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Two is One and One is None

April 13, 2022
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| Health and Wellness

Two is one and one is none is a concept used by Navy Seals that simply means to have a backup plan.  It means having one of something is like having none and that having two of anything is the same as having one. This important concept is not only extremely valuable on the battlefield and in outdoor survival but in everyday life. Taking it a step further, I like to also apply this to healthy eating and exercise.

Exercise and eating healthy are the two key components of living a healthy lifestyle. Yet too many people leave these two important components to chance. Then when something causes your day or week to go sideways, without a backup plan your initial plan for diet and exercise goes off the rails.

This leads to inconsistency, frustration, and overwhelm. All of which makes it much easier to get discouraged and just say screw it. I’ll try again tomorrow or next week. For some people, it can mean they may just give up all together.

Fortunately, this problem has an easy solution.

An ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of cure. The best way to avoid all the problems listed above is to create back up systems and have them in place. In life it is not if something will go wrong but when.

Here are some ideas to help you create your own back-up plan for your diet and exercise routine.

  1. Schedule your workouts for each week in advance. If something is on the schedule you are more likely to get it done.
  2. Always have 2-3 backup workout programs that you can do if something pops up and you cannot get your planned workout in for that day. EG. Go for a walk or run. Do a shorter 10–15-minute or 15-30 minute workout or yoga flow.
  3. Shop and prep food ahead of time so the ingredients are ready to go at a moment’s notice to throw together something tasty and healthy.
  4. Have healthy food readily available. Keep healthy bars, snacks, and protein powder in your car, pocketbook, backpack, at work, and at home.
  5. Have an emergency meal plan. Simply keep a set of ingredients that will allow you to throw together a healthy meal if you run late from work or the kids practice or game runs over. Instead of grabbing fast food. Quickly whip up a healthy tasty dinner.

A quick caveat. Having a backup doesn’t always mean having the exact same thing that may become lost or broken but something in place that can do a similar job when the SHTF.

Sure, the workout you may end up doing isn’t the exact one you had planned but you still got a workout in. This is better than nothing. Sometimes this can even work out better than the original. Getting something done keeps you consistent and keeps your momentum going. These are two key variables for long-term success.

The old saying of failing to plan is planning to fail always holds true.

Don’t overcomplicate the plan. Take a little time now and create 1-2 backup workout options, backup snacks, and backup last-minute meal ideas. Then save the workouts on your phone and go buy the ingredients for your meals so you have them on hand.

Once again, a plan without a backup plan is like having no plan at all. Incorporating these easy-to-apply techniques can assure that you won’t get caught with your pants down the next time life goes sideways.

To your health,

Kevin

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Small Steps, Big Changes

March 29, 2021
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| Health and Wellness

One of the hardest things about falling off the health and fitness wagon is getting started again. Many people will be on a roll for a while and getting great results and then life kicks you in your junk and knocks you down. The truth is that this happens to even the most dedicated people from time to time. This post was written to help you get back up and get back at it. If you are having trouble getting motivated to start exercising and eating healthy, please keep reading.

It’s not if life gets in the way and derails your training and nutrition program but when. The trick is get going again. Fortunately, it is not as hard as you think. A common problem is once someone falls off for a while, they get frustrated and oftentimes depressed. Part of the reason for this is that people feel like if they are not able to do as well as they were doing before then it is not worth doing at all. The other reason is that people tend to look at the big picture of everything they have to do to get back to where they were and get intimidated and scared. The trick is to not even think about what you were doing before or all if the things you “should” or “have” to do but focus on one small action step towards your goal that you can do now. Less thinking, more doing.

Depending on how long you have been out of the training and nutrition game you may be very out of shape, feel weak, tight, aches and pains etc. The key is to keep your action step as simple as possible. Do not make it more overwhelming than it already seems to be. Do not try to go from zero to 100 in a week. Simply pick something small that you feel 100% confident that you can do.  For example, set out your gym clothes for the next day’s workout and then walk 10 minutes. Do 10 squats and 10 push-ups 2-3 times per week. If you want to start eating healthier and you have been eating ice cream every night, then starting by not eating ice cream for one night. Sure, you may be thinking “what is that little bit of exercise or dietary change going to do for me?” The answer is to build momentum and confidence. Contrary to what many believe motivation does not lead to action. Action leads to motivation. This approach works for everything in life. The key is that once you start getting some small wins you feel better. You feel accomplished you get into a flow. Then over time you begin to want to do more and more and before you know it you are back at it full swing and kicking ass.

If you have been stuck for awhile or unmotivated to exercise or eat healthy then pick something easy. Even if it is just a small step towards your goal and start by doing that step each day. Then build on it from there. Every great journey began with a first step. Make you first step small and easy and in a short time you will look back and say to yourself ‘Wow, look how far I have come?”

Yours in health,

Kevin

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Choose Your Identity

March 24, 2021
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| Health and Wellness, Uncategorized

Decisions, decisions. Everyday there are numerous important choices that we must make. Such as, what am I going to have for breakfast? Should I wear a button down or a polo? Should I wear deodorant or go au natural? Just kidding, I wear deodorant and just kidding, those are not important choices. One really important choice however, is am I going to take care of myself and be healthy, fit and feel great or am I going to let myself deteriorate, get out of shape, sick and fat?

Choose your identity?

Having trained hundreds of clients for over 25 years, one of the most important common denominators of my most successful clients comes down to this one simple question. Who am I?

The most successful clients choose working out, eating healthier and exercising as a lifestyle. This lifestyle is part of who they are. It is as important to them as brushing their teeth and applying deodorant! Not sure what my fascination with deodorant is today but let us continue, shall we?

People that are not successful being in shape, healthy, lean still have not decided. From time to time they may decide to join a gym, start an exercise program or a new diet. The problem with this approach is that they have not chosen to make that a part of who they are. They have one foot in and one foot out.  Sure, they decided to act which is great, and I applaud them for that first step. Unfortunately, once things get hard or life gets in the way they go right back to square one. Why? Because they did not take on the new identity of who they wanted to become. A fitter, healthier, better version of themselves.

There are many reasons we humans do this. Most of the time it is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of change etc. A great piece of advice I heard from Jaimie Foxx on  a Tim Ferris Podcast is “What’s on the other side of fear?” the answer is “nothing.” And he’s absolutely right. There is nothing on the other side of fear.

Many of us worry about what might happen, about the worst case scenarios and what can go wrong but rarely do they ever happen that way. And even if they do, it would still be a really good experience, a life lesson for you to learn and grow from.

What are your goals? Take a moment and write them down in detail. Then ask yourself is this who I want to become. If the answer is yes, then you must make this part of your being. It must be who you are. If you want to be fit, look, and feel your best then you must do the actions necessary to be that way. It must be a priority. No negotiations. Plan your meals, shop for your food, prep your meals, schedule your training sessions, take your supplements. Show up each day. I am not going to lie. It will be hard in the beginning. The trick is to stick with it. Day in and day out and in no time at all it will become a habit. A beautiful healthy habit. Just like brushing your teeth and putting deodorant on.

To your health.

Kevin

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Old School Water Jug Workouts

March 14, 2021
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| Uncategorized

Some of my favorite workouts are the most basic and true to life. Big basic movements using everyday heavy objects doing everyday things. This was the inspiration for this post and I hope it inspires you. 

My family has some property upstate in the Catskill Mountains. We use the house year-round but over the winter we have to shut off the water and drain all the pipes, so they don’t freeze and break. This means that when we go up to the house during the winter months, we must bring large jugs of water to wash up, flush the toilet, brush our teeth, etc. Although carrying 4+ 7-gallon containers of water 2 at a time back and forth or 40 yards down the driveway through snow sometimes can be rough, it is also a killer workout. The primal part of me loves this and hopefully, you will too.

 

For this workout you will need two 5- or 7-gallon water jugs, I like the Reliance brand Aquatainers. They are sturdy and have comfortable handles. You can also get the Jerry can version which is a little narrower making it a bit easier to deadlift and carry them. This also makes it a bit more difficult to do push-ups on the handles. A third option if you are looking for something lighter and a bit smaller you can get the 4-gallon containers. These work better for shorter and/or smaller frame individuals. 

The 7-gallon containers weigh 2 pounds each empty. Full they are 60 pounds apiece. The cool thing is that you can adjust the weight by adjusting how much you fill them. Another added benefit is that when they are not full the water movers around a lot more. This makes lifting and carrying them more challenging and can provide a different and perhaps harder stimulus to your muscles.

Below is the weight of water in relation to gallons.

1 gallon of water weighs 8.33 lbs.

2 gallons of water weigh 16.66 lbs.

3 gallons of water weigh 24.99 lbs.

4 gallons of water weigh 33.32 lbs.

5 gallons of water weigh 41.64 lbs.

6 gallons of water weigh 49.97 lbs.

7 gallons of water weigh 58.3 lbs.

Add the weight of the container you are using, and you will have the weight of each container for your workout.

Below are two awesome total body workouts that take less than 30 minutes using water containers. 

Before you begin working out be sure to do a dynamic warm-up to get your body ready for the workout and to help prevent injuries.

Workout 1:

10 Deadlifts.

25–40-yard farmers carry.

10 push-ups using the container handles.

Rest 60-90 seconds and repeat.

Perform 3-7 rounds depending on you your goals and fitness level.

Workout 2:

10 Bent over Rows.

10 Triceps Dips or Push-ups using container handles.

Farmers Carry the containers up and down a set of stairs 1-2 times OR do 8-10 step-ups for each leg.

Rest 60-90 seconds and repeat.

Perform 3-7 rounds depending on you your goals and fitness level.

So now you have two “fun” and challenging workouts that you can do outside with minimal equipment. Use your imagination for other exercises! You can also do a higher number of reps or additional sets as you get more advanced. One last added bonus is these containers are great to have for extra fresh water during emergencies.

Give this workout a go and let me know what you think.

To your health,

Kevin

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Building an Awesome, Effective, and Inexpensive Home Gym Part 1

March 8, 2021
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Since the spread of Covid-19 our world and especially the workout world has been turned upside down. With gyms closing or only operating at limited capacity, and the fear of going back to a gym many have chosen to go the home gym route. This movement has led to the advent of cool but expensive home gym systems such as, Peloton, The Mirror, Tonal, etc. and a shortage of a lot of the basic home gym equipment such as dumbbell, kettlebells, barbells, benches and racks etc. These home gym systems are cool and do offer a lot of benefits and a large decked out home gym is awesome but many people do not have the space or the budget to have these systems or a big home gym. This leads us to an important question?

What equipment should I buy to create a functional, effective, space saving and portable home gym?

If you are wondering the same thing then this post has you covered.

In this post I put together a list of 5 pieces of equipment that can create a formidable home gym. This equipment will offer you endless variety, allow you to advance as you get stronger, gives you portability and it takes up very little space.

Here it goes.

  1. 1-2 Kettle Bells. For females I recommend a 15# and a 20# or 25#. For men I recommend a 20# and 30-35#. These weight options allow you to start at a lighter weight as a beginner and progress to a heavier weight as you get more advanced. It also allows you to have a lighter kettle bell for unilateral or single arm/leg movements and a heavier kettlebell for double arm/leg movements. Kettlebells are one of the most versatile pieces of equipment that offer endless challenge, variety, can be used for both strength and conditioning and can easily fit under your bed or in a closet. Price varies by weight and whoever is price gouging right now and can range from $36 for 15# to $70 for a 30#. The link I have here has them in stock.
  2. Exercise Band Set with handles, ankle straps and a door anchor. Bands are the most versatile, portable, and light weight exercise equipment there is. They take up almost zero space and are great for assisting or increasing the challenge of bodyweight exercises (think chin ups). Lastly bands are great to assist stretching. The set I have linked here also comes with ankle attachments, handles and a door mount. Price $30
  3. Swiss Ball or Physio Ball. A swiss ball is another excellent piece of equipment that offers a ton of variety, can be used to lay on as a bench and can also be used for stretching. It also makes a great seat to improve posture if you sit for work all day. Try switching back and forth between your desk chair and a swiss ball throughout the day. The price is cheap as well around $20-25
  4. TRX or similar suspension system with door anchor. Suspension trainers are another super effective, space saving and light weight piece of equipment. They offer limitless variety and are great for both beginners and advanced trainees alike. Price around $100-$129.
  5. Sliders. Exercise sliders are a great inexpensive piece of equipment that offers a ton of training variety and challenge. The ones I have linked to here are two sided so you can use them on carpet and hardwood floors. They also come in two sizes. I recommend getting the larger size either way as it is more comfortable and easier to stay on them during certain exercises. Price $11

There you have it. You can have an AWESOME home gym with endless challenge and variety for around $250-300. This equipment should last you a long time as well. If you are on a budget then I would recommend one kettlebell and the band set and swiss ball if you can swing it. (Pun intended) You can always get the suspension trainer and a heavier kettlebell later as you progress. The good news is most of this equipment is available now or comes into stock quickly. 

This is a simple solution to help keep your health, fitness, and fat loss on track.

Yours in health

Kevin

*If you would like personalized professionally designed programs or to join our fun and challenging virtual boot camp classes please check out the rest of my site for more information.*

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