I just saw an advertisement for a new "fitness" product, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts. The product is a neckline slimmer, and you basically put this thing between your chin and your chest. With it in place, you just take your chin down towards your neck/chest. It claims to slim and tone your neck with just 2 minutes a day...what a joke! The sad part about this is that undoubtedly people will purchase it. Anything that is easy and doesn't take much time is great, isn't it? Well I have news for you. This product is a waist of your 2 minutes a day, and $20.
First of all, if you are looking to lose fat from an area, you need to focus on your nutrition and burning calories. Second, you cannot choose where you want to lose fat in your body. I can do hundreds of situps a day, and it won't make me lose belly fat. I can do all the squats in the world, and it won't make me lose fat in my legs. My body will lose it where it needs to. I shouldn't worry about a certain area, but instead, I should focus on proper nutrition and burning calories. If you up the intensity of your workouts, you will not only burn more calories during your workout, but you will also burn more throughout the rest of the day.
Losing weight is a fairly simple equation...if I burn more calories than I consume, I will lose weight. If I consume more than I burn, I will gain weight. It's that simple. So instead of focusing 2 minutes a day on your neckline slimmer, try taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Or figure out if your consuming too many calories. Or if you're not doing any resistance training, get started with some exercise to strengthen your muscles...which will help ramp up your metabolism and burn more calories!
So with holiday shopping, and new years fitness resolutions coming up, save your money on the bogus products out there, and put in some good, old-fashioned hard work!
Let me know if you have any fitness/weight loss questions. Also, feel free to share any other gimmick fitness products, or if you have any questions about different equipment.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Teammates
A friend of mine recently passed along a newsletter from a business here in Omaha and wanted to know my thoughts. Since I felt so strongly about the information, I figured I would share it with more than just one person.
Here is what was written in this "tip" to their customers:
"Look at your teammates....when they are on the field, they are not your friend."
When I initially read this, I had to go back and read it over again to make sure I didn't miss something. Did this person really just say that your teammates are not your friend?!?
Now, this was an article about hard work, and what it takes to be the best. I am all for hard work, and absolutely getting after it in your workouts. I don't think most kids work nearly hard enough, and most don't even know what hard work really is. That is one reason why it's so tough to advance on to play collegiate sports, and even more difficult to play professional sports. Working hard is relative though, because if everyone worked hard, then hard would just be average!
With that said, I couldn't disagree more with the statement above. When you are on the field, your teammates are your teammates. You put aside your differences. Look at A-Rod and Jeter. It is no secret that they aren't the best of friends. You don't have to be best friends with everyone on your team, but when you get between the lines, you are working together as a TEAM to play the best you can. You pick each other up, you encourage each other, and you work together. There is an acronym about team that says, Together Everyone Achieves More. I love it. It is not just a bunch of individuals out for themselves. To me, looking at your teammates as your enemy is a great recipe for failure. I would hate to be in business with someone that felt that way, and even worse, I would really hate to be going to battle with someone thinking like that.
To wrap this up, I encourage people to outwork everyone else. I always tell my athletes that just being the hardest worker in the class, or in their grade, or in their school is not enough if you want to be great. That is very small in the grand scheme of things. If you want to be THE BEST, you have to outwork the rest. That means, in your city, in your state, in your region, in your country.
If you play a team sport, then be a good team-mate. Know your role for the team, and do it to the best of your ability. That is what sport is all about.
Here is what was written in this "tip" to their customers:
"Look at your teammates....when they are on the field, they are not your friend."
When I initially read this, I had to go back and read it over again to make sure I didn't miss something. Did this person really just say that your teammates are not your friend?!?
Now, this was an article about hard work, and what it takes to be the best. I am all for hard work, and absolutely getting after it in your workouts. I don't think most kids work nearly hard enough, and most don't even know what hard work really is. That is one reason why it's so tough to advance on to play collegiate sports, and even more difficult to play professional sports. Working hard is relative though, because if everyone worked hard, then hard would just be average!
With that said, I couldn't disagree more with the statement above. When you are on the field, your teammates are your teammates. You put aside your differences. Look at A-Rod and Jeter. It is no secret that they aren't the best of friends. You don't have to be best friends with everyone on your team, but when you get between the lines, you are working together as a TEAM to play the best you can. You pick each other up, you encourage each other, and you work together. There is an acronym about team that says, Together Everyone Achieves More. I love it. It is not just a bunch of individuals out for themselves. To me, looking at your teammates as your enemy is a great recipe for failure. I would hate to be in business with someone that felt that way, and even worse, I would really hate to be going to battle with someone thinking like that.
To wrap this up, I encourage people to outwork everyone else. I always tell my athletes that just being the hardest worker in the class, or in their grade, or in their school is not enough if you want to be great. That is very small in the grand scheme of things. If you want to be THE BEST, you have to outwork the rest. That means, in your city, in your state, in your region, in your country.
If you play a team sport, then be a good team-mate. Know your role for the team, and do it to the best of your ability. That is what sport is all about.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Pop
I am including a link to an article I recently read about soda pop. If you currently drink a lot of pop...stop! That includes diet pop. If you let your kids drink a lot of pop, you need to stop enabling them as well...unless you don't mind them having tooth decay, nutritional depletion, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease. There is zero value to it, and you are setting yourself up for problems.
There are numerous studies showing weight gain associated with the consumption of diet pop as well. So don't try to convince yourself that the diet is fine because there aren't any calories! Something tells me our bodies were not made to ingest all of those chemicals that trick your brain into thinking something is sweet.
Here is a link to the article. Feel free to share your thoughts, and let us know how much soda you consume.
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/20270/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-to-your-body/
There are numerous studies showing weight gain associated with the consumption of diet pop as well. So don't try to convince yourself that the diet is fine because there aren't any calories! Something tells me our bodies were not made to ingest all of those chemicals that trick your brain into thinking something is sweet.
Here is a link to the article. Feel free to share your thoughts, and let us know how much soda you consume.
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/20270/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-to-your-body/
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Wizard of Westwood
Last week was John Wooden's 99th Birthday, and I've wanted to get some thoughts out about the wizard. A couple of years ago I read his book, Wooden on Leadership, and I actually read the entire thing on a drive home from Colorado(don't worry, I wasn't the one driving). The book grabbed my attention, and I couldn't put it down. To me, his philosophies and approach are very simple, yet surprisingly difficult. I think they are especially difficult in our society as it is today. The great thing about them, is they will not only make you a better athlete, but also a better person. In my opinion that is all he cared about, not being better than someone else, but being the best person you can be...in everything you do.
I saw an ESPN interview where Wooden said he had 3 Rules. Here they were:
1-Never be late for anything
2-Never use profanity
3-Never criticize a teammate
Very simple rules, and again, rules you can apply to the rest of your life outside of athletics as well. With that said, he also paid a ton of attention to detail, and looked for every edge he could get. He expected a lot of his players, and they worked extremely hard. He made them tie their shoes a certain way, have their hair a certain length, and would have practices detailed to the minute.
Wooden is also known for his Pyramid of Success. A quick outline of his pyramid had industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, and enthusiasm on the bottom level of the pyramid. This built the base. The second level was self-control, alertness, initiative, and intentness. The next level was condition, skill, and team spirit. Above that was poise and confidence, followed by competitive greatness on the top of the pyramid. With all of these things in place, comes greatness. This is a very general rundown of the pyramid of success, and much more can be found in his book, or even from a quick search online.
Like I said, his teaching and philosophy is pretty basic. Nothing flashy. No new and improved quick fix. No gimmicks. Just good old-fashioned hard work and values. It might be old-school, but it helped his teams win 10 championships in his final 12 years of coaching. Within those 12 years, he also won 7 straight championships. During one stretch, they won 88 straight games.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Wooden. These lessons apply whether you are an athlete, a musician, a teacher, or anything else you do in life. Thank you John Wooden!
I saw an ESPN interview where Wooden said he had 3 Rules. Here they were:
1-Never be late for anything
2-Never use profanity
3-Never criticize a teammate
Very simple rules, and again, rules you can apply to the rest of your life outside of athletics as well. With that said, he also paid a ton of attention to detail, and looked for every edge he could get. He expected a lot of his players, and they worked extremely hard. He made them tie their shoes a certain way, have their hair a certain length, and would have practices detailed to the minute.
Wooden is also known for his Pyramid of Success. A quick outline of his pyramid had industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, and enthusiasm on the bottom level of the pyramid. This built the base. The second level was self-control, alertness, initiative, and intentness. The next level was condition, skill, and team spirit. Above that was poise and confidence, followed by competitive greatness on the top of the pyramid. With all of these things in place, comes greatness. This is a very general rundown of the pyramid of success, and much more can be found in his book, or even from a quick search online.
Like I said, his teaching and philosophy is pretty basic. Nothing flashy. No new and improved quick fix. No gimmicks. Just good old-fashioned hard work and values. It might be old-school, but it helped his teams win 10 championships in his final 12 years of coaching. Within those 12 years, he also won 7 straight championships. During one stretch, they won 88 straight games.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Wooden. These lessons apply whether you are an athlete, a musician, a teacher, or anything else you do in life. Thank you John Wooden!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
New Video!
I have recently posted a new video on this blog that is actually an Addidas advertisement. It is on the right side of the page, second video. If you want to view the full screen for it, just click where the video is playing. The video is short and sweet, but such a great message...Impossible is nothing!
Keep getting after it, and follow your dreams!
Keep getting after it, and follow your dreams!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Is Usain Bolt Fast?
Ok, I'm obviously not serious with the question in the title. It is cray how fast he really is, and watching him blow away the fastest people in the world is truly amazing! I am going to copy and paste a copy of an article about one expert's opinion of what he could run a 40 yard dash in. Here is the article,
Usain Bolt is as tall as Calvin Johnson(notes) (6-5) and he's faster than any human, ever. Thus it shouldn't be a surprise that we occasionally speculate about his NFL potential. The world record holder in the 100-meters and 200-meters would probably hold his own at the combine.
In fact, Bolt would likely shame anyone else who's ever competed. After reviewing 20-meter splits from the world championships, ESPN track and field reporter Larry Rawson declared that Bolt would run an NFL-style 40-yard dash in … well, in an absurd time. Almost inconceivably low. Way less than four seconds. You can listen to Rawson right here. These were his comments:
LR: "Forty yards, if he was being hand-timed by a scout and reacting to his movement - not electronically timed the way they do it [in track and field] - his 40-yard dash on a track, in spikes, would be 3.73 seconds."
Host: [Laughter] "He would run a sub four-second 40-yard dash?"
LR: "Listen, I did the math as though it was electronically timed, which it's not for football – electronically timed – and it came out to 3.97 seconds."
You'll recall that Oakland recently gave a five-year, $38 million contract to Darrius Heyward-Bey(notes) based largely on the fact that he was the fastest receiver in his draft class. He ran a 4.30.
We can't say exactly what's in the heart of Raiders owner Al Davis – probably methane, metal gears, bats – but it seems safe to assume that he would be willing to spend something like $194 billion over five years for a guy with 3.73 speed.
People have estimated Bolt's 40 before, of course, and the projections are all over the place: 4.22, 3.9 to 4.0, 4.0 to 4.2. When elite sprinters go 100 meters, they don't even hit top speed within the first 40. (Again, check the splits).
But of course if Bolt were to train for a shorter distance, you'd expect a different result. And if you review the video of Bolt's most recent 100, you'll note that he holds a discernible lead over the field – presumably the next seven fastest men in the world – by the 20-meter mark. He's fast early; he's fast late. Rawson says that at top speed, Bolt covers 40 yards in less than three seconds.
Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward(notes) speaks for us all when he says that he'd like to see what Bolt could achieve in the NFL. But Ward also downplays the importance of straight-line speed:
"In this game, you have to have great hips and great footwork to get in and out of routes. You can take a fast guy like a Bolt, he might be able to run only one way," Ward said Monday. "He has to stop and turn. For me, I'll take a guy with quickness and great route-running ability over speed. But you can't teach speed."
And even if you could teach speed, you couldn't teach whatever Bolt has.
But why, you might reasonably ask, is this a fantasy topic? Because I've fielded more questions about Usain Bolt over the past week, since the 9.58, than about every rookie running back combined. If your league allows you to draft anyone without regard to NFL employment status and retain their rights for multiple seasons, then Bolt has at least crossed your mind.
But c'mon. Bolt is making a giant pile of money right now and he doesn't have to deal with defenders trying to maul him. Back in April, the New York Times reported that Bolt's endorsement earnings may exceed $3 million this year and he's eyeing the $10 million threshold by 2012. That's Larry Fitzgerald(notes) money without the tackling. Bolt simply has to run as fast as he can, unimpeded. No need for LaRon Landry(notes) to enter the discussion.
So forget him and his hypothetical 3.73, fantasy owner. Forget him, Al. Bolt is a little too good at his current profession … and anyway, he prefers soccer.
Part of me is skeptical about a 3.73 40 time, but this guy would know better than I. I do know that Bolt can absolutely fly, and it is entertaining to watch him race. What are your thoughts on a 3.73 40 yard dash?
Usain Bolt is as tall as Calvin Johnson(notes) (6-5) and he's faster than any human, ever. Thus it shouldn't be a surprise that we occasionally speculate about his NFL potential. The world record holder in the 100-meters and 200-meters would probably hold his own at the combine.
In fact, Bolt would likely shame anyone else who's ever competed. After reviewing 20-meter splits from the world championships, ESPN track and field reporter Larry Rawson declared that Bolt would run an NFL-style 40-yard dash in … well, in an absurd time. Almost inconceivably low. Way less than four seconds. You can listen to Rawson right here. These were his comments:
LR: "Forty yards, if he was being hand-timed by a scout and reacting to his movement - not electronically timed the way they do it [in track and field] - his 40-yard dash on a track, in spikes, would be 3.73 seconds."
Host: [Laughter] "He would run a sub four-second 40-yard dash?"
LR: "Listen, I did the math as though it was electronically timed, which it's not for football – electronically timed – and it came out to 3.97 seconds."
You'll recall that Oakland recently gave a five-year, $38 million contract to Darrius Heyward-Bey(notes) based largely on the fact that he was the fastest receiver in his draft class. He ran a 4.30.
We can't say exactly what's in the heart of Raiders owner Al Davis – probably methane, metal gears, bats – but it seems safe to assume that he would be willing to spend something like $194 billion over five years for a guy with 3.73 speed.
People have estimated Bolt's 40 before, of course, and the projections are all over the place: 4.22, 3.9 to 4.0, 4.0 to 4.2. When elite sprinters go 100 meters, they don't even hit top speed within the first 40. (Again, check the splits).
But of course if Bolt were to train for a shorter distance, you'd expect a different result. And if you review the video of Bolt's most recent 100, you'll note that he holds a discernible lead over the field – presumably the next seven fastest men in the world – by the 20-meter mark. He's fast early; he's fast late. Rawson says that at top speed, Bolt covers 40 yards in less than three seconds.
Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward(notes) speaks for us all when he says that he'd like to see what Bolt could achieve in the NFL. But Ward also downplays the importance of straight-line speed:
"In this game, you have to have great hips and great footwork to get in and out of routes. You can take a fast guy like a Bolt, he might be able to run only one way," Ward said Monday. "He has to stop and turn. For me, I'll take a guy with quickness and great route-running ability over speed. But you can't teach speed."
And even if you could teach speed, you couldn't teach whatever Bolt has.
But why, you might reasonably ask, is this a fantasy topic? Because I've fielded more questions about Usain Bolt over the past week, since the 9.58, than about every rookie running back combined. If your league allows you to draft anyone without regard to NFL employment status and retain their rights for multiple seasons, then Bolt has at least crossed your mind.
But c'mon. Bolt is making a giant pile of money right now and he doesn't have to deal with defenders trying to maul him. Back in April, the New York Times reported that Bolt's endorsement earnings may exceed $3 million this year and he's eyeing the $10 million threshold by 2012. That's Larry Fitzgerald(notes) money without the tackling. Bolt simply has to run as fast as he can, unimpeded. No need for LaRon Landry(notes) to enter the discussion.
So forget him and his hypothetical 3.73, fantasy owner. Forget him, Al. Bolt is a little too good at his current profession … and anyway, he prefers soccer.
Part of me is skeptical about a 3.73 40 time, but this guy would know better than I. I do know that Bolt can absolutely fly, and it is entertaining to watch him race. What are your thoughts on a 3.73 40 yard dash?
Friday, June 19, 2009
Supplements Article
My last blog post was about steroids in the game of baseball. Since then, Sammy Sosa has now been mentioned as one of the 104 players that failed a drug test in the year where they were deciding whether to test players or not. I have a feeling there is going to be news like this coming out all the time now. I will try not to discuss it much after this though...
I have attached a copy of a good article about supplements to this blog, and it's worth taking the time to read. Here is the link:
People often ask me about supplements and what I would suggest. The first question I ALWAYS have for them is how is their nutrition. It doesn't do any good to spend a bunch of money and take supplements, if you eat like crap. If you don't eat well, make that the first adjustment you make. The supplement is meant for just that...to SUPPLEMENT your diet. Make sure to get a good balance of protein, carbs, and fats. Depending on the goals of your workouts, you may require more or less calories. The same workout could produce mass for one person, and weight loss for another...all based on the nutrition for both people.
I am not a huge fan of the supplement industry, but make sure to do your research if you decide to take something. There are definitely some good supplements out there, and there are things you can take that will allow your body to recover from intense workouts. I have taken some of the different Recovery Mixes and Protein Powders from Eight Ball Nutrition, and I have liked them. I have also had Muscle Milk and liked that one as well. Some other beneficial supplements(depending on your goals and needs) would include glutamin, glucosamine and chondroitin(for joint health), and a good multivitamin can help as well. Whatever you decide, make sure that the first step is proper nutrition!
Please feel free to share your thoughts or opinions on the supplement industry.
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