I thought I would open up about my personal life a little bit....

15 things you may not know about me...and 5 you don't want to.

1.) I only have eight toes.
2.) I giggle when I go number two
3.) My middle name is Gayle
4.) I have a twin, but he's Asian
5.) I'm afraid of blankets
6.) I sleep in a onesie
7.) I wish my skeleton was lined with adamantiam
8.) I'm a clean freak!!!
9.) My favorite brand of glass cleaner is Sprayway
10.) My wife thinks I look like the male version of Janet Renoe
11.) I like mangos w/spagehtti sauce
12.) I'm a great basketball player
13.) I've been told I'm great at dotting my "i"'s
14.) My parents thought I was a girl for the first year of my life
15.) My super power is making myself look good!
16.) My name is John, and I like to party!
17.) I can beat Master Nate Lawton in a personal training competition 8 days a week.
18.) Oosh and Watoons are my favorite words.
19.) Having your uterus taken out is not pleasant.
20.) Punch dancing is a great form of aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Enjoyment: The Forgotten Variable!

When writing a program tailored to an individuals needs, there are principals that all fitness professionals must follow: frequency, intensity, time and type (otherwise known as F.I.T.T.)  But there is one more principal that is often overlooked, but could be the most important for long term adherence.  Enjoyment!!!!  Without enjoying exercise there is little chance that you will stick with it very long.  Finding enjoyment in exercise is one of the greatest challenges facing those who seek to lead a healthy lifestyle. 

I like to lift Kettlebells.  Right now my goals are to achieve Candidate for Master of Sport (CMS) ranking with the American Kettlebell Club (AKC).  If all goes well, next November in Las Vegas I will Jerk two, 28kg kettlebells a minimum of 78 reps in 10 minutes.  Did I mention that I don't get to set them down till I'm done.  After a rest (could be up to a couple hours) I will have 10 minutes to Snatch a 28kg kettlebell 150 reps with only one hand switch.  Why do I want to do this?  Simple...because I like it!  Do I expect everyone to like it?  No, it's not for everyone; some may even call it crazy.  Do you know what I think is crazy?  Running a marathon.  That's freaking insane!  But for some reason lots of people enjoy doing it.

If your struggling to "enjoy" exercise right now, perhaps it's time to branch out and try something new.  If you need help with new ideas seek out a knowlegable and qualified fitness professional or read a book on a topic that looks interesting.  If you belong to a gym, check out their group exercise schedule...you never know what gems you may find.

Move or Die!!!

Well, I don't want to be melodramtic....

People are always trying to overthink fitness.  I guess if you are an elite athlete you need to spend time (or at least pay someone to) thinking about "how's" and "why's", but for 99% of the population they need to just get moving.  Human movement is pretty simple, it can be broken down into the following patterns:

• Push away from you (ex. bench press, push up)
• Pull towards you (ex. dumbbell row, seated row)
• Push above you (ex. shoulder press, push press)
• Pull down (ex. lat pull down, pull up)
• Bend over (ex. dead lift, hip extension on stability ball)
• Squat down (ex. squat, split squat)
• Twist (ex. cable chop, land mine rotation)
• Locomotion (ex. run, swim, bike)

Of course there are many vairations of how to perform these different patterns.  You could use: machines, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, bands, cables, medicine balls, TRX, bodyweight, etc.  Arms and legs can be worked independelty of each other (squat vs lunge) or you can work in different planes of motion (I'll address this another time).  You could also change your body position to achieve these patterns (think push up vs bench press). 

The bottom line is this,...MOVE!  It doesn't matter how you do it or what mode you choose.  No matter what equipment you have available you can always build a program that will give you well balance results.