I know it.
You know it.
Most people know it (those that don’t either don’t care or are not “our” demographic).

NOTHING’S LOST, NOTHING’S CREATED, IT JUST TRANSFORMS.
There are no new ways of doing things. While I do think there are better ways of doing things, it’s all relative anyway to your individual approach and point of view. Even then, the better ways are not new and unique, but they may be new to you or me. One of the reasons I don’t think there are new ways of doing things is simply because we still are designed to move the same. Unless we suddenly inverted how our joints operate, started literally seeing out of our fingertips, sprouted wings out of our ankles and developed an exoskeleton, we’ve pretty much covered all angles to do what we can with what we have.

WHAT AM I GETTING AT?
Maybe I’m just being clever in trying to market a product I spent years developing in my mind, and the past 10 months putting it on paper and having a physical prototype built. Make no mistakes, I didn’t reinvent the wheel. I just put a new tire on it, changed the hubcap maybe, improved the tread IMHO.
James Neidlinger, a great trainer and friend of mine paraphrased a quote for me, which I in turn will paraphrase as I remember it ” if you steal one thing, you’re a plagiarist. If you steal ten things, you’re an educator”. Every so often, somebody organically comes up with an idea that is new (at least to that person). The idea itself is spawned from observation, education and experience. It’s the result of maybe “cumulative conclusions”. Success in marketing new products is grounded on the principle often advocated by Donnie Deutsch (advertising executive and TV personality, The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch) of “there’s got to be a better way”. But the idea is not new, it just appears in a new cycle.

OLD AS NEW
Everything’s already been done, the wheel’s already been invented, the screenplay’s the same story with different characters and settings. When things are presented as new, it’s usually because there might be new evidence or research on a particular subject, no matter the field. It can be linked to a trend, like going from high tech to low (or no) tech, from flashy to austere, from exercise machine to kettlebell.
Through my years of training and coaching, I have cycled through a variety of approaches, gleaning what I found effective and discarding what I found inefficient, via trial & error, as well as education & experience. All of it led to a path I continue to refine, funneling information I pass onto others. I may not have created anything new, but the process is no less creative. When a musician puts together notes and chords on a sheet, he/she creates a new melody (itself potentially inspired by the author’s influences). Same goes with an artist putting together colors and shapes on a canvas, giving his/her own interpretation of what their mind/eyes see(s). What matters is getting there. What matters is what you get out of it and what it does for you.

SERENDIPITY
That’s what it comes down to. Leaving a gym filled with negativity a year ago allowed me to focus my mind and creativity to hone in on developing something that’s already been there all along, not metaphorically in my mind, but physically in the real world. Words on paper, hands on body, tools in existence, obvious to a few and oblivious to many. While no work is ever finished, the artist still needs to deliver, or “ship”, as Seth Godin defines it in his book “Linchpin”. While I can’t unveil what I am alluding to in this blog, I promise you “a better way” for something “new” (to you). Stay tuned!

The Sun provides a luteinizing hormone, a precursor to testosterone. I already spoke about it in a previous entry on how to boost your “T”.

Testosterone levels peak in the morning before 9AM, spike again around lunchtime, then go back down.

Knowing that, I went for a run yesterday morning. Not because it was January 1st, not because I want to look more cut (cardio’s not the way to go, and if you don’t know it by now, shame on you). I ran because I am gearing up for a race and I need the body to see what it’s like to run moderate distances in various terrain. I also chose the time because I knew I’d get the most amount of natural light, and my body would act as a solar panel and absorb that luteinizing hormone which in turn would help me manage fatigue, burn fat and boost energy. I ran for about 7 miles, uphill, across construction zones, dirt paths, in unusually hot January weather. I did it shirtless. No cardio fatigue (I don’t run, btw, I swing or snatch as part of my “normal routine”), just some muscular fatigue actually (uphill, uneven floor made my legs work, plus they’re used to short bursts so blood was pumping quickly before realizing they were supposed to take it easy).

I felt like a million bucks.

Now, it seems we instinctively all have the answers to how our body is meant to be operated. We never read the manual, really. As infants, toddlers, children, our bodies are near optimal in flexibility, necessary strength, mobility and intelligence (special needs not taken into account, just generalizing here). We are pure instinct, pain avoidance, desire an need driven at once. Then comes knowledge, education and also misinformation and bias. That’s where things go wrong.

My point is the following: we know we need more natural light because we set up the longest breaks for school to be in the Summer. When describing a vacation, we are mostly inclined to choose a sunny place. Even a hardcore snow fanatic prefers a sunny day over a blizzard.

It’s no surprise that there are fewer cases of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in coastal climates, especially the West coast of the US, than the Midwest, because of the amount of sunlight. That’s where we gravitate naturally.

So, go out and enjoy some natural light. You will feel better. Who’s telling what you’ll want to tackle on afterwards.

Seriously, now. We’re about to be bombarded by fitness training specials, such as my “lock in your current rate right now before 2012″, or whatever gyms and TV ads will have, dealing with weight loss and resolutions and blah blah blah… But you can ignore it all, and as long as you realize the advertisers are targeting your reptilian, emotional brain, and are able to keep cool about it, you will realize that the only diet you should follow is one that works. I’ll reveal what that one is after a quick recap of diet FAQ’s.

ALL DIETS WORK
Yes, all diets work. Until they fail. They fail because you quit them, because you are on a diet, not following a lifestyle of healthy eating. Good habits last. Short term goals are to get you to see that stuff works, but it means you have to keep doing it.
I like the Warrior Diet for the busy professional who has no time to sit down during the day.
I like the Paleo diet because it biologically is closest to what our body needs.
I like the TNT diet because it takes Paleo and removes some of the hard core stuff I hate, like organs designed to filter junk in your system.
I have been a bit more hardcore this season because of needing to get ready for a photo shoot, so my naturally lean and low fat % body needed to get “cover lean”. During the holiday season. Because I’ve done it before, I didn’t have trouble sticking with it while others were feasting on seasonal calorie-packing meals. What made it easier is that it made me feel instantly better. No wheat, no starch, no gluten, no pastas, rice, cookies, breads = no bloat, no gas, no gut. I still feel great and recommend it. I pretty much eat that way year-round, but allow myself more forbidden indulgences when I try to pack on some extra muscle, and carbs are protein-sparing and allow me to grow thicker muscles.

THE TODDLER DIET
Looking at the little guy that runs around in my house, climbing over everything, holding on to my pull-up bar, displacing kettlebells of his own body weight, sprinting from A to Z at the park and at home, rolling around, contorting at various angles, I see what people normally see on Nat Geo watching lion cubs play fight. My toddler son is developing all kinds of motor skills, natural lifting instincts (I show him an Indian Club, he tries to swing it, a weighted bar, he tries to lift it, a pull-up bar, he tries to hang and even pull himself up). He packs an incredible amount of energy into everything he does.

How does he eat? His patterns seems to be: milk a few times a day. Light breakfast of eggs, occasionally a wheat-free gluten-free waffle. Snack: veggie-fruit combo pouch. Lunch is where he tends to eat a big amount of solid protein, with his nutrient dense rich foods like sweet potatoes. Dinner is always, always (his choice, really!) broccoli, green beans, sweet peas in big quantities. Loves fennel, loves everything home cooked and richness of flavors (not afraid of spices).

So: load up on protein early on, same with natural non-processed carbs (fruits and veggies) during the day to promote your activities and eat less at dinner (the opposite of the warrior diet), focusing mostly on veggies, and maybe a light protein shake before bed and you’re set! Energized like a toddler, and those of you who have one, or remember what it’s like to care for one, you know their energy levels can kick your ass!

MONEY SPENT ON DRUGS
According to the bureau of Labor Statistics, the average american spends 1% of his income on prescription drugs.The national median household income is roughly $46,000, so about $460 is spent per year on drugs. That’s assuming everyone takes Rx drugs. 50% of the US population takes at least one Rx drug. From cholesterol, heart disease, anti-depressants to diabetes and OTC drugs for other sorts of issues like back pain, heartburn etc. So, to be conservative, we can infer that if 50% of the population takes Rx drugs, they spend $920 a year on them.
Those who are unfortunate and take the gamut of drugs because of hypertension, cholesterol and type II diabetes run a much higher number which could be diminished, even altogether alleviated if they were on a training and nutrition program.

ESCALATING/CUMULATIVE COSTS
As the Metabolic Syndrome candidate (the “unfortunate” from the previous paragraph) ages, laziness and lack of accountability (yes, I don’t buy the poor condition they’re in as an excuse to not get healthy) make their condition even worse. I was at a public library with my toddler son recently and saw a morbidly obese woman pull out a bag full of Rx drugs. This didn’t happen overnight. Lady, you saw it coming. Now, we all have to pay for it. How much of this is coming out of your pockets to fund her drug habit?

IGNORANCE ISN’T BLISS
Many people are intimidated by the gym. So they never go back. My female clients now are confident enough to walk into a free weights room where the big boys hang, whether they train with me or not. Most women fear that room and walk away. Then they try a class, and some stick, some don’t. Usually they stop because they don’t see results, or the class is too hard and you can’t really learn anything or work at your speed or level.
If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, do not think that picking up a fitness magazine or following instructions on a machine will get you to do it correctly. Who will check your form? If the weight you use isn’t challenging “enough”, you won’t get results. If you use a light weight out of fear of injury, you won’t get results. Then you’ll quit. Exit gym, enter Metabolic Syndrome. But, you’re still locked into your gym’s contract.
Or, you stick with it, get hurt and are set back. Money spent on doctors. Money spent on unused membership. Weight gain. Enter Jenny.
Average gym membership is $50/month.

WEIGHT LOSS CENTERS
Short term fixes, no permanent solution. Do you seriously think Jenny Craig is going to help you stay thin? Of course not. She’d be out of business. All these plans sell you food that can outlast the roaches after a nuclear holocaust, stuff you wouldn’t dare feeding your dog or your child. So why would you put that inside of you? Fillers, preservatives, chemicals, ingredients you can’t pronounce necessitating a Ph.D in chemistry to decipher. I like to know that if I buy peanut butter, the only ingredient is peanuts.
So, more money wasted, yo-yo weight fluctuation.Cost: about $650/month per person. You can grocery shop and cook and feed a few people on that.

LET’S ADD SOME UP
Jenny Craig: $7800/year (what, you thought you could do it for a month only?)
Gym membership: $600/year.
Rx Drugs: $920/year.
OTC drugs: $180/year.
Total: $9500/year.
I am not calculating the cost of being unhealthy, how we’re taxed for the sick people without healthcare who go to the emergency for a cold. Nor am I calculating clothes to buy, which if you hit plus sizes are either ugly or very expensive. I am not including abstract factors like quality of life either, though IMHO it should be at the top of the list, but how do you quantify feeling like crap, having no energy to be with your kids, shortening your life expectancy, aging faster?
What about the cost of doctor visits if you get hurt not knowing what you’re doing?
That’s gotta be worth well over $15,000 right here (for the total, I mean, not just doctor visits). With deductibles, added hidden charges, I know those medical bills really add up.

NOT A MIRACLE, BUT A BETTER INVESTMENT
So, if you were to just invest in 3-4 months of sessions with a personal trainer, you can lose weight, probably get off some of the Rx drugs. You miss less work, which can result in promotions due to better performance, and let’s face it, feeling more confident and looking healthier is always better than the opposite, and any way you slice it, people pay attention to it. If you’re overweight and going for a job interview, the interviewer cannot discriminate. But how would you know? The potential employer is looking at how much the overweight person will cost them in missed sick days, medical benefits etc. There is a reason also why those sharks from pharmaceutical companies send out their arguably, societally-defined “attractive” people to doctor’s offices. When Homer Simpson grew his hair back and lost some weight, he was promoted.
Not superficial. True.

Even if you stick with your trainer for the whole year, by entering a longer term agreement, you either save money in the process by reducing other costs by improving your health or at least break even. And breaking even if your health is better actually puts you on the up-side.

If you’re a current client, or a prospective client and are reading this, lock in your rate with me right now. Prices are going up in 2012. I invested several thousands of dollars this year alone to be a better coach to you. So technically, it’s not my prices that are going higher, it’s your coach who’s getting better. I am not afraid of saying it. Because you’ll get that much fitter and better too!

Don’t know what to ask for Christmas or Hanukkah? Now you do. You have 2 weeks to lock in your rate!

Yes, they exist! And they’re all around you. The people that attach themselves and suck the blood out of you, drain you of your energy and pollute your productivity! These vampires come in many a variety. Here’s a short list. Feel free to add some in the comment section.

The Sob Sister/Brother: this kind of vampire is always telling sob stories about how this and that goes wrong, and keep want to tell you about how miserable they are, but never want to do a thing about it.

The Drama Queen/King: similar to the Sob kind, these vampires don’t simply tell you about their misery, they constantly set themselves up in situations where more drama occurs and behave like fools (you know, repeating the same thing expecting different results).

The Constant Complainer: Another variation of the same kind. Nothing is ever good enough, nothing goes the way they want. Subtle differences if you can spot them. While the Sob tells you sob stories, the Drama goes into bad sitches, the CC just bitches and bitches…

The Blamer: it’s always someone else’s fault. No ability for self-accountability, self-introspection or even empathy towards others.

The Criticizer: this one always tells you what to do, how you’re not doing it correctly, criticizes instead of critiquing, without any regards for your feelings or how to disperse their “superior knowledge” to you. Usually, not the best listener (empath) either…

The Projector: like a giant spotlight, they make you the target for their shortcomings, not so much in a blaming format, but whatever their issues are, they try to make them yours by exposing themselves ultimately.

The Chaos Creator: If your life is in order, theirs isn’t, and soon yours won’t be any longer. Like a hurricane, the devastation will begin and will spread all over you. Boundaries are optional for that vampire.

The Damsel in Distress: always seeking to be rescued, always putting themselves in the same situation again, expecting you to rescue them (or passively-aggressively denying the need for your help, yet using indirect commands to draw your attention and making you the rescuer). Usually, the lesson is never learned and the distress continues.Btw, damsel originally designates a male. Only modern language shifted it to females. So I am not sexist here.

Just like in True Blood, you will find vampire sympathizers, usually “glamored” by them, under their spell, like the weak-minded with Jedi mind tricks. Shrinks call them enablers. They see themselves as rescuers but really hide some insecurities or fear of abandonment.

Find some holy water, get out into the sun to expose them. No need for a stake, don’t succumb to their level. In any situation, shed the stress, clean up the pollution. It can present itself in various situations like work stress, legal issues, people taking advantage of others, people who sabotage your fitness because they’re not doing it. Anything.

Take care of it before they turn you. You need the light, as I mentioned in my previous blog!

So now, I am just going to write about “why” you should train period, but I’m coming from a different, more specific angle. Baby boomers, or men as young as over 30, this is crucial information that can increase your health as well as save you tons of cash, now and in the long term! Ladies, scroll down to the very bottom for a picture of what natural levels testosterone in the female body can do for you, and why following the same plan as your cave-dwelling other half will have you looking slimmer, sexier and healthier

DO YOU SUFFER FROM LOW TESTOSTERONE?
If you are in your teens, early 20′s, have a nice day, you are dismissed (for most of you).
If you’re on the wrong side of 40, and even somewhere near, you should read this.
Yes, women too!
If you have man boobs, lower libido, excess body fat, no muscle tone, decreased confidence, are not in the same you were in your 20′s (which is hard to maintain, I know, but you can still look amazing if you do something about it) and you let coworkers walk all over you and never stand up for yourself, you probably are experiencing “low T”. Behavior, schmehavior. If you’ve been like that your whole life, you may just have been screwed when testosterone was handed out, like I’ve been every time I try to go get the new iPhone 4S!

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?
Back to my 4 pillars: exercise, nutrition, environment, hormones.
They all link together. Remove one, the rest falls apart, or falls short.
Exercise: you have to pick the right intensity to boost the secretion of testosterone, by stimulating the right parts of your brain (hypothalamus, pituitary glands). A typical (and thank God the trend is changing into facts rather than fashion) weight loss of low weights and treadmill is NOT the right thing to do to raise your testosterone.
Nutrition: The right kinds of foods help boost T levels naturally. Examples are celery, bananas, avocado, raw unsalted nuts, asparagus, basil, garlic, figs, whole eggs, lean organic meats to name a few. My vegan friends can be very happy up until I mentioned eggs, and vegetarians until I mentioned meats. So, you can raise those levels too!
Environment: get some sun! 30-60 minutes a day will help your body “luteinize” which is a precursor to testosterone. Make more lutein, make more testosterone. You need at least 1000 lux a day (lux: SI of illuminance, equal to 1 lumen per square meter). An office gets you about 500 lux a day. The sun produces 50,000 to 100,000!
Hormones: well, as you can see, that’s directly related to all of the above. Skip one, you’re throwing off the entire hormonal chain. Or, supplement poorly with inadequate hormone replacement therapy and the balance is off. Good therapy, on the other hand, is great if you’ve exhausted all options, but replacement therapy is that: replacement, not supplementation. It means you can never stop once you start, or the balance is off (again) and it’s very, very expensive ($500-$1000/month, not counting the lab tests and screenings to determine what amounts you should take).

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
Watch “guy flicks”. Seriously. Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, John Wayne, Bruce Lee, Charles Bronson were never accused of being sissies. Didn’t you ever feel pumped up after watching any Rocky movie? You can watch your favorite football team, but if they lose, you drop your T-levels too!

Avoid Dr. Phil and Project Runway. I know you can get easily suckered in. Walk away, turn on your iPod to some metal, download something cool and kick ass and watch it on your computer.

If your shampoo has paraben, laurel sulfate, F&DC yellow, trash it now! Those are respectively xeno estrogens that you’re rubbing in, toxins that cause infertility (and may even cause women to not carry full term) and penetrators so it can get into your blood stream!

Eat like a man: a low fat high fiber diet, commonly perceived as good for weight loss, is even more effective at dropping your testosterone levels too. You need fat, natural fat (mono and omegas for instance, stay away from trannies, I mean, trans fats). Oh yeah, and lift like one too!

Stop self-defeat right now! Most of what you do is driven by fear, your reptilian brain, also called the resistance. Stop looking at what you DON’T have and look at what you’re great at. Take that, and do more of it. Why? Cause great begets great, and you are engraining that behavior, which in turn helps you rebuild some confidence, which helps you boost your feel-good hormones, which make you want to conquer the world and yaddah yaddah yaddah…

Now, ladies, I promised you a picture. Be natural, be feminine, and be not afraid. I promise, on my son’s life.

I am a father, a husband and this is not a job. Training is a career, a passion, a true calling. I am not a fair-weather trainer, in-between acting gigs or waiting for some better thing to come around.

I understand struggles, life, responsibilities and everything that falls into that. I learn more so I can discard more and simplify.

I’ve simplified so much that in 6 short weeks, I maintained my weight and dropped 2% body fat without trying, just following a simple plan. So simple, I only did 2 exercises per day and kept my workouts short, very short.

In the following 6-week round, I have already packed on 3lb of muscle and over 12″ around my frame, and I’m only 3 weeks deep into it. I packed 3″ on my chest, 4″ on my shoulders, 1″ on each leg, 2″ on each arm and 1.5″ around my hips/glutes between October 10 an October 31, 2011. Body fat remained the same.

Yes, I am in “bulking up”, but not really trying. I am more in a “non-prep” prep phase for a tough 11-mile obstacle course. I just want to have the strength and stamina to do it. The bulk is a bonus.

I am watching my eating, though I am flexible and do not deprive myself. This isn’t a weight loss program. But if I did watch what I eat, the same program would make me lose fat. Because the first 6 weeks where I maintained body weight and lost fat means I added muscle, but got leaner. That’s to 1/2 the population out there, who wishes to lose weight. It can be done, easily, correctly.

My eating fueled my recovery and my ability to push through the next phase, and only half-way through, I made tremendous gains. That’s to the other 1/2 of the population, and more specifically, to all the hardgainers out there who waste hours at the gym and do not put on an ounce of muscle or walk away sore but unable to do any of the things they wish they could do. I am a hardgainer, so imagine what you can achieve if you are not one!

Remember, my being the father of a toddler and husband means I do not have the luxury to kick around the gym for a few hours, doing two workouts a day and watch myself in the mirror. I do not have the cash flow to operate a body fueled on illegal substances. I am 37 years old. I can push as hard as anyone ten years younger or more. It also means I am no rookie.

The race is my personal goal, and I want to prove that I can design a program that will both allow me to get ready and be ready anytime, even now. I know it works, I tested it.

I have the experience so you can have the education. I overcame challenges so you can do it better. I work hard because I didn’t win the genetic lottery and was busy the day God was giving away natural talents. Then he had mercy on me and gave me the gift of teaching. That also motivated me to be the guy that can and does, not just teaches.

Wanna know how I did it?

Wait another 3 weeks… I will keep you posted here and there. But I got something coming your way you won’t want to miss.

STRENGTH MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER
Work on your “cardio” by running only. You’ll get good, improve your cardiovascular endurance, maybe destroy your knees or toes in the process, and continue feeling low back pain, with a crap looking body.
Work on getting stronger with squats and deadlifts, which are compound exercises working many muscles over multiple joints, your running will become much better, with a lesser probability of injuries, a more efficient muscular recruitment, thus less fatigue (and even more speed) all leading to better cardiovascular endurance if better “cardio” is your goal. You burn more fat, experience less pain and improve the way your body looks.
WINNER: he/she who trains with weights.

CHALLENGE ME, GO AHEAD!
I’ve said before that I have never had a client come to me and ask to get weaker. However, indirectly, some have made this odd request because all they wanted was to lose weight, and weight loss is obtained through cardio, as sycophants and ignoramuses (ignorami? Spell checker can’t decide) would have you believe for the last 3 decades. As indicated in the previous paragraph, if you develop your muscles, your abilities improve, your protect your joints, you burn more fat and feel and look better. Runners who lift run faster: easier stride for long distance running, while sprinters work those biceps and upper body, pumping their arms which helps their speed (and have you seen their bodies? Very muscular bodies with caloric furnaces!).

Some folks talk about strength endurance and it’s been noticed that few people work on their strength to achieve that. To have strength endurance implies you must have strength first. You cannot do a snatch test (100 reps in 5 minutes with a 53lb kettlebell for men, 26-35lb for women) if you don’t have the snatch down.

WHY ARE YOU POSTING THIS LAST?
Yes, why indeed. Because I want you now to go back to the first 2 blogs in this series, the one about grunge training, simply lifting heavy stuff and the one about moving better while conditioning your body, and I want you to get stronger. Keep your cardio, running and biking however you have it, don’t change a thing. Just take notes on how it’s getting better. Go back to the blog about mobility, which should be concurrent with your strength training, and see how you breeze through it instead of wheeze through it. Put it all together and you have Strength Endurance.

First thing to work on, then you can have it all!

Improve your metabolic conditioning while improving your joint mobility! It is the era of hybrid everything, so why not train efficiently by improving that “cardio” of yours while allowing you to move better at once?

People think that mobility drills are doing a bunch of arm circles or calisthenics, or some sort of stretching (equating flexibility with mobility, which are two different things). You can be fast and loose about it, you can make it slow, controlled, dynamic and even make a circuit of it, get a great warm-up or even a great workout in-between your “grungy” loud, heavy days that leave you all beat up!

It’s all in how you cycle your routine. A great warm-up shouldn’t leave you exhausted for your “main event”, but it should leave you feeling supple and strong at once, relaxed and ready to fight. I know the late and great Jack Lalanne argument of “a lion doesn’t stretch before attacking”, and I agree that you shouldn’t stretch before working out. However, where the esteemed Mr Lalanne and I differ, and many better coaches than me agree, is that lions are always moving around, stretching, loosening up their body, playing, pouncing and when they’re ready, they’re always ready. Be it to hunt or to protect. You should be like that too!

You may not need to work for strength, for whatever you do, and you’re not a lesser person for it. Maybe you just want to feel good and get about your day. I like to lift heavy, but I get it. You need a break and do not want to lose your gains. You can still get the best of your conditioning and joint mobility by performing natural, all-body moves like burpees, moving into a suspended cobras starting from a downward dog stance, hip bridges (very tight for most people, and if you improve your hip mobility and flexibility, you will improve your quality of life!).

Perform any or all of these moves back to back in a circuit, for a minute each, and rinse, lather, repeat the sequence a few times. You will be huffing and puffing and still feel a great pump in your muscles, while burning a ton of calories and staying in better condition than running an interval program on the treadmill. Besides that, why would you run on a treadmill if nothing you do in life revolves around running? It’s not good training, not good conditioning…

During the past almost two decades that I’ve been in this country, I’ve seen and even myself explored many training facilities, features, equipment etc, and am realizing that I turned out a to be a creature of that “grunge” era. I don’t need any fancy equipment, shiny machines with multiplanar angles and cables, calorie counting treadmills and alleged performance enhancing compression athletic wear. All I want is a bunch of heavy weights (barbells, kettlebells), some rudimentary tools (sandbag, rope, wooden stick) and a simple plan (no lazy delivery here, though).

The simple plan is pick stuff up, put it back down. Push it or pull it. Be efficient, and do it as many times as possible in a short amount of time, but without killing yourself. Stay fresh at every set, don’t worry about the reps. That’s one plan, one way, and it works. Try it. And turn up the volume on your XM radio to Octane or Lithium.