Sunday Story…Today's the day.

If you're reading this on Sunday, October 4th, today is my birthday, the official day. It's one of those bittersweet birthdays. Honestly, I never thought I'd see 70. It always seemed so far away. Even 5 years ago, 10 years ago, it felt so far away. My mom's 92, so when I look at that, I still have a long way to go. Maybe not as long as I had 20 years ago, but still a long way to go. For my birthday, and a challenge to all of you reading this, here is my 70th birthday workout of the day:

• 70 calories on the bike to cash in
• 70 pull-ups
• 70 push-ups
• 70 air squats
• 70 box jumps (that's a 24-inch box for the men, 20 for the ladies)
• 70 feet of handstand walks. If you want to do this but you can't handstand walk, you're going to do 3 wall walks and 10 shoulder taps for every 10 feet. That means you're going to do 21 wall walks and 70 shoulder taps.
• 70 GHD sit-ups
• 70 burpees
• 70-calorie row to buy out

There's a 70-minute time cap on this. The time to beat is 54 minutes and 24 seconds. That was my time on Friday afternoon. You can break up your sets any way you like, but you must finish each element before you start the next. In other words, you must finish all 70 pull-ups before you start your 70 push-ups, etc. Other than that, it's straightforward. It's a grind. There's a little bit of suffering involved. It's my favorite kind of workout. Have a great day. I know I did.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story: Update on some supplements.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about two supplements called NAC and Urolithin A. I'm not a real big pill pusher. I think you should take supplements once you've got your diet dialed in and are doing all the rest of the things that you should be doing.

Here's the deal with these two supplements. My doctor, Dr. Ravipati, at Southwest Mind and Body (https://southwestmindandbody.com/) suggested I start taking these. She's a longevity specialist. NAC stands for N-acetylcysteine, and the label says it supports liver detox and respiratory health. Urolithin A is listed for mitochondrial support. Your mitochondria are like the little engines in your cells that make everything work. As we get older, those cells don't rejuvenate and restore themselves quite as well as they did when we were 20 or 25.

The biggest change I've noticed is in my skin. Before I started taking these, it took almost nothing for me to get a big red bruise on my arm. My skin was thinner and seemed to bruise and bleed for no reason. The bruises lasted days, weeks, and even months. Once I started taking these two supplements, the bruising stopped within a month. Now, if I have a bruise, it goes away in a day or two, and my skin seems tougher or something because it doesn't cut and bleed as easily.

These two supplements, NAC and Urolithin A, are doing something very beneficial to my body. NAC is common; we offer the Thorne brand here, or you can visit here: https://www.thorne.com/products?affid=PR800589&utm_campaign=Affiliate+Programs&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=Custom+Link&utm_content=Supplements+%26+Tests. Urolithin A is less common, but here is their website: https://www.timeline.com/. Urolithin A tends to be pricey; it looks like about $100 a month, maybe a little less. NAC, on the other hand, is inexpensive.

The two of them have made a huge difference in my skin and, I think, my energy levels. I recover a little bit faster, so I highly recommend them.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…I don’t wanna!

Like most of you, I also have days and times when I struggle with consistency. When I really don't want to pick up the weight, when I really don't want to go out and do another pull-up or another push-up, it looks like just a task: tedious, tiring, boring.

This is part of the process, part of making progress: realizing that even when I don't want to do it, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to pick up that weight. I'm going to hop on the bar. I'm going to do what needs to be done.

The reason for this? I'm looking down the road 5 years, 10 years, 20 years from now, and in my case, 20 years, when I'm 90 years old. What do I want to be able to do? If I don't do what needs to be done today, then 20 years from now, I may struggle to get off the toilet. 20 years from now, I may not be able to walk around the block. 20 years from now, I might be unable to do any of the things I want to do. I would have nobody to hold responsible for that but myself, because today I didn't do what needed to be done.

So, when the alarm goes off, and you wake up, get out of bed, and you say, "Screw this! I don't feel like doing it. I want to sit around and drink coffee and sit on the porch and watch the world go by," realize that if that's your choice, that's also the choice you're making 20 years from today. Finish your coffee, get off the porch, and go to the gym. See you there.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…It's never too late to start.

That doesn't mean it will be easy. That doesn't mean it will be simple. The most important thing is to start, to take that first step.

The other day, a new client asked me, "What am I doing well, or what am I good at?" My first answer was, "You're showing up." It isn't easy to show up when everything's not going exactly your way. It is easy to show up when everything's perfect, all the stars are aligned, and it's simple. That's easy, but what about when it's hard to get out of bed? What about when it’s hard to walk through the door? When you are faced with the truth that you haven't done the things that you should have done, the things you know you should have done over the last few years or decades. You had other priorities. You had other things to do, but it's not too late to start now.

The key is you've got to walk through the door. If you want to learn a new language, you've got to start somewhere. If you want to have something different, you must do something different.

We can't solve problems with the same thought process that we used when we got the problem. We must change our thinking. We must get up, get out of bed, and walk through the door to make those changes. It's not too late to start, no matter what time it is. 5 minutes until midnight, it's still 5 minutes. You can do that: walk through the door.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…Labor Day.

The other day, we were talking about Labor Day, the whys and wherefores, and realized that most of us have no idea why Labor Day started, why we're doing a holiday for it. For most of us, it means a 3-day weekend, an extra day off, and a chance to rest and enjoy ourselves.

The reason Labor Day started all those years ago, and it was 1894 when it became a federal holiday, signed into law by President Grover Cleveland, was a way to celebrate workers' contributions and support the labor movement, which fought for fair wages, shorter workdays, and improved conditions during the Industrial Revolution. Before this, it was not unusual for people to work 7 days a week and 10-hour days. The labor movement helped the workers get better conditions, and that's why we celebrate Labor Day.

Here at CrossFit Odyssey, we'll have two classes, 8 and 10, so the coaches, Ellie and I, can have a little extra time off, and so you can come in, work hard, and then enjoy your leisure time. The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary, so we've got to do a little work first; then we can have success.

I hope you'll join us at either 8 or 10; bring your family and friends. We're going to do a hero workout. Ellie and I were talking about which one. It'll be a surprise when you get here, and we will have fun; we'll do some work, then enjoy ourselves. See you Monday morning.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday's Story: Longevity Again

One of the most important parts of your health span and your life span is nutrition and whatever supplements you may or may not be taking in addition to your nutrition. When we look at the pyramid of fitness, the bottom row is nutrition. We've got to be able to eat right, and as stated in the first sentence of Fitness in a Hundred Words: Eat meat and vegetables, seeds and nuts, a little starch, avoid sugar. What that means is eat real food!

Once your nutrition is dialed in, we can start talking about supplementation. Two that I always recommend:

• Glucosamine 2,000 mg a day for your joints, cartilage, tendons, and other connective tissues. Keep those healthy and strong.
• Turmeric, again about 2,000 mg a day, for inflammation. Inflammation is what kills all of us. You want to avoid that.

The other reason I'm bringing this up is that I found two new supplements, and they are amazing.

The first is called NAC (N-acetyl cysteine). A couple of capsules a day. It's good for respiratory support, liver detox, and overall health.

The other one is called Urolithin-A. This one is amazing. It's from TimeLine, and it's a mitochondrial support supplement.

Somewhere between those two, I noticed that my skin, especially on my arms and legs, stopped bruising so easily and seemed to have thickened. My skin doesn't cut as easily and doesn't get scraped up and bleeding. You may not have noticed this yet, but my grandparents used to call them liver spots on your hands and arms. As you get older, your skin thins out, and you need something to make that less prevalent. It's hard to believe, but one or both of those supplements seem to have fixed that problem. We offer NAC here! You'll need to order the other one.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story... Longevity continued.

In the past, we have talked about your marginal decade, in other words, the last ten years of your life. What do you want to be able to do in those last ten years? This is an important exercise. It's an exercise that you should really think about: what it is you really want to be able to do as your time on earth winds down. More important than that, because longevity isn't about how long you live; longevity is how well you live as long as you live. Most of us don't like the prospect of lying in bed for ten years waiting to die. That's not life. The real question is not what you want to do in your last ten years, but:

• What do you want to do this year?
• Next year?
• Five years from now?
• Ten years from now?

What do you want your life to look like activity-wise? What do you want your life to look like relationship-wise? What do you want it to look like career-wise? These are all important facets of who we are as humans. The fact is, I can have a great career and great relationships, and if my physical and mental health are lacking, life isn't going to be much fun. If I must quit my job because I am infirm, or if I have to start taking psychoactive drugs because my mental state isn't good and my relationships are suffering, again, that's not a life. That's an existence, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to just exist. I want to live.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412