fit for life (TM)

what are your favorite things to do?

Ski or snowboard?
tennis?
rock climb?
skateboard?
surfing?
Dance?

What keeps you motivated, fit and trim?
Here’s a few clients doing what they love most:



Tomas in Cali



Tom E. at Stowe



Trevor K.,  Whistler, BC


 

George D. Whistler, BC

Over 50% of married women in the US want a thinner husband

Over 50% of Wives/Partners/Girlfriends report that they want their “husbands” to lose weight.  It’s more likely that they really want is for them to be in better shape and lose that belly.  (comments anyone?)

Tara Parker-Pope writes in her Well blog on the NY Times that:

“Just over half of married women in the United States want a thinner husband…”

In my experience, married women want their husbands to be in better shape.  It’s not simply about body weight but rather more specific:

- a bulging stomach, no butt and flabby muscles is simply unattractive to women.

So Dads & Married Men.  Here’s my advice:  Have fun and figure out how to lose that belly.  Make sure that whatever you chose you don’t over do it at first.  Injuries lead to more fat accumulation.  Being out of shape is not helping you or most likely your sex life.
PS. Single Males and Hipsters

- that bulging mass is not helping you out man.  using your body to make a statement about how you don’t buy in to the “mass marketing of fitness” while admirably is simply foolish.  Go climb some rocks, skateboard, or take a survival course but whatever you do:  Lose the gut.

what’s it going to take to get you moving?

so, what’s it going to take to get you moving? 
-  high cholesterol - cardiovascular weakness- out of control and stressful life - 20- 30 extra pounds - bad knees - injured back
- pain and discomfort everywhere - depression?

Do things have to be really bad before you do something about it?

Perhaps it’s part of our hunter - gather genetic programming to “settle down” and put on the fat while the eating good.  But I doubt it.  Predominantly, the “wait in see” crowd are men.  The same individuals who are going to die younger and are at higher risk for every major killer. 

For those mathematicians, I’ve looked at the cost savings on investing in your health and come up with the following simple formula:

For every $1,000 invested wisely* in your health and fitness today you save $10,000 in potential health care costs later in life.

Ratio of 1 : 10 (this is a very conservative estimate and doesn’t take into account “quality of life” improvements)

Examply:  Open heart surgery or cancer treatment can costs upwards of $250,000.00 to treat.  Moreover most health insurance companies won’t pay for your “special” treatments by the time you suffer from one of these illnesses the way things are going.

* wise fitness choices: I believe that fitness is quantifiable and that there are specific and measurable results that any program should produce.  Most importantly, fitness should help you realize:  - a reduction in body fat and body mass, help prevent serious injuries and NOT provoke significant or repetitive stress injuries;  improvements in:  - cardiovascular function - static and dynamic posture and movement - and should help you modulate your mood and enhance your experiences by improving your ability to enjoy the things you love and encourage you to Play more.

So, what did it take to get you moving? 

or are you still waiting?
 

I’m interested in hearing from you?

happy birthday trevor king

There are people who deserve to be publicly celebrated and Trevor King is one of them. Trevor is the kind of person who makes a difference in this world and the significance of his existence extends well beyond the personal and impacts all of us who have the fortune to know him.

Happy Birthday Trevor

your leadership is silent but witness by all
so take heart and confidence in your ways
your intentions are deeply felt and widely regarded
and we are all better for it.

love and respect.
 

Tomas

How To Squat Shoulder Press

liquid fitness® follow along sequence
exercise: Squat Shoulder Press / Jump Squat Press

Tomas Anthony, founder and trainer, everyday athlete ®, teaches you how to train more intelligently for what you love. In this sequence, Tomas will demonstrate one of the essential movements of functional training, the squat coupled with a powerful upper body movement, the overhead press.

Would you like to have an influence on how you die?

We do not choose when we live but we can decide what we do with the time we have.

we all would like to live a full, healthy and less stressful life.  I believe that: the choice is yours.  There is ample data supporting the idea that we can have a profound influence on not only the quality of our life but ultimately how we die.

I begin with a recent excerpt from the NY Times Well blog by Tara Parker-Pope, and written by Gretchen Reynolds, published an article titled: Can Touching Your Toes Test Your Arteries? 

The article suggests that there is “a relationship” between our arterial flexibility and how flexible we are in our lower back, hamstring and calf muscles.  Unfortunately, the test used in this study is not something you should try at home as it can be unhealthy, even dangerous for your back.

(I wish the researcher had designed a better experiment and I question the value of his conclusions and ideas based upon his methodology and thus unfortunately his hypothesis seems very flawed.)

That said there’s an important take away that I think was missed in this:

we all have a lot more control over how we influence the quality and length of our demise.  In essence:  We can choose how we die.

While it’s true that we could be killed, injured or be the victim of random violence or disease, there’s less likelihood of this than us simply growing old and dying. 

Here are ways that each of us will probably go (data is from the CDC website)

Leading Causes of Death
(Data are for the U.S.)

Number of deaths for leading causes of death
- Heart disease: 631,636
- Cancer: 559,888
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 137,119
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,583
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 121,599
- Diabetes: 72,449
- Alzheimer’s disease: 72,432
- Influenza and Pneumonia: 56,326
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 45,344
- Septicemia: 34,234

what should be clear is here is that there is that 6 of the top 10 causes of death are directly effected by how well we take care of our physical and mental health throughout our lives.  In addition,  over 80% of the leading causes of death are conditions that most cases are directly effected by changes in lifestyle and exercise.

More importantly: 

If you want the quality of your experience to improve every day, no matter how long you live, if you did nothing else but improved your physical health you’d feel and live better.  If you get stuck on the “how” to do this then stick around and ask questions.  This is the purpose of this website and blog.





 

challenges

challenges

life is full of challenges and just when you think that you’ve gotten past one, it isn’t long before another appears.  It’s not unlike climbing high mountains, where getting to the top is only the first half of the struggle and then the real danger begins as you climb down.  However, if you stay focused and connected to what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and share your experiences, you’ll stand a much better chance of emerging stronger and wiser than before. 
pain avoidance
I believe that the true danger lies in our instinct to make the pain go away as fast as possible, to isolate ourselves, use drugs, alcohol or toxic food, and ultimately to disconnect from those we love.  In doing this we lose our focus and forget our strengths.  I know this only too well personally.  rather than turning away from our pain and fears, I believe you need to embrace and understand them and so you can discard them or dismiss them more readily.  this process is constant and probably life long but it is worth it as the alternative is suffering. 
goal
my goal is to help you through this hopefully by offering inspirational, and practical advice on how to overcome some of life’s challenges and give you the physical stamina, skills and methodology to excel at what you love… or to help you find out what that may be. -

To that end, over the next few weeks I will be posting a variety of how to content and exercise examples to help fuel your mind and body with ideas on how to move better.  In addition, I will be offering intelligent exercise sequences for sale via a new online store.  the purpose of the store is to provide you with the information and tools for you to train better and address specific functional needs that you may have.  I look forward to bringing you new content and information and hope you will participate in further discussion.

training for snowboarding, surfing and other board sports

exercise example: how to jump lunge
purpose: builds ability to reduce and produce force.
Benefits of Urban Training
One of the benefits of living and training in a large urban landscape is that there’s a lot of creativity, intensity and opportunity to improve ideas and methods.  Over the past 15 years, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a grass roots fitness community helping everyday people excel at what they love. 

Specifically, I’ve been interested in helping design, develop and implement training programs for board sports like surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and other board -balance based sports.  Each one requires a unique approach and training progression although they share some common traits.  Over the next few weeks I will be posting a brief distillation of some of the movements and progressions that have been highly effective for each group. 

Zero Weight Gain During Pregnancy Debate

The New York Times Well Blog recent sparked some serious debate when they published the following article on their well blog:  Zero Weight Gain During Pregnancy
I posted my simple albeit short comment on the NYTimes Well Blog and I guess pissed a few women off.  So to clarify, I decided to write this post in the hope that some folks might understand my perspective.
I know a lot of women who gained (and lost) a lot of weight (in excess of 50 pounds) during all their pregnancies.  However, there was little or no concern because most of them were being actively monitored by the OB + Midwife, and were fit and healthy prior to getting pregnant. 
All my clients (pregnant and otherwise) learn to take a proactive and healthy approach to eating, moving and playing so that issues around gaining weight during pregnancy or life are handled in a supportive and healthy way.  Eating well is challenging and difficult for everyone but it is essential to good health.

My intention in writing comments is to be instructive and specific rather than simply post my opinion.  If this appears to clinical or too “instructive” for some the reason is simple:  My job is to help people make hard decisions that will get them feeling better and moving better through life.
- One very important methodological note that I did not express in my post.

I believe in the idea that Calories are not AS Important as Nutrient Value.  Hence I would argue forcefully that Pregnant women should be MOST Focused on eating: 
- Leafy Green Organic Vegetables
- Lean Sources of Protein
- High Quality and Pure Omega 3 Fats including from small fish and flax/other sources
- Supplement their diet with a well rounded “whole food” Prenatal Vitamin like New Chapter’s “Perfect Prenatal” or other.  M.D./OB are not always on top of this.
- Find a great Midwife to work with and perhaps speak with someone who is Licensed in Prenatal Nutrition.

Here’s my NYTIMES POST.
“The demands of pregnancy can be significant even for non-overweight or de-conditioned women. The underlying message that should be taken away from these recommendations are simple. If you are interested in getting pregnant and having a happy, healthy and successful pregnancy and life after birth then:
 

Prepare your body and mind in advance by losing excess body fat , conditioning your body and beginning a “core training” program to strengthen your pelvic floor and other muscles for the demands of labor and beyond.”

how to jump squat

how to jump squat
a practical way to keep your body and bones strong and avoid injury.

jump squats are simple, effective and fun.  when practiced correctly they are safe, functional and a great way to get your whole body moving.  In this example, I teach you the basics of good form and areas of common problems that you want to look out for.  Look for this new how to series to be available soon for download online and to mobile devices.