The Best Affordable piece of Exercise Equipment

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For those that prefer to exercise at home or while traveling, the best and most affordable option for strength-training equipment (besides your own body-weight) are Resistance Bands, aka Exercise Bands, Tubing Bands, etc. Basically, they’re nothing more than big strong rubber bands with handles on each end. Prices, brands, sizes and what they call them will vary greatly. My favorite are the “First Place Travel Bands” from the online company @perform_better. They include a door hanger, come in a Light, Medium or Heavy thickness, and currently cost $18.95 usd (I make no money telling you this.) They are superb for working the Upper Body. There are many exercises you can do with them. I recommend starting with the two exercises I demonstrate in the video above, which is a Horizontal Press and a Horizontal Row. Just make sure to attach them somewhere safely and correctly. Start slow, perfect your form, build strong. From time to time, inspect each band for any cuts or worn-out areas that may tear while using. Replace as needed. The thickness is important, because this determines how difficult they will be when stretched during use. Typically they range in thickness by colors. Different companies use different colors to represent how difficult they are. Some may be too easy, some may be too difficult. You will need to experiment. You should be able to do a minimum of 5-10 perfect reps with whatever size you choose. I do use these regularly myself and in fact used them exclusively for an entire year to train my upper body when I was age 31. Combined with a complimentary diet (and complimentary sleep), I became the leanest and most muscular I’ve ever been. I weighed almost 15 pounds heavier than I do now, mostly lean muscle (I did also squat heavy often using barbells, etc which made my hips and legs grow more muscular but also heavier). However, it did prove to be much more work than I would ever want to do again, especially eating enough healthy calories to support more muscle mass. My point though, Resistance Bands are a great option for doing upper body strength work. I’m always here if you have any questions! #bssbbooks #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 24, 2018 at 9:54am PDT

Avoid: “Paralysis by Analysis”

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Information, education and experience are all essential for growth. We have access to more information now than ever before. But with this abundance of knowledge (truths) and noise (non-truths), comes a phenomenon referred to as “paralysis by analysis”. This happens when we over-analyze information and end up frozen in our tracks because we don’t know what to do anymore. Meanwhile, someone else in a distant land managed to somehow make impressive progress despite some “new secret magic pill” because they simply made better use of their time and energy. Think about what typically happens every time we read something about nutrition, health or fitness. It seems there’s always new information out that is better than before. Most likely, it’s not. Rarely does new information come out that completely replaces previous wisdom. Sometimes, yes. Occasionally, it may even change everything. But most often, “new” information will not reinvent the wheel and will most likely only add to what we already know. One thing is for sure though, “new” developments will never stop coming. This is why I always (annoyingly) recommend focusing all efforts on the BIG fundamentals, those things that have always been good and will most likely always be good: QUALITY SLEEP, AMPLE DAILY MOVEMENT, EATING WHOLE-FOOD FRUITS & VEGETABLES, DRINKING CLEAN WATER, LAUGHING, SMILING, LOVING, ALTRUISM, etc. Keep in mind, new diet and exercise fads have been around as far back as the 18oo’s, if not earlier. I know because I’ve seen the material. We have way more diet and exercise options now than we’ve ever had YET despite all this great “new” stuff, we are more fat, sick, diseased, stressed, unhealthy and unhappy now than ever before. What glitters is rarely gold. #bssbbooks #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 17, 2018 at 10:02am PDT

Strength Training should NEVER be complicated…

 

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The thought of trying to summarize a few Strength Training concepts in less than 1 minute seems impossible. It did prove impossible. However, today’s video was an attempt to get the wheels of your mind moving in a direction that allows you to digest the idea that it need NOT be complicated. Adults need to Strength Train a minimum of 1-2 times a week to maintain a healthy body for life. It doesn’t need to be crazy hard or difficult to benefit from it. Each workout can be as short as 5-10 minutes but it must include exercises that work the entire body. Instead of body parts think of big “movements of the body” such as Squatting, Pushing and Pulling. The generation of Californian bodybuilders that produced Arnold Schwarzenegger also had a bit of a lasting negative effect on the way normal people exercise that still exists to this day. People think workouts must include a dozen exercises that primarily work a bunch of little muscles groups like calves and biceps and that progress is not made without soreness and all sets done to failure. None of that is required or recommended for most people, especially beginners and novices. Most adults would be better served keeping workouts shorter with fewer exercises and a focus on moving well instead of sloppy. Of course, the choices are endless. Today, I wanted to demonstrate a simple short routine that most anyone could do at home with either 1 dumbbell or 1 kettlebell. The point is to do something. Anything is better than nothing as long as it is safe and can be repeated over time. No excuses. You can always do more. Just make sure that you are consistently doing something first. I’m always here if you have questions… #bssbbooks #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 10, 2018 at 9:35am PDT

Quick Thoughts on Fat-Loss+ Calories

 

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TURN UP THE VOLUME. Fast & furious thoughts on fat-loss nutrition. Yes, when it comes down to it, to lose body-fat, total calories will need to be reduced. How much? I would not recommend going beyond 500 calories per day. That would the maximum. I would start with 250. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of counting calories for many reasons. Things become complicated and un-fun very fast. Instead, I recommend improving WHAT foods we eat before worrying about the calories. When better quality food (unprocessed whole food) is consumed (in reasonable amounts) the total calories are often less by default… because most LOWER-QUALITY foods (fast food, processed food, fried food, sugary food, salty food, sugary drinks with calories) have more total calories, not to mention fewer beneficial nutrients. This is also why most diets work. Most diets recommend making “better” choices that are also typically lower in calories. Look, I love unhealthy food just as much as anybody but eating that way all the time is never a good option for anyone. Every meal doesn’t have to be perfect but for anyone wanting/needing to lose body-fat, I would limit any and all cheat meals to 1-2 times a week MAXIMUM, preferably AFTER exercise. Keep in mind, some restaurant food may be HIGH in quality but also VERY HIGH in total calories (because of the richer ingredients, most often due to a higher fat content). Same goes for most “beverages” that aren’t water. So, be careful with all this stuff. Aim for a nice variety and balance of LEAN PROTEINS, HEALTHY FATS and FIBROUS CARBS (vegetables, fruit). Google is your friend. Hollar at me if you have any questions. #bssbbooks #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 6, 2018 at 10:25am PDT