It's Been a while

Hello everyone!!! I know, I know I went MIA for a bit and I also know what you are thinking....

Thanks!!! All seriousness, I will do my best to regularly blog useful and sometimes entertaining information that can help you increase your performance, reach your fitness goals and live a healthier lifestyle.

A lot has gone on since my last blog and I thought I would give you a quick update:

- I took my first high school coaching job and our lacrosse team won the state championship! More importantly, all 13 of my seniors went to college.  Great experience watching kids become successful as a result of sacrifice and hard work. Here is a picture of our rings. Can someone say bling, bling?

- I had a rather successful first year in rugby and since have taken over as the club's vice president and performance coach. Our team has grown tremendously in size and we have turned the corner in performance. With new coaches, new administration and a new, bad ass logo, the Phoenix Rugby Club is starting to turn some heads.

www.phoenixrugby.com

- I took a job at an engineering firm in Phoenix, AZ as the Program Director and Head Performance Coach responsible for designing our wellness program for over 300 employees. Here are a few photos of our ridiculous facility. Pretty ridiculous.

- I had a busy summer traveling both for rugby and as a coach for Force Lacrosse, a travel all-star team in AZ.  Force came out of the gates strong by beating a lot of well established east coast teams, which has lead to several players getting actively recruited within the NCAA.

- In September, I spent 2 weeks in New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I can talk about this for hours. But in a nutshell, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I met incredible people, drank and ate amazing food, got a tattoo, and got to watch some of the world's most elite athletes. You can not put a price tag on the experience I had traveling around that country with some of my teammates.

 

Again, thanks for being patient and supportive! I look forward to helping you reach you goals!

THE BEST EXERCISE FOR LOSING WEIGHT!!!!

Almost everyone asks me at some point, "what is the best exercise(s) for losing weight/burning fat/toning?"

Everyone, today is your lucky day!!

The very best exercise you can do to lose weight are Fork Drops. The more you can do, the more successful you will be! Here is how it works:

Exercise: Fork Drops
Muscles Used: Phalanges Extensors, Cerebrum (will power)
Sets/Reps: As many reps following 4-6 proportionally and nutritionally appropriate meals
Instructions: Release the tightly gripped fork full of food by extending your fingers to an open palm position.

That's it folks! That's the secret. Here are a few alternative exercises if you have trouble with Fork Drops:

Exercise: Mike Boyle's "Table Push-aways"
Muscles Used: Pectorals, Anterior Deltoids, Triceps
Sets/Reps: As many reps following 4-6 proportionally and nutritionally appropriate meals
Instructions: Place hands on the side of the dinner table roughly shoulder width apart and push yourself away by contracting your pecs.

Exercise: Scott Henry's "Get-ups"
Muscles Used: Glutes, Hamstrings, Gastrocnemius, Quadriceps
Sets/Reps: As many reps following 4-6 proportionally and nutritionally appropriate meals
Instructions: In a neutral spine position, squeeze your glutes extending your hips and get up out the dinner chair.

All three of these exercises will help you lose weight and burn fat.

Seriously though, caloric intake is roughly 80-85% of changing body composition. You can lose weight, get abs, and fit into those "high school" jeans. It's about being disciplined in your nutrition. 4-6 well portioned meals a day will give you energy and control the calories.

Of course working out helps. Burning calories helps you get to optimal weight quicker. Follow a few of these tips:

1. Resistance Train

Lift weights people. Try to get full body workouts in. The more muscles you use, the more work produced, which spells burning more calories. Also, the more muscle mass you have, the more you can enjoy the guilty pleasures of life because your metabolic rate will be higher.

2. Cardio is what you make of it
Understand that there is an inverse relationship between Time and Intensity. You can jog on a treadmill for 90 minutes like a lab rat on a wheel or you can do some intervals and bust your ass for far less time. You'll burn more calories in 20 minutes of interval training, increase your work capacity, and get the hell out of the gym quicker.

3. Eat well 80% of the time
The entire point of this article is the importance of nutrition with respects to weight loss. To be really honest, you get real disciplined in nutrition and you don't even need to exercise. It will take a lot longer, but in time you would lose the lbs you want.  Calories are that important. Spread your meals, make them healthy and control your emotional involvement with food.

Be Elite my friends.

Tic Toc Shout Out - If you live in AZ

If you live in the Phoenix area and need your watched fixed, looking to buy a nice watch or are in search of a grandfather clock go to:

Clock Dr.
10610 N. 71st Place
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Scottsdale Rd. & Shea
http://www.clockdr.com/


These people were awesome. I broke my Polar FT80, which was a gift from a client. The thing is ridiculous and I feel bad that I really only use the stop watch feature. 


I went in there to have it repaired (the pin broke) and they fixed it under 5 minutes. The lady hands is to me and says, "you're all set." I reply, "what's the damage." She says, "nothing. Come back and tell your friends."


So, I am honoring my word. Very friendly people and if I ever need anything done they have my business. 


Also, this place was pretty sweet. They had a ridiculous assortment of grandfather clocks. I was afraid to touch them because breaking one would have run me 2 months salary! 


They also had this clock, which reminded me of Officer Chris "Machine" Ottoviani of the FPD. 

Good people, good service. 

Seafood Cioppino - High Protein Poor Man's Soup

Today everyone gets a taste of a simple, yet delicious soup that anyone can afford and make. It's ingredients are incredibly healthy and offer an abundance of quality protein.  I got this recipe from my Uncle Joe out in Huntington Beach, CA. Our family likes to cook "italian peasant" dishes, which just means cooking damn good food with limited ingredients our leftovers. The best part, the average person will pay $15 a plate for it at a restaurant.

First, what is Seafood Cioppino? This dish was an italian fisherman's dish originated in San Fransisco. Basically the fisherman would chop up the seafood scraps they had and make a soup. Now, it is a delicacy in a lot of italian restaurants.

Cook Time: 25 minutes top

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen "Seafood Melody" (scallops, shrimp, octopus, clams and mussels)
4oz of fresh white fish cut into 4 pieces
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of shallots
1/2 white onion
2 cans of organic diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons of red wine
2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
grated fresh parmesan reggiano
Rustic bread

Directions
In a large sauce pan, heat the olive oil on medium and add the garlic and shallots. Right before the gralic starts to brown, add the white fish and cook 1 minute on each side. Next add the defrosted bag off seafood melody and stir for 4 minutes. Occasionally flip the white fish.

Next add the chopped onion, diced tomatoes and red wine. Season with sea salt and black pepper and cover for 4 minutes.

Next, add the bread in the broiler to quickly char.

Remove the lid and add half of the grated parmesan cheese and half the parsley. Stir and cover another minute.

Serve the soup in a bowl with the crisp rustic bread and top it off the soup with some grated cheese and fresh parsley.

Serves 4+

A big bowl with 2 pieces of small bread < 450 calories. Over 20g of protein and about 10g of some of the best sources of fat you can get.

Eat Elite! 

5 Reasons why you won't "Get Bulky"

I can't tell you how many times I have heard:

"I don't lift arms because I don't want to look like a man."
"I don't do legs because they are big enough."
"I don't lift heavy weights because I don't want to get bulky."

Most of the times I get this from my female clients. However, I have trained males with the same concerns. Usually it is: "I'll lift but I don't want to get too big and look like a body builder or football player."

So, here are the top 5 reasons why you won't "get bulky."

5. The caloric demands

If you wanted to really gain the amount of muscle mass it would take to "look bulky" the amount of calories needed is incredibly high.  The average Joe does not have the discipline (and probably $) to eat that much. Supplementation is also a usually a needed compliment.

4. The caloric demands

Deja vu? No. 9 out of 10 people who hire a trainer or strength coach carry excess body fat and spend a large portion of their programming losing it.  The same people who say they don't want to get "bulky" also want to "tone up." In this case, they are in a caloric deficit (calorie restriction), making it impossible to get bulky.

3. Protein intake

The average person not only would have trouble taking in excessive calories, their daily protein intake is incredibly inadequate. Most american diets lake lean proteins (or proteins in general) because they eat complex carbohydrates and fat. To build a significant amount of lean mass, it takes higher amount of protein, which you are likely not getting.

2. Genetics

Sorry people. Around %75-80 of men simply don't have the genetics to get bulky. In women, that number is even smaller. People simply to not have the genetic make up with respects to skeletal muscle and bone structure to get that "bulky look." You can certainly add muscle and a bunch of body fat, but you won't fool many. You need to be blessed with the favorable combination of muscle fibers and other genetic traits. Thank mom and dad.

1. IT'S HARD!

Getting bulky takes an incredible amount of work and dedication! You have to resistance train consistently and the intensity and volume of your program is extreme. Most people (especially women) would have a difficult time. Body builders are incredibly dedicated and there is a reason they spend hours in the gym. You won't do that 3-4 days a week for an hour.


People, lift weights. Not only does it burn significant calories - if that's your goal - but you want to at least keep muscle you have and get back you some you've lost over the years of being sedentary and/or failed to resistance train.  Life gets better when you lift.

Be Elite friends.

The Pre-workout Supplements

The average lifter always loves to debate about pre-workout supplements. They swear by the “results” they are getting from products like No-explode, Super Pump and others.  So, I figured I would shed a little light on the subject.

Really, most people don’t need pre-workout supplementation.  If you are an athlete and performance is incredibly important, then there are some good pre-qorkout supps that can help accelerate results and quicken recovery.  however, the popular ones on the market are stacked full of stimulants like Caffeine and a family of Vitamin B’s. After taking a scoop, your body probably starts shaking like a Shakira video.

While coffee has shown to increase performance roughly %11 (350 mg), these big, bright and expensive tubs of powder aren’t necessary. If you like a “rush” save yourself a lot of cash and brew a cup of black coffee. I do. Your “good pump” is far more cognitive than physiological. Your confidence and focus are elevated and you are just working harder. However, I am not knocking it at all. I love when people feel good about their lifts.  If that is the case, keep going. 

While I am not going to rush and put my clients on pre-workout shooters, I do demand a pre-workout snack.

Understand the importance of carbohydrates (CHO) as it relates to exercise. To keep it short, CHO is broken down to glucose and stored in your muscles. In order for your muscles to contract and exert any force, you need a fair amount. Therefore, CHO pre-workout is the smart choice. You will have more energy and thus be able to handle a more intense workout session. Ever get dizzy during the day or during exercise? There is some truth to that old expression, “my blood sugar is low.”

Here are a few pre-workout snacks that work well:

½ Banana and peanut butter sandwich

Bowl of oatmeal with honey

Orange and a 6oz yogurt

In a rush? Piece of fruit and glass of milk or juice

Give it a shot. It’s way cheaper and will give you a boat load on energy, which is they key to intense workouts. Plus, post-workout nutrition and supplementation is FAR more important than pre-workout. We will dive into that soon.

Be Elite friends 

Goo-Goo: The Epitome of Hard Work, Routine, and Joy

My last post taught you a simple way to encourage yourself and hold accountable your workout lifestyle.  The calendar approach is a great start to confront the man in the mirror.  You can lie to a trainer, but not yourself.

"I'm too busy to workout."
"I can never find time to train."
"I'm too tired to exercise."

You really mean:

"I don't like working out."
"I enjoy eating poorly."
"I'm really just being lazy."

I am not mad, lets just be honest with each other.  I want to help you.  I sometimes don't like to train. I love to eat bad food because it tastes good. A lot of times I can be lazy. But I eat well most of the time and train consistently because it's the right thing to do.

The old man in that picture is Romeo "Jelly" Rovinelli, or Goo-Goo as my brother and sisters called him.  Here is Goo-Goo's resume: 

Born in 1920

US Army Air Corps Veteran of WWII

Father of 4 kids

Retired with the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority after 57 years, 3 months and 28 days in 2007

During the same time worked 55 years part-time with the Public Library retiring in 2002

Longest worker in the history of the Town of Framingham

Usher at St. Bridget's Catholic Church over 55 years

Goo-Goo passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 90. The man retired at the age of 87 and refused to take off work. He lived 90 healthy and happy years. And what was his fitness regiment? It's called work. 

Like Goo-goo, there's a reason why lifters from the old eastern bloc were/are machines. Blue collar work. They hauled hay, dig ditches, laid bricks. 

Now despite what your day job is, the point I am trying to make is that my grandfather only knew how to work and provide for his family. He also had the same routine for 57 years. He ate 3 times a day (6, 12 and 5) and never took a day off.  Most importantly, he loved people and never wasn't wearing a smile. He was a man of faith, family and love. 

He lived 90 years with almost no health problems. He had 30 sick days and died peacefully. That's what life's about. The sad truth is that most the people I love and know will have health problems most their lives and more often than not won't live past 75.  Almost all these health related issues can be prevented or reversed by diet and exercise and without medications. My grandfather is a perfect example. 

Next time you try to make an excuse about working out, take a page out of my grandfathers book. Get your routine, bust your ass, and have a laugh. You'll live a long and plentiful life filled with the family, friends and laughter. 

I love you Goo-goo. 

Be Elite