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Friday, January 29, 2010


Uh....

1/29/10
Foam Roll
Static Stretches
Jump Rope warmup

Lunge Complex w/25lb plate
Warrior Lunge
Lateral Lunge + Overhead Press
Rotational Lunge with a toe touch.

60sec each the first set then 50, 40, 30sec. 30 sec. rest between sets

50lb DB Squat Clean/Pushup
60sec each first set then 50,40,30 sec. no rest

Plank + Knee to elbow 3 x 30 sec.

Workouts are getting more intense as we get closer to the 2010 crossfit games.

60 pounds of delicious


Here it is!

I was happy when my buddy paul told me he got a big deer. he wasn't joking. 60 lbs weighed out. Lasts an entire year for me.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Vincenzo Bernardo

I put together some footage of one of my clients Vincenzo Bernardo training. He's a pro soccer player previously playing for Napoli in Italy, now going into the MLS in the US. Look out for this guy in America. Very talented guy.



Here's the youtube link.

Why Grass fed?


I'm going to go pick up some deer today from the butcher. Every year my buddy shoots me a couple deer and I put them in a chest freezer and enjoy them throughout the year.

Why do I go through the trouble of getting deer meat? Does it taste better then other types of meat? Nope, its far far healthier.

Cows, goats, chickens and pigs are all meant to eat either grass or a combination of grasses bugs and other things they can forage for naturally. What do we feed our animals?

Corn and Soy. My buddy John made a joke the other day about this, do you ever see a pig opening up a corn husk and eating it?

Why not grass? Corn and soy is very cheap and allows the animal to gain more weight then previously possible equaling greater sales for the farmer. Can you blame them for trying to make a living?

Fun fact about soy. Animals feed can only contain a given percentage of soy as the main ingredient because past a certain point of soy intake the animal becomes infertile. Hmmm....

What happens when you feed animals foods they aren't meant to eat? They become unhealthy animals. Most notably, cows fed grains produce beef that is high in fatty acids that promote inflammation in the body (omega - 6) and almost devoid of the anti-inflammatory fatty acids (omega - 3). Cows fed grass produce a ratio of omega 3 to 6 fatty acids closer to that of Wild Salmon.(Beef as healthy as salmon?) We need a balance of these two fatty acids in the body for a myriad of processes to function properly.

If you don't believe me go to any scholarly research webpage (like pubmed.gov) and think of any disorder you can come up with. Now plug that disorder into the search bar along with the words omega 3 or fish oil. I betcha you won' find a disorder that does not benefit from omega 3 supplementation. I first learned about this from coach charles poliquin.

What happens when human beings eat what they aren't supposed to? Cancer, heart disease, diabetes.

So back to the initial point, why deer? Deer in the wild forage for what they need naturally and aren't packed full of grains and soy. The deer is organic to boot and for the price of butchering the deer costs me very little per pound of meat.

So much for the argument that healthy organic meat is too expensive.

Quick tip: beef from australia and new zealand is all grass fed(healthier), thus the slight gamy taste.

If you want a great website for healthy meat choices try http://www.grasslandbeef.com/StoreFront.bok

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Hunger



I was just talking to a client today about how satisfying my food is. I think most people trying to make positive changes in their diet have an idea that changing their diet is nearly impossible.



Bottom line is that this is still another excuse but I want to show people how healthy and delicious nutritious wholesome food can be.

4 slices bacon
2 friend eggs
Broccoli, spinach, onion, mushrooms cooked in bacon fat and butter
a couple prunes
1 glass green tea
1 mug hot chocolate
Little sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Tasted like heaven, I almost ate the plate and fork after I was done. I eat like this on a daily basis.
1/27/09
Foam Roll
Static Stretch

Hip Mobility drills
Mountain Climber/Groiner/Groiner to Hamstring stretch/Frog Thrust/Squat to Stand
30 seconds per exercises - 2 sets

Lunge Complex
Lateral Lunge + Overhead Reach/Rotational Lunge + toe touch/Warrior Lunge
30 seconds per exercise - 2 sets

Jump Rope Double Unders
30 on 30 off 20 on 20 off 10 on 10 off 20 on 20 off 30 on - 2 sets

Forward run to backpedal suicide 5 x 4 turns

Squat/Lunge/Split Jump/Squat Jump
12 reps/exercise/side

Stability Ball Rollouts + Stability Ball Prone snow angels 5 lbs
3 sets of each 40 sec on 20 off

Less weights, less stress to the bows.
1/26/2010
Static Stretch
Ring Work - rows, handstands, L-sits, muscle-ups

BB Thruster - technique is improving
95 x 5
135 x 3
165 x 3
185 x 3
205 x 3

Squat Clean
225 x 3

Speed Deadlifts 275 x 3,3,3,3,3

Getting some serious biceps tendonitis, decided to call it before it gets worse. I'm still terrible at front squats.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

What to eat When?


For the past 6 or so years I've always used a pre and post workout shake that usually consisted of some type of either whey protein or amino acids and some type of carbohydrate such as dextrose and maltodextrin.

I recently switched to whole foods for health reasons primarily and wanted to see how it compared to research backed protein/carbo drinks.

Today's experiment:


Pre-workout:
1 cup full fat organic yogurt
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts

Post Workout:
1/4 cup Ground Venison
1 cup Red Quinoa with mushrooms, onions, tomato

Preworkout logic: Adequate amount of carbohydrates and fat to keep blood sugar levels normal during exercise and antioxidants to combat free radical damage from exercise. This is similar to my normal meals with slightly greater carb intake. Exercise creates the demand for more carbohydrates.

Postworkout Logic: Protein and carbohydrates to restore carbohydrate stores in the body(glycogen) and to start protein synthesis (creation of new muscle tissue). More antioxidants from vegetables to fight free radical damage from exercise.

Parallettes!

Been trying to do some gymnastic stuff recently. Spent my day off sunday making these bad boys. I found this awesome article here on how to make them.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/13_03_Parallettes.pdf

As you can see, I suck so far. Been trying to do some simple exercises 2-3 times per day. I'll get some better stuff up when I learn how to use these suckers.

Information on how to use these can be found here. Sign up its free.
http://www.american-gymnast.com/tt/index_163.cfm

I also hope you were born with your head turned at 90 degrees because I don't know how to rotate videos on my computer.

If this video won't work here's the youtube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8EUczGsFGs

LUNCH!


Fried Egg on Red quinoa with side of bacon, broccoli, and hummus.

Fried up onions and mushrooms in butter and added it to the quinoa.
Fried up the bacon and added the bacon fat to the quinoa.
Fried the egg in bacon fat

Needless to say I don't read many cook books.

Cool fact about Quinoa. Its one of the only grains with a full spectrum of amino acids. Its loaded with fiber and protein. Kind of tastes like rice. make sure you rinse it before you cook it otherwise it tastes a little bitter. Check out my cool retro seven up glass.

It begins..

Hey all. I wanted to make one of these blog guys because like everyone else I think I've got some cool stuff to share. I also suck at writing and would like to get a little better at it.

Uhh, I love to exercise. Been doing it my whole life. I also find myself competing in activities and sports that tend to take a backburner to bigger more popular sports and activities.

My latest thing is crossfit and Im looking forward to this year's crossfit games. I won a national championship in strongman last year. You can check out the video here. http://www.youtube.com/user/djpope#p/a/u/0/R6UtkWtIoms my other videos you can find there too.

Love eating too. I spend a lot of time cooking and grocery shopping. Im a self proclaimed health nut. I read all the books, try all the diets.

I work as a personal trainer and sports performance specialist at two different gyms in New Jersey and find my job very fulfilling. I watch The Jersey Shore every day and pump my fist to every song I hear.

Read my blog.