Fitness From Ground Zero

Human Flag Antarctica!

2023-01-04T05:09:00.001-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM ANTARCTICA!

HUMAN FLAG OFF ALL 7 CONTINENTS ✅

Happy New Year 2023

2022-12-19T12:07:00.003-08:00

LA Fitness Scottsdale, AZ USA Late December 2:30pm

It's the last bench press workout of 2022, always an exciting day and something I look forward to. It's many times been where I have hit a new one rep max, and the feeling leaving the gym with that is a timeless euphoria that never fades. But this time is different. I have 275lbs on the bar over my head. I have a great song playing, and my mind playing the year that just passed, and what a year it has been. I put my hands in the same exact spot on the bar I've been placing them for now more than 25 years. It goes up easily on the first, and pretty easy on the 2nd. A third? No. No need, and no purpose. 275 is by no means a new one rep max. In fact it's over 50lbs lighter than my best one rep max of 345 several years back. But I'm not sad, I still have the euphoria.... The gym high as Arnold calls it, and it's not because the 275. It's because I know there was a bigger purpose this year. In years passed I've done bulking, egg white loading, pretty much every supplement in the books, and a great deal of it worked a great deal to bring the bench press to over 300lbs easily, many, many times. But this season, it was of the utmost importance, not to lift heavy, and not to bulk. And it wasn't because of injury. It was because of the other thing I have wrote about many times here, the Human Flag.

Early Human Flag training

Port of Ushuaia, Argentina December 23rd 2:30pm

The gym brought me here, I have no doubt in my mind about that. The gym changed my life when I started lifting with my Dad's old weight set in Brooklyn in 1997, and that same year on a cold winter's night, while walking down 3rd avenue in Bay Ridge Brooklyn I saw a place called Empire Fitness. The rest was history. The gym not only got me in shape, it brought me confidence, self-esteem, motivation, it brought me my career. After 9/11 I dropped out of college and left a career in a big advertising company. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It was the friends, or really I should call them family of Empire Fitness that pushed me into becoming a firefighter. I would have never done it without them. Not a day goes by I'm not grateful for it.

And then the Human Flag.... I don't know exactly where or how I learned about it, but I know I wanted to master it, which arguably I would say I never have. My record is maybe 10 seconds, while the world record is over 60. But it's not a failure, I still know I've achieved it, and it too has become a big part of my life. Somewhere along the way in my travels I started doing the flag for travel pics. Sometimes to maybe impress a girl, or a group, other times to mark the spot with something different than a normal travel photo. But somewhere along the way, I realized my Human Flag passport had grown. I had hung the flag in North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Then one fateful New Year's eve in front of the world famous Opera House in Sydney Australia. 2019. It was then I accomplished a big life goal to hang the flag on 6 of the 7 continents.... But I wasn't done.

So here we are, the port of Ushuaia, I'm about to embark on a ship to Antarctica. The 7th continent. Can this be done? Can I hang the flag on all 7 continents? I mean, there's not really any poles down there unless we visit a science base? Maybe do it hanging off part of the ship in a safe area of course? Or maybe on the ice. The added challenge of weighted boots has been taken into account as I've been hanging the flag with my fire boots which should be around the same weight. So here goes nothing... From a cold winters night in front of Empire Fitness when I was a college drop out, broke and lost... To God willing, and everything else willing, I will hang the Human Flag on all 7 continents.

One of my friends once asked me why I don't do an American Human flag on the 4th of July or similar.... I was happy to explain. The Human Flag, is just that, human. it doesn't represent a state or a nation, it represents something more powerful, the power of the human mind, the human body, and the human heart. That's more powerful, and more important than anything else. So... we set sail today. 2 days at sea, 8 or 9 days on the ice. And hopefully, with all the hope I have, a proper place to hang the flag on the 7th continent.

From "The End Of The World" Ushuaia, Argentina.... Happy New Year

Human Flag Las Vegas And The Fight Against Corona Virus

2020-07-05T22:05:00.001-07:00

Las Vegas, NV USA
June 20th, 2020

It was a hot June day in summer of 2020 (the year of the Corona Virus lock downs) as I approached the famous Las Vegas sign. I had been to Vegas a dozen times or so and never checked it out so me and my girlfriend decided to take a walk and pay homage to the historical sign, and of course if possible pop a Human Flag in front if the opportunity presented itself. I don't know if it was by chance or if a poll is always there, but the poll that happens to be there is a sign related to the 2019 Novel Corona Virus. There also weren't that many tourists around so I went ahead and popped a human flag in front of it.

Walking back to the hotel I considered the irony of the photo. If you take a look on my right arm I have a face mask attached (I respected the 6 feet rule at all times, no one was around us for the photo as mentioned). We are in a time where something we can't see without a microscope is affecting everyone of us on this planet and everything we do. All 7.5 billion of us are to some degree affected by something we cannot smell, touch, feel, see, and certainly cannot understand. It's a horrible disease and horrible atrocities are coming of it from the people that cannot fight it.

When I'm not hanging the human flag in various places in the world at my day job I have seen & treated my fair share of Corona patients. Both minor and of course in the worst states as well. It's a terrible disease that I think I can say now I know first hand. Ironically the poll I hung the flag on by the Vegas Sign said something about being lit up as a tribute to those suffering from the Corona Virus.

And that's when it occurred to me, we are better than this thing. The Human Flag represents a lot more than a gym move. It represents the power of the human body, but more so the power of the human race, all 7.5 billion of us. So far in our lifetime we as a species have beat every disease that has come across our paths (although obesity is certainly gaining ground in some countries), we are stronger than this virus, and we are stronger together, as one against this virus.

We will overcome this. It will not be a single country. It will not be the effort of one doctor, one scientist, but rather all hands on deck as we have already seen a profession such as grocery clerk rise above a profession of a rock star. It won't be an over night miracle, yet the countless efforts of all of us together, one body, one heart, one mind, as one flag, the human flag, and the human race.

From Las Vegas, USA to wherever you are in the world,

stay safe, stay healthy & never give up hope for this world and our people.

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Obesity: An Epidemic More Dangerous Than The Corona Virus

2020-04-24T21:48:00.001-07:00

First and foremost, before I start the rant, Coronavirus is deadly, it is dangerous, and it is tragic. This article is in no way meant to disown that. My heart goes out to the survivors, the families of the lost, and of course the deceased. This is something no one would have ever wanted.

Now that we got that out of the way.... As terrible as the virus is, I can't believe how little coverage as usual is being pointed at pre-existing conditions, one of those principally being obesity. According to this study nearly 300,000 die from obesity in US annually. That is just the USA. As I have written about this before here, and this study as well here the worldwide estimates for obesity related deaths are up to 3.4 million in a given year. To put that in perspective at the time of writing this the current number of coronavirus deaths is about 200,000. Less than the total USA annual deaths from obesity, and only 5 percent compared to the world deaths from obesity.

Now, we can argue that coronavirus is not a choice, and obesity in most cases certainly is. But we really don't need to, because as more and more studies are coming out, these two diseases are not separate warring nations fighting against each other on the battle grounds killing people, rather they are close allies, that are working together quite synergistic, and terribly deadly together.

It is being highly reported that elderly are one of the main victims, but it's also being highly reported that underlying health problems are the other culprit in this pandemic. What bothers me, is that underlying health problems is the tip toeing, nice way of not touching on the real problem, obesity. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, to name a few big ones can be in many cases completely preventable with diet, nutrition, and exercise. Yet this is BARELY being mentioned.

One of the scariest images I personally saw in this epidemic was the one below:

This grocery store was depleted of course of toilet paper, depleted of paper towels, frozen pizza, boxed foods, TV dinners, chips, and soda... But in this grocery store, and every single one I was in, the fruits and vegetable section were abundantly stocked well. My favorite meats were out of stock, but a nice chicken breast is easily ruined by frying it or adding too much to it.

To me this shows the real problem in America, it's not the coronavirus or masks or toilet paper. It is our blatant disregard of health, diet, and exercise. I started this blog almost 10 years ago, and have been writing about this for 10 years, and even now in the face of the deadliest epidemics in our lifetime, we do not see the true disease being called out, and no plan to stop it.

We will cancel concerts and festivals. Stores will restrict how much TP we buy. We will have police actually arrest and fine people for playing outside. We will close schools, retail stores, and of course gyms all for the "safety" of the American people. But for the last 25 or so years as obesity has been deadlier than any of this we make no measures to curb it, we don't close fast food chains, we don't encourage eating natural, we pump billions into pharmaceuticals to medicate our health problems, rather than solve our health problems. The death rate of coronavirus for a young or even middle age person healthy and in shape is painfully low, yet the death rate for obesity grows larger and larger with each passing year, and this year in addition to the estimated millions it will kill it has in no doubt aided the coronavirus in killing countless more.

The coronavirus has hit us all hard, and their are well deserved fears that it can be here to stay or can come back again and hit us even harder. But it doesn't have to be this way. While there is a lot of crap on the internet about diet, there are also countless great places to read and learn, you have youtube to learn training, healthy eating, even healthy shopping. We have digital body fat scales, tape measures, fitness apps, calorie counting apps, step watches and more. While the coronavirus has broke us down on some level, it has never in the history of the world, been easier to come back stronger, and healthier than ever before.

It's my hope and dream that tomorrow I will wake up and this was all a nightmare, life will be like it was a few months ago, I'll be heading to the gym as a dark memory fades into something that was just a dream... But a more realistic hope, is that this is the wake up call. This is the time we can turn around and know that obesity doesn't just cause chronic long term health problems, it also puts you at life threatening risks for something short term like COVID19. I hope that we can join together to help our weakest, and our most vulnerable people to come together as one and get in the best shape we can be in. So that we can wake up tomorrow, with or without coronavirus, and breathe the air of hope and joy as we would know that we have done everything in our power to be the fittest and healthiest we can be, and a little virus is not going to knock us down. My home workout tomorrow is dedicated to all those lost, but more importantly all those that are going to fight this, get healthy, and not be amongst lost. Thanks for reading.

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Greetings From India!

2020-02-16T05:47:00.000-08:00

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2019-04-30T07:48:00.003-07:00

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I Hung The Human Flag On 6 Of The 7 Continents

2019-03-04T11:55:00.001-08:00

Sydney, Australia December 30th, 2018

I landed and set foot upon the continent of Australia in the beautiful city of Sydney. It was my second time there, the first being 10 years prior before I discovered the human flag. Before I knew the power and meaning of the human flag. And of course, before I could do the human flag. I arrived mid morning as most international flights do. In order to save money I somewhat foolishly booked through a long connection in China. This means I was on a plane sitting for over 24 hours. The total was somewhere over 36 hours in transit from USA till Sydney. I checked into my hotel, suffice to say, I was tired. Resting however, was not an option. I was coming to explore the country and celebrate the start of 2019 in Sydney, but my time was limited to only 2 days there as I had already extensively explored that part of Australia. There were two things and two things only to do in Sydney, celebrate New Year's, and hang the human flag.

Although it had been 10 years memory and google map research kicked in immediately as I arrived at the CBD of Sydney where the most iconic building the Sydney Opera House is located. I needed caffeine to make up for almost no sleep on the plane, I found an energy drink and began to close in to where I saw the Opera House. Leading up to the trip I had used street view to virtually walk around the area and I knew several potential areas where poles would be. Mind you, anyone that has hung the human flag knows that you can't just do it on any pole, my personal favorite is a thin bottom vertical bar with a horizontal bar on top, think metal fence. A pole that is too thick is hard to grip, a pole too thin will topple, especially with my weight (200lb/90kg that day).

Suddenly I closed in, the Opera House, it was the day before New Year's eve, a minimum of 5,000 people had to be there, taking photos, enjoying wine, enjoying the ocean and beautiful Harbour Bridge. But not me... all I wanted was the pole to hang the flag. I literally stopped and glanced at the Opera House and laughed as I gave zero shits about it for the current second. 5,000 people looking at one of the most marvelous buildings in history and I'm looking for a pole.

One more shot of espresso at a cafe and it was time (seriously I was tired!). I put on the MP3 player. U2's Love Is Bigger Than Anything In It's Way Beck Remix was the chosen track as it had carried me through the year of 2018. The pole that had looked too thick on maps suddenly in person became doable. I set the camera down on timer. I took a deep breath, in that breath the first broken half flag of 2012 came, the dream of hanging it everywhere came, first in the famous gym Muscle Beach Venice, California, then in the dangerous ghetto of Communa 13 in Medellin Colombia.. In front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and in front of the Flame Towers of Baku, Azerbaijan. I don't know if I will ever set foot in Antarctica, it's close to $20,000 to get there, and I'm not really sure if I could find a pole or wall to do the flag, science base maybe? So the goal was 6 of the 7 continents, hang something that to me means the power of the human body and the human emotion. The human flag to me symbolizes that the human is more powerful than the flag of any nation, that we are all one human race, and that is more powerful than any nation, any religion, any race. It symbolizes that wherever you came from, whoever you are, whatever you are, we are all human and we are all in this together.

I'll go out and address any keyboard warriors, my human flags are 2 to 10 seconds, I know this is NOWHERE near the record, I've done a human flag push up a few times, and I know there are people can do 10 to 20. My mission was never to be the best at the human flag, at my weight it's not in the cards, and I like lifting real heavy sometimes so leaning out to gymnast weight is not an option. The mission was about spreading the human flag, it's art, it's meaning, and it's beauty.

So late post, but from Sydney Australia to wherever you are, Happy New Year 2019 and may the human flag become a movement bigger than anything in it's way.

The other 5....

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Greetings from Panama City!

2018-09-17T13:50:00.002-07:00

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Greetings From Las Vegas

2018-05-14T09:20:00.003-07:00

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Today's Rant: DON'T DO ALL OF THESE OR YOU WILL DIE!!!

2018-04-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

I am reading the news a lot lately, and it urks me on paranoia of people for some things verses blatantly obvious health things, the details of the stories have been changed in respect to the true stories, but enjoy this satire article in the meantime.

A couple died while vacationing at an airbnb in the USA, solution: DON'T USE AIRBNB EVER AGAIN!!!
A sky diver was killed in a sky diving accident. solution: DON'T EVER GO SKY DIVING!!!
A person got sick because they grew their own vegetables. Solution: DON'T GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES!!!
A runner was killed jogging 2 months ago, solution: NO MORE JOGGING!!!
A man recently died while on vacation in South America in a car accident, solution: DON'T GO ON VACATION IN SOUTH AMERICA!!!

I was going to do 10 stories, and for the record I love doing 1 thru 5 and always will, but as I keep thinking more and more about the punch line I am too annoyed and will get right to it. We live in a society obsessed with fear, hate, xenophobia, etc... on things that don't really matter... Rare events, 1 in 1,000 or even 1 in a 1,000,000 that will change behaviors, cause stir ups, discussions, and even change for these rare events, that can and do happen, key word being rare... yet as over 500,000 Americans die an ugly death and the hands of obesity and obesity related diseases that are 100% preventable through diet and exercise, no one in the main stream is making a sound.

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What does NNT Mean For You and Your Future?

2018-03-20T14:12:00.001-07:00

I'm gonna start this one with what I normally end on:

"The views and opinions of this article are those of the writer. Consult a doctor or medical professional before beginning any fitness, diet, or weight training program."

Anyway, anyone who has read this blog knows that I am personally disgusted with the American Health Care System. I am always reading up on new and non-innovative ways the system is getting worse, bring in today's term that I just learned, and disgusted me even more. NNT.

NNT: Number Needed To Treat

Wikepedia defines this as "The number needed to treat (NNT) is an epidemiological measure used in communicating the effectiveness of a health-care intervention, typically a treatment with medication. The NNT is the average number of patients who need to be treated to prevent one additional bad outcome "

It blew my mind to see that the medications we are taking in lieu of healthy eating and lifestyle, aren't making all that much of a difference. While in the past I have said we don't solve the problem in US healthcare, we medicate the problem... Looking at NNT we don't even do that! Do some research on NNT and any medication you know of, see how many people are needed to treat to have one preventable outcome. I am going to let you google this one for yourselves, I was saddened.

So as always like a broken record, no surgery, or pill is going to prevent this. We have to be in this together to fix our broken healthcare system and to save ourselves from ourselves.

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Greetings From Dubai!

2018-03-10T16:34:00.004-08:00

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Greetings from Azerbaijan!

2018-02-28T12:09:00.002-08:00

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Greetings from Iran!

2017-05-04T16:22:00.003-07:00

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Greetings from Italy

2017-04-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

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Greetings From Egypt

2017-02-04T07:18:00.005-08:00

I'm on my mission to hang the human flag on 6 of the 7 continents, 2 to go!

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Greetings From Colombia!

2016-02-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Human Flag Medellin

Just hit a quick workout in Medellin, of course you don't always need a gym to train.

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Are Protein Powder Prices Getting Way Too Expensive?

2015-12-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

My brother called me this weekend asking about which whey protein gave the best bang for the buck, and if any was cheaper than around $50 for 5lbs, I arbitrarily answered that I love the Now Foods Pure Whey which has no ingredients other than whey protein and Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard if he wanted flavored protein. I hung up the phone, thought for a second, then immediately called him back with a realization on the insanity of these prices, he didn't pick up, so I'm gonna write this article instead!

$50 for 5 lbs or about 2.26 kilograms of protein is INSANE! You are paying $10 a pound! Think about that, when you buy chicken is it $10 a pound? Steak? I'm not even sure Whole Foods charges this much! Yet we pay this for our protein powders, when it's becoming pretty damn well known mainstream that the powders and pills are mere supplements to compliment a solid diet, not to replace it.

Let's take a look at the cheapest healthy protein, eggs, an egg has 6 grams of protein, so a dozen eggs has 72 grams of protein, and that costs me $2 where I live. Comparing this to protein powder, I get 25 cartons of eggs, 300 eggs, which comes out to 1800 grams of protein, the whey comes about to about 1600 somewhat grams. So the numbers aren't too far off, but lets be honest, what builds muscle? They both do of course, but the eggs are going to be far better, real food will always be better than the supplements! Let's look at chicken, it's about $2 a pound, so again comparing it to $50 whey, you would get 25 pounds of chicken, this comes out to over 3,000 grams of protein!!! High quality lean meat!

I'm going to the gym in two hours, when I get out I may do my egg white drink, with liquid egg whites, hard boiled eggs or I may do protein powder with eggs, so I'm not saying don't use protein powder. For adults $50 probably isn't a big deal, but where this hit me is for the beginner, the kid that's gonna have to work two jobs to pay his gym membership than get bombarded by ads that you NEED PROTEIN POWDERS TO BUILD MUSCLE! Protein powder is a great supplement, but if you are on a budget and have to choose, real food dominates in price, grams of protein, and results.

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Summary: I Cooked For The First Time In My Kitchen In 2015

2015-11-18T13:54:00.001-08:00

So in a rare case of events, I had two days off in a row this week, no clients, no fire department, no side business stuff, and no real estate work. I got a great cookbook off amazon.com boasting healthy recipes so I decided to give it a go, I did two appetizers and one entree. My typical cooking day, involves grilling a piece of chicken, boiling some brown rice, steaming some spinach, or drinking egg whites/protein shakes. THAT'S IT! So today I did some fancy Italian dishes. Here's how it went down:

COOKING VERSE NORMAL DIET

Time: 3 hours Time: 30 minutes

Cost: $45 Cost: $12

Left Over Servings: 1 Left Over Servings: 0

Healthier: No Healthier: Yes

Calorie Estimate: 1,300* Calorie Estimate: 500

Flavor/Taste: Plenty Flavor/Taste: Bland

*in all fairness, I also had more calories because I was snacking on extra ingredients as I was cooking, and also did 3 recipes where I would have been fine with 2.

On a health note, it already looks bad for the cooking day, so here's where it gets worse, the recipes I used, were actually HEALTHY RECIPES! But honestly, I can't say they were truly healthy, I'm not gonna knock or name the book I used, it makes a great effort to make healthier versions of dishes we eat, and I will definitely cook this again for special occasions. But at the same time, it calls for things high in sodium, and fat, and on top of all that, it calls for you to make several servings, and I didn't feel it specified that, yes the meal is only 300 calories, but you made 4 servings, so it's 1,2000 calories! So the problem is the average American may buy this book, but still continue on with our number one issue in America with our diet, PORTIONS! Sugar, salt, and fat are ESSENTIAL to live, it's the portions that kill us.

Food is social, it bonds us, and it identifies our culture, it's family time, and it's friend time. So on the one hand we don't want to give that up, on the other hand we don't want to do it in excess. Admittingly, cooking only once in 11 months is the other extreme, I probably should cook more! But most of my friends and I go out to eat more often because we live near so many damn good restaurants. But when you are watching your weight and your health, you need to find the balance, you need to more often, and unfortunately eat bland, eat boring, and remember that food's first purpose is biological function. Cook for fun here and there, but eat for health and life.

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How Much Do You Need To Bench Press To Impress A Girl?

2015-08-20T11:06:00.004-07:00

One of my friends who has never been in the gym asked me this the other day. I think a lot of guys get into the gym to impress the opposite sex, and no doubt they want to have a big bench press to impress the girl they are pursuing, so statistically, what's a number that will impress over 90% of the women out there???

200 pounds

Ok, if you are experienced stop laughing, and if you are new to the gym listen in. 200 pounds, that's it, I swear on my life 9 out of 10 women will be impressed if you can bench two hundred pounds. But unless you are about 4'11, have only one arm, or some other disability, 200 lbs is no summit on the mountain of the gym. It's something almost ANYONE can do in a year of training, some of the naturally big guys can probably do it without ever having touched a weight. It may sounds impressive to someone that has never been in a gym, or a girl that weighs 120lbs, but in reality, it's a warm up for most experienced lifters.

What you need to realize if you are trying to lift to impress someone, you are in the gym for the wrong reason. Hey, I started off at a 95 pounds maximum bench press, so I was happy when I benched 200, but it was no where near my lifetime goal. You go to the gym to grow as a person, to extend your life, and to live it better. Don't just set your eyes on doing something to beat someone else or impress someone else. Those things will come to you, but there will ALWAYS be someone who can lift more and someone with a better physique. You have to set your mind to be in the gym for your body, and your life.

Have a great workout!

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Why CrossFit May Be Better Than The Gym

2015-06-30T11:19:00.001-07:00

First, I don't do crossfit, in fact, I wasn't honestly not sure how to spell it even, I had to google it, Cross Fit or Crossift? Turns out it's one word with two caps, according to Wikipedia, so CrossFit. And yes, I don't do CrossFit, I have tried it before many times, it's just not for me. I don't hate it, or hate the people that do it. I just personally don't enjoy doing it, which is one of the foundations of commitment to the gym for me, enjoying it. I have some worries about the long term effects on spinal cartilage with some of the crazy dynamic lifts, but all in all it's getting people in shape at most places, and it's a lot better than sitting on your arse eating and watching television. So if I don't do it, why am I actually going to tell you it may be better than the gym, which I do almost every day?

I am going to write another article on this soon, but the main reason CrossFitters do better than the average gym rat, is because in CrossFit people are ACTUALLY WORKING OUT! It still blows my mind to this day how many people have gym memberships and either A: don't go at all, or B: go and do next to nothing at the gym. I would say in gyms I've been to, which I can easily say is around 100 gyms on 6 of the 7 continents of this world, only around 10% of the people in the gyms were actually training hard enough. This even includes when I trained at the mecca of gyms, Gold's Gym Venice. The percent was better at Gold's Venice, but I still saw a significant number of people doing a text message workout, a lips and tongue conversation work out, a bad stretch for 5 minutes followed by 10 seconds of bad lift workout, etc. A large number of people that go to gyms simply don't train hard enough. Don't even get me started on cardio, I've said somewhere in this blog, unless it's an extreme weather or a safety issue, do cardio outside!!! It's over 110 where I live now and I am still biking, sprinting, or hiking everyday! If it hits 115, you may see me in the pool instead though.

If you go to a CrossFit place, I forgot what they call them, box? It's closer to 90% are actually pushing themselves! I can go online and find 10 hysterical videos of crossfitters doing stupid shit, but I can't find the same with a gym, because a kid sending text messages or 3 people conversing around a bench that they tell you they have 15 sets left on is not as viral of a video on YouTube.

The first important thing is to find the fitness activity you love doing! Since I don't love CrossFit I wouldn't stay committed, if you don't like the gym or CrossFit, maybe it's basketball, soccer, or boxing? Or tennis, running? The possibilities are endless. But the key is finding the one you will love. The next key where CrossFit or really most group fitness classes win, is pushing yourselves in them. If you love the gym like I do, that's great, but you have to make sure you are really training in the gym. I always remember my days as a trainer at the lower end gyms, being there 8 hours a day I'd see everyone's routine. I could only imagine the married guy coming home to his wife and saying, "Baby, I don't understand I'm in the gym 6 hours a week and not making any progress." It's because he's not doing anything while he's there!!!!

I'm not saying to stop the gym, or to join CrossFit, I'm saying find your fitness love, and like a spouse, your dream job, or your dream whatever, give it nothing less than 100% and I promise you for the 100% you give, it's going to give you a hell of a lot more back.

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I'm sorry, but this picture is bullsh+t.

2015-06-23T13:04:00.002-07:00

I've seen this one all over Facebook, Twitter, IG, etc over the years. And I am sorry to break everyone's heart, but the picture is complete B.S. I went grocery shopping just now, literally just now! 1 pound of turkey, 24 eggs, pico de gallo with no salt or flavor added, and some zucchini. It cost me about $20, and will last me about 1.5 days if even. Something that sucks about healthy eating that you don't think about until you are truly eating healthy, natural foods, as opposed to some generic "low fat yogurt" or "healthy boxed cereal", is that healthy eating is expensive!!!

I'm also curious what city and state you can even get that fast food for $21 in, we have to be talking a truck stop or smaller city, moving down to the second pic, so many things wrong with this:

Orange juice: likely sugar loaded
Strawberries, I love em, and they are good for you, but they are expensive, where the hell can you buy 1 pound of strawberries for $1.69?
The 96% ground beef if you read the label actually tends to be over 50% fat, I still have no idea to this day how they get away with labeling it that way.
10 pounds of potatoes for $3?????

Ok you get the point. Most of you know my story now, when I first started training I trained friends and family for free, then I worked at a chain gym, and eventually started my own training business. My clients now tend to be in a higher income, I'd love to go back to training people without as much income, but I don't know how on earth I could ever legitimately do sales and live with myself again, "So uhhhhh, are you ready to spend around $15-20 a day for groceries?" Bottom line is, unless you grow your own vegetables, or have a backyard to raise chickens, HEALTHY EATING IS NOT CHEAP. And from what I've observed, I'd say 70% of the time it is more expensive to eat healthy.

However, you guys know me, I wrote the article The Cost Of Fast Food Vs Open Heart Surgery, you gotta make short term sacrifice for the bigger picture. Sure I could've gone to get fast food for lunch, it would be cheaper, but in the long run, like anything else in life, a healthy body takes dedication and work! And it takes sacrificing. The picture is a cute thought, but in reality if you want to be healthy you need to accept that you are not only investing time and effort in the gym, but you will be investing money into eating better. But trust me, every penny of it will be worth it!

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The Most Valuable Thing You Own

2015-06-18T21:08:00.001-07:00

What is the most valuable thing you own? Your house? Your car? Your cell phone? Of course unless this is the first time you are coming to this blog you see where I am going with this. I haven't had television for over 12 years now, it wasn't a choice initially, my pay as a cop in the NYPD was so low I had to get rid of everys single bill I could get rid of, so obviously cable was bounced out quickly, but now when people ask why I don't watch TV, I reply, I was born with my body, not with a television. In fact, you weren't born with anything you own now except the body you are in.

Personal training has supplemented my fire department income well, I don't live in a mansion but I live in a nice little house, but if the house got to the point where it was interfering with my health or training, I would foreclose tomorrow. The one thing we truly own in this world is the thing we need to take the best care of, but as society has "advanced" we are more and more disregarding the greatest instrument we will ever own. You have to put your body first. Before anything. That's right, if you are not healthy, you will not live to see your kids grow, you will not live to enjoy whatever money your job brings you, you will live the new American nightmare of living off morning pills and invasive surgeries just to make it through the next 24 hours where the cycle will begin again.

You want to drive your dream car one day or own your dream home, and maybe you will get there, but when you do, you aren't going to trash the house and roll the car, you are going to treat them with dignity and respect, why would you not to the same thing for the best thing you own? Your body is more valuable than anything on this Earth that you will ever have. Treat it that way.

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How To Re-Rack Weights

2015-06-15T10:56:00.003-07:00

I feel this is necessary in this world to actually have to write an article on how to re-rack your weights. Ok... this is going to be a crazy concept, but follow me...

The weights you take off the rack, will not put themselves back.

I know what you are thinking! I am crazy, they always will get back somehow, no. Someone has to physically put them back, and the best someone is actually you. Here are some tips on how to put the weights back where they belong:

I have trained in gyms on 6 out of the 7 continents, I have yet to see a gym that wants the dumbbells out of numerical order. So for instance, you are using the 30 lb dumbbells for curls, when you are done, find where the label is for 30's, or if you can't try to locate the 25 lb or 40 lb dumbbell and put it there in it's respective spot.
If for some reason the spot is taken, either be the better person and shuffle the weights to proper order, or be a halfway decent person and put the weights near it somewhere.
Weights do not belong randomly: on the floor, in the locker room, in the cardio room, etc.
It is socially acceptable if you are in a real gym to leave a 45 lb plate on the bench press or squat station.
When re-racking the plates, the general set up is usually the heaviest ones go on the bottom, the lightest on the top

That't it!!! It's not rocket science but it seems that 95% of the gyms I go to can't get this straight! Don't be part of the problem at your gym, be part of the solution!

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8 Reasons You Are Still Fat

2015-06-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

Still overweight? Still wondering why? A quick summary of 8 things keeping you from being healthier and living a better life!

1. Your diet is still bad. You are not eating enough greens, enough lean meats, and drinking enough water. You are eating starchy white foods, sugar foods, processed foods, and drinking too much soda or alcohol. Or you are simply consuming too many calories.

2. You are not training frequently enough. You are going to the gym 1-3 x a week thinking that will undo decades of inactivity and bad diet.

3. You are buying into fad training. Sure setting up a rigorous and LONG training program and going to the gym several times a week is tough, so you think that you can buy some DVD's and train at home, or go to some new fad gym that promises changes that should take 2 years in 2 months.

4. You are buying into fad diets. You are trying the lemon juice diet, or some crazy fad diet that sends you into a repetitive yo-yo dieting, where the reverse yo is sending you higher in body fat every time.

5. You are looking for an easy way to something that is not easy. That's as simple as it can be put. This isn't something like building a house, once it's built in a year you live in it and live happily ever after, this is like building a city, it's gonna take work, planning, and sacrifice.

6. You are driving your car too much. You were born with legs, you were not born with a car. Too often people can bike, or walk, but choose to get in their gas powered vehicle, this is simple cardio that can be so easily incorporated into your life.

7. You don't have the patience. Training is not like painting a room, one day and it's done, it takes serious time and you won't notice extreme visual changes for months at at time.

8. You want to be fat. In the end, you are what you want to be. If you can name 5 popular TV show on the tube today, you have time to train. If you can't name around how much lean chicken costs at the grocery store you are not eating right. If you can name several popular celebrities that have nothing to do with your life, but can't spit out your regular workout routine on demand, your priorities are backwards.

This article is not meant to make you feel bad, but to ask you to open your eyes, and make the changes that you can make, this can be something as little as walking once a week instead of driving, or having water once a week instead of soda, remember it's going to take years! It will be a lot easier to build it in little pieces than to start a catastrophic change that you can't keep up with. Good luck, and see you in the gym. My favorite quote on this for clients this year:

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now."

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