Strength & Health TV - Episode 26: A Simple Workout for GPP and Restoration.

In this week's episode I look at one of my favorite training methods for General Physical Preparation (GPP) as well as restoration and recovery.

I find that the older I get, the more I need to focus my training on restoration and recovery to keep me making progress with my heavy workouts as well as promoting overall health.

This workout requires very little equipment, a pair of light Indian clubs from http://www.motionrx.com and a heavy club from http://www.adexclub.com, a pair of light kettlebells and either a bamboo or iron brush (if you are new to body conditioning with the brushes start with the bamboo brush, honestly that is probably all you'll need.)

This workout can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes to complete, which is why I never buy the "I just don't have time to exercise" excuse, and begins with Indian club exercises for the wrists, elbows and shoulders; then moves on to a double kettlebell circuit that hits every muscle in the entire body - front squats, push-ups, 1-arm rows, squat thrusts, 1/2 snatch, clean & press, clean, and swings (for restoration I recommend 1-3 circuits of 3-5 reps for each exercise); and finishes with beating the entire body with the bamboo or iron brush for a "health massage", where I like to do 3-5 passes over each body part.

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode and if you have any questions or suggestions for future show topics please leave them in the comments section below the video.

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates on future shows.

Stay Strong AND Healthy,

-Scott

Strength & Health TV - Episode 25: Eating Plants to Gain 20lbs. of Muscle.

In this week's episode I talk about the ridiculous idea that you can't gain muscle and strength eating a plant-based diet, and how my friend Stic from the hip hop duo Dead Prez proved it.

Together with his wife Afya, we put together a training and nutrition plan that helped Stic accomplish his goal of gaining 20 lbs. of mass on a 100% whole-food, plant-based, and supplement-free diet.

The project became the book, "Eat Plants, Lift Iron" which is divided into 3 sections - Stic's personal narrative, Afya's nutrition and recipes, and my training plan.

If you'd like to grab a copy of the book, click here. 

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates on future shows.

Stay Strong AND Healthy,

-Scott

Strength and Health TV: Episode 24: Deconstructing the Deadlift.

In this week's episode we are looking at my favorite barbell lift, the deadlift.

While one of the most simplistic lifts, there are a few key technical points, that when addressed, can add more plates to the barbell quickly.

In this video we look at both the conventional and sumo deadlift, cover proper set up and lifting technique, why you need to pull the bar back and not up, and address common mistakes.

I also talk about how to "wedge" youself between the bar and ground to increase tension and power at the beginning of the lift and to hopefully get more out of the pull.

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates on future shows.

Stay Strong AND Healthy,

-Scott

Fast Food the Healthy Way!

Without a doubt Mother Nature does a much better job at creating fast food meals than McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A, Burger King and all the rest of the drive-through joints out there.

One of my favorite meals is simply to take a couple of minutes and blend up a greens and fruit based smoothie and eat a couple more pieces of fruit on the side. 

If you're like me and a big fan of Dr. Michael Greger and his "daily dozen" that he presents in his amazing new book, "How Not to Die", this meal knocks out all of his daily recommendations for berries, other fruit, cruciferous vegetables, greens, flax seeds, spices, and one of the five recommendations of beverages all in one nutrient dense meal. That's 39% of his recommended daily dozen and this meal requires less than 5 minutes of prep time.

I just finished Dr. Greger's book and cannot recommend it highly enough! Click here to get your copy now!

What blows me away is that I have actually had people tell me this fast food meal that I eat daily is way too low in protein, way too high in sugar and will likely contribute to weak teeth and Type 2 diabetes. Are you freaking kidding me? This meal is low in calories, incredibly nutrient dense, and contains more fiber than most people I know get in an entire day. Plus there is plenty of research out there that indicates whole, plant-based foods such as this contribute to Type 2 diabetes prevention, along with many other chronic diseases.

This meal pictured here is a lot of food and keeps me full for quite some time.

The smoothie is:

• 1.5 cups of water
• 1 cup of mixed berries
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of broccoli
• 4 cups of mixed greens (chard, spinach, kale)
• 2 tbsp. ground flax seeds (flax meal)
• 1/4" of fresh turmeric root

I add in a couple pieces of fresh fruit to eat on the side, in this case an orange and apple, and that's it, literally less than 5 minutes prep time.

Let's see how my favorite fast food meal stacks up against what I've been told is a "healthy" option from one of the major players in the fast food industry.

My choice contains 465 calories, 23 grams of fiber, and 14 grams of protein. Whereas a grilled chicken sandwich and side salad from the popular chain restaurant contains 385 calories, 4 grams of fiber, and 15 grams of protein. That's at a quick glance without even looking at things like fat / saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, etc. Plus I think it's pretty safe to say that my choice is loaded with way more health promoting phytonutrients as well.

Eating healthy does not have to be expensive or require a lot of preparation. Stick with whole food staples like fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds and minimize the amount of processed foods you eat, and don't beat yourself up about the occasional indulgence (I sure don't). 

It really can't be more simple than that!

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Motivation Comes from Within.

I'm sure most of my health and fitness industry colleagues have been furiously hammering away at their computer keyboards this week, updating their blogs, websites, and newsletters with those magical words that are going to motive their current clients and prospects to make 2016 their year and FINALLY get in shape - whatever "getting in shape" means to them.

Unfortunately if you are looking for motivation don't come to me. That doesn't mean I do not care about helping my clients achieve their goals, I do and it's what I do every day. What I'm saying is don't look to me to be your cheerleader.

The motivation you need to make positive changes and begin leading a healthy lifestyle must come from within.

If you are sitting there with a glass of champagne in your hand, eyes glued to the TV waiting for that F@#$ing ball to drop right now (Yes, it's 10pm and I am sitting in front of my computer writing this. What can I say? I sure know how to party don't I?) and thinking, "You know what? THIS is the year I'm going to get that 6-pack!" you are setting yourself up for failure.

Alcohol-induced superficial goals will not get you past February 1st.

Your motivation needs to come from within.

What is it that you really want to accomplish? Are you sick of being tired all the time? Do you want more energy? More mobility? Excellent health? To avoid the chronic diseases we are "supposed" to get as we age? More strength? More endurance?

What do you need to do to improve the quality of your life?

Once you decide what it is you really want to change you can then make the appropriate changes to your lifestyle. Yes lifestyle. A 12-week challenge and bottle of fat-burning pills will not help you achieve your goals. Once you do that guess what? The lean, healthy, and strong body you want will happen as a side effect of this change.

Don't believe me? I spent nearly 15 years chasing superficial goals, but when I finally made the decision to improve my health by adopting a plant-based diet and a more holistic approach to my fitness training, not only did I achieve exceptional health, my body changed almost immediately. I was leaner, more muscular and more flexible in my late 30's than I ever was, and continue to progress as I enter my 5th decade.

Click here to read about my personal journey in regaining my health!

Regardless of what you set as your health and fitness goals there are three things you will need to do to guarantee success.

1. Change your approach to nutrition. Adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet.
2. Strengthen your physical body. Lift weights, run, and start a restorative / energy cultivation practice like qigong or yoga.
3. Strengthen your mind. Meditate.

Sure, these can be broken down further, but these three things done consistently are absolutely essential to guarantee your success. We will get deeper into this in upcoming blogs in the coming weeks as we enter the new year.

It is my sincerest hope that 2016 is your healthiest, happiest and most prosperous year yet! As always I will do everything I can to help you achieve your goals but you must supply the motivation. I hope you take advantage of all the information I provide in this blog and on my Strength and Health TV video blog.

If you are looking for more in-depth help I offer many different training and consulting services - everything from health & fitness training, sport performance training, plant-based nutrition consultation and much more - both in person and online. 

Please feel free to email me at scott@extreme-fitness.org if you would like more information on my personal training and consulting services.

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

"Let's raise the stakes on the bet we made. Let's decide to be the architects, the masters of our fate."

'Architects' by, Rise Against

Strength & Health TV - Episode 23: Interview with Vegan Bodybuilder Erin Fergus.

In this week's episode my good friend and Plantbuilt teammate Erin Fergus stopped by my training center to talk about her transition into a vegan lifestyle, her favorite contest-prep and off-season foods, her experience in bodybuilding competitions, her favorite lifts, why the idea that you can't build muscle on a plant-based diet is a bunch of non-sense, and much more. 

After we destroyed some vegan donuts from the amazing Revolution Donuts http://revolutiondoughnuts.com/ here in Atlanta - HUGE thanks to my buddy Kevin Miller for hooking us up!

If you'd like to lean more about Erin you can follow her on social media at:

https://www.instagram.com/veganfergiefitness/

https://www.facebook.com/girlybodybuilder/?fref=ts

She offers great health, fitness and training tips on her YouTube channel as well:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtT_tTdMOAsAugehSZVTJ6A/feed

You can also read her story, along with 22 other vegan athletes, health & fitness pros and activists in the book Plant-Based Performance: Know Your Own Strength available at:

http://plantbasedperformance.org/store.html

Remember 100% of all Plant-Based Performance book sales go to benefit animal welfare organizations, specifically Mercy For Animals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Forgotten Animals Rescue.

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates on future episodes!

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Strength and Health TV - Episode 22: My Daily Dozen Mobility and Flexibility Series.

In this week's episode I present my favorite joint mobility and flexibility exercises, twelve in all, that I try to perform on a daily basis.

By no means are these the be-all, end-all of mobility and flexibility exercises, but these twelve are the ones that I try to do on a daily basis. I have found these to have the greatest impact on my strength training, martial arts training and overall health.

As always, I hope you that you enjoyed this week's episode and if you have any comments or suggestions on future show topics please leave them in the comment section below.

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates on future episodes!

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott