Tag: martin colangelo

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Why everyone should Train HardStyle

What is HardStyle?

  • Hardstyle is a bend of aspects form martial arts and weightlifting.

Who uses martial arts? – Warriors.

Who lifts weights? – Strong people.

Hardstyle thus creates Strong Warriors.

Why is Hardstyle valuable for training Warriors?

  • Warriors cannot take days off. They must be ready for anything, anytime.
  • Warriors cannot take time off because they are too tired from their workout. They cannot tell their opponent to come back later. In fact a smart adversary will use momentary weakness to gain the advantage. This is unacceptable.

But how can a Warrior continue to progress their performance goals without deleteriously affecting the day-to-day requirements of a Warrior?

The answer is “Tactical Training / Tactical Programming”

What is Tactical Programming?

  • Performance oriented workouts that stress the body enough to elicit adaptation. What is ‘enough’ depends on one’s ability to recover, how much stress they are under as well as the fitness demands of their daily activities.

Training Vs. Exercising

  • Exercise fulfills an immediate need and promotes general health.
  • Training takes time – it is the process of achieving a performance goal.

The Training Process

  • Requires you know yourself / your goals
  • Requires you to know certain principles of adaptation
  • Requires Focus, Determination, Perseverance & Trust

Who would you want to teach you how to fight: the professional MMA fighter G.S.P. or Richard Simmons?

The answer is obvious : the Professional fighter.

  • Therefore it makes sense to have a professional in charge of your training.
  • You can try and do it on your own, but you might end up just exercising like Richard Simmons….

StrongFirst

  • is a School of Strength, consisting of Professional Coaches and Athletes who use the Hardstyle approach to training and follow “Tactical Programming” which allows you to progress your performance goals without sacrificing days off for recovery.

StrongFirst is not just about using Kettlebell’s – and it’s not just about creating the greatest amount of force, but about applying those forces in proper, efficient and intelligent ways.

Sleep well, Eat well, Trust your coach, Trust in Hardstyle and be consistent.

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Strength Challenge 4 Week Prep-Program

LatsOn STRENGTH CHALLENGE
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> The point of this Training Program is to peak one’s performance in the 3 rep Squat, max rep Push Up and timed Farmers Carry.

> An Athlete following this program will do these 3 exercises, 3 times a week.

Here is the program that will have your strength peaking by the end of the month

  • Keep in mind that everybody responds to exercise differently, what may be enough for some may not be enough for others
  • Listen to your body! Use subjective feedback / “Rate of Perceived Exertion” (RPE)  – this is an effective guide for tracking progress.

Week 1

Day 1

1 rep Squat Weight Ladder up to 2nd attempt weight + 5 rep weight ladder up to heaviest (3-4 sets each)

Push Up Ladder up to Max Reps @ 60 sec rest.(5-7 sets)

Carry – Tabata @ lighter than test weight

+ 2-3 sets of ‘Accessory’ work

Day 2

3 rep Squat @ 1st attempt weight  (5 sets)

Push Up Ladder down from Max Reps @ 60 sec rest (5 sets)

Pause Deadlift @ Farmers Carry test weight x 3 reps (5 sets)

+ 2-3 sets of ‘Accessory’ work

Day 3

Squat Weight Ladder up to 2nd attempt weight x 1-3 reps (3-5 sets)
(* if feeling good, try out a maximal attempt)

Push Up sets around Max Reps @ 2-3 minutes rest (3-5 sets)

Light Farmers Carry, use multiple positions x 4 minutes

+ 2-3 sets of ‘Accessory’ work

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Week 2

Day 1

1 rep Squat Weight Ladder up to 1nd attempt weight + 5 rep weight ladder up to heaviest (3-4 sets each)

Push Up Ladder up to Max Reps @ 50 sec rest. (5-6 sets)

Carry – Tabata @ lighter than test weight

+ 2-3 sets of ‘Accessory’ work

Day 2

3 rep Squat @ 1st attempt weight (5 sets)

Push Up Ladder down from Max Reps @ 50 sec rest (5 sets)

Pause Deadlift @ Farmers Carry test weight x 5 reps (3-5 sets)

+ 2-3 sets of ‘Accessory’ work

Day 3

Squat Weight Ladder up to 2nd attempt weight x 1-3 reps (5 sets)

Push Up sets around Max Reps @ 2-3 minutes rest (3-5 sets)

Light Farmers Carry, use multiple positions x 4 minutes

+ 2-3 sets of ‘Accessory’ work

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Week 3

Day 1

2 rep Squat Weight Ladder up to 1nd attempt weight + 5 rep weight ladder up to heaviest (3sets/2sets)

Push Up Ladder up to Max Reps @ 40 sec rest. (5 sets)

Carry – Tabata @ lighter than test weight

– NO Accessory! (Rest / Visualize / reduce fatigue – except if Beginner)

Day 2

3 rep Squat @ 1st attempt weight (5 sets)

Push Up Ladder down from Max Reps @ 40 sec rest (5 sets)

Pause Deadlift @ Farmers Carry test weight x 3 reps (3-5 sets)

– NO Accessory! (Rest / Visualize / reduce fatigue – except if Beginner)

Day 3

Squat Weight Ladder up to 1st attempt weight x 1-3 reps (3-5 sets)

Push Up sets around Max Reps @ 2-3 minutes rest (3-5 sets)

Light Farmers Carry, use multiple positions x 4 minutes

– NO Accessory (Rest / Visualize / reduce fatigue – except if Beginner)

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Week 4

Day 1

1 rep Squat Weight Ladder up to 1nd attempt weight + 3 rep weight ladder up to heaviest 5 rep max (3 sets each)

Push Up sets around Max Reps @ 2-3 minutes rest (3 sets)

Pause Deadlift @ Farmers Carry test weight x 5 reps (3 sets)

– NO Accessory! (Rest / Visualize / reduce fatigue)

Day 2

3 rep Squat @ lighter than 1st attempt weight (3 sets)

Push Up sets around Max Reps @ 2-3 minutes rest (3 sets)

Tabata Plank

– NO Accessory! (Rest / Visualize / reduce fatigue)

>>>>>>>>> At Least 2 days Rest Needed Before Testing <<<<<<<<

Day 3 (2 days later) = TESTING!

3 Rep Max

Push Up Max

Farmer Carry Time

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I encourage everyone to try this out. Tell your friends, see if people at your gym with try it out too. This Challenge is a fantastic workout as well!

Post your Scores in the comments.

Or,

Send them to me directly at colangelo.mart@gmail.com

Question on Testing Protocol and Technique see : http://martincolangelo.com/about-2/latson-training-strength-challenge/

*SPECIAL*
(for those who made it this far) This is an EXCEL version of the program above, as well as my own personal Training Program for the next couple months.  Look back at this link in a couple months, I will update this document as I figure out my programming for 2019 – as well as add many other trial programs I will have going throughout the year.

Looking forward to finishing this year Strong, and starting the New Year with clear intentions.

My best to you all,

Martin Colangelo

“The Better Movement Specialist”

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‘MEDs’ 4 Mindfulness

MINIMAL EFFECTIVE DOSES that will keep you healthy and happy

1. Movement

2. Nutrition

3. Mindfulness

MINDFULNESS

  1. ’Super’ Mindful Breath
  2. Identify Your Emotion
  3. Check-In With Your Future Self
  4. Smile, Move, Talk or Try Something New

The term Mindfulness is thrown around a lot these days, but what does mindfulness even mean?

In defining something it is often helpful to define what it is not:

  • Mindfulness is not judgement
  • Mindfulness is not attachment
  • Mindfulness is not an escape from reality

Now let’s look at what it is:

  • Mindfulness is paying attention
  • Mindfulness is learning
  • Mindfulness is observing the ‘present’ / current reality

 

Before we go into how mindfulness can help us cope with stress, it is important to understand that a ‘mindfulness practice’ is simply a habit of paying attention, learning from and being aware of the present moment –  and then responding appropriately.

That being said, we believe it ‘appropriate’ to equip you with some information on Habit Formation….

Ever heard of that it takes 21 days to form a habit?

Unfortunately, this statement is not exactly true… In general people overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can do in 5 years.

In fact, this research states that it ranges between 18 and 254  days to form a habit!

(depending on one’s motivation / how much you enjoy the habit you are trying to form)

An expert in motivation and habit formation, James Clear, sites this research in one of his articles. He states that it actually takes about 66 days to form a new habit.

 

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Now let’s get back to the topic at hand = ‘How To Deal With Stress In The Moment’

I.E. How to use Mindfulness as a tool to cope with stress!

Here are 4 tricks, or ‘minimal effective doses’ of mindfulness that you can use when faced with a stressful situation.

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  • ’Super’ Mindful Breath

 

      • Just 1 breath, in and out – but do it like you really mean it. Momentarily distracting yourself from the stress at hand by focusing on this single breath not only feels good, but reduces anxiety in the brain because the human brain can only focus on one thing at a time! *, *, *.

 

  • Identify Your Emotion

 

      • Name which emotion you are currently experiencing. Simply saying to yourself ‘I am Angry,’ when you are upset will help you catch yourself from doing something you might otherwise regret. * Furthermore, doing so has proven to increase the density of grey matter in your brain! *, *.

 

  • Check-In With Your Future Self

 

      • If you know your angry, and stressed, and maybe a little hungry – a good practice before making any decisions is to take a second and think how you will look back on this decision in 5 minutes, 5 days and in 5 years. Will you still have the same conviction you do now?

 

  • Smile, Move, Talk or Try Something New

 

    • If you are feeling anxious and don’t have to interact with your stress face to face ‘right now’ – doing something as simple as going for a walk, or whiching to a task that you know you enjoy, will help reduce stressful feelings. Smiling and raising your gaze (not your head) up to the ceiling will release endorphins and boost your mood. Talking to a friend helps put things into perspective by getting you out of a self-induced negative feedback loop. Novel experiences have a similar effect as #1 – i.e. distracting you from your current mental state.

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One final note:

Don’t Expect It To Work Every Time!

    • Don’t expect mindfulness to be a cure for your stress. Conditions are never really right for being in the present moment. You can be the most mindful person in the world and still act out. You can practice conscious breathing all day and still feel negative emotions. Mindfulness and meditation should be done for their own sake and not for their results. In the long run it has proven to improve longevity and quality of life, but until then – practice makes perfect.

 

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Do you think it will be hard to implement this stuff?

If you feel daunted by this information – then let’s set up a consultation,  and we will help you figure out how to implement this stuff into your schedule.

Remember this for whatever habit you want to start (i.e. any New Year resolutions).

All Habits have a 3 part cycle:

  1. Reminder / trigger
  2. Routine / the habit of choice
  3. Reward / every new habit requires a reward for it to stick

Up to 40% of our daily activities are done habitually. They are context dependent and often occur at the level of our subconscious – that is, we don’t even realize it is a habit!

If you want to understand more about habits and how they affect our daily life check out this book by Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit

  • Here is an interview with the author.

If you want some help in beginning your mindfulness practice feel free to contact Martin or Tyler any time, or follow the steps laid out from the link below:

5 steps 2 Making Meditation a Habit

  1. Schedule it
  2. Dedicated a space to it
  3. Keep it simple (just breathe)
  • Calms and clarifies / creates base-line / super easy
  1. Keep it short (with 60 seconds)
  • Or even just a single (super) mindful breath!
  1. Bring your seated practice into your daily life
  • Walking / Driving / Eating etc…

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Martin Colangelo : “The Better Movement Specialist”

Brought to you by:

 

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‘MEDs’ 4 Nutrition

MINIMAL EFFECTIVE DOSES that will keep you healthy and happy

1. Movement

2. Nutrition

3. Mindfulness

NUTRITION

  1. Eat as organic as possible, as local as possible and as in season as possible.
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  2. Eat 3 servings of cold-water fish a week.
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  3. Don’t eat more than 3 servings of red meat a week.
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  4. Eat 4 cups of 4 different vegetables 4 times a week.
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  5. Eat for your Gut Health
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Before we get to the topic of “Nutrition for maintaining a healthy body weight” let’s first take a look at the science of habit formation.

… Ever heard the statement that it takes 21 days to form a habit?

Unfortunately, this statement is slightly misleading… In general people overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can do in 5 years.

In fact, this research states that it ranges between 18 and 254  days to form a habit! (depending on one’s motivation / and how pleasurable the habit you are trying to form is) An expert in motivation and habit formation, James Clear, references this very study. He states it takes about 66 days to form a new habit.

 

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The first thing you have to know about nutrition is that it is extremely variable

– it varies from person to person and is age dependent.

Here are two things you need to consider when searching for an ideal diet:

  1. Your Genes
  2. Your Microbiome

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  1. Genetics

You are right in believing that your DNA is inherited from your parents, however the environment has a huge influence on how your DNA is ‘expressed’.

When chemicals are introduced into the body some may attach to, or alter how your DNA is expressed. Altered gene expression can change how you respond to certain stimuli. This can include how you use and metabolize food!

What Can You Do About This?

  • Know That, what works for you might not work for others. What worked for you in the past may not work for you in the future.
  • Eating Local, Organic and In-season food can reduce the amount of harmful chemicals your DNA comes in contact with.
  • Do not follow a fad diet blindly. One way of determining if you are on the right track is if you actually ‘feel’ healthy.
    • Analysis of this study shows that self-rated health is a valuable way of predicting “subsequent mortality.”

If a certain food makes you feel crappy, avoid it most of the time.

If a food makes you feel great, consume in moderation.

  1. Microbiome

The human body is made up of trillions of bacteria that interact with each other and the environment (food) in just as many different ways – all of which directly affect our health.

In fact, There may (or may not) be ‘gut types’ which would allow us to tailor medicines and diets at an individual level.

Microbiologist Zhao Liping, found that adding certain fermented poebiotics into his diet allowed him to lose 20 kilograms in 2 years. (I have some issues with this study but it proves the point!)

The takeaway:

  • Eat For Your Gut Health & Play The Field – try out as many fermented, preserved and probiotic foods as possible. Just make sure they have not been processed, pasteurized or are full of sugar.

 

Here are a few gut health ‘MEDs’ that can help improve your waistline:

  1. Eat as organic as possible, as local as possible and as in season as possible.

  2. Eat 3 servings of cold-water fish a week.

  3. Don’t eat more than 3 servings of red meat a week.

  4. Eat 4 cups of 4 different vegetables 4 times a week.

 

Obviously you want to be consuming healthy fats, however that does not mean you should be eating spoonfuls of grass fed butter all day – Your microbiome can produce beneficial fats as a byproduct of breaking down oligosaccharides found in certain vegetables.

However, if you are prone to bloating / irritable bowel – consider an anti-inflammatory or FODMAP diet. Those types of vegetables mentioned above can have a irritable effect on some individuals – like I said, the best diet is extremely variable from person to person.

 

<><><><><><><>

 

Interested in learning more about ‘How your microbiome can help you burn fat’?

This book will point you in the right direction.

Here are 2 companies that have cornered the market on providing individualized diet and lifestyle suggestions:

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Before we finish,

One last thing on habit formation:

Habits have 3 parts:

  1. Reminder / trigger

  2. Routine / the habit itself

  3. Reward (every habit requires a reward for it to stick)

In fact, up to 40% of our daily activities are done habitually. They are context dependent and occur at the level of our subconscious – that means we cannot tell if we are in a habit loop until we stop and really think about it.

If you want to understand more about habits and how they affect our daily life check out this book by Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit

  • Here is an interview with the author.

Keep in mind,

I AM NOT a doctor. However your health (and your waistline) begins with knowing, but knowledge is only power if you act on it!

If you have questions about this information, set up a consultation with me,  I would be grateful to help straighten out your habits.

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Martin Colangelo : “The Better Movement Specialist”

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‘MEDs’ 4 Movement

MINIMAL EFFECTIVE DOSES that will keep you healthy and happy

1. Movement

2. Nutrition

3. Mindfulness

MOVEMENT

  1. Fasted Workouts
  2. Move More Often
  3. Nasal Breathing
  4. Stay Strong

Before we get into the explanation, a quote from one of our favorite sources – Ben Greenfield:

“exercising and beating up the body with a ton of physical activity is not an ideal way to put yourself into maximum fat burning mode or to shrink your waistline. Instead, light levels of physical activity or mild “discomfort” throughout the day is the true way to maximize activity of fat burning enzymes.”

So the question is, how do you achieve this ‘mild discomfort’? And how do you implement mild discomfort into your daily / weekly routine?

…. First, a quick note on habit formation.

Ever heard the statement that it takes 21 days to form a habit?

Unfortunately, this statement is slightly misleading… In general people overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can do in 5 years.

In fact, this research states that it ranges between 18 and 254  days to form a habit! (depending on one’s motivation / how much you enjoy the habit you are trying to form) An expert in motivation and habit formation, James Clear, sites this research. He suggests that it actually takes about 66 days to form a new habit.

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Let get back to the topic at hand = “Movement to Maximize Metabolic Function”

How does one use movement to increase their metabolism such that they maintain, or ideally lose, body fat?

…. Enter, ‘mild discomfort’

 

  1. Fasted Morning Movement
  • Minimal Effective Dose = 15 minutes x1/week

The effects of a fasted workout can be increased if:

  • Consume caffeine (coffee, tea) beforehand
  • After your fasted workout; Alternating Hot/Cold shower: 10 seconds cool water, 20 seconds warm water – MED= 5 minutes

 

  1. Increase Activity Throughout Day.
  • Standing workstation / avoid sitting for extended periods <MED= stand up every hour>
  • Walk, or at least stand up after every meal to help control blood sugar levels.
  • MED = get your heart rate up 50% for 15 minutes, everyday.

 

  1. Controlled Diaphragmatic Breathing (Through Your Nose!)
  • Diaphragmatic Breathing is the best and most natural way to improve circulation (without moving), AND it stimulates digestion.
  • Bonus = proven to reduce stress at the same time!
  • MED= 2-4 second inhale / 4-8 second exhale – 10 times everyday (exhale twice as long as inhale).

 

  1. Don’t Stop Strength Training 🙂

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Keep in mind that these suggestions represent the least amount of ‘work’ you have to do in order to stay healthy, and more work is often required to initiate a change. It starts with knowing, but knowledge is only power if you act on it!

If you have questions about this information, set up a consultation with Martin or Tyler,  we are more than happy to help.

Before we finish,

One last thing on habit formation – this goes for all habits ( including New Year resolutions!):

Habits have 3 parts:

  1. Reminder / trigger
  2. Routine / the habit of choice
  3. Reward / every new habit requires a reward for it to stick

In fact, up to 40% of our daily activities are done habitually. They are context dependent and often occur at the level of our subconscious – that is, we don’t even realize it!

If you want to understand more about habits and how they affect our daily life check out this book by Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit

  • Here is an interview with the author.

============================================================================

Martin Colangelo : “The Better Movement Specialist”

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