"Active Aging" is Weak. Age Aggressively.

When my parents were alive they lived in Ocala, FL, in a gated, 55+ community, of which there were many to choose from in the area. On the way down FL 200 toward their neighborhood there were many billboards in soft focus with older people in bad workout gear with towels around their necks.  Some were holding the pastel colored-dumbbells from the discount rack at Dick's, some were on bicycles, and some were just walking.  Other billboards had photos of seniors playing golf and tennis with pristine outfits and perfect smiles. The message of these billboards is pretty straightforward: come to our community and you'll get fit by simply being more active. This is complete bullshit.  If you show up over 55 and unfit, you will never get fit simply by engaging in those activities.  Staying fit as you age means aggressive action, not activity. If you want to play golf and tennis, that's fine, but be a beast on the court and the course, not just a participant who can't wait to get to the 19th puka and knock back some cold ones.

Here are the facts. A man will lose one-third of his skeletal muscle mass between ages 50 and 80 unless he takes action to prevent it.  Let me translate: you need to lift some damn weights or you will eventually look like a pear. Why? Because you don't lose one-third of your body weight during that time, you simply lose the muscle. You gain adipose fat in it's place, which is often referred to as the "middle aged spread' or the "Dad bod".  Some people think that's funny or cute, which is why there are so many fat-assed men on TV and in commercials. But I think it's ridiculous to simply accept something happen "actively" when you can prevent it "aggressively".

Resistance training will help you retain more of your lean muscle. This will allow you to store more energy in skeletal muscle and less as adipose fat. It will also increase your metabolism.  Just as important as the physiological impacts are the psychological impacts.  You're self-confidence will soar and you will have a better overall level of vitality.

Get aggressive in your training as you age and don't accept the "reality" of a body and mind that will regress. Age like a badass, not a wimp.

"Weaponized" Rest

My friend and colleague Chris Cleary has this saying that the military buys "weapons", not "things", so you should always couch things in terms of "weapons". I feel much the same way about the concept of rest in a wellness portfolio.  Most of you executive types made it up the ladder because you worked long hours and sacrificed. I get that, because I did it, too. . But in doing so you likely completely abandoned the concept of rest.  There is a cliche' that use that goes "I'll rest when I'm dead".  Really? The truth is that if you work so hard that you don't get enough rest you're not working. You're either doing what you really like and it no longer feels like work, you've become obsessed with something, or you're avoiding life outside of work. In any of those three situations, rest can improve your situation by not only making you think more clearly, but also by giving you some perspective on things.

But I'll bet you that if you saw a different context you might do more of it, and do it strategically. If rest on the front page of the Harvard Business Review, or Fortune, or the WSJ, you might actually think about it. But because we perceive rest as non-productive time we also perceive it as inefficient. So why do it? The answer is because it works.

My answer to this conundrum is to completely redefine "rest" as "weaponized super-compensation". Sounds like something I could get published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, for sure, and maybe even a mention in Time or something. But it's just plain "rest".

Rest is one of those daily wellness investments that anyone can make. Just like drinking water and minding your posture. The majority of your recovery from training happens while you are sleeping, including muscle repair and cell re-hydration.  You are actually tallest each day when you first get out of bed because your vertebral disks are fully hydrated.

Where rest really is most effective is with the concept of super-compensation. When you train your body says "Boy, I need to get ready for the next time that happens" and by resting you allow your body to make those preparations and become stronger.  If you don't rest, your body will begin to say "Enough is enough" and your immune system will suffer, you will be fatigued, and you will lose enthusiasm for training, which will spiral quickly. Rest makes you more resilient, and the older you get the more difficult it is to achieve that resilience. Build rest into your programming and you'll immediately see improvement, especially in your resistance training.

"Weaponized rest" is not necessarily doing nothing, but it can be.  I would suggest three things:

1. Myofascial Release. The artist formerly known as "foam rolling". My pal Scott Herman has a very good intro video HERE
2. Melatonin.  This really helps with moving you off your worries and into some REM sleep. Visit GNC for Melatonin HERE
3. Overfeed Protein.  This is especially true at night. A cup of yogurt or cottage cheese right before bed will make improve the update of amino acids and speed your recovery. I personally like the Fage 0%. The best-tasting fat-free protein on the planet.

Thanks for your support and your comments. Get your rest - it's a weapon.

Stay well, my friends.

New Year's Guarantees: Cold Weather, Crowded Gyms, and Opinion-based Facts

I have to say that this is my least favorite time of year. I generally hate winter, which is why I live in Florida.

But what  I really hate more than cold weather is a crowded gym with "resolutioneers" all over the place spewing gobs and gobs of "opinion-based facts". So what, exactly, do I mean by "opinion-based facts"?  Well, let's see, here is a list of the top five opinion-based facts I have heard so far this year and my response to them. Sound like fun?

1. "A low-(carb/fat) diet is the best way to lose weight"
2. "Don't do cardio"
3. "Do more cardio"
4. "Too much protein will give you kidney failure"
5. "Walking (or swimming) is the best exercise"

Sort of an eclectic list, but I do find myself in YMCAs (aka, the nation's largest adult day care provider) all over the country on a regular basis, so I am doomed to hear this type of thing over and over again from people who have this type of misinformation baked into their brains. So let's take these one at a time.

1.  "A low-(carb/fat) diet is the best way to lose weight". Sorry people, this is just WRONG.  A pound of fat is approximately 3,500 calories. To lose weight you need to expend 3,500 calories more than you consume.  It does't matter if it's fat or carbs as long as you fill the gap with additional protein. That's it.  And the majority of these calories are burned by your body in its normal operation, not from exercise. Increase the amount of energy your body uses normally and you will lose weight more efficiently. The easiest way to do that? Build muscle, because muscle will increase the amount of calories you burn at rest.  Now you can tell that fat guy with the towel wrapped around him who has been talking about his "diet" and is still fat to shut up...or go back to the steam room.
2. "Don't do cardio". With this one, you first have to clear up the definitional problem. "Cardio" is not "running on the treadmill". "Cardio" is anything that raises your heart rate for a sustained period. Raising your heart rate can both increase your progress toward burning calories (see #1 above) and   also increase the size of your heart muscle and make it work more efficiently.  Anyone who says "Don't to cardio" is an idiot who probably keeps his lock on a public locker all night with his dirty jockstrap inside.
3. "Do more cardio".  A very common refrain from all the wanna be "bodybuilders" with  huge arms and small legs who wander in off the street with the tight, gray hoodie and load up 300 pounds on the bench to mark their territory.  Building lean muscle will allow your body to operate at a higher resting metabolic rate and burn more calories WITHOUT more cardio. Tell the hoodie guy that there's free anabolic steroids in the parking lot and you will be rid of him for the rest of your workout.
4. "Too much protein will give you kidney failure".  In peer-reviewed exercise science journals you will find that this is simply not true. But that old guy who squats in the Smith machine with a belt and knee sleeves will tell you that he had to have a kidney transplant because of too much protein. HE'S LYING.  Your body simply gets rid of excess protein. End of story. You need protein to repair muscle damage and promote lean muscle growth, so eat the protein. EAT IT.
5. "Walking/Swimming is the the BEST exercise".  Have you ever seen that guy who walks all the time in your neighborhood but still has a gut and has absolutely no muscle tone?  Listen, a man will lose 30% of his muscle mass between the ages of 50 and 80 unless he works to retain it by lifting something heavy and overfeeding on protein.  "Well, it's easier on the joints, Steve". OK, if you fail to load your joints you will lose muscle density and become more susceptible to osteoporosis. There is no "best exercise". Exercise should be a variety of activities that progressively challenge your strength, your mobility, and your aerobic fitness.  Tell the guy who is in the same lane in the pool every morning doing the "best exercise" that he might as well stay home with his "bad knee" unless he adds some resistance training to his routine.

I hope you found this entertaining. This is still January, so I'm sure I'll have lots more of these before the end of the year.  In the meantime, drop me a line at 3Sigmawellness@gmail.com or on Twitter @3Sigmawellness.

 Be well my friends.

"Resolve" is a Verb.

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At this this most wonderful time of the year a lot of ink is spread all over the usual media outlets regarding how you can "keep" your "New Year's Resolutions (NYRs)". Of the Top 10 most common NYRs more than half are health and wellness related, which should not surpise anyone who has tried to find a 45 pound plate at the gym the first week of January. Recent data indicates that 88% of NYRs are not kept at all, and 45% are gvien up on within the first 30 days. That means that a whole bunch of unhealthy people stay unhealthy year after year.      I think I know why. 

Most people think of NYRs as a list on a sheet of paper. Maybe it's on your refrigerator, or your bathroom mirror, or your screen saver (I did that one year - it didn't work).  In the end, the word "resolution" becomes synomymous with "list". I think that it's because they are  both nouns that don't, in and of themselves, describe any action  How many of you make a to-do list every day and then re-prioritize it so you avoid either (a) the hardest thing on your list; or (b) the one that makes you actually get up and move away from that protective cocoon of your office space and venture out into the world?  This latter affiliction is only enhanced in the dark days ofwinter, where short days and bad weather can be a convenient excuse to re-write something like "work out" on "tomorrow's" list. Eventually, "tomorrow" becomes "never".

"Resolve", on the other hand, is a verb. When you "resolve" to do something, you are making an oath. You are publicly stating that you are commiting to do something. Saying  "I resolve to make daily  investments in my health, nutrition, and fitness" is a commitment.  It also lacks absolutes, and I suspect that people will criticize that as being "too subjective". But if you resolve to make those investments, you don't need a list, and you will create habits that will last forever. Here are the four things I suggest you resolve to do in 2018.

1. Get a physical exam. You can paint with whatever colors you want to once the canvas is prepared.  Don't assume that you're healthy, especially if you're over 50. Once you have the physical and learn exactly where you stand it will be liberating and serve as a catalyst for more wellness investments. 
2. Drink more water.  It doesn't matter how much more. Just make it more than you drink now. Is it a pint, a quart, or a gallon?  Who cares. 
3. Track what you eat. As an executive, you have probably said "You can't manage what you don't measure" about 10,000 times. Go to the App Store, search for MyMacros+ , pay the $2.95 and start using it.  Changes in body compoisiton come from a combination of caloric and nutrient adjustments. Before you decide on a meal plan, determine where your starting point.  
4. Put a "fitness appointment" on your daily calendar.  People respect those who codify commitments. Make it a recurring appointment for the entire year so you see it every day. Over time you will build a force field around your workout time, which will give you more freedom to do more.  

That's it.  I can fill in the rest for you.  Just resolve to do those four things. What will happen is that you will realize how easy it is to make changes and then you can expand your wellness investments organically.  

I'd certainly appreciate the opportunity to coach you through the process and add a level of accountabilty as you resolve to increase your wellness investments  I can be reached directly at 407.717.1540, at 3Sigmawellness@gmail.com, on Twitter @3Sigmawellness, or Intstagram at 3Sigmawellness. 

The Winter Soltice: Things Are Looking Brighter!

In October the C-Suite Athlete suggested that the "Wellness New Year" starts on the day that Daylight Savings Time ends. This wasn't my opinion, this was science. Your body wants to store fat in the dark months of the year in order to create natural insulation against the cold. Well, unless you live in Florida, and then it's just dark. At any rate, matching up the amount of sunlight and warmth that is available with your wellness programming will certainly make it easier to achieve your goals.  Starting your strength phase at the same time as Daylight Losing Time starts will match up your programming with your natural circadian rhythm.  So as the days get gradually shorter, you should gradually ramp up the intensity on your strength training.

So this Wednesday is the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. So where are you in your strength training program?  Are you ahead of schedule? Behind? Well, there's plenty of time to get back on track, just like there's time for the C-Suite Athlete to get back on track with regular posts so you'll have that voice in your head telling you to push through the dark days, the holidays, and - God forbid - your "New Year's resolutions".  From 12/20 on, each day will get longer and will give you more time to make your wellness investments. Embrace the grind...do the work...and be accountable to yourself for achieving your goals.

Breaking up the year into twelve week blocks will keep all of you Type As focused on achievement and progress. You know, like personal KPIs based on MBOs.

Stay well, my friends.

Never Break the (Posterior) Chain

So beyond the obvious Fleetwood Mac pop culture reference, why would this platitude mean much to you? The answer is the "posterior chain", which has become as much a part of the fitness lexicon as "WOD".  Everybody wants you to "strengthen the posterior chain" and that's about the end of it. But what, exactly, is the posterior chain? And why so much emphasis on it? 

From Wikipedia: "The posterior chain is a group of muscles on the posterior of the body. Examples of these muscles include the biceps femoris, gluteus maximus, erector spinae muscle group, trapezius, and posterior deltoids."  

Basically, this definition includes everything from your hamstrings to your neck, which is pretty much the entire "posterior" of your body. So, in terms of building muscle, movement patterns that engage the posterior chain are tremendously effective because they activate a large amount of muscle fibers. This also translates directly into rapid strength gains.  Multi-joint posterior chain movements are also efficient, because they take up far less time than training any of these muscle groups in isolation.  Take the deadlift, for example. It's multi-joint (hips and knees) and it engages every single muscle in the posterior chain. It also is perfectly suited for variation, overload and progression. You can deadlift with a straight bar, a hex bar, a sandbag, or a log you find in woods. It's obviously easy to overload, and progression is literally never ending because you can always get stronger in your posterior chain. Five sets of deadlifts once a week are sufficient stimulation to build strength and gain  lean muscle. 

Deadlifting is also as close to a "normal" activity as you'll find in the gym. Most of us don't lay on our back and push something heavy off our chests, unless we are a farmer and a cow or a bale of hay falls on us. You'll notice that nobody ever asks "How much ya deadlift?' because anybody that asks probably doesn't want to answer the question themselves. But everybody has to lift something heavy off the ground for their entire lives, including - perhaps - each other.  Tactical athletes like fireman base their entire resistance training around variations of the deadlift because it best simulates what they do in real life. That's called "specificity", and I think most of your training should be prioritized in a similar way.  

There are two, less commonly recognized advantages to deadlifting. First, the impact on the strength of your spinal erectors will prevent injury in a range of other movements. Second, if you're a man, lifting something heavy off the floor is the best way to release testosterone. So put that Nugenix away and pull some deadlifts. The release of testosterone will make you feel great and it will counteract the cortisol that gets released under stress, like when you have end-of-quarter financial challenges or major personnel actions to take. For me, personally, deadlifts are "erasers". When I'm over that bar nothing else matters but making that set count.  All other concerns are "erased". Don't we all need some that that from time to time?  

Be well, my friends. 

Bad-assery is not a SMART Way to Set Wellness Goals

"Bad-assery" is when a bunch of tatted-up dudes in black with skulls plastered all over themselves tell you how to do their latest "incinerator", "destroyer" or "brutal" workout. I don't know about you, but I don't interact with that type of person in my professional life, so why am I going to trust them with my wellness?

And what is the obsession with skulls, anyway?  The other day I saw a guy in a video swinging a kettlebell shaped like a skull. All I could think of was "Isn't the symbol for poison a skull?" Let's face it, all this skull stuff got popular after American Sniper, but I don't see how it relates to improving your wellness. In fact, I don't think any of this death star nonsense has any business in the fitness world because it encourages activities that are at cross purposes for making real progress.  In short, they don't encourage the use of SMART goals.

So do you remember the SMART goals? C'mon, at some point in your academic or professional career somebody trotted these out and made you learn them. I can almost guarantee that in some class you had to memorize these things for a test. Well, since my focus is on executive wellness, and we're executives, let's use this as a construct for proving that all of the "badass" stuff is irrelevant for the C-Suite Athlete.


SPECIFIC: The concept of specificity is important.  If your goal is to become a better golfer you don't train like a bodybuilder or Crossfit competitor. You do, however, have to train more in the transverse (rotational) plane, right?  I have NEVER seen a "brutal" workout be effective in this context. "Brutal Golf Workout"? Ask Tiger how that worked for him.

MEASURABLE:  I guarantee that all of you Type-As will be obsessing over your workout logs. That is, however, if you have programming that gives you the data to do so. Notice I said "programming". This means variation, overload, and progression, not "insanity".  You can't manage what you don't measure, and some, certain workouts currently in use are about movements, not progress. Progress doesn't mean pushing the limits of your physical

ACTION-ORIENTED: So why are you training, exactly?Candidly, I do it because it makes me different, and I feel physically superior to those who don't. Is that "bad-assery"? No, it's self-confidence, and the healthier and fitter you are the more self-confidence you will have. It will also help your professional career.  When people see you as fit and healthy they assume you have extra capacity to achieve.

REALISTIC:  The two most common reasons for a middle-aged person to engage with a wellness coach are (1) to modify body composition - either because they want to or they have been told to; and (2) because they have had a health-related incident or diagnosis that forces them to make lifestyle changes. Frankly, it doesn't matter. What does matter is the realization that the changes take time, are incremental, and get more difficult as you get older. "Incinerating" body fat by using a fad diet and going overboard with cardio is not realistic. You will never maintain it and it might make you unhealthy...and even kill you.  Here's what I tell people...at your age you will not become a professional athlete, a special operations commando, or an elite powerlifter, bodybuilder, or fitness competitor. So don't train like one. Train so you can be the "elite' version of YOU.

TIME BOUND: Why have I spent soooooo much time writing about programming cycles? Because I know that the C-Suite Athlete is a planner and an organizer. This is how you have achieved what you have achieved professionally. I'm doing the same thing with your wellness. I'm sure you have an annual plan for your business, department, or business unit, so I think you should also have an annual wellness plan.  You probably are incentivized for achieving the goals in your annual plan. The incentives for an annual wellness plan last a lifetime.

So I'll jump down off my soap box now and focus on what's important: helping you achieve your SMART goals.

Be well, my friends.