Category Archives: Exercise tips

Daniel on AM Northwest: Commercial Break Workouts

By Daniel | Published: November 13, 2011

Every month I have the privilege of helping people tuned in to AM Northwest.

Recently we talked about working out on the Commercial Break!  We also got into a special technique borrowed from ol’ Charles Atlas.  If you aren’t currently in Portland Adventure Boot Camp, you can do these exercise in the comfort of your own home while watching television.

Here it is:

Also posted in Boot Camp Fundamentals, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fat Loss Fibs and Fishing Fables

By Daniel | Published: July 11, 2011

When I was a little kid we used to spend a portion of each hot summer at the lake in Michigan.

It was a family place in the Upper Peninsula. Everyone there sounds a little Canadian, eh?

Anyway…I had this cousin who always seemed to be there.  He was an avid angler. A fisherman.

Well…actually he was probably more of a lazy bum who liked to fish.  A lot.

Right.   Really, I think fishing was his clever way to avoid being productive.   At any rate, he was fond of telling us (over and over again) about the time he caught a fish “THIS BIG”.  And for whatever reason, I remembered him and his stories today.

Well, yesterday I was thinking fondly of the summers up north.  And my  cousins fishing fables, when suddenly realized: tall fish stories are like the fat loss fibs people tell about losing weight on commercials.

Think about it.

When you watch a commercial for a weight loss product on TV you hear exaggerated claims of weight loss. Just like how fisher-folk like to spin yarns about giant fish that got away…   Seems to be human nature.

Which begs the question: what is reasonable?  What is realistic?  What is the truth?  Well…

If you are on a fad diet where you eat only 800 calories a day, your body will drop water and muscle like crazy.  At the end of your first week of starvation, your body can lose dramatic amounts of weight.  The scale will seem to show the most amazing success in the world.   The scale, if it could talk, would say, “WOW!” .

Now, at this moment of psychological triumph… it  is the perfect time for an unscrupulous marketer to swoop in and grab a video testimonial.  Which usually goes something like this: “My name is Jenny Lostalot.  In my first week on Super Fat Incinerator I lost 25lbs!  Friends all think I look the best I ever have. Blahbiddity fib-diddly fib.”.

And then 50,000 people rush to buy a bottle of Super Fat Incinerator and  the thigh master to sculpt their inner thighs. (Impossible to spot reduce…but that’s another post for another time)  All the while, knowing somewhere deep inside, that it is all a fabrication.

A hoax.

A bamboozle.

A fable.

Sigh.

It makes my job of being honest about body fat loss tougher.  And a lot less glamorous.  After all, I have to fight the colorful tales in the media and tell the truth.

You say you want the unvarnished truth?

Yay!  OK, then here it is.  Or at least this is what data says:

A good rate of body fat loss for permanent change is about 1 percent of your current weight per week or so.  So if you currently weigh 180lbs, you might expect–by following a properly constructed food plan, tracking calories with a food journal,  performing regular metabolic conditioning workouts (like boot camp), getting lots of motivation, accountability, and proper guidance –to lose approximately 1.8lbs per week.  Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less since body fat loss is never like clockwork.

Gee whiz.  I wish it were as easy as creating a pill or radical fad diet plan which would magically cause 25lbs of body fat loss the first week.  I’d be a billionaire overnight.  Because I’d patent that shinola.

But alas.  The only way I know to lose 25lbs in a week legitimately, is to amputate your leg.

Or throw back that giant tall-tale trout.

Coach D

Also posted in Boot Camp Diet, Boot Camp Diet Tips, Boot Camp Fundamentals, Mindset, Weight Loss Tips | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Portland Boot Camp: “Cardio is DEAD”!

By Daniel | Published: October 29, 2010

Here’s how to Exercise LESS and Burn MORE

My Health Seeking Friend,

Imagine for a moment…

If you could make your body burn fat faster… and even STOP making new fat. Wouldn’t that be great?

You may be thinking, “What’s the catch?”

Great question.

Hold that thought, and think how you would feel for a moment…if the more you worked out, the more your body made fat.

Which would you prefer?

The answer is obvious.  Nobody wants to make MORE fat through exercise.  But that’s what happens when you perform long-duration exercise like aerobics and so –called cardio.

Here’s what I mean: when you do slow, long distance cardio, your primary fuel source is fat.  Sounds great… BUT…what happens is, your body learns that it needs fat for fuel.  So it actually makes more fat to have it ready for your next round of long duration cardio!

Now THAT”S a catch.

And it’s a vicious cycle.

This cycle of using fat as a primary source for fuel during a workout is why you see people chugging it out day after day on treadmills and getting nowhere fast.  Their bodies keep making more fat to keep up with the aerobic exercise demand for fat as a primary fuel source.

Think about it for a second…

When you lay around on the couch, your body is using almost entirely fat as fuel.  Well, after the first 4 weeks of doing slow long distance cardio or aerobics, your body adapts and what used to feel intense will just be a grind.  And your body doesn’t see it as a challenge at all.  Your body, fuel wise, doesn’t know the different.

You have to learn to see slow jogging on a treadmill, or watching Oprah on an elliptical trainer as kind of like… laying around on the couch, only you are on your feet.

And that’s also why we don’t focus on burning fat at boot camp.

Instead…

We focus on short duration, high intensity exercise.  Which burns fewer calories and fewer calories of fat during the exercise session… but burns EXTRA amounts of fat AFTER the workout is over.

In fact… in a study at Quebec’s Laval University, subjects lost NINE TIMES more fat than slow cardio exercisers for every calorie burned.

After the workouts were over the aerobics group stopped burning fat and their bodies reacted by creating more fat for fuel to use at the next session.

But the other crew took advantage of the “Afterburn effect”.  Essentially their metabolism blasted through the roof.  And the best part is: this metabolism turbo-boost can last a whole day. But as soon as you step of a long boring session of “cardio” on a treadmill, it all comes to a halt.

So let’s do the math…

So what makes it work?

Ah.  This is good:  It works because after you work at a high intensity, your body needs to burn a whole bunch of calories to restore your muscles, energy supplies, back to normal.

Short burst, high intensity exercise is a proven protocol for burning the maximum amount of fat in the minimum amount of time.

It also:

Boosts your Anti-Aging hormone: Growth Hormone.  Growth hormone incinerates fat, improves bone density, raises good cholesterol, and helps build muscle.  Aerobics has little to no Growth Hormone raising effect!

Builds a Strong Heart.  Short burst exercise needs a LOT of oxygen.  And the heart has to work harder to adapt.  The heart begins to pump MORE blood per beat and as a result, it grows stronger and actually lasts longer.  Traditional aerobics weakens the heart over time.

An hour on a treadmill and no real metabolism boost.

OR

40 Minutes (or even much less) of High Intensity training with a 10 minute warm up and cool down with a FULL DAY of high metabolism.

*Ding Ding Ding*!

Cheers,D

Also posted in Boot Camp Functional Fitness, Boot Camp Program Design, Portland Boot Camp Cardio, Weight Loss Tips | 6 Comments

39 Boot Camper Secrets to Help You Break Free From a Growing Waistline

By Daniel | Published: September 26, 2009

Hi, Boot Camp Heroes,

You know…

Since you are in Portland Boot Camp, I know how you feel about yourself more or less.

But the unfortunate truth is, most people don’t really care too much about their bodies.

And that is their choice.

Of course, there are some who care, (or claim to care) but not enough to do something about it.

The dwindling minority stay trim and healthy all year…or are currently watching their waistlines disappear.

The rest… well, let’s just say they are what they eat.

What makes the difference?

Lots.  But to offer a few suggestions, here are  39 quick ways to help you stay (or get) lean and trim.

  1. Eat whole, natural foods 90 percent of the time or more if you like them.
  2. Avoid refined sugar like the plague
  3. Read information from outside the fitness world and apply to your fitness
  4. Read “Think and Grow Rich” and “PsychoCybernetics”.  TRUST me on this.
  5. Get a copy of “The Strangest Secret” by Earl Nightingale or watch it on YouTube.
  6. Above all: never, ever, give up.
  7. Read everything you can about achieving your goals… take and learn from what is useful, discard the rest.
  8. Eat a “cheat” meal once a week. Cheat MEAL.  Not cheat meals.
  9. Become a student of Nutrition
  10. Surround yourself with fitness and health minded people. (Like Portland Boot Camp!)
  11. Read this success blog as often as possible
  12. Write down your goals as clearly as you can
  13. Write your goals on 3 x5 card and reading it many times through the day.
  14. Focus on what you WANT…and NOT at all on what you don’t want
  15. Don’t listen to advice from jealous, out-of-shape friends or acquaintances… they will drag you down if you let them.
  16. Treat your body like a holy temple and watch it return the favor
  17. Realize that your efforts to stay or get lean may upset or offend lazier people.  Who cares.  Ignore it. Refer to number 15.
  18. Take entire days off from exercise sometimes to just stretch and CHILL OUT.
  19. That being said, exercise 6 days a week.
  20. 2 minutes of exercise is better than none
  21. Stick with multi-joint movements (like squats, pull-ups, pushups, and rows etc) and interval training as the core of your fitness program.
  22. If you fall off the wagon, so what.  Get back on again.
  23. Every passing moment is a chance to turn it all around.
  24. Sign an irrevocable contract with yourself to do what it takes to achieve your goal.
  25. Be yourself.  Choose your own body and body fat level that make you feel and look the way you want to feel and look…for your own reasons.
  26. Program your self-image exactly as you want it to be.
  27. Whenever negativity strikes…instantly think of the positive alternative. If you hear your mind say something like, “I don’t know why I try.  I always fail anyway.”, immediately switch to a positive thought like, “I CAN.  Success comes to those who persist.”
  28. Read your goal card whenever you feel good or positive.
  29. Read your goal card whenever you feel bad or negative.
  30. Write out an action plan with a goal and goal achievement date and drive forward with intensity and gusto!
  31. Take the highest quality food-based multivitamin you can afford.  I take VGF+25
  32. Take the highest quality Omega-3 supplement you can afford.  I take EFA Icon
  33. Prepare your veggies in advance.
  34. Buy a steamer and use it daily.
  35. Create your own cookbook of quick master recipes that you can rotate through.
  36. Focus on your goal relentlessly.
  37. Life is brief…make it your best life NOW.
  38. Seek expert advice or help if you are stuck.  If you aren’t in Boot Camp… I can help!
  39. Try Portland Adventure Boot Camp without risk.  It REALLY does work and I promise you will love it.  If, for any reason whatsoever, you aren’t totally thrilled with boot camp… I’ll give you every single penny back no questions asked.

Tell me what you think.  I love hearing about your successes!

Cheers,

D

Also posted in Boot Camp Diet Tips, Boot Camp Vitamins & Supplements, Mindset, Motivation, Weight Loss Tips | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Boot Camp Workout Soreness Prevention

By Daniel | Published: August 20, 2009
A sight for sore legs

A sight for sore legs

What if I told you you could move around again, easily and gracefully, like you did when you were a child?

Even if you are getting really sore in boot camp.

The secret is called: “foam rolling”. Also known as Self Myofascial Release or SMFR for short.

Let me tell you. Just one session of foam rolling can do so much for you – it’s almost unreal.
It’s like experiencing a brand new color for the very first time.  We get so used to chronic tension we learn to ignore it.  But eventually you won’t be able to ignore it because it basically cripples you.

You know, the hunched back, stiff walk, back pain…

That’s why, once you’ve foam rolled for a month — you’ll never want to be without it.

Just imagine being free of muscle tension and soreness.  Picture moving easily without stiffness.

It’s GREAT!  And here are at least 14 more things it does for you…

Doubles  your flexibility instantly (perfect before a workout)
-  Dramatically reduces soreness after workouts
-  Speeds up recovery time from intense muscle work (like Portland Boot Camp)
-  Massages your muscles
-  Reduces or even eliminates chronic unbalanced tension in the  back, legs, hips and neck
-  Improves posture
-  Targets hard to release areas like your hip flexors and inner thighs
-  Helps eliminate toxins and waste products
-  Improves muscle tone
-  Frees your body to be more graceful and agile
-  Relieves or eliminates chronic muscle stiffness or pain
-  Maintains your muscles
-  Prevents injury (it facilitates proper length and tension relationship of the muscle prior to working out so
tight muscles won’t pull on joints.  It helps prevent dysfunctional movement patterns that lead to injury!)
-    Wake up without stiffness!

This is not hype.  It really makes a difference in the quality of your life if done regularly.  Especially if you work out often.   And, I can honestly say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the humble foam roller is, hands down, the most important tool in your arsenal of fitness and health equipment.

OK.  Here’s how it works: When you press against a muscle knot, it causes the muscle to automatically relax.  You can’t help it… iIt’s a muscular reflex everyone has.  This is a very good thing.

Rolling stimulates tiny sensors in the muscles and near tendons.  And if you stimulate the sensors the right way, your muscles automatically relax and loosen.  If you follow the foam rolling with an appropriate warm-up and then stretch, well… then you will feel incredible. So much looser and relaxed.

Once you get the hang of using it, you will never go back.  It just is that good.

In fact, the difference in muscle tension is usually noticeable after the very first time.

They’re cheap and easy to use.  You can roll just about anywhere.  And best of all, the new ones last at least 3 times as long as the old ones did.  The old ones would flatten out in about 4-6 months.  The new ones are specially engineered to hold their shape indeifintely!

So, let me finish by saying, if you are serious about fitness and
do not have one yet, you are doing yourself a grave disservice.

So, here’s how to get your own: You can buy them in Portland for boot camp at FitRightNorthwest There may even be physical therapy or massage stores that carry them.  Or, if you like, you can order below and get the NEW “never flatten” kind at the link below and have it shipped to your door with detailed printed instructions included.

I bought 2 small ones from Perform Better for traveling. One for me and one for my wife. Since they’re only a foot long and half as wide, they fit easily into a suitcase.  Trust me… they are RELIEF after a long day of walking or hiking.

The sooner you get your own, the sooner you feel better, and more relaxed than you can imagine — so go get yours ASAP!

Daniel Iversen

PS Here is the link to a PDF explaining how and why to use a foam roller in detail: How to Foam Roll  And here is where to buy one online:  Perform Better (make sure to get a ROUND one. not a half one. Any size will do)

Also posted in Flexibility, Injury prevention!, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment