Survival of the Fittest

Jen Sinkler, Experience Life senior editor, compiles a hodgepodge of fitness information for sporty types with a little help from her editorial assistant, Nik Illies.

Experience Life Magazine

What Is The Facebook Family’s Favorite exercise?

Last week on Survival of the FittestsFacebook page we asked the community what their favorite exercise was and why. We got a lot of great replies so here is a list of the exercises people love along with their reasons why.

  • Deadlift. -David D
  • Chin-up, “Nothing is more satisfying than winning the eternal struggle against gravity and flying up like a rocket ship.” -Rog L
  • Running, “Because I love it.” -Matt B
  • Snatches, overhead squats and muscle ups. -Jaco W
  • Push press or push jerks, “Because I don’t suck at them.” -Jennifer S
  • Snatch, “They are the best indicator of performance, and they are just really fun.” -Wil F
  • Deadlift, “It calms me.” Angel J
  • Deadlift or some form of pull-up. -Fredrik J
  • Deadlift. -Allen R
  • Kettlebell swings, “Because they are good mind body connection.” -Amanda F
  • Double kettlebell front squat. -Thomas F
  • Tabata, “Because I like the short breaks.” Stephanie T
  • Crawling patterns. -Marc C
  • Trail running. -Paul S
  • Snatch, “It works a ton of muscle groups and I feel like a bad a$$.” -Wendy Y
  • Deadlift and benchpress, “Most fun.” -Mark S
  • Kettlebell snatches, “Makes me feel strong flinging weight over my head.” -Erika M
  • Kickboxing. -Jennifer H
  • Cleans, “Because they are short and powerful.” -Angie M
  • Rugby, “It’s a full body and fully mental workout!” Liz E
  • Running. -Kage E
  • Deadlifts, “Just something about overcoming that mental block to lift some heavy weight from the floor.” -Scott M
  • Burpees. -Kimberly M
  • Incline dumbbell bench press, “Because my wife likes my pecs.” James F
  • Deadlift, “Full body movement, and what’s more functional than picking up heavy weight up from the ground?” -Dan E
  • Outdoor cycling, “I love the challenge, the cardio workout, conquering hills and the fellowship of riding with my cycle club peers.” Tracie T
  • Burpees, “Because I hate them so much.” Steve C
  • Burpees, “I hate burpees but they are my go to exercise!” -Anna P
  • Squat. -Mark W
  • Deadlifts. -Joe B
  • Walking. -Sharon C
  • Pull-ups/chin-ups, “Because it took me over a year of working on them to finally get one.” -Katie M
  • Deadlift, squat, double Russian kettlebell swing. -Clif K
  • Deadlift, “Because I love feeling my muscles pull together to get that weight up, it just feels good.” Jennifer B
  • Zercher/safety bar squats, “Works full body, entire posterior and core!” -Mark T
  • Clean and jerk, “Something about moving 200+ lbs off the hard deck, popping if over your head and then dropping it so loudly, people in gyms two states over notice you.” -Kevin S
  • Stairs. -Hilani E
  • Rope climbing, “Because it makes me feel like Tarzan.” -Kevin S
  • Muscle ups on rings, “My favorite part because I can’t do them yet so I enjoy the challenge.” -Ron H
  • Deadlift, “It’s a true test of my strength comprised from my overall training in the gym.” -Jason B
  • Get-ups. -Steve B
  • Zercher squats, “Starting from the bottom you get a deadlift and squat all in one!” Slade J
  • Deadlifts and Turkish get ups. -Jennifer S
  • Squats, “Because I can squat heavy and I’m one of the few woman at my gym in the squat rack and my hard work is paying off because my botty is looking way better!” -Shanna S
  • Squats with kettlebells, “I love to feel the burn!” -Kristen M
  • Zercher squat, “I have a love-hate thing for them.” -Danny W
  • Running, “Frees my mind and pumps me up!” -Candice G
  • Lunges, “They are functional and they produce results so it’s a win win!” -Melanie P

A ton of great replies this week, thank you to all who contributed. It looks like the most popular exercise was the timeless deadlift, but whatever your favorite exercise is, just make sure you get out and make it happen!

 

Experience Life Magazine

How Do You Define Fitness? In The Words of The Facebook Community

This week on Survival of the Fittest’s facebook page we asked, “How do you define fitness?” Here is a compilation of the comments of how the community defines fitness for themselves along with their first name and last initial.

  • Being able to do a task. -Dan M
  • Having the physical capacity to handle whatever life throws my way. -Melanie P
  • Looking good naked. -David D
  • What is achieved when you live a healthy lifestyle. -Mark S
  • Being stronger, faster and more capable at 40 than I was at 20. -John M
  • Competency, capacity and capability. -Tim M
  • Playing tag with my kiddos, keeping up with them and not getting hurt doing so. -Darcy F
  • “Fitness to me is being capable to handle any obstacle thrown my way physicaly and mentally.” Kevin S (–Erl S)
  • Outrunning a friend when a bear attacks. -Jeanna B
  • The ability to maintain a level of mental, physical, and emotional energy that sees me through the day feeling patient, balanced, nourished and happy. -Meghann B
  • The ability to do a task. -Anthony S

There you have it, how the facebook community defines fitness in their own words. Thank you for all who replied. However you define fitness for yourself, cultivate it and prosper!

Experience Life Magazine

Facebook Family’s Most Helpful Fitness, Health or Nutrition Advice

This week on Survival of The Fittests’ facebook page, we asked the community about their most helpful fitness, health or nutrition advice was, and if they had to pay for it.  There were many great replies. Here is a compilation list of what people had to say along with their first name and last initial.

  • Eat real food, not too much. Do what you say you’re going to do. -Joe B
  • Get gluten free and akaline and stay that way. -Frank P
  • ‎”Be the scientist” when it comes to your body and nutrition – you gotta figure this stuff out for yourself if it is going to be a lifestyle choice. -Julie B
  • ‎You get fit in the gym, you get lean in the kitchen -Britteny T
  • Shop the perimeter of a supermarket. -Angie M
  • Squat squat squat. -Alfons Z.
  • Women can and should lift heavy. -Erica S
  • Learning to Snatch and Clean & Jerk will teach you how to squat better. -Erik B.
  • “In the context of ‘paid’ advice, there’s two books I hold dear: first is The New Rules of Lifting for Women because it totally helped jump start my passion for weight lifting, and second I think I’d have to say is Starting Strength as it made me fall in love with barbell training.” -Protein Pow(d)er Recipes
  • Having a paleo lifestyle changes how you view health, with performance and composition improvements. -Jaco W
  • ‎”The body is survival based with multiple back up systems for critical functions.” -Mike N
  • Be consistent and eat clean. -Yvette C
  • The body adapts to whichever stimulus you place upon it. Choose your stimuli wisely. -Darcyflex Inc
  • Every hour of sleep you get before midnight is worth two after midnight. -Kelly M
  • Be patient and consistent, the gains will take care of themselves. -Simon R
  • Pick up REAL weight! -Elizabeth M
  • Test everything. -David D
  • Food is fuel, not your friend. Eat less, eat better and move more. -Amy K
  • Lift heavy, go for longer, mix it up in the gym, eat protein, ditch the alcohol and sugar. -Justine V
  • Read Mike Boyle’s stuff. -Mike C
  • “If someone tells you they have all the answers, they’re lying.” It was free, I just don’t remember who said it. Also, “If you really want to do something, you’ll do it. Anything else is just an excuse.” -Jennifer V.
  • “With a calm and stable mind you can see (figure) everything exactly as it is” –Dali Lama, Tenzin Gayatso. -Erl S
  • Health is much more than the absence of disease. It is thriving in mind, body and spirit. Eat real food that was once alive, not to much. Supplement where you’re still missing. Treat intense exercise training with a purpose as medicine. Realize the importance of minimal effective dose. After you have passed the point of adaptation for your body you are no longer benefiting and just wearing down your body. You don’t get stronger, faster or more explosive by working out, you get stronger, faster and more explosive by recovering from the adaptation working out creates. -Me

So there you have it! Some great advice there. Some of it simple, some of it deep, some of it paid for but all free for you! Hopefully you are able to pull something here for yourself.

(Photo via http://healthtips-sastha.blogspot.com/)

Experience Life Magazine

Facebook Family Favorite Healthy Desserts

The other day we asked Survival of the Fittest Facebook fans what their favorite healthy dessert recipes were. There was such an overwhelmingly great response that we decided to make a compilation of comments so you can try them out for yourself. Sharing is caring!

Picture via www.dessertstalker.com

Fruit and Then Some

  • Chop up apples with peanut butter and cinnamon; serve warm. -Erica M.
  • Baked apples or pumpkin pie. -Joseph C
  • Chopped Pink Lady apples fried up with toasted pecans. -Erica S.
  • Fresh raspberries, sliced pear with 2 tbsp. chilled coconut milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon. -Cynthia R.
  • Bananas and apples braised with coconut oil. -Yvette C.
  • Bowl of mixed berries and organic vanilla yogurt. -Jason S.
  • Dice apple, mix in a dash of cinnamon, a tsp. of brown sugar, and a tbsp. of rolled oats, then microwave it for 1.5 minutes. -Tamara C.
  • Trader Joe’s dried peaches or raisins smeared with almond butter. -Kyle G.
  • Blueberries and strawberries topped with Greek yogurt. -Katherine P.
  • Grilled fresh figs with yogurt on top. -Steve C.
  • Fresh mulberries and raspberries, sometimes adding honey. -Bevan E.
  • Bananas and almond butter with roasted flax seeds -Nikki A.
  • Chocolate mousse with whipped avocado. -Gina D.
  • Chia coconut pudding with lemon zest and blueberries. -Amber L.
  • Berries and creme freche. -Jennifer V.
  • Kiwis and apples -Alioune U.
  • Dates -Jackie K.
  • Homemade kefir and blueberries. -Joe T

Protein Lovers

  • Protein Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies -
    1 cup Almond Butter
    2 cups Oatmeal
    1/2 cup Agave Nectar
    Handful or two of Walnuts and Pecans (ground a bit in a blender)
    1-2 Scoops of Protein Powder ( I use vanilla egg protein but it tastes good with any kind)
    1 tsp Cacao Powder
    Mix with spatula or fork in a bowl or I use a nonstick pan because it’s just easier to handle with nonstick =D.
    Then take a little smaller than golf ball size portions in your hand and flatten in to a cookie shape then set on a plate or in a container and throw them in the fridge. – Shannon B
  • Coconut milk poured over fruit. If you use frozen fruit (no sugar added, please) it turns into [medium-chain triglyceride] MCT ice cream. Throw in some crumbles of 86 percent dark chocolate. -Steve K.
  • Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese is my new favorite. -Alicia K
  • Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries & egg whites blended up to make “ice cream”; maybe  sliced almonds on top. -Shannon K
  • Plain Greek Yogurt w/a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder. -Kristine C
  • Cottage cheese and peanut butter. -Adam S

I don’t know about you but I’m going to have to give some of these a shot! If you have any more delicious recipes to share please leave them in the comments section.

 

Experience Life Magazine

If Your Food Glows, You Will Glow

 

Biophonts of fresh pine needle on left, not fresh on the right.

Pictured on the left are the biophotons in a fresh pine needle. On the right are the biophotons of a not-so-fresh pine needle. Note the diminished light.

What Are Biophotons?

German scientist Fritz-Albert Popp is given most credit for bringing the science of biophotons to light in the 1970s. A photon is a single particle of light. Biophotons are weak emissions of light radiating from the cells of all living things. Plants, animals and humans generate up to 100 photons per second, per .15 square inches (1 sq. centimeter) of surface area. The light is too faint to be seen by the naked eye, but biophotons have been detected and verified using photomultiplier tubes. So in essence, every living organism is literally glowing.

The depth and implications of biophoton research can be very complex, so I’m going to try to sum up limited knowledge specifically about how it applies to food.

Biophotons are the driving force that orchestrate and coordinate all the cellular processes in a living system. This light is stored and released in the DNA of our cells. Popp’s research found that the more coherent an organism’s light emissions — that is, the better their communication — the higher the state of overall health. Popp also tested the biophotons of many cancer patients, finding in every instance that they had all lost their natural coherence. Their internal communication seemed to be scrambled; it was if their light was literally going out. The greater the store of energy and the more coherent it is, the more energy is available for healing and maintenance of health. The opposite of this would be disease.

Biophotons And Food

The more light the food can store, the more energy/information you are able to absorb from it, and the more it will contribute to your own coherence. Biophotons may be one of the biggest indicators of true nutrient value, and how a food is grown and prepared can play a huge part in this.

In one experiment, Popp compared the biophotons in free-range eggs to those produced by caged hens. While one could claim there isn’t much difference chemically, the biophotons from the free-range eggs had far more coherence than that of the caged hens.

Just as in the human body, the greater biophoton coherence is in food, the healthier it is. According to Dr. Gabriel Cousens, founder of Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, organic food has been found to have five times the coherent biophoton levels of conventionally grown food. And wild grown food is double that! So even if someone were to analyze the conventional nutritional value (vitamins, minerals, etc.) of organic versus conventional produce and conclude there isn’t much difference, there is still a huge difference in the life-giving energy of biophotons. Furthermore, according to Cousens, no matter the food source, once cooked or pasteurized it loses virtually all of the biophotons. Live food is alive. Cooked food is dead. And processed food is not food at all.

A side note on biophotons: Your body is also able to directly absorb biophotons while out in the sun, both through your eyes and through your skin.

So, make sure you eat plenty of raw food, and get a little sunshine. And let your body glow!

If you’re interested in digging in further, check out this  clip from an interview with Dr. Gabriel Cousens about biophotons.

Other References:

The Field: Lynn McTaggart

The Intention Experiment: Lynn McTaggart

What Foods Are High In Biophotons: Don Amerman

McDonald’s and Biophoton Deficiency: Dr. Mercola

Five Principles That Can Heal Virtually Any Illness, Part 2: Dr. Mercola

(Photo via: R&M connnections)

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Experience Life Magazine

Moving On Up: The Jefferson Deadlift

Demonstrating the Jefferson Deadlift to Dos

I showed Coach Robert dos Remedios how to do the Jefferson Deadlift last summer; we promptly started calling it the "pony deadlift" instead. You can see why.

If you follow my updates on Facebook, you already know I’m hype on a modification of the deadlift called the Jefferson. It’s a touch odd-looking, but I’m filled with adoration for it, in no small part because of its role in eradicating the lower-back pain I used to feel when I deadlifted. (Essentially, I needed more asymmetry in my fitness regimen, and this helped do the trick. More on this topic at my “Back to Deadlifting” post.)

Essentially, you straddle the bar and stand up with it still between your legs. Every man I’ve ever demonstrated this for winces initially, but honestly, dudes, the height of the bar is easily adjusted by widening your stance (ahem).

Anyway, it’s been a staple in my routine since last fall, and as luck would have it, it was one of the lifts in the United States All-Round Weightlifting Association (USAWA) meet I competed in this past weekend.

I pulled a USAWA record — and personal record — of 300 pounds. Also for the record: The cheesy grin was at the prompting of my judge, who said to me beforehand, “You’d better smile if you make this lift.”

While I was pleased with my own performance, a world record Jefferson pull occurred in the 95 kg men’s class. Check out David Dellanave picking up 605 pounds.

If you’re interested in giving the Jefferson a go yourself, ask for some coaching and start with light weight. More how-to from strongman Logan Christopher at this post.

Experience Life Magazine

Survival Challenge 5: Max-Rep Deadlifts

Conventional (pictured) or sumo style deadlifting is allowed for this challenge.

This week’s challenge: As many 1.5X bodyweight straight-bar deadlifts as you can muster.

How to:

  • Stack a barbell until it weighs 1.5 what you do stark naked. Pulling the barbell either conventionally or sumo style, deadlift it for your max number of reps. (Please note: We like and accept all entries! If you can’t pull this amount of weight, pull something lighter and submit a video anyway!)
  • Take video.
  • Upload it to YouTube.
  • Call it “Survival Challenge Deadlifts: [XX] Reps.”
  • Paste the link to your video in the comments section of this post, along with your number, by end of day Sun., Mar. 4.

Finer points:

  • No lifting straps. Just pure, strong hands. Mixed grip is A-OK.
  • If you’re using iron plates, you can bounce them between reps (if your gym allows it, that is).
  • If you’re using bumper plates, you cannot bounce them between reps.
  • Once you take your hands off the bar, your set is done.
  • Don’t use the rule above to camp out between reps. If you linger for too long, your set will be called. Shall we say…five seconds between reps? But mostly, don’t take an abusive amount of time between reps.
  • IMPORTANT: ***Stop lifting*** before your form starts to degrade. That last rep or two isn’t worth pain or injury.
  • Again, we recognize this one is a biggie: If you can’t pull this amount of weight, pull something lighter and submit a video anyway.

For the full schedule of challenges, click here. Any questions?

Experience Life Magazine

Survival Challenge 4 Results: Max Rep Chin-Up

With our biggest turn-out yet, the max rep chin-up challenge came to a close last week. As always, a big thank-you to everyone who gave this arm-burner a shot and turned in a video!

A quick recap of this weeks challenge: Hang from a bar, palms facing toward you, and do as many chin-ups as you can. Chin must be above the bar on top and arms straight on bottom, no kipping allowed.

Here are the results.

In a tie for first place with 22 reps is Jaime Rodriguez (who busted this out after doing 5 sets of 5, making it that much more impressive) and yours truly. I finally decided to throw myself in a challenge!


In another tie for second was David Dellanave and Zack Henderson with a wow-sy 20 reps apiece.

Thanks to his cheering section (a whole bunch of guinea fowl), Nik Tobutt was able to pump out 13 reps. This video is awesome, as it is set in a barn.

Next up is James, who got a whopping 33 reps. We would have listed him sooner, but he broke the “no kipping” rule. Still, mad respect, as this is still quite an accomplishment.

Shout-out: The inimitable Roger Lawson and back-squat king Kevin Kirsch (61 reps!) also completed this challenge, but the dudes did not produce videographic evidence. Dang it!

For the women, there was an unbelievable four-way tie between RKC Kelli Keil Keyes (you’ve GOT to see how high she pulls — every single rep is chest to bar), Heather Heynen, Lindsay Cappotelli (recall her strong performance in the back squat challenge) and Girl Gong Strong Neghar Fonooni all reaching 15 reps! (Please admire Neghar’s socks.)

It’s hard to explain how difficult it is to work up to this many reps, which makes the fact that four people did it all the more shocking.



With an even ten reps was  Jen Sinkler, who managed to do all 10 without complaining to the camera! :)

Coming in with 9 reps was Marianne Kane of myomytv.com. She was so close to 10 I want to give her a 9.8976! Chin-ups start at :46 seconds.

Another tie at 5 reps were Cheri and Stefani. Good job, ladies!

Maria rings in with a super-respectable 4 reps.

And after just starting dead-hang chin-ups the week before, Kimberly Mills comes in with a solid 3 reps. That’s what you call fast improvement — keep up the good work!

Again, thanks to all those who participated in this week’s challenge and great job!

The next challenge is Deadlift 1.5 body weight for max reps. Don’t forget to record and turn in your results to the comments section of that week’s post!

Experience Life Magazine

Impossible Is Only a Suggestion

If you had nothing to compare what you thought was possible with what you had already done, what do you think you would be capable of?

For the most part, our entire view of existence is based on relativity. The problem with relativity, however, is that it is based on our experience so far — not what is actually possible.

Impossible is just a big word that is thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they’ve been given rather than explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It is a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing!” Mahammad Ali

Take the outcome of this race, for example.

This may be one of the most powerful videos I’ve ever seen. Keep in mind this is a championship race — they are all top-tier racers. What this athlete does is simply amazing; almost unbelievable. But what is even more thought-provoking is the fact that she obviously had the potential to win the race by at least a half a lap had she not fallen, but without having fallen and NEEDING to unload her maximal untapped potential to regain her spot, it likely never would have been unleashed.

Think about what the woman in that race would have thought had someone come up to her before the race and told her, “Did you know you are physically capable of winning this race by half a lap?” It would have sounded like a pretty impossible claim, right? But when she was put in the position she was in, her beliefs no longer ran the show.

What does heavy mean to you? What is fast? These things only exist relative to something else; say, your one-rep max or a previous PR. Often we determine what is possible based on evidence we already have and what we’ve already done. You would have to be out of your mind to be in a race among your peers, who are all purportedly of approximately equal speed, and think you could blow them all away by half a lap. But your mind will play tricks on you. Your mind loves relativity. So being literally out of your mind is exactly where you want to be to see the impossible become possible. That is when it becomes possible to do things like lift a car to save a life.

People are always getting stronger, running faster, jumping higher. Look at the world record for the 100-meter dash. In 1964 it was 10.06 seconds. A couple years ago Usian Bolt grabbed it with an impressive 9.58 seconds. In the world of the 100-meter dash, that’s a huge difference. But if you look at the record, over time it was slowly broken, over and over again, by about .04 seconds or less. If a human was capable of doing it in 9.58 seconds, why did it take 50 years to get there? Some would argue training advancements and the like, but I would argue because with every record breaking speed, the belief of what was possible was slowly pushed farther and farther. Making a jump of .5 seconds has most likely always been possible, but not many people would believe such a thing. Simply put, it’s easier to believe you can run .04 seconds faster than a full .5 seconds. This can go for anything. Running faster or lifting more, to be sure, but also look at how the X Games or freerunning have advanced over the last 10 years. People perform feats of strength, grace, power and agility now that were only imaginable in a video game a few years ago.

Think about this. If you didn’t know how much weight was on your bar, relative to how much you perceived your personal max weight to be, how do you think this would change your perception of how heavy it is? And how do you think it would change if you truly thought there was much less than there really was?

What is possible may only be limited by our own imagination and regulated by the relativity of what has already been accomplished. What could you be, what could do, if you threw relative possibility out the window and wrote yourself a new paradigm?

We create our paradigm, then our paradigm creates us. It is not about your potential, it is about accessing it.

“Miracles happen, not in opposition of nature, but in opposition to what we know of nature.” St. Augustine.

Impossible is only a suggestion.

[Photo credit here.]

Experience Life Magazine

Survival Challenge 3 Results: Max-Rep Back Squats

The max-rep back squat challenge has come to a close. A grateful thanks to all who participated in this week’s challenge. There were once again some impressive performances!

A quick recap on this weeks challenge: Load a barbell with your body weight, throw it on your back and squat as many times as you can.

Here are the results from those who turned in a video. Results will be ordered from highest to lowest reps.

Coming in first with an unbelievable 61 reps was Kevin Kirsch a body weight of 195! That would be an impressive day’s worth of reps, let alone in a single set. Kevin is a trainer at Crossfit 215, and his constant mocking of Jen led to her first muscle-up. Oh, peer pressure.

In second place is RKC swing-master Melody Schoenfeld with 30 reps at 100 pounds. What’s really impressive about Melody is her willingness to get out of her comfort zone with these challenges. Applause, applause for bravery!

This was a late, great entry from Lindsay Cappotelli with 30 purty reps, and killer knee socks to boot. She goes and goes!

There was a tie for third with 24 reps between Stefani Busch at 150 pounds and Mike Fout at 185 pounds. These two are ballers.

In a very close fourth-place finish comes Emily Socolinsky of Fivex3 Training with 22 reps at 140 pounds. These are breathtakingly beautiful reps.

Next up: Roger Lawson of Rog Law Fitness with 17 reps at 210 pounds. As he says, he puts the a$$ in a$$-to-grass squats.

Rounding off the field with 10 reps apiece were the quite fabulous Marianne Kane from myomytv.com with 127 pounds and Kimberly Mills at 135 pounds (5 pounds over body weight). Noteworthy: Every single rep Marianne does is flawless. Also noteworthy: Kimberly, though still relatively new to lifting, has been working hard this past year, and has lost 60 pounds doing such quality exercises as the squat.

An honorary mention goes out to Tim Goodsell who churned out a truly impressive 37 reps at a weight of 210. This would have put him in second place, but unfortunately we couldn’t post his name up there because we didn’t have videographic evidence. Very impressive, though! He says he’ll continue doing the challenge until he surpasses Kevin.:)

Again, much thanks to all who participated in this challenge and great job! Don’t forget to give next week’s challenge a shot with max chin-ups and turn in a video with your results in the comments section!

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