Dre Fitness

June 16, 2011September 26, 2012

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How to use a Weighted Vest for Accelerated Fat Loss Results

Does anyone use a Weight Vest?

Many individuals and organizations recognize the benefits of using a Weighted Vest.

Football teams
Fire Fighters

They have to be ready at any time.

Infantry
Basketball players
Olympic athletes
People seeking the best results in least time

The Benefits of Weighted Vests

All of the benefits derive from the fact that you are carrying an additional load, and therefore the body is stressed to adaptation.

1. Burn TONS of calories. FAT LOSS MANIA?

It increases metabolic rate both during and after activity. More importantly, you can burn tons of calories from FAT. If being lean and conditioned is your goal, a Vest will help.

2. Improved Core Strength

The core is more than a place where you find Six Pack abs. Actually, a strong core is necessary for the good kind of force and power in sport. Aside from that, core strength is related to the health of other joints in the body (in particular your lower back). Did I mention abs?

3. Enhanced Bone Density with Regular Use

This is exciting to me! The proof is out there — people who regularly engage in load bearing activities can make improvements in bone density. It’s important for people of all ages to promote a healthy skeletal system.

Using a Weighted Vest

Training with a weighted vest is all about your goals. For people in high level athletics, you should seek out resources beyond the scope of this blog. But for Fat Loss friends, read on.

My Weighted Vest Fat Loss Strategy

Goal: Increase overall physical condition and decrease body fat % in a sustainable way.

Plan:

Take a morning 2.5 mile walk at least three times a week.
Empty stomach aka “fasted cardio” to maximize body fat as a source of metabolic energy.
But I will consume an amino acid supplement (BCAA’s) in order to preserve lean mass.
Stop by Starbucks to get caffeinated.
Finish the 2.5 mile walk and consume morning breakfast before work.

Discussion:

Ready to roll!

A 270 lb man burns 350+ calories during this trip.
That is how much I weigh with the vest on.
With two months of usage, the vest alone could burn 3 lbs of body fat, not even considering nutrition.
If the Vest actually boosts metabolic rate beyond standard calculations, the fat loss should be greater.

This is an investment in pure conditioning.

Everything I do with the Vest will make me more efficient and powerful without it. This is taking it to the next level. Stay tuned for more…

June 10, 2011September 26, 2012

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Northwest Regional Qualifiers – Crossfit Games 2011

What are the Crossfit Games?

According to the source, “The CrossFit Games are the world’s premier test to find the fittest on Earth.”

Individuals and teams compete in six grueling workouts which will tax the athlete’s work capacity across broad time and domains.

Today, athletes from the Northwest states traveled to Puyallup, WA, for the regional qualifiers.

Each heat involves multiple exercises.

In order to maximize fitness, athletes must prepare for intense workouts.

The first Men’s heat, Workout #1. The run leader is fast, but will he have enough energy leftover?

This athlete was one of the slowest runners, but he makes up for it with impressive core and upper body strength.

Now he must Row for 1000 Meters.

Using a leg/hip thrust, this athlete utilizes momentum in order to perform more handstand push ups. It is acceptable form because he is still using significant energy and work capacity in his hips. As a result, he may have less energy remaining for the 1000 Meter row.

Some athletes stand out from the rest.

Here he is shown finishing first in his heat.

This guy finished strong in the Men’s Heat 1. Now how fast will he be able to recover from this? There’s still five workouts remaining up to Sunday.

After pumping out all his handstand pushups in a single set, this athlete took first place in the Men’s Individual Workout #1.

Best of the Best?

The top performers will go on to have an opportunity to compete against some of the fittest people on the planet. These people are some of the strongest, most physically fit people I have ever seen — and it is almost entirely a result of Crossfit training and human nutrition.

It’s easy to find inspiration from these athletes.

Men’s Individual Winner for Workout #1

They don’t make excuses.

It’s all about strength, endurance, and overall work capacity.

Sports & Athletics

June 8, 2011September 26, 2012

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When Diet Food Just Isn’t Enough

How many Diets have you been on?

Go ahead. You can take a second to count now.

I’ll always remember my 8th grade crash diet that lasted for a week and ended with nearly a gallon of ice cream.

Help is on the way!

Because…

Diets can be sooo unsatisfying…

New research suggests that your expectations play a physiological role in the release of hunger-satiating hormones.

In other words, if you believe and expect that a meal will satisfy you, that meal will have a significantly greater chance of actually satisfying you — regardless of its content.

Food restriction is unnatural and psychologically taxing

Imagine yourself in the times before civilization — even before agriculture. Lets say you have been wandering the land for days without food and suddenly you stumble across an abundance of bright, firm, and deliciously sweet fruit.

You will indulge… as you should.

“If you try to serve that for dinner, I’m going to Andre’s instead!”

Food was never meant to be limited. In reality, our bodies are extremely powerful digestion machines. The fact that we can process “edible substances” such as candy, highly processed foods, and overly refined foods is remarkable in itself.

Maintaining healthy weight is all about your mindset of food.

I am highly active, but I never restrict myself.

Some people might think that because I opt-out of eating ice cream, that I am restricting food. This is not the case.

The reason I don’t eat ice cream is because I purposely save room for foods that are nutrient dense. If I ate ice-cream, I no longer would have an appetite for greens and veggies.

It’s an opportunity cost. By consuming high-sugar-substances, you literally LOSE the opportunity to consume healthful foods.

What kind of Loser do YOU want to be?

Live life with an Abundance Mindset

Some people talk about the Law of Attraction. Creating a reality for yourself which attracts an abundance of wealth, health, friends, and love. Whether or not this can apply to your life, the simple “Abundance Mindset” can seriously help you get weight loss results FAST.

Open your arms and accept the gift of abundance

It’s always about the Possibilities — never the restrictions.

If you laid out all the food that I consume in a day, it’s like a bountiful feast for medieval royalty! Shall you be a guest in my kingdom?

“I’ll drink to that!”

There are so many colors, textures, and pleasures attached to the food that I welcome into life.

For example, please visualize:

Organic Red bell peppers complimenting fresh Alaskan medium-rare broiled salmon over a bed of rainbow chard.
Avocado displaying it’s creamy green beauty with broccoli florets resembling mini trees of life.
The sweet pungency of a Walla Walla onion lightly fried over high-smoke-point tropical cooking oil adding a moist crunch for the sensation of a dinner guest.
Aromatic Chamomile/Ginger/Tulsi Tea steaming wonderfully on the side, acting as a digestive aid and healing beverage.

Forget the middle man.

You take responsibility for yourself. There’s no tricks, gimmicks, weight loss powders, pills, or laxatives that can save you from the inevitable adipose tissue.

Only realizing the limitless possibilities of food will allow you to obliterate that last bit of body fat on your lower stomach and thighs.

You’re nothing without a Taste for Improvement.

Similar to practicing your hobbies and advancing in your career, developing a palate for healthy foods can be achieved by discipline and persistence.

My “ah-hah” moment came when I realized that not only could I reduce body fat with natural foods, but that I would cure my ailments in ways the doctor’s never imagined.

Endless possibilities to Fuel your amazing body (you deserve it)

Now every single day is an experiment with fresh food combinations, fresh culinary herbs, and different preparation methods.

If all else fails, try eating half of a wild salmon every day and you may start seeing results immediately.

Stay tuned for more…

Nutrition, Immunity, and Digestion Weightloss Now

June 3, 2011September 26, 2012

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High Performance Hamstrings: The Top Exercise for Knee Strength and EXPLOSIVENESS

Who knows where it all began?

Most people give credit to Russian elite Olympic athletes for discovering the true benefit of this exercise.

By the 1980’s, the famous mind in sports Dr. Yessis brought the exercise to America.

He called it the…

Glute-Ham-Gastroc Raise.

This exercise remains popular among many advanced athletes who require explosive force to out-perform the competition.

Powerlifters claim that the Glute-Ham Raise have helped them achieve dead lifts off the ground over 700+ pounds.

Basketball players to jump higher…

Soccer players to bulletproof their knees against ACL tears…

And the Gym-Rat to develop the strongest most aesthetic lower body of all the men in his town.

Benefits of The Glute-Ham Raise:

1. Lengthens hamstrings WHILE strengthening.

Understand that many people have tight hamstrings. You may be one of them. The benefit of the Glute-Ham Raise is that you can lengthen the muscle while simultaneously strengthening it. As a result, you decrease the chance of injury during sport.

In Sports-Physiology language…

The [Russian] hamstring curl could potentially be an effective exercise to strengthen the contractility of the hamstring both isometrically and isokinetically. Such a strategy may be able to increase the working range of the muscle in relation to its length-tension curve, and prevent fibers from reaching a length where they are susceptible to tearing. Source.

2. It is a Bodyweight exercise

A worthy definition of strength is being able to move your body through space at multiple angles and leverages. Whether or not you will ever be forced to perform a Russian Leg Curl in day-to-day life, your hamstrings will be ready for any sort of lifting or explosiveness.

3. Helps you Jump Farther/Faster

Pure athletic capability. You’ll be able to fly above your competition.

Female Athlete training on a specialized Glute-Ham Machine (most athletic training facilities will have this machine, while commercial gyms will NOT have this machine)

4. You can pick up greater loads off the ground.

The Glute-Ham does a great job as strengthening the hamstrings around the knee area. As hamstrings and glutes are the primary movers in load lifting activity, there should be a direct carryover with regular practice of this exercise.

5. All athletic activities on foot will be improved, along with Joint Health.

Don’t underestimate the power of a well developed pair of hammies.

A pilot study on the Russian/Nordic Leg Curl showed these beneficial results:

There was a significant increase in vertical jump height (pre=51.0±4.8cm, post=54.4±6.3cm, p=0.04), a significant reduction in quadriceps Peak Torque (pre=204.6±21.9 N.m., post=181.5±19.9 N.m., p=0.01), a significant decrease in hamstring Position of Peak Torque (POS) from full knee extension (pre=32.5±7.4°, post=26.2±8.6°, p=0.01) and a significant hamstring POS difference between limbs (dominant=33.8±9.5°, non-dominant=24.9±6.5°, p=0.01). Source.

6. Hamstring development is aesthetically pleasing.

When your pants fit right, even straight dudes take a peak at your posterior chain. And if you’re female… good luck keeping the men away.

Performing the Glute-Ham Raise / Russian Leg Curl in a typical Commercial Gym

It is possible. The mechanics of the exercise will be different depending which method you utilize. However, all forms will benefit the posterior chain — particularly hamstrings and calves.

It’s taken me quite a while to be able to demonstrate this. This style, on a lat pulldown machine, really emphasizes hamstring and calf development — I can literally see the difference from before I trained this way.

How to Even BEGIN Training this Advanced Exercise…

If you are lucky enough to have access to a Glute-Ham-Raise Machine, you can go ahead and start training on it.

However, both the “Natural” way and the “Lat Pulldown” ways are extremely difficult. If you could do one good rep without any prior experience, I would be greatly impressed.

Various Strategies to Assist You:

1. Focus only on doing the eccentric portion of the exercise (WARNING: You will be sore in places you’ve never been sore before)

2. Use a broomstick to help you get up (saw this in a Youtube video).

3. Have a Partner assist you at the bottom of each rep.

4. Use your hands to Push-Off the Floor to gain momentum to complete the rep.

5. Keep trying trying trying.

If its Good Enough for Elite Athletes, its Good Enough for You.

But are you up to the Challenge of the Russian Leg Curl?

Don’t even try… unless you seek to earn the hamstring development of high performance athletes.

Good luck.

Physical Fitness by Dre

February 2, 2011September 26, 2012

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A SALTY Situation: Did the Feds get their Nutrition Facts right?

This we all share,

…the cravings of Salt.

Not this Salt, the food kind!

The taste of salt is one of the basic human tastes.

Most omnivores savor salty meat, when is the last time you enjoyed a hamburger?

Salt is required for life.

The salty components:

Sodium and chloride ions regulate fluid balance in the body. It’s a mechanism of equilibrium.

You have to keep balance.

Too much Salt = National Health Risk

Warning: High salt diet may cause serious disease, use at own risk.

It’s a salty situation because we are programmed to enjoy salt — we require it. The problem is that we enjoy salt a little bit… too much. Just as sugar brings its own sweet temptation, salt is equally desirable.

What to do about it?