Time & Energy: the most valuable resources. Do not waste.

TURN UP THE VOLUME. Today, a quick pep talk. A friendly reminder. A kick in the ass. The subject: TIME & ENERGY. The lesson: USE IT WISELY. #bssbbooks #blueskystrongbox #carltonsmixtapegumbo

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Apr 12, 2018 at 8:20am PDT

Advertisements

“What exercise would you recommend if I only have time to do ONE exercise?” (Video below from my Instagram page)

TURN UP THE VOLUME. Today is an important (free) video I did for everyone that asks, “What’s one good exercise you recommend for busy people?” It’s a great question and one that I do get often. So if you were to just do one (strength) exercise, I would recommend choosing one from this list. I tried to choose exercises that I do myself. I also tried to choose exercises that had variety and could be done in almost any situation with a variety of equipment or no equipment. One single exercise practiced correctly, intensely enough & often enough can give a tremendous bang for the buck. If your main goal is to lose body fat, focus 99% of your effort on nutrition and 7-9 hours of sleep every single night. For health, most folks don’t need to do a bunch of exercises to strengthen the body. But we all do NEED to do something. Strength is super important for everything that relates to health, fitness and enjoying a long higher quality of life. Strength doesn’t have to mean working out all the time or building big muscles, if that’s not your cup of tea. Strength exercises come in many varieties. Most people just do nothing their entire adult lives which catches up to most people later when they are too weak to do basic everyday tasks. Do know that a “strength” exercise is the same thing as a “resistance” exercise or even a “weight-bearing” exercise. Don’t ever be confused. Keep things simple. Remember, your form (how you do the exercise) is very important. Doing it regularly is also very important. Write me with ANY questions you may have… so here’s the list: 1) The Swing 2) Deadlift+Carry 3) Squat to Row 4) Goblet Squat 5) Turkish Getup 6) Crawling 7) L-sit. With all that said, the single best “general” exercise in the world is WALKING. Seriously. People often think I’m joking but I’m not. Personally, I prefer and highly recommend walking uphill whenever possible. Walking daily is essential. #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Mar 20, 2018 at 3:43pm PDT

When it comes to Health and/or Fitness, many of us seek the quick fix. These are called short-term solutions. Typically, these are best reserved for emergencies. These days, this is now the norm. Some call it “hacking”. I’m all for shortcuts but only when appropriate. If there’s one thing i know, you CANNOT shortcut health. If you really want to see for yourself, knock yourself out. I’m just trying to save you the trouble. Also know, i can’t recommend it. Besides it being unhealthy, it can also waste valuable time, time that we will never get back. Why spend a lifetime continually chasing the same things? Instead, i recommend finding focus, balance, and simplicity. Below is a video i did yesterday. I did it in one take. I talk about 10 principles that i think are very important, essential and the fundamentals of most everything. Wanna lose some body fat? Gain some muscle? Be healthier? Live longer? Increase your athletic or job performance? Most everyone wants these things. I recommend taking the high road. Life is short but it’s just long enough to benefit from doing a few things well and with consistency.

This video is the second phase of my Foundations series. The first phase consisted of 3 videos. They can be found on this YouTube page and my official personal training website, http://www.BLUESKYSTRONGBOX.COM.

In this video, i talk about 10 principles that i feel are essential to health as well as fitness. So, regardless of what your goal(s) are, be that Fat Loss, improving General Health, increasing Lean Muscle or a performance goal for a job or sport, these 10 principles are important.

Look, i know this video is a bit long. It’s longer than i wish but sometimes it is simply just not possible to do a short video. Sorry!

Here is my list:

1. Get enough Rest/Sleep
2. Create a 5-minute Morning Ritual. Do it every day.
3. Walk and move your body as much as you can each day.
4. Exercise regularly. Focus on a balance of the big 3: flexibility, strength, and stamina.
5. Find balance and harmony with everything in your life.
6. Drink enough water each day so that your urine is clear or close.
7. Eat more plants and less of everything else.
8. Eat more variety and balance of all other food.
9. Eat less overall. Try going longer between meals.
10. Keep it simple.

“Uphill-Walking for Cardio” 1/28/18 Carlton Cullins-BLUE SKY STRONGBOX-Personal Trainer-Austin,Tx

As a working personal trainer of almost 15 years, and an avid exerciser of 32 years, the single best exercise I know is uphill-walking. Don’t get me wrong, there are others but none that are more readily available, affordable, repeatable, offer more benefits and require less skill. Do understand that walking on flat ground is not the same. Nor are long walks with furry animal friends, if they require numerous pit-stops. My first taste of a humble hill came years ago when climbing my first mountain in Colorado with my close friend, Harley. A 14,ooo ft beast, as I recall. All i had to do was “walk” to the top. No problem. I was in prime health and it still kicked my ass. Sure, jogging may get your heart rate up just the same. Sprinting will certainly do this. But jogging tends to cause the most injuries of any exercise and “all-out sprinting” can only be tolerated by healthy individuals for infrequent short bouts. Not to mention, most people hate running of any kind. So I typically don’t recommend any unless someone truly loves it, or requires it, and a supreme attention to detail is observed. However, walking is arguably what our bodies were best built to do. So, find a hill. Try walking up and down it as many times as you can in 10-45 minutes (personally, I like 30 minutes as a sweet spot). No need to do more. Make it more challenging by walking faster or up a steeper grade, not longer. Repeat often. Walking is great for everything health & fitness. Don’t believe the haters. Write me if you’d like to join me sometime. Seriously. @blue_sky_strongbox #blueskystrongbox

Carlton’s basic “A.M. Flow” to mobilize the spine and the 4 knots (both shoulder sockets+both hip sockets). Lastly, breathing deeply & rhythmically throughout is most important. Breathe in through the nose and out through pursed lips.

“Body Fat & Thoughts on Body Image” 7/12/10 Carlton Cullins-BLUE SKY STRONGBOX-Personal Trainer-AustinTX

New Weekly Health & Fitness Tips! Today I talk some on the topic of Body Image Issues, which we all deal with in some way. It’s a difficult subject, an uncomfortable theme but one that we need to have more conversations about, positive conversations. Everything begins in our mind.