General Fitness article by Ben on Friday, November 27, 2009 2:48:05 AM EST
I'm boxing again tomorrow night for the first time in over 15 years. It has been a lot of hard work and a very long road to get back into fighting shape but I made weight tonight and now hopefully most of the hard work should be behind me. I managed to get down to a svelte 184.5 lbs. which is about 17 lbs. lighter than I was when I started training for this 10 weeks ago. My opponent still has to make weight by tomorrow at noon and as long as he does, we'll be duking it out later in the evening!
Diet & Nutrition article by Ben on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 10:47:22 PM EST
Donald Trump is hoping to further expand his global empire by teaming up with Ideal Health, a nutritional products company, and creating a new company called the Trump Network. The Trump Network is a multi-level marketing company that is designed to make people healthier with customized vitamins and nutritional supplements, and encourage others to become entrepreneurs and control their financial future.
Trump Network is similar to Amway in that is uses a very enticing pyramid payment system to encourage people to join their sales program and "take control" of their own financial destinies! After buying a Trump Network FastStart Business Starter Kit, you're free to start pushing these "Trump approved" health products on all of your unsuspecting friends and family members. Then with any luck, you can hopefully convince these same friends and family members to buy into the program as well so they can start making money for YOU!
Like every other multi-level marketing gimmick, this all sounds really fun and easy and a second income in this economy would come in very handy but you have to look at the real facts. The success rates for these multi-level marketing companies are very, very low. Less than 1% of the people involved in these pyramid systems are top earners and less than 3% of the people involved are ever profitable. That means that not even 3% of the people that get involved with these companies ever see ANY profit let alone the money they had to initially invest to get started with the program in the first place!
I will give the Trump Network a few props compared to most MLM schemes. They have a very clean and informative website. The Trump Network claims to have some of the most cutting edge health and wellness products. They claim to use a team of experts to look at your specific metabolic markers from an in-home test to find out what specific vitamin and mineral supplements your body really needs. Donald Trump himself has plastered his name and face all over this product and fully endorses his method of hi-tech network marketing. This huge endorsement isn't a big surprise either as Donald Trump talks highly of network marketing in a new book he co-authors with Robert Kiyosaki called "Why We Want You To Be Rich".
Anyways, I'm pretty sure a few things are guaranteed with this new venture. Donald Trump and his partners will make a lot of money, a few will make enough money to keep the dream alive and many will buy in to the dream and lose the motivation to sell the products before they even arrive!
Exercise & Workout article by Ben on Monday, November 16, 2009 12:25:22 AM EST
So I decided to switch up my training program a couple of months ago and really focus on improving my overall conditioning. I'm hoping to compete again this year in boxing (it's been 15 years since I last fought) so conditioning will need to become the most important aspect of my training. I've started incorporating timed circuits and more calisthenics exercises into my workouts and have also added short, intense intervals between and after each of the timed circuits.
The workouts that I am doing are essentially all structured the same way and I have gotten most of my inspiration from a couple of my training partners, websites like Cross Fit and Gym Jones, and videos that I have come across on YouTube!
The conditioning workouts that my training partner Jeremy and I have been doing vary in length depending on the types of lifts we are doing, lengths of the circuits and types of intervals but each one generally takes between 45 minutes to an hour to complete. Below is an example of what we did in our training session yesterday.
Warm-up - 4 minutes on stairclimber - level 15
Circuit 1 - 15 minute time limit (repeat as many times as you can)
Alternating Barbell Push Press X 30
TRX Body Row X 15
Bosu Push-Ups X 15
Interval - 2 minutes on stairclimber - level 15
Circuit 2 - 15 minute time limit (repeat as many times as you can)
Overhead Dumbbell Throw X 10
Medicine Ball Burpee w/ Shoulder Press X 10
Cable Trunk Twists X 10 per side
Interval - 2 minutes on stairclimber - level 15
After the last stairclimber interval we took a rest for 3-4 minutes and then moved on to the treadmill for a session of hill intervals to finish off the workout. We did 18 intervals at 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off with the treadmill set at 8% incline and 8.0 mph.
I've definitely noticed a change in my body composition, an increase in my strength and agility and a huge improvement in my overall conditioning over the past few months. My rowing has gotten so much better and I've set personal records in the 500, 1000 and 3000M (1:29, 3:14, 10:46). My running, deadlifts and pull-ups have all improved immensely and I feel great!
Here is a sample video of one of my timed circuits. Once you've watched it, have a look through the exercise library on the site and try to build a few of your own!
General Fitness article by Ben on Monday, November 09, 2009 8:37:19 PM EST
So I finally got a chance to sit down and watch Food, Inc. For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, Food, Inc. is a documentary by filmmaker Robert Kenner that lifts the veil on the nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the consumer with the consent of the government's regulatory agencies, the USDA and the FDA. The film explains how the food industry is controlled by a small handful of very large corporations and how these powerful corporations put profits ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of farmers, the safety of workers and our environment.
The film was a bit graphic at times but I really enjoyed it and think that it is a definite must see for anyone who cares about what they are eating and putting into their body. I know for myself, that I will definitely be thinking a bit more before buying my next bulk package of plump boneless chicken breasts, or barbecuing some big fat juicy steaks or slicing up a beautiful ripe tomato in the middle of winter.
Anyways, you can check out the first few minutes of the movie below and if you get a chance, I would strongly recommend that you go down to your local video store and pick it up!
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