Priority: Tend To Your Lawn Or Tend To Your Body?

When I was a kid, in my town it was unusual enough to see a 20 year old guy with an awesome physique, let alone a 40 year old married man with kids—and that local Tarzan happened to be my next door neighbor Helen’s sister’s husband, and whenever he visited, I was in awe.

The men in my neighborhood, looking nothing like that, predictably were not at all impressed or influenced to follow his example—at least not outwardly. But his influence on me has far outlived him.

The culture in my neighborhood while growing up was lawn-pride. Men spent all weekend buying multiple sacks of varying amendments and spreading them on their lawn, clipping and edging and trimming and renting heavy equipment such as lawn rollers and a heavy gizmo that punched hundreds of holes in the lawn to aerate and hydrate. Men would spend 6 hours on a Saturday tending to their lawn, watering and weeding, and zero hours working out or engaging in athletic activities.

Then, as a grown up I’d watch This Old House and similar TV programs in that genre and there too would be men spending their entire weekend in quest of the perfect lawn, struggling to bend over due to their giant bellies and huffing and puffing after relatively little exertion.

It made me wonder at the logic applied by these lawn men for not providing the same care to their one-and-only forever body as they did their temporary lawns. It clearly was foolish to waste so much time, effort and money on something as fleeting as a lawn, especially in a climate where it snowed 7 months out if the year, when their bodies, which were called upon to perform 24/7/365, went ignored and disrespected.

That was the culture back then, and although things have improved remarkably in that respect, basically that remains the culture: people applying outsized disproportionate importance to the unimportant while ignoring what was truly important, crucial and irreplaceable: their body, their strength, their health and physical ability.

People’ priorities tell their story.

...And They Say Bodyweight Exercise Doesn't Build Real Muscle

Really, the more time we spend online, the more foolish people get. Take the “arguments” that the blowhards and know-it-alls engage in pertaining to strength, fitness and muscle.

Resistance is resistance, whether it takes the form of dumbbells, pulleys, body weight, resistance bands, isometrics or whatever. Resistance builds strength. Resistance builds muscle.

People debating the issue means they aren’t engaged in the very thing they are arguing against. Can resistance bands build real muscle? Can body weight exercises build real muscle? Go to Google Images and search “men’s gymnastics” and similar search terms to see with your own eyes the awesome muscle that gymnasts have built utilizing only body weight exercise.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. People wasting their time debating is a obviously just a distraction from their actually doing. The Nike slogan is more pertinent today than ever: Just Do It.

Young vs. Old

90% of people are enthusiastic volunteers for old age. Bizarre but true.

An injured / compromised oldster is no different from an injured / compromised youngster. The difference is, the young person wants to get better. The young person works at getting better. The youngster sees a hopeful, better future. The injured / compromised young person envisions himself improved, stronger, better, happier, with a better physique in the coming weeks and months, whereas the oldster envisions and works tirelessly toward achieving the exact opposite, methodically concocting justifications to support their lack of effort and self-care.

 It is an indisputable fact that fitness and strength matter very little to people the older they get, which is wildly counter-intuitive. If you’re an older person and such excuses drive your general outlook on life, then that’s all on you. Who in their right mind welcomes infirmity? Who does not fight against weakness and immobility? Who decides to become obese at a time in life when their muscle and bone simply cannot handle dead weight, or tolerate the toll that added weight takes on their overall health, on their mobility, agility and optimism?

Old People, that’s who.

You can diminish yourself, your abilities and your goals in life by adopting the same excuses and rationalizations that 90% of all old people adopt. Or not. Getting fat is giving up. Descending into a state of compromised health, becoming less active physically thereby intentionally losing the very bone and muscle mass that you are made up of is a deliberate act. Surrendering your power, autonomy and independence and ultimately your life is crazy. Yet this is what the majority of older people sign up for.

The choice of such a lifestyle is not the result of physical illness, but rather mental illness. There’s no shame in seeking therapy. Brave people do it every day.

Ross Edgley Is Exhausting.

Ross Edgely gets my vote for Best Physique Ever. But I get out of breath just reading about the next challenge he has devised for himself.

His nutrition intake is insane, as it would have to be to fuel these grueling feats. Learn what he eats HERE.

Gizmos And Gadgets Aren’t The Answer To Your Workout.

So now there’s an AI (artificial intelligence) “Coach” available for $250 which is basically Siri shrieking at you through headphones to hurry it along. Then there’s the Fitbit bracelet, Pilates Circle and an endless line of crap I recall from TV infomercials stretching back to the 1980s that is designed to appeal to those who can’t get themselves motivated to do their pushups, jogging, etc.

The ultimate example is the treadmill, which sits in millions of apartments and home basements taking up space or serving as a clothes rack.

The psychology is, if you spend money on something, especially LOTS of money, you’ll feel obligated to exercise, if only because you feel guilty having spent money on that gadget that’s taunting and tormenting you by its mere presence. I myself have fallen for this flawed rationalization in my youth, much to my wallet’s detriment, in the days before my desire to become fit and strong was enough motivation to get me down on the floor or to the gym.

When I was very active as a personal trainer I realized what people wanted most from me was to somehow implant within them the desire to work out, to give them the gift of motivation so that going to the gym would become an irresistable burning desire. Of course no one can do that for yourself but you. Whatever it takes to get you enthused to go to the gym or hit the fitness bands hard—photos of others, youtube videos, movie superheroes, beach bodies you see at the shore, USE IT. Get more of it. On my days when I’m feeling like maybe I’ll skip the gym, I put on a couple of favorite YouTube videos to rev me up.

Don’t spend your hard-earned money on gadgets and gizmos that promise to make the hard work of fitness “easier.” Find yourself a role model or two, someone who exhibits the kind of body, strength or fitness level you ideally want to achieve, whether it be a neighbor, a celebrity or a Youtube personality.

Stop Allowing Your Smart Phone To Kill Your Workout

Yesterday at my gym I was surrounded on 3 sides by 20-somethings glued to their SmartPhones as they LOUNGED on a machine or bench. Each spent up to 5 minutes idly transfixed, scrolling and swiping, pausing only to lackadaisically fake a few perfunctory motions so they could quickly get back to their all-important swiping. Needless to say nobody was sweating, let alone breathing heavily. The girl was attired in the latest Lulumon separates and was performing ludicrously unchallenging lunges DURING an animated voice call. Hint: if you can talk on the phone while “working out” you’re not working out at all.

The males were transfixed to their screens, swiping away at who-knows-what. In the ten minutes in which I performed eight one-arm shoulder overhead presses, these people accomplished nothing. These are typical of those who angrily accuse (online and anonymously, of course) those of us who make impressive gains of “cheating” (If by “cheating” they mean “actually working out” then yep, guilty as charged), or being unfairly genetically gifted. In their eyes I assume they must somehow believe they are actually working out since their droopy asses are parked squarely on a HammerStrength machine.

There’s no rehab for screen addicts. If you cart your SmartPhone around the gym with you, you’re distracted. You’re sabotaging your own gains. You’re merely pretending to work out. I won’t tell you to turn it off and leave it in your locker, because you won’t. I won’t tell you to stop whining and complaining and snarking at those who are making visible gains while you remain the same old schlub, because you won’t. Long live the SmartPhone.

The $78 Baseball Cap

Spending lots of money unnecessarily on SUPREME merchandise or an item like Todd Snyder’s $78 baseball cap to make yourself more attractive or to feel better about how you look will never override the lack of attention you pay to your body. No matter how trendy or stylish or expensive, whatever you wear will look and fit so much better if your body is fit and tight. A $5 Hanes T shirt on a hardbody will always trump a $480 Gucci T shirt on a schlub.

I long ago noticed how some very overweight women were meticulous about their hair, clothing, perfume, makeup and manicures, obviously spending megabucks on these extraneous details as if they think these things will deflect from the fact their bodies are fat and unfit. It doesn’t. 

No gym is required to get in great shape. A ton of bodyweight workout videos can be had for free on Youtube. You can sit on the sofa and binge watch Netflix, or you can get down on the floor and work out while binge watching Netflix.

In a world where we have little control over anything, taking control of your one and only body is a power move that pays continual dividends in looks, health, strength and ability 24 hours a day.

GQ INDIA Has Some Good Reading.

As much as I like to criticize GQ Magazine for its air-headed content, I will give credit to the list at the bottom of the GQ webpage that has links to all the OTHER GQ sites around the world—France, Australia, South Africa. Perusing these sites is fascinating at times and always educational.

American GQ gets really LOW MARKS for its “fitness” content, which they shove way down the page at the bottom, and rightly so because it’s usually USELESS.

However, GQ INDIA has a really good article about an Indian chef who lost a ton of weight and got fit, and this is no boast piece or humble-brag article. Check it out HERE. It makes for good reading.

REVIEW: Master of Muscle SHRED BANDS

A few weeks ago I ordered a set of Master of Muscle SHRED BANDS fitness bands on Amazon.com. My previous set was made by a company called Flexsolate/Gym In A Bag. With age and use, the Flexsolate bands finally gave out and snapped in half. Exercise bands of course do not last forever and it is recommended with heavy use they be replaced after 90 days.

What I liked about the Flexsolate band design was the plastic hooks for attaching the handles. What I don’t like about the Master of Muscle SHRED BANDS is all the metal used in their design, especially the hefty carabiners. Having been hit painfully in the hand by the small plastic hook when the Flexsolate bands broke, I am wary of the hefty metal parts used in the Master of Muscle SHRED BANDS model due to the potential for injury if the same thing happens.

On my very first set using the brand-new Master of Muscle SHRED BANDS model, using the heavy 20 lb. black band, the end of the band where it connects to the interchangeable handles broke. The plastic pellet inserted in the end of the hollow band popped out, disconnecting the handle. Luckily I was not injured.

What this taught me, because I am an advanced user doing heavy exercises, is never rely on a single band. Instead, utilize two (or more) lighter bands where possible rather than one single heavy band. This distributes the stress across two or more bands, diminishing the chance of failure, and if one does fail, the remaining intact band should minimize a fall. 

Exercise Bands Build REAL Muscle—If Used Correctly

Erik Janicki knows how to use exercise bands to their fullest potential.

Exercise bands provide a welcome additional method to take charge of our own fitness destiny via strength training. Performing the same exercise—let’s say as an example, dumbbell extensions for triceps—using bands instead of dumbbells gives a whole new feel and refreshes the experience obtained from that exercise.

I like dumbbells. I use dumbbells. But dumbbells are dead weight and must be managed carefully to obtain the best results and limit the stress placed on joints—elbows, in the case of extensions for triceps. Performing the exact movement with exercise bands provides a smoother ride. and the flexation of the triceps at the point of fullest extension is more satisfying with less stress on the elbow joint.

Practice makes perfect, and learning how to best utilize exercise bands is no exception. Bands allow a fluid arc of movement and full extensions not allowed by dead-weight dumbbells due to one’s need to balance and control the dead-weight dumbbell.

Since I began exploring the potential of bands a year ago I have watched, and been mostly disappointed by, exercise band videos on YouTube. The instructors are not using them correctly or to their full potential. Rather than stepping on the band with your feet to anchor the band in order to perform biceps curls, for example, it is far more productive and challenging to use a door anchor. There’s only one way to perform biceps curls with the exercise band if anchoring the band by stepping on it with your feet; there are about a dozen ways to do biceps curls utilizing a door anchor. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Erik Janicki is the only YouTube instructor who uses bands to their fullest muscle-building potential and his explanations are clear and concise. Janicki is very advanced, so if you are not, go slow in mimicking his methods. If I run across any additional YouTube people who have mastered the use of these inexpensive muscle-building tools I will post them here.

Erik Janicki uses exercise bands for a killer shoulder workout.