Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Try not to eat too much, haha.

Well, I finally got a set of rings. I had initially ordered the EXF rings, but after two weeks of being told that they would ship in the next day or two, I canceled my order. I went with Rogue Fitness for my rings, and am VERY glad that I did. They are solid, have great texture, and hold chalk very well during my workouts.

It only took me 1 day of use in the shop to realize that I had to have an outdoor pull-up/rings station, so I got started the next day. I dug two holes 8 feet apart and 4 feet deep. I chose the 8' spread because I have a 6'7'' wingspan, and if I am ever able to do an Iron Cross I would like to have zero interference. I buried a 16' 6x6 in each hole, making the tops at 12'. Then, dad and I drilled holes in the tops at 11'6'' for the 1 1/4'' galvanized pipe to hold my rings. I plan on drilling another set of holes at 8'. I will add another bar that will be removable for doing standard and kipping pull-ups. This will also give me another location to tie off my rings for lower ring work like push-ups, body rows, ring flys, etc.

Using the rings for pull-ups, dips, push-ups, and anything else you can normally do without rings greatly intensifies the workout. Dips, for example, are fairly easy to do on a standard dip bar, but when you do them on rings you add in the variability of being in a frictionless environment. This means that once you are holding yourself up, you also have to keep the rings steady front to back, side to side, and any other way that they can, and will want to move. Having to continuously hold the ring steady works many more muscles than a standard workout. Also, by doing the workouts on the rings, you are able to achieve a greater Range of Motion (ROM). Push-ups, for instance, no longer have the floor in your way. You are now able to go below your old zero line, giving you greater ROM and building more strength in areas that normally did not get as much exercise.

I have been extremely happy with my experiences with Rogue Fitness. I also ordered a 15 pound Kettle Bell during their moving sale. Instead of $2 per pound, it was $1 per pound. It is great for anyone starting out, women, or just when you want high reps/light weight. Rogue is, without a doubt, customer focused and quality all the way. Many of their products are made in the USA. I will always go to them first for any gear I purchase. Follow them on Facebook here: Rogue Fitness on FB

Oh yeah, the excess pipe on the right side of the rings station. I am leaving that hanging out for the addition of a climbing rope in the future. That way I can have the rope mounted and still do my ring work.

Have a great holiday everyone! And remember, Christmas is 4 weeks away!!

CrossFit is THE answer!

Well, two days ago I did my first round of CrossFit with my neighbor, his wife, and a friend of theirs. My back had been getting REALLY tight from going to the gym and just working out on machines. The morning after I did my first CrossFit I got up, stretched, twisted, and turned. While doing so I heard, and felt, something that was music to my ears. Nearly every bone in my back realigned to where it needed to be! It felt so good in fact, that I went for a run before 6 AM that day in the 32 degree weather. WOW, that was a quick & cold mile, haha. I took the rest of the day off from anything really physical. I picked back up today with the "Helen" WOD (workout of the day). This timed workout consists of (3) rounds of the following: 400 meter run, 21 Kettle Belle Swings, and 12 Pull-ups. I had one issue with this though. My kettle belle weighs 35 pounds; and "Helen" calls for a 54 pound kettle belle. To rectify this I just did 33 reps per round, instead of the stated 21 reps. That way, I still moved the same amount of weight, but it just took me 36 extra reps to get there. I did "Helen" in 9:53. Not great, but not horrible; and plenty of room for improvement, haha. The point of timing the workouts is so that you can track your improvements as you progress through the world of CrossFit.

While at my neighbor's the other night he was showing me all of his CrossFit toys. One in particular stood out to me as something I had to make. It is a 10' stick of 4'' PVC capped on both ends and filled 2/3 of the way with water. It only weighs about 40 pounds, but you carry it over your head. While walking the water sloshes back and forth and has quite a bit of leverage when it slams into one of the ends. This REALLY works your upper body because you are constantly fighting to counter the weight and keep the tube steady and in your hands. It makes you walk like you are on a ship in stormy seas, but instead of being in the water you are carrying the water.

I must say thanks to Blake. If you had not introduced me to this superior way of working out, I may have gone through life without ever knowing how much fun working out could be.

CrossFit: Forging Elite Fitness

A neighbor of mine recently informed me of a new style of working out. It is called CrossFit. You are probably asking "What in the world is CrossFit?"

CrossFit:
"CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.

The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs."

They have a WOD (Workout of the Day) posted everyday, and include days of rest. The WOD is listed on the main page in the top of the middle column.

This looks to be a very fast paced and intense method of training (I am starting tomorrow after work, haha, I cannot wait).

While browsing through their message board, I found a 23 page pdf file compilation of all of the CrossFit exercises, found here Bodyweight Workout Resource v2.0 for those of you that would like to give it a whirl. Most of the exercises are "bodyweight" exercises (meaning no equipment required, or minimal like a pull-up bar, jump rope, or gymnast rings which I just ordered and cannot wait for them to arrive).

Also while researching CrossFit I came across RingTraining.com and TrainingRings.com. Ring Training is a designer and seller of gymnast rings for fitness, also the company I ordered from. There is another quality company, Rogue Fitness, that makes/sells rings, but they are all steel and not very portable. The EXF rings (pictured at the beginning of the post) from RingTraining.com are VERY portable and user friendly. They have 17.5 feet long straps, and an S-hook that allows you to use them with a closed door, not to mention the straps have measurements on them to aid in proper, and quick, setup. Oh, and they are made of the same material as bullet proof glass and riot shields, so they only weigh 3 pounds together with the straps, as opposed to the steel ones that weigh 3 pounds each plus the straps. Another bonus of the EXF rings is that after ordering, you are provided a link to a pdf file that is a 112 page book, Ring Training For Elite Fitness, written by Tyler Hass, the creator of these rings. The book goes into great detail, and provides ample photos, about how to do various basic and advanced exercises on the rings.

Per TrainingRings.com
Why we like ring training... in a nutshell


* Significant gains in upper body strength
* Excellent abdominal workout and improvements in core strength
* Novel training method that helps reduce boredom
* Improved posture
* A lifetime of challenges that is suitable for beginners and experts alike
* Almost works the entire body / the variety of exercises
* It can be a good plateau buster
* More natural movement that makes it kinder on the joints
* Its great for pull-ups, chin-ups and dips
* It’s fun!


I honestly believe that the combination of these workouts with any routine you are currently doing, or by themselves alone, would put your body on the path to a very healthy, and very fit, lifestyle. I plan to start tomorrow. When my rings come in I will give you a full review and photos.

What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your Body

Copied from What Soft Drinks Are Doing to Your Body

What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your Body
Ask Dr. Mao
By Dr. Maoshing Ni - Posted on Fri, Oct 30, 2009, 12:29 pm PDT

Soda, pop, cola, soft drink — whatever you call it, it is one of the worst beverages that you could be drinking for your health. As the debate for whether to put a tax on the sale of soft drinks continues, you should know how they affect your body so that you can make an informed choice on your own.

Soft drinks are hard on your health

Soft drinks contain little to no vitamins or other essential nutrients. However, it is what they do contain that is the problem: caffeine, carbonation, simple sugars — or worse, sugar substitutes — and often food additives such as artificial coloring, flavoring, and preservatives.

A lot of research has found that consumption of soft drinks in high quantity, especially by children, is responsible for many health problems that include tooth decay, nutritional depletion, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Why the sugar in soft drinks isn’t so sweet
Most soft drinks contain a high amount of simple sugars. The USDA recommendation of sugar consumption for a 2,000-calorie diet is a daily allotment of 10 teaspoons of added sugars. Many soft drinks contain more than this amount!

Just why is too much sugar so unhealthy? Well, to start, let's talk about what happens to you as sugar enters your body. When you drink sodas that are packed with simple sugars, the pancreas is called upon to produce and release insulin, a hormone that empties the sugar in your blood stream into all the tissues and cells for usage. The result of overindulging in simple sugar is raised insulin levels. Raised blood insulin levels beyond the norm can lead to depression of the immune system, which in turn weakens your ability to fight disease.

Something else to consider is that most of the excess sugar ends up being stored as fat in your body, which results in weight gain and elevates risk for heart disease and cancer. One study found that when subjects were given refined sugar, their white blood cell count decreased significantly for several hours afterwards. Another study discovered that rats fed a high-sugar diet had a substantially elevated rate of breast cancer when compared to rats on a regular diet.

The health effects of diet soda
You may come to the conclusion that diet or sugar-free soda is a better choice. However, one study discovered that drinking one or more soft drinks a day — and it didn’t matter whether it was diet or regular — led to a 30% greater chance of weight gain around the belly.

Diet soda is filled with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin. These artificial sweeteners pose a threat to your health. Saccharin, for instance, has been found to be carcinogenic, and studies have found that it produced bladder cancer in rats.

Aspartame, commonly known as nutrasweet, is a chemical that stimulates the brain to think the food is sweet. It breaks down into acpartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol at a temperature of 86 degrees. (Remember, your stomach is somewhere around 98 degrees.) An article put out by the University of Texas found that aspartame has been linked to obesity. The process of stimulating the brain causes more cravings for sweets and leads to carbohydrate loading.

Carbonation depletes calcium
Beverages with bubbles contain phosphoric acid, which can severely deplete the blood calcium levels; calcium is a key component of the bone matrix. With less concentration of calcium over a long time, it can lower deposition rates so that bone mass and density suffer. This means that drinking sodas and carbonated water increases your risk of osteoporosis.

Add in the caffeine usually present in soft drinks, and you are in for even more trouble. Caffeine can deplete the body’s calcium, in addition to stimulating your central nervous system and contributing to stress, a racing mind, and insomnia.

Skip the soda and go for:

• Fresh water
Water is a vital beverage for good health. Each and every cell needs water to perform its essential functions. Since studies show that tap water is filled with contaminants, antibiotics, and a number of other unhealthy substances, consider investing in a quality carbon-based filter for your tap water. To find out more about a high-performance filtration system, click here.

On the go? Try using a stainless steel thermos or glass bottle, filled with filtered water. Enhance the flavor of your water with a refreshing infusion of basil, mint leaves, and a drop of honey.

• Fruit Juice
If you are a juice drinker, try watering down your juice to cut back on the sugar content. Buy a jar of organic 100% juice, especially cranberry, acai, pomegranate, and then dilute three parts filtered water to one part juice. You will get a subtle sweet taste and the benefit of antioxidants. After a couple of weeks, you will no longer miss the sweetness of sugary concentrated juices.

• Tea
Tea gently lifts your energy and has numerous health benefits. Black, green, white, and oolong teas all contain antioxidant polyphenols. In fact, tea ranks as high or higher than many fruits and vegetables on the ORAC scale, the score that measures antioxidant potential of plant-based foods.

Herbal tea does not have the same antioxidant properties, though it is still a great beverage choice with other health benefits, such as inducing calming and relaxing effects.

If tea doesn’t satisfy your sweet tooth, try adding cinnamon or a little honey, which has important health benefits that refined sugar lacks. For a selection of healthy teas that promote total body wellness, click here. Drink up!

I hope you find the ways and means to avoid soft drinks. I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

--Dr. Mao