Look who's back!

A birthday and some visitors!

Tisser stopped by this afternoon, clearly in the Christmas spirit!

The birthday girl!!



Justin and Allison, from Atlanta also joined us this afternoon!
Tomorrow is the much anticipated and/or dreaded 12 Days of Christmas workout! It is long and has many awkward movements, but it is always fun and you find yourself singing..."and a partri-idge in pear tree" when you are doing the rope jumps.

After the last workout tomorrow evening we are having a little cocktail hour, very informal, bring a snack and what you like to drink if it's not wine or beer (I always have those on hand).

If you can't make it for the workout tomorrow, Matt will have the gym open on Saturday from 8-11 AM, which is probably when I'm going to be doing it!

A reminder that gym hours are unaffected by the holidays this year. Normal gym hours all next week! Earn that eggnog!!!

Tuesday's random pictures and thoughts

This is for you, Toast. Foot awareness.
A couple of interesting food and dieting articles here and here , the latter has some foul language, so if you're not into that don't clicky. You have to request to download it but it's free. It has solid dietary advice in my opinion is on the humorous side!
I say it is time to give big Agriculture and their evil government buddies two middle fingers, decide to budget a bit more for food and support your local farmer as much as you can. You will feel better and your body will thank you.
About your back:
All of us need to strengthen our backs. Too many of us spend way to much time in the front. Too many pushes, too many hours hunched over a desk and computer screen. It is easy to focus on the front, that is what we see in the mirror. Strengthening the back will result in better posture, less back pain, and better performance in the squat, presses, and dead lift.
I've added a little back training to our daily routine. It will only take a few minutes and I'm positive you will be pleased with the results!

Just a few highlights

Zoe really tries to keep it fun around here.

10 push ups. Sue, you are just amazing!

Zoe, getting schooled.

Working to get those elbows up and back tight!

Casey just squats beautifully.

Nice PR Matt!

Unassisted ring dips. No joke Peter!

This may be more than you ever wanted to know about the bench press but I found it interesting!

I like kettlebell circuts for conditioning

There is something about the awkwardness of a kettlebell that seems to hit muscle groups in a way that other tools do not.

Throw in some pull ups, and a couple of squat thrusts and you have 15 minutes of win!

Some very nice lifting this week!



275! Yeah baby!

345! Yes!

They really help with recovery between sets!

Tim approves and is very proud of all of you.

Link love: pull ups for chicks, deadlift

2 weeks til Christmas! Sunday musings.

If you are on FB, "like" this page. Every day they post an interesting article on fitness.

If you like to cook, make sure this blog is on your favorites! The recipes are fantastic, the writing is clever, and the pictures are gorgeous!

I think that eating should be a pleasurable experience, a celebration, rather than a mindless shove food down your piehole. Consider the concept of regret:

When I look back on my almost 50 years, I do not regret any time I spent exercising, and I do not regret any time I spent preparing and consuming delicious and nutritious food. Cooking and baking is almost an artistic outlet for me. I turned on my oven at 9:45 this morning and I just turned it off. My family enjoyed the wonderful aromas all day. And all of my Holiday baking is done!
I do regret every ho-ho, frozen pizza and McMeal I've eaten. Those were a waste of my time. I regret all the mindless snacking on stuff that didn't even taste good.
We are all busy, but you will never regret the time you spent preparing and eating well balanced and artfully prepared meals. And going back to what I posted the other day, even if you consume a few too many calories, and you are a little overweight, if you eat nutritious food and move your body, you will be healthy.

These http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/11/dijon-braised-brussels-sprouts/ were awesome!

It is so simple. Another rant.

I started thinking about this subject this morning when Vicky was talking about her concern for the health of a friend who doesn't eat right or exercise. Later, I had a conversation with another friend along the same lines.

Think of all the people you know; fat, skinny, tall or short, any age. I'll bet you that the healthy ones, irregardless of size, are the ones who eat wholesome foods,  get a decent amount of physical activity, and sleep on a semi-regular schedule. Am I right?

Our bodies were created/evolved to move. To hunt, gather, pick up heavy things, drag heavy things, walk long distances and run short distances really fast. Our bodies need food in it's whole state in order to get the nutrition needed to function properly and resist disease and decay. Food, in it's natural state has the macro nutrients, vitamins and minerals we need, in a form that our bodies can use.

I've never been a big fan of diets that eliminate entire food groups, so I'm not going to go all "paleo" on you, but I am a huge proponent of eating food that is as close to its natural state as possible. Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, fresh unprocessed meat, eggs, dairy, whole grains. If you eat as much of this stuff as you should, you won't have room for the junk.

And since it's the holidays I have to add this. Eating some delicious holiday food at 2 or 3 parties is not going to make you unhealthy if you follow the 90% rule. Make healthy eating a habit (90% of the time) and you won't even need to worry about those 10% days.

Since our bodies were made to move, our muscles, bones and connective tissue will not stay strong and function properly if we don't exercise. Our hearts and lungs won't stay strong and healthy unless we get our heart rate up and breathe hard. The human body is amazing in its ability to adapt to the demands we ask of it. If it is only asked to sit in front of the TV that is all it will be capable of, but if you ask it to lift a 40# bag of dog food, it will build the necessary muscle fiber and neurological connections to do so.

I train people, and I have some really nice tools for building strength like the barbell, but if all you've got is a 40# bag of dog food, pick it up, set it down, pick it up again, carry it a few yards. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Every day, sweat a little, breathe hard, and pick up something heavy.

Gadzillions of money is spent every year trying to study and solve all kinds of health problems.

The answer is simple, staring us in the face, and doesn't cost anything.

Eat right. Move your body. Simply doing that would solve 90% of the health issues we have and make us better able to cope with those it doesn't solve.

Rant over.

Play

What a sweaty bunch!

We had a great time on Friday afternoon with some very nice out of town visitors!  Workouts don't have to always be serious!