Passive Warm-Up

Let’s breakdown the typical 50 minute client workout:

·         5-10 min cardio warm-up

·         5-10 Specific/Dynamic  warm-up

·         20-30 min main workout sets

·         5-10 min warm down/ stretching

Let’s also look at a basic format for an athlete training:

·         5-20 min general warm-up

·         5-20 min specific warm-up

·         20-60 min main set

·         5-20 min warm down / stretching

Both workouts follow the same time progression in order to be successful.  Most workouts will begin with a client or athlete training in a general warm-up to prepare for the demands of the workout.  These preparations include the build-up of heart stroke volume, the dilation of capillaries in both the cardiovascular and the circulatory systems, and an increase in polarity in the nervous system to allow for proper body mechanics under the training conditions.  All the systems of the body increase activity during this time including the release of synovial fluid to the joints, the increase of hormonal activity such as adrenaline and testosterone, the increase in body temperature as a response to the shift in metabolic function, and the digestive system reacts to release discomforts that might inhibit the body from performance (often requiring pre-race/pre-workout bathroom breaks.)

The athlete’s workout is predicated by having longer warm-up steps to allow the body to accommodate higher in levels of workout volume and intensity; a product of increase output from the organs of the body.  While the athlete’s system is more efficient at providing fuel to its body and managing the stress levels associated with a more demanding workout, we should not forget the objective of a workout is to accomplish the tasks of the main set.  Simply put, unless we are purposely trying to string out a workout for increased calorie burning time, the bodily resources should be preserved through the warm-up (both general and specific) in order to accomplish the main set with the appropriate resources.    It would not make sense to fatigue yourself or your athlete before a competition, game, or race; yet many coaches and trainers believe that this is the best way to prepare the competitor.  Let’s take a look at an example of a typical competitive club swimming meet schedule for a single day.

·         1500 yards general pre-meet warm-up, various strokes

·         Race #1 : 200 Individual Medley

o   300 warm-up, 500 cool down

·         Race #2 : 100 Butterfly, followed 8 minutes later by Race #3 500 Freestyle

o   400 warm-up, 250 in between, 200 warm-down

·         Race #4: 50 Freestyle

o   500 warm-up, 300 warm-down

·         Race #5: 100 Breaststroke

o   300 warm-up

·         500 Meet warm-down

While swimming is based on perfecting technique using repetitive yardage, the competitor, who only had 5 races this day covering 950 yards, has swum at least 5,700 yards total or 3.2 miles.  Track athletes habitually cover miles during race day and max speed day workouts.  Football games are often preceded by nearly a half hour of running warm-up drills.  Basketball warm-up drills involve athletes running half the length of the court many times over, yet during games minutes are tracked and minimized.  While these are positives for calorie expenditure, allowing full systemic activation and warm-up, they often times cause an extreme amount of energy loss; energy that could be better allocated to competing at a higher level.  While I do not condone the minimization of warm-up as it has been linked to injury numerous times, I would like to have trainers and coaches reconsider the most appropriate mode of warm-up for their trainees.

In this article, I would like to examine the option of passive warm-up techniques as they relate to the issue at hand.  First, passive warm-up is defined as increasing the bodily temperature by external sources in order to activate metabolic functions in the

·         Heat Packs

·         Sauna Suit

·         Dry Sauna

·         Hot Tub

·         Steam Room

Lateral Speed Training

If you have ever played a football video game, I am sure that you are aware of the make a player feature.  Many of us who enjoyed these games growing up can account to making a player with their favorite team.  Often times I created action heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger at defensive end, Kobe Bryant at quarterback, and Ivan Drago at wide receiver.  You can often make the player have bulging muscles and manipulate their stats to be the most dominant athletes on the field.  One of the traits you can apply to the athlete is agility.  While agility is somewhat hard to define, as it often overlaps with what you can consider as acceleration, agility is best understood as the ability to move laterally and to stop and change speeds or direction quickly.  The phrase ‘to turn on a dime’ is often associated with agile athletes and the NFL combine measures it in the 20 and 60 yard dash events.  The 20 yard dash, also known as the pro agility test specifically tests three characteristics of an athlete’s agile movement: side stepping, crossover lateral running, and hip rotation to an anterior-posterior sprint.  Understanding the movements will help you score a lower time.  I was able to score a 4.09 in my senior year of high school, tying that of Marcus Vick’s combine score.  Because these three movements utilize the same muscles for the most part, the training regimen following should provide enough strength to move with agility. 

Lateral acceleration is characteristic in almost all sports, however it is often times the least trained. Developing lateral speed works with the same principles of forward speed; greater power output will result in greater speed.  A stronger athlete in the anterior posterior direction can display greater power output and greater speed than a weaker athlete given that all other factors are equal.  This is also true of an athlete strong in the lateral direction, or movements in the frontal plane.  By understanding the movements, we are able to develop muscles that will characterize good lateral speed.  When force is applied to move laterally, athletes are performing hip abduction: a movement characterized by the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, Sartorius and the Tensor Fasciae Latae as primary movers and the other muscles of the leg and abdomen as synergistic helpers, dynamic stabilizers, or antagonists (primarily the hip adductor muscles).  To develop these abductors, conventional machine and cable movements can be utilized, however, I have found the best exercises for the development of lateral speed are those that mimic the movement (law of specificity) and those that are most challenging (law of overload). 

To develop initial hip abductor strength, perform the following workouts:

·         Jane Fonda’s

·         Fire hydrants

·         Seated band abduction

·         Standing band/cable extension

More advanced athletes with established hip strength can now utilize these exercises:

·         Low Lateral band walks

·         Band lateral sprints

The abductors are not as large and powerful as those that extend and flex the hip and knee, however by working on the movements and gaining strength, lateral speed and subsequent agility will follow.  Progression, overload, and specificity are your friends.

First Workout Book

All great trainers will be able to tell you the very first book they referenced when they began workout out.  For some, the ACSM/NSCA/ACE/NASM study guide was their first understanding and set-up to the modern world of exercise.  For others it was a professionally written book by a famous coach, doctor, athlete, competitor, or bodybuilder.  Who can forget Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “New Encylopedia for Modern Bodybuilding”, with the cover portraying Arnold’s solid shoulder and bicep musculature in black and white.  The reason for mentioning these books is that they often times precede particular philosophies when it comes to strength, fitness, and health.  A person reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book will have considerably different opinions compared to someone reading a book by Doctor Oz or Jillian Michaels.  Regardless of how you feel about the “correct” approach to achieving your fitness goals, remember that having an open mind to new ideas, modes of exercise and fitness, new strategies to progression, training frequency, and even sets and reps can help you determine the best way to accomplish your goals, when you want to achieve them. 

The very first book I can remember back to working with and reading through was Getting Stronger by Bill Pearl.  In the book, Mr. Pearl explains everything from exercise by sport, to nutrition, to posing techniques for bodybuilders, to supplementation.  After reading the book by about the 5^th time, I noticed that Mr. Pearl mentioned he was a lacto-ovo vegetarian.  Lacto-ovo vegetarians consume nuts, eggs, and milk as their main sources of protein but do not consume meat products or fish.  It struck me as quite shocking that this seemingly huge man would be a vegetarian by any means.   While there are some benefits to a vegetarian diet, I am not advocating for the diet itself but rather that we consider that even a Mr. Olympia champion, someone who we associate with the highest levels of athletic achievements, is open to thinking in a unique and independent manner.   I admire Bill Pearl for his accomplishments and open thinking  throughout the book as it taught me that the greatest athlete isn’t one who follows a standard program to perfection, but instead is a free thinking individual that is willing to adapt, incorporate, learn, and progress.

Every great trainer has a book of exercise knowledge that they started with.  These books help for the basis to the knowledge that we have in the exercise community.  While traditional hard, blood sweat and tears programs can help you make progress and improve, opening your mind to the possibilities outside your comfort zone will allow you to select a more perfect program.  I invite everyone to challenge the conventional wisdom, to experiment, to learn and grow, as these are often times the best ways to find what will work best.  Please, learn the basics for experts like Bill Pearl or Arnold Schwarzenegger, but learn where they also fall short.  The best plan will be the one where you have the most knowledge about the outcome and results.  Medical journals, professional journals, experts, and books are a great place to start.

Drop Sets

Recently, I have been using more and more hand pressure sets lately.  By hand pressure, I mean that I am physically applying force to increase or decrease the intensity of exercise to the RPE(rate of perceived exertion) I am seeking for any given set.  For example, on the Jane Fonda exercise of side lying straight leg lifts, I can apply pressure and force the glute medius and glute minimis into agony.  By being able to progressively control the intensity of the exercise I can have people target the appropriate muscles and muscle firing patterns before increasing the intensity, all within the same set.

I called this article drop sets because drop sets because I would like to mention them as very effective and useful for everyone, from seasoned athletes looking for something new to beginners.  Drop sets involve lifting a particular amount of weight for a designated number of repetitions before the weight is minimized and continued with little to no rest between weight drops.  Just as with the hand pressure I am able to apply the amount of force appropriate, but in this case I am able to maximize the intensity while maintaining a particular repetition range.  Athletes that belong to middle distance or endurance events can benefit from these exercises because they remain challenging for extended time yet provide a strength component. 

While most article talking about drop sets say that usually 1-3 weight drops occur during the set, I have worked with as many as 10 weight drops for sets lasting upwards of 100 repetitions.  Let’s not forget that with strength training, race tempo is difficult to simulate but intensity can be gauged through the weight, RPE, and extended over a similar time period.  By this I mean that we might not able to move the legs as quick as running when performing squats or pull downs as fast as swimming strokes but that the time of the race should be comparable in length to our drop set.  For example, an 800 m dash is run in about 2:00 for men so a drop set for the legs lasting as long could be considered beneficial even though the legs move at different speeds (running vs. weight lifting with legs).   As a swimmer in high school, I used cable lat row drop sets to maximize my intensity through up to 8 drops for 60-80 repetitions total.  An eight drop set would often times simulate a 200 yard swim or 8 laps in the pool where each lap consisted of 8-10 breaststroke pulls (64-80 strokes).

Drop sets are especially versatile for clients that need to increase their repetitions to increase their activity.  Overweight and obese clients can benefit from drop sets because the endurance component increases calorie burn while still providing the strength training to build muscle and lose fat.

Since most athletes are involved in activity over a period of time often longer than traditional weight lifting sets, drop sets can be useful to prolong the RPE and for sets longs

Cinnamon and Sweet Potatoes

Dieting is difficult.  For Everyone.  From the mother trying to lose 10 more pounds before her daughter’s wedding, to the scrawny weakling struggling to stuff heaps of peanut butter down his gullet, to the wrestler sitting in the sauna for the 4^th hour, to the girl trying to make those jeans look great.  Everyone has difficulty with dieting, but while our problems might all be characteristically different, there are some tenants that are effective whether you are a bodybuilder looking to add mass or a schlub looking to drop some weight.  No matter what client I have, I always harp on nutrient density.  Nutrient density is the quality of food that we add to our body based on its micronutrient quality and quantity.  Macronutrient’s consist of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and water; whereas micronutrients include vitamins, macro- and micronutrients, and some organic compounds.  While all micronutrients are found in a variety of foods, most of my clients and the general public face deficiencies with micronutrients attained  from plant sources.  A change to the majority of diets should include an increase in vegetable content (unless specific allergies prohibit you from particular foods.)  The simplest way I explain to most people how to get adequate amounts of plant based nutrients would be to include a variety of colors of vegetables into their diet.  Since most people consume white based flesh fruits and vegetables (bananas , apples, white potatoes, corn, white peaches, etc.) , I advocate the color scheme of vegetables.  Green vegetables are often consumed in higher quanties than others often leading to boredom and distaste of the plant based nutrients you need.  Red, orange , yellow, green, blue, and purple flesh will enable you to maximize the nutrient densities of the food you eat because the color indicates a natural source of micronutrients.  For example, beta-carotene, a vitamin shown to improve eyesight, is often associated with orange vegetables (such as carrots and orange American yams.)  Improving the diversity of your vegetables will allow you to expand the nutrients that you are receiving and help to keep you from becoming bored with your healthy options.

  I remember first reading from Pauline Nordin’s blog that she would consume 2% of her bodyweight in vegetables daily, I thought she was absurd. (citation) For someone at 200 pounds, that would equate to 4 pounds of vegetables daily.  While cooking vegetables makes them easier to eat, most vegetables contain higher amounts of phytonutrients in their uncooked, raw form.(citation)  This means that you would potentially have to spend your entire day chewing through carrots, munching on celery, and masticating your broccoli.  Essentially we all look like cows, ruminating our lives away.  While I advocate that you multitask your vegetable consumption (with something like reading or watching tv) I continue to look for simpler ways to enjoy the foods needed to be healthy. 

One of my heroes is Jack Lalane.  Jack is known for his amazing feats of strength as he continues to age such as towing strings of boats behind him while swimming ridiculous distances.  I invite you to take a look at his feats of strengths. (citation)  Jack is also famous for his juicer, which he advocates makes him young and vital.  Avoiding the topic of lost nutrients in the juicer, I decided that I

Costco, the store where I buy 98% of my food, has an entire section devoted to vegetables and fruits.  A while back, I began purchasing the potato medley pack they offered that included a mix of small sized yellow, red, and purple sweet potatoes.  Purple sweet potatoes are especially useful for increasing your vegetable color wheel diversity.  While potatoes have some downsides, including their high pesticide load and their starchy constitution, I have managed to keep them important in my diet.  Compared to

Several months ago I had gotten some organic sweet potatoes.  I baked and ate them and to my surprised really enjoyed them.  I looked around online at the number of articles that talked about the health benefits that sweet potatoes have.  According to

Sprint Starts: Hand Postioning

Take a look at the image below:

In this picture you will see the athletes in great postion.  Explosive athlete's are coiled into the starting blocks and when they rise into the set position, the weight will be shifted onto their front foot and hand.  Usain Bolt shows us this coiled set position.

Bolt and these other world class sprinters are at the forefront of the track and field sport.  They have highly devloped programs and their coaches are world renowned.  Despite the fact that these people are the best at what they do, I believe that a consideration could alter the game as we know it.

If you put yourself in the Bolt set postion properly, you should only be able to hold it for a mere 2 seconds at best.  Because so much of the weight is shifted over the hands, the balance of this position is easily lost/comprimised.  To be on the edge of out of controlling the position is correct.  As you can see, the shoulders are over the hands and the arms, even with a slight bend, lean forward.  The athlete relies on the friction of the fingers to hold themselves coiled.  The weight of the fingers is held over three fingers on each hand (thumb, index, and middle).  The hands are to remain tugging (frictionally) at the ground until the start at which time the athlete releases the hand brakes, using the stored elasticism of the stretch reflex to explode out of the blocks.  It would appear that the athlete that can coil with more tension will be more successful exploding out of the blocks.

After spending some time fooling with the hand grip, I noticed that when I get the hand in the set position, where the hand makes the L shape on the ground, my hand can sometimes spasm as I am bordering a loss of balance.  Not only is the loss of balance a detriment, but not being able to activate a significant forward lean would result in a slower time in the start.  Trying several other hand starts, I came to one that felt comfortable and helped me establish a balanced forward lean with the arms.

Since the tripod is the most stable platform on earth, I decided to create a tripod with my hands. The weight of the body is shifted onto the knuckles of the index and middle fingers.  By being on the knuckles we remove the weak distal end of the finger.  Compare fingertip pushups to bare knuckle pushups to notice the difference.  By loading the weight of the compressed spring in line with the knuckles (facing forward) we are able to compress the spring to a greater degree.  Also, I found that there is virtually no difference in the removal of the hand from the ground, thus making it superior to the standard hand variation.  This move would be similar to placing the hands past starting line, which in theory would allow the athlete to travel faster.  I will be testing this starting variation in the future an keep you posted as to the success I find with it.

5 Ways to become a better person right now

While it is often times hard for me to get anything going; like being more productive, pushing myself to do something difficult, or just overcoming some sense of laziness; I like to refer back to these five methods of becoming a better person in order to make myself happy and more productive.

1)      Shave, take a shower, and get dressed.  Sometimes just being in the right clothes has the ability of transforming how much work we get accomplished.  Being in sweats and a t-shirt might be more comfortable, but when we are clothed like others are going to see us, we act and work more productively.  By taking a shower, we allow ourselves ten minutes to meditate and lose track of the moment.  The ability to let the mind wander can be a powerful tool in refocusing our effort and helping us get back on track.  I also threw in shaving because it ties in with the getting dressed.  Just performing an action that makes our bodies think that we are in a working state is often enough to actually get us there.

2)      Send three friends a complementary text or selfless text:  By extending ourselves out to three others, we can often ensure that one of them will respond immediately.  When we need help making our lives better, the best way to find support is in helping others.  Be truly selfless in your message.  Seek to find how they are doing and be an active listener.  Often times we want to get things out to other people however we only grow when they are able to share their life experiences with us.  Also, send a text rather than a phone call.  By engaging in text messages you can allow yourself time to think about being selfless and meaningful with each word.  Also, phone calls will take you very much away from your work, and that is not the focus at this time.

3)      Drink a full glass of water: Humans are comprised primarily of water.  Every single bodily function occurs in a hydrated state.  Often times we are lost in a brain fog or haze because we lack adequate hydration.  By drinking a full glass of water, we can supply our body with a healthy dose of our greatest macronutrient.  Drink a glass of water and you will be better able to handle the situations around you.

4)      Create a to-do list or brainstorm:  Activating the brain to think about the issues that lie ahead on the minutes to hours scale will help the body be fully ready and prepared for anything that lies ahead.  By writing down our thoughts on paper, we reduce the chance that we lose a though, or that we feel worried/pressured by the upcoming moment.  Remember to write down thoughts quickly without returning to correct grammar or spelling errors.  Just jotting down ideas has the power of making a strong writing/brain connection, and as we practice, we will better be able to communicate our thoughts through this medium.

5)      Write down 5-10 things you are thankful for.  This exercise will help you to better be able to actualize the good things in your life.  By noticing all of the things we are grateful for, we can make the most of bad situations.  Having the opportunity to fail or the unfortunate nature of circumstance affect us only means that we should be more capable of realizing what made us happy in the first place.  Be open to change and take each negative thing as a balance in your life.  Being thankful will help us do more with less and will help us grow happy with our current self, as we strive to become better.

My 2011 Goals

Although they are a bit ambitious, I thought that I should jot them down for my own record keeping:

• Win the Heisman/Maxwell/Davey O'Brien Awards
• Earn a Rhodes Scholar
• Run the 100m dash in under 10 seconds
• Become a best selling author in a particular category
• Start my own business and earn a profit
• Deadlift 3xbw
• Create a successful blog with 100,000+ viewers per month
• Raise over $1 million for charity

Time to get back to work...

You don't have anything unless you have it on paper or film!

As much as I wish it weren't true:

You don't have anything unless you have it on paper or film!

This relates specifically to two things in life especially: college/job experience and sports.

No one can define their college experience eloquently enough as to make it seem more significant than anyone else.  If that was so, then there would not be a need for transcripts.  No one wants to hear how difficult things have been for you, or how much you have grown, or how much you have changed as a person because of college or some life experience.  These are subjective forms of criterion and often have no place in the methods used to process applications, decide candidates, or how information/teaching is distributed.  I have learned this the hard way.  Thinking that my ideas would be more credible than most, I sought to get higher levels of decision making.  I even tried making contacts with people who could inspire change (in my field of environmental film studies at the time).  Despite having graduated in two years and belonging to MENSA, I did not receive any positive feedback.  Many people want to tell you that going to college are more important than where you go.  Most people will tell you that the degree is the most important thing you receive from college.  These are both wrong.  Where you go to college matters just as much as if you went to college or not.  Also, the most important thing you receive from college is your GPA; not your degree, not your greater awareness of the world, not your newfound connections; your GPA.  Go to the best school, get the highest GPA and things will take care of themselves.

Second relates to sports.  Since the documentation of sports figures (stats) are so variable and the validity of anyone's recommendation is questioned; film is the only criteria on which people can make fair judgments.  The forty time is a perfect example of this.  I don't want to hear that you ran a 4.4 40 because everyone I know runs a 4.4 40.  Having the video that confirms your killer speed will convince me that you can run fast.  I don't buy your vertical jump, but show a video of you dunking and I will believe that you have hops.  The truth of the matter is that no one is trustworthy when it comes to these quotations.  We don't really know the height and weight of any professional athlete.  Creating film is the best way to prove to people that you can do what you say you can do.

These two life lessons took me many years to uncover and finally get on board with.  Stop trying to fight what you already know and make yourself successful by giving yourself the evidence to make your claims worthwhile.

Swimmers are Overtrained

I will try to keep my ranting to a minimum; however this is something that I feel people should know.

Swimming is a technical sport.  Because of the nature of the sport, athletes must become very accustomed to the mechanics of the movements so that they truly become "fluid".  I find that the value of a base level of swimming practice comes in handy because without the practice of technique, we are just too inefficient to compete.  I feel however that coaches in swimming have taken this too far. 

There is no reason that swim sets and practices should be as long as they are.  I remember some days in high school where I swam triple days: three practices; two of which were in succession.  Not only was this overwhelming from a mental standpoint, I was chronically fatigued and could not recover.  As a larger swimmer, I felt as though my body needed more time to recover.

After swimmers have established perfect technique (which should be developed through low volume, high quality sets, such as swimming with underwater cameras), the focus should be on race preparation.  Too often, I feel that coaches make athletes do sets because they need to fill an allotted time and by beating the swimmers up, they practice fundamentals better.  I can promise you that my performance and technique disintegrated when performing long sets.  Since understanding swim sets is difficult to visualize from a outside observer perspective, I will show that the important variable is time.

Swim races range from 50 yards to 1650 yards.  Most all races consist of 50-100 yards, especially of one stroke.  For the men, 50-100 yards should not take more than one minute (any style).  Females are often close behind these numbers.  In a track analogy, this would be similar to running 200-400 meters.  A longer swim might be a 200 yard swim, which on a track compares to an 800.  Almost all the races take either ~30 seconds, ~ 1 minute, ~ 2 minutes.  In developing a protocol for runners how much would you assign them to run?  Would you make them do repeats?  Lets say you made them do 400 repeats for aerobic endurance.  And what is the most you might give them?  I would say that most track coaches would not go higher than 10x400 repeats, and that is being kind to the high volume coaches.  This would compare to 10x100yards, which for most swimmers occurs during the warm-up.  Many swim programs can range between 3,000-10,000 yards in a single practice.  Would you make a 400m dash sprinter run 40,000 yards (22.7 miles) in a practice?  I wouldn't.

The next thing to consider is the muscles involved.  While track and field runners utilize the strongest and largest muscles in the body (the legs); swimming is dominated by the upper body.  Kicking does not count as an effective means of propulsion because it often accounts for <30 percent of the propulsion.  Therefore, the smaller muscles of the upper body are forced to handle the workload.  Considering the size to workload ratio, swim practices are not designed for swimmers success.

In this article, I am proposing that we consider some alternative methods to approaching swimming.  Adding pull-ups is probably the most successful form of dry-land practice that swimmers can take part in because the angles mimic the butterfly and breaststroke pulls.

As for coaches; stop overtraining your athletes.  Make technique a priority and ensure that your swimmers work on quality rather than quantity.  The yardage does not make you swim faster.  The technique and race specific training will.

Sunshine Vitamin

I have always thought that the best way for the body to be healthy is for us to experience life as nature intended for us.  Having never been a fan of sun block, I looked for a reason not to need it.  Turns out that the skin cannot produce Vitamin D without having full solar radiation.  Now, most of us have heard that Vitamin D is good for us and is usually found in milk.  What I learned about Vitamin D will surprise most people.

Vitamin D is a STEROID.  It is classified in a sub-group known as secosteroids and is responsible for many metabolic processes, especially the manufacturing of hormones within our bodies.  While other vitamins are usually acid based products, vitamin D actually behave like a hormone and is fat-soluble.  There are many processes that you can learn about Vitamin D however, I have found research that supports Vitamin D having a positive effect on the following conditions:

·         Depression

·         Cancer

·         Heart Complications

·         Chronic pain

·         Fibromyalgia

·         Hypertension

·         Arthritis

·         Inflammatory bowel disease

·         Obesity

·         PMS

·         Crohns Disease

·         MS

·         And Mortality

Many people I know are pallor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallor).  One time we met up with one of these pallor persons (wishing to have them remain unnamed) and we spent the entire day outside with them.  Despite their desperate efforts to cover their skin from head to toe to shield them from the sun (to prevent wrinkles or prevent skin cancer I'm sure), they still were exposed to the sunshine.  While sunshine might be to blame for the wrinkles and skin cancer, Vitamin D has been shown to improve the skin quality and help keep the body functioning properly: essentially cancer free.  Anyways, she had been exposed for a number of hours over a small area of her skin and had prevented any burning.  Most of the indirect sunlight was responsible for her exposure.  Having been infused with what I am sure is a healthy dose of Vitamin D, she was invigorated with energy and feelings of well being.  It would be interesting to see how much Vitamin D could continue to help people that refuse to spend time outdoors for fear of sun damage.  In my personal opinion, I think the benefits outweigh the risks.  Professionally, I would recommend that you intake healthy doses as recommended by a doctor.

The two ways most people intake Vitamin D nowadays are:

-Oral Consumption:  Several foods have some sources of Vitamin D.  Fatty fish, whole eggs, beef liver and some fortified products tend to be higher than most at containing Vitamin D.  While a natural approach to adding orally consumed Vitamin D might include these products, other forms of Vitamin D, especially supplementing and sunlight, are far superior in their ability to deliver higher doses.

-Oral Consumption (supplements):Many supplements on the market offer Vitamin D.  I have seen individual capsules contain anywhere from 500-5,000 IU, and usually multivitamins have some small amount.  The two forms that you can find Vitamin D in supplement form are vitamin D₂ (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D₃ (cholecalciferol).  I have found D3 to be a superior product and more common in the supplement form.  Decide with your doctor what a healthy dosing plan would be for you, however keep in mind that the safe upper limits are close to 10,000 IU per day (with the RDA recommending 400 IU per day).  Overdose has been noted at 50,000 IU for sustained months, and acutely at 168,000 IU.

-Sun Exposure:  exposure to sunlight for as little as 10-15 minutes has causes doses that are on the magnitude of ~10,000-25,000 IU.  While this seems like an overdose, the body is capable of handling much higher levels of production without toxicity without negative side effects.

Vitamin D tests kits usually sell around $75 and it might be a simple yet important test you can perform to determine the state of your health.  After all, I want my body producing its own natural steroids...wouldn't you?

P.S.  Are you an at risk population of Vitamin D?  Some studies suggest that women need the added vitamin D in order to improve bone health.  Not only should aging women be intaking enough calcium but also should ensure that they are getting enough sunlight to help create healthy bones.  Further, African Americans and other people of darker skin tones should be aware that their skin is less likely to produce Vitamin D and as much as three times sun exposure is required to get the same sun requirements as those who are more pale.  This is not meant to target these populations as inferior in the Vitamin D category, but to just highlight some considerations that would help in developing a superior Vitamin D protocol.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D)

Advanced Foam Rolling

While I am still skeptical as to the effectiveness of foam rolling and similar devices, I have made them a staple of my recovery protocol.  I figure that I have done plenty of research recommending it, belong long to two organizations that suggest it, and have found some results playing with it; that it must be something worthwhile.  When starting foam rolling, I suggest you read the literature and learn to do it properly.  At first, I think I over did some areas and used the foam roller too quickly.  The purpose is to move the roller about an inch per second and to stop for sore spots for at least thirty seconds.  Learning to do it properly has helped it become more effective for me but I think there are other tools that should be used to perform myofascial release.

-          PVC Pipe Roller: As I was able to grow stronger in my glutes, the foam roller had a smaller and smaller effect of helping out the real deep tissue.  My hamstrings had the same problem with the foam roller.  Needing a deeper massage, I tried out the PVC Pipe Roller at 24 Hour Fitness.  To my surprise it was pretty darn effective.  I used the pipe because it allows me to work out much deeper issues within the muscle and breakdown the fibers that the foam roller seems to miss.  To my surprise, purchasing a PVC pipe roller is actually less than half the cost (in most instances) than purchasing a foam roller itself.  My recommendation is to become very accustomed to the foam roller at the gym until you are experienced enough to need a deeper tissue massage.  This way you will only have to spend money on the roller for the larger muscle groups, which you should be massaging more often.  I bought mine for under $8 at Lowe's.

-          Tiger Tail: Despite thinking this is a total scam/gimmicky device, I do have to report that I have seen them on the sidelines of football games.  Because it is small and versatile, a physical therapist or trainer can pull it out of their bag and start using it to work craps out of the calves or tibialis anterior.  As for the other muscles...I don't find the size useful for getting deep tissue or working out large muscle cramps.  Perform Better usually sells these for $20 so I will not be making these a part of my arsenal.

-          Rolling Pin: A much more cost effective alternative to owning a Tiger Tail, I have found great utility with the rolling pin.  I once took the pin to the gym and this lady was astounded by the ingenuity I had to think of it.  I offered to help her try it out and she told me that it was a much more lady-like approach to anterior based muscle groups.  Since the adductor massage usually looks like this,:

I thought that the rolling pin would offer a much easier and visible approach to working on the quadriceps groups and adductor complex.  While I have not experimented too much with other muscles, I do find that it is much easier to control and still make you cringe in massage pain.

-          Oversized Tennis Ball:  For Christmas, I received an oversized tennis ball with the word House on it (obviously from the television show). Despite having some reluctance to using it for anything, it actually has found tons of purpose.  Aside from using it to teach myself to dribble left handed, it works great as a targeted massage technique.  This is helpful when trying to work on the pirifomis on the floor or the spinae erectors and pectorals against a wall.  Because of its larger surface area, I don't feel the pain associated with a smaller ball.  Also, the OTB allows me to inflate or deflate so that I can adjust how hard or soft I want the target area to be attacked.

-          Lacrosse Ball: Although I don't have much purpose for the lacrosse ball or even tennis balls for that matter, I feel obligated to inform you that many people have found plenty of success using these balls.  Because of their small size, you can really dig out deep muscle tissue in very specific areas.  This is especially important when the athlete is advanced enough in all the methods of myofascial release, and a muscle is preventing them from full range of motion or the massage work will allow for entire muscle contraction.  Some say it works miracles, but don't jump to this stage immediately.  Also, I find that using a wall to do some massage work is a very effective regression.

I hope all of you continue to make massage an important part of your exercise regimen.  The more you do to recover more fully each workout; the more prepared you will be to succeed in your fitness goals.

Perhaps it's a little cliche...

...to post this:

If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Balance and the willingness to accept change is the key to becoming a better person.  Losing the ability to lean and change means that you lose the ability to grow more complete.

My Grandfather's Death

Two years ago, my grandfather passed away.  He died while having multiple strokes and succumbing to fluid in his lungs.  I imagine it to have been painful, like the brain exploding in a flood of nightmarish headaches, while suffocating-ly drowning (the same way Jesus expired on the Cross).  I remember my grandmother in the room crying, persistently telling her husband that she loves him.  My dad was there.  He kept telling his father that he was doing an amazing job.  This was a family legacy.  My grandfather had taught me to blow my nose.  When I learned to clear my nose with a single forceful blow, he would congratulate me the same way.  My dad used this same method when anyone in our family was sick and vomiting.  It doesn't sound like a very comforting to hear, that you are doing a good job blowing your nose, expelling your innards into a toliet bowl, or passing away, but it is probably the second most comforting thing my Dad has said to me (after telling me that he loves me).

At one moment, when my grandmother, father, and uncle were all in the room cheerleading on my grandfather to heaven it struck me.  Like a scene out of a flashback from a Da Vinci Code-style movie, it hit me.  Here in this cramped, smelly, tired room was three generation of men.  The Patriarch was accompanied by the matriarch, in pure royalty.  To his bedside, were his two loyal sons, the heirs of his name and the secured future protection of his wife.  At the foot of the bed was his only grandson, a symbol of hope to the future that someone will live on his name: in the past, at the present, and into the future.

While my mind's eye tried to paint a Michelangelo style funeral parade to heaven, I saw the world completely.  My grandfather was English.  We have had a proud history of hard working family members that make up our clan.  This man was no on the opposite side of the world of his relatives.  He had very few family members to meet in the afterlife here in America.  This moment was the American dream coming to fruition.  Here a man from poverty of the most desperate time in America had raised a family, served in the armed forces in its greatest hour of need, had battled a crippling chronic disease his entire life, and now, in a moment usually reserved for Kings, he was battling his body to peace.

I felt terrible for lacking the vision to see the moment but these thoughts rushed through my mind, as if he were passing his life through my own eyes.  I saw everything up to this moment, and in that time, I felt a great amount of joy, pride, and wisdom. 

I know my dad was terribly hurt by the loss of his father.  Despite being angry at my own father a lot of the time, I love him so much.  He represents a lot of the essence of man that I have never felt.  I can always count on him to be consistent, and I am excited for every time he enjoys his own life.  I only hope, that on my own father's deathbed, that I can deliver to him all the love and support that he has given me.

My grandfather was very wise when he grew with his age.  His catch phrase was "whatever."  He had a way of getting along with anyone and getting over anything.  I hope to have a tenth as much patience, love, and understanding that he showed.

Beatles - Got to Get you Into my Life

So I have been thinking about this girl for a while now.  I haven't met her but I'm quite sure that I will like her and that we will have things in common.  I am usually a lot more of accepting of people's flaws when I'm infatuated like I am about this girl.

Anyways, this story pertains to the article about finding home.  Since about fifth or sixth grade I have wanted to settle down with a woman who makes me feel whole.  I think that no one I have dated has been in that same frame of mind but regardless, I like to envision myself, with her, living in our dream home, spending perfect days together.

I haven't given this girl a song yet, however I am expressing the same emotion that can be heard in the Beatles song, "Got to get you into my Life."  Since I meshed Rubber Soul (my favorite Beatles soundtrack) with Revolver (its predecessor) I hear this song each time I get half way through the CD.  While I'm not particularly partial to the music and think that it is one of the more over-played songs of the Beatles (along with Hey Jude), I feel the lyrics fit the situation.

I was alone, I took a ride,
I didn't know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I could see another kind of mind there

Ooh, then I suddenly see you,
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life

You didn't run, you didn't lie
You knew I wanted just to hold you
Had you gone, you knew in time, we'd meet again
For I had told you

Ooh, you were meant to be near me
Ooh, and I want you hear me
Say we'll be together every day

Got to get you into my life

What can I do, what can I be,
When I'm with you I want to stay there
If I'm true I'll never leave
And if I do I know the way there

Ooh, then I suddenly see you,
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life

Got to get you into my life
Got to get you into my life

I was alone, I took a ride,
I didn't know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I could see another kind of mind there

Then suddenly I see you,
Did I tell you I need you
Every single day...

This girl that I am thinking of seems to have fallen into my path in the next year or so and I feel that I am just making my way home to find her.  Will anything ever happen?  Who knows.  She definitely is another kind of mind there, and I feel compelled to empress and be myself through her. 

"Had you gone, you knew in time, we'd meet again"

The odd thing is about this girl is that I feel like she is living the life I never lived.  She is the life I would have lived growing up had I not been affected by circumstance.  This makes it feel like I am going to see everything that I ever wanted through her, which is in turn finding a better me out there.  This makes even more sense of wanting to return "home."

"I was alone, I took a ride,
I didn't know what I would find there"

I definitely feel like the past couple of years (maybe more like 8 years) have put me through the ringer.  Despite having grown considerable in all measures of my life, I feel that the most substantial thing I have gained is a greater understanding of my own self, my beliefs, and where I want to end up.  I could not have scripted the life I have lived.  It's been very challenging and even when I think I know what is happening, I find I am often wrong.

"What can I do, what can I be,
When I'm with you I want to stay there
If I'm true I'll never leave
And if I do I know the way there"

I think the first line defines me best.  I always ask myself what I can do to make myself a better man so that when the time comes, a complete woman will want to be with me.  This girl helps fuel my drive to be complete because it gives me a goal that is more tangible.  Everytime I think of her, I know that is the place I want to return to.  With that, I can never lose my way.

"Got to get you into my life"

As the directive of the song, I feel as though it embodies how I feel about wanting to date this girl.  I want her to be the nucleus of the relationship.  I want her to become the director of my ship and the value of my life.  While I know that these are only emotions I feel about Love and relationships, I am hoping that someday there will be a connection that allows us to be complete with each other.