Extreme Fitness Results

We’ve all been there. Sunday afternoon at a poolside BBQ, looking good, feeling good, body in the best shape it’s ever been, a month or so into your new workout regimen, and suddenly somebody shoves a paper plate loaded with potato salad, grilled sausages oozing fat, a pile of potato chips, whatever. Or maybe it’s the day of a big game, and your buddy is serving up six fresh pizzas along with soda. Or you’re driving home late, you’re exhausted, and you decide to just hit a Drive Through and pick up some junk food to go. Either way, everybody ultimately gets tempted to break their nutrition plan and eat junk. Accept that this will happen to you, accept that you’ll be tempted, and then ask the question you’ll immediately ask as you look down at that unhealthy food: how bad is one cheat day?

I get this question all the time. “I’m doing everything right,” they say. “How come I’m not losing more weight?” Whether it’s somebody who has been pounding away at Insanity for a couple of weeks, or who’s about to finish their first round of P90X, people will often climb onto that dreaded scale and get disheartened. Expectations run high when people start, and yearning for a total body transformation, they pour their heart and soul into their workouts, only to find themselves betrayed when they haven’t dropped the 50lbs they hoped to lose. What’s happening here? What went wrong, and why?

Coffee. Espresso, latte, Starbucks, American, whatever, as long as it has caffeine. Some people can’t live without it–you know who you are, drinking entire pots every day, lining up and growling in line at the local coffee joints, itching to get your hands on a cup. Others have it occasionally, only after lunch say, a delicate espresso, pinky extended. Some people drink it occasionally, or not at all, but we’re all familiar with its effects. You light up, energy flows through you, you can become almost manic (full disclosure: I’m writing while under the influence of caffeine right now, a shot of espresso dumped unceremoniously in my Shakeology smoothie). Depending on your tolerance you might get energized for an hour or two, or not even register the jolt, but everybody knows how powerful a kick of caffeine can be. But what if we try to combine that boost of energy with a workout? Harness that energy so that we workout harder, longer, faster? Is that a good idea? What would the effect be on our system?

Have you ever noticed that naturally skinny people tend to pack on muscle when they overfeed, while naturally curvy people tend to pack on fat? And those naturally skinny people tend to lose fat quickly when they diet, while naturally curvy people tend to struggle to not lose as much muscle as fat? What’s going on here? Why are some people naturally better at staying lean and getting ripped, while others have to fight their love handles their whole lives? It’s simple really, and quite unfair: the culprit is something called your ‘P-Ratio’, and it’s what determines what kind of body you’re going to tend toward naturally. Love it or hate it, your P-Ratio determines nearly everything.

Go to the supermarket and you will see a hundred thousand bazillion bottles of vitamin supplements staring down at you from countless shelves. Vitamins A, B, C, D and the rest of the alphabet. Have you ever asked yourself where these vitamins come from? If you’ve pictured a Willy Wonka style factory where Umpa Loompa’s squeeze Vitamin C from orange slices and harvest Vitamin D from the sun, then you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, vitamins are chemically synthesized from such horrendous things as mineral ores, fungi, petroleum and bacteria. The process creates a terrible amount of pollution, and until recently was overseen by a price fixing cartel that was only taken down in 1999. Vitamins: good for you, not so good for the world?

t’s hard not to think we’re sliding into a nutrition-version of 1984. I saw Food Inc this weekend. Shocked and angered me. I’ve been learning a lot about nutrition and what’s healthy and what’s not over the past, year, so I don’t consider myself a newbie when it comes to these issues, but to see everything put together so lucidly and for the facts to be stated so blunty was a frightening eye opener.

Where you guys aware that Shakeology is rapidly becoming one of the most successful supplements out there? (Is it even a supplement? It’s actually a full meal replacement!) To celebrate this rising in popularity, and the general excitement this product is generating across the nation (we’re not making this up, we get amazing feedback here at EFR almost every day), we want to do a Shakeology giveaway to spur people to share their favorite recipes–and their craziest ones.

Sports supplements come and go, promising to be the magic bullet that will suddenly turn us all into supermen, but one by one their claims are disproven and they are forgotten, only to be replaced by new and more exciting promises. However, one supplement however has survived all the scrutiny, has been tested by hundreds of scientific teams, has been used extensively these past two decades and still stands tall. If any single sports supplement out there can be said to work, than its Creatine, which leads us to the question: should you take it when about to undergo Insanity or P90X?

A lot of people ask me about the timing of their recovery drink or protein shake. Some people have an almost religious belief that you need to drink it immediately after your workout, and take it into the gym with them, chugging it all down just as soon as they drop the barbell. Others believe you should have it in your system before you even workout, while others say that as long as you have it within forty minutes of your exercise, you’re fine. Which is right? The discussion on nutrient timing has become intense of late, with some people going as far as to say that it doesn’t actually matter what you eat, as long as you eat it at the right time (which is nonsense). So what’s the real deal? When should you drink your recovery formula?

St. Patty’s Day is upon us, and you all know what that means: debauchery, good cheer, celebrating with friends, drinks, partying in Irish Bars, green beer, more partying, seeing more good friends, and then a terrible hangover on Thursday. Ah, perfect, I can you hear you exclaim with eminent satisfaction. But is it?!? Is that the best one can hope for today, or is there more, could we collectively reach out for a better, more nutritious goal? Nutrition, I hear you mutter? Who said anything about nutrition? Well, your doctor, for one, and your mother, and your personal trainer too. They’re all very concerned, you know, and asked that I write this post. So, think of this as a missive from the ones who love you best. So set aside that green beer for a moment (it’s only 10.30am, you shouldn’t even be drinking that yet!) and listen up.