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Two Voices

 Always ‘hear to’ the voices in your head

There are only two

The voice that resounds with both truth and fight

Is the one you should most listen

This thought of why I exercise never really crossed my mind. I have been training for sports, health, sanity, ego, enjoyment, pain, drug habit (endorphines/pseudomorphine -a good training session releases them), function…since I was 12 years old. I am 43 now and I have never been in better shape. NEVER. I am a quick, strong (I “play” with 500+lbs. deadlifts) full of energy 5′11″ 168 lbs.regular guy with maybe 8% bodyfat. I am  almost pain free…but really should be crippled. Doctors who know me and my backround prognosticated that I would be somewhat crippled by the time I reached 40. Well, anyone who knows me well enough knows that I DO NOT LISTEN TO DOCTORS. If I did, I WOULD be crippled.

So, really let me give you another list of why I train and why I am THE POSTER CHILD(Grown man actually) for exercise and smart nutrition.

(This list is not necessarily in order of importance. It is more in a chronological order)

1. Scoliosis (30+ years ago doctors thought “you’ll grow out of it”?????

2. Concussion (long fall from high places will get you every time)

3. Broken talocalcaneal joint (motocross)

4. Broken metacarpal (I hit something too hard…too hard)

5. Broken left tibia (Wrestling-Districts)

6.Broken pelvis, internal injuries 3 degree road rash to about 30% of my body (Cars will always win in contact sports with mere mortals)

7. Broken collar bone (Someone landed a cheap elbow shot to my clavicle… soccer)

8. Broken neck, broken sternum, broken cheek bone, serious heart injury from impact to steering wheel…NO SEATBELT…NOT SMART…USE YOUR SEAT BELT!

9.Shattered right tibia, fibula. You know the gruesome injury you see when detached bone and muscle is no longer covered beneath the skin…yeah, that freaky injury. COMPOUND FRACTURE=COMPOUND PAIN! Motocross. Motocross seems to pop up quite a bit on this list.

10.Broken right hip. Motocross

11. Broken left hip, 2 very deep lacerations (wait, I think I see some radius, ulna and some forearm muscle deep lacerations) + Can you say staphylococcus? How about FUNKY, UNCONTROLLABLE staph infection? (Mountain Bike CRASH!!! Funny- “CRASH” was a nickname my dad gave me about 15 years ago. Why? I do not know.)

12. Concussion. Skate board accident.

13. I love my wife and our 3 boys. I will not be crippled. I will always be strong, alive and an inspirational role model for our children. I love my life and I love what I do. I help people get strong, get healthy, stay strong, stay healthy… and it don’t get much better than that. 

So please share a bit of your life. It may inspire others.

Why Do You Train? I want to know…

Most people “bumout” when they have their sites or hopes set  on something and it simply craps out.

The positive spin on this would be to look at these “closed doors” as God’s way of ”setting you up” to create and become someone even greater than you  ever thought possible. 

There is ALWAYS more room for GREATNESS! Your dream is still in you. You just have to get in and DRIVE the DREAM. GET THERE…

when you are sitting around and think to your self “I should really tell my child how proud I am of her/ him”. Haven’t you ever thought that?  My wife and I have three boys, and man how quickly they grow up. Our eldest son is 10. SMART! SMART!SMART! Has always been smart. We knew he had a gift when he was literally running around the house before he turned 10 months, and later on when he was 2; we were already having full on conversations with him.  

Our middle son, who is 8 now, is an incredibly sensitive boy. He is smart in his own right, and has a laugh that simply stops you in your tracks and mesmerizes you into a world of childhood giddy.

Then, we have our third boy. Let’s just say that he has pulled some of  the dispositions characteristic of his two older brothers together, and tweaked them so as to define him.
And to try to define him would not do him justice. He will give us a “run for our money”. No doubt!

All three of our boys bring us joy…everyday! They are not perfect, and they do manage to test us from time to time. But, I have to say this; there was a time when I said that I would not let one of those single moments go when I have an opportunity to let them know how blessed I feel to know them and how proud of them I am. They give me these opportunities everyday, but it has recently occurred to me that I have not seized these moments as I thought I would.

Tonight I was training a client in my studio, and my son and wife popped their heads in to tell me some exciting news. Matt received his yellow belt in Shotokan Karate. He had this wonderful smile of pride on his face. I went up to him and said, “I knew your kata was that good that you would receive your belt. I am so proud of you. I love you my man.” He just looked at me, with this wonderful smile of pride on his face. And, right then and there I realized  that there are these special times in life that are your life… looking right back at you from a thirty year old mirror. 

 I had this wonderful smile of pride on my face…  

Before I ever heard of Atkins, Sears, Eades, Cordain… I had a very smart nutritional “guru” fill me in on

the “right way to eat”. His name was dad. And he gave me and my brothers and sister the greatest gift

he could have ever given us…the advice  to not eat sugar.

I was probably 10 years old (33 years ago) when he began his well intentioned enlightenment for me about exercise and nutrition. And to more accurately describe his abhorrent depiction of sugar I believe his exact words when on the topic were “SUGAR IS POISON.” 

Yeah, he made no bones about it. And I was fortunate to take this advice for the long haul and do my best to share it as tactfully as I could bare with whomever wanted to listen.

Well, today I can share that more than ever, his wisdom proves true with me as well as through science. For me, an empirical reminder that when you do not obey the rules of proper nourishment, you will pay the price.

Right before the Christmas holidays, I endulged in some homemade cookies that seem to be so ubiquitous this time of year. That turned into a little pasta here and a slice of homemade breads there and walla, kick ass sinus infection that has found me dizzy with vertigo type symptoms for over a week. And you know what, I knew that if I chose to eat these types of “foods” I should be willing to pay the price. If feeling like the top half of my head is about to explode and that I am on an all day “TILT-A-WHIRL” ride at the amusement park whos operator is laughing his ass off and won’t stop the ride is paying the price, then I am flat out broke paying the nutrition reaper and I want off this ride NOW!

Yesterday I went back on my normal HUNTER-GATHERER approach to eating and the ride is slowing down for sure and my head is getting clearer. That is why I am now writing this.

The season to get on track with nutrition and exercise doesn’t start AFTER the holidays. It starts RIGHT NOW! Get back on track with me and get sickness out of your life.

But hey, if you are willing to pay the price thats cool. Just read what might be in store for you if you continue on the “sugar train”:

You decide…

Have you seen the latest commercial where this guy is sitting in a doctor’s examination room and the doctor knocks and opens the door to deliver some bad news. The doctor enters and says you have lung cancer… then enters again and says you have heart disease… emphasema… throat cancer…

Then the narrator says “if you haven’t planned on quitting smoking, what ARE you planning on?”

Well, I like when a strong message is being made without all the fluff. You know… NO B.S., straight to the point stuff.

And being in the fitness/wellness industry, I would like to see a commercial showing a fat guy sitting on a doctor’s examination table WAITING for SOME news from his doctor: 

Knock, knock…”Mr.____ I’m sorry…You have heart disease… You have diabetes… You have colon cancer…”

Narrator: “If you thought you would get around to taking better care of yourself… How are you going to get around this?”

Love to hear your thoughts…

O.K. the economy does SUCK!

IT IS SUCKING wind…  GASPING for air… and CRAWLING on it’s hands and knees…

Alot of things are out of our control, right?

Maybe, but here is a little !WARNING! That you might not

even be considering at the moment.

A recent article published in USA TODAY stated that

out of 100 small business owners who had to lay off

employees, 90% said that the first ones to go would

be the ones who were the least productive.

Least productive would mean the ones who frequently:

- call in sick

-show up late to work

-leave early

-miss deadlines

-complain to other staff members

Hey, in the job market right now

ALL BETS ARE OFF

So the least all of us can do is

First -(if guilty) STOP doing any and

ALL of the above!

Second- HEDGE YOUR STAKE in your company

by taking better care of yourself.

HOW?

For one, make healthy food choices that will help keep you out of sick bay

Next, Get your butt in a kick ass exercise program at your health club,

local boot camp, etc. and STICK TO IT! Studies have shown that people who

are more fit are much better performers in the work place.

SERIOUSLY consider”Dropping” anyone, yes, ANYONE around you who is doom and gloom!

And, if you are deciding to PROCRASTINATE till the New Year…

Please, stop kidding yourself! That New Year’s resolution thing has got to be the most ridiculously

defective,  ill thought-up, ineffective solution to your well-being ever conceived.

Hey, I am no naturalist, but that Darwin Theory of Evolution

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

makes alot of sense right about now!

I am sure you agree.

If not, give me a shout and we can talk about it

Peace-

Matt

I found and linked a very interesting site that supports hunter-gatherer philosophies in nutrition (the same ones that I practice). So if you need even more evidence about the harms of grains in the human diet, PLEASE read this link http://www.beyondveg.com/cordain-l/grains-leg/grains-legumes-1a.shtml

Have an awesome weekend…

and if you want to discuss…that would be cool

Peace-Matt

I just got back from the bowling alley.

I was with my wife and our three boys, along with

some friends and more family.

Anyway, tonight I just wanted to kick back and watch.

(Just in that kind of mood I guess.)

I was watching my family and they were all having a fine time.

Especially my wife who always seems to be fighting for Bowler of the

Night bragging rights with my younger brother. (Kathy won)

But, during the time I was watching my family this guy strolls up to the lane

Next to them with full-on bowling gear i.e. high end shoes, glove, his own custom ball

and bag of resin. When he stepped up to the lane and delivered some mad speed, big hooks to the left

I thought we were in for a “show from a pro”.

Ahh, no. This is what went down.

Killer technique, freaky speed and a dizzying rotation

That never really seemed to bring on the hook he was looking for.

RESULT: 3 pins, 7 pins- some spares, not 1 strike. NOT 1 STRIKE!

“Are you kidding me?” I thought.

I’m no pro bowler. And, even if I get a strike it is some small miracle.

But, it seemed a simple solution that if this guy would have just moved a little left on his lane he would have

been hammerin’ some mad pins and painting those frames full of X’s all night long. The definition of “insanity” does fit in here some where.

I know it is bowling, but…

A simple example that shows you can have all the right tools, and get nominal results.

Well, in my book nominal results are really NO RESULTS.

So, how can I relate this to exercise and nutrition?

REAL SIMPLY…

FIND the right tools like my 4 week mini boot camps (sorry, exclusive to my studio…but, I’ll share some video in the next week or so)

USE the right tools. DO NOT SKIMP ON YOUR TRAINING. And if you want to lose weight, eat better foods and add a 0 to what you want to weigh and that will be your daily caloric intake. And on days you train, add 200-300- calories to that.

NEVER look back. You are where you are. If you can make improvements then YOU make improvements. And that means all of the above + CHANGE YOUR MINDSET! If is broken…CHANGE IT DAMMIT! You will be happy you did.  

Now, what does that spell? That’s right baby…FUN!

Please, take this simple advice and that is what you are going to have a little more of in your life…FUN!

And that mad pro bowler wannabe who just would not figure out an obvious solution to his bowling woes…He was NOT having fun. Poor guy.

I’m sure one day he will figure it out.

You will surely hear (and see) from me soon…

Peace-

Matt