Change the angle and you change the pattern and therefore you change the exercise and sequencing of muscle contraction. Just like a door on a hinge can break over time due to excessive wear and tear your joints and tissues are the same.  It's called called pattern overload and will make you slow, unathletic and prone to injury.  Remember the body has evolved to move in multiple planes, sagital (squatting), frontal (lateral raise) and transverse (twisting). 

Pay attention to this in your program.  If you are lacking one plane add it in.  Get creative and have fun with it.  Just be conscious of it and try not to go overboard. I am not telling you to go do single leg ipsilateral kettlebell rdl to press with a rotation.... You don;t have to kill all three planes in one movement.  I'm just sayin...

When is the last time you did a side plank?  Russian twist?  Threw something?  Side lunge? Rock climber pull ups? Bear crawled?  Cable chop?  SIngle arm/leg work? Back bend-ed? Full bodyweight workout? Danced?

Don't get stuck in a rut.  Take a month to play with angles and movements and your body will thank you.

Yours in Fitness, 

​John

When I started personal training 6 years ago it was all I heard. "Stretch your hip flexors and strengthen the posterior chain if you want to be athletic and powerful." 

So I deadlifted, kettle bell swang, pull upped and grimmaced in the couch stretch for minutes on end.  Coming from a running background my hamstrings were strong relative to my quads and I was comfortable with a hip hinge and I have long ass arms so deadlifting was no problem.  I had always been strong at pulling so I guess I was set.  More pull ups, deadlifts and sprints would make me a beast right?

Fast forward a few years and I am taking the Chek Exercise Coach cert.  We are measuring our lumbar curve and pelvic tilt and I find that I have a flat back and according to Chek am at risk of a bulging disk. Especially if I kept tightening up my hammies and glutes.  According to Chek i needed to stretch my hammies and strengthen my hip flexors and quads.  Lucky for me at this same time I was getting interested in gymnastics and bored with traditional strength training.

I started doing leg raises, l-sits, tuck ups, knee raises, straddle leg lifts and push ups on dips on dips. I felt more athletic and well rounded than ever before.  But wait, I was focused on the muscles that all the experts said would lead to poor posture, surely I would be a victim of upper lower cross syndrome if i kept working so hard on my anterior chain!!

Yes I am being a bit facetious here of course but the point I am making is this.  Don't follow the heard, don;t trust the status quo and don;t be a sheep.  Blaze your own path and make conscious decisions about your health.  We all get caught up in trends and I have definitely fell victim to it as this story illuminates and I will probably get fooled again but less so if I think critically about my health , business and family choices.

In fitness, strive for balance.  If there is something you suck at you should probably be doing more of it.  In my case it was squatting. At one point my deadlift was 2x my squat....oops!  If you are lacking mass somewhere throw some muscle on there!  I have always had small pecs.  Finally after thinking about things in  a balance fashion instead of following the status quo I realized I wouldn't become a hunchback if I focused on chest and nowI look better and my shoulders feel better. Yes, you heard me right, my shoulders feel better because I do more pec isolation work.

Think for yourself. Be unique and do you. Please post below with any questions and comments...in the meantime I'll be blasting my pecs and quads ;)

Here is a little video I made about my experience at the NOrCal Fitness Summit.  You may have already seen it on my Facebook Page but if not have a listen.

What an exciting weekend I had the pleasure of having this...past....weekend.  Wow that started smooth and got a little redundant. Anyhow... it was amazing.  I traveled from my personal training studio in Lafayette and we all met in Mountain View, Ca about 60 trainers and about 20 successful fitness business professionals. They shared their knowledge on how to motivate and inspire clients and how to run a smooth entrepreneurial business. AJ Roberts was there Luka Hocevar, Dennis Dumas, Mark Fisher, Corey Taylor, Seth Munsey, Brian Grasso and many many others.

Everything we learned is applicable to anyone. The theme was this.  
1.Clarify your purpose
2. Become relentlessly committed to it
3. Get a coach to hold you accountable.
And in doing to you will be able to follow your dreams.

This is nothing new right?  But it is something we lose track of.  Our dreams, our hobbies, what makes us happy.  Are we finding time for it EVERY day.  How hard is it to carve out 15 minutes a day for happiness. It's very simple and yet I have challenges with it. Maybe I watch an episode of breaking bad instead of taking the time to play guitar or sing. We all do it but we need to stay strong.

97% of people try 3 times and give up. That means that if you keep trying at whatever it is you can be a pat of that 3% that achieve.  And I want to help you.  Please leave a comment below about your dreams or any troubles you are having with nutrition, weight loss, fitness etc and I will help you.

I will blog more often. I will blog more often. I will blog more often....Geez it has been a while!  Hopefully you are receiving my weekly newsletter and therefore know I haven't been slacking THAT much but alas I should be bloggin here more which I intend to do. If you want to sign up for my weekly newsletter where I provide motivation and health tips sign up HERE

It was a tough choice as I was making good money at my old job but the hours were brutal and I felt stagnant.  I made the jump to a small studio down the hill in Lafayette and started doing personal training there.  The transition has not been easy but I feel so much better about the work I am doing and my work life balance.  No longer do I have to awake at 430 am train 12 sessions rinse and repeat.  I am able to give more value to my client because I can afford to have fewer more committed clients.  The creative juices are flowing and they are seeing great results.  I am so looking forward to what lies ahead and I hope you will join me.  Until next time ( I swear it won;t be long.) 

Good Morning!

Let's make it a great week! 

Today I'd like to stress the value of eating fresh, whole, nutrient dense foods and striving for 8 hours of sleep each and every night.  

One of the first people to research nutrition and its affects on health was a dentist named Weston A Price.  He noticed that though the united states was affluent, we had a high incedence of cancer, diabetes and tooth decay.  He traveled the world visiting hunter gatherer communtites and documented their diets and rates of disease.  What he found was that these communites did not have cancer, were not obese, and had no dental caries despite having low levels of technology and living under rather harsh conditions.  

He found societies in Alaska eating high fat low carb diets that were robust and suffered no cardiac maladies.  He found high carb low fat cultures living happily in equatorial parts without a trace of diabetes.  He found societies in Africa eating a diet based on cows blood and raw milk with no incidents of cancer.

As soon as processed food (mainly white flour and sugar) was introduced to these people they got fat, sick and their teeth started rotting.  Their bones and facial structures even started to deform in as little as one generation, causing osteoporosis and crowding of the teeth.

I could go on and on about this but the main point is this:

THEY ATE FRESH, ORGANIC, LOCAL, SUSTAINABLY RAISED UNPROCESSED FOODS

no white flour, no white sugar, no sodium chloride, no pasteurized dairy

They went out and gathered their food (exercise) the came home and ate it (fresh) the sang and danced (enriching social bonding) and they slept when it got dark and woke when the sun got up.   


The stress they encountered was intense and short lived (high intensity interval training anyone?)

Certainly we live in a different place and context of aboriginals on the Australian plains but our genes are exactly the same.....EXACTLY THE SAME.

So this week I challenge you to ask yourself:  

Am I living in a way that promotes the healthy development of the human animal?

Am I feeding and watering myself appropriately?

You are strong beyond your wildest imagination.  You have untapped potential chomping at the bit to be released.

 YOU ARE A POWERFUL, UNCONQUERABLE HUMAN!

Have a great week!!

John

Today I got up at 4 am after getting 2.5 hours of sleep and went to work at 5...on my birthday.  I made that choice. I was excited because everyday I know that the decisions I make are MY DECISIONS, MY CHOICES and the outcomes of those choices are MY RESPONSIBILITY.  I was excited because I knew I could help people with the special skills I have.  I was excited because I knew I would be surrounded by positive people that support me tonight to celebrate. I was excited because 2 years ago I dreamt of working in the fitness industry and everyday I live it. Everything I do and you do is a choice.  I am where I am because that's what I want. DON'T FORGET IT. You can stay where you are.  But you can't stay where you are and get where you're going. Make moves,  Will something, dream big, take action and see what happens.  Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.  32 is gonna be a great year!!

Morning workout at the beach. Barefoot

Jog 5 minutes

Wrist prep

15 min handstand practice

100 walking lunges

2x6 hanging leg raises from lifeguard tower

4x8 pseudo planche push ups

4x50m sprints

Workout took about 45 min

Post workout I took a plunge in the icy cold ocean here in Avila Beach.

Tempering with cold water in the morning is s great way to regulate hormones like cortisol and testosterone. Also a great step in fighting adrenal fatigue as well as an excellent way to pump the lymph system.

Cheers, I'm off to my step brother's wedding.