Coulee Region Bootcamps

I spent the weekend at my parents house to attend the wedding of a good friend. It’s great to get back home be back on the farm (even though it’s just an acreage now, no animals besides cats and a dog). 

They also happen to live over 25 miles from the nearest commercial gym or “fitness center”. 

So what do you do when you want to get a good workout in?  Not just going for a run, but something that will elevate your metabolism, get you stronger and get that fat burning!

I was not going to make the 40 minute drive.  There was just too much stuff going on to justify the time commitment. My wife was in the wedding and doing “wedding stuff” all day.  I have to help watch our two kids and help my parents with anything they want help with around the place.

Have you been in a similar situation? Do you give up and plan to “make it up” next week? 

I decided nothing will stop me and if this happens to you; you have lots of choices.

1. Do a bodyweight only workout. Pick out a number, say 100, and perform that many reps of pushups, squats, lunges, and jumping jacks.  Break them up any way you like them and don’t stop until you are all done.  Simple and effective.

2. If you are planning ahead you can bring some bands along to incorporate into your bodyweight workout.  This allows you to incorporate some pulling exercises to get a balanced workout for your whole body.  Check out the best bands you can possibly get from the Band Man Dave Schmitz.

3. Odd object lifting.  Find something reasonably heavy (large stones, logs, small children, tires, etc) and lift it any way you can imagine.  You can even pick it up and carry it for distance.  This will get you a great workout and hit all those “inbetween” muscles you forgot you had!

Lucky for me my dad unknowingly came to the rescue.  The barn roof in the process of being reshingled to fix some holes.  There were 25 bundles of shingles (70lbs each) that needed to be carried up the ladder to the top of the roof. 

So I threw the bags on my shoulder (1 at a time) and carried them up the ladder and dropped them on the roof.  I did this as quickly as possible to really push myself and also to avoid the angry wasps that had a few nest under the hole in the roof and didn’t like me slamming the shingles onto the roof their home was attached to.  My dad found some wasps spray and stood on the roof “riding shotgun.”

So 15 minutes, 2 stings and 50+ dead wasps later I was done.  I felt great to get in such a demanding workout in the fresh air. 

For completeness sake I went into the garage and did a few sets pullups on the steel beam in the roof.  I also climbed from one end of the beam to the other with my knees tucked to my chest to avoid the cars.  After that I did some pushups.

That was it.  I got a great workout incorprating total body moves, some upper body pulling, core and grip all while helping my dad out. 

So there are no barriers to good workouts, just excuses.  Get creative and get fit!

When I go into any gym I always lots of ellipticals.  They always seem to be the busiest piece of equipment in the gym. I’m sure the people using them have goals of losing weight and being healthy.   They rely of these machines to help burn fat while being easy on the joints. 

Now I think if someone has a knee injury, then the elliptical may be the only exercise they can do without pain.  That is great.  As long as they are doing something for their health, go ahead.

However, the elliptical machine can cause problems of it’s own.  Check out this article that explains more:

http://www.thespec.com/article/813467

Basically the elliptical machine put the user is a forward position.  The hip flexors are shortened and over time short hip flexors lead to back pain. 

So what are we to do?  Either have knee pain or back pain?  Is that our only choice?

Absolutely not!

Start strength training for goodness sake.  Proper strength training routines that use a full body workout are the best exercise for you.  Strength training helps build lean muscle.  This lean muscle burns fat like crazy. 

Strength training also can help keep your joints healthy.   By using the proper exercises and correct form you strengthen the muscles around your joint.  You can also improve your joint mobility and muscle flexibility.  Neither the elliptical or treadmill can do that.

It may be intimidating to start strength training.  You may not know where to start.

It’s really easy.  Pick a few exercises.  Let’s use bodyweight squats, pushups (put your hands on a higher surface like a table or chair to make them easier), and lunges.  Now do 10 reps of each.  Start with the squat, then pushups, then lunges.   Do them as quickly as possible then rest 30 seconds.  Repeat 3-5 times.  That is a great workout with no joint impact. 

At Coulee Region Boot Camps in La Crosse we always balance the exercises over your entire body.  Your form is always monitored to ensure safety for your joints and muscles.  And using our interval style strength training will help you melt off 9x more fat then running on a treadmill or elliptical.

I hope you can see how ellipticals should be a complement to a exercise program.  They should never be the whole program!

But if you have to use the elliptical please stretch your hip flexors before and after.  That’s all I ask.

My partners over at Prograde Nutrition have just released an extraordinary special report. In fact, I’ll admit, I learned quite a bit from it.
I’ll bet you didn’t realize walking through your grocery store that these 4 items could send your metabolism soaring!
You could wait to read it, but your body will seriously thank your for it if you clicked over right now and devoured every word.
http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/slimming-supermarket-secrets.html
Yours in health,
Anthony
PS – One of the boosters is something you can put on toast. But it’s not what you think. Who knew?
http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/slimming-supermarket-secrets.html

I love vitamin D.  Studies have shown that vitamin D has numerous health benefits. 

Dr May Mellanby discovered vitamin D and shoed it’s role in rickets.  He also showed that vitamin D supplementation actually healed cavities as shown here.

Lack of vitamin D has also been shown increase your risk of flu.

And most recently vitamin D has been shown to accelerate fat loss.  Check out Johny Bowden’s blog about it here.

I take at least 2000 IU of vitamin D daily and suggest you do the same.  It will have great health benefits.  And lets face it, taking a couple small pills a day is extremely cost effective and easy.  Make sure you get vitamin D3 as it’s the most easily absorbed form of vitamin D.

In last weeks post I explained why crunches should not be the primary exercise for your abs or core or whatever else you want to call it.  In fact if you never did a single crunch again I think you would be much better off. 

So how do we train our abs and get a flat tummy or six pack abs?

For one, abs exercises will not give you a six pack.  Only having low body fat accomplishes that, but we’ll save that for another blog post.

Ok, so what ab exercises should be do?

That’s why were here. Hold on to your seats.  Some of these exercises may not be new to many, but are you actually doing them?

First we have to realize the primary function of the abdominals is to prevent movement, not create movement. 

Go ahead and read that sentence again and think about it for a second. Seriously, do it. I’ll wait.  Ready?  OK.

Now we need to train the core in a way that will support its primary function. 

We accomplish that with pillars (aka planks).

Pillars incorporate your core, arms, shoulders, glutes and thighs in one exercise.  The human body love to incorporate many different body parts to accomplish a task.  Your body does not think if terms of body parts, it only knows movements. 

So know you are doing an exercise that that strengthens your core and uses more muscle groups which means more calories burned.   Score!

See the pictures below on how to do a front pillar and a side pillar. It’s pretty self explantory.  Just think straight line from head to toe.  You want to squeeze your abs and your glutes to maintain that straight line.

Front Pillar

Side Pillar

Incorporate these into your workouts and your core will thank you.

Almost everyone wants 6-pack abs or a flat abs.  For decades most people have believed that doing a few thousand crunches a day will get us a magazine model midsection.

I want to speak out against crunches.  They will not get you the tight stomach you desire.  Yet they are the go to exercise for almost all “core” training in gyms and fitness classes today.  So why does this happen?

Because people are lazy.  It’s much easier to just lay or your back and bob your head up & down.

That needs to stop now!

Here are several reasons to never do a crunch again in your life.

They are Dangerous – check out this article that mentions Stuart McGill, who is one the the worlds leading spine biomechanists.  He has been studying the spine for 30 years and has seen or recreated every injury you could imagine.  Crunches put huge shear and compressive forces on your spine.  That may be fine if you want a herniated disc, but I’ll pass.

They do not work – how many people do you know that do tons of crunches and yet do not have abs of envy. Yet they keep at it.  Ever hear the definition of insanity?  It’s doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.  Men’s health mentioned a study that showed it takes 20,000 crunches to lose 1 pound.  20,000 crunches = 1 POUND!  That would take days to complete.  No thank you.

They are boring – have you ever tried to do a few hundred or even thousand crunches?  Laying in one spot and looking at the ceiling for a half hour doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time.  I would rather just close my eyes and take a nap.  That would be more productive than crunches.

As you lose weight crunches become less effective – the lower your bodyweight the less resistance on each crunch.  So the better fat loss results you get, the more crunches needed to get keep getting any results.  See 1^st reason above, more crunches sounds like  recipe for disaster.

Athletes do not do crunches – think of some of your favorite athletes.  Chances are they are lean and have great looking abs.  But they don’t do any crunches.  Most of them get a six pack by staying lean and doing their sport (think snowboarders and surfers) or doing anything but crunches.

So what are we supposed to do to get a sexy midsection?  Stay tuned and I will give you the best bang for your buck exercises to do just that.

Take care.

Whether or not you’re a football fan there is a very good chance you’ll be heading to a Super Bowl party this Sunday.

And as you are fully aware, these parties can be VERY hazardous to your waistline. But hey, it’s not hard to keep the pounds from packing on while watching (or ignoring) the Colts vs. the Saints.

Here are three Super Simple tips to keep you slim this Sunday:

1) Take a 15 minute walk during halftime to stimulate your metabolism and improve digestion

2) Limit alcohol consumption. Not only are these “empty calories”, but they also cause you to make poor food choices. And if you’re hungover on Monday, well, you’ll make poor food choices the day after the game, too!

3) Sure, you can enjoy some of your favorite “guilty pleasures” but you MUST avoid hanging around the snack table nibbling on everything in site.

BONUS TIP: Oftentimes when we feel hungry it is our body craving the proper nutrients it needs to be fueled with. That’s a great reason to take a Whole Foods based multi-vitamin like Prograde Nutrition’s VGF 25+ (  http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/vgfwomen OR http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/vgfmen )

See, it’s not so hard! Enjoy the big game.

Yours in health,

Anthony

PS -  Yes, I’m a proud Prograde partner and I really believe in their Whole Foods based multi-vitamin ( http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/vgfwomen OR http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/vgfmen )

For decades the prevailing thought is that saturated fats & cholesterol in your diet will increase your chances of having heart disease.  We have been told to avoid fatty meats & eggs or else if we want to avoid heart attacks and the like. 

But does this have any truth to it?  Have we been lied to?

Where did this notion come from and why does everyone believe it?

Ancel Keys published a study in the 1950′s claiming saturated fats were to blame for the increasing heart disease trends in the world. 

However, there were some big holes in his study. 

For one he only used data from a select few countries and neglected data from many more.  Other researchers have gone back and used all the data that was collected and found no correlation between heart disease and saturated fats.

Ancel also only considered saturated fat intake as a factor. He neglected to consider smoking, stress levels, sugar intake and exercise habits.

He really only made a weak shot in the dark that was then believe to be fact for over 50 years thanks to pushing from the cereal industry (aka: buy our grains instead).

Several studies have been done to expose this myth. 

Stephan Guyenet at Whole Health Source has written phenomenal posts about this very same thing here and here.

As Stephan wrote about, there have been studies done on tribal communities in remote island nations and Africa where 50% of the calories in their diets is saturated fats. 

Can you imagine eating 1000 calories a day of saturated fats?  That’s a huge amount! 

Yet the cholesterol levels are not elevated  (115 in Masai tribe males vs 198 for  American males).  Pretty amazing right?

You might say comparing Americans to native African tribes is comparing apples and oranges.  There are many more difference than just diet between the populations. 

Ok, there was also a study on tribes from the island nation of Tokelau.  Their diet consisted of 50% saturated fats (mostly from coconut oil).  Males aged 20-24 had an average cholesterol levels of 168.  Yet Tokelauans who migrated to New Zealand ate decreased their saturated fat intake from 50% to 25%.  The average cholesterol of the same age group of males was 191.  It’s interesting to note the New Zealand Tokelauans consumed over 10% more sugar than the native still on Tokelau.

So it’s time to stop cursing red meats & eggs for your high cholesterol levels. 

Go ahead and eat that roast or omelet.  Stop throwing out egg yolk in the trash.  They will not give you a heart attack. 

Limit your sugars and process grains to keep your ticker happy.

But don’t take this to mean you should follow the Atkins diet for the rest of your life.  That has it’s own flaws & dangers, but that’s another blog for another day.

So eat in moderation and enjoy food this holiday season.

Winter has finally come barreling down on us here in La Crosse. And that means the doctors will be swamped with the number of people who hurt themselves shoveling snow. I can’t tell you how many people I know have tweaked their backs in their zealous attempts to keep a clear driveway.

Today I am going to reveal my top safe shoveling secrets. For those of you who do not live in La Crosse like me (or any other cold weather location), you still need to know this information too. Why? Because with the global epidemic that is climate change you really never know when snow is coming your way. It even snows in Las Vegas and Arizona for crying out loud!

So, without further adieu, here are my top five safe shoveling tips:

1.) Perform a Proper 5-Minute Warm-up Before Shoveling

Just as very few people properly warm-up before intense exercise, so do many people fail to get their bodies ready for the rigors of shoveling snow. Let’s face it, snow, especially when it’s wet, is a real beast to move around. And if your body is tight and cold then you will dramatically increase your chances of short or long-term injury.

I have created a great shoveling specific five-minute warm-up to get your body ready to rock. There is a special emphasis on opening up the hips and chest to save your back and shoulders, the two most commonly injured areas of broken down shovelers:

Perform each exercise in the following warm-up circuit at a slow, controlled tempo for 50 seconds with a 10 second rest and transition between exercises. Do this warm-up indoors to better increase core temperature and total body blood flow:

Exercise#1- Stationary High Knee Run

Exercise#2- Jumping Claps (modified jumping jacks with arms moving across chest level, palms facing)

Exercise#3- Alternating Forward Lunge, Overhead Reach, and Twist

Exercise#4- Alternating Lateral Lunge with Opposite Hand to Toe Touch

Exercise#5- Prisoner Squats (hands behind head with finger interlocked)

2.) Split Your Stance When Shoveling

Back pain is probably the biggest complaint for avid shovelers. In most cases, a sore or tight back stems from restriction at the hips (see the warm-up above to best remedy this). Most people have tight hips due to all the sitting we do.  More specifically, using a parallel stance puts your lower back at a greater risk of injury due to the greater likelihood of excessive flexion of the lumbar spine that often leads to back spasms in the short run and herniated discs in the long run. However, the simple switch to shoveling with a split stance, where one leg is forward and the other leg is back, will not only help prevent this hyper flexion while bending over and moving snow, but will also actively stretch and open up those tight hips at the same time. Be sure to keep things in balance by doing an even number of shovel strokes with both legs forward by alternating every 10 reps or so.

3.) Point Your Toes In Same Direction of Shoveling

This relates to the last tip. Even when you split your stance, you can be susceptible to injury whenever you perform a rotating back extension (e.g. a shovel toss to your rear). Your lower back was not designed to rotate! So, to further bolster your body, be sure to always shovel snow in the direction that your toes point to minimize excessive spinal rotation that can literally wrench your back.

4.) Shovel EQUALLY to BOTH Sides

This is a further continuation on the last two tips. Another big mistake people make is that they always shovel to their strong sides causing further strength and flexibility imbalances that can put your body at greater risk for injury. So, we now know you want to split your stance and shovel in the direction your toes are pointing, but you should also be sure do the same amount of shoveling  to your left AND right. Do 10 shovel tosses to your left with your left leg forward and then do 10 shovel tosses to your right with your right leg forward. Repeat until your driveway or sidewalk is crystal clear.  This will help balance the stress on your back as well as your arms.

5.) Buy a Condo

No, I’m not joking. The great thing about a condominium community is that they do all of the outdoor maintenance for your home, including shoveling. Honestly, this has saved many people so much extra stress and time, and if it is a viable option and you live in a harsh winter climate, make the smart move and get a condo. It’s hard to get hurt shoveling if you never shovel.

The aforementioned tips will go a long way in keeping your body as bulletproof as possible during the next blizzard. Seriously, it’s not really cool to get hurt shoveling. It’s a sign of an even bigger problem: being overweight and/or highly de-conditioned. And if you do get hurt shoveling, be sure to lie when some asks why you’re in a wheelchair. Just tell them you got hit by a snow plow truck, it makes for a better story and your co-workers or friends won’t rip on you for the rest of your days, ha!

I recently went deer hunting with my family.  I realized this was my 15th year.  Wow, that seems like a such a long time. 

I really enjoy the time with friends and family as well as spending some time in nature.  I know I don’t spend as much time outside as I would like and spending a couple days in the woods leaves me wanting more. 

And what a workout it can be!  We like to push deer meaning we do a lot of walking to (hopefully) pressure a deer towards a fellow hunter.  I think I spent more than 6 hours walking around with several layers of clothes and heavy hunting boots.  Not to mention dragging the deer to a vehicle.  Sometimes it was a quarter mile drag with over a hundred pounds behind you.  Definitely challenging, but I love every minute.

Now with out further delay here are some link I have enjoyed the last week or two.  Hopefully you enjoy them as well.

Why Grassfed? – A good article on the benefits of grassfed meats (like wild game!  yah deer hunting!).  Feeding cattle primarily corn is dangerous to their health and ours.  But it’s cheaper, so that makes it ok….right?

Meat Grown in Laboratory – I see the benefits from a fighting starvation point of view (although it’s sketchy), I don’t know if I would ever eat this.  Whenever we try to duplicate nature’s perfection, there can be consequences.

Omelet Muffins – Making healthy meals in advance is your best weapon to improve your diet.  If you’re in a hurry grab a couple of these you have a great breakfast ready to go. I can’t wait to try this recipe* out!

Can Exercise Help Ward Off The Swine Flu? – Summary: Exercise can lay a beatdown on swine flu. 

Have a great week!

* I love eggs!!