Work Less, Do More

"The greatest geniouses sometimes accomplish more when they work less. It is a very good plan now and then to go away and have a little relaxation... When you come back to the work your judgement will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose the power of judgement."

-Leonardo DaVinci, Treatise on Painting

The key to expanding capacity, in any endeavor, is to push beyond your ordinary limits and to regularly seek recovery. Recovery is when growth actually occurs.

The path to growth is simple: regular exposure to incrementally difficult doses of stress.

Challenging a muscle past it's limits prompts a series of reactions in the body which cause you to become stronger in anticipation of the next stimulous. Your ability to effectively respond to the next stimulous depends on your ability to periodically rest and repair your body. Low rest equals low performance.

Effective exercise requires rest at night, between exercise days, and even in between sets of heavy weightlifting.

Performance specialists recommend using rest breaks at work every 90 to 120 minutes to keep your mind alert.

Taking short walking breaks each 90 to 120 minutes during your day, and grabbing a glass of water to go during these breaks, can be an effective way to stay at the top of your mental and physical game.

This week: rest your mental muscle, use daily exercise to refuel and rejuvenate your brain, body, and mind!

Don't Mistake A Workout For Progress

Don't mistake workouts for progress. There are 168 hours in a week. You are lucky if you spend 5 of them exercising. Exercise breaks down tissue... it's what happens during the other 163 hours that you achieve results.

Too often is exercise alone relied upon to achieve exceptional fitness results.

Be aware when you hear yourself say things like "I'm working so hard in training so...

... I can get away with this appetizer."
... I do not need to do my full 3 hours of cardio per week."
... This extra cake won't hurt."
... I deserve this wine/cocktail/beer."

... Why am I not getting results?"

Keep in mind that training breaks down muscle tissue, augments fibers, wears your body. Your job is to do everything you can while you are "resting" to repair your body.

Progress means repairing your body through...

...eating low on the glycemic index.
...eating 5-6 meals per day.
...eating a vegetable, dense carbohydrate, and lean protein with each meal.
...viewing food as fuel.
...never going more than 2 days without a workout (keep your body guessing).
...sleeping 7 hours per night, minimum.

Break down with exercise, but come back stronger through healthy habits.

No Starving, Just Good Carbing

People fast, trim up, starve themselves and even exercise till they puke. Yet how many people actually stop to consider which foods will spike blood their sugar levels the fastest?

The glycemic index is a measure of the rate and the amount a given food will raise blood sugar levels. Food that breaks down faster (high glycemic) will result in a higher spike of your blood sugar, and food that breaks down slower (low glycemic) will provide a more gradual increase in blood sugar.

So why should you care about using the glycemic index as a measure of healthy eating?

Research shared by Werner J. Berger demonstrates that "eating a high glycemic breakfast results in an individual ingesting 80% more calories during the balance of the day, as compared to someone eating a low glycemic meal." Healthy stats for a guy named Berger!

Fast spikes and crashes in blood sugar devastate the bodies' sensitivity to insulin. Over time this can trigger an increase in blood pressure, LDL cholesterol (bad), and unfortunately, reductions in HDL (good) cholesterol.

"No starving, just good carbing" means switching to high fiber, low glycemic diets.

Many people are frustrated by cutting calories and then not seeing weight loss results right away. While the glycemic index may not be the answer, it may provide insight into your particular dilemma.


Foods to avoid:
All junk food, sodas, sports drinks and most highly processed foods.

Foods to limit:
Sweetened fruit juices, white flour, white rice, white potatoes and especially french fries.



Glycemic Index:
(Low 1 - 55; Medium 56 - 69, High 70 - 100)

Cereals:
Corn Chex - 83
Corn Flakes - 83
Cream of Wheat - 66
Oat Meal - 48

Snacks:
Jelly Beans - 80
Pretzels - 83
Popcorn - 56

Fruits:
Dates - 103
Banana - 56
Mango - 55
Grapefruit - 42

Vegetables:
Parsnips - 92
Carrots - 49
Tomato Soup - 38
Lima Beans - 32

For more information on the glycemic index... just GOOGLE IT already!

Nutritional Warning Signs

The American Heart Association suggests that if obesity trends continue as they have over the last 20 years, then by 2048 every single American will be overweight.

Will you be one of these people? How about your kids... will they?

If you experience any of the following on a daily basis then you may be at risk of obesity:

*You are constantly fatigued
*You crave sweets, coffee
*You're often hungry, irritable, or shaky between meals
*You have frequent headaches
*You experience poor memory / concentration, but are relieved by eating

Again, if you habitually experience any of the above then your diet is imbalanced.

Visit www.sparkpeople.com to get control over your eating habits.

Exceptional Habits Initiate Exceptional Fitness Results

It takes great discipline to develop the 5 habits mentioned in the last newsletter. Yet for every disciplined effort you get an exponential return.

If you commit to a new exercise program when do you start feeling stronger? Right away. You will feel stronger right away because finally you are doing something about it!

Some people set a fitness goal and just don't do anything about it.

Failing to do the easy stuff, that you know you should do, leads to feelings of guilt. Guilt erodes confidence.

Failing to attain fitness results is not the result of one single cataclysmic event. Failure is something that accumulates gradually, day by day, as you take casually what is asked of you.

Four servings of water today instead of eight. Two balanced meals today instead of five. No workout, and only twenty minutes of cardio. That's nine strikes against you for the week, and it's only Monday.

Confidence erupts from people who follow the 5 habits. The feeling of accomplishment you will get is almost as meaningful to your performance as the attainment of results.

Strangely, the 5 habits actually become desirable to you at the first sign of results. You will want to do what is asked of you by the 5 habits because those first tastes of results can taste so good.

The key to exceptional results is to do more than asked. Surpass the 5 habits day by day. Go beyond minimums.

A strength AND a cardio workout today. Six servings of fruits and vegetables today instead of five. Ten glasses of water when the minimum was eight. You are four points up and it's only Monday, outstanding.

This week: say less, and do more.

*Action: Record your water intake, cardiovascular work, and strength training sessions this week. As an excellent manager of people once said "don't make the minimum your maximum."

Inspired in part by audio excerpts of Jim Rohn.

5 fitness tips for a year of fitness results

January 1 2010. The world makes another trip around the sun and you get a fresh chance to make this revolution the most effective to date.

Most folks will shrink into old complaints, repeating the roll over act of last year. Sad, but true. A select few, however, will use this year to regain control of their time and their life. Will that be you?

As you dictate your next 365 days, keep in mind these 5 fitness habits:

#1) Get a Schedule

Not a “routine,” routines are boring and besides they are fascist. Get a schedule, something you can look forward to.
The two most important elements of a schedule: when and where. Woody Allen said 80% of life is showing up. Find a way to make fitness something that you can just “show up” to. Group classes, personal training, and planned one on one time with a treadmill are all different ways to plan “showing up.”

* Schedule 3-5 hours of cardiovascular exercise and 2 hours of resistance exercise per week.

#2) Reign In Your Sleep

Just returning from vacation, how many folks sheepishly admit that the best part of vacation was the sleep? Answer – most people do. On vacation you went to bed early, you slept in, and you felt amazing. Highly effective people incorporate rest into their workout program.

* Average at least 7 hours per night of sleep.

#3) Drink, Drink, Drink

Water, of course, is the fundamental element of life. American’s live their life in a mild state of dehydration. Don’t short change yourself drink water. Your energy, stamina, and body composition are all affected by your water intake. Get a water bottle, get a water cooler, and get a lemon or 5 because you’re about to drink some serious water.

*Drink ½ your healthy body weight in ounces of water per day. Ex: 140 lbs = 70 ounces of water.

#4) Just Eat It

Learn what you need to eat. Consult a qualified nutritionist or check out a website like www.sparkpeople.com to learn how you can fuel your body. Post exercise – get a liquid meal replacement in you as soon as possible.
As a rule, if you cannot imagine what is on your plate growing in the wild then it doesn’t belong inside of you. Ever seen a twinkie tree? Enough Said.

*Consult a professional and take control of your nutrition.

#5) Move with a Purpose

Sports have seasons, animals migrate, weather changes. So too must your fitness program change if you are to experience lasting fitness results. As a rule, results happen in increments of 4-6 weeks. If your program’s not changing every 4-6 weeks, neither will your body.

* Know what you are doing, know why you are doing it, and be determined to act with intent.
...

Fitness results come only after you have taken control of your self and your time. This year marks another series of choices. To complain or to control, to roll over or to take accountability - the choice, as always, is yours.

10 Guidelines to Great Lifting

• Do a general (cardio) warm up before lifting
• Perform a specific light warm up set for each muscle group
• Perform exercises throughout the entire range of motion
• Use light weight with new exercises
• Attend to joint pain immediately
• Design programs to enhance muscular balance
• Avoid bouncing weights at the bottom of each lift
• Train each muscle group with multiple exercises
• Execute correct technique and mental concentration

Derived and adapted from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, The National Academy of Sports Medicine, and fifteen years of banging weights.

Activity Guidelines

Living a generally healthy lifestyle and becoming physically fit are two entirely different things. Living that healthy lifestyle is far less intense, and perhaps even more important, than improving your fitness level.

In other words, it is not always important to “kill yourself” in order to be healthy. In fact, it has been shown that previously sedentary individuals actually attain better results when exercising at lower intensities.

That said, advancing your fitness level can be one of the most rewarding things you do for yourself. You can feel an increased sense of wellbeing, boost your self confidence, have more energy, feel less pain… even overcome depression just by becoming more physically fit, but it does take hard work.

Becoming more fit is a balancing act of patience and urgency, of discipline and play, of know how and of blind faith. Some say that fit people are just born “lucky.” Well… the harder you work, the luckier you will get. Like Machiovelli once said, the means employed to attain an end will be what is required to maintain that end. So choose your methods and your aims carefully.

At the end of the day, any activity above and beyond what you are currently doing will produce some benefit.

Below are the National Strength and Conditioning Association guidelines for general health and for improved fitness levels.

Which of the two are you and which do you want to be?


General Health Activity Recommendations:
Frequency: 5-7 days per week
Intensity: Moderate (increase your heart rate, breath a bit heavier)
Time: 30 minutes total per day
Type: General activity; walking, using stairs, dancing, mowing yard.
Enjoyment: The higher the better!

Improved Fitness Recommendations:
Frequency: 5-7 days per week
Intensity: 60 – 90% of heart rate max (max = 220 minus your age)
Time: 20-60 minutes per day
Type: Any Activity
Enjoyment: The higher the better!

Character

“Character is the product of an exceptional demand upon human ability by a situation. I think the ability of the average man could be doubled if the situation demanded.”
-William Durante


Intellectually the justification to give up is always present. Don’t let your mouth tell your body what cannot be done.

Too often people fall short of their goals because they lack the ability to extract from themselves everything they have to give. In this manner a person becomes stuck in a rut of blame and self pity. Accountability, faith, and persistent execution of a sound plan are what it takes. Overcome the intellectual justification of the impulse to quit and rise to exceed the situation.


Copy and paste the following link into your browser. See it first hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvlmDi_aD10&feature=related

Persistency Is the Enemy

Persistency is the enemy.

Persistent weight gain, compounded over time, is responsible for the majority of obesity in America today.

The "average" person gains only a pound during the holiday season and only a pound and a half over the course of an entire year. One and a half pounds may not sound like much, but with persistence the 1.5 pounds equates to a 10 pound weight gain every seven years.

If you entered the workforce at 22 years old at 170 pounds then slowly, consistently, over time (based on the research) you will morph into a 210 pound 50 year old, a 220 pound 57 year old! If the trend continues then by 64, just after Social Security has kicked in, you're staring 230 pounds dead in the face. Can you imagine the health consequences you could suffer?

The problem is persistence: Weight goes on each year, and typically stays on FOR-E-VER.

At the root of the problem is habits. Inevitably, habits enslave you.

Be a slave to good habits and make persistence your best friend.
your best friend.

BELIEF

Belief is one of the most powerful predictors of purposeful change and success. The more a person believes in themselves, the more likely they are to realize their full potential.

Research reveals that people who truly believe they will be successful are more likely to:

*Perform better in many domains (from academics to sports to keeping new years resolutions)
*Be happy, even while coping with ailments such as depression, anxiety, burnout, alcoholism, smoking and obesity.
*Set and achieve more goals
*Attribute failures to changeable causes (i.e. poor planning in lieu of poor genetics)
*React better to difficult circumstances from bad test scores to career setbacks, stressful jobs, paralyzing accidents, and even chronic illnesses
*Use more effective coping habits such as humor, regular exercise, and preventative care.

How good are you at believing in yourself?

Do you trust that you will do what you have set out to do?

Trust and belief are closely related. A degree of trust is needed before you will believe someone. Perhaps after a small series of “trust tests” you will come to believe in someone, holding what they say as valid and true.

Belief exercise:

Set a modest goal such as attending a new group exercise class or holding yourself accountable to 4 hours of exercise in a given week. Work to attain a series of small goals and reward behavioral results accordingly. After some time has passed, gradually increase the size and scope of your goals.


Trust yourself, believe in yourself, and reward yourself for improved behaviors before improved aesthetics.

“If you can conceive and believe then you can achieve.” - Unknown

…………….

For an archive of all posts view “healthlinkblog.blogspot.com”

The Essence of Beauty Is...

“The essence of beauty is order.”
- Will Durante

Fitness results demand order and structure.

Study beautiful art, music, or sculptures. The beauty within shines not just in the essence of each detail, but also in the harmony of every detail in concert with the whole. So too the exactness of a surgeons hand exhibits meaning with each stroke.

Meaningful actions require a greater why, a definite major aim.

Great fitness programs are ordered and periodized. Every day trumpets cause. Each action exudes meaning. The place for enjoyment is found within the order of the program.

Folks who stumble around the gym, haphazardly, without plan or process are no more likely to attain their goals than the artist who, howling mad, smatters paint all over a canvas and calls it art. It is not art; it has no meaning, use or worthwhile purpose.

Have a plan, have a purpose, have a goal. Act in accordance.

Attaining an outstanding result… is a beautiful thing.


If general fitness is your goal, use the template below to help dictate how to order the timing of your workouts. Learn the proper actions to take within the scope of each parameter and act consistently.


General Fitness Time Program:

5-10 minutes light cardio
5-10 minutes flexibility
10-15 minutes moderate cardio
20-30 minutes weight training
5-10 minutes core exercises
5-10 minute flexibility

STABILITY LEADS TO MOBILITY

The year is 1949, Joe Dimagio sign’s Major League Baseball’s first 100,000 dollar contract, President Harry Truman is inaugurated for a second term, China declares itself a communist state, and two researchers; Kendall and Kendall, prove that the safest and most effective way to prepare for all resistance and stability training is through isolated isometrics… a.k.a. “core.”

Since 1949 it has been known that internal stability precedes external movement. Learning to stabilize your body effectively through isometrics (or core) is the best way to begin a fitness program.

Before you exercise on an unstable surface you must first exhibit sound execution and muscular endurance from a stable position.

Why do some core and balance workouts seem closer to Cirque De Soliel than exercise? In a word: hype.

Consumer’s insatiability fuels fitness trends. View the checkout line at your grocery store. You will see high sugar candy bars flanked by high hype fitness magazines touting the newest and best exercise routine ever.

Hype leads to confusion, don’t buy the hype. If you want to learn something new, perhaps it is best to study something old, like Kendall and Kendall.

Kendall and Kendall proved that isometrics are a basic way to effectively begin an exercise program. Excellent results can be attained by using a flat floor, a step, and gravity. You don’t need to know how to balance on one leg standing on top of a stability ball while juggling dumbbells to develop your balance or your core.

Use isometrics within your exercise program for the first 6-8 weeks in a new routine. After this initial period, aid your program by applying isometrics at least twice per week. Say goodbye to nagging little injuries and say hello to increased muscular recruitment, enhanced coordination, and a higher level of joint stability without appearing to have joined the circus.

Energy

People who perform at their best are not lethargic; they go after their goal with zeal and enthusiasm. They are highly energetic people.

Energy must flow and it will either flow in a positive direction or negative direction. Make sure to put yourself on the positive side as much as you can.

Over the course of your day you will be engaging in activities which will either energize you or leave you feeling drained.

Energy is the locomotive power of your life. Your energy is in your attitude, in the strength of your convictions, in the way you relate to people. Positive or negative, your energy is contagious.

Your energy pays off in the form of an idea, a relationship built, a sale that is made.

Be energetic, and be willing to work to get ahead. To maintain a higher energy level, seek activities that revitalize you, lift you up.

Physical fitness training is an action that, regularly taken, can help to boost your energy.

People who combine mental and physical exercise are more alert, alive, awake, and eager to serve. To be in excellent physical, mental health and psychological health is to be at the pinnacle of your performance.

Exercise your mind and your body for thirty minutes each day, and engage in activities which leave you feeling energized.

Harness the Power of Group

Motivating yourself to work hard at the gym can be difficult.

Fortunately, at great gyms, fitness classes are available for you every day. The well structured, competitive nature of classes stimulates you to work harder and follow a program.

With the format established for you the stress is gone. You just make an appointment in your calendar, show up to class on time and get moving.

Classes using resistance training, cardiovascular training, or some combination thereof have been known to get the best results. Aim to attend two to four different types of fitness classes each week.

Be sure to touch base with the lead instructor before attending a class for the first time. Only then can you be sure this class is the right one for you.

Not all classes are created equally, and no class will be absolutely perfect for you, due to the group nature of the environment. However, when it comes to increasing your personal fitness enjoyment, frequency, and intensity the group environment plays a vital role.

Harness the power of the group to enhance your own good health.

Consistency

Consistency counts.

Continuous, moderate progress trumps sporadic fits of intensity.

The consistent pursuit of excellence will far surpass the occasional stab at perfection.

Create your vision, set your course, and take action… consistently.

Consistently Cut the Fat

The American Heart Association urges adults to limit their calories from fat to less than 25% of their own personal daily caloric limit.

To achieve less than 25% calories from fat in your diet just ration your intake of foods obviously high in fat such as:

*Butter
*Margarine
*Mayonnaise
*Salad Dressing
*Ice Cream
*Cookies
*Chips
*Sugar

Healthy people moderate their consumption of these foods, regardless of how much they exercise.

Want to be healthy? Consistently cut the fats.

Lose Weight While You Sleep

The newest study on obesity, from Columbia University, is just the latest to find that adults who sleep the least appear to be the most likely to gain weight and to become obese.

Other researchers have found that even mild sleep deprivation quickly disrupts normal levels of the recently discovered hormones ghrelin and leptin, which regulate appetite. That fits with the theory that humans may be genetically wired to be awake at night only when they need to be searching for food or fending off danger -- circumstances when they would need to eat to have enough energy.

"The modern equivalence to that situation today may unfortunately be often just a few steps to the refrigerator next door," Mignot wrote in his editorial.

In addition, studies show sleep-deprived people tend to develop problems regulating their blood sugar, which may put them at increased risk for diabetes.

Your Waistline, Your Dollars

Healthcare reform creates an economic interest in fitness and weight control.

"Rising obesity rates are increasing health care expenditures per person in a way that is going to be very difficult to finance," warns Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist from Stanford University's center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research. The article was found on the front page of Sunday’s edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Chronicle announced startling figures from the Center for Disease Control:

$147 Billion spent on obesity related medical spending in 2008 - US
$15.5 Million Medical costs related to obesity in LA, SF, Alameda and Contra Costa counties in 2006
50 % of CA adults do not exercise enough
33 % of children born in 2000 likely to develop diabetes
30 % of adult Americans are obese
20 is the average number of days a year an obese person is unable to work
16.7% of American children are obese

The facts are becoming more and more clear that their must be an accounting.

Imagine how much money 20 days of your average daily salary would cost you. That's just about one months salary, given that you take weekends off. What could you purchase with that sum of money each year, every year?

Isn’t that sum of money worth 5 hours a week of healthy, purposeful activity?

Begin your own personal health care reform initiative. Set an example for your family and community. Emphasize health reform on a personal level and start the accountability at home.

Author of article in the Chronicle, Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead@sfchronicle.com

Fitness on the GO!

Nothing can distance you from your health like travelling away from home. Absence of a gym, perceived lack of time, sleep deprivation, mental stress, and inadequate nutrition are just some of the obstacles faced on business trips.

There are times during your travels when you will need to put your fitness on hold in order to build relationships and get ahead. Just face it, critical relationships are built at the dinners and parties that take place when you are off of the clock. These are relationships that may be leveraged later during times of crisis. You need to invest the time into making your trip as successful as possible. Fortunately, failing at fitness is not necessary to winning at work.

There are three critical elements to monitor while you are away from regular training:

Nutrition:
It’s ok to have a cigarette break… why can’t you have a nutrition break? Company lunches and corporate flights malnourish you. Inadequate nutrition during the day leads to overindulging at night. The only way to be sure you will stay nourished is if you bring healthy food with you. Bring 2 apples per day and ½ pound of almonds with you on your trip. Then, during breaks you can always go get some balanced nutrition.

Rest:
Be fully rested before you leave on the trip. Cumulative lack of sleep is called “sleep lag.” Always leave home on a full tank of sleep.
Be moderately social. Less (alcohol) drinking time means more resting time. Don’t lock yourself away from the world, but enough is enough. When you are serious, one glass is usually enough.
Drink water. Too much caffeine during the day makes it tough to go to sleep. Drink your water.

· Exercise:
o No more than ten minutes at a time of exercise are necessary.
o A study showed that college aged females who exercised three times per day for just 10 minutes at a time burned more calories than those who exercised just one time for 30 minutes straight. This is good news!
o Look to elevate your heart rate right inside your hotel room (email jonathan for a free 10 minute workout you can do while in the comfort of your own home or hotel room).

When it’s time for you to leave your home base take your food, your positive mental attitude, and your workout along for the ride. Getting your rest, staying hydrated and not overindulging at night can make your trip more effective. Being effective on the job can open up more opportunities when you come full circle and arrive back at home.