What A Coincidence

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Sean

Money and greed consistently come up as the main underlying drivers behind why so many industries thrive on the public being increasingly fat and sick. To completely avoid this predicament, here is a quick summary of the advice I give anyone on how to become exceedingly lean, strong and healthy:

  1. human evolutionary diet<(70-80% of your total calories). Avoid dairy and grains as much as possible. When eating non-evolutionary foods, make sure they are as unprocessed as possible
  2. Move your body ONLY in ways that make you happy– we’ll call that “exercise”
  3. Build musclevia the fastest, most productive, efficient and beneficial method known. That is,strength trainusing the most scientifically advanced principles available.

What a coincidence that practicing these truly effective ideas will provide practically NO $ revenue for:

  • Fast food and chain restaurants for their low quality food
  • Expensive diet plans and books or programs with expensive meal plans
  • Expensive gyms with ideas that exhaust us but get us nowhere
  • Expensive, repetitive personal training that provides us with no permanent success
  • Expensive exercise plans or gadgets that work temporarily or not at all
  • The pharmaceutical industry for their drugs to treat diet-related chronic diseases
  • The medical industry for treatment of the same preventable diet-related chronic diseases

Let’em starve!

…just like we used to, by trying to undo the damage of their horribly fattening and unhealthy food and tortuously ineffective but expensive ideas that did nothing but keep us fat and sick.

We are talking about $ trillions of dollars here – literally! It’s your money, not theirs. Now some of that money would no doubt instead go directly to small farmers and their local farmers markets. Some of it may go towards some equipment, lessons or travel for fun activities or sports. Some of it may also go towards proven training methodologies that actually build functional muscle and keep us fit and healthy. Most of it though would stay right in your bank account – right where it belongs.

And of course, if you’re looking for an all-natural diet and fitness plan to guide you, we’ve developed “The Eco-Diet.” It’s a scientifically sound program based on the same diet our ancestors followed for thousands of years.

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What?…So Looking Like This Isn’t Good Enough For You!?!

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Sean

Most of the folks who join our gym have never been to a real strength training facility. Racks, platforms, chains and chalk are mostly new to them. We try and get people as comfortable as possible with the new equipment and methods. This way they can begin to benefit right away.

A lot of this enlightenment to functional strength training involves clearing up the differences between the methods, goals and benefits of bodybuilding vs. those of strength training. We then try and explain how they are connected in some great ways and how one helps the other. This way, people have the tools to reach their individual goals in the most expedient way.

Nonetheless, typical questions from many of our new folks, especially younger guys include “When are you getting a Preachers curl?” or “Where is the decline bench”. They also ask why we don’t have mirrors in front or our racks and platforms so they can “watch themselves”. When asked why they want this equipment, the specific answers include, “well, I really want to work on developing a sharper peak on my biceps” or “I want to chisel up the bottom of my pec muscles” (Did I mention that these questions are almost always from younger guys?).

You can pretty much bet that these guys did not take us up on our free instruction for squats, bench pressing, dead-lifts and standing presses. Nor did they ask for our recommendations on diet. Nor are they doing any of the primary assistance exercises like dips, Romanian dead-lifts or chin-ups. Nor did they review our brief summary of the physiological rationale behind making absolute strength in certain primary indicator exercises (like squats or bench presses) the number one goal. Ditto on learning how muscle fibers (cells) engage, or the benefits of explosive, intense neuromuscular efforts, or optimal programming. Nope, they just come in and do curls and some other cool looking stuff they saw in the latest edition of their favorite body-building magazine – over and over and over again.

This is when we need to reiterate the differences between body building and strength training. Luckily, the big increases in muscle mass they attach to bodybuilding will be an inherent result of the strength training program we put them on. On the contrary, if they just concentrate on pure body-building, the many benefits of the strength training will be lost. Back to their questions and intentions regarding looking like the top pro-bodybuilders. Our reply: “Trust us, male or female I promise that looking like any of these folks will bring you complete satisfaction with your physical aesthetic:

Okay, this may be where extreme athleticism ends – it’s a really good ending!  Funny thing is, I see a lot of amateur athletes and weekend warriors who look just as good – this is entirely attainable! Further, these ladies and men are far more functional and healthier relative to their counter-parts at the extreme end of professional body-building:

Interestingly, many top athletes have physiques that look very similar to the natural drug-free bodybuilders who get much less attention than the biggest ones who must take a plethora of drugs just to be competitive.  Natural bodybuilding though, can take even more hard work, time and effort than the version rife with drugs since even more increased dieting, time at the gym and cardio exercise must take the place of pharmaceuticals.

Please, don’t get me wrong here.  There is nothing wrong with body-building!  We all body-build! Anyone who tells you they do not want to look “jacked” in their underwear is lying.  I just want good looking muscle without all that hard work and sacrifice.  Also, I want it to stay that way all the time.  I don’t want to look really good for just one day when I get up on a stage and pose.  If you put function (strength, power, speed) ahead of form on your priority list, some wonderful things begin to happen:

  • By putting optimal function first, instead of just maximizing muscular size we end up getting both.  (This does not work the other way around)
  • Far less time at the gym is required – shorter workouts (roughly an hour or less) Far less visits to the gym are required – 2 or 3 per week will be just fine
  • Improving function will inevitably involve higher intensities and that means equally increased periods of rest and relaxation to recover – (why we’re at the gym less)
  • Increased bone, tendon, nervous system strength and improvements in concentration
  • Greater fat loss occurs since the increased intensities of functional training will increase and prolong our resting metabolic rate (which will burn fat all of the time)
  • The fastest and largest muscle fibers are engaged, along with the full spectrum of other smaller fibers – that’s why this is the most efficient way to resistance train
  • You create a much stronger hormonal response building a base for much greater muscle growth and size, if and where you want it
  • YOU STILL GET THE GREAT LOOKING MUSCLE!

Yes, you will still get great looking, dense muscle.  You can still look like much like a natural bodybuilder.  Now though, your muscle won’t just look good, but it will do something!  You can also look more like the athletes from the first set of pictures.  The great news is that you will look like this pretty much all of the time and be exceedingly healthy, strong and as functional as possible.  But it’s gets even better because we can use bodybuilding tricks selectively, any time we want to build mass on a particular body part.  For guys, this is usually bigger arms, shoulders, legs, or whatever body parts you wish.

We can also steal a few bodybuilding tricks for getting that really lean look.  A Paleo diet produces the same or better long term results than the high protein, low-carb diets so popular today.  Further, it already naturally includes ketosis, carb-cycling and many of these other effective fat burning ideas.  Many of those ideas are used in bodybuilding, but not within the healthy and sound context of naturally raised meats or other elements of what is proven evolutionary science related to our food.

Bodybuilders are very adept at losing only body fat.  By keeping their “cardio” work really low in intensity such that they are burning off only body fat.  This will be accomplished for us by participating in sports or activities outside of the gym.  This will not only be more enjoyable, but much less painful than killing ourselves on some treadmill set at the steepest incline and turned up to the highest speed.

We can use some of their methods surgically as we need them and simply incorporate them into our strength program.  We can get all this without the incredible sacrifice and time in the gym that most bodybuilders must undergo to get to their temporary competition state.  With this simple strategy, we can have our cake and we can eat it too!

Again, I don’t think there is anything wrong with bodybuilding.  Personally, I don’t have the desire, discipline or work ethic to thrive at this endeavor.  It is an extremely taxing (perhaps the most taxing) physical activity both physically and mentally.  Every one of the bodybuilders I have spoken with, even at the lowest amateur levels has described the work, sacrifice and time involved to be excessive.  For most it is simply impractical to maintain on a consistent basis.  The endless hours in the gym and dieting to get to such a low body fat percentage puts them in a world of solitude described as nothing short of “lonely”.  Further, the hyper competitive nature of this sport can become physically dangerous with extreme forms of drugs, dieting, and de-hydration.  A few of these guys have described their physical and mental state just before a contest as “numb”.

I believe we get confused because in our busy lives bodybuilding is what we are mostly exposed to in the media as the means and end result of diet and fitness.  Most of the fitness information we are sold simply says “if you do this, you will look these huge, shiny, muscle people…really!”

The reality is that most of us will never have the time or interest to endure such physical hardship.  Still, the vast majority of the public would love to appear at least a little more like the super-muscled bodybuilders (at least the natural ones) who adorn so many popular magazine covers.  With a good strength training program that is a realistic, reasonable goal that we will actually accomplish. That we can do!

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My Trip to the Spa

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Sean

Just the other day I made a trip to one of the most expensive spa’s in town.  I visited this place to buy a gift certificate for a lady friend of mine.  Having lived a good part of my life in Miami Beach I have been surrounded by these places but have certainly never experienced their services.  I know that many of my friends’ wives just love visiting these places.  This was an enlightening visit for me.  I knew there would likely be stuff like facials and massages, but had no idea that all there was a whole bunch of other stuff on the menu, including the following:

  • Lavender Manicure
  • Rosemary Mint Pedicure
  • Power – Wash Pedicure
  • Gentleman’s Hot Towel Facial
  • Hand and foot reflexology
  • Warm stone therapy (they put hot rocks on you and let them just sit there….I guess)
  • Opulence Infusion (Opu-infa who’a what’a?)
  • Souffle Wrap (I don’t know what the hell this is, but don’t you cook a “soufflé”?)
  • Reiki Therapy (A therapist “channels” energy and transmits it to you!  Seriously?!?)
  • French Pear and Chocolate Dip (They literally paint you with pear and chocolate sauce!… this is the only one I liked, because I would just eat the bowl of sauce and take a nap)

(Note:  if you are a Dude and you are buying into this stuff, you need to come to MY spa.  It’s free.  The first treatment involves a fire hose, you, and a concrete wall.  The second one is our “tenderize the sense back into you” treatment.  Here we will simply beat you about the head and body with a “kendo” stick (like a wooden Samurai sword) until we knock some sense back into you)

Most of the daily packages for combinations of these items were around the $500.00 mark and lasted for just a few short hours.

These and other “spa” treatments seem to be the interface between what most of us understand to be “fitness” and the world of “health and beauty”.  There are almost always really fancy “health clubs” attached to these spas; full of shiny muscle-isolating gym equipment, expensive personal trainers and other assorted, overpriced ancillary services.  Some include iced smoothie cappuccino’s, tanning beds, eucalyptus rooms, various forms of massage and other exclusive personal services.  This is where these two worlds overlap and a patchwork of “treatments” arise. The prices for this stuff go WAY up, but physical effort is replaced with a strange “Give us LOTS of your money…now just lie there and we’ll take care your problems” philosophy.

If you have the money and this stuff makes you FEEL better, then who can argue.  But if you think this world of suedo-solutions will really help make you attractive I believe you are sadly mistaken.  Whether you are male or female, the idea that this over-priced nonsense will get people in a crowded room to turn their heads, glue their eyes to you and say, DAAAMMMMNNNNN!!!!! when you walk in is an illusion.  It’s like treating horribly severed artery that is bleeding all over the place with a cute looking little band-aid.   The sad reality is that these expensive treatments will simply not improve someone’s true physical magnetism.  I’m quite sure this hard truth is exposed every day.  Consider the example of meeting someone who at first glance “seems” to be physically attractive.  Yet, upon separation from their beautiful designer clothes, make-up and their expensive accessories, they are quickly revealed to be a soft, sickly mixture of unhealthy skin, fat and bone.  Male or female – this is not the stuff of raw, sexual animal magnetism – quite the opposite.  All this stuff represents an illusion.  It is nothing but a sad and deceitful façade; far worse for the poor souls who merely treat the symptoms instead of solving their real health and fitness problems.

I remember hearing a Brazilian super-model talk about how she loved to wear just oversize, men’s shirts when she was off work.  She didn’t bother with accessories or make-up, or any of the other stuff she was surrounded by when working in her industry.  It reminded me that the purpose of all that stuff was to create beauty where it may not exist.  This seemed rather contradictory.  If we were trying to be more like our archetypes of real physical beauty; why wouldn’t we do things then to be more like them?  These things would directly improve our physical health and raw sexual attractiveness.  That would lead us first to truly healthy food; then to exercise that improved our physical function and appearance (ideally both at the same time).  This is a responsible “inside-out” approach.  Only then would these far less important, superfluous self-improvements be even remotely relevant.

Why wouldn’t we spend the vast majority of our time, effort and money DIRECTLY on that stuff FIRST?  True sexual virility, physical beauty and health will always blast through to our senses!  Beautiful muscle tone, skin, hair, vitality and health are all irresistible!  Just ask yourself:  “Am I eating foods and doing exercise that will optimally improve how I will look naked?”  If the answer is no, rest assured that the use of over-priced, ineffective physical camouflage in an attempt to substitute for true health and virility is a foolhardy, pathetic and in the end tragic endeavor.

I contrast spa-junkies to many of the physically stunning ladies at my gym.  They regularly lift heavy free weights with chains attached.  They push and pull weighted sleds and prowlers among other great exercises.  Their physical beauty is quite literally impossible to miss.  I see them turn heads in a crowded room every day!  On many occasions I have been approached by ladies who have just joined the gym who ask “Can you please tell me how I can look like her?” while pointing to one of these ladies.  They are always surprised to hear that these gorgeous females eat as much as they want and spend almost no time on repetitive gym cardio machines.  Many of these beautiful women are new moms and their “cardio” is regularly pushing the baby carriage while window shopping or otherwise.  When I mention that their gym exercises mostly involve heavy dead-lifts, squats and presses, those inquiring are always surprised.

I am sure any of these attractive ladies at my gym would enjoy a relaxing day at the spa as much as anyone.  They just don’t need it to enhance their robust physical vitality and beauty.  Clearly, they have already achieved those things.

And if you’re not share where to start with a decent diet plan, start here with the Eco-Diet. I’ve developed it after years of research and working with thousands of people to help them lose weight naturally and without expensive pills and supplements. It’s the same plan our ancestors followed for thousands of years.

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Diet and Fitness-Here We Go Again

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Sean

Almost every day people drop by the gym that I run with a physical goal they wish to achieve. Occasionally, some of these folks actually tell me how they are going to achieve success. I always scratch my head and wonder why they are asking me questions then about how to get into better shape?

The first part the journey to permanent success will always be diet, but with these folks I often get the same answer: “Nope, stop right there…no need…I have that covered”. I get the usual answers that they are on some type of low-carb diet, or other plan. If vegan or vegetarian I always ask if it is for religious or spiritual reasons. If it isn’t, I politely soldier on try and let them know how they are going wrong. Folks who are intransigent and argue back always say the same things. “No..No….No thank you, this works for me, I was 280 pounds and I lost 20 pounds so now I am 260 and all I did was follow my diet plan and do consistent cardio machine exercise.” “This works for me, thanks but no thanks!” The next question from me is always “did you reach 260 before, but then went back up to 280 again, or higher”? Inevitably “Yes” is the reply.

I am constantly amazed at how some of the smartest people can take this bizarre position where their own health and fitness goals are concerned. I always shake my head and respectfully use one of many direct analogies for their predicament. “If I give you a really dirty floor to clean and I hand you a tooth brush, eventually, with much hard work and effort you would get the floor clean” “Unfortunately, the first part you started on will have become dirty again because it took you so long, so you’ll need to go back and clean it again. That pattern of work will continue indefinitely.” “So the floor will never really get clean, but you’ll be scrubbing forever.” “If on the other hand, I gave you the best floor soap on the market along with the best floor cleaning machine made, you would do a much better job in much less time….but ONLY if you will accept the new soap and floor cleaner and throw away the toothbrush.”

At this point in the conversation, the smartest folks at least listen. I honestly believe that with other people, it’s just pride. I try and soften the delivery of the information by admitting that “I’m just the messenger”. “I’m just a formerly really fat and unhealthy guy who took the time to learn the true science behind how to become permanently lean and healthy”. “It ain’t my information; it’s from a bunch of scientists who are much smarter than I am. I’m just trying to convey it in what is hopefully a useful form.” “This has nothing to do with me being smarter than you. Likely, you are much smarter than I.” Regardless, some of these folks just refuse to change and do not want to hear anything that is different from what they already know.

I recall (painfully) one gentleman who was really bright and ran his own internet start-up company. This guy was just over 6 feet and weighed about 250 pounds. He had very little muscle though and didn’t carry the extra weight well. He was jogging on the treadmill when he asked me about whether it would tell him about how many calories he was burning. I told him it would, but I could do the same thing. That is, for losing fat an hour of running will burn off less than the caloric equivalent of 3 small cookies.

He didn’t like that answer and told me that this was his preferred method to lose some extra pounds. It had worked in the past and so he was going to keep up his treadmill regimen regardless (Maybe he just didn’t believe me). He also stated defiantly that he could basically eat whatever he wanted – he loved ordering pizzas – as long as he continued this treadmill work. He mentioned that this worked really well with his long hours on the job and late-night eating habits. I was left rather speechless and that’s a good thing because otherwise, I would have pointed out what was most evident:

  • He had clearly gained all that fat back, so this was most obviously not a permanent solution
  • Human physiology, the mathematics of thermodynamics and his current physical state would prove why this had not worked in the past and why it was not going to work now
  • He was stubbornly defying the simple, proven science that would get him into top shape permanently and with the least amount of work, time or effort
  • He was sloppily overweight so his words were sadly ironic

The discussion on getting into fantastic shape with optimum health on a permanent basis is nothing like:

Religion or Politics!


The best answer has nothing to with opinion, pride or faith. It has everything to do with basic human physiology and science. There is no real argument against the first law of thermodynamics, evolutionary biology, the human metabolic energy systems, muscle fiber function and metabolism, or behavioral psychology.

I saw him 6 months later and nothing about his physical state had changed. (Although he had no doubt logged hundreds of hours on the treadmill). As a former mildly obese guy, I am quite familiar with this pattern of continued failure. I want to help. I do not want to offer nonsense, flashy but useless solutions, faith, or pain and suffering. Nor will I endure stubborn pride, ignorance or hubris, as they only prevent the real answers from shining through with real results. I will only help with what I know is a permanent solution. I will only offer what is in effect, a cure.

And if you’re looking for an all-natural diet based on the same diet that our ancestors followed for thousands of years. Check out the diet and fitness plan we’ve put together for you. It’s called The Eco-Diet. It’s all natural and based on scientific evidence.

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Happy New Year-Why Are We Still Fat?

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Sean

A new year is upon us once again and for yet again many of us are resolute in our goal to lose fat and get healthy.  Just as in past years the media is awash with speculations as to just why we are getting so fat and unhealthy.  We are also bombarded with supposed solutions, just as we were last year and the year before that and the year before that.

I have heard just about every possible reason for our problems, but have yet to hear anyone in the media identify the real, underlying problem.  Before a successful and permanent solution can be found, we must first identify the true, root cause behind why our society is becoming so uncontrollably fat and unhealthy. Let me start with some of the red herrings.  These are the things that usually get the blame but are simply NOT the true, underlying causes of our problems:

  • Sedentary lifestyles
  • Lack of exercise
  • Fast Food
  • Lack of will power or discipline
  • Genetics
  • Hormones

Identifying the Real Problem:

The true, underlying problem here is that what we commonly eat today and what we have come to know as “our food” is not what humans are naturally meant to eat. So what are humans biologically meant to eat?

  • Naturally raised animals (meat, fish, birds, eggs, etc.)
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Nuts and seeds

So WHO is responsible for the fattening and unhealthy modern diet most of us consume today?Our modern food industry: huge, powerful multinational companies and organizations including:

  • Monsanto
  • Con-Agra
  • Cargill
  • ADM
  • General Foods
  • McDonalds
  • Walmart
  • The Salt Lobby
  • The Sugar Lobby
  • The Dairy Lobby
  • etc.

2   Our governments:  who are highly influenced by the food industry

Question:  Why do these companies do this?
Answer:  They are huge corporations that exist to make as much money as possible

Question:  How do they do this?

Answer:

a)  They create low cost, addictive foods.  They “supersize” these foods and pack them with cheap, dense fat and sugar calories. Why?  So we’ll buy more of their food; because:

  • We are still “hard-wired” genetically to survive periods of “food scarcity”
  • So, we naturally prefer fats and sugars – the richest calories

b)  The Government subsidizes and promotes these foods

Why would our governments do that?

  • To appease the wealthy, influential, powerful modern food industry
  • To protect jobs and promote domestic agriculture

So, our government, the media, dietitians, our schools and other institutions perpetuate this modern diet causing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and many other illnesses.

How? – Via our modern food industry’s enormous amounts of money, power and influence.


What about the diet and fitness industry? Unfortunately, their ideas do not work:

Diet

  • Contemporary diets do not work against the effects of high calorie modern food
  • So we restrict our calories, but that doesn’t work because:

I. Our metabolisms slows further and further to preserve fat calories

II. Highly addictive food requires great will-power to avoid – it eventually fails

III. There is even less low nutrition food to try and maintain good health or muscle

Exercise

  • Does not work to counter the large caloric surplus caused by modern foods
  • Too much discipline/hard work required – Bootcamp, etc. are not maintained
  • Increased appetite = more modern food = caloric surplus = additional body fat

Proof:  The Diet & Fitness industry is now roughly $60 billion/year, but we’ve never been fatter or more riddled with diet related diseases. So even after spending countless hours exercising and lifting weights, most of fail to reach our goals.  After all the hard work, invariably we end up in one of the following categories:

“bulky” weight lifting people
“In-shape” fat people
“Skinny-fat” people

The Solution: how to lose fat, gain muscle and be healthy – permanently

Step 1: Achieve permanent caloric equity/deficit with a healthy, evolution based diet:

  • Eat naturally raised animals, fruits, vegetables as your staple foods
  • Never get hungry, eat all the time
  • Minimize rice, corn, beans, potatoes and other starchy roots
  • Avoid all other grains and dairy
  • Make sure all the food you eat is as UNPROCESSED as possible

REPEAT:  DO NOT EAT PROCESSED, INDUSTRIALIZED FOOD!

A Food Pyramid Respecting The Natural Human Diet: (Please notice how it differs from the government food guides)


Please remember!

Step 2: Maximize the three ways your body burns calories (fat):
1. Resting metabolic rate = 60-75% of fat burn

  • MUSCLE BURNS FAT! So increase your resting metabolic rate by building new muscle.  Strength training is the optimal way to build new muscle and maintain it

2. Thermic effect of food = 7-10% of fat burn

  • Eat the foods from Step 1!
  • Don’t let yourself get hungry, eat all day

3.  Physical activity = variable % of fat burn

  • Do only things you love
  • Avoid meaningless, boring, hard “cardio” gym workouts
  • 60% of max heart rate = optimum fat loss/preserves valuable muscle (examples: walking, gardening, bicycling, vacuuming a carpet, or dancing

Summarizing:

We are getting increasingly fat and sick (diabetes, heart disease, etc) because at least a dozen or so huge, multinational food companies absolutely need us to eat the foods they produce!  If we become increasingly fat and sick as a result, that’s our problem, not theirs.  Although it is not yet a legal requirement that we eat only their foods; they have made it almost impossible for the small farmers who produce our natural, healthy foods to exist.

Is a little fresh bread, milk in your tea, or some artisan cheese going to hurt you?  Of course not!  The problem is the wild proliferation of harmful industrial food over the last 40 to 50 years.  These highly processed foods have taken the place of our natural evolutionary foods as the staples we eat.  That, in a nut shell is why we are increasingly obese and chronically ill.

Why have you never heard this before from the Surgeon General, CNN or another major news network or magazine?

Because the huge companies comprising our modern food industry are immensely powerful and would not like that at all!  The medical, pharmaceutical, and diet & fitness industries would also potentially lose billions of dollars.  Conversely, the small, local farmers and natural producers of our natural, healthy food would prosper.

Want scientific, documented proof of this?  Want to know more about exactly how to do this?  I’ve been researching and practicing (along with many others) this easy to follow, healthy lifestyle for over 20 years.  I’m happy to provide you with more detail along with all of the great scientific references.

Thank you and have a HAPPY New Year!

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I See the Strangest Things Every Day

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Sean

I often describe the gym I manage as the Anti-gym. For many of the people who sit down to find out about joining, I often address the “elephant in the room” right from the start. That is, “gyms suck!” The folks sitting across from me often smile and nod in agreement.

Let’s face it; any effective weightlifting gym will likely be an enclosed space, full of sweaty people grunting and groaning and clanging heavy weights. Other than keeping it really clean, orderly and having the least offensive music playing, there is not much you can do to improve this situation. You can fill it with really great people who are positive, helpful and who know what they are doing. That really helps a lot. Regardless though, compared to, say…having a great dinner with a bunch of friends, watching a good movie, partying, getting intimate with someone you like, listening to live music, and many other activities that life has to offer, I’m afraid I must agree – “gym’s suck.”

As far as I can tell, there are only two things you can do to improve this situation:

  1. Make the time that you do spend in the gym as enjoyable as possible
  2. Minimize the total amount of time one needs to spend in the gym in order to get really great results

#1 is pretty simple. As mentioned, fill the gym with members who have a great attitude – nice, civilized, respectful people who help each other out. Keep the place clean, as aesthetically pleasing as possible, answer questions, and makes sure all the equipment works. Generally, assist people as much as possible with the correct information and instruction. I’ve found that running off to get people coffee every now and then is also appreciated.

At our gym we try our best to push these two ideas to their limits, especially #2. This happens naturally when you apply advanced, high intensity strength methodologies to the folks who have never tried them – that would be the vast majority of the public. Why does this work so well with folks who have never tried them? The answer is because these people need to do very low volumes of the most basic compound movements to actually get the best results.

This means that after a good warm-up they are going to progress the fastest by doing only the major multi-joint free weight lifts. That should put their workout at roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour. Now, the optimum # of workouts per week for these folks will be only 2 or 3 (Siff). When this basic plan is followed, fat burning muscle is created with incredible speed. This is especially true for ladies who have been wrongly conditioned into thinking that only stuff like hours and hours of high rep, muscle isolating exercises, fitness classes and cardio machines are the answer to their problems (this nonsense is almost always accompanied by the supervision of an expensive personal trainer). Three of the physiological reasons this simple plan works so well include:

  1. Major, body changing adaptations (mostly new functional muscle) take place fast because most people have never before correctly executed these full- body free weight exercises, especially with lower reps and high intensities
  2. Maximal, positive hormonal changes rapidly take place
  3. The highest possible increases in resting metabolic rate take place during these workouts which results in dramatic increases in fat burn following the workouts

This dramatic physical improvement ride goes on for approximately 2-4 months before upping the intensities further with a new program, schedule, additional exercises and variation. The volume always stays relatively low. This allows the great results to just keep on coming.

Now for people who generally “hate the gym”, here is where I see the strangest things happen. By providing a gym which effectively embraces the two ideas listed above, people actually end up getting more out of the gym than the time and effort they are putting into it. For most new folks, this unusual economic phenomenon is a first. The benefits of showing up only 2-3 times per week for an hour or so and engaging in this simple program quickly begin to outweigh the costs. Their mirrors, the way their clothes fit, and the people in their lives assure them of this. Here is where behavioral psychology shines through and turns their original perspective on the gym upside down.

THEY END UP COMING IN MORE THAN 2-3 TIMES PER WEEK AND WE HAVE TO TELL THEM IT’S TOO MUCH AND TO GO HOME OR THEIR PROGRESS WILL STOP!

Yup, these people who hated the gym now have to be advised to stay away from it, otherwise overtraining may result. This happens with newer folks at our gym all the time. I love it when this happens. I suppose it means we are doing our job.

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Why Free Weights Are Better Than Muscle Isolating Machines

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Sean

There is a gym where I merrily communicate the many ideas regarding diet, exercise and building muscle presented in these blogs: www.fortisfitness.ca The equipment in this gym can be a little intimidating because it is set up more like a professional athletic training facility than a typical gym. There are tons of metal plates, racks, platforms, chains, a reverse hyper and other assorted strength equipment. We even had dumbbells that went up to 240 pounds, but we scaled those back a little. Questions we often get from new members who are coming from one of the bigger fitness industry gyms include: “Hey…where is the preacher’s curl? Where are the Smith machine and the leg extension? Where are all the muscle-isolating fitness machines? Why do you have all this free weight stuff, but none of those machines?

These questions are always met with a confident and qualified reply:

Because muscle isolating gym machines are an inferior method of training for the following reasons:

  • The nervous system controls the muscles and the relationship between the two is referred to as neuromuscular. Common neuromuscular patterns in humans have developed naturally over millions of years and are invariably free movements in 3 dimensional space. They include squatting, pushing, pulling, stepping, etc. We use these movements everyday in sports, work, and life in general. When we use isolating gym machines we neglect these normal human biomechanical movements and their improved function
  • Machines force the body to move in a pre-determined pattern according to the design of the machine. This can cause unnatural movement modifications leading to injury. Alternatively, free weights allow weight to be moved in exactly the way the body was designed to move it. Thus, free weights allow the free expression of every person’s unique movement pattern based on their individual height, limb length, speed, flexibility, and neuromuscular ability among other unique physical characteristics
  • Machines contribute little if anything to one’s ability to balance, control, synchronize, or coordinate movements, especially under a load. Free weight movements contribute enormously to the development of all these abilities
  • Machines will not train and develop the correct motor efficiency, or motor ability that occurs in an unencumbered movement in free space, such as in a particular sporting movement. This is especially true in attempting to correctly imitate such a movement according to the principle of “specificity”. Here, isolating gym machines fail miserably and will actually disrupt correct sporting movements causing a marked decrease in performance. Conversely, free weight exercises allow for optimum specificity and improvement of such a movement
  • Proprioception is defined as: “The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself. The stimuli are detected by nerves located in the inner ear, joints, tendons and elsewhere in the body“ Since machines usually stabilize major regions of the body and limit the number of joints which move, they diminish one’s ability to move freely in 3 dimensional space, and thereby “shut out” or “turn off” naturally occurring proprioception
  • Kinaesthetic sense is defined as: “the sensory awareness of where the body and its components are in space and time” (Siff). Kinaesthetic sense is enabled via proprioception. Using machines can disable proprioception and as a result, kinaesthetic sense is neither engaged nor improved
  • Using machines, joints can be over-stressed in unnatural ways. Whereas with free weight movements joints are strengthened properly using biomechanically correct movements according to the SAID principle (specific adaptation to imposed demands)
  • Many machines do not allow for a “pre-load” of the weight which will naturally protect a joint by preventing the sudden “jerking” of the load. Conversely, a pre-load will automatically occur when one simply picks up a free weight just prior to starting an exercise movement
  • When a machine prevents any joint from moving as it naturally would there will be increased stress on adjacent joints. For example, the seated leg extension machine tends to immobilize the hip joint so that an unnatural and high degree of stress falls on the knee joint
  • Most machines operate on the “peak contraction theory”, meaning that you start the movement with a maximum effort even though you are in the weakest mechanical position (Ex. pec machine, seated bench press, shoulder press machine). This can be dangerous and cause injury
  • Machines do not adequately “match” the relationship between resistance and acceleration in the changing range of any movement. That is, when a person speeds up or slows down a movement as the weight feels lighter or heavier depending on its range in the movement. Free weights, on the other hand, will always allow the perfect, unfettered increase or decrease in the speed with which one moves a weight based on an individual’s unique strength, joint angle and position
  • Ironically, muscle isolation is a fallacy, since when full efforts are put forward even when using isolating machines, other smaller muscles including neutralizers, stabilizers, and assistance muscles are automatically contracted isometrically because that is how our neuromuscular systems work to augment any full muscular effort. Yet with machines, these indirect muscles are still not even contributing to balance or stability. Only low intensity activities such as blinking of the eyes or piano playing represent a true isolation of certain muscles groups
  • Isolating gym machine exercises will not deliver a hormonal response to the same degree as compound free weight movements
  • Isolating gym machine exercises will not provide the same degree of increase in resting metabolic rate that free weight exercises will deliver. Higher increases in resting metabolic rates provide dramatic increases in fat loss
  • Seated resistance machines can create stresses and pressure on the discs of the lower back that can be up to 90% greater than equivalent free weight standing exercises. This is because when standing, one is able to absorb the shock of the load with the knee, hip, and ankle joints. These dangers are exacerbated when an individual begins and ends the movement in a “jerky” manner by starting machine movements in the weakest position and with no “pre-load” of the weight
  • By strengthening the muscles ONLY in the unusual patterns dictated by isolating fitness machines; the bones, joints, and connective tissue are ignored. This lack of engagement will cause them to become weak. Subsequently, when one is put into a position where the correct biomechanical movement is required, injury to these “weak links” is far more likely. Ignoring the development of balance and coordination by using these isolating machines can easily cause injury for the same reason
  • Isolating machines are exceedingly inefficient compared to free weight, multi-joint compound movements. For example, the # of machines required to rival the effects of the following free weight movements are as follows:
  • Squat = 4 machines
  • Dead-lift = 5 machines
  • Clean & push press = 12 machines

Regardless, balance, control, coordination, other physical synergies and the ability to perform the actual movement in its entirety would still be lost even if the muscular contraction in these exercises was imitated by numerous isolating machines

  • Bone is living tissue that responds and adapts to stresses, just like muscle, connective tissues, skin, the CNS (central nervous system), the brain and many other non-muscular components of the body. Loading the skeletal system with free weights that must be held and supported will increase bone density, as bones become harder, stronger, and more dense in response to heavier loads
  • The top athletes in the world use predominantly functional free weight exercises over non-functional isolating

isolating resistance machines because they are proven to work better to improve performance in their respective sports. There is an enormous body of comparative research regarding the best ways to achieve maximal physical performance. The strong conclusions provided by this scientific information and the results of the athletes themselves provide enormous credibility for the use of free weight exercises over contemporary isolating gym machines.

  • Correctly performed, full range of motion, free weight exercises are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load (Rippetoe). Isolating machines have proliferated in modern gyms only because they are vastly more cost effective since a gym business will be spared the expense of “teaching” members the basic free weight movements. The reality though, is that functional free weight exercises are scientifically proven to be overwhelmingly superior for physical improvement for all of the above reasons .

That’s why

If this post makes sense, feel free to check out our diet plan. It’s called the eco-diet and it’s based on the natural, healthy eating habits our ancestors followed for centuries. And if you’re looking for an absolutely free workout program, here’s the Westside Workout for Beginners. It’s the same type of program the top athletes in the world follow. A full, comprehensive workout program–and there’s absolutely nothing to buy. There are no excuses now.

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Your Revolutionary 1-Day Food Makeover

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Sean

It’s time for your revolutionary food transformation. The point of this blog is to provide instruction on how to literally change the vast majority of your daily caloric intake from processed, fattening, unhealthy foods to healthy evolutionary foods. These instructions should only take you the better part of one day.

Try and do this first thing in the morning, preferably on a Saturday. The first thing you need to do is find some large cardboard boxes. Go to your kitchen and wherever else you store your food. Start to gather up all the food which does not fit into primarily an evolutionary diet philosophy. That means we want to get rid of everything but naturally raised meats, fish, fruits, vegetables and nuts, with a few secondary exceptions. Gather up all of your milk, butter, ice cream and the rest of your dairy foods; all processed grains and all of your processed meats. Grab all of the frozen pizzas, pop tarts, cookies, crackers, snack food, canned soups; all of the processed branded crap that you have. Gather up all of the industrial food that you have from everywhere that you have it; cupboards, fridge, freezer and storage. Put it all into the boxes.

You can keep any fresh or even canned fruits and vegetables, all of your spices, raw nuts and packs of uncooked rice (preferably brown rice), raw potatoes or similar roots. That’s about all you will need to keep. Please be sure to make a list of all of this food you are removing, you will need it a little later in the day.

Now turn on your computer as you will need the internet. If you don’t have one, you may be able to do this with the yellow pages. Get your telephone and a pen and paper. You are going to find 4 things:

First, you are going to find a local food bank to drop off the boxes of processed foods you just gathered up. There is nothing like starting out the day by helping to feed people who may be starving. I hate to give this junk to anyone, but to feed homeless people who really need the macro-nutrient calories is a good deed. This is about the only thing I would do with industrial food – give it to people who have absolutely no food.

Second, you are going to find the closest large organic food store. Hit the internet and try: “organic grocery stores”, “health food grocery stores”, “all natural grocery stores” or any other combinations until you find some good options so you have choices. Our resources guide at: www.eco-diet.com/resources/ will also give you some great options. Get a list of the closest ones and get maps or directions so you can get there easily.

Third thing; you are going to find all of your local farmers’ markets. Do an internet search for your city and “farmers markets”. For example: “Baltimore farmers’ markets”. You can also try “organic farmers’ markets” and see what comes up. You can save time here by going here: www.eco-diet.com/resources/ for some great web-sites and to find national lists. Again, get at least a few options here from your search. Make sure you know the days and hours the markets are open (usually Saturdays and Sundays) and get clear directions.

Fourth thing; you are going to find some local small farms that produce natural food. Hit the internet again and this time type in “grass fed beef”. I have found this to be the best search. Again, you can try some other combinations like “pastured beef”, “grass fed farms” or “game meat farms”. Again, www.eco-diet.com/resources/ will provide you with some of the top lists. Likely within 1 to 3 hours of where you live you will find farms where you can buy animal meat which was raised on a truly natural diet where the animals were raised in their natural environments. Many if not most of these farms will raise chickens, hogs and various other animals along with cows, bison, or game. The meat from these animals will almost assuredly be available directly from the farms you find. There will also be a lot of choices for all kinds of fruits, vegetables, honey and related products from these small farms.

Usually, you can find a farm producing a variety of healthy, pastured meat all year round. If it is too far away they will likely provide delivery. If this is the case, try and buy as much as you can to save on the delivery charge. You can always find farms with pastured animals on the internet who will deliver almost anywhere, but they will likely be expensive. The most economical thing to do is find the farms within a reasonable distance and take the drive yourself every couple of months. In this case, you will need a small to medium sized freezer. This will definitely be your best course of action. There is nothing like actually seeing the place and the animals that are the source of your food.

Call ahead and buy enough frozen meat for 2 or 3 months. This amounts to a pastoral drive into the country a handful of times per year vs. 50 or so trips to your grocery store. A great trade off and you get much healthier food. You can also share and combine orders with friends and take turns driving out to the farm or split the delivery charges. I buy roughly $200 worth of game meat from a farm two hours away from where I live. I get it delivered and it lasts me for at least 2-3 months. Finally, you will also be able to find naturally raised meats at some of the local farmers markets you find.

A quick note on finding meat from grass fed and pastured animals. Depending on what city you are located in, some of the farms will obviously not be as convenient as buying from your local grocery store. Some farms only provide meat at certain times of the year like the fall or late spring. You may have to make a deposit and buy much larger quantities than normal. In this case you will definitely need a freezer, but the prices will be that much better and you will have a ton of meat for months if not the whole year.

Another great idea is to find a local CSA (community sponsored agriculture). CSA groups are basically organized answers to the question of how to obtain much of the food in an evolutionary diet. As a member of a CSA you would pay a certain set amount of money each year and the farm your group is sponsoring would then provide you with regular portioned (usually weekly) yields of its fruit, vegetables, meats, honey, jams, or any other natural foods they provide. These groups are a fantastic way to get people re-acquainted with real food. CSA groups are popping up all over the place in response to our bad industrial food. There is also a great social element to these organizations with interaction amongst members and the farmers. Many have regular get-togethers and harvest-time parties on the farm. You can visit with the kids and everyone learns a ton about the true provenance of their food and the real meaning of organic agriculture. Most of all CSA’s are just a great way to reclaim our food.

In approximately 2 minutes using only one of the websites listed in the resources guide provided: www.eco-diet.com/resources/ I found 419 farms, markets, and stores selling pastured, healthy animal products; all within about 90 minutes from central New York City. This list included websites, prices lists, email addresses and directions. The list didn’t even include additional buying groups, cooperatives, responsible butcher shops, or the many other places to get this kind of healthy food. Removing industrial, mostly non-evolutionary food from your life is going to be much easier than you may have thought. You just have to try.

Alright, if you started on a Saturday at about 7:00 am then it should be around 10:00 by now. Please remember the list of the types of foods that you have put in the boxes and removed from your life so you can replace and substitute many of them when you shop today. If you boxed a ton of ice cream, you will probably need to get a good variety of the soy version. Like me, if you gave away a bunch of snack food, you will need to find some temporary healthier replacements at the organic grocery store. Take all of your resource information that you have just gathered from the computer and internet. Now take all of your names and maps and directions and list of foods and jump in your car. Off you go. You may not make the farm today, but you can get grass fed or truly naturally raised animal meats from the farmers market or large organic grocery stores; it’s just that you will probably pay more this time compared to buying directly from the farm.

Remember, look past the “organic” part when buying your meat or fish and ask what the animal actually ate and how it was raised. Were the cows eating grass, was the chicken truly free range and eating its natural diet? Yes or no? If you can’t make it to the farm, the farmers’ markets will be a far better place to by real animal meats. You will not get the same straight answers or low prices at the large organic grocery stores.

Will you ever again set foot in your local discount grocery store? Of course you will! You will still use these guys for what they are good for. You can still get canned but wild caught fish, out of season fruits and vegetables (they don’t always need to be “organic”), spices, tea bags, coffee, and various other food items. Another great idea is to a find a local fish store or market with responsibly caught, wild fish and other sea food. The idea behind these instructions is to show you that it is entirely possible to change the majority of your calories from unhealthy to really healthy in literally 1 day.

That’s it. Welcome back to your natural diet with all the taste, health and fat loss. Take pride in your new responsibility to the animals, earth, and future generations. Enjoy the incredible results and outright joy this natural food will bring you.

If this post makes sense, feel free to check out our diet plan. It’s called the eco-diet and it’s based on the natural, healthy eating habits our ancestors followed for centuries. And if you’re looking for an absolutely free workout program, here’s the Westside Workout for Beginners. It’s the same type of program the top athletes in the world follow. A full, comprehensive workout program–and there’s absolutely nothing to buy. There are no excuses now.

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Dangerous People in Suits and Lab Coats

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Sean

The other day I had an interesting, if not incendiary conversation with a lawyer from our modern food industry. His argument to me was that if any corporation makes a food product that has been passed by the government as safe to sell, then no one has the right to say that it will harm you. They acronym GRAS, which stands for “generally regarded as safe” is used as the official stamp of approval for the many ingredients in our modern foods. As such, this is a legal benchmark required for the food industry to pass regarding the many chemical ingredients they put into the processed food products they produce and sell to us. His point was that if an individual eats any of these modern foods, then “legally” their health will be just fine. Further, it should be against the law for anyone to advise to the contrary.

He asked me if I had any studies showing that Pop-Tarts could hurt you or cause disease, even if consumed in large quantities. I didn’t. He asked “Did I have similar studies for consuming large quantities of Chef Boyardee canned ravioli or Campbell’s soup for weeks or months on end?” “Nope.” What about the same thing for “Kraft dinner, or Captain Crunch cereal?” “No,…can’t say I do.” Therefore, he stated victoriously “I should be sued” for spreading lies about these foods regarding their danger to public health. I should be punished for interfering with the sales of these fine products from the obviously and officially upstanding corporations that create and sell them.

Wait a minute…..what the hell happened to my argument? How could I be so helpless against this lawyer from the food industry? I certainly did have the huge statistics that show overwhelmingly that the modern North American diet is making us really fat and really sick and causing many of us to die in misery. I paused, sat back and thought about our conversation for a moment. Rather than capitulating though, I put my hands together and began to applaud this man for the concise representation of why so many of us are so fat and sick with diet related disease.

He had effectively framed our enormous problem with food and disease in a very unique and telling way. Regarding evidentiary studies on specific modern foods, he was correct. There are very few. One that comes to mind is the experiment conducted by Morgan Spurlock, for his excellent documentary film “Super Size Me”. In this film Morgan documented the dangerous changes to his health caused by eating a diet of McDonald’s fast-food exclusively for a month. Other than a few other similar anecdotal experiments the type of information he demanded from me is quite lacking. Until there are more voluntary human lab rats that will eat specific modern foods or combinations thereof in various quantities under scientific observation, I am afraid I will not be able to provide him with the direct evidence for which I was challenged.

It gets far more complicated though. Over the course of a day consider someone eating the following popular foods: a bowl of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal, then a couple of Pop-tarts, some Chicken McNuggets with fries, an apple pie with a glass of milk, followed by some Cheezies, Pepsi-cola, Pizza Hut pizza and then a Twinkie washed down with some Dr. Pepper soda. The quantities here would represent small, acceptable and seemingly harmless quantities of each of these foods relative to total caloric intake over a day. This would give the food companies a completely defendable position, even if one conglomerate produces many of the same food items consumed. That is because each one of these crappy, unhealthy foods was consumed in truly “reasonable” quantities. Regarding defending their assertions that their processed foods are really quite harmless – they can’t lose.

Interestingly, from a legal standpoint the onus is far more on the side of the public to prove that processed or fast foods are not safe. Indeed, eating the foods mentioned in the last paragraph over a day will likely cause some immediate ill-feeling – gastro-intestinal and otherwise – and changes in mental temperament. Nothing major, but that is only one day. The problem for us (the public) is quantifying the deleterious health effects of eating these foods continually over months or even years. That is a big problem, because this is not being done. All we get are mostly vague and general suggestions to avoid some of these foods. Our own government and many other health organizations even see them as part of a healthy and balanced diet. I submit to you that the effects of eating these foods on a regular basis, especially over years can be more harmful to your health than smoking.

The argument presented by this man is exactly why we are so helpless against this garbage we put in our mouths every day. He had a family and I asked if he provided even regular quantities, let alone large amounts of many popular processed foods to his wife or children? “Uhhhmmmm….no…well, maybe a little, occasionally, you know…sometimes.” I smiled, because I knew full well that he and his wife fed their children only the best organic, fresh unprocessed foods. They had it delivered for crying out loud. You would never catch them at a McDonalds or in the sugared cereal aisle of your local discount grocery store – not on your life!

This guy made his living as a counsel for a huge food conglomerate though. That’s exactly how he could afford the ability to make these choices and to not eat the unhealthy, low grade food products that his company churned out. He was also very educated and quite well read. The same could be said for the other executives, board members, vice-presidents of marketing and other executives responsible for these processed products. This is also generally true for the scientists and lab technicians creating the chemical flavoring, texturizing and preservative ingredients used in these foods. His argument and this entire situation represented their money, prosperity, success and even health at our expense. Our continued obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and ill-health for buying and consuming more and more of their dangerous products. Quite simply – their gain for our loss.

The scariest part of this situation is what is says about the human condition. This guy proved to me that at our worst, we are truly nothing but animals in suits. This man could care less about the ill-health of other less enlightened people and their children. More disturbingly, he actually requires their physical misfortune. By staunchly defending the producers and propagators of modern industrial food, he actually depends on other people buying and consuming as much of this dangerous and fattening food as possible. His prosperity, his quality of life and that of his family and children depend on other people eating low cost, low grade, unhealthy foods and the terrible consequences that ensue for them. He is comfortably degrees of separation removed from their suffering. He won’t be personally exposed to their obesity, diabetes, chronic illness and years later quite possibly their deaths due to food related chronic disease. I highly doubt those other folks in suits and lab coats had any guilt either.

This is the legal “divide and conquer” strategy that has our population spiraling out of control with obesity and chronic food related disease. From a business standpoint it’s brilliant really. It keeps these giant corporations free from liability related to the dangers of their food products. It doesn’t matter how many of us get fat, sick and die just as long as they keep selling their processed products jammed with cheap fat and sugar calories, chemicals and almost completely devoid of healthy nutrients. Like parasites feeding on this misery, the medical and pharmaceutical industries are becoming as fat as we are! We buy their ineffective and often dangerous pseudo-solutions, allowing their profits to soar.

I mentioned that given all of this power and influence, these companies really can’t lose. That’s actually not true. There is one way for them to lose everything:

Don’t buy their products!

If you simply do not give these huge corporations your money, they will wither and die. So will the effects of all their lawyers, scientists, marketing directors, and all of the other people who are so exceedingly dangerous to our health and the health of our children. Don’t give them your money. Not one penny. Remove yourself from this terribly unjust cycle in one day. Get off of their greedy, harmful, and dangerous industrial food grid. It’s actually really easy.

A local farm, small fruit and vegetable store, and some farmers markets will seamlessly replace your large, big box grocery store. Except for a few small items like tea and spices, you can get all of your other foods from healthy, reasonably priced sources. I made this transition a long time ago and can show you exactly how. Please stay tuned for my next blog “Your 1 Day Food Transformation”.

If this post makes sense, feel free to check out our diet plan. It’s called the eco-diet and it’s based on the natural, healthy eating habits our ancestors followed for centuries. And if you’re looking for an absolutely free workout program, here’s the Westside Workout for Beginners. It’s the same type of program the top athletes in the world follow. A full, comprehensive workout program–and there’s absolutely nothing to buy. There are no excuses now.

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Getting Into Shape–When Does the End Justify The Means

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Sean

I tend to have rather strong opinions when it comes to advice on diet, exercise and building muscle. If I seem direct and confident on any advice it is only because I have been exposed to the scientific proof and veracity of these ideas. I am only a humble messenger. If I seem virulent, it is only because there is so much relative bad information out there in the worlds of diet and fitness.

For most of my life, up until about the age of 26 I was always the “chubby” guy. The best I could do with a lot of hard work was move up to “bulky” status. This was really disheartening. I worked so hard, I followed diets, did hours of “cardio” exercises and spent 2 hours a day in the gym bodybuilding. I even starved myself on a few occasions in my compulsion to become one of those buff and “in-shape” people. It was not until I discovered the true facts regarding human diet and physiology that I permanently found my way out of this mess. Science and enlightenment replaced marketing, hype, hard work and nonsense. Failure was replaced with permanent success.

For me, this wasn’t just a short term remedy. It was literally a cure. I’ve never looked back. This is easy. It is now my mission to help out other people who are in the same predicament I was all those years ago.

Diet and fitness is not religion or politics. It’s science. So I tend to be a little harsh and acerbic in cutting through much of the nonsense I find out there. I caution people to not waste time on treadmills, doing “boot-camps” or other boring, difficult and repetitive forms of training that are proven to be inferior relative to more intelligent and effective athletic methodologies. Using science, it is really easy to disarm folks when they defend some common forms of fitness. One of the most common ones I here is “my friend is a spinning (or circuit training or boot camp or aerobics class or cardio kickboxing, etc) instructor and you should see her, she looks amazing.” “She teaches classes and does this stuff six times a week and she has a body to die for”.

Now for folks who really hate this stuff but do it anyways to get into shape I have really good news. There is a much more scientific, proven, and easier way to succeed. I tell them that doing this type of exercise and following the advice of most dieticians and many fitness industry trainers can indeed get some folks into shape. The problem is that state is rarely if ever permanent because of all the difficult, unrealistic work that needs to be done. It’s sort of like driving from NY City to Miami, via Seattle, Washington. For some folks though, I will never win this argument.

Indeed, there will always be one thing that trumps my argument completely. That is the love of any one of these common fitness activities. Although this phenomenon is certainly not common, it does exist. When a person actually loves their spinning class, boot-camp workout, or treadmill running, (like we love our rock climbing, martial arts, Salsa dancing, or playing Frisbee with our dog in the park) then, God bless them. Do it! This is the one situation where I really have no argument and what for most of us is a long, difficult, boring, and repetitive means indeed justifies the end.

If this post makes sense, feel free to check out our diet plan. It’s called the eco-diet and it’s based on the natural, healthy eating habits our ancestors followed for centuries. And if you’re looking for an absolutely free workout program, here’s the Westside Workout for Beginners. It’s the same type of program the top athletes in the world follow. A full, comprehensive workout program–and there’s absolutely nothing to buy. There are no excuses now.

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