Aircrew Fitness

Try new things!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 18:13:00 +0000

Great workout in West Palm Beach! Classs Pass is a program that allows you to “drop-in” at different gyms/classes. The Total Body Conditioning Class at Fitness Hub Studios was awesome today! I was truly humbled by these ladies!

A great book for the New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 13:49:00 +0000

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and soon... Happy New Year!

Great book for the New Year - I'm listening on Audible:

You can get it FREE here: http://a.co/7KXxFwQ

http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781501111105/grit-9781501111105_hr-back.jpg

Location:Grand Lake, CO

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 07:41:00 +0000

Basic Tabata #1

Basic Tabata #2

Reeman Tabata #1

Reeman Tabata #2

Reeman Tabata #3

Reeman Tabata #4

Reeman Tabata #5

Reeman Tabata #6

Mother of All Tabatas!

Your Body in Motion is a more healthy...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:06:00 +0000

We’re airline pilots & road-warriors. We hope our work-day is unremarkable. We hope it’s uneventful. We hope it is non-stressful. And when it is, next thing you know we’re just sitting, relatively ‘motionless’ all day long as we paradoxically zoom across the sky at mach .78.

And when we sit for so long in our high-altitude office, blood pools & thickens in our legs; our lower-back hangs on our ligaments when we slouch putting pressure on our discs; lymphatic-fluid & trapped toxins stagnate; dry cabin air dehydrates us and dries our sinuses; abuse of caffeine to stay alert further dehydrates; our metabolism slows down; constipation can set in; and fascia begins to shrink & tighten.

That’s why it’s imperative when we land and head to the layover hotel we EXERCISE, either before the happy-hour, or the next morning before we head back to the airport. Exercise, even 20 minutes of moderate-intensity, immediately oxygenates your brain; moves lymphatic fluid/waste; circulates blood; sends your metabolism into over-drive; lengthens fascia; triggers endorphins, dopamine, adrenalin (in a natural way); helps vent mental stress; balances blood-sugar & improves insulin-efficiency; stimulates your G.I. tract; improves sleep-quality; and of course helps you burn some fat!...among a myriad of other benefits!

There’s always a means to exercise during any layover, at any hotel! Even if no equipment you can walk/run the stairs, run outside, pack a jump-rope, pack a resistance-band, yoga, push-ups, ab-work, isometric flexing – there are no excuses! That being said, adequate sleep certainly TRUMPS squeezing in a workout if forced to choose!

Max Wettstein

Fitness Professional Abs-Expert

maxwettsteinfitness.com

destinationhealthplus.com

Mobile (858) 472-1884

Fax (760) 944-1884

"Optimum health is a method of life. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow." - Max

Destination Health Plus LLC is a grassroots holistic and health-first fitness and health team.

Staying fit on the road!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:18:00 +0000

There has been a great deal of recent interest from flight crewmembers regarding staying fit. Max and I will be throwing some more frequent posts up here on aircrewfitness.com as they relate to staying fit on the road.

I am on an extended layover in Amman, Jordan. The blizzard in New York helped lengthen my stay a bit.

Today's routine looked a bit like this:

Wake up followed immediately by drinking water and hitting the dry sauna in the hotel gym
In the dry sauna I perfomed a quick dynamic yoga routine to warm up
Next was a 15 minute interval circuit on the stationary bike
A quick bout of cardio FIRST thing in the morning greatly benefits us 40+ types looking to stay lean
Breakfast buffet at the hotel where I was able to stick with veggie omelete and mostly lean proteins and a little yogurt. Coffee, water, and a small glass of pineapple juice.
Walked the streets of Amman for some sight seeing and Christmas shopping
Lunched consisted of a protein bar and an apple
Afternoon workout of a crossfit circuit: 5 rounds, sprint 400M, 5 back squats, 5 burpees, 5 knees to elbows - see crossfit.com for details
Protein shake shook up in my mixer following the workout
Lite dinner of traditional middle easter hummus, tabuli, grilled meat and veggies and was able to avoid the bread.
Not bad for an unscheduled day in Jordan.

Here are the keys:

1) Consistent exercise (I would have preferred to sleep in this morning)

2) Portion control and healthy food choices

3) Avoid a late/big evening meal

Until next time,

In Health,

LtCol Reeman

What Healthy Pilots Eat at FL350

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Come see what Captain Max eats for lunch in the JetBlue jet at 35,000 feet! No need to eat junk or skip meals...

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH6F4A8C2tk

Best,
Max Wettstein

Fitness Professional. Abs-Expert.

www.maxwettsteinfitness.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

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"Optimum health is a method of life."

"Focus on Fitness & your ideal physique will follow."

Sinus Health: Save your Sinuses!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sun, 10 May 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Flying in a low-humidity environment & stuffed up in air conditioned hotels for too long drying up your sinus membranes?

Save your sinuses. Cure sinusitis. Holistically. Naturally - NO medication!

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeM6F4H2CII

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

Gymless Full-Body 10 minute workout...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Who needs a gym?...full-body, strength & cardio, 10 mins in the style of Cross-Fit

watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLnmKXq5apE

-Captain Max

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

Resistance Band Training Video

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:55:00 +0000

What's the perfect piece of exercise equipment to pack along in your suitcase? Light-weight, inexpensive, simple yet so versatile, offering over 2 dozen different resistance exercises...

...The resistance band! Available in all different levels of resistance, and can hook right on to any hotel door knob or railing.

Check me out demonstrating some of my favorite exercises with the resistance band:

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyCtzAF8F0

Max

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

Sit Properly to Avoide Low-back Pain

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:59:00 +0000

Pilot? Sit all day at a desk?

Sitting improperly especially for long periods can wreak havoc on your lower-back. Learn how to sit properly and how to find your 'NEUTRAL Spine', so you can keep your lower back healthy and pain free. In this video I discuss sitting properly with Physical Therapist Lisa Ford:

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkY96RH0Zh0&feature=related

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

Jump Rope: The perfect travel training equipement!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000

What's small, light weight and easily fits in your suit case and can be used to burn hundreds of calories with?

What can be used to improve your timing, agility, aerobic fitness, and footwork?

The jump rope!...Re-discover it: Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQhyLpxMZO4

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

Self-Physical & Massage Therapy Techniques: At home and on the road!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:08:00 +0000

Are you or have you ever suffered from muscle-knots, muscle-adhesions, spasms, trigger-points, or tendonitis? Are you over age 35 and a 'weekend-warrior'? Do you still live your life like an athlete even though you're aircrew or a corporate guy? Do you wish you could afford the time and luxury of a massage therapist or chiropractor?

If you answered yes to several of these questions, then check out this quick 10 minute video I just produced showing you exactly how you can treat your self, by your self, at little to no cost, in your home or on the road. One severe muscle-knot can pull all the surrounding muscles out of balance and hinder mobility and function. I show you how to simply yet effectively combat knots, ahesions and triggerpoints.

Watch: http://www.maxwettstein.com/Training%20Plan/Self-Massage.htm

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

H.I.I.T. training video: Stair running...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:54:00 +0000

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is great for those who have less than 30 mins to exercise each day - i.e. pilots! In fact, Cross-Fit is certainly a form of HIIT: Short INTENSE bursts of effort followed by an immediate recovery period, repeat. 1:2 ratio of effort to recovery respectively.

Applying HIIT principles you can get an amazing work-out within 15 to 20 mins (not including any warm-up or cool-down periods). Also, you will start in the aerobic training zone and quickly transition into the anaerobic zone as your heart rate (HR) increases past 85% of your maximum, (Max HR = approx 220-age), and you enter into oxygen debt. In the aerobic zone you will burn some fat and mostly glycogen for fuel, and in the anaerobic zone you will burn stored-muscle glycogen and creatine-phosphate for energy and will produce lactic acid.

Always perform HIIT training while wearing a HR monitor to verify your intensity level.

At higher intensities you will be at a HR above your lactate-threshhold and produce lactic acid faster than you can recycle it, and will eventually experience the lactic-acid 'burn' in your muscles.

On the recovery phase you will clear and recycle the lactic acid from your muscles and allow your HR to come down to about 70% of your maximum, then repeat the interval.

Sprints, hill-running, and stair-running are all great examples of HIIT training, where you can burn up to 500 calories or more in only 15 minutes of training, depending on your physical conditioning and how intense you are willing to (safely) go! You are utilizing all forms of energy production.

For a video demonstration of HIIT training (stair running) go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTncMjOJgOA

Happy New Year!

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

Photos from flying A320 over SoCal Pacific coast!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:14:00 +0000

A few photos from yesterday's flight down the coast from SFO to LGB to share with you, and a photo doing incline bicep curls!

Fly safe and stay healthy: Optimum health is a method of life!

Max

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Coping with Holiday & Football Season Festivities

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:22:00 +0000

Coping with Holiday/Football Season Festivities

Summer is over, the shorts and swim suits are put away replaced with heavier, baggier clothing and jackets that conceal our physiques from public view. In addition football season is here, and the holiday season is upon us as well. All this means it is time to gather, eat, drink and be merry because that is what Americans do!

For the majority of us every weekend for the next two months will be marked with some sort of social event where much food and refreshment is available, including but not limited to burgers, dogs, pizza, soda, beer, chips, dips, fried-foods, holiday cookies, breads, and candies. On top of that mix in a few multi-course holiday dinner celebrations and the calorie intake starts adding up. The days are the shortest they’ve been all year and colder too, so we’re inside more and most likely a lot less active. This further contributes to a potential for accumulating a huge calorie surplus eventually adding unwanted pounds and inches.

Okay, so now I’m a Grinch who doesn’t believe in holiday and football season traditions, and perhaps even un-American too, right?! Tell you “…something you don’t know”, right? Well I’m really on your side, and in fact my wife has dragged me to three parties in the last two weeks, and I wasn’t exactly fasting. The empty, liquid calories were definitely being consumed on my part if you know what I mean, but I did recover and you can too. The key is moderation during the rest of the week, in between social engagements.

Moderation – really - that is all it takes. Don’t let your Saturday night or Sunday afternoon binge-fest snow ball and sabotage your exercise and eating habits the rest of the week. Come Monday, get back on the fitness wagon and have an ounce of discipline. Stay motivated and on your fitness plan during the week, (or during the days leading up to and following your social event), and you will deserve to indulge along side everyone else during the festivities, whatever the occasion may be. The beauty of this aside from not morphing into a fat-body come January, is that you will be able to really enjoy yourself, guilt free while celebrating. And, you won’t have to include the long-clichéd weight-loss goal as part of your New Year’s resolutions.

The logic is simple: 5 days of disciplined and sensible eating and exercise followed by 1 to 2 days of over indulging, does not equal an overall calorie surplus and consequential fat gain for the entire week. In other words, 1 or 2 ‘cheat days’ will not cancel out the progress attained in 5 or 6 ‘good days’. There are several physiological factors in contributing to this logic: Long term dieting slows the metabolism and that one ‘cheat day’ of indulging and over-eating will stimulate the metabolism. Digesting large amounts of food in itself requires a tremendous amount of energy in itself. What’s more, the body’s muscles and liver have the ability to store huge amounts of carbs/calories in the form of glycogen - a phenomenon known to athletes as ‘carbo-loading’. This muscle-glycogen stores with a lot of water, filling out your muscles and causing temporary weight gain. Although you will now suddenly weigh more and your clothes may fit tighter, by no means have you gotten fatter, and in a day’s time you should be back to your normal weight. Additionally, chips, dips, pizza, fried foods, sauces and gravies are loaded with sodium. This sodium causes even more water retention, again, causing a temporary weight gain and puffiness. A day or two back into your normal eating and exercising habits you should be back to normal. All this being said, it wouldn’t hurt to perform a little extra cardio exercise prior to your holiday event, as this will create a calorie deficit and make your muscles and liver ‘insulin-sensitive’ and more glycogen efficient so that you uptake glucose/carbs more readily for replenishment.

So now fast-forward to January 2^nd, 2009, (Happy New Year.) I know football season is not over yet, but at least the holidays are behind you. At this point you’re probably more concerned about how in debt you are financially, but I can’t help you there. However a recovery plan may also be in order for your health and your weight at this time. When January comes I’ll address this again, but post-holiday season is the time of year where a good cleansing and detox is in order. Hopefully you gained very little weight/fat if any, but even so a total body cleanse or at the very least a colon and liver cleanse would be a good New Year’s resolution and a great way to start the year. Don’t be alarmed by the sound of “colon-cleanse”, as you don’t need to do a colonic or an enema, or anything extreme like that. Just short term water or juice fasting, along with some cleansing-herb capsules and herbal teas, and some Probiotics, (friendly intestinal bacteria), are all that is comprised. Next blog I will post my next feature titled Daily Detoxing Made Simple. Drinking lots of water, raw juices, herbal cleansing-teas and taking herbs such as Milk Thistle can go along way in helping your liver health, especially if you consume large amounts of alcohol. I’ll go further into detail in January.

In conclusion, once again, it is clear that moderation is essential. If you binge and over indulge one weekend, don’t give up or feel overcome with guilt. Just write the day off and move on, and get back to your normal, sensible lifestyle as soon as you can. If it helps, tell yourself that you just stimulated your metabolism and then give a little extra during your next work out. Just because you may not wear a bathing suit again until May, doesn’t mean you should lose your focus or stop exercising. Even if you’re not vain at all and your wife loves you for your personality and your Buddha-belly, you still need to be concerned for your heart and overall health.

One last, unrelated health tip that is too important to leave until next month, and too short to make a separate topic: A recent UCSD study just revealed that the best way to stop bone-density loss/osteoporosis in both men and women, (aside from hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women), is through strength training and impact exercise. It seems that aerobic exercise alone will not prevent a decrease in bone-density with age. Weight-lifting not only stopped bone-density loss, but reversed it to youthful levels in men over age 30 in the study. Impact exercise, such as snow-skiing the bumps had the same effect. For those who exercise aerobically and cardio only, (walking, swimming, cycling), you should consider adding weight/strength training to your routine. Of course supplementing with adequate calcium and vitamin D are essential as well. A lot of calcium is lost through sweat and in neutralizing acids, and any time the body runs low, it is leached from the bones.

For an in depth look at a full-body cleanse, consult my book available on www.destinationhealthplus.com or Amazon or Barnes&Noble.com.

Sources: www.jonbarron.org; www.naturalhealthplus.biz; www.destinationhealthplus.com; Outside Magazine.

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

AB-Awareness: Max shares a few ab-secrets...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:16:00 +0000

I call it "Ab-Awareness"...always having my abs engaged, ready for anything. This not only keeps my abs constantly in a state of toning, but also helps with posture, core-strengthening and ideal center of gravity. Some eastern cultures call this 'Chi'.

By keeping your abs partially isometrically flexed at all times, you are doing your low-back much good, not to mention toning and strengthing your abs and core, and, you won't need to work them in the gym nearly as much.

Isometric flexing is my primary means of exercising my abs.

NEVER let your gut hang out. Always be aware of what your mid-section is doing. Do NOT accept a buldging belly: Even if your body fat percentage is a bit higher than you would like, take pride in your appearance and suck that gut in! It is not just vanity - it makes a difference in your metabolism, posture, core-function, and mental attitude!

For more on my ab tips, check out my latest web-cast on ClarkBartram.com: http://www.clarkbartram.com/video/ab-secrets

For the full story on eliminating belly fat, both subctaneous ab-obscuring fat, and inflammatory disease-causing internal/visceral fat, visit www.destinationhealthplus.com to review my new holistic fat-loss book, 'How Much Fat are You Carrying?'

-Max

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

The WEIGHT-loss Paradox: Exactly what kind of weight are you losing?

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:08:00 +0000

That’s correct – I’m asking how much excess fat you are carrying not how much you weigh. Most popular and fad diets seem to focus your weight, and how much weight you want to lose, which is off the mark and therefore they fall short of your goals. If all you care about is losing pounds, how do you know what kind of substance you are losing: Are you losing fat; muscle; fluid; glycogen? (Glycogen is stored glucose/sugars within your muscles for energy.) Any body can become skinny simply by cutting calories to the point of starvation, but skinny is not necessarily healthy, especially if your muscle mass and fitness level has been sacrificed or ignored in the process.

NONE of us should ever want to purposely or accidentally lose any of our muscle tissue – which is exactly what happens when you combine an extreme diet with lack of exercise. More than any other physiological factor within our influence, it is our muscle mass, or lean-body mass that drives our resting or basal metabolism. Fat does not have any affect on our metabolism, but the more muscle tissue we lose through sedentary lifestyle, aging, or extreme dieting, the slower our metabolism becomes. Like it or not, it IS lean-muscle mass that gives all of us, men and women, a tone and tighter appearance. Being lean and tone does not mean you also have to have big biceps girls!

Face it: In this day in age, skinny, soft and frail is out…lean, tone and fit is in!

I know it is tempting to ride the crash-dieting roller coaster, especially when you have a big social event or vacation coming up. There’s usually a last ditch effort preceding such a high visibility social event to lose any kind of pounds fast, when you have not been properly eating and consistently exercising. At this point you may only care about getting smaller quickly and who cares if the weight being shed is fat, muscle or fluid! Extreme diet tactics at this point typically include: Starving yourself; Cutting out all carbohydrates to achieve ketosis; Abusing diuretics, laxatives and other diet-pills to purge excess fluids; Attempting rapid intestinal/colon cleanses and other so-called ‘de-toxes’; Restricting fluids and dehydrating; Or even worse binging and purging.

These tactics are obviously very unhealthy, can damage your metabolism, and are hard on your kidneys and adrenal glands especially. During such drastic dieting measures you will feel lethargic, be moody, and unable to mentally focus on tasks in life. You will lose weight alright: You will lose a lot of fluid; a lot of stored glycogen (so your muscles will shrink); you will lose/catabolize valuable muscle tissue (since your body will break itself down to get essential amino acids); and you might lose a little bit of fat too.

So for example, let’s say you were able to lose 10 pounds in just 4 days by extreme crash-dieting tactics and NO exercise. What you probably lost was 4 pounds of fluids; 1 pound thru voiding of colon matter; 3 pounds of stored glycogen from within your muscles and liver (providing you energy); 1 pound of lean-muscle mass (catabolized for amino-acids); and finally just 1 pound of fat (an energy source along with protein during low-carb dieting thru ketosis)! I am not kidding you’re here – 10 pounds you lost but only 1 pound of it is actual unwanted fat! This is why the weight-scale does not provide accurate feedback for trying to lose fat. The mirror may even be a better method to assess. Or you can purchase a body-fat analysis scale at any athletic store for under $100. They measure lean-body mass and calculate approximate body-fat percentage through bioelectrical impedance signals, and they are accurate to within 2%, but more importantly you can track fat-loss trends.

To continue along on our hypothetical crash-dieting/no-exercising scenario, you are now 10 pounds lighter, but no leaner, you’re weaker with empty muscle-glycogen stores; you’re moody; you’re dehydrated with bad, ketone-breath; and the worse news of all is that your metabolism is now slowed down to that of a hibernating bear! You see, when you lose the same amount of lean-muscle as you do unwanted fat, your body fat percentage remains the same, so your lean-body mass has not changed. What’s more, when you deplete your interstitial fluid and your glycogen stores this works against your lean-body mass as well, so your percentage of body fat may now in fact have increased even though you are 10 pounds lighter on the scale…what?! What a paradox you’re now in: 10 pounds lighter but yet less lean. What a raw deal – and no wonder you always gain the weight right back so quickly!

So, how do we prevent this? Say it with me now (it is common sense), “No crash-dieting and incorporate consistent exercise!” Exercising is essential – the key – to not only attaining a lean, toned physique, but also to health and fitness and general. In fact recent university studies have shown that thin people who live a sedentary lifestyle are not always as healthy as moderately over weight people who do consistently exercise. Let’s not forget the bigger picture in life: Fitness and a lean-physique usually go hand and hand, but being physically fit should be the ultimate goal for all of us. Exercise is critical to preserving muscle mass, especially during low-calorie dieting and exercise is the only true, natural way to restore our physiology to working optimally. Exercise also directly improves insulin function and increases insulin sensitivity and glucose (blood-sugar) metabolism. Exercise helps balance stress hormones such as Cortisol and stimulates lean-body mass promoting hormones such as Growth hormone, testosterone and DHEA. Exercise preserves bone-density and offsets aging. So we must find a way to consistently exercise and challenge ourselves mentally and physically. Exercising outdoors or doing a sport or activity you enjoy can make it fun and help you become more resistant to normal fatigue barriers.

Extreme and fad diets are simply not an option. They are temporary and always lead to rebound weight gain and mental and emotional distress. The goal must be to make fitness not only a lifestyle but an enjoyable lifestyle. Of course some discipline will be required, but that applies to anything worthwhile in life. Many lifestyle factors need to be assessed including sleep, nutrition, and supplements. Any diet that instructs you to eliminate food groups, buy their brand of food, or count calories is simply setting you up for frustration, financial pain and failure. Moderation, portion-awareness, meal-timing, proper food-group combining are the essential strategies. It begins at the grocery store where you must buy unrefined, whole-grain and less-processed foods as a general rule of thumb. While no food group should be absolutely off-limits, certain trigger-foods, or outright unhealthy foods should not be brought home on a regular basis, or if you do save it for special, occasional cheat-meals.

Such a lifestyle I’m describing will be a much more attainable if you start out by planning your day the night prior so that you will be sure to make time for your work-out. Also, by looking ahead into weekends or holidays, you will be ready to strategically plan cheat-meals accordingly when you know you will be at a social event with junk foods and cocktails abundant – you will have earned the right to indulge moderately. Once you learn new, healthy habits, and begin to think and live like a fit and active person, so much planning will not be required. You will learn that no matter what food options are available to you in any given scenario, there will always be a best choice that is relatively healthier. You will acquire the mentality through experience that it is not always necessary to have access to a fancy gym: You will be able to exercise any where, at any time, with any thing, even if the only piece of equipment you have to train with is your own body.

The lifestyle and philosophy I’m describing to you may sound a bit over whelming or vague. Well I have already bombarded you with too much information for one blog-article! I have presented an entire lifestyle, eating and exercise philosophy in detail in my new book titled, ‘How Much Fat are You Carrying?’ and it is available now at www.destinationhealthplus.com . I have only presented you with the tip of the iceberg of what we at DHP have to offer in our holistic approach to fat-loss and fitness. But at the very least, I hope you now truly appreciate why it does matter what kind of weight you’re trying to lose when you diet. Your metabolism and your fitness depend on your lean-body mass composition! So get rid of the excess fat and save your precious muscle mass.

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Your 'ABS-Expert' says: "Optimum health is a lifestyle not a fad. Focus on fitness and your ideal physique will follow."

Thursday August 7, 2008 - Wall Ball Shots!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:19:00 +0000

Wow - KAREN was an interesting WOD! Several of my Unit Fitness Program Managers at Buckley joined me outside today for 150 Wall Ball Shots!

Wall Ball... [wmv]
Wall Ball/Karen...[mov][wmv]

Tips from the 'ABS EXPERT' Part 2: Exercise options, the 'Vacuum' and 'Roid-Gut'...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:19:00 +0000

In this post, I share some OTHER abdominal exercises that my buddy Carl can try instead of only doing crunches and all its variants:

Carl:

I realized after basically bombarding you with my overall fitness philosophy, I never really did answer your specific question regarding some other ab exercises other than the crunch and all its many forms:

- I like hanging from the arm slings and raising my knees to my chest, and then when you get more advanced, raise your legs straight up, while extended.

- I like leaning back on a Swill ball and raising my chest to the ceiling with hands behind head. On the way back down you can hyperextend to get a good stretch on the lower abs.

- I like lying reverse on an inclined sit-up bench with my head high, and holding the leg brace padded bar with my hands and doing leg lifts to the ceiling.

- You can do modified leg lifts while lying flat on your back on the floor and lifting your entire pelvis and legs toward the sky.

Many of these obviously work more than just the abs, engaging the hip-flexors and rectus-femoris muscle of the quads. But that is the idea: Building functional all-around core strength.

I recommend never isolating or emphasizing the obliques, (AKA, 'love-handles'), because building these muscles, though they make a man's phyique look like a man, can make your waist look wider and be mistaken for fat, or amplify a spare-tire look. So no side twists or angled crunches. Speaking of obliques and properly presenting a your physique - when you or any of us guys wear boardshorts at the beach or are shirtless, make sure your shorts are pulled down slightly lower than where your lower obliques insert back into your hips. This will make your torso appear longer, your waist appear slimmer, and, the abs are not properly showcased if the obliques are not displayed along with them! (Just make sure butt-crack is not showing for goodness sake! Remember, this is not the same thing as wearing your pants like a G or young punk. This is a classy look.)

These aforementioned exercises all work the '6-pack muscles', but to emphasize a flatter stomach you must engage the 'transverse-abdominus', which runs across your mid-section like a big waist band, and is responsible for pulling your navel inward. You work this simply by sucking in your gut often!

In fact back in Bodybuilding's golden years this used to be a classic pose made most famous by Arnold, known as the 'Vacuum'. Nowadays, unfortunately, there is so much 'Roid-gut' and distended, overdeveloped abs in bodybuilding, this is no longer a realistic pose for most IFBB pros. This is mostly attributed to abuse of Growth Hormone and other anabolic steroids.

Hope this helps,

Max

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

More tips from the 'ABS EXPERT'!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Howdy travel fanatics:

I thought I'd share another response I wrote to 'Carl', who "can't seem to lose that last 3 or 4 inches around his waist." Carl was under the false impression that if he did more crunches and more ab-exercises he could spot-reduce that spare tire. Unfortunately, as I explain to him below, it does not work that way! Check it out:

Carl:

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I have been slammed lately, but I enjoy hearing from you!

Do you think your waist size is increasing from subcutaneous fat covering the exterior of your abdominal muscles, or rather internal, visceral belly-fat, or both?

You do not need to do ab-exercises necessarily every day. You should try and exercise almost every day though. For instance – I only specifically target my abs about twice per week. What I do on a daily basis is keep my abs always engaged no matter what I’m doing – exercising or not…even when just sitting around! (NEVER let the gut hang out!) Keeping them relatively isometrically flexed throughout the day trains them to stay firmer, flatter, and more tone and eventually becomes subconscious.

Also, when ever you do full-body movements and functional exercise, it should be engaging your core, directly involving abs.

For the most part you cannot spot-reduce fat, so emphasizing crunches for example, won’t specifically burn-off the fat covering your abs or internal belly fat for that matter. So what matters for burning off the subcutaneous fat layer covering your abs, is achieving a slight calorie deficit each day through diet and exercise, to slowly burn away excess body fat percentage in general. You’ll need to get down to approximately under 8% if you want to see your 6-pack.

The weight scale isn’t always the most accurate feedback, since if you gain muscle while burning fat, not only may you not lose any weight, but you may gain weight, but still be leaner.

If you think your problem is an increase in internal, visceral belly fat building up on your Omentum and around your organs, then that requires a more in depth analysis of your lifestyle and physiology: Factors like stress levels, hormone levels, such as testosterone, Cortisol, DHEA, Growth Hormone, etc.

As a man ages past age 35, certain hormone levels taper off, also known as ‘Andropause’. This in itself requires a lifestyle shift to counteract, never mind what you’ve already been doing to stay fit. Fortunately, we should also be getting more experienced and SMARTER, about our training techniques, and more aware of feedback from our body and fitness level.

Be sure to include some more intense, full-body type exercises that push you into oxygen-debt and cause lactic acid as a byproduct. This type of intense exercise induces more growth hormone and testosterone release, both of which promote lean-body mass.

The alleged low-intensity “fat-burning” HR target zone, is usually just a big waste of time unless you are able to exercise for an hour or more.

A good night of sleep is essential to balancing hormones and restoring physiology mechanisms. It is by far the FOUNDATION for good health and a lean, fit body in general. If you’re not sleeping soundly for at least 6 to 8 hours, you will have lower levels of growth hormone and higher levels of Cortisol, not to mention a myriad of other immediate disadvantages to overcome throughout the day.

You can supplement with NSP’s DHEA-‘M’ about 25 mg per day to balance Cortisol and boost testosterone.

Avoid late-night meals, and be sure to split up your calories into 6 smaller meals/snacks throughout the day.

Increase your reps during weight-lifting to 15 to 20, where you’re failing on the last rep. Reduce rest between sets to one minute or less. These higher-volume, more intense work-outs boost growth hormone, and testosterone greatly contributing to leaner body mass, and, your HR will stay elevated burning more calories at the same time.

Consider replacing two meals per day with a whey protein powder blend and water mixed and nothing else.

These are a few suggestions, and if they sound familiar it is because a 6-pack training plan IS THE SAME plan as lean-body fitness plan!

Let me know how it works out!

Best,

Max

Original Email from 'Carl':

Hi Max,

I'm still battling the belly fat. I know there are abs somewhere under there. I will be getting your book, but I wanted a jumpstart on supplementation, so I contacted your mom and she gave me the supplements from one of your chapters. I would also like the ab exercises. I do ab exercises at the gym 3-4 times a week, but I'm thinking that I need to do ab exercises everyday. Am I right? My diet is very good, but I'm sure I will do better after I read your book. My mental attitude is great, but I seem to be stuck. I want an inch or two off the waist. I'm between pant sizes and I don't like it. For my frame, I would like to be a true 30-31 waist. That's my story.

I imagine you are extremely busy, so if you prefer I wait until the book comes out, that's fine, but I thought you might give me a few ab exercises besides crunches. Many thanks for your time.

I'm looking forward to reading your book. I'm sure you and Candy will be on the Oprah show very soon.

Warm regards, Carl Mattina

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettstein.com

www.destinationhealthplus.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Follow me at Twitter.com at Max_Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

Revealing your hidden '6-pack set of abs'...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Howdy fellow road warriors, pilots, and fitness-lovers:

Today's post I want to share with you a personal coaching consultation I just did with a fellow sailor who is totally fit, runs faster than you or I do, but yet can't seem to reveal or uncover his '6-pack set of abs'. Frustrating for him and many of you can probably relate. But I gave him some seriously critical tips, he had been missing. Check it out below:

From Jeff: "Max... I'm 6'1" and weight about 172. My muscles are really starting to grow now and it has become noticeable (friends are starting to mention it). My real challenge though is trying to see the Abs that I work very hard to have. I have literally NEVER seen my six-pak. So, I'm asking your for help - please! Do I need to lose a bunch of weight - I mean what is the secret to obliterating that last bit of fat hiding my abs?

I've done two cycles of the 6-OXO you recommended and that stuff is awesome! I really noticed the difference and the growth. I also take in a lot of protein and use Hydroxycut Hardcore in the a.m. and p.m., along with a huge regiment of vitamins.

Anyway, I know you are a busy man and if I don't hear back, I understand. I'm just thankful that you are out there as an inspiration. I wish you the best with your career. Take it easy." - Jeff

My response to Jeff:

Dear Jeff:

Thanks for compliments and for checking out my site. Always good to hear from a fellow sailor. I miss a lot about those days. Being an airline pilot is simple, liberating schedule, and lots of free time, but lacks the camaraderie.

6-OXO is a great natural testosterone boosting/estrogen blocking supplement, unregulated by the FDA, and SAFE, that we are lucky has not been pulled from the market. Can really help us as we age past 40 and hormone levels start to taper off. Expensive though, but try supplements.net

I get people in your situation all the time who can't seem to reveal their 6-pack and get rid of that last layer of subcutaneous fat covering them. As you must be well aware, though the '6-pack set of abs' is the international benchmark of health on all of the fit-mag covers, it really is more about aesthetics and looking great in a swimsuit. Most people with 6-packs are fit, but you can still be exceptionally healthy and fit and not have a 6-pack!

In my opinion to begin revealing your 6-pack you need to get your body fat percentage down to the 8% or under realm, and then, depending on your anatomical muscle structure, you will more or less start to see your abs. What I mean is, encapsulating every muscle belly is a layer of fascia - that actually makes the muscle stronger - the fibers can flex against the fascia like snake skin - but the this same fascia which protects and strengthens our muscles, can also obscure them!

Also, most athletes, and even fitness models, don't truly have cover-model abs all the time, UNLESS they are FLEXING them, at least a little bit. So as vain as it sounds, that means ALWAYS keeping your abs engaged...especially when your shirt is off. Engaged means, partially sucked in and partially flexed. This becomes subconscious after a while, and is not just vanity - it supports your low-back and posture and gives you a stronger core! At first it takes some coordination and some thought, but after a while it becomes natural, and over time your abs become stronger as a result.

To get your body fat down, keep doing what you're doing: weight-training, cardio, nutrition, supplements, meal-timing.

Perhaps add more cardio, and lower your rest interval between sets to one minute or less during weight-training. Increase rep-range to 10 to 12 upperbody, and 15 to 20 for lower-body exercises, to help stimulate Growth Hormone, which is a major contributor lean-body mass.

Perform cardio on an empty stomach with some caffeine, up to 200 mg prior, and/or green-tea extract.

Replace 2 to 3 meals/snacks each day with pure powdered protein supplement, mixed with only water.

Do isometric flexing each night when you get out of the shower in front of the mirror for 15 minutes, really zeroing in on flexing your abs.

These tips should help. Keep me posted.

Sincerely,

Max

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettsteinfitness.com

www.maxwettstein.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

From: Jeff Galli [mailto:bigranchdog@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sat 6/21/2008 08:54
To: Max Wettstein
Subject: HEY FROM A FELLOW SAILOR IN MONTANA

Max,

First off, thanks for your awesome website and all the info you provide from your research and experience.

I'm Jeff Galli and I just retired from the Navy last year. I lived down in your area for about 10 years of my career, mostly Coronado. I did the maiden voyage aboard the Abraham Lincoln while attached to VF-114, The Fighting Aardvarks. At my final duty station, PSD Monterey CA. I was the OIC (CPOIC) of the PSD. Great place to live and work!

I owned a Health Food Store prior to joining the Navy and once in the Navy, that's when I really started getting into shape via running (I was able to score an Outstanding on every PRT) and working out.

I'm 6'1" and weight about 172. My muscles are really starting to grow now and it has become noticeable (friends are starting to mention it). My real challenge though is trying to see the Abs that I work very hard to have. I have literally NEVER seen my six-pak. So, I'm asking your for help - please! Do I need to lose a bunch of weight - I mean what is the secret to obliterating that last bit of fat hiding my abs?

Anyway, I know you are a busy man and if I don't hear back, I understand. I'm just thankful that you are out there as an inspiration. I wish you the best with your career. Take it easy.

Jeff

Getting back to Basics!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Back to Basics: Assessing Your Fitness Plan

Most of us, but especially we pilots, like to apply the KISS rule wherever possible in life, (You know: Keep it simple, Stupid!). And certainly we can apply the KISS philosophy to our fitness plan as well, and we should. Exercising and eating right, doesn’t need to be complicated, though many books, personal trainers, and infomercials may have you believe otherwise. It can be overwhelming with all of the information, programs and fad diet trends out there, to decide which one is best for you. There are many useful resources and effective supplements available, but a lot of gimmick and garbage too. And if you have a lot of work to do to attain your optimal physique you might get so confused by it all that you procrastinate or give up altogether, or pile all your hopes into ‘miracle’ supplement or pill. For sure supplements have their place in any successful fitness/nutrition plan, and can be great at helping one overcome a plateau, fulfill nutrition discrepancies, or prevent pain and inflammation. But alas, there is no such miracle, fat-loss pill, and no supplement should ever be the basis of a fitness plan.

Now for a moment, put aside all the infomercial propaganda, your celebrity work-out DVDs, personal trainer instructions, fad diets, and your supplements and just think about what your common sense and intuition tell you about the ideal habits of a healthy lifestyle. If you were to jot down some of these ideals, they might read something like this, (In no particular order):

- Don’t skip breakfast, and include oats often.

- Instead of eating 2 to 3 big meals, eat 5 to 6 smaller meals/snacks throughout the day. Don’t ever starve, and don’t ever be full. Keep the metabolism stoked and revved-up all day.

- Don’t eat any later than 2 hours before bed time.

- Minimize sugar and simple, refined carbs, and strive for whole-grain, complex carbs, and vegetables. Simultaneously you will minimize and manage insulin, by avoiding such high-glycemic foods.

- If you must eat sugar, have it during your pre or post-workout meal, to burn it for energy, or for muscle recovery respectively.

- Balance your meals, by including protein foods and healthy, unsaturated fats along with carbohydrate portions.

- Eat at least 20 to 30 grams of fiber each day. Eating fresh, whole fruit, and trail mix is a tasty way to accomplish this.

- Eat cold-water fish, such as salmon and tuna a few times per week, and use olive oil in abundance to get plenty of Omega-3 fats.

- Don’t drink soda, but if you must, it better be ‘diet’.

- Drink abundant amounts of water.

- Limit coffee to two servings a day, and replace the rest with Green Tea. In fact, 3 servings of Green Tea a day for all of us will enhance health and fat-burning.

- Limit alcohol on average, to one drink a day per woman, and 2 drinks a day per man, and make red wine your beverage of choice.

- Exercise at least 30 minutes per day, 5 to 6 days each week.

- Cardio/Aerobic exercise is most important for a healthy heart and calorie-burning, but at least one day per week include strength/resistance training, essential for maintaining muscle mass, bone density, and boosting resting metabolic rate.

- Go to bed the same time each night, allowing ideally an 8 hour sleep window, (when not flying a redeye of course). Don’t stay up watching stupid, useless TV, snacking on junk. A good night’s sleep establishes your baseline of health and is vital to every aspect of good health for sure.

Now imagine if you gave your best effort to incorporate these habits into your daily lifestyle. (There are many more.) Each tactic is simple and easy by itself, but yet combine together to yield a far greater synergistic effect that is ideal for both fat-loss and muscle-building, and optimal health in general. Especially when traveling, you won’t be able to incorporate all of them everyday, but just making a reasonable attempt will make a difference over time. Most of know this stuff by now and so it really comes down to self-discipline. If you can’t even accomplish these basics then you’re not ready for performance-enhancing or diet supplements, and it should be no great mystery as to why you’re not getting any results. You know you know this stuff, so trust your instincts and let your self-conscious act as your guide. A personal trainer or celebrity can do a lot for our motivation, but most of the time we only have our self to rely on.

We travel a lot and don’t always have the best options available to us, but we always have the power of choice: “Grilled fish with brown rice, or a cheeseburger and fries?” “Trail mix or a bag of chips?” “Water or soda?” “30 minutes on the treadmill first, or straight to the hotel bar?” For the most part it doesn’t take a PHD in Health to decide which option is best. No matter how limited our options seem to be in any given situation, there will always be a best one. If you’re not sure, just take the extra moment to read the food label and you’ll figure it out.

So take a step back for a moment and assess your fitness plan if you have one. Take a look at it from a big picture perspective and make sure that it serves its purpose and has not become so confusing and complicated that it yields no direction or progress at all. Perhaps you don’t even have a fitness plan, but just take it day to day depending on your mood. If you’re healthy and don’t have any real fitness goals then this no-plan approach is probably fine. But if you have some real health issues to address, a lot of fat you would like to lose, or are training for a race or other event, then you’ll need a lot more forethought and a timeline with progress checks. A training log or journal can really help keep track and plan ahead. An optimal fitness plan does not necessarily need to be written, directed and tracked by an exercise physiologist or Personal Trainer, and certainly should not blindly follow some random celebrity or other fad diet. However in depth you decide to go or not, just remember if all else seems to be failing and resources seem scare, know you can trust your instincts, stay disciplined and make the best choice in any given situation.

Every now and then I even have to audit myself and make sure I’m still following these basic, but essential traits of a healthy lifestyle, and I usually find that if I tighten back up and reign myself in, my health and physique improves immediately. It happens to the best of us with the best intentions: We are living a clean and healthy lifestyle looking good and feeling good, and next thing you know we’re partying 3 nights a week, staying up late, dining out and pigging out, binging on sugary junk food, and skipping workouts, and it eventually takes a toll on appearance and our health.

Max Wettstein

www.maxwettsteinfitness.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

max@maxwettsteinfitness.com

858-472-1884 Cell

760-944-1884 Fax

The Buzz is beginning...

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:36:00 +0000

Photo by Robert Reiff

Link to the Book buzz.

Brought to you by Captain Max, Candace Booth N.D., and Destination Health

Sincerely,

Max

Max Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

How bad do you want it?

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:33:00 +0000

How bad do you want it? How bad do you want chiseled abs or the physique of a pro athlete or fit-mag cover model? Are you willing to pay your dues and work for it? Genetics and God-given anatomical structure go along way, but it is not enough, especially as you age past 30 and spend your days sitting in the flight-deck or commuting.

It is not realistic to expect to look like pro-athletes or fitness-models do, if you’re not willing to train like one. In reality, most fitness-models and athletes, including myself, are part-time or weekend warriors. Like my self, as an airline pilot for my ‘main’ career, many fitness industry professionals and athletes have other jobs or spend much of their time stuck in traffic driving to casting calls. Yet some how we manage to pull it off and stay lean and in shape, even when the odds of stacked against us with busy schedules and other career responsibilities.

It simply comes down to time management, planning ahead each night with your calendar, and discipline, as you probably already have realized. Sometimes it may feel like a daily battle to fit in your work-out. If so, then rise to the challenge and win – make it happen, because exercising is YOUR time. It is something you do for YOU, and don’t let anything take it away. Fitness is a way of life, not a convenient option.

Here is an example of a situation that just happened to me as a reserve-captain for JetBlue Airways: I got called to fly last minute so I hurried up and exercised that morning on my spin bike before quickly packing and heading off to the airport. Of course being a fitness-minded individual, I ALWAYS pack work-out clothing just in case, even if it looks like day-turn at the onset. Once I arrived at my layover hotel – an executive suite at Las Vegas resort – I had a choice to make: Go out and have a cocktail and enjoy the night life, or, do my second work-out session of the day at the hotel fitness center and get to bed early, since I knew I would be flying all day the next day and would not have an opportunity to even go for a walk let alone exercise. I was scheduled to fly LAS to JFK and then DHD back to Longbeach! Talk about cooped up and sitting on your butt all day! So guess what: A 2^nd work-out is exactly what I chose to do during my short overnight alone in Vegas, because that is how bad I want to stay in shape after all of the hard work and dedication I have put in.

Sound obsessive? Probably - But that is the mentality it just might take to earn you the physique you want. I believe in taking a well-needed rest day as required for illness, rest and recovery, but this wasn’t one of those times for me. There will be plenty of other party trips to Vegas with family or friends anyway.

So…think you don’t have time to fit in a work-out…think you might as well leave you running shoes at home? Think again.

Sincerely,

Captain Max

Max Wettstein

Airbus 320 Captain

JetBlue Airways

www.maxwettstein.com

www.aircrewfitness.com

Simple workout solution for Aircrew!

noreply@blogger.com (fighterpilot) — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:38:00 +0000

A Brian Tracy quote provides today's Wisdom of the Warrior Principle: "One of the best uses of your time is to increase your competence in your key result areas."

Said another way by T. Harv Ecker: "What you Focus on expands."

This principle is true regarding fitness and all areas of your life. Things don't happen on accident. While focus can certainly equate to time, I believe it has much more to do with the strength of your conviction. One of the GREAT things about CROSSFIT is that it is designed to take very little time and a great deal of focus. PERFECT for our busy lifestyles!

We have some folks joining our readership this week that are very new to crossfit so I am providing some of the BASIC LINKS for folks just getting started. I highly recommend CROSSFIT for my military comrades, fellow commercial aircrew, and anyone that wants to take their fitness to the next level!

One of the beautiful things about Crossfit is that there is no avoiding the workout of the day!

Crossfit Start Here:
What is Crossfit?
Crossfit Faq's

In the spirit of Brian Tracy quote - - take the time to read through the Crossfit Website and increase your fitness competence. It will lead to Optimal Fitness being one of your key results areas!

Pictured - Balad Iraq Warriors following a Crossfit workout in January 2008!