Sunday Story…Rest, Relax, Reset

 

One of the most neglected facets of your fitness journey is stress management and reduction. Some stress is more easily managed than others. Stress caused by external sources may be more easily avoided or eased than internal stress. Internal stress is what we put upon ourselves. Managing your career, your family, and your life can all be sources of internal stress. We want to do them all well. And you may do them all well to the detriment of your own health and well-being. This type of stress is the hardest to manage.

One of the easiest ways to alleviate some of that internal stress is with a vacation. Not the kind where you still must do everything and manage people and events. No, the type of vacation where it is all done for you. Where your choices are limited to which lounge chair you want to lie in all afternoon or which throwaway book you can pretend to read. It might only be one day (hopefully more), but that respite will help your central nervous system slow down and reset. When you return to your busy life, your outlook will be improved.

If a vacation is not in the cards for you, consider implementing a mini-vacation instead. An afternoon of doing nothing, treating yourself to a spa day, or just taking a long, aimless walk in nature. It has been proven that spending time in the natural world can have a profoundly positive impact on your mental and emotional well-being. If that seems too challenging, take 15 minutes to sit in the sun, breathe deeply, and express gratitude for all the gifts in your world.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength (and help manage your stress!), 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.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…the Whys and Wherefores…the Deadlift

 

 Last week, we talked about jumping rope. Today, we're going to tackle one of the major lifts—the deadlift. Which is lifting something from the ground to a full standing position, and the weight ends at our hips. Every time you pick up a suitcase or a bag of groceries, it comes from where it starts and ends up at your hip.

There are many ways to make a deadlift happen. But certain things should take place before you ever lift anything, whether it's a bag of groceries or your Chihuahua.

1. Keep your back straight, with no rounding. I should be able to put a ruler on your back, and it should be straight from your shoulders to your rear end.
2. The primary movers on the deadlift are your glutes and your hamstrings. Not your back. If your back is doing the work, you are doing the lift somewhat incorrectly, if not completely incorrectly.

Some of the variations for the deadlift:

One of the easiest variations is a kettlebell sumo stance deadlift; my feet are wider than my shoulders, my toes are toed out, and the kettlebell is directly underneath my center. I bend my knees, keep my back straight, grab the handle of the kettlebell (two hands on the handle), and stand up. When I stand up, my hips are open, my knees straight, and my glutes tight. Then, as I begin to lower the kettlebell, I hinge at my hips, and my knees bend, allowing the weight to return to the floor.

·         Another variation of this would be to use two kettlebells, one on either side. Keeping your feet under your hips, reach down with each hand, back straight, stand up, glutes tight, hips open. That completes the lift; bring it back to the ground.

·         The next variation would be using a trap or a hex bar. This position puts your hands outside of your legs. So, instead of your hands being inside your legs, as you would have them on the sumo stance, my hands are on the outside, and I am standing inside the bar (the bar surrounds my legs). Then I stand up, and the same process takes place.

·         The most common deadlift is with a single barbell in front of us. We keep the bar close to our legs, the bar path is straight up and down, the shoulder blades back and down, and the back straight. Grab the bar outside of your legs; the legs are underneath your hips. As I stand up, my knees begin to open as the bar crosses pass my knees on its way up, my hips open as I hinge at my hip. When I lower the bar, I keep it on my thighs like I'm shaving my legs with the bar until it gets just past my knees. At that point, and only that point, do I bend my knees. If we bend our knees too soon, the bar will come away from our legs, and that puts the pressure on the lower part of our back.

      The deadlift is a fundamental exercise for building strength. Not only is it functional exercise, but it is something we will do throughout our lives.

If you're interested in learning how to build 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.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story... the Whys and Wherefores

You may be asking yourself at this point, "Why should I do some of these things? How will it benefit my longevity? How will it benefit my overall health? What do I get out of doing this?" Because let's be honest, it's not easy.

One of the biggest fears most of us have as we age is falling, getting hurt, and not being able to do the things we genuinely want to do with our lives. When children fall, they catch themselves. That's a fast-twitch muscle response. As we age, our fast-twitch muscles become less responsive. So, we need to force them to work. One way is by jumping rope. As I jump, my muscles in my feet must respond. That is a fast-twitch muscle response. Then when an inadvertent fall happens, the muscles in my feet and legs can catch me and arrest that fall.

One of the most crucial aspects of aging is maintaining strong bones. Believe it or not, jumping can help our bones stay strong and even get stronger. It's that jumping up and down that will help my bones remain strong.

Perhaps you're saying to yourself, "My knees can't take jumping. My doctor told me that the impact was the problem," but you can walk.  If you can walk, you can jump. Let's start by hopping over a line, taking a rope, and jumping over the rope. You only need to jump an inch to get over the rope. That little bit of impact is going to help your bones remain strong.

Another thing that happens to us as we age is that our fast-twitch muscles atrophy. They aren't as strong as they used to be. They don't react the way they used to. Having stronger muscles in our feet and calves can help slow down that process.

If you're interested in learning how to build 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.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…More Priorities (last one!)

At this point, you may be a little dazed and confused. Let me see if I can distill this down for you.

On the food front:

Eat 1 gram of quality protein per pound of body weight. Get as close as you can to this number. It’s aspirational!

Eat 4-6 cups of fruit and vegetables. Again, it’s aspirational!

If you do those two things, your nutrition will be way ahead of your peers.

On the exercise front:

3 days of strength training (emphasize the major lifts) and mix it up to hit your entire body.

1 day of sprint or VO2 style work (there is a difference)

2 days long, slow distance. Wear a heart rate monitor.

On the mobility front:

5-15 minutes 5 days a week. This is crucial because as you get older, it is harder to move easily.

On the social-emotional side:

Get outside every day.

Interact with other humans in a friendly way.

Own your own experience.

How you put this together is up to you, but here’s one recipe:

Use the mobility work as a warm-up, move into some strength work, keeping it varied yet challenging. Then, after your strength work, choose a long, slow distance, or a sprint or VO2 max workout, and one day go for an hour of long, slow distance running, getting outside with other people.

Do these things regularly, if you want the magic pill, it is this: consistency is king. Show up and do work, be single-minded as you work, and smile. You have been gifted with a miraculous human existence. Get out and enjoy it!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…More Priorities (Strength training)

    

 

Strength or resistance training is the cornerstone of fitness and longevity.  Muscular strength, endurance, and overall health are the rewards when you build a stronger you. Resistance can come from body weight, free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells), resistance bands, or machines (we don’t love these!)

We know the benefits of regular strength training, including bone health, a metabolic boost, and increased muscular strength. The foundational exercises are well known to all of us. Squats, deadlifts, pressing (both vertically (overhead) and horizontally (bench), and core stabilization. We recommend doing resistance exercises at least twice a week, and three times a week is even better, for at least 30 minutes, with sixty minutes being even better (you do need to warm up first).

Each session should have a different focus. In other words, we will be most effective when we focus on one area instead of trying to address them all. There will be a time and place for that, but when we start, our focus should be singular. The principle of progressive overload is critical here. Progressive overloading involves gradually increasing resistance or weight over time. This increase means our muscles are constantly challenged, which leads to growth in strength and, if we are lucky, size. This is adaptation in action.

Guess what else you need to get stronger? Rest! That’s correct, adaptation occurs during rest. To become stronger and healthier, you need to rest.  Rest helps prevent injuries and overtraining. You know what else is going to help? Proper nutrition! Healthy eating habits will take you a long way on your fitness journey. It is at the base of the pyramid that we refer to when discussing fitness—lots of protein and vegetables, healthy fats, and some carbohydrates.

Probably the most essential part of this journey is consistency. You must attend regularly every week without fail. This may be the most challenging part of your fitness journey. Set a time daily and then keep that time sacrosanct.

Next week…the priority recap!

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…More Priorities…Resistance Training

Today, we are tackling resistance training or weight training. The reasons for doing training of this type should be obvious, but just in case you have forgotten, here are some:

Improve/keep bone density up. Every year past the age of about 30, our bones get weaker due to several factors. The way to stop/reverse/prevent this from happening is by doing resistance training, which involves picking up heavy stuff.

Prevent/keep muscle mass. Again, after 30, we begin to lose muscle mass. This is a slow leak until you get to about 50, and then it accelerates and gets even faster the older you get. The answer is the same as above…pick up heavy stuff.

Improve your metabolic base rate. The older we get, the more our metabolism slows down. We need fewer calories because our “burn rate” is lower, which results in weight gain. To keep your rate up, you need to pick up heavy stuff.

There are more reasons (mental health, anaerobic capacity, and more) than those three, but those three are enough.

What do we mean by weight or resistance training? In a nutshell, it means picking up and moving heavy stuff. There are many ways to do this, but probably the easiest is to practice and train the major lifts…deadlift, squat, and press. Do this several times a week. Add weight when your form is rock solid. Don’t trade weight for form; it is a recipe for injury. This is as simple as I can make it. You can start doing this at any age; it is never too late. Studies have shown improvement at every age, including in the 80s and 90s.

Next week, more specifics!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.com

775-338-2412    

 

 

 

Sunday Story…More Priorities (exercise edition)

The three key components of exercise are strength, cardio-respiratory, and mobility. Strength training helps maintain muscle mass and bone density, cardio-respiratory work improves heart and lung function, and mobility exercises enhance flexibility and movement through different planes. These elements are crucial for sustaining physical health and vitality as we age.

The mobility (strength plus flexibility) piece is the easiest one. There are several mobility apps…GOWOD and Pliability are two of the apps I know of. If you want GOWOD, I have a discount code for you! It’s the one I use, but both are good. Mobility is essential to keep your body flexible and strong through many different planes of movement. I do 15 minutes a day, 5 7 days per week.

Cardiorespiratory work has three pillars: long slow distance, VO2 max, and sprinting.

Long, slow distance is also known as zone 2 training and is a conversational pace. You may not want to converse, but you could if necessary. To be truly accurate, you will need a heart rate monitor.

Your VO2 max may be one of the best benchmarks for longevity. VO2 max (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, or maximal aerobic capacity) is the maximum oxygen consumption rate attainable during physical exertion. So, the higher your VO2 max is, the more work you can do and the longer you can do it. This measure requires more equipment and work to obtain. There is a formula that uses bodyweight and other measurements, but it is only a guesstimate.

When we talk about sprinting, we mean your maximum sustained output for 10-30 seconds. Think of the 100-year dash or a 10-cal row. It is hard and fast, and you are all in when you finish. Then you repeat several times with lots of rest in between.

 These three cardiorespiratory areas are essential, especially in the longevity space.

So, mobility every day. Long, slow distance 2 or 3 times a week. VO2 max training 1 or 2 times a week, and sprint training only 1 time per week or less.

Next week, we will tackle strength training!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412