The Fitness Guru

Okay, okay…..Valerie looks great. Yes, she’s 48. Yes, she’s a mom.

But look what we got under our own roof……..sizzle……….

This is our first Guru Salute, to a site called This Is Why You’re Fat. The concept is simple: it asks people to take pictures with their mobile phones of all the…….uuummmm………interesting food-stuffs that they come across. The site then presents the photos along with the title of the dish. There is no exposition. None is necessary. The photos speak for themselves. Apparently, there is a book in the works.

Eileen,

Turmeric has been used for centuries by the Chinese and Indian medical communities as an anti-inflammitory. The main ingrediant thought responsible is curcumin, which is the oil that gives Turmeric its yellow or orange pigment. The main reason that you might want to choose Turmeric in place of an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory is that, while Advil and Motrin have possible toxic side effects– ulcers, intestinal bleeding, liver issues (fun stuff)– curcumin is non-toxic and will not lead to problems with prolonged use. Studies have shown beneficial results battling IBD, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Cystic Fibrosis and it has even been linked to lower breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer rates. Your chiropracter is right on the money. Great suggestion!

Twinkie–friend or foe? The Fitness Guru speaks with Steve Ettlinger, author of Twinkie Deconstructed, about the history, development and fascination with America’s cult snack cake.

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

It is with a great deal of guilt that I look at everyone at the studio working fiercely with their heart monitors. Yes, it is a brilliant tool. But it breeds compulsion. How many calories burned? How many of those calories are fat? How does this workout compare to yesterday’s? Does the workout really count if I don’t have my monitor with me?

Now, with even more guilt, let me introduce you to Lose It! a wonderful App for the iPhone.

Plug in all your personal information– height, weight, age, gender– and your goal– weight loss, weight gain, or sustaining your present weight. Lose it! then provides you with a log to track how much you are eating and exercising, giving you guidelines for attaining your goal. It comes with an incredibly thorough data base of foods, so, odds are, you will be able to keep very close track of your calories.

Another reason to get rid of your Blackberry……..

This is what our friend, Annabella, is up to when she is not working out at the Guru.

Check out her other videos for Esquire here

The end of a very long month….January. I’m a little fried…..

Check out this podcast debunking (fun word) some fitness myths.

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

You could see the writing on the wall at the Oscars last week. The Best Supporting Actor award goes to the handsome actor who was struck down at the height of a very young career for a role in which he mocks the seriousness of the world around him. “Why so serious?” For some reason, I mutter that to myself every so often. It’s not just a little disconcerting.

I’m giving up my subscription to the NY Times. And I’ve stopped reading most major publications for that matter. The Times, my friend since high school, has simply become way too much of a downer. Things are bad, we all know that, and the papers just seem to want to hammer it home. I’m not sure if I know anyone out there celebrating– well, one person, actually, but I won’t say names because then he stands a chance of a being hunted down and beaten with sticks.

I received these two videos over the weekend within about 15 minutes of each other:

(From Josie Namaste)

(From Rippy Cutty Boy)

“Hope isn’t a strategy.” You have no idea how many times I have heard that phrase recently. It is supposed to be a battle cry, I think, our generation’s “Don’t just sit there, do something.” But its also a dismissal, and that’s problematic. Hope isn’t a strategy, but neither is fear, anxiety, depression or apathy. Take away hope and you take away courage.

What does this have to do with a fitness blog? Stress is a killer. Not simply a killer of the human body but a killer of the human spirit. And as we are moving forward through this time of crisis in the world, it becomes even more important to take a look at how we deal with stress individually and as a community.

I have always suggested to people that they look at their exercise time as true recreation. Its an opportunity in our busy days to re-create ourselves in the image of what we want to be. We control our destinies. That’s why I love what I do– taking people past their own images of themselves and introduce them to potential they never knew existed.

In this time of intense pressures and unknown, offer yourself the opportunity to re-create who you are and offer the idea to those around you. Change your point of view.

When I was running the NYC Marathon a few years ago, I spoke to my friend, Christopher Bergland. Christopher is the ultra-endurance runner’s ultra-endurance runner. He has competed in every major ultra-endurance challenge you can imagine. Certainly a man with this sort of background would have great advice for me. I asked him what to do when the race gets tough, those moments when you just don’t remember why you are on the road. He said, “smile.” Come on, Chris, give me something more– what’s the trick? The TRICK?!?! Smile, he said, and you will feel the change come over you. Sure enough, mile 14 was a bitch, and I thought about what Christopher said and I….smiled. It was the same race, thousands all around me, fourteen miles behind me and over twelve miles to go. But the moment that I smiled, all the pain and confusion washed away. Why? I don’t care. I only know that it worked.

One last video, also from this weekend. It’s tough, but stick around for the end. Wait for it:

Great podcast, I’m intrigued to learn more. Unfortunately, the article isn’t that clear. Can you break down an example of a Hurricane workout we could do at The Fitness Guru studio?- Animal

Ah, Animal. It is the pain of trying to capture the visuals of a magazine with the nuances of audio recording. The Hurricane is meant to shake up, stress, and push the system. It is a series of five exercises. Each exercise is performed for one minute with no rest in between. The idea is to get the entire body to work in the course of five minutes. Consequently, five variations of push ups probably wouldn’t be a good call. But you would want to mix up the exercise. Here is an example:

1. Push Ups
      a. Classic exercise for the upper body. Form is key. Try to keep an even pace as you both lower and lift. And don’t underestimate a full minute of push ups
2. Plyometric Squats
     a. With your feet parallel and should width apart, bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. In one powerful motion, spring up and jump as high as you can. Repeat for aminute
3. Treadmill Sprints
     a. On the treadmill. As fast as you can. For a minute
4. Alternating leg scissors
     a. Lying on your back with your hands behind your head and your head and shoulders lifted, lift both legs straight up to the ceiling. One at a time, lower and raise each leg, maintaining abdominal activation
5. Bench Jumping
     a. Standing on one side of the weight bench, take hold of the sides. Using your arms for support, jump over and back across the bench

I’ll have a video up tomorrow for more specific details on how to best utilize the Hurricane in your workout.