across the finish line. I ran across the finish line, before my husband did. I will forever have a faster finish time than him on our very first distance race. I know, I'm a jerk. But that's besides the point. I just finished the half marathon! I actually did it. But I didn't do it alone.
It worked. My secret weapon - my loving husband - would wake up each morning and make me a smoothie so I would have energy for my runs. My husband believed in me. He wanted me to succeed. He wanted me to be healthy. He encouraged me to run (he could have easily begged me to finish something around the house that needed more attention). More than anything, he was at the finish line, with the proudest face and biggest smile. Not because he finished, but because I did. He knew that his secret weapon, competition, would motivate me enough to run that race - even if it was "faster" than him. He learned to enjoy something that never interested him, running. He'd inspired me to be a better runner.
In life, we are always confronted with hard things. Sometimes we're naturally good at it. Sometimes, as was my case, it was something I tried to "force" myself to enjoy and it was something I never really was good at. But over time, my inadequacies allowed me to finish a half marathon. Something many people never accomplish in their lifetimes. It's about perspective. If we believe we can do something, if we believe we are capable and if we have the discipline to do it - we can! Even if not immediately. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I quickly realized that although "I" wanted to have the faster finish time, although "I" wanted to run the race, although "I" wanted him to maintain my pace - at the end of the day, I didn't run that race alone. I was surrounded by winners. I had one right by my side the entire time.
Now, put your shoes on...

Its Friday night I need something to get into.....

Scott Schwab

I wanted to spend a little time to go over something that recently I have done some research on. Sleep is something that people are not getting enough of, and continues to have adverse affects on individuals. The biggest part to getting a good night sleep, is how you schedule your day. I know this sounds a little weird, but trust me on this. You need to get up in the early morning and start your day off right. I wrote earlier in the blogs history about starting your day off right and drinking a large glass of water. The equation is to take your body weight and divide it by 2. This is how much water you should be drinking in ounces;before 6 pm, so you are not up all night visiting the bathroom. The other thing is to stimulate your mind early in the day. Read a good book or the paper, or your daily blog. As you go throughout your day, try and avoid sugars, caffeine's, and processed foods as much as possible. It has so many negative affects including lagging through the day, low energy, crash phase, and lack of motivation. The other affect is a difficulty sleeping or staying asleep. Our lives are so based on continued stimulation and we are bombarded by constant media intrusion. With this, make sure that you are taking the time to think, meditate, and express yourself in writing form or verbally. The point is this; when you expend energy, you gain energy. Your body knows and has a clock based on sleep being apart of a day. Drinking water will flush the toxins out of your body and help you to feel renewed and clean. The exercise will give your body the healthy refuel and natural tired feeling that you should have at the end of the day. Finally, stimulating the mind through reading, meditating, and expressing yourself will allow you to be calm and relax at the end of the day because you have taken the time to think about the things of your day. This is why taking the time to relax and think will allow your brain to shut down at the end of the day. All of these things being done together work for your good and help you to establish and create consistency in your life. Just like a workout regiment, it is about starting a schedule and sticking to it. So begin tomorrow by scheduling your day and doing the things that will allow you to get some beauty rest. If you do not have a schedule your body will respond to your sleep patterns like it does to jet leg. It is fact, you cannot catch up on lost sleep.

I also wanted to introduce our guest blogger for tomorrow. Aileen Taylor, is not only family, but an inspiration to all of her friends and family with the courageous life she lives. A women who is very active with her workout schedule and has accomplished great feats with competing in races and even traveling in distance countries.

Back to the basics

J.C. Leach
Today I wanted to give a little insight on something that I believe is overlooked in the gym. The back. Too often people focus on attaining the “beach body” that they forget about the overall balance, in a workout regiment, that is needed to achieve the physique everyone is looking for.
I mentioned balance. It is important that you get an even workout for each body part. A good rule of thumb to know for the back, is to do counteractive lifts. By this I mean if you do flat bench one day, before you do flat bench again you should do seated rows. It is the same idea just reversed. Chest exercises are all in the pushing or pressing motion, while back is the opposite pulling or rowing motion. Doing body weight lifts are still my favorite things to do. Pull-ups are probably the best single, overall body workout. They include so many different muscles that doing only a few can make a huge difference in whatever you are trying to accomplish. So try starting off with them and ending with a few more.
Here are a few lifts that I prefer:
Pull-ups
Seated rows
Reverse flys
Body rows
Lat pull downs
Shrugs
Upright rows
Power cleans (for the experienced lifter)
Doing these or a few of these in a day will give you a much stronger back.
Now something that is a little more important and even less known is the core. There is a huge misconception of what the core and what core strength really is. I would say that about 75% of physically active people don’t fully understand it. When you think of the core what do you think of? Abs right? Well that is ONLY half of it. The lower back is just as important as the abdominal muscles, and just like your upper back, it needs to be as strong as your abs.
Here are a few core workouts that involve the lower back:
Front stabilizers or planks
Side stabilizers or planks
Reverse hypers
Incorporating these into an everyday ab routine would help tremendously with things like lower back pain. Remember to always stretch first and don’t leave out the cardio. Also, don’t forget the balance of the workout. It will benefit your physique and overall health.

Healthy feet

Scott Schwab

I thought that I would post on an area that is often over looked. So often we buy shoes for look or for fashion, but not comfort. We research who we will invest our money with, buying a home, places to eat, etc. On a scale of importance obviously investing money and buying a home are much more serious than buying shoes; or is it. I believe that the time spent in researching a shoe is well spent because if we do not take the time and educate ourselves on proper shoes for our feet, we may not be able to enjoy our later years. I am over exaggerating a tad, but the point is serious enough that I want to spend a little time. When a person does not have a good fitting shoe or a good quality shoe the whole body is at risk. Feet can bring a balance to the body or can bring the knees, ankles, joints, back, arches, and toes constant pain. When there is something wrong with our gait or our feet, the whole body is put into an alternative style and thus can have negative effects on the body. At times this may not be completely related by the shoe you wear, but it can be alleviated by wearing something comfortable. Shoes can wear out very quickly depending upon usage and miles walked. I have noticed that some shoes almost deflate like a tire. The effect of this is walking on the outside of your foot which will cause heal spurs, blisters, and leads to poor posture and having unhealthy ligaments, tendons, and bones. The point of the shoe is to protect against the elements in which we walk on, but should be used to support and advance the bodies health. Consistently the best long distance runners are from the Kenya region. Nike did a study on these athletes and found that because they train bare footed, that they develop necessary ligaments, tendons, and the actual bone of the foot. This way the runners avoid injury and damage to their entire body. Now I am not saying start walking everywhere bare footed. What I am saying though is finding a shoe fit for a purpose. If you are a runner, you already know that the shoe means everything to the run and the runner. However, if you are not and would like to get into running or lifting, do some research and don't be afraid to try on all different brands and types of shoes. Unfortunately, the employees of many shoe stores do not know what they are talking about. Fortunately there is a wealth of knowledge on the Internet. Know, there are many different shoes for different types of feet. I have a very high arch and very narrow feet. My buddy Sam has a flatter arch and wide feet. We do not wear the same shoes and never will. Know your feet and do the research, because in the end it will save you time, money, and your health.

I also would like to re introduce and welcome back our guest blogger J.C. Leach. Not only does he participate in the MMA style of fighting, he played College Baseball. He has a great knowledge on what is good for the body and how to stimulate your muscles properly. He will be posting for us tomorrow Wednesday the 25th.

Hip Hop Hips

Scott Schwab

I wanted to write about an area of the body that is worked all day long, but rarely are workouts pointed to the hips alone. I understand though why especially where everything is connected. You can do great workouts that are targeted to the butt, hamstrings, quads, etc. However the hips are so important to our walking, running, and daily life. The best thing to do is to start with stretching. You need to be flexible to benefit in all areas, but especially the hips and the amount that they are used. My favorite stretches for the hips are to stand up right with left foot over right and reach down to touch your toes. Repeat left to right so both hips are stretched. Afterwards get on your back and raise your knees towards your chest at a 45 degree angle with feet on the ground and then put your ankle, of one leg resting just above your knee on the other leg. It would be like you were sitting on the couch and rest your foot just above your knee in a relaxed position. On your back you will pull the foot that is on the ground towards your chest with the leg on the other knee and repeat for other side. The final stretch is done kneeling on one knee with the other knee in the air and foot on the ground. You will notice that the stretch will also work the hamies and butt, but make sure the foot is as far out in front of you as possible. You will want to rock back and forth slowly with your back in the straight up position. These 3 exercises should be done each week, but especially when you work the hips. Exercise #1, take a heavy dumbbell and hold it with both hands between your legs. Legs will be spread shoulder width apart. You will take the dumbbell and slowly squat with your back straight. This exercise is great because it will work other areas of the body as well. 10 reps, 4 sets. Exercise #2, it is a machine in most gyms that I have been to, but you will choose the desired weight and stand on a platform looking at the machine. Prop one leg up at a time on the raised arm of the machine. Set the arm of the machine high enough to the point that your distance moving the arm is as far as possible. You will bring the arm down towards the leg that you are standing on and supporting your body with on the platform. Repeat for each side 10 reps and 4 sets. Exercise #3, You may have to get this from the trainers while at the gym, but it is well worth it. Take an elastic tubing band and put it around both of your ankles. You will want to spread your ankles as far as you can while being able to walk. Doing this will really focus on your hip flexor. Go into the basketball court or find a free area that you can walk at least 20 feet. Walk the distance there and back 4 times. Focus on keeping good posture and taking medium strides. Exercise #4 is another machine that I have seen at many gyms. You sit down and have the weighted arms directly in front of your knees. You will adjust the weight and distance that these arms are to either side of your knees. The exercise also works the groin area very well. Put the arms as far to either side as possible. The machine has you with your legs bring in the two arms to center as if your legs were together, knees touching. Put as much weight as you can handle because this exercise also has a great way of working the inner thighs and getting a good stretch for the entire area. You will love the workout and make sure that stretch with the exercises as well. Another bit of advice that I will give to everyone especially myself is to find some type of yoga class, even if it is only for once in a week for 30 minutes, so that you can get your stretching done. Make sure you stretch everyday, but once in a week, do an in depth stretch. Jerry Rice was quoted as saying the reason that he feels that he had the career he had and was able to avoid injury is because he spent as much time stretching as he did lifting and running.

Avoiding the No's in life

Scott Schwab
I wanted to see if today I could touch on a couple of the points of health with one post successfully. I read the other day that a child will hear the word no or something close too that 148000 times in there growing years. That is incredible, but what is even more incredible is how that prepares our minds. The author points out that the human mind becomes conditioned to hearing No's and therefore reacts negatively to them. No is something that is a part of life; however, if we do not learn to hear them and respond appropriately to them we will not accomplish our goals. For instance, with my experience in sales, no does not mean no the first time you hear it. It means I don't understand, or I think I understand and my current education leads me to believe that I am fine. The person may be fine in their current situation, but I know in many instances that they could be better off, have more satisfaction, and get the value that they perceive to be getting from the product. Other times no does mean no, but it does not mean quit your life, stop existing, growing, or bettering yourself. The point of this ramble is this; if we always listen to the No's that we hear from others and hear from ourselves we are literally stealing away life's experiences and a chance at growth. The negativity alone that is communicated through the word no has a debilitating effect on our desire. We need to tone our ears to what the No's mean in our life. When setting up a workout plan, it is wise to say the things that you will do; not I will not do this, or not eat this, etc.. The reason behind this is those are things that likely are part of your life at that current time and when a person does that thing or may not be as resilient to begin a regiment, the mind says well, you tried, lets get back to being our old selves. We should build ourselves through the positive form of speaking. Such as, I will workout today no matter how tired I am. Set it as a commitment and follow through. Remember that something has to be done 21 days to become a habit. You will definitely experience challenges and potential No's within that time frame and it is important to turn the no into a yes I can, and yes I will. Try this in all areas of your life. The simple yet powerful change makes a big difference. As a visual example I would like to present to you my friend Vincent. He refused the No's and said Yes I can in a way that I have never seen in my life. Copy and paste the link into the address bar. Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6qJ7LZNlg&feature=PlayList&p=D418691BE04741A9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3

Happiness is a decision

Kimmi Cowley

“Happiness is a decision.” True happiness stems from great friends…family and good health. The decisions we make on an everyday basis have a huge impact on each of these areas. It is never too late to start making decisions to improve our happiness. My name is Kimmy Cowley and I am 19. As Scott mentioned, I am a busy college student, I have a job and still find time to work out regularly! While growing up I was always involved in something active whether it was dance, cheer, track or even riding bikes with my friends. I find that on days when I am active, I feel more energetic, productive and happy. I decide to start each day with an up-beat attitude and look for ways to improve myself. My personal goal is go to the gym at least five times a week and do cardio and weight lifting. I run 5 miles on the elliptical each time and lift weights using free weights at least 2 times a week. I like to stand on an upside down Bosu while working my biceps, shoulders and even squats to work on my core and balance as well. Each morning I start off with breakfast such as a fruit smoothie and scrambled eggs. I find when I eat breakfast, I am not as hungry throughout the day! Whenever I feel an urge to eat between meals, I eat fruit to keep me satisfied.Many people get frustrated when they start diets and working out because they don’t see change right away. We need to think of it as improvement in the long run. I start by making small goals that I am able to accomplish in that day. Such as….’Today I am going to run 2 miles’. By doing this, it gives me hope that I can do bigger and greater things. Each day, I add a little more to progress and change it up a bit. Start including goals to make healthier choices on what you eat. I try not to eliminate things out my diet because then I just crave them more. To eliminate sounds so negative over something I love so much(my craving is skittles). So I change a negative into a positive and focus on finding healthier choices that I also like. I choose to eat dried fruit such as raisins, crasins and prunes. NO really!!!! I LOVE dried prunes from Trader Joe’s!Remember our happiness begins with ourselves and our personal daily decision making. Making good decisions and taking control will improve our personal healthy lifestyle. It will also improve our relationships with family and friends because of our decision to wake up in the morning with an up-beat attitude.

Be your best self

Scott Schwab

Your best self is a mixture or balance of physical, mental, and spiritual. Now I want to clarify my goals with this post. I do not plan to get into religion or types of beliefs, because I do believe that it is personal. However, I do generally want to speak of spirituality being separate to religion, even though at times people consider spirituality the same thing as religion. It has been the need of human nature since the beginning of time to worship and to believe in something larger than themselves. To many people this is God, Deity, or spiritual powers/spiritual being. Beliefs also stem into the power of self and things that are created by nature or evolution. Whatever your belief system is; believe in yourself, and the power that you have within yourself to become more. My personal belief is that we were created by a higher power and are all very unique. With being unique, all of us have the power to influence and change things in our lives and the lives of others. Perhaps that is why we are here on this earth, to help others. I do believe that it is human nature to desire a better place in life and progression is no secret. We have spoken many times about exercise and the power of the mind. The question though is; how does this relate to spirituality? As we have spoken before the power of the body is compounded when the person has balance and alignment. Spirituality is something that I believe to be the biggest area of our balance. Human nature seems to desire more and to worship something bigger than ourselves. It is apparent that we must find something to feel that need. Some find it through church, reading, and/or meditation. I believe that there is room for all of the above. The goal is to find comfort and to find happiness. Explore what you believe and find something that will align you with how you feel. Endorphins are natural energy and they are created in heavy doses when a person knows how they fit in this world and what they believe. Spend a little time exploring yourself and researching what spirituality is. Once you find it for yourself, give all your effort to building that area, like a muscle. It takes time and effort, but when the effort is given, you will receive the benefits. This is how we can be our best self. Find balance and take the time to build your spiritual side.

I wanted to also introduce our guest blogger for tomorrow. Her name Kimmi Cowley and she is a great friend and someone who has incredible discipline with her exercise regiment. She will be speaking to us about what she does for her workout and weekly tips to stay in shape and have the energy for a busy full time college student, employee, and social light.

Legs

Scott Schwab

I wanted to post on the one muscle group that most of us work everyday all day long. Our legs are so key to our general physical health and ability. I have a workout that is sure to get the legs worked properly and extend the work out to your entire body. I am a huge proponent of getting a whole body workout and working your abs as much as possible. This workout will require you to do 3 stations and end with sprints if you are feeling it. You will start with the squat bar and do progressive sets increasing the weight each set. Your goal should be to do 10 reps per each set. I will usually start with 45's on either side, and do my 10 reps, and then add 25's, 35's, and finally 45's to end with 225 10 times. I do not max out, one because I don't have a spotter and the other because I incorporate a couple of other exercises to get my entire workout. The squat is one of those workouts that is great for the entire body; and here are a couple more. In between your sets with the squat you will go over to a bench and situate yourself looking at the bar of the bench, but at the end of the bench. Your goal will be to jump side to side and over the bench 20 times as fast as you can. Start with the 20 and you can work up from there. You can do the 20 reps in 4 separate sets. (This is station two after your squat). Station 3 and your final stage for the day is to do lunges. These are slightly different because you will want to take dumb-bells of average weight(35 pounds) and hold them down at thigh level. Choose a 20 yd distance in the gym and lunge baby lunge. The purpose is to make them tight and solid. Don't worry about speed or stride. Keep it normal like your regular stride. As you get to the one side you are not done. Turn around and place the dumb-bells as if you were resting them on your shoulders, hands facing forward. The difference is putting the weight in a different area and will work the body in an entirely different way that you will love. The other secret with all of this is to flex your abs as much as you can through the workout, especially for the squats and the lunges; it is difficult to flex your abs as you are doing the parallel jump over the bench. Anyway if this is not enough and you have some more energy, do 10 sprints progressively faster with 30 second rests between the sprints. I love this work out and do it once a week. I promise you will be sore the first couple of days, but it is that good soreness that will drive you harder. Let me know what you think and shoot me a comment or email after you try it. Good Luck

Power of the mind

Scott Schwab

This blog has been dedicated to the health of individuals in all areas. When we started the blog, we had decided that we would include the areas of mental health or awareness within our posts. I have been anxiously engaged in reading a book called Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. It is an older book but teaches timeless principles. That is what I like so much about the book so far. I am half way through, but the book is really speaking to my soul. I would like to share a couple of ideas that I have picked up from the book in hopes to get all of you to pick up the book as well. The book speaks about the idea of achieving anything that you put into your mind. There is an incredible story about his son who was born virtually deaf. He refused to believe the doctor and continually worked with his son. It seemed that his son could hear very well when combined with vibrations that come through his facial bones and skull. He also input into the mind of his son that he was incredible and that he, in fact, had an advantage to those who could hear completely. The point that the author made is this; you can make yourselves believe anything if you tell yourself that thing enough times. He suggests that once you take something from the conscious to the sub-conscious, you begin to take thoughts and actually visualize them into action. He has a couple of tips that I cannot share based on a strong encouragement to read the book. I honestly believe that you will miss out on life if you do not read this book. It is one of the most captivating reads I have ever had. On a final note. Remember that we can do anything, become anything, as long as we will put the energy into working for and preparing for the thing we want most. "Take the sum total of what you think about most, and that is who you are." Let me be clear, I have not scratched the surface of what I can become, but I know that if I can tell myself exactly what I want to do and how I would like to do it, I will become. The power of the mind is so incredible, I am literally taken back. Furthermore, if we can tap into the ability to dictate what we will do and how we will do it, we will unlock the potential and ability to accomplish all things. I believe that the only limitation that we have is ourselves. Come up with a clear idea of what, how, and who you would like to be. After that get this book and read it. The book will help you sort everything else out. This relates to your physical health very simply. A healthy mind is a healthy body.

8 pack abs

Scott Schwab

These days it seems like there is an obsession with abs. The six pack ab articles are everywhere. Do a general search and you will have enough tips for days on how to get those abs. Well I thought of a show that I have seen that made me think and made me laugh. It is Something about Mary. In the show Ben Stiller picks up a hitch hiker and the hitch hiker proceeds to tell Ben about 6 minute abs that he is going to come out with to revolutionize the market. Ben Stiller listens and in a way that only he could do, he suggests, well what if someone comes out with 5 minute abs. The hitch hiker gets enraged and says; "no, it cannot be 5 because he was doing 6". Well the point is; there are all sorts of ideas about how to get those 6 pack abs, but you need to know your abs. What I mean by this is getting to the point where you exercise your core(abs) everyday. This means doing something for your abs that is working them differently everyday. An earlier post I wrote about an exercise that is sure to rip any ones mid-section back into shape. Refer to that if you never tried it, because you will thank me. I wanted to speak about an exercise that I include in my weekly routine. Get a large exercise ball and some dumb bells to start. It is very important to get a low weight so as not to injure yourself. Lay down on the ball and bring the dumb bells over your head as far back as you can reach. Take them to the floor and back above your head as if you were looking at them completely extended above your head. Do this 10-20 times at 4 reps. The most important thing to this exercise though is your breathing. you will want to breath all your air out of your lungs and then do short stints of pushing all the air out while flexing your abs. It is like the sound of a snake in short intervals until there is "no air, no aiiiirr" (Jordin Sparks), if you catch my drift. Just kidding. Anyway you need to also take time to rock back and forth with the weights in your hands to where your head is almost touching the ground. These three exercises will work your abs in such a different way than you are used to, you will be coming back for more each week and be able to get those 8 pack abs that are there, but require just a little more work than the 6 pack abs. Let me know if you have any questions but again the key is your breathing and flexing your abs the entire time! Good Luck

Pitch the pork.

Drew Cavner
Whether it's meat that you're trying to cut out of your diet as a whole, or it's just a certain type, read forward. Many people these days choose not to eat specific meats for their own specific reasons, have it be; religion, personal morals, or just pure taste and texture. Regardless, I believe that out of all the meats, regardless of what your stance is, you should avoid pork. Pork comes from pig. The pig is one of man's grossest creatures. Sure, they might be clean on the outside, but they are the closest thing to a garbage disposal that you can get. Pigs are known for eating their own feces, garbage, other pigs, and even humans ( mostly mob situations but hey ). You are what you eat. If you choose to eat pork you may be agreeing to things that you have no idea about. My main concern with eating pork is the extremely high cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is secreted when the body feels that it is under attack. It's the main hormone other than adreneline that is released when the body goes into fight or flight mode. Cortisol is also responsible for holding fat and water, but it's main objective is to eat away at muscle tissue. Ever wonder why someone going through a rough time in their life seems to put on a few extra pounds, or vise versa. The person's body will begin to retain water/ hold fat, and eat away at muscle. The main reason why pigs have such high cortisol levels is because of the way that they are slaughtered. Every pig at the slaughter house knows that their time is up. They know that they are going to die before they are actually killed, and this causes a huge release of cortisol throughout their body. Think of it like this. If someone puts a gun to your head and says they are going to kill you, other than peeing your pants, you are going to freak out. Large amounts of cortisol would be released before you are killed. If say, you die in your sleep, lower amounts of cortisol would be released, hence juicier meat.haha Moral of the story. No mo' po'.

Keeping a sane mind

Scott Schwab

I am sure that each of you can remember a time in which you were confined to the walls of a home and not able to get out and enjoy an activity. I am there right now and not doing so good. I need to get out and enjoy some sun. If we hadn't just received a gracious sprinkling of the beautiful white stuff, I would probably go for a drive. However, I started to diagnose the way that I am feeling and I guess it is pretty common. As a person is sick and unable to do their normal activity a form of gloom sets in. This can continue for weeks, months, even years in some cases. The fact is though, that one must decide upon being happy to eliminate the gloom. I realize that there are situations when chemical imbalance is part of the gloom and for this medication is best set. However, lets not think that medication is our only avenue to escape the gloom. I personally know that there have been times in my life, where medication could have been a possible choice and maybe preferred. I read an article once that talked about the value of going through difficult times, with the perspective that the experience is forging a better you. I believe this and know it to be true. The process of making steal, is a very hot and somewhat tedious process. The hotter the flame the stronger the steal. I would like to use this in reference to ourselves and our personal progression. Situations present themselves where we must make a choice to continue strong in the fire, or fold our cards. Whatever the choice make sure that you are not allowing yourself the easy way out. You got to know when to hold em, and know when to fold them, but also realize that we do nothing for ourselves and our personal progression when we give up. In reference now to my personal sanity, I will choose to get back to the activities that I know, and time has proven, make me healthy and make me happy. It will be a small start and something that will definitely take time. To eliminate my gloom I know that I need to think positive, not sweat the small stuff, and exercise the body that I have been given as thoroughly as possible. Here is a clip which to me clearly shows the reasons for continuing in the face of everything destined to hold you back or say that you cant. YOU CAN! and YOU WILL! because YOU MUST! If you don't nobody else will. You may have seen this video, it is one of my favorites. Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRHxHapwirw

Healthy Snack Ideas

Chandi Schwab
I thought that it would be fun to share with you some healthy snack ideas to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. I usually eat three small meals a day with healthy snacks between and sometimes if I am hungry a healthy snack at night.(Especially where I am pregnant)

*One of my favorites is a smoothie that I usually have after I workout (One scoop of lean protein,handful of frozen berries,one cup of water, and a banana. Sometimes lowfat yogurt)

*A small bowl of skim milk and Wheaties(maybe some banana on top)

*Whole Wheat toast without butter and soft boild egg spread on the top (I also use tuna)

*Cut up berries and fruit (whatever you have) mixed into lowfat yogurt.(I like YoPlus)

*Reduced fat Wheat Thins or triscuits dipped in Fat Free/Low Fat cottage cheese (You can also add seasoning to the cottage cheese and dip carrots,broccoli,snow peas, and such)I also love pickles

*Veggies dipped in hummus is delicious!

*Whole Wheat Pitas with fat free cottage cheese, tomato, lettuce, and turkey.

*Make trailmix (Craisins, almonds, cashews, dried fruit)

*Drink a ton of water!!!!!

*My nightime snack is usually an Orange, Apple, Plum, or Grapes (sometimes I dip it in Yoplus yogurt(Sweet and satisfying)


Please know that I am not a perfect eater. I make sure that I am able to enjoy desserts and my favorite foods.Especially for speacial occassions and get togethers. It is imortant not to deprive yourself. My continual goal is the same.I always try to get right back on track the following day. Please share some of your favorite healthy snacks in the comment box.I would love ideas and I am sure so would others.

Benefits of exercise to prevent sickness

Scott Schwab

Interestingly enough I have a new experience that I can share with everyone. I flew home yesterday from Columbus Ohio after a week of work. Wednesday night I slept horribly with spells of sweating and the chills. I really was scared though when I started to cough up blood. When I flew home I went to the doctor and unfortunately I have pneumonia... I have always been very healthy and had normal colds here and there, but mostly healthy. I am struggling right now because I have to stay home for the next 10 days with no exercise and no outdoors. I am grateful for a doctor that is more intelligent than I am and can give me good feedback. I also know through the conversation that my condition would be much worse if I had not been physically healthy. I believe that the reason that I am not in the hospital is because of the exercise and cardiovascular health that I have. According to the Doc my left lung is completely encased in a mucus ball, but I should be able to return to normal activity within the month. So my point to this post is to again, push the need for constant improvement and a consistent exercise. As you exercise it is proven that you will avoid more sickness in your lifetime. Also when in the event that you do get sick, your healing time will be shorter and you can get back to the things you truly enjoy. Enjoy the simple things. This weekend go for a walk, have fun working outside, or do something for your body. Appreciate what you have because for me, I will be reading a book and wishing I could be outside getting some form of exercise. Have a safe and great weekend.

Exercise promotes health

Scott Schwab

The title is very obvious and may not give the justice that the post will. The last week I have been traveling and have noticed some things about my diet, exercise, or lack there of. It is really a difficult thing to travel and maintain a good workout schedule and a healthy diet. I have mentioned this before in a previous post, but I want to revisit the idea. As I have been in Columbus Ohio I was able to lift one day and play racquetball one day. However, the eating out constantly and the brutal schedule took its toll on my body. The last couple of days I have been so sick that I could barely move. I do not get migraines ever and I think I know now how it feels. The nausea, sensitivity to light, to noise. Here is what I learned from my own body. As your body gets used to a particular way of living or a schedule, it will reject the things that don't fall within the schedule. I have noticed it as I have eaten deserts, rich foods, processed foods, etc. Towards the end of my trip I finally did something that I should have done from the beginning. I went to the store and picked up bananas, apples, oranges, orange juice, yogurts, etc.... The body is such an amazing tool and if we can use it correctly we can for the most part avoid the petty sicknesses and colds. Colds that are brought on by inconsistency, imbalance, and lack of schedule. I can say one thing for sure, I have learned that it is not worth the time off that you think you can give your body. Exercise is the fuel for the body and like a car, if ran on empty the fuel filter can get clogged from all the crap that finds its way into our vehicles and ultimately cause for a costly repair or replacement. Don't wait for the repairs or replacement. Live to be consistent and committed today. You will feel better, have more energy, and be more productive. It is a great chain reaction.

Motivation part 2

Scott Schwab
The other day we mentioned motivation as a key factor to our health. I wanted to continue that post and possibly add some thoughts and pointers. We reviewed the basics of motivation and what is the foundation of motivation. Now with knowing the two types lets look at how to apply motivation. One is not really motivated unless there is an action that follows the initial thought. See, the motivation can be formed by sight, sound touch, but the strongest motivation comes from within. As the feelings continue inside the person has the option to act or not to act. Action is the key! We can feel motivation but if we do not do anything about it we lose the effect of the motivation. Motivation creates the feeling for action, which creates the production of endorphins. The goal in all of this is to take motivation and use it for what you are wanting to accomplish. This can help with any area needed, but must require action. In summary become a person of action. Do what you need to do to discover yourself, which is a lifetime achievement. However, if we sit in the back seat and allow others to drive and have low inhibitions we will not accomplish anything including using motivation properly. Today and for now on make it certain that you will use motivation for action. Action for accomplishments, and accomplishment for further opportunity and triumph. Exercise is something that is a decision. Make the decision that you will exercise and commit yourself to become your best. One cannot become their best unless the physical side is present and exercise is included. Read back through the previous posts and pick something that will work for you, or start with something that you know you will enjoy. Try something new and keep the excitement alive. A person will not continue something usually; unless they are enjoying it. Muscle confusion and changing your diets are and regiment should also be considered.