Guest Poster: Melanie Bowen

Man, it's definitely been a long time since I posted last. I decided to come back to you my adoring 5 fans...lol anyway recently a young lady by the name of Melanie Bowen contacted me wishing to share some information about the relationship between exercise and cancer. I was more than happy to allow the guest posting as I am a huge proponent of physical health translating to medical health. With that said, here's the piece she wrote:

"Exercise and Cancer: Why It is Important
If you have any type of cancer, including mesothelioma, you may want to consider speaking with your physician about an exercise program. The exercises you participate in will aid how you feel and recover. Exercise can help you to feel less fatigued, decrease recovery times, and improve a patient’s outlook on life. When quality of life is improved, patients will feel more confident about their recovery process. Here are some of the most important benefits of exercise for cancer patients:
Maintaining weight
Some cancer patients may lose weight during cancer treatment. Exercise can help to maintain weight at an appropriate level. Weight loss can inhibit recovery by reducing the body’s energy levels and affecting the immune system. On the other side, exercise can help those who are overweight, to shed a few pounds. Diabetes and heart disease are more common in overweight patients, and these conditions can complicate recovery. Some patients should exercise to increase weight loss and improve prognosis.
Improved Energy Levels
Many people feel more energetic after exercising. When people have improved energy levels, they are in better moods and are more receptive to treatment. Improved mood is due to endorphins released into the body. With endorphins, patients are more likely to heal faster. People who want to feel better during treatment should consider exercise. 
Improved Quality of Life
When you are stronger and have more energy, you can continue to do what you normally do. You can play with your kids, take a walk, garden, or ride a bike if you exercise frequently. With an improved quality of life, you will feel more integrated into your life and society. This will improve your chances of survival. Work with a physician to determine how much exercise you can safely do in order to improve your prognosis. Every patient will receive a different exercise regimen based upon previous conditions but the goal of the exercise will be the same. 
Physical Fitness is Essential to Recovery

If you want to recover faster from cancer, you must remain physically fit. Most people underestimate the power of exercise, but more studies show that patients who exercise are more likely to recover faster. Even an hour per week is enough exercise to improve prognosis. Speak with your physician about devising your exercise regimen."

I'm honored to have been asked to share someone else's information so a special thanks goes out to Melanie for that. Share your thoughts and opinions please but dont say anything stupid cuz I'll slap you. Lastly, always remember, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.

One last thing...

I know that was supposed to be the last one, but I just wanted to say one last thing. If you really do enjoy what I have to say, think I'm cute, or just want more Twitter followers or Facebook friends here are the links to my personal social network profiles.

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

This ain't goodbye, it's just see you later...

This post marks a bittersweet day for me. On one hand, this is the last blog assignment I’ll have to do for this class. On the other hand, it’s the last blog assignment I’ll have to do for this class lol.

Overall, I’ve loved the experience. Not since the days of livejournal have I blogged, and never was it about anything relevant. Granted, the relevance of the content here is subject to opinion, it’s still better than any of the adolescent “why doesn’t she like me”, teenage angst filled garbage that I littered the internet with back in the day.

In fact, I might even keep the blog going once the class is over. I’m the kind of person who usually has a lot to say and nobody to say it to. Not to mention that the vast amount of knowledge I've acquired in regards to health and fitness isn't gonna do anyone else any good if it stays in my head.

So when I realized this was to be my last official graded blog post, I wanted to think of something great to post, an entry with real content, I really want to go out with a bang. Unfortunately for you guys, I got nothin…lol

So I’m going to end this assignment first by thanking all of you for reading, commenting, and subscribing. Without your interaction, this blog is just a diary. Now i'd like to share with you some of my favorite motivational quotes, some words of advice and some random ass video or picture because the assignment calls for it lol.

• I said this in my last post, but I absolutely love the concept behind this quote. Whenever you fall off track or regress, remember “In order for an arrow to reach its target, it must first be drawn back”.
• Don’t be afraid to be different, don’t be afraid to be dedicated, when people call you obsessed, just tell them that “obsessed is a word that the lazy use to describe the dedicated”.
• “You’ll never know how far you can go if you never take that first step”.
• And along those same lines, “every journey begins with a single step”.
• “Make the rest of your life, the best of your life”
• “Strength is the product of struggle”
• You can’t wing it when it comes to health and fitness. Sit down, take some time, and develop a blueprint, because  “If you fail to plan, then plan to fail”
• “You can’t out train a bad diet”
• “abs are made in the kitchen”
• “you can have results, or excuses, not both”
• “go ahead, make fun of the way I eat, I’ll just make fun of the way you look”
• This one is for the ladies “Good girls do cardio, bad girls lift heavy”
• “Train insane, or remain the same”
• “Push yourself, nobody else is gonna do it for you”
• “If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up”
• “You can feel sore tomorrow, or feel sorry for yourself tomorrow, you choose”
• “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”
• “I don’t have time” is the grown up version of “my dog ate my homework”
• To add to that “It’s not about having time, it’s about MAKING time”
• “it’s called a WORKout because it requires effort. Without the work it’s just an easy out”
• “the body achieves what the mind believes”
• “Sacrifice = Success”
• No Pain, No Gain
• This one I love, for those of you who are just beginners “no matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping everyone on the couch”
• “The only bad workout is the one that never happened”
• “Wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction”

Aaaaaand that’s enough of that for now. So I wanna summarize some of the things you all should have learned during these last couple months:

1. It’s never too late to start making changes. My pops is in his fifties and just decided he wanted to begin eating healthier and supplementing
2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know. How many people do you know would ask their son for advice?
3. Good girls do cardio, bad girls lift heavy
4. If you’re short on time, want a crazy effective workout, and you’re a bit of a masochist, Crossfit might be right for you
5. The gym is a gym, not a club so act right or get out
6. DON’T DO CURLS IN THE F*CKING SQUAT RACK!!!!!!!!!!!
7. Not every diet will work for every person, you've got to do a little self-experimentation to figure out what works for YOU
8. Last but not least, no matter what it is you do in life, don’t half ass it because...

Punch the clock, hit the books, hit the weights: my violent life

So I've been slackin on my mackin as of late and haven't had much time to post. So I'm gonna fill you all in on what's going on in my life right now.

School this semester has been relatively easy as far as the workload is concerned, but with the end of the semester approaching things are starting to pickup. In Social Media Marketing Strategies, my personal branding project (the whole reason behind this blog) is going to be due soon, on top of my portion of the group presentation. I've tweeted enough to get credit for this class nearly 50 times over, so I'm really not worried about that, but I have at least one more blog post to create after this one, as well as creating a Facebook fan page. I might even film a couple workouts and upload them to my already existing YouTube page which I'll then link to everything else.

Work has been a complete snooze-fest since august, but training is FINALLY almost over. Next week is the end of this 4 1/2 month nightmare and I finally get to start selling to customers and making commission. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. For those of you that don't know, when I'm not putting in work at the gym, I work at Echo Global Logistics, a freight management company based out of Chicago. To explain what I do in detail is an entire blog in itself but to put it short, I play the middle man between companies that have stuff to ship, and the trucking companies that want to ship stuff for them.

Now my favorite part, my fitness journey. One of the things I like to do is self experimentation when it comes to my diet. this year alone I've tried being paleo, which is an all natural diet meaning you pretty much cant eat anything that you couldn't kill in the wild or pick of a tree or bush. I've gone 2 weeks without a cheat meal, which wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I've even gone 2 weeks without eating dessert (now THIS was hard AF).

This time around, I have decided to try Intermittent Fasting. I have an 8 hour eating window, from 12pm - 8pm everyday to get in all of my needed calories and macro-nutrients for the day and I don't eat for the other 16. It's not as difficult as it sounds I swear. The hardest part about it is measuring and keeping track of my macros (i.e. the amount of protein, carbs, and fats I need in a day). My measurements are 313g of protein, 100-150g of carbs depends on if its a training day or not, and 75-100g of fat for a total of 2500 or so calories on non training days and 3100ish on training days. I decided to split my day up into 3 meals, breaking my fast at lunch time which works well for me since I work a pretty standard 9-5. for a more in depth description of IF check out a fellow blogger and personal trainer/nutrition coach here

You're probably wondering why the heck someone would submit themselves to this kind of torture. Part of the idea behind intermittent fasting is by only being able to eat within that 8 hour window, it makes it more difficult to exceed your daily caloric intake because one can only eat so much in 8 hours. On top of that you're body becomes better able to process your nutrients and use them for energy when the greater part of the day is spent fasted.

I've pretty much tried everything else there is already anyway, so why not? I've done low carb, eating clean, eating 5-6 meals a day and everything I said before. The only things I haven't done are gone vegetarian or vegan and I love meat too much to so that sooooo.....yeah. I wanted to try it and see what kind of effects is has on my body and my athletic performance.

Truth is, although fitness is my passion and I've lost TONS of weight in the last few years, I still have a loooong way to go to reach my ideal body. I should weigh under 200 lbs but with my muscle mass and the way my body is built I can carry 200-205 pretty well, so my goal right now is to lose 25 lbs by the end of April.

So for the purpose of adding a little accountability here are my stats:

Starting date 11/22
Starting Weight: 230 lbs
Current Weight: 228 lbs
Goal Weight: 205 lbs
Goal Date: 4/22

I actually weighed less than this over the summer, but I put on about 5lbs of muscle while doing a mini bulk,  but thanks to my new desk job, I put on about 5lbs of fat as well. I am not discouraged though, just more motivated now than ever. I think of it like this: for an arrow to be fired forward, it must first be drawn back.

In case you dont understand IFing still after reading that blog, here's a video to help clarify

I have high hopes for IF, but if it does work for me, it doesn't mean it works for everyone. However you decide to diet, make sure it's healthy and don't half ass it. Remember, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.

Gym Pet Peeves: Thas that sh*t I dont like!

Just about every time I’m at the gym someone tries to pull me aside and proceed to talk to me for 10 minutes or more…while I’m between sets…walking from one station to another…with my headphones on and music on full blast…when I clearly don’t wanna be bothered….

This might be my biggest gym pet peeve and today while I was recalling this it got me to wondering “what other kinds of things make people mad at the gym?” so I decided to probe the interwebz, ask my friends and family, and even the people I work with and This is what I came up with, in no particular order.

The Towel Guy - You know who I’m talking about, that guy who leaves his towel on a machine to claim is as he bangs out a set or two on another machine. I admit, I’m a little guilty of this but with my water jug instead of a towel. You don’t know how many times I've walked away from the squat rack and come back to some dude pulling my plates off so he can do straight bar curls, which leads me into my next pet peeve

Curling in the Squat Rack – Just don’t do it. Squat racks are for squatting. If you want to curl there is a wall full of dumbells, a rack full of ez-curl bars, and at least 2 preacher curl stations, so GTF outta the rack!

The Gym Bag Guy – This is the guy who although the club has gone through all the trouble to provide its customers with beautiful, functional locker rooms, he carries his stankin ass gym bag around with him from station to station, machine to machine and no matter where he puts it, somehow it manages to get in someone’s way…come on son, do better.

Dropping Weights –Now If ur deadlifting 300 plus, then you have EVERY right to drop the weight once you finish that last rep on that last set, I do it myself. But if you’re isolation curling 20 lb dumbells and taking 5 minutes between sets to flex ur guns in the mirror, I will not hesitate to tell you that ur doin too much. It doesn’t make you look cool, it just makes you look like a tool.

The creepy gym guy – Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for meeting a girl at the gym. What would be better than to meet someone that shares a similar passion for health and fitness that you do? The couple that works out together looks hot together, period. But don’t try and talk to every girl you see walk past you in a pair of yoga pants and nike frees. And definitely don’t be that stalker dude that looks for the same girl every time she comes in and then go talk to her for 20 minutes. She is after all, there to get a workout in just like everyone else, so let her do her thang, then talk to her.

Doin too much – I see far too many guys trying to lift too much weight, using horrible form, and using his whole body to do curls. Odds are, if you weight a buck-thirty, ur probably not gonna be strong enough to curl 80 lbs dumbells. Leave ur ego at the door and drop the weights down man. That girl that you think ur impressing by slangin around all those plates isn’t even lookin at you. I have yet to meet a girl that was really impressed by how much weight I was throwin around anyway, it’s usually only dudes.

Grunting – now this is a sensitive topic for me because I grunt, quite a bit. But there are two kinds of grunters: the guy who grunts because he’s really putting in work and makin gains. Like I said with weight dropping, if you’re doing a heavy compound movement with a lot of weight (because ur actually strong enough to do it) and ur tryna power up ur one rep max, then grunt by all means. In fact, scientifically speaking the exhalation that occurs during grunting cam enables ur body to produce 3-5% more power, helping you reach that personal best; if you don’t believe me, google it. But, if you’re that guy who again, is curling 20 lb dumbells and staring at urself in the mirror, just exhale, don’t grunt.

The dapper dude – if u take a shower, put on cologne, put gel in ur hair, and lay out ur outfit before you hit the gym, just stay home…seriously. If ur shoes match ur shorts, thas fine. If u already look made up because ur coming from work, thas fine too. But if you get ready for the gym like you get ready for the club, don’t even bother coming in, just sit on ur couch and think about what you’ve done.

Talking on ur phone – its fine if you use ur phone as ur music player, but it doesn’t mean you need to tweet, update ur facebook, text and call ur homeboy to find out where ur goin tonight. All that time you spend messing with ur phone while sitting on that bench is time of mine that ur wasting while I’m waiting for you to get done, shut up and lift!

Having conversations in the locker room while ur naked - I dont need to say anything about this, just dont do it. It's bad enough that EVERY old guy walks around but-ass nekkid and for some reason, ALWAYS has to bend over to pick something up, dont make it worse.

So if you’re guilty of more than one of these, STOP. Odds are, ur pissin some people off and they wont be there for you when you need a spot.

Check out this YouTube video to see some more gym no-no's

"No matter how you workout, dont half-ass it. If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you"

Crossfit: it aint your grandaddy's workout

A little over a year ago I was watching a bunch of shirtless, sweaty, out-of-breath dudes doing handstand pushups, power cleans, and pushing prowler sleds and I fell in love………….with the sport of Crossfit lol. It was the 2011 Crossfit games on ESPN, presented by Reebok that introduced me to the fastest growing fitness trend in the world.

Despite the growing popularity in the fitness community, and its spotlight on ESPN, much of the world is still in the dark as to what Crossfit actually is. I've decided to take it upon myself to help bring it to the masses, and explain just what Crossfit is to you, my ever loyal (lol) blog readers. However, since most of you have NO idea what I’m talking about half the time, I’m gonna keep it as short and simple as possible while still being informative.

Crossfit is a workout program and sport that integrates aspects of Olympic weightlifting, calisthenics, power lifting, plyometrics, and gymnastics into a short, intense session of energy depleting, sweat dripping madness. In any one workout one can be forced to run 400 meters, then pick up a barbell and do overhead squats, then immediately do 30 box jumps, and finally push a 250 pound prowler sled 30 meters across a finish line without stopping in between.

Each workout is given a set number of reps and then circuits, or time limits to motivate the athlete and give them a goal to reach.

Workouts of the day or WODs as they are referred to are given names like Cindy, Helen, and Mary which are synonymous throughout the Crossfit community.

The movement became so popular that it was eventually turned into a competition and now has a yearly competition that is featured on ESPN, sponsored by Reebok, with a prize of half a million dollars.

All throughout the world, the US and Australia particularly, Crossfit gyms or “Boxes” are popping up month after month. There are even certifications trainers can earn to become Crossfit instructors.

The benefit of Crossfit from a workout perspective is the intensity of the workout enables one to get the same calorie burn as a standard workout in half the time, usually around a half hour or so. This is one of the reasons I love it so much, with a jam packed schedule of school, work and a dwindling social life, this allows me to get my much needed workout in without taking up too much of my time.

Ok that’s enough of be blabbering on, now that you have a basic knowledge of the sport, here’s a video so you really get the idea behind it....

Insane right? and look at those dudes, they're build like machines. If that's what I can look like from doing Crossfit I'll gladly the 150 bucks a month average it costs to join a box. Theres a number of them here in MI, closest to me is Bloomfield Crossfit, go ahead Google it. 

It has become so popular in fact, that Groupon even had an offer for $125 off a one month membership at Bloomfield Crossfit, which I most definitely bought.

Now Crossfit isnt for everyone, if you have bad knees or a bad back its definitely not the way to go. If you cant find the motivation to push yourself to exhaustion, beyond any limits you've ever reached before and really unleash your inner beast, then stick to your Jane Fonda tapes and your Thigh Master

But regardless of how you choose to workout, just remember, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you...

It's time to put the myth to bed

Have you ever noticed how when you walk into the gym and you look over or up at the area where all the cardio equipment is that it’s packed with females? Then you take a look over at the free weights and it’s like a big testosterone laden sausage fest? Did you ever wonder why that is? When I first started working out, I asked myself the same question, so I decided to do some investigating to find out. What I came up with was the same answer, over, and over, and over, and over. “I don’t wanna get big and bulky like those bodybuilder chicks on you see on TV” was about the gist of it.

Now before I knew about the science behind bodybuilding and nutrition, I thought it made sense, I actually agreed with them. But once I started to educate myself, I realized how silly that urban gym legend really was.

Simply lifting a weight is not going to turn you into a she-hulk, there is A LOT more to it than that. In fact lifting weights will help you LOSE weight as well as making your curves, curvier.

What makes both men and women swell up like swollen behemoths (aside from steroid use) is what they eat.  Truth is, what happens with your body is more dependent on what you put into tour body than what you do with it. There’s a saying amongst the fitness community, “abs are made in the kitchen not the gym”.  Most fitness buffs, trainers, and physique competitors will tell you, it’s about 20% gym and 80% nutrition when it comes to making changes to your body.

In order to gain muscle mass like bodybuilders do, they have to consume massive amounts of calories in COMBINATION with intense exercise. They need to be in a caloric surplus at the end of each day in order for their body to have what it needs to build new muscle fibers.

If weight loss is the goal, the simplest way to explain it is to combine exercise, with a caloric deficit, meaning consuming fewer calories than you burn in a day.

Ladies, if you’re still not convinced then what would you say if I told you that resistance training (i.e. weight lifting) burns NINE TIMES MORE calories than cardio does?  Meaning you’re going to reach your weight loss goal faster if you incorporate weight lifting. Muscle even helps you burn more calories when you’re just sitting on your butt watching TV. This is because a pound of muscle burns 50 extra calories a day, even at rest. So by putting on 10 lbs. of lean muscle, you burn 500 more calories a day, that’s an entire meal’s worth! Tell me that’s not a convincing enough argument.

Why does resistance training burn so many more calories than cardio you ask? Well to answer this question, I’m going to have to piss off some of my creationist followers and refer to human evolution. Once we developed from tree dwelling, knuckle dragging ape folk and began walking upright, our bodies began to change and adapt to our new means of transportation. Since we couldn’t simply open the fridge or hit the nearest drive through to get food back then, we had to be very conservative about how we burned energy when getting from place to place. Our bodies began changing and becoming very efficient at using calories for energy when walking. This meant walking and running became easier for our upright, long legged bodies to do. Since then our anatomy hasn’t changed much in regards to calorie consumption when walking. So all those hours you’re spending on the treadmill are for naught because it’s like expecting a Prius to burn through a tank of gas like a Hummer. In short, we’re built to run, it’s easy, and if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.

Now all you runners, don’t get upset, I’m not saying cardio doesn’t have its benefits. But in my, most trainers and all physique competitors opinions, the quickest way to a hot bod is through the weight room.

Now if you’re ugly, I’m sorry, weights won’t help you. But if you want killer legs, a tight butt, and toned arms, spend some time away from the treadmill and slang some iron ladies.