News, Articles, and Updates
Re-post of Interview with Paula Vail on Voice America
Hi, all! As many of you know, I was asked to speak on Voice America with the one and only Paula Vail about my approach to health and how I integrate mindfulness into both exercise and nutrition. Most of you who already train with me will have heard much of this information already, but it would still benefit you to hear these important insights about your health yet one more time. I’ll be quizzing you after all (and no, it won’t be multiple choice, so you’d BETTER study).
For those of you who are new here, give the show a quick listen! Are you getting ready for a drive and would like something to listen to? I guarantee you that this interview will be far more valuable to you than hearing that Justin Bieber song for the 18th time that you probably never liked all that much in the first place. Or maybe you do like it, but you just don’t want to admit it. Either way, you won’t regret sacrificing an 18th listen to his song for this interview.
But on a serious note, are you interested in a new approach to health that might be just the thing you’re looking for? Are you interested in learning how healthy living can be effortless — yes, EFFORTLESS? Then again, give the show a listen. At worst, you will have heard some awesome information. At best, you’ll start training with me, get in the best shape of your life, win a gold medal six months after (hey, you’ll be so good that the Olympics will schedule its events around YOUR schedule), and you’ll redefine the limits of human athleticism. Then again . . . maybe you’ll just get those twenty pounds off that you’ve been wanting to lose, and you’ll simultaneously learn a healthy lifestyle that’s both enjoyable and sustainable. Either way, I’d say you can’t go wrong. Right? Right.
As usual, all the best, everyone. 🙂
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/91572/bringing-mindfulness-to-fitness
Mindfulness and Fitness
As many of you know, I was initially hesitant to be as forward as I am in my business about my emphasis on mindfulness in regards to fitness. I was worried that doing so might give the inaccurate impression that I have more of a “hippie” approach to health and fitness than a realistic and scientific one, especially since I’ve lived in a Buddhist Monastery. However, the reality of health and fitness is that your awareness of your body has a gigantic impact on your body’s health.
Essentially, if you’re not paying attention to your body, then it will function about as well as anything else that you don’t pay attention to: badly! For some reason, however, many of us never even stop to think that our bodies need our attention in order to work properly. After years or even decades of this neglect, our bodies develop various problems, and when they do, we are shocked and even outraged, wondering in anger or agony, “Why me?” or “How could this happen to me?”
While I always respond sympathetically to such cries of distress, I usually tell people when they’re ready that, given their often-lifelong neglect of their bodies, they should feel immense gratitude for their bodies for having not developed problems earlier given the abuse and neglect their bodies endured over the years. Indeed, while they are now angry with their bodies, if they allow themselves to step back and look at their situation rationally, they’ll likely see that their bodies have been a wonderful friend to them, suffering years of abuse while yet allowing them to continue on with their lives for periods as long as decades before causing them problems. Honestly, does anyone have a friend that is so loyal?
So, starting today, try slowing down a bit to feel into your body and to get acquainted with how it works and what your body is telling you about its dietary, alignment, and exercise needs. Not only will you likely prevent all sorts of problems, pains, injuries, and diseases, but you may very well be happier, too.
For help on to learn to be more mindful, don’t hesitate to contact TFM to become one of the many success stories about people have used mindfulness to heal their bodies even their minds and hearts.
Luna Sandals
As all of my clients know, I am a huge advocate of minimalist running, which is based on the philosophy that the foot, like every other muscle group, needs to be adequately trained in order to function properly. Since most modern footwear provides so much protection for the foot, the foot barely has any opportunity to activate its muscles, so its muscles shrink. This is VERY problematic. Because the feet are what make contact with the ground first and since the rest of the body is positioned on top of the feet, the structure, movement, and alignment of the feet determine much of the structure, movement, and alignment of the rest of the body.
That said, training the feet is VITAL to the health of your knees, hips, back, and even your shoulders and neck. Training the feet also makes exercising a heck of lot more fun and gives you far more strength, speed, and endurance than you’ve likely every had.
To train your feet, you might consider grabbing a pair of Luna sandals, which are created by the famous Barefoot Ted and modeled after the world-renowned Tarahumara, a Native American People located in Mexico who regularly run distances of 50 or more miles well into their 70’s . . . literally. Sound too crazy to be true? Grab a copy of Born to Run and give it a read. What’s one of the Tarahumara’s secrets? Running with sandals that allow them to emulate barefoot running. Given that Luna sandals are modeled after these sandals, check them out here:
Advice for Beginners 1/3
Beginning an entire diet and exercise regimen can be overwhelming, especially given the amount of information and differing opinions about fitness. To make matters worse, you also have to deal with the fact that dieting and exercising are, well, hard (though they do get easier as time goes on). Given these difficulties, it’s of no wonder that so many beginners feel discouraged and unmotivated about their fitness. If you are struggling with your fitness program, then try the this: learn how to diet and exercise properly!
Easy enough, right? In all seriousness, the biggest reason why people give up on fitness is not that they don’t enjoy exercise but that they don’t see results. Think about it. If you actually saw results from exercising, you’d probably come to enjoy it much more. Thus, seeing results is the surest way to motivate beginners to stick with their fitness program. However, in order to see results, you must first know what to do, so start by educating yourself ONLY with materials from the best fitness professionals. If you can, hire a personal trainer or see a nutritionist. Better yet, start living your health and fitness goals and dreams. start working with Benjamin today!
Advice for Beginners 2/3
Listen to Your Body.
The best expert on your body is – you guessed it – your body. If you’re like most people, then you probably spend so much time lost in thought and lost in your daily routine that you rarely give your body much attention. This makes you ignorant of your body’s needs, and, whether you know it or not, you effectively create for yourself a lifestyle which is destructive to your health. To solve this problem, simply make the effort to be aware of your body. Are you hungry right now? If so, what does your body want to eat? Does your body actually want the food you usually eat? When you exercise, are your muscles doing the work? If so, which muscles? Is there joint pain? Get into the habit of inquiring about your body. Learn more about Training for Misfits to find out how!
Advice for Beginners 3/3
Don’t Do Anything Weird or Extreme.
I always tell my clients that if something sounds weird or extreme, then it probably is. Moderation is always the key. If your fitness regimen isn’t working, then educate yourself on what’s going wrong and fix it instead of taking your program to an extreme. “The Biggest Loser” may be an entertaining TV show, but it’s hardly conducive to long-term health and sustainable healthy living. Again, always be moderate.
An Exercise for Shoulder Pain
A lot of shoulder pain can be easily fixed by merely strengthening the rotator cuff. This is accomplished with the following exercise:
Lay on your side and make sure that your body is perpendicular to the surface upon which you’re laying. Grab a 5 lb dumbbell or lighter — the rotator cuff is not designed to carry heavy weight — and keep your arm bent at a right angle with your elbow pinned into your side. Rotate the dumbbell up a few inches higher than parallel to the ground and then all the way down until the dumbbell is about an inch or two from your body, then rotate it up again. Do this exercise slowly so that other muscle groups don’t take over. The last half-inch or so of the rotation at the top of the movement is where the rotator cuff works the hardest, so don’t stop short until you’ve rotated your arm to the proper height. But of course, always be mindful that your arm is bent at an exact right angle and that your elbow is pinned into your side.
Do this exercise every other day for 3 sets of 12-15 reps each set, and again, do your reps slowly.
For additional help with shoulder pain, do some back strengthening exercises so that your shoulders are naturally drawn back, giving you proper posture and saving you from becoming a hunchback when you’re older!