Monday, July 18, 2011
What's Harder?
Starting to question what's harder, quitting drugs and alcohol, or quitting bad foods? With all the people who relapse off their diets, I am starting to think bad foods hook people more than the worse drugs.
Lopsided
One of the most common dysfunctions people have, is being lopsided. It is also a common way to injure yourself. Meaning your right side is much more developed than your left side. Your front pulls way too much and your back is too weak. Your arms are too strong compared to your legs.
Once these things are evened out, not only will you be more flexible, but more coordinated, athletic, healthy, have less pain, and look much much better.
Once these things are evened out, not only will you be more flexible, but more coordinated, athletic, healthy, have less pain, and look much much better.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A Man Who Is Free
I've known people who've had family members that were prisoners in one form or another. My own family during the Japanese occupation of Korea were the prisoners of the Japanese. I also know people who have family members that were holocaust survivors. They told me in the internment camp, all they had sometimes was toast, coffee, some salted meat, and potatoes.
The ironic thing is, once people are free, they eat that voluntarily. But now they want lots of it. Big toasts, lots of it with butter, coffee with sugar and cream this time, all kinds of meat with tons of salt, and potatoes. Everything made of potatoes! Eating more but still malnourished.
With my own family, it was lots of white rice, beans, kimchi, and again potatoes. They were eating this and people were dying of starvation. Now my parents will tell me, if people don't eat rice, they will die! They think the problem was the lack of rice, or the rationing of it. They didn't think it was the fact that all they got to eat was rice that killed them. People who prior to this used to eat very very small bowls of rice, but had a table full of all kinds of colorful plants and vegetables and different meats and seafoods. Nowadays you need a huge soup bowl full of rice with every meal.
In a way they are still a prisoner. They eat the same types of food that wasn't nourishing, but now they are free to eat more of it.
So there's a difference between a man who is free and a man who's been freed.
The ironic thing is, once people are free, they eat that voluntarily. But now they want lots of it. Big toasts, lots of it with butter, coffee with sugar and cream this time, all kinds of meat with tons of salt, and potatoes. Everything made of potatoes! Eating more but still malnourished.
With my own family, it was lots of white rice, beans, kimchi, and again potatoes. They were eating this and people were dying of starvation. Now my parents will tell me, if people don't eat rice, they will die! They think the problem was the lack of rice, or the rationing of it. They didn't think it was the fact that all they got to eat was rice that killed them. People who prior to this used to eat very very small bowls of rice, but had a table full of all kinds of colorful plants and vegetables and different meats and seafoods. Nowadays you need a huge soup bowl full of rice with every meal.
In a way they are still a prisoner. They eat the same types of food that wasn't nourishing, but now they are free to eat more of it.
So there's a difference between a man who is free and a man who's been freed.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Hip To Waist
A better measure of health, better than fat percentage or weight or BMI is your hip to waist ratio. It compares the size of your waist to your hip, the hip ideally being much larger. With weight or BMI, large athletic people always come out looking overweight. And thin people looking healthy. That is not always the case. Someone let's say who has a 1 to 1 hip to waist ratio, meaning the size of their waist is the same as their hip. Making their body look basically like a box. Whether they are large or thin, they are still a box, and not very athletic. A powerful person has a very pulled in waist and a larger hips.
Now if my waist-line is larger than my hip-line, that is even a bigger sign of poor health. Now I am starting to look dysfunctional and inverted. This is regardless of weight, someone thin could also have a waist line larger than their hip. A common misconception that thinness means small waist, not so. If my waist is now larger than the most powerful part of my body, I am not weighed down, inefficient, and most likely will be sluggish. I will always feel like a small person carrying a big box. Instead of an athlete who's body feels like a small box being carried by a large person with powerful legs.
Another common misconception is that, the larger you are, the more curvy you are. She's got curves, or a bigger women have curves, or real women have curves, as the saying goes. But in actuality, if you are larger and your waist is the same as your hip, you are by definition lacking any curves. You are a large box. It becomes more of a masculine bulky guy build. The inverse then, a thin girl with the same waist to hip has the body of a small boy.
Ideally for women, they want a waist to hip ratio of 70% to be considered athletic. For a man a ratio of 80%. Meaning their waist is 70 or 80 percent the size of their hip.
About the Author:
Sam Y. is a Personal Trainer, Coach, Performane Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook at his personal fitness page.
Now if my waist-line is larger than my hip-line, that is even a bigger sign of poor health. Now I am starting to look dysfunctional and inverted. This is regardless of weight, someone thin could also have a waist line larger than their hip. A common misconception that thinness means small waist, not so. If my waist is now larger than the most powerful part of my body, I am not weighed down, inefficient, and most likely will be sluggish. I will always feel like a small person carrying a big box. Instead of an athlete who's body feels like a small box being carried by a large person with powerful legs.
Another common misconception is that, the larger you are, the more curvy you are. She's got curves, or a bigger women have curves, or real women have curves, as the saying goes. But in actuality, if you are larger and your waist is the same as your hip, you are by definition lacking any curves. You are a large box. It becomes more of a masculine bulky guy build. The inverse then, a thin girl with the same waist to hip has the body of a small boy.
Ideally for women, they want a waist to hip ratio of 70% to be considered athletic. For a man a ratio of 80%. Meaning their waist is 70 or 80 percent the size of their hip.
About the Author:
Sam Y. is a Personal Trainer, Coach, Performane Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook at his personal fitness page.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Time Management
Give two people the same job, one person thrives under the pressure and finishes their work and has time to do other things. The other person is stressed and complains about not having enough time to finish their work. Not only that they spend all this time and works super hard just to do adequate work.
Moral of the story is, it's not about the amount of time, it's about your ability to manage time and be productive. It's more about focus. If you are not focused, the simplest task takes a long time.
Whenever people complain about never having enough time to work out because of their job or this or that, I know plenty of CEOs that I train who work 15 hours a day and travel every week, who always find time to work out, time for their families, and time to golf or tennis.
It's just a matter of perspective. You act like you have no time, you will have no time. You act like you have lots of time and you will find yourself being productive.
Make your work outs less routine, more intense, and shorter.
About the Author:
Sam Y. is a Personal Trainer, Coach, Performane Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook at his personal fitness page.
Moral of the story is, it's not about the amount of time, it's about your ability to manage time and be productive. It's more about focus. If you are not focused, the simplest task takes a long time.
Whenever people complain about never having enough time to work out because of their job or this or that, I know plenty of CEOs that I train who work 15 hours a day and travel every week, who always find time to work out, time for their families, and time to golf or tennis.
It's just a matter of perspective. You act like you have no time, you will have no time. You act like you have lots of time and you will find yourself being productive.
Make your work outs less routine, more intense, and shorter.
About the Author:
Sam Y. is a Personal Trainer, Coach, Performane Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook at his personal fitness page.
Monday, July 11, 2011
F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011
"Twelve states now have obesity rates above 30 percent. Four years ago, only one state was above 30 percent."
http://www.healthyamericans.org/report/88/
http://www.healthyamericans.org/report/88/
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Injury And Pain
There is a major difference between an injury and a chronic pain, or a chronic issue. Most injuries happen all of a sudden, due to a sudden trauma or impact. Our ancestors suffered more from injuries and died from those things more than they did from any disease.
In the modern sedentary world, we are hurting more than ever. But it's not from injuries, because it's not caused usually by something traumatic or sudden. It's something that causes pain over time, that is from something repetitive, that turns chronic. Sometimes injuries will turn chronic because we never strengthen the injured site so even though it heals, it heals in a weakened state because it's never strengthened up again, then repetitive motions make it worse.
Sometimes one day, it just gets really bad, my knee hurts or my neck or my back, etc! And they will blame the last thing they did. But most likely it was already a chronic issue from something repetitive and it finally got bad. A lot of people when they first start working out, will stop because something hurts and they think, oh not this training stuff is dangerous. Sometimes accidents happen but the majority of the time it's everything you did to your body prior to training that causes all the pain, and it's just expressing itself in training. Poor posture, being inflexible, tight muscles, improper breathing, etc.
In the modern sedentary world, we are hurting more than ever. But it's not from injuries, because it's not caused usually by something traumatic or sudden. It's something that causes pain over time, that is from something repetitive, that turns chronic. Sometimes injuries will turn chronic because we never strengthen the injured site so even though it heals, it heals in a weakened state because it's never strengthened up again, then repetitive motions make it worse.
Sometimes one day, it just gets really bad, my knee hurts or my neck or my back, etc! And they will blame the last thing they did. But most likely it was already a chronic issue from something repetitive and it finally got bad. A lot of people when they first start working out, will stop because something hurts and they think, oh not this training stuff is dangerous. Sometimes accidents happen but the majority of the time it's everything you did to your body prior to training that causes all the pain, and it's just expressing itself in training. Poor posture, being inflexible, tight muscles, improper breathing, etc.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Nutrient Dense Foods
Forget about how much or how little calories the food you are eating has, just eat nutrient dense foods!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Kurtosis and Black Swan Events
Okay I am going to talk out of my head and if any of you are mathematicians you can surely correct me.
I want to talk about kurtosis and Black Swan events. Kurtosis in math is a probability and statistical study in variance. The basic premise is, the higher the kurtosis, more of the variance is the result of infrequent extreme deviations.
So one stock market crash will affect our economy more in the next hundred years than the little things that happen every month. Or in exercise, doing 10 pull ups is more of a work out than jogging 10 minutes. Or you can be a great parent every day with your kid, it's that one day you hit your child that marks them forever. I could probably make the same connection with getting shot, it's never happened to me but I'm certain it happens in a heart beat and it will be the one thing I remember forever and changes me.
Now the observation of this event, seeing it's impact, and the rationalization of it in hindsight is the Black Swan Theory. Black Swan meaning "a rare bird in the lands, and very like a black swan." So it means you don't see if often but when you do, you remember.
I know there are books out there that talks about constant repetition to get to some overall improvement. This is true, but this is just to keep you in the game and in pace with everyone else who is good. Sometimes those Black Swan events, those "aha!" moments will be a huge contributing factor. Or the practice is to maintain what you learned in the "aha!" moment.
For athletes, that event could be the day they competed in an obstacle course, and they are dead tired at the end and got a great work out. Then they realize wait it wasn't all that running and crawling that killed them, it was that one wall they had to climb in the middle of the course that did them in! Or that one huge hill in the middle of your run, or that heavy weight you did at the end of your work out. All the other stuff did just a little, it was that one intense moment that did it all. 80/20. The thing you did the least did the most.
For my training clients, they get huge gains, and great work outs, 40 minute of the program is just stretching and warming up. Last 5 mins is also stretching. It's that middle 15 minutes where they get all the work in.
Or in a conceptual sense, they didn't gain all that much from me teaching them the clean or snatch or kettlebell swing, it was the day I taught them the concept of periodization that changed how they viewed working out.
So in martial arts the same thing happens. I think it's the reason why some people take 15 years to get a black belt and some take 4 years. It's whether one had that Black Swan or "aha!" moment or not. And if they did, how early on they had it.
This changes the idea of needing years to get good, or all that practice or training every day. It's about efficient, less frequent but more productive training.
For me I got a lot better, by several margins when I realized what the goals of martial arts were. It was like an hour to teach it to me, yet it had more impact on me than thousands of hours of practice. If you can isolate those moments, cultivate it, you will get more with less. Training smarter not harder. There is a saying, it's smart to be tough, but tough to be smart. Really practice just helps me to not forget that moment. But it's never mindless.
Sometimes it's good to watch hours and hours of programming on diet or read book after book. But sometimes, if you are lucky, smart, or just in the right place, you get that one moment where someone says one thing that takes 15 seconds, but it changes everything for you.
If you can cultivate it, culminate it, arrange it, you will be a great student and teacher. Believe me, it can be arranged. Just like a surprise party or a giant prank.
It's not about how much, or how long, its normally about how intense or productive. You can work on an essay or in my case a blog for weeks, but you really get it all done in one day. Kurtosis in action. Forget routine work outs or training at the same time same days same length of time. Make it chaotic, productive, and intense.
Also with food. Don't eat the same thing every day or a lot of bad cheap food. Eat whenever you are hungry, eat a variety, and eat smaller but more nutrient dense portions. As opposed to eating a lot of unproductive foods.
I want to talk about kurtosis and Black Swan events. Kurtosis in math is a probability and statistical study in variance. The basic premise is, the higher the kurtosis, more of the variance is the result of infrequent extreme deviations.
So one stock market crash will affect our economy more in the next hundred years than the little things that happen every month. Or in exercise, doing 10 pull ups is more of a work out than jogging 10 minutes. Or you can be a great parent every day with your kid, it's that one day you hit your child that marks them forever. I could probably make the same connection with getting shot, it's never happened to me but I'm certain it happens in a heart beat and it will be the one thing I remember forever and changes me.
Now the observation of this event, seeing it's impact, and the rationalization of it in hindsight is the Black Swan Theory. Black Swan meaning "a rare bird in the lands, and very like a black swan." So it means you don't see if often but when you do, you remember.
I know there are books out there that talks about constant repetition to get to some overall improvement. This is true, but this is just to keep you in the game and in pace with everyone else who is good. Sometimes those Black Swan events, those "aha!" moments will be a huge contributing factor. Or the practice is to maintain what you learned in the "aha!" moment.
For athletes, that event could be the day they competed in an obstacle course, and they are dead tired at the end and got a great work out. Then they realize wait it wasn't all that running and crawling that killed them, it was that one wall they had to climb in the middle of the course that did them in! Or that one huge hill in the middle of your run, or that heavy weight you did at the end of your work out. All the other stuff did just a little, it was that one intense moment that did it all. 80/20. The thing you did the least did the most.
For my training clients, they get huge gains, and great work outs, 40 minute of the program is just stretching and warming up. Last 5 mins is also stretching. It's that middle 15 minutes where they get all the work in.
Or in a conceptual sense, they didn't gain all that much from me teaching them the clean or snatch or kettlebell swing, it was the day I taught them the concept of periodization that changed how they viewed working out.
So in martial arts the same thing happens. I think it's the reason why some people take 15 years to get a black belt and some take 4 years. It's whether one had that Black Swan or "aha!" moment or not. And if they did, how early on they had it.
This changes the idea of needing years to get good, or all that practice or training every day. It's about efficient, less frequent but more productive training.
For me I got a lot better, by several margins when I realized what the goals of martial arts were. It was like an hour to teach it to me, yet it had more impact on me than thousands of hours of practice. If you can isolate those moments, cultivate it, you will get more with less. Training smarter not harder. There is a saying, it's smart to be tough, but tough to be smart. Really practice just helps me to not forget that moment. But it's never mindless.
Sometimes it's good to watch hours and hours of programming on diet or read book after book. But sometimes, if you are lucky, smart, or just in the right place, you get that one moment where someone says one thing that takes 15 seconds, but it changes everything for you.
If you can cultivate it, culminate it, arrange it, you will be a great student and teacher. Believe me, it can be arranged. Just like a surprise party or a giant prank.
It's not about how much, or how long, its normally about how intense or productive. You can work on an essay or in my case a blog for weeks, but you really get it all done in one day. Kurtosis in action. Forget routine work outs or training at the same time same days same length of time. Make it chaotic, productive, and intense.
Also with food. Don't eat the same thing every day or a lot of bad cheap food. Eat whenever you are hungry, eat a variety, and eat smaller but more nutrient dense portions. As opposed to eating a lot of unproductive foods.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Just Bored
Sometimes people eat a lot, or eat poorly out of pure boredom. Nothing else to do than to eat ice cream and watch a movie, or eat these snacks and play on the computer, or there's cake in the fridge and I have no plans for tonight so cake will be my date.
I read a startling statistic about how seldom people read books currently. Instead of eating out of boredom, read a book out of boredom. Kill two birds with one stone, educate yourself and at the same time get healthier with your eating habits. Reading isn't the cure, it's just another example of something productive you could be doing besides eating.
I read a startling statistic about how seldom people read books currently. Instead of eating out of boredom, read a book out of boredom. Kill two birds with one stone, educate yourself and at the same time get healthier with your eating habits. Reading isn't the cure, it's just another example of something productive you could be doing besides eating.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Food As Reward
We reward ourselves with food. It was taught to us since birth. We even do it on a diet or while working out. I worked out hard today, so I can eat this. Or I've been so good on my diet, so I will treat myself to this.
Ever since we were young, our parents rewarded us with food. And we connect it like a Pavlovian dog to warm memories. That good feeling. On birthdays we have cake, when we do something good we have ice cream, go to the movies we have pop corn, you get a promotion, you eat steak, etc. Originally it was because we did something good, now we eat it and get that feeling as if we did something good without doing anything. We call it comfort food not because of the taste, but because they know to market those foods as being something that will make you remember an old feeling, or make you feel like you have just been rewarded.
Every event now is marked with food. It's even the only thing we know about other cultures is their food. Not anything about their habits or history.
That is the emotional connection we have with food. We need to liberate ourselves from this. That something refined and man made whether drugs or food makes us feel good or emotionally loved.
Ever since we were young, our parents rewarded us with food. And we connect it like a Pavlovian dog to warm memories. That good feeling. On birthdays we have cake, when we do something good we have ice cream, go to the movies we have pop corn, you get a promotion, you eat steak, etc. Originally it was because we did something good, now we eat it and get that feeling as if we did something good without doing anything. We call it comfort food not because of the taste, but because they know to market those foods as being something that will make you remember an old feeling, or make you feel like you have just been rewarded.
Every event now is marked with food. It's even the only thing we know about other cultures is their food. Not anything about their habits or history.
That is the emotional connection we have with food. We need to liberate ourselves from this. That something refined and man made whether drugs or food makes us feel good or emotionally loved.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Is It Sugar?
A good test is, if you can make alcohol out of it. There's grain alcohol, alcohol made of fruits, potato, rice, corn, sugar cane, molasses, wheat, rye, etc.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Ketchup Is Good For Me?
Dr. Oz said in a previous show that ketchup was good for you and your heart... Okay that's assuming ketchup is just some tomato sauce but it's not. It's ketchup which has a lot of salt, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup. None of which are good for your heart.
He just gave the people what they wanted, a magic bullet. Bam! Eat more ketchup. But there are no magic bullets in health.
He just gave the people what they wanted, a magic bullet. Bam! Eat more ketchup. But there are no magic bullets in health.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Composition Of A Meal
The composition of your meals will determine the composition of your body. Your muscle to fat ratio. You can eat less and still have a body that is over-fat (as opposed to overweight). I don't like the term "overweight" because someone who is skinny fat is not overweight but someone who is large with very little fat and nearly all muscle is "overweight."
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