WOD - Cardio2

20 Minute AMRAP ( as many reps as possible) using an Ascending Ladder for Repetitions.

Directions:  Perform the exercises in the order they are given. Perform each repetition on the right and left side before moving onto the next exercise.  Once the 20 min time limit starts, you will perform 1 rep of each exercise on each arm.  You will then repeat the order using 2 reps on each arm, followed by 3,4,5,6.....Keep moving until your time runs out, at which point, you will log the highest repetition (or round) you made it to, plus any partial rounds.

Windmill
Snatch
Thrusters
1 Arm Swing

Play (Or What Adults Call Exercise)

 
 
Why?


You should go outside and play!

Your Paleolithic ancestors were outside all the time and moved constantly in search of food, water, and out of sheer curiosity. This movement would be similar to long slow hikes consisting of plenty of relaxed long slow activity. Not your typical 30 minute power-jog at 75% of your max heart rate. Nope, just lots of long, slow hiking combined with periodic intense sprints, some heavy lifting, and some sporadic play such as wrestling.

This high volume of easy activity combined with low volume of very intense exercise done outdoors developed lean, strong and fit hunter gatherers who could handle anything Mother Nature threw at them. If they couldn’t handle it, they died, thereby weeding out the weak and improving our genetic pool.

I will give you an exercise plan below, but for now understand this. Get outside in the sun and play. Exercising outside will allow your body to absorb the vitamin D it requires to be healthy and strong. It will improve your mood, health, and hormonal balance.


How?


Getting started is never easy, especially if you have been sedentary for a few years. But if you truly want to look like you could star in the Conan the Barbarian movie then you have to get started now.

My exercise/training philosophy is a bit different from popular thinking, but that should come as no surprise to you by now. As I said before, if you want to look like everybody else, do what they are doing, if you want to look different, do the opposite. Well, the masses spend way too much time doing tedius, draining cardio sessions indoors and not nearly enough time exercising the way were meant to. Long, hard sessions on a treadmill while drinking Gatorade are not the answer to a warrior’s physique. Just look at all the fat people who finish marathons.


How many fat sprinters do you know? How many fat, and high level, soccer players? If you want to be lean and strong you need to spend your time lifting heavy things for short snappy workouts and running sprints. On top of this, for repair and well being, do some light and enjoyable cardio such as walking.

Below is an example of a training week for me to give you an idea of how to fit all this in. I will use a regular week for the training plan, but feel free to change up the days of the week and activities to fit with your schedule. The key here is to get lots of low level cardio in, some tough strength training, and a sprint session here and there.


Monday

•Go for a walk at lunch.

•Run spints or play on a sport (soccer, hockey, Ultimate, flag football), just make sure it is safe but intense.



Tuesday

•Go for a walk at lunch.

•Lift weights after work

•Upper body heavy


Wednesday

•Go for a walk at lunch.

•Lift weights after work

•o Lower body heavy


Thursday

•Go for a walk at lunch

•Play with a kettlebell or do body weight drills .


Friday

•Go for a walk at Lunch

•Take the afternoon off or do some outdoor light outdoor activity with your family or friends.


Saturday

•Lift weights

•Lower body light but for more reps


Sunday

•Lift weights or go for a nice long hike

•Upper body if you lift weights


Putting together a training schedule is really not that complicated. The one above is just an example and might be a lot more than you have the time or inclination to do. That is fine. As long as your diet and sleep are in check, you don’t need to train like a competitive athlete to look like one. Remember, your diet is responsible for 80% of your success. Here are some general rules to follow when putting together a training schedule:

- Run sprints once a week or at least twice a month.


- Lift heavy things frequently, aiming for three to five times a week for 30-45 minutes.

o Use a kettlebell, lift weights, or do body weight drills, and try to avoid machines.

o Most importantly chose whatever you enjoy and will stick too.


- Join a sports team.

o Exercise should be fun and social, not a tedius chore.

o Play hockey, soccer, flag football or any other fun sport you know you will love.


- Get lots of easy cardio in.

o Activities such as walking, biking, hiking or roller blading are great.

o Any kind of movement is better than none and will help you lose weight, feel healthy and get plenty of sunlight.


- Do as much of your exercise outside as possible to reap the benefits of fresh air and sunlight.


- Avoid unpleasant cardio such as tough jogs or spin classes!

o This may come as a surprise but long hard cardio sessions do more harm than good.

o Tough cardio sessions such as a spin class raise cortisol and make you slower and weaker.

o Chronic Cardio does not help you become fitter and stronger, it only makes you better at that type of Chronic Cardio.

o Avoid it and you will be healthier than Joe Marathon who has joint problems and looks like he gets sand kicked in his face.

 

 
As I mentioned above, exercise should be fun and social, not a tedius chore. That is why I called this section Play instead of Exercise or Training. Life is too short to spend time doing activities you don’t enjoy. You need to get your fun on man! Our warrior ancestors were physical people who would compete with one another in all kinds of activity such as sparring (play fighting with weapons or bare fists), wrestling, racing, throwing, and lifting. They tested each other for fun and social status. It is a natural thing for men to get together and physically compete.



As for the long easy walks, use these for repair. I find a walk is a great way to get the blood flowing and reduce any pain or inflammation I am experiencing from a tough workout. It is a great way to spend some quality time with a pretty lady, or go looking for one!


Choose activities you enjoy, join a sports team and get outside when you play. You will make new friends, have a great time, and work harder than you would slogging away in a gym. Play time isn’t just for kids, it is for people who want to look and feel their best.


Sample Workouts


Once you get going I highly recommend you choose a physical goal and start training towards that. Whether it is to be the best flag football player in your league or an elite strength athlete doesn’t matter, just pick some goals and start working towards achieving them. Just don’t tell me you are going to run a marathon, that isn’t cool.





Sprints


 
I don’t think anything will make you leaner or more explosive than running sprints. I love to lift weights but have to admit that sprint training is probably the biggest tool I over looked as a young athlete. Sprints are extremely demanding so if you have been out of sports for a while, start kind of easy.



Begin with hill sprints because they are easier on your joints and safer on your hamstrings which get pulled easily. Find a steep hill that is as big enough to gas you out at the top during a full speed sprint. The idea is to go all out during the sprint, then catch your breath walking down the hill. Work up to 10 full speed hill sprints in under 20 minutes.


A workout might look like this:


- Walk or bike to the hill as a warm-up

- Walk up the hill x 1

- Jog up the hill x 1

- Sprint up the hill x 10

- Walk or bike home

Unless you are a sprinter, sprint workouts should be short and intense. Don’t drag them out and kill yourself training them. Short, snappy workouts are the key here.

Lifting Weights


 
There are only a few major lifts that must be central to your weight lifting regimen. They are:


- Squats

- Deadlifts

- Bench Press

- Military Press

- Dips

- Rows

- Pull-ups

- Clean or High Pull

- Barbell Curls


These are the big lifts that will put meat on your bones and build what Dan John calls muscle armour. Muscle mass will make you look more powerful, help you out when you need extra strength, and protect you from damage during impact in sports. I have always said that the best method of self defense is being able to deadlift, pick up off the ground, more than 500lbs. You just don’t want to fight a guy that can pick you up and put you over his head! Spend your strength training time lifting barbells, dumbbells, or any other heavy awkward objects you can find. For example I love to lift big rocks, sandbags, and kettlebells, but I am weird like that!

There are literally millions of different workouts you could do so keep it simple. Split your workouts into upper and lower body sessions. For each workout pick one main lift to go hard and heavy on. The choose 1-3 other movements to get some extra work in at a lower intensity (weight).


Upper Body Sample Workout

-

B Bench Press

o Working up to a 3 rep max (with a spotter of course)

- Pull-Ups

o Hitting a total of 50 reps with various grips

o Do one set between each set of pressing

- Dumbbell Military Press

o 4 sets of 8-10 to really put some mass on your shoulders, making you look broader (chicks dig that)

- Curls

o 4 sets of 8-10 to blast the guns!


Lower Body Sample Workout

- Deadlifts

o Working up to a 3 rep max to really build power through the legs, hips and back

- Farmers Walks

o Grap a pair of the heaviest dumbbells you can manage and go for a walk

o This will build your grip, hips, calves and upper back like nothing else plus burn a ton of calories!

- Planks

o Get into a push-up position, then walk your hands out forwards while your feet stay planted until your abs have to contract hard to keep you from shaking

o Hold for 4 sets of max time


Weight lifting is only fun and productive when you are forcing your body to adapt by getting bigger and stronger. So don’t be afraid to work hard and be sure to mix up your workouts. Try new drills, experiment with different set and rep schemes, and play with different rest times. The key to progressing in the gym is to have a defined goal but to train for it with a variety of methods that keeps you feeling fresh.


I rarely do the exact same workout twice, something is always different whether it is the weight used, the drills chosen, the set and rep scheme, or even the order of the movements. Mix it up! That being said, there is a basic template that most strength athletes follow.

1. Big heavy lift. This always comes first and is the most important part of your training session.

2. Opposing Muscle Group. If you chose a pressing movement like bench press for your primary lift, you will hit a pulling movement like rows next. The goal is to keep your body balanced and work muscles that were resting during the big heavy lift. Don’t follow up bench pressing with incline benching. That is a waste of time, trust me!


3. Weak Points. Usually done for higher reps and lighter weights because the big heavy lift and secondary lift tired you out. Now is the time to blast your arms or work on that six pack. Whatever muscle group you feel needs some extra attention, this is when you do it.


Weight training sessions should always be under a hour. Work at a fast pace, you should be sweating and tired by the end of it. Stick to compound movements that work several body parts at the same time. Keep it fresh by mixing things up. Also, I highly recommend you hire a strength coach at first to show you how to train the power movements safely. Avoid the scrawny personal trainer, instead find an in the trenches kind of guy, or girl, who really knows their stuff. I have been lifting weights since I was 15 but paid a strength coach to make my workout programs and teach me lifts until I was 21. The amount I learned from him was priceless! Even today I train with a powerlifting team and a strongman team so I have experienced people watching my form and giving me feedback. Plus, the team atmosphere makes lifting more social, which is fun.

 
Kettlebells



Kettlebells have been around for hundreds of years but only became popular in North America around 2002. A kettlebell is an iron ball with a thick handle that you swing, lift, throw or carry for a strength training and/or conditioning workout. I have been training with them since then and even used to manufacture them through a local metal smith. My wife uses them regularly too and let’s just say I appreciate the benefits of kettlebell training dearly! They are not some silly fad, they work.


The key to kettlebell training is to learn the lifts and then do short, intense workouts that get you sweating and gasping for air like mad. I call this type of training “resistance-cardio”, and it melts fat off you while building muscle at the same time.


A sample workout might look like this:


Kettlebell Circuit Training Workout

- Swing

- Press

- Goblet Squat

- Clean

- Windmill

- Rack Lunge


Kettlebells are a great fat loss tool and I think are about as primal a training tool as you can get. When swinging my kettlebell around I can’t help but think of a warrior swinging his battle axe in a field to build up his stamina for the next battle. Warriors and today’s combat athlete need to be able to be strong, for long. They need what you might call staying power, because as we see in mma these days, the first guy to gas out almost always looses.

Sleep!

“An hour before midnight is worth 2 after.” ~Sleep Proverb




Why?

Sleep truly has been the missing element to healthy living for me in the past. Like most guys I would rather stay up late and play video games than go to bed early. But trust me when I say this, making the time to improve your quality of sleep will make a big difference in how you look, perform, fell and even age!


Sleep is not a passive state, it is the time our body and brain uses neurological performance, endocrine (hormone) balance, immune system functioning, and musculoskeletal growth and repair. A full night of sleep will enhance your memory performance and creative problem solving skills the next day. It will also further boost your athletic performance, including speed, accuracy, mood and overall energy. Good sleeping habits will keep you health, in fact, your immune system is most active during sleep. To boot, adequate sleep makes you more resilient to daily stress, which supports your immune functioning that much more. And finally, solid, consistent sleep over the long-term has been linked to self-reported “successful” aging.

Still not sold on getting more quality sleep? Just look at the negative effects sleep deprivation:

- cognitive weakness

- you sacrifice all manner of memory abilities, including short-term and working memory

- over time, even long-term memory and the generation of nerve cells are impaired

- impact on emotional mood and well-being (I am famous for being a jerk when tired)

- to increase the risk for conditions like depression and exacerbate pre-existing psychological illnesses

- even a single night of sleeplessness can throw our emotional regulatory abilities out the window.

- a single night of sleep loss increases systemic inflammation, and impairs the body’s ability to handle the kind of moderate oxidative stress we deal with every day

- sleep deprivation was a common torture tool in the USSR, and in extreme cases can cause death, so plenty of sleep is important for a happy and healthy life

Now that you are finally on board, how much do you need? It seems that seven to eight hours is common, some people like me need nine or ten. A rare few can get away with only six or so hours of shut eye, but very few and that is likely not you. Most people think they can get by with less sleep but what they are really adapting to is functioning at a lower cognitive level. In other words, they are getting used to being stupider!


How?

How can you improve your quality of sleep and get more bed time in? Some of the tricks I have used over the years include lunch time naps, enforcing a bedtime, wearing ear plugs, wearing a mask in the summer, turning off or covering all sources of light in the room, and not using an alarm.


For me, going to bed early and sleeping in complete darkness with a mask and earplugs is the only way to ensure quality sleep. I need 8-10 hours in a colder room (which helps with fat loss too!) and I have to be in bed before midnight. Sleeping in is fine, but for some reason it isn’t the same as hitting the hay early.


What is the key to getting to bed early? It is so simple yet important, you need to turn off the TV and computer at least 1 hour before bed, no screens! The lights from screens mess with your body’s natural sleep inducing hormones. I try to avoid screens after dinner, opting to read or spend quality time with my wife instead as a relaxation technique! I recommend it, not my wife of course, you have to find your own.

WOD- Max Effort 1

WOD:

3 Rounds of Max Weight (Ramp up the load each set)

Turkish Getup: 1 rep max
Bottom-up Clean and Press: 5 rep max (each side)
Suitcase Deadlift: 10 rep max (each side)

A Day in the Life of a Modern Warrior

Wake Up



- You wake up naturally to sunlight instead of a blaring alarm

- You are in a great mood because you just had a restful 9 hours of quality sleep

- Ready to conquer the world!


Breakfast
- Since you are hungry from yesterday’s workout you decide to have a breakfast fit for a king!

- You go for a big vegetable omelet for breakfast. 4-6 Omega-3 eggs and a ton of tasty vegetables that you already have cut up and bagged in your fridge, plus some natural bacon on the side.

- You wash it down with a few glasses of water and a tablespoon of fish oil for more of those great Omega-3 fatty acids.

Off to Work

- Nope, this perfect day is not a weekend, it’s a work day but because of your great sleep and nutritious breakfast you walk or bike to work with a smile on your face. If you have to drive that’s fine, because you know that at lunch you will get outside for a bit.


At Work
- At work you sip coffee or a green tea along with some water here and there.

- Instead of sitting in your chair the whole time you are sure to get up and move around now and then to keep your back and hips healthy. You always need to be ready for action!

- You don’t give in to the temptations at the office (I mean the muffins and donuts, not the cute receptionist) because you are still full from breakfast. Plus you know that junk food makes you soft and weak.


Close to Lunch Time

- As lunch time approaches you bust out your left over’s from last night’s dinner of steak and veggies and dig in while still at your desk

- Once you are done eating you are off your chair and outside, going for a nice light walk.

- This isn’t some tough sweaty workout that you have to bother getting changed for and showering afterwards, this is just a pleasant walk to get some sun, fresh air and maybe catch the eye of a cute girl or three.


The Afternoon

- You spend the afternoon working productively because your lunch didn’t give you a nasty insulin spike that dropped your blood sugar and made you crave even more sugar.

- Instead you are full of energy and already thinking about your workout tonight.

- Hunger strikes about an hour before work is over so you munch on some almonds as a pre-game meal to keep you satisfied and make sure you are ready for battle at the gym.


After Work, time for battle!

- On the way home you hit the gym for a duel with a loaded barbell.

- You do some squats and then some farmers walks and finish with some heavy ab work.

- The whole workout takes only 45 minutes from start to finish and although you are physical tired from hitting so many muscle groups; you leave feeling more refreshed than before you got there.

- On the way out the door you pound back protein shake and some dried fruit to feed your muscles and allow them to start rebuilding.

- Victory is yours!


Dinner

- For dinner you grill up some salmon and have asparagus on the side.

- You watch some TV or play some video games for a bit but once 9pm hits it’s time to read in bed for an hour or so.

- Reading is your true down time that allows you to relax and distress completely. The flashing lights from monitors are stressful and interfere with the body’s ability to fall asleep.


Lights Out

- Lights out is at 10pm because you have to wake up around (naturally remember!) 7am for another productive day of training and making money!

- You sleep in total darkness with the shades pulled over the windows, clock lights covered and maybe even a mask during the summer.

- This total darkness allows you to have a deeper and better quality sleep that makes you feel great every morning.



As you can see from our sample “perfect” day above, the goal here is to make time for plenty of sleep, good food, and fun exercise. Most people claim not to have enough time but they can tell you everything about the game that was on last night or what happened on reality TV. Some TV or video games are fine but you are wasting your life if distractions are a central part of your day. Make the time to get a good night’s sleep, make the time to cook delicious and healthy meals and make the time to exercise. The rugged warrior looking back at you in the mirror will thank you!

No Kettlebell Classes July 31st - August 7th

My wife and I are going to West Virginia for a week long vacation from July 31st - August 7.  As such, kettlebell classes will be canceled for that week, resuming on Mon, August 8th.  I am still holding classes this week, including all of my saturday classes on July 30th. 

A Change in Kettlebell Class Format: A Weekly Experiment

 Most people seem to love my teaching style and kettlebell class format.  So normally, I would not change a thing, as some would consider this a “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” scenario.  However, in an effort to provide greater variety and structure, as well as some competition and personal investment, I will be starting a new experiment.  That experiment will manifest in the following way:

One class a week (probably every Saturday), I will be posting a workout of the day (WOD) on my blog.  That WOD will vary each week, and I will cycle through the same WODs every two months or so.  Every person who participates in that WOD will have their performance logged.  I will post the results from each class in the “comments” section under the blog post.  This will serve two purposes.  It will permanently record a participant’s performance so that person can refer to it when we repeat the WOD, and compare results.  The second reason is that, for those interested in competing with other participants, it will provide a log and motivation for that competition.

In class, the WOD will be written on a dry erase board. The WOD format will stay consistent.  Class will start with a warmup, followed by some “skill work.”  This means performing a few exercises to improve the technique or performance of those exercises, and this is not intended to be strenuous.  After the skill work, we will perform the main WOD for that day, which will generally last about 20 minutes.  Some WODs will emphasize minimal rest and constant movement, whereas other will focus on maximal strength and weight or interval training.  After we perform the WOD, I will record everyone’s performance, which usually means the weight used, rounds completed, and time taken to completion. I will then post the results from each class under the comments section of my WOD blog post.  

It is important to note that you can enter comments through the blog as well.  Should you choose to complete the WOD at home or the gym, please feel free to post your results in the comment section, being sure to include your name.  This will allow people who can’t come to class to be competitive with their classmates, and provide a permanent record of their performance to compare to a later date when the WOD is repeated.

Please feel free to provide feedback about this experiment.  I expect most people will enjoy it, but there are bound to be complaints.  It is likely that I can address those concerns as the class evolves into a certain format.  I encourage you all to voice your opinion, whether through email or in person.

             I hope to see you all in class.  Please refer to www.marylandkettlebells.com for up to date class information and scheduling.

Workout of the Day (WOD) - Cardio1

As Many Reps As Possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes

Thrusters (2 Bells) - 10 reps
Snatch (1 Bell) - 15 reps each arm
Clean and Jerk (1 Bell) - 10 reps each arm
2 Hand Swing (1 Bell) - 30 reps

Paleo Eating Versus Modern Diet?

The Paleo Diet

Your eating habits will determine 80% of your body composition, meaning how much lean body mass you carry compared to body fat. The key here is to feed your body the foods it was designed to eat, so it can shed excess fat, build functional muscle and improve overall health.  What kinds of food are we designed to eat?  10,000 years ago, we ate a diet exclusively of meat, fat, vegetables, and fruit.  These are the foods nature intended you to feast on! Physiologically, we are no different than our hunter-gatherer ancestors. There were no obesity problems before grains and processed foods because your body could use what it was fed. The modern diet has changed everything, and it is killing us....literally!


Of Carbs And Insulin

The modern diet is much higher in carbohydrates then our ancestors had access to. Since the 1980's especially, carbohydrate consumption has drastically increased. To combat excess sugar in the blood stream your body releases insulin. Insulin pushes glucose (carbs) into muscle storage first as glycogen and once your muscles are full of glycogen, converts the remaining glucose to fat and then stores it. Every time your body releases insulin you put it at risk of getting fatter. It is extremely difficult to burn fat when in your body is releasing insulin. They key to fat loss and maintaining a lean physique is to control insulin! The key to controlling insulin is to limit carbohydrate consumption. This is it. Although exercise and plenty of sleep helps, 80% of your body composition will be dependent on your diet. Low insulin levels allow you to burn fat so you can get lean and stay that way!

This is why low carb diets work. They give your body the opportunity to burn fat as its primary fuel source, just like our ancestors bodies did. That being said, you should still eat some carbohydrates, about 150 grams or less per day compared to the norm of 300 to 400 grams in the modern diet. The less carbs you eat, the faster fat will fall of your ass. The problem is that optimum nutrition is next to impossible with an ultra low carb diet. So don’t be afraid to eat plenty of vegetables and some fruit to bolster your nutritional intake. You will keep your total carbs (insulin) low, but eat a diet loaded in nutrition.

So here I am recommending 150 grams of carbs a day from veggies and fruit while the average person is eating 300 to 400 grams per day of sugar, grains and corn products. No wonder everybody seems fat, they are eating way to many carbs! You will not only be decreasing the total amount of carbs consumed, but also choosing more nutrient dense (instead of calorie dense) sources, to ensure optimal nutrition.

Here is a quick list of the good carbs you will have access to:

- northern hemisphere fruit (apples, oranges, pears, etc)

- vegetables (pretty much any of them and as much as you want, but remember that soy beans and corn are not veggies!)

- nuts (the carbs are almost completely fiber)



And that is it! I'm sorry, were you expecting/hoping for potatoes, whole grains, whole pasta or at least rice? Sorry, if you are overweight right now I can pretty much guarantee that your body is carb intolerant and shouldn't be consuming starches. Although some carb sources are better than others due to high fiber or nutrient density, ultimately all carbs must be converted into glucose and either burned as energy, stored as glycogen, or converted to fat. I repeat, all carbs, even the healthier ones. And no, you don't need carbs. Your body can create it's own carbs through ketosis, by breaking down amino acids. This is pretty extreme though, just limit your carb intake to what you body can use easily and you will lose fat. Your brain consumes about 50 grams of glucose a day and a tough workout will deplete about 100-150 grams. So there you have it, any more than 200 grams is over kill. Besides, the idea of the Paleo diet is to teach your body to burn fat as fuel instead of relying on a steady diet of carbs. You will have to get the bulk of your calories from protein and fat to control insulin, build muscle and be lean enough to turn heads at the beach!



Here is a short list of Bad Carbs

- sugar

- processed food (anything in a package)

- grains

- pasta

- starches such as potatoes (for very high volume training athletes only)

- rice (for very high volume training athletes only)

What about fat?
Just as our body can produce its own carbohydrates, our body requires a constant supply of "good fats."  They provide essential fatty acids that directly affect our metabolism, hormonal balance, and immunity.  "Good" fats include nuts, plant oils, coconut, avocado, and meat fat.  If you are focusing mostly on plant fats and nuts, the fat in the meat you eat will be fine.  Don't freak out about the saturated fat content!  In fact, if you go as far as to eat "grass fed" meats, that fat will be extra healthy, providing high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.  High omega-3 level combat a host of diseases and disorders, so you really want to make sure you are getting enough of them.  The final note about fat is that it slows down digestion, which in turn, lowers the insulin response of a meal.  And just as you read above, keeping insulin levels low is necessary to burn fat and stay healthy.
What you have just read may be leaving you shocked and destitute. Trust me, I have been there, I love carbs and would eat them all day if I could without feeling and looking like a slug. The sad reality though is that a diet of over roughly 150 grams of carbs makes me gain weight and feel sluggish. My body thrives on a high protein, high fat, low carb diet and so will most people, it's actually programmed in your genetic code. The rules are pretty simple.  No grains, dairy, or legumes.  Eat as much as you want of everything else. This is how are body's were meant to be fed. If you still aren't convinced, read below to learn how your body reacts to a consistent high carb diet.

What is Happenning to Modern Man?

Obviously people didn't used to struggle with their weight to the extent that we see today. The obesity and type-II diabetes epidemic that is sweeping society is a fairly new phenomenon. The fact is that a modern diet high in grains, corn, sugar, trans fat and other processed foods is practically designed to make you fat and lower your ultra important testosterone levels.



It is literally killing you slowly! Add this diet to a sedentary life of sitting at work, sitting in the car, and then sitting on the couch and you have yourself a recipe for a whole lot of fat people. Don't believe me? Then make a trip to your local Wal-Mart, Las Vegas or any amusement park and watch the whale-people waddle by.




Processed foods and a sedentary lifestyle will make almost anyone fat. But at the risk of sounding like a codling parent, it's really not your fault, the odds are against you. Factor in all the misinformation out there on health and weight loss and it only gets worse. Everywhere you turn there is some new fad diet, some magical pill, or a silly contraption that will somehow melt the fat off your belly effortlessly. Guess what? It is all a lie. The weight loss business is not trying to help you lose weight. It is trying to sell you the idea of losing weight. Heck, if their products really worked it would be front page news and everyone would be on board tomorrow. The fact is there is no magical product to make you lose fat effortlessly, but there is a solution, you just have to take a look back at your ancestors for it.



Our Ancestors

I don't think people realize just how close to rawhide our ancestors were up until the industrial revolution. Before cars people either rode a horse or walked to get where they needed to be. Before grocery stores they literally killed or grew what they ate. Before specialized trades they actually built their own house, made their own tools, and did their own dirty work. Life was tougher, simpler, healthier and less stressful except in times of war or famine, which of course served to weed out the weak. Simply put, people burned a ton of energy doing everyday activities and ate nothing but organic food.


In fact, 150,000 years of human evolution was spent living as hunter gatherer populations. Only in the last 10,000 years did agriculture begin, and even then only in certain populations. What this means is that we are still genetically designed to be hunter gatherers. Our bodies haven't even properly adapted to grains yet, let alone TV dinners laden with trans-fats. We are designed to spend our days hiking looking for food, doing a bit of sprinting now and then, and if we escaped from whatever was chasing us, to possibly lift and throw some heavy stuff or wrestle a rival in our tribe.


What I am getting at here is that we are not meant to spend our days sitting on our fat asses sipping on pop! We are meant to be ferocious warriors and hunters. I guarantee your ancestors were, or else you wouldn't exist right now. Before agriculture, only the strong survived, and they got all the hot, fit cave chicks too, thereby spreading their genes instead of those of the weakling. Now I think it's time we take back our manhood, our health, and our bodies. It is time we embrace our past and be like the warriors of old, strong of mind, body and spirit. Now I am not telling you to put on a spiked helmet and run down the street with a battle axe chopping up fat people. What I mean is we need to embrace the spirit of our uber masculine ancestors who slayed beasts and rivals to protect themselves and feed their families.


Believe it or not this process begins in the kitchen because how you eat will determine whether you look like Tarzan or the fat kid who wears a shirt in the pool.