Merry Christmas

Not too long ago, I used to get offended when I would see the words "Merry Xmas." I was offended because the people who would write that were taking "Christ" out of "Christmas", or so I thought. But, and this is not the only time, I was wrong. At least I have changed the way I see the words "Merry Xmas." 

The changed happened somewhere along the way as I was typing out Becoming Bulletproof. In my fascination with the letter X, I looked up its history. The X is the symbol for Christ. Check it out here on Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas. Anyway, no one was taking Christ out of Christmas by using the word Xmas. If anything, they were keeping Christ in Christmas. 

As I said, my fascination with the letter X is what helped spark the desire to look up the history of the word Xmas. It is funny how a little self research can get rid of misconceptions and false "facts." Anyway, this all happened when I was writing about Becoming Bulletproof. The X is simply fascinating. I've written about it here before as well. Check out my post http://tasfitness.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-x-tremely-wild-but-cool-theory.html.

This is fascinating stuff!

But, back to Christmas and the X! I was a fool to think that changing the spelling of Christmas was taking Christ out of Christmas. You could use any symbol you want to and replace the word Christ in Christmas and you could never take Christ out of Christmas. It is impossible. There is no Christmas without Christ. Christ is. And that, is a complete sentence. There would be no joyous time of year, no Santa Claus, no light filled trees, no songs about snow and chestnuts, no season of giving, no season of shopping, no sugar plums dancing, and NO HOPE for the world or us, if it were not for the X, the Christ. Non of this would be if it were not for the gift of Jesus. 

My only point to all of this is that you can't take Christ out of Christmas. Believe in Him as the Savior of the world or not, He is the reason there is so much joy in the world around this time of year. Regardless of how you spell it, Christ is Christmas - even if you say Happy Holidays! ;)

Nope, you can't take Christ out of Christmas. The X = Christ. Now, hold on to your seats, it gets wild from here! You can't take Christ out of you either. Your body is made up of a series of Xs: from your dna to your muscular sling systems. Your entire body is one big ole X. The secret to a healthy body is a strong X. The stronger your X, the more resilient you are. Let your mind run wild with this thought. Ponder it. Is it a coincidence that you are a series of small Xs that make bigger Xs that ultimately come together to make one big X? I don't think so. You are an X! Merry Xmas!

Lifestyles of the Slow and Steady

Is your health routine, if you have a health routine, a lifestyle or a fad? If you don't know the answer to this question, you really need to think about it. You will have your body for as long as you live. That should not be any news to you. However, the health of your body, the quality of your life, is largely up to you.

If you live to be 99 years old, you have a large say in how those years will turn out - as far as your health goes. Even if you only live to be 62 years old, it is up to you how much "life" you pack into those 62 years. Your health, your lively hood, is largely in your hands when it comes to the quality of your days. If you want to live out your years being able to move, being able to be independent, being able to play tag with your grandkids you really need to consider having a lifestyle of health. 

Having a lifestyle of health, or a healthy lifestyle, is when your healthy actions (exercise choices, activities, food choices) easily fit into the day to day routine of your life. A lifestyle of health is maintainable - this is key! Whatever you are doing now to promote your health, ask yourself if it is maintainable. Or, is it a fad? 

Fads come and go. Health fads are no different. Except that when a health fad goes, it can leave you broken and even subtract from your quality of life. Health fads are not usually maintainable; either by choice, or by necessity of cessation. What I mean is that some fitness endeavors, like those seen on the 60 minute infomercials, are not capable of being maintained. They offer flashy results and extreme promises, but they cannot possibly be maintained for a way of life. One particularly popular fitness infomercial that is named for its extreme methods and results is a great example of what I mean. People who attempt this particular DVD follow-along are lucky if they can survive 15 days, much less 30 days. Think about this: If you can barely move or breathe after your "warm-up", do you think you have found a maintainable lifestyle activity? Probably not. You may have found a great way to insure that you hate all things that have to do with fitness, though.

Anyway, when it comes to your health, you need to think about the big picture, or the whole story. Healthy lifestyle choices should fit into your lifestyle, they should be maintainable, and they should add to the quality of your life. If they become your life - if they consume all your thoughts and energy, if they leave you broken at every turn, if they cause you to red-line your body every single time you train, or if they cause you to loathe the food or activities you are engaging in, then what you have is probably a fad (I hesitate to label it a "health" fad, as they rarely lead to health). 

Think "big picture" when it comes to your health. You determine the quality of your life by your actions and thoughts. If your thoughts and actions do not yield positive results, or if they cannot be easily maintained throughout your years, you may want to make some adjustments. If you are always eating food you hate, or if you are always dreading your "movement" / exercise sessions, you probably don't have the true big picture in mind. Set yourself up for success, for a lifestyle. 

Remember, it is the turtle that beat the hare. He maintained a steady pace. The hare just burned himself out here and there and lost site of the goal = winning. 

Your life, the quality of your life, is in your hands. Don't look for quick fixes, gimmicks, or short cuts that will leave you frustrated, broken or depressed. Look for journeys, adventures and lifestyles that will lead you to health, satisfaction, and enjoyment. Be the turtle! You can win! 

The Bulletproof Squat

It is probably no surprise to anyone that I think we can learn from how children build strength and then apply what they do to our own training. Children seem to know how to build amazing strength on their own simply by learning how to move and exploring their surroundings. 

No one teaches a child how to crawl. They learn how to do it through the spirit of exploration. No one teaches a child how to walk - sure they encourage the child to walk, but a child just figures it out through determination and adventure. The same is true for squatting. No adult needs to teach a child how to squat, though every adult could probably learn how to squat from watching a child. 

You may be thinking, "but these are just movements, this is not strength training." It absolutely is strength training though. A child builds a tremendous foundation of strength while they are growing and developing. They even engage in real strength training once they establish a foundation for strength. Have you ever seen a child try to pick up a heavy ball? They test their strength and build new strength by attempting to lift things up off of the floor. Why do they do this? For the joy of exploration. 

Kids are instinctual strength training geniuses. If a child tries to pick up a watermelon, they squat down, wrap their arms around it (think atlas stone) and try to stand. If they can't move it, they may try again. If they still have no luck, they simply move on. They don't keep trying over and over until they hurt themselves. If they can pick it up, however, they take it for a stroll. They walk around with their heavy object - for a little while at least. Kids simply know how to build amazing strength. And we dont.

We should really consider approaching our strength training through the eyes of a child. Let's look at the squat for example. What if we trained the squat the way a child does: from the ground up. Think back to the watermelon example I used above. What kind of squat does this resemble? The Zercher deadlift/squat. It is the way a child would train the squat. 

The Zercher squat is the perfect bulletproof squat. With the Zercher, it is hard to squat more weight than you can hold. It has a built in "safety" factor to it, thus lessening your chance of injury. Also, the Zercher reflexively engages your core. It zips you up without you having to mentally tighten your muscles. They just tighten up on their own. When you attempt a Zercher squat, your body becomes one solid muscle.  This makes you really strong and "real world" strong.

If you really want to get strong, you could employ the Zercher the way a child does, you could lift your bar from the floor, take a walk with your weight for a certain distance and then repeat again. This will make your body strong enough to stop bullets, it is that tough. 

Anyway, walk with the bar or not, in my opinion, the Zercher is the best way to squat - IF you simply want to be strong, healthy, and resilient. Those things are things that I want. If you want to be a powerlifter, then Zerchers may not be the best squat to train with. HOWEVER, they can certainly lay a solid foundation to perform back squats from. 

Speaking of powerlifting, If you are not a powerlifter, do you really need to do back squats? Just a question, if you like back squats, great. Have at them. You'll never see a child do back squats though. I know, I am taking an idea to the extreme, but think about it anyway. And, while you think about that, also imagine how you will never see a child perform an overhead squat. ;) 

Anyway, I really do think children do a lot of things very well and very right.  Kids know how to train the squat. And, kids know how to become bulletproof. If becoming bulletproof resinates with you, Zerchers can be a great tool to use in that quest. They are kid tested and mother approved.

The Forgotten Muscle(s)

Many of us know that if we want strong muscles, we have to exercise them. After all, the body certainly does work on the "use it or lose it" principle. So, we deliberately use our muscles to make them strong, keep them strong, and make them available should we ever need them. Through discipline and engaging, we strengthen our bodies' muscles. 

I said the body works off of the use it or lose it principle. Almost everything about you works off of this principle. Another way to look at the use it or lose it principle could be to see it as the "train it and gain it" principle. 

Anything, or any quality, we want to possess, or be "strong" at, we need to train that quality. I mean to say that we need to exercise the qualities we want to possess. If we want healthy teeth, we need to brush, floss, and rinse regularly. If we want to have integrity, we need to practice telling the truth and doing what we say - daily. If we want to have less scowl and frown lines, we should smile more often. You can pick anything, or quality, you want to possess, and you can certainly obtain it through deliberate "practice" - through engaging in that quality. 

This is a simple concept, but I think it eludes a lot of us. We often want things, or ideas, that we could easily have if we would only engage and practice building or working towards our desired goal. For many of us the difference between success and failure is that we are simply not using our engagement muscles.

Your engagement muscles are the muscles, or acts, that you need to practice on a regular basis in order to obtain whatever it is you are seeking. If you never train your engagement muscles, you are setting yourself up for failure when you really need to call upon them for your desired result. 

I know this is confusing, but let's look at an example:

Pretend like you want to avoid eating pasta. Pretend like you have decided pasta is sabotaging your diet. So, in order to not fall victim to the traps of pasta, you start engaging in activities that promote this desired strength, this desired will power to avoid pasta. You could avoid the pasta aisle all together in the grocery store so that you are not tempted to buy it. If you do cook it, you could decide to measure out a single serving of pasta and only cook that so that you can monitor your portion. You could even replace your spaghetti with spaghetti squash if you like. The point is, you could engage in activities that foster and strengthen your new desire. Eventually, pasta may not even be a temptation for you any longer. 

Now pretend like you did engage, and you strengthened your anti-pasta decision and now you find yourself in a family gathering with lots of pasta choices to dine on. If your anti-pasta engagement muscle has been thoroughly exercised, you may find that you have all the strength and will power in the world to only place a few noodles on your plate or avoid it all together. However, this could spell certain pasta disaster that could lead to all sorts of guilt and condemnation for the person who never really engaged in activities to strengthen their anti-pasta choosing/eating muscles. 

Does this make any sense? 

We have to train our engagement muscles. We need to exercise the qualities we want to possess. How can we be strong when we need to be in any area if we never engage in the discipline it takes to be strong in that area?  We can't. 

You want to be a great dad? Engage in time with your kids. You want to be an awesome wife? Practice being awesome to your husband. You want to have arches in your feet? Practice walking around barefooted. You want to be like Honest Abe? Practice telling the truth. Want to be good at avoiding sweets? Practice avoiding them, practice saying "no." It doesn't matter what it is you want, you can have it if you practice deliberate engagement towards that goal. 

If you want success in any area, you have to train your engagement muscles.

The Weight of Numbers

It is that time of year when people become very weight conscious. That means people can get pretty stressed out and overwhelmed by the thoughts and efforts to lose weight. Losing weight does not have to be a mentally heavy situation. ;)
It can be a task that is approached stress free, one day at a time. It's all about playing with numbers. 

So, let's play with some numbers to show you what I am talking about:

It takes 3500 calories to make a pound. So, if a person could cut 3500 calories out of their diet in a week, they could lose one pound per week. Cutting 3500 calories a week is simply cutting back on 500 calories a day! A person could lose 52 pounds a year by cutting back 500 calories a day from their normal caloric intake. If, they had 52 pounds to lose.

Let's make this easier though. If a person cut back on 1750 calories a week, or 250 calories a day, they could lose 26 pounds in a year! 26 pounds in one year by almost doing nothing - simply reducing their intake by 250 calories a day! Who wouldn't want to easily lose 26 pounds per year? IF, they have 26 pounds to lose.

Let's make this even easier. Let's say a person cuts their caloric intake by 100 calories per day. Only 100 calories, thats on 8 ounce glass of orange juice less per day. If a person were to do this every day for a year, they would create a caloric deficit of 36,500 calories in a year. That is a loss of 10 pounds in a year. I know that is only 10 pounds, but it was 10 pounds by basically doing nothing - no effort expended to lose 10 pounds. If this were continued for 3 years, 30 pounds could be lost. In theory...

What is the point? Weight loss is a game of numbers. And, it can be a game that can be easily won if patience, persistency, and consistency are applied. I know we live in a "i want it now" society, but if weight loss is approached in the way I've layed it out above, a person could easily create a lifestyle of good choices and habits rather than a month of torture and frustration. This is all about success versus self sabotage.

To be honest though, my idea supposes a few things must be known and working:

1. a person would have to have weight to lose
2. a person would have to know how much calories they take in per day so they could know how to effectively take in less calories
3. the person's body would have to be operating well, that is to say, no medical/hormonal issues that would be inhibitng a proper running metabolism

The whole point is that weight loss doesn't have to be hard, or overwhelming. It can be lost a little at a time every week. If a person only loses .25 pounds per week, they still lose 13 pounds in year. Do you see this? Even if your scale registers 0 (.25 pounds may not register), you could still lose 13 pounds in a year. Weight loss is a game of consistent patience and application. It is a game of numbers. It doesn't have to be hard, it just has to be consistent - a lifestyle.

I know my idea is too ideal and over simple. But I am only trying to provide a paradigm shift in your thinking. Weight loss truly can be a game of numbers AND it doesn't have to be an impossible game. You can win. It may be a lot easier than you think. 

Thankfulness Muscle

It is Thanksgiving once again. The time of year when we all reflect on how thankful we are for the gifts, joys, and blessings in our lives. Many of us have so much to be thankful for: we have family, we have friends, we have health, we have love. Often times though, in our hectic lives, we take each of these things for granted and we never even meditate on them at all. The truth is, if we stop to think about it, even the very act of breathing, alone, is worth all the thankfulness we can possibly muster. 

If you have breath that means you are alive and that means you should be thankful. I know I write a great deal about being made to move and regaining the strength we were born with, but even if we never lay hold to that realization, though we strive for it, we still have hope. And hope is something to be thankful for. Even our thoughts of becoming more than we are should give us reason to be thankful because we are alive - we want to become greater, we want to swim upstream instead of float downstream. We know that the process of growth is worth the struggle. 

Having said all of this, here are some not-too-often-thought-of things we should be thankful for: 

Desire, imagination, goals, courage, determination, knowledge, passion, tenacity, perseverance, hope, faith, patience, love, sun light, rainbows, flowers, sun sets, blue skies, green grass, clear lungs, laughter, sweet sleep, the smell of coffee, ....

Like I said, these may be not-too-often-thought-of. The truth is, this list doesn't even scratch the surface. I bet we could have an infinite list if we tried. And, an infinite list of things to be thankful for, is also something to be thankful for. 

All I am trying to say is that each of us have more than enough to be thankful for and each of us should spend more than just a certain time of year to be thankful. Every single day is a blessing and no matter what is going on in our lives, every day should be a day of Thanksgiving.

Here is a list of things I am particularly thankful for:

Jesus
My wife
My kids
My friends
Becoming Bulletproof
The people I've met because of BB
My health
Spider-man crawling!
Hair dryers - LONG STORY, but I know you are a little curious.
Food
People that actually read this blog - really, very thankful...

Anyway, if you haven't thought of all the things you have to be thankful for, maybe you should. It can be a great exercise in building your thankfulness muscles. It is way too easy to let the cares of the world weigh us down and rob us of all we have to be thankful for. I will wager that if you practice thinking on the things you have to be thankful for every day, you will indeed build up your thankfulness muscle and you will get even closer to truly becoming bulletproof.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

TA

Community

Have you ever seen a group of lions stalk and take down a water buffalo? It is gruesome. Have you ever seen a group of water buffalos ban together and take out the lions? It is awe inspiring. Here is your analogy: the lions are life, you can stick together with the other water buffalos and draw support and encouragement to overcome life's obstacles. Or, you can be a lone water buffalo and take your chances on getting taken down by the hungry lions.

The point is that life was not meant to be trekked alone. Think about it: if you were meant to be a lone wolf, a lone water buffalo, or a solitary soldier, you wouldn't have any need for vocal cords. By design, you were made for communication. Therefore, you were meant to be in community, around people. 

Last night I watched a group of women support each other and encourage each other. These women got together because they have one goal in common: they want to lose weight. The room was filled with love for one-another. It was amazing. They celebrated each others' victories, and encouraged those that were having more challenges than successes. These women are going to succeed at their goal. They are all rooting for each other and counting on each other. That is powerful. That is community. 

Having a core group of people in your life that you trust, respect, and value is invaluable. They can lend an ear when you need to vent, confess, or celebrate. They can lend a hand when you need guidance, wisdom, and experience. And, they can lend a shoulder when you just feel like you need to hang your head and cry. There is nothing like a good group of friends, or brothers, or sisters, whom you can really rely on. 

Having a group of people in your life who love you and support you is like having an overflowing bank account. You are never broke, or broken, when you are surrounded by love and the support of those around you. Friends who share your life add joy to your life. And, they can make training for a health goal more enjoyable too. Especially if they are actually training with you. As a trainer, I have seen more people laugh and smile when they are training with a friend than I have when they are training alone. I know my jokes are funny, but I cannot create the same experience and "fun" as training with a friend can.

Do you have a community, a group of friends? When it comes to your health, your goals, your life - do you have a group of people who encourage you and root for you? If you don't, you need one. No matter who you are, or how independent you think you are, you need a group. Having friends who travel with you on your journey is a wonderful thing, especially if you have a challenging journey ahead. 

You have vocal cords, right? You might as well use them. Don't get taken out by the lions.