The Viking Road Warrior: Workouts for the traveling man.
May/100
As I write this blog I am sitting in Madrid airport at 3:30 in the morning waiting another 4 hours to check-in to a flight that may or may not actually happen. My food options are slim at best, I have coffee and vending snack to choose from. To top that off, I am working on 32 hours without sleep. To say the least my body is not happy with the change of routine. But does this mean we throw our hard work out the window? I say absolutely not, we have many options to condition and train while on the road, even in an airport on a 36 hour day. Lets go over the rules:
The Workout:
You can do this anywhere, anytime, just do it over the course of your day. Alternate the A and B workouts.
Workout A
A1) Pushups (3×15) 2-0-1
A2) Inverted Row (3×8) 2-0-1
B1) 1-leg Squat (3×8) 3-1-1
B2) Bicycle Crunch (3×30) 2-0-1
C1) Bulgarian Split Squat (3×8) 2-1-1
C2) Elevated Pushup (3×8) 2-0-1
D1) Reaching Lunge (3×8) 2-0-1
D2) Reaching Crunches (3×20) 2-0-1
Workout B
A1) 1-leg Deadlift (3×8) 2-1-1
A2) Chin-up (3×6) 3-0-1
B1) Step-ups (3×12) 3-0-1
B2) Slow Pushup (3×10) 2-2-1
C1) Prisoner Lunge (3×8) 2-1-1
C2) Side Plank (3×20 seconds)
D1) Close-grip Pushups (3×10) 2-0-1
D2) Plank (3×45 seconds)
The Diet:
This is the most important part so try to keep some discipline here.
When most people are removed from their home kitchen, fast food establishments and restaurants become the go-to places for eating quick. Eating on the road becomes a matter of convenience, which can be detrimental to your health and fitness level.
When you initially arrive at your destination, your first stop should be a grocery or convince store. You can pick up things like fruits, canned tuna or chicken, all-natural peanut butter and whole wheat wraps to snack on throughout the day. But most importantly, grab the biggest bottle of water you can find. This way you can sip on water all day long and stay hydrated. If you have a lunch or dinner meeting at a restaurant you can always go for a simple steak with veggies and brown rice or a sweet potato. Of course, in addition to whole foods, supplements and meal replacements can play a critical role while you’re on the road.
If you are really pressed for time, choose a quick and easy option that will deliver what you need such as a Meal replacement bar or protein shake (just make sure you don’t eat again 10 minutes later too). These will give you the protein and other amino acids and nutrients you need to keep your body in an anabolic state, ensuring that your muscles don’t break down while on the road. Plus these are easy to throw into your bag or briefcase before you leave your hotel room – this will guarantee you proper sustenance in any situation.
So now I’m off to do some lunges down the terminal… Stay focused on your goals and you will see the rewards.
Why are we so Fat?
Apr/101
Today, the majority of americans are overweight or have weight related issues. This is very true in children as well, kids today are exposed to terrible food choices at every corner. We raise our kids to eat poorly then wonder why they are fat. Look at this list compiled by ”Parents Against Junk Food“:
1. Nine out of 10 schools offer junk food to kids.
2. One of every five calories in the American diet is liquid.
3. Researchers calculate that for each additional soda consumed, the risk of obesity increases 1.6 times.
4. The USDA supplies schools with the same commodity foods as prisons.
5. More than 32% of youths are overweight and nearly 74% are unfit.
6. About 19,000 public schools, 1 in every 5, sell branded food in the cafeteria.
7. Teenagers’ milk consumption decreased by 36% between 1965 and 1996, while soda consumption increased by more than 200%.
8. Vending machines are in 43% of elementary schools and 97% of high schools.
9. Only 29% of adolescents meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
10. In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control declared obesity the most important public health issue in the United States.
These are scary truths, I remember being in grade school and eating pizza and chocolate milk every afternoon. If you are a parent, please take the time to teach your kids about proper nutrition and why it should be important to them. I recommend packing a lunch!
UPDATE: Please click here to sign a petition to get better foods into our schools!
The Math: Less Fat = More Sex
Apr/100
My number one goal of this website is to encourage everyone to get in the best shape they can possibly be in. Sometimes that requires me to lay out the big picture, It only makes sense that endurance and strength are important elements in achieving great sex. Athletes have better sex not only because their bodies are more attractive (leading to more interest by the opposite sex, but also more self esteem making one feel more “sexy”), but also because they have the strength and energy needed for great sex.
So, what can we do now that we have some motivation? Keep it simple!
- Eat clean and take in fewer calories than you expend. Five to seven small meals per day every 2-3 hours. Keep your calories nutrient dense. That means lots of high quality protein, moderate levels of complex carbohydrates and low levels of fat. Stop eating junk food! Every time you go for a cookie, think… “do you want to have sex tonight”?
- Train hard. Progressive resistance training adds lean muscle mass which boosts your metabolism to burn fat faster and it makes you look sexy. Remember…less fat equals more sex.
- Intensive cardio burns calories. And it will keep your metabolism burning faster throughout the day. Keep it fun by adding variety such as biking, spinning, and interval training.
- Supplement for increased strength and recovery. High quality protein, multi-vitamins, E, C and B-Complex along with Glutamine, Creatine and BCAAs are in our arsenal of great bodybuilding supplements.
- Rest. Adequate amounts of sleep aid the muscle building process and go a long way to improving mental functioning.
In a study, men and women interviewed who worked out 3 times a week or more have on average 30% more sex than those who did not.
Get to the gym, be confident, be strong. Do the math!
A sweet problem…
Mar/100
Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain:
A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.
“Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professorBart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.”
read more here
Viking Steak
Jul/091
Its summer, steak is king! Here’s an easy healthy recipe that works with the natural viking diet. It’s a twist on pepper steak that tastes great!
Viking Pepper Steak:
1 pound round steak cut 1/2 inch thick
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium green pepper, sliced
1/2 cup pineapple, chopped
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
1 dash of garlic salt
1/4 cup water
2 cups shredded carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
Cut meat in half lengthwise with a sharp knife, then crosswise into thin slices. Brown meat in olive oil, then add onion, pepper, pineapple, and tomato; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in water, and sprinkle on garlic salt, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve on a bed of shredded carrots.
Natural Viking Diet
Jun/098
First of all understand that this diet will not be optimal for everyone who reads this, but I hate it when people post their diet guidelines but not the actual diet they are using to reach their goals.
For this diet I am trying to cut fat slowly, eat only whole natural foods that adhere to the paleo diet, and eat every 2 – 3 hours depending on hunger. I will not restrict myself to calories however this is what a typical day will look like:
Viking Diet 1:
- Breakfast:
- 2 Egg whites, 1 whole egg (scrambled)
- 2 tbsp Salsa (Green Chili is excellent here too)
- 2 slices of Turkey bacon
- 1 – 2 pieces of fruit (usually a banana or apple)
- Large glass of water (very important)
- Snack:
- 1 large handful of almonds
- 1 piece of fruit
- Lunch:
- Chicken Breast or 1 Can of tuna
- Large Vegetable salad (add carrots, spinach, cucumbers, etc.)
- 2 tbsp Stone ground mustard (trust me here!)
- Snack (pre-workout):
- 2 pieces of fruit
- 1 handful of almonds
- (whey shake, if needed)
- Dinner:
- 1 Chicken breast (marinate in Balsamic Vinegar for 30 min)
- 1 handful carrots (I like baby carrots, no mess)
- 1 handful of grapes
- Small salad (add any veggies you want, dash some balsamic on top)
That’s a typical day for me, I’m never hungry and I have a lot of energy throughout. Find what works for you, the idea is to get back to letting your body let you know when it’s time to eat. When you do eat keep portions in mind, the typical portion sizes these days are way too big, eat what you need (think primal, just enough to sustain!). Once you start eating cleaner, it will be easy to stick to it. Eating every few hours will keep your metabolism burning all throughout the day.
Eat up!
Did Vikings eat peppers?
Jun/090
I don’t know but stuffed peppers are delicious! And it turns out this recipe is pretty darn good for your body as well, give it a try.
Stuffed Peppers
delicious stuffed peppers, fit for a viking.
Ingredients:
- 4-6 bell peppers (red, yellow, or green)
- 1 lb ground lean turkey (or lean ground beef)
- 2- 15 oz cans of tomato sauce, or 1 – 30 oz can (Only tomato! No sugar!)
- 2 cups favorite veggies, squash, spinach, diced carrots
- 3 tablespoons of fresh basil (3 tsp dried)
- 3 tablespoons of fresh oregano (2-3 tsp dried)
- 1/2 small onion (diced)
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 325. Brown the ground turkey with the onion, and the rest of your veggies. Combine the tomato sauce, basil and oregano. Cut the tops off of the peppers and remove the seeds. Combine the ground turkey, veggies, and half of the tomato sauce mixture, and stuff inside the hollowed out peppers.
Pour the other half of the tomato sauce over the top of the peppers. Bake at 325 for about 50-60 minutes, or until the peppers are soft. You can sprinkle a little Parmesan, on top during the last 15-20 minutes.
Eat up… Natural, Healthy, and Lean!
Sluggish? Not for a viking!
Jun/091
If you’re like me, the morning always comes too soon. I am not, and never will be a morning person, however I have found a few tips to really get me moving in the AM.
Number 1: The obvious, get more sleep
I see this everywhere, “get more rest”, “go to bed earlier”, “don’t do any activity an hour before bedtime”. In my world, sometime this just isn’t possible. I’ll be the first to tell you that you shouldn’t make excuses for yourself, but with a demanding work schedule and a number of other reasons for staying up late (World of Warcraft…), we need to adjust our lifestyles a little to help us ease into bed at a reasonable hour and make the sleep we do get more valuable. Here are a few things we can do:
- Dim the light in your house before bed: This will help signal your body to settle down and make it easier to fall asleep.
- Use your bed for a bed: Stop reading, working, or browsing from your bed. Calming the brain when we get into bed helps us sleep better.
- Don’t go to bed angry or anxious: This one is hard at times, be we need to make an effort to check your troubles at the bedroom door.
- Don’t sleep on your stomach: This was a biggie for me, sleeping on your stomach hyper-extends the back, causing back pain the next day (even more with big pillows) and it can deprive you of oxygen, which will cause headaches the following morning.
Number 2: Get moving!
For some of you, morning workouts are perfect, for the rest of us, it’s like pulling teeth. Working out in the morning is a great way to get your body burning calories for the day as well as setting a commitment to sticking to your daily goals. Remember something is always better than nothing when working out. Here is my 15 minute AM Workout:
- Pushups: 3 sets of 10 reps, I will try to vary the types I do each morning to keep it fresh (Decline, Plyometric, Pyramid, etc.)
- Pull ups: 3 sets of 8 reps, work on increasing the reps here as you go.
- Abs: There are a lot of great ab workouts out there so I didn’t reinvent the wheel. Even though its cheesy and old, 8 minute abs is a great, quick, easy routine to get you moving. It’s available on YouTube here.
Number 3: Fuel up
They always say “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, and for good reason. When you skip breakfast, you are likely to become tired when your brain and body run low on fuel. Then you have to try to perk up with a cup of coffee or a sugary pastry, this is a temporary fix, then you crash. Leaving you feeling hungry, crabby, and perhaps making you a little more prone to make unhealthy choices at lunch. Start the day right with a filling, healthy breakfast. It should contain some protein to help fill you up. Here’s what my breakfast looks like:
- 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg.
- 2 slices of bacon (sometimes turkey bacon)
- 1 glass of water (this is very important to rehydrate in the morning)
- 1 Orange
- 1 Banana
Get up get moving, get strong!
