New Website - Get Excited!

"Success is Focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve"
- Wilfred Peterson

Hello everyone! I have finally decided to grab a real domain name and get my own website up and running. I am in the process of setting it up now and transferring everything from this blog over there! It may be a few weeks until everything is running smoothly again.

The new address is:

www.AchieveMoreFitness.com

I'm really pumped about this! I'll be regularly uploading my training with videos, health and lifestyle information as well as some motivating pieces. If you fit into these following categories the website is for you.

1. You want the most out of life. You want to live out the life of your dreams, have a positive influence over others and leave a legacy.

2. You are passionate about fitness, nutrition and training. It is enjoyable to you, it isn't a chore but a pleasure.

3. You understand that optimal health requires time and discipline. You know the effort is worth it in the end.

4. You value yourself. You prioritize your health, education and well being. All of the effort you put into training, eating well and educating yourself adds tremendous value to your life.

5. You believe in yourself. You know that if you set a goal for yourself, you can achieve it. You can make it happen.

6. You put your knowledge into action. You understand that in order to accomplish something you have to take action. You're a go getter.

I'll let you know when its up and running but for now there is a little teaser!

A personal story that hits close to home.

I hear all the time about how expensive it is to eat properly, find time to exercise and manage stress in people's lives. I get it guys, its hard to do! I'm with you and I understand that.

A family member of mine recently went to the doctor and found out that they had a heart condition. I want to keep this private so I won't mention any names or specific illnesses.

The doctor prescribed a specific medication for the problem as is very common. This may be a drug this family member will have to take for the rest of his / her life. The price of the drug is $75 per month. $75 per month adds up. Keep in mind that the general trend for the population is to begin adding more expensive drugs to their daily list over time. This adds up to a bigger hit on your wallet as time goes on and your health declines.

The amount of money spent on pharmaceutical drug prescriptions, surgeries, hospital stays, insurance plans and doctor visits is staggering. Don't believe me? Ask anyone you know over the age of 65 how many drugs that they take on a daily basis. Its very common for this demographic to plan their entire lives around doctor visits. I've known many people who have lost their entire life's savings on prescription drugs, hospital stays and eventually nursing homes and long term care facilities.

The problem here is that the majority of our health problems are preventable. Things like Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, COPD and Diabetes have a very strong correlation to your lifestyle choices. Keep in mind that I just rattled off 5 out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the US. Disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis have a very strong genetic component, but recently we are starting to realize that there may be some environmental triggers at play in causing these disorders.

Its very possible to age gracefully but it requires your action from a young age. These problems tend to creep up on people and when they occur, they often can't be reversed. Take Parkinson's Disease for example. Patients don't begin showing symptoms of the disease until 80% of the portion in their brain responsible for movement is destroyed. By the time they have been diagnosed they are already missing 80% of that part (Substantia Nigra) of their brain! Parkinson's may be a bad example because we truly don't know the real cause of this disorder. However, diseases like Diabetes and Heart Disease follow a very common trend caused by poor lifestyle habits that are truly preventable. That's a sad reality.

One thing I've noticed is that people tend to take their health for granted. I've been guilty of this many times. Youthful people who currently have their health are notorious for this. Here are some of my favorites: I'll put off exercising until things lessen up at work. I don't have time to make lunch so I'll grab something from the vending machine instead. Work is really piling up, I'm not going to be getting any sleep the next few weeks. For whatever reason, humans tend to put their health last on their list of priorities.


Working in healthcare exposes you to people who don't have their health. You get exposed to people who would do anything to have their health back. You see people who can't walk across the room because they get so short of breath. The disorder is COPD and it is the 4th leading cause of death in the US. What causes it? Smoking. You see patients who routinely come into the hospital to have portions of their limbs amputated because they lack good blood supply to their feet. The disorder is Diabetes, and I'm sure you all know that poor diet applies here. Diabetes is also the 7th leading cause of death in 2009.

I implore everyone to realize the significance of eating properly, exercising regularly and managing your lifestyle beginning today. Spending the money on better foods and eating properly today will cost a fraction of what those prescription drugs and hospital bills will be in the future. Worse even will be the cost of a nursing home where the cost might not even be coming out of your pocket. Unless you've accumulated a small fortune in your life time, the burden may fall on your children and family.

What's even worse is that you lose your quality of life when your health declines. Not only will your pocketbook be lighter, but you might not be able to enjoy the same things in life that used to give you pleasure.

It's time for a change. Let's rework our priorities. The bottom line is that WE have control over our health. If you enjoy your life and have others in your life that love you, it would be wise to start investing in your personal wellness. It is MORE EXPENSIVE to eat poorly now and forgo a healthy lifestyle because it will catch up to you later.

Meeting Dan Gable: The most inspirational man of all time?

I saw Dan Gable Speak this weekend at my old high school.

Dan Gable is easily one of the most inspirational people to have ever walked the planet Earth. For those who are not familiar with Dan, he is a wrestler and a coach. Anyone who has ever wrestled competitively before can attest to the fact that this wrestling stuff’s not easy. Being successful in wrestling requires rock solid determination, discipline and mental toughness. Dan Gable is the definition of these words, and that is still an understatement. Here’s why:

Dan Gable’s wrestling accomplishments:
- Undefeated record throughout high school with 3 state championships
- 181-1 collegiate record (His only loss was the NCAA national championship his senior year
- 2 time NCAA national champion wrestling in college
- 1971 World Gold Medalist
- 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist - No one scored a single point on him throughout the Olympics

Dan Gable’s Coaching Accomplishments (University of Iowa)
- 15 team NCAA national championships
- 21 straight Big Ten titles
- Team record of 355-21-5

That’s freaking ridiculous. It takes a special personality to accomplish the things Dan did. Dan reported training 7 days per week for 7 hours per day (That's not a typo). He said that he, himself wasn’t even a good wrestler until he suffered his first loss in college. Keep in mind that in college he would routinely go up to 30 match streaks where he would pin every opponent and he was also routinely winning matches 25-0. The day after his first loss in college, after his team won the national championship, he was back on the mat training again with renewed passion.

As a coach he would have his athletes do conditioning on aerodyne bikes (the ones where you can simultaneously pump levers with your arms while cycling with your legs and it would power a fan on the front wheel). The athletes would do 1 minute of work to 1 minute of rest and while cycling they were required to pedal hard enough to max out the intensity settings on the bike. His athletes were wiped after doing 20 minutes of this 1 minute of work followed by 1 minute of rest. Dan would get on the bike and pin the intensity to maximum in the same way he had his athletes do for just 1 minute at a time but he would go for 45 minutes straight. He did this just to show his athletes the power of mental intensity.

Dan is one passionate dude and he’s well respected, for good reason. He received a standing ovation before and after his speech. I truly believe he could have went to the podium and said absolutely nothing for 45 minutes and people would still have shown him the same respect just because of what he has accomplished with his life. That's powerful.



Dan’s Key Points:

- Discipline makes being the best easy.

- Believe in those who tell you that you can become great, really, believe it.

- The most successful people are the ones who show up first and leave last.

- Welcome adversity. eg: turn injuries into opportunity - Dan injured his knee 6 months before the Olympics and changed his wrestling style completely because of it allowing him increased scoring opportunity.

- Make issues a non-issue, you can’t succeed fully with anything in the way holding you back.

- Discipline, discipline, discipline

- Have a solid support network

- Think BIG! Dan’s new goal is trying to reach and motivate as many people as possible through his passion for wrestling

I think the take home message here is that anything is possible but the most important thing is to first make up your mind that you are going to do it. That is going to hold true in every facet of your life, especially making up your mind to change your health and fitness for the better. You have to believe in yourself and then put those thoughts into action, consistently. What I think was most impressive about Dan’s career is his mental power and focus. He made the decision to become the person he is today. Dan set very solid goals for himself for every single practice. He did this on a daily basis, and made improvements along the way, which added up to something very big. He believed in himself. Dan's story is that of a self fulfilling prophecy. His story reminds me of all of the possibility there is in the world if you can focus your attention properly.

THIS IS MY CHALLENGE TO YOU

Kanye West: I Wonder

I've been waiting on this my whole life, these dreams be waking me up at night.

A Psychic read my lifeline, told me in my lifetime, my name would help light up the chicago skyline.

You ever wonder what it all really means? You wonder if you'll ever find your dreams?

You know guys, I really have it easy. I was born with a natural tendency to get excited about things. I get motivated very easily. You can spark a fire underneath of my ass that gets me moving without even realizing that you did it. I understand not everyone has that tendency, I‘m really blessed in that regard.

Picture this. You are outside on a cool and brisk Sunday afternoon. Its raining gently and the leaves are just beginning to turn green for the year. You are gathered around hundreds of others who are humbly bowing their heads toward a man speaking at the front. The man is a priest. You have a hard time hearing what the priest is saying so you brush through the crowd to get closer. Unfortunately, the priest has finished speaking by the time you get close enough to hear him. Looking around at all of the sad faces you begin noticing old friends and distant family members. You can make out two sobbing women standing next to the priest trying to comfort each other. One is older, one younger. As you get closer you capture a glimpse of their faces. You gasp in astonishment, one is your daughter, the other your wife. Standing next to them is your son. You’re a ghost at your own funeral. Your son gathers himself stoically and draws a written speech from his pocket and turns to address the audience.

What does your son have to say about you? What memories have you left behind? Did you lead the life that you imagined you would? What is your legacy?

This story carries with it a lot of power. I’m sure I’m not the one to tell you that life is short, but there’s a reminder.

The main reason I write in my blog is to give everyone a sense of power in their lives. I want to empower people to take their health and happiness into their own hands. I want to share my own dreams and struggles getting there while showing people that it is possible to live the life you desire. I thoroughly believe that you can accomplish any goal you can set for yourself. Its going to take some elbow grease, but it can be done.

The first step toward living you dream is figuring out what you want out of life.

Where do you want to be in twenty years? Lets drop all the fears and barriers that may be holding you back. Where do you really want to be in twenty years? Sailing the world with your wife and kids? Hosting your own TV show? A world class chef? I’ll tell you where I want to be. I want to be a public figure that empowers others towards their goals. I want to enable others to reach their goals in health, fitness and in life in general. I want to show others the feeling of happiness that comes from leading the life that you desire for yourself.

Its an incredibly fulfilling feeling to wake up every morning knowing that today you are taking the steps forward in your life to achieve your dreams. When your actions in life align with your moral beliefs, values and goals something magical happens. You feel awesome, you enjoy life and you get closer and closer to the person that you want to be. I get chills just thinking about this stuff.

So lets drop the excuses. Think of how much you can achieve if you take down all the barriers in your life keeping you from progressing.

I challenge you to make a difference in your life. I dare you to sit down and think for a long moment about what you want to achieve in your lifetime and the legacy you choose to leave. Write it down and make a pact with yourself, I will devote my energy everyday toward this goal.

Find the courage to make it happen. Take that step today. I'm with you.

Stand up for yourself. Take charge of your life. Know that every decision you make in your life is taking you one step closer or further from the life you desire. Every action builds upon the person you want to become and the legacy that you choose to leave behind.

This is my decree

'We are our own worst inhibitors"
- Laird Hamilton

I made a decision today. I realized all the excuses I was making. I'll never be a pro strongman because x, y, z (too short, not willing to take drugs, insert bullshit excuse here). I'm removing all the crap and just allowing myself to get to where I want to be. No more crap. By the end of summer 2011 I'm going to be competitive at the top amateur/pro lightweight level. The progress I have been making lately when my head is in the right place has been astounding and makes me believe in myself. Here what I think I'll need to do to get there. Let me know what you guys think?

Axle Clean and Press - 350-360lbs x 1 (currently 300lbs)
Log Clean and Press - 330-340 x 1 (currently 270lbs)
Deadlift - 650 x 1 (Currently 500lbs x 4)
Farmers - 400lbs x 50' + (355/hand x 25')
Yoke - 950lbs x 50' + (800lbs x 50')
Stone - 400lbs x 3 reps (340 x 1, 310 x 3 @45")

Going to let my weight do what it wants to do with big eating. I'm around 185lbs at the end of a good eating day right now. I think I'll be capable of some big things when closer to 200lbs.

This is a huge goal for me and its going to be a sweet journey. let's release the brakes baby...

6/15/2011
Dynamic Warmup - extra calf stretching since my achilles have been acting up with yoke.

Log clean once and press for reps
90 x 3-5
140 x 3
180 x 3
200 x 1 Belt on
220 x 1
220 x 9 - should have had that 10th rep, PR

Log Viper Press
140 x 5
170 x 5 belt on
190 x 5
210 x 3 - PR still pretty weak here.
bicep acting up. May take it easy on the stones this friday, we'll see.

Sternum Pullups 3 x 10-6
Ring Face Pull 3 x 10-15

Ring Ab Saw
Cable Bicep Curl w rope - 3 x 6-12

Band No-moneys 3 x 10-15

Food - steady at 4500-5000kcal/day
9:00am - half of the mucus shake
4 bananas
strawberries
1 cup coconut shredded
4TBSP red palm oil(secret mucus agent)
2 cups raw milk

1:00pm
2 sweet potatos
roasted asparagus, red peppers and broccoli w/garlic and coconut oil
Gulash made w/ground beef/venison, onion, tomato paste, salsa, and tomato paste
(won't be making that one again)

4:30 - other half of mucus shake

6:30 - 20g BCAA and water

9:00pm
Bacon
Saute baby spinach w/garlic and mushrooms
2 plantains cooked in bacon lard

12:00pm - Planning on a late night of studying
Salad w/veggies and olive oil dressing


Woooooooo!

What I'm eating

People ask me all of the time what I eat. My eating is based on my own goals which are:

1. Health: This is my priority. I used to have other agendas higher then this in the past but that has changed. I used to eat for strength and muscularity completely. Fortunately Goals 1 and 3 overlap fairly well.

2. Strength goals: Generally, the more food you eat, the stronger you get. Its pretty simple. All top strength athletes out there are pounding food as a job(Unless they are competing within a restrictive weight class). The two are very closely connected. I'm sure food quality is important here as well but if you look at the diets of the strongest people in the world the key is quantity, not quality. Unfortunately, eating in this way is not always conducive to goal number 3.

3. Physique Goals: I am a huge believer in talking the talking and walking it too, both in the way I train, my success as an athlete and the way it reflects my health. With all the work I'm putting in with eating, nutrition recovery etc. a lot of my energy is going towards having a more appealing physique.

I titled this what I'm eating because what I eat changes frequently based on new things I'm learning and as my goals shift slightly. However, I'm not making radical swings from one diet to another and that's key. We have all heard that changing your diet must be a lifestyle change and that's incredibly true.

Now, there are a billion diets out there and each good one is followed by twice as many bad ones. Each person is different and each person has different goals. Your eating should reflect this completely. I can't stress this enough so I'll say it again, each individual has different metabolic needs, physiology and goals and this must reflect the way they go about a dietary program!

I like the Weston A. price Foundation. I like paleo style diets. I like hunter gatherer diets that were followed from people such as the Inuit, Kitavi, Kuni, and Masai. I Like the idea that more traditional diets were more nutritious than current diets. I also feel that we may have gone too far in our recommendations to avoid and limit animal products. Plug those things into google if you want some more information.

Now before you go and try any of this yourself please consult your doctor. I do like the quote used by Stephan Guyenet over at his blog whole health source, "Your health is in your own hands."

Here's a list of the foods I eat on a daily basis:

Animal products: organic, wild caught, grass fed/pastured, cage free. Basically the animals need to be eating what nature intended them to eat in order for them to be healthy for you to eat. I get pastured animal products at www.grasslandbeef.com I also get local organic and grassfed beef from eatwild.com You can find your own local farmer!

Eggs

Beef

Fish

Chicken

Venison

Bone broth

Organ Meats - usually in the form of liverwurst, these must be pastured/organic

Dairy - organic, grass fed and raw. I get my milk from an Amish farm. You can find local high quality products at www.realmilk.com

Milk - whole

Cheese

Heavy Cream

Oils and fats - Unrefined, organic, pastured

Beef Lard

Pork Lard

Coconut Oil

Olive Oil

Red Palm Oil

Coconut and coconut products of all types.

Vegetables - I end up cooking half of my vegetables. I can't tolerate too much raw vegetable. Organic as much as possible. I follow the Dirty dozen for fruits and vegetables If I can't do organic.

Leafy Greens (romaine, spinach, swiss chard, arugula etc.)

Broccoli

Onions

Mushrooms

Asparagus

Tomato

Garlic

carrots

celery

I'm missing a ton of stuff here but here is the bulk what I buy weekly.

Tubers/starchy foods

Sweet Potato

White Potato (Mostly after training)

Plantains

Yucca

Fruits - organic as much as possible. I follow the Dirty dozen for fruits and vegetables

Oranges

Grapefruit

Avocado

Berries of all types

Bananas

Lemons

Limes

Nuts and Seeds - organic when possible and raw

Almonds

Walnuts

Pecans

Sesame

Cashews

I eat the vegetables, animal products, fats and oils with the most frequency. Nuts and seeds are in moderation due to a very high content of omega 6 fatty acids. The starches and fruits vary in amounts depending on whether or not I'm trying to gain or lose weight and again this reflects back upon whether I have a competition coming up or not. Dairy intake fluctuates too. Milk is great for weight gain I try to get some high quality dairy when I'm trying to gain weight but its tough to get your hands on raw dairy in NJ.

I eat about 3 to 6 times per day and I have recently noticed that the number of times I eat per day is not as important as I once thought. I just need to make sure I'm eating enough food.

As you guys know I train 3-4 times per week with 1 to 2 walks thrown in there for 30-60 minutes.

I supplement with Fish oil, branched chain amino acids, vitamin D, and ZMA. I'm also taking a pro-biotic and I play around with digestive enzymes from time to time.

I've always had moderately elevated blood pressure and a heart arrhythmia (PVC) that I monitor closely. It runs rampant in my family (Come on mom and Dad!). Trying to maintain my weight and all of the extreme weight lifting doesn't help I'm sure.

Bottom line, eat for your on goals! If my way of eating isn't work for you, you may want to switch things up because everyone is different! I wanted to give everyone an idea of what I eat and why and hopefully this can give you a basis for what you need to eat and why also!

*****A closing note: Yes eating well WILL require you to go out of your way to find good food. It WILL require you to learn how to cook and prepare food. It IS more expensive (although if you are a smart shopper it can be very reasonable, I'm a full time student who can only work so many hours and I make it all happen).

Americans put very little value in their food and health. Change your mindset about where your time and money should be spent. Value yourself and your health and feed yourself and your family accordingly.