To all of my American friends, happy Thanksgiving!
To all of my Jewish friends, happy Channukah!
And to everyone…happy Thanksgivikuh!
In case you didn’t know, this year Thanksgiving and Channukah fell on the same night which has never happened before and won’t happen again for thousands of years.
Fortunately, it’s impossible for Thanksgiving and Yom Kippur to fall on the same day so, for that, the entire Jewish community can be thankful.
FYI: Yom Kippur is a fasting holiday in which we don’t eat all day long.
All in all, it was a fantastic holiday weekend and I’m heading back to school rested, well-fed, and several pounds heavier.
I couldn’t be happier 🙂
Speaking of school, it’s hard to believe but I have less than 2 weeks until I’m finished with my course work. Considering that 3.5 years ago I was this close to dropping out of school and moving to Israel to join the army…this is a major accomplishment that, at one point in my life, I didn’t think was possible
Recently I’ve actually received numerus questions regarding how I was able to create and build a successful business while simultaneously attending college so, in the coming months, I plan to write a behemoth of a post on the matter. That being the case, if you have any specific questions make sure to send them to me at jordan@syattfitness.com so I can address them within the article.
As for now, have a great weekend and enjoy this installment of The Week In Review!
Never Minimal. Never Maximal. Always Optimal.
-J
Articles By Jordan
Do You Need to Train BOTH Sumo AND Conventional Deadlifts?
How to Develop a Truly Explosive Lockout
Daily Strength Lesson’s
Monday’s Strength Lesson: Having trouble getting into the gym? Feeling like you’d rather just stay home, sleep, and avoid exercising at all costs?
First: That’s completely normal and it happens to everyone (including me!). Hell, this entire past week was a struggle for me to get into the gym.
Second: During these time periods, it’s important to break away from any monotony and do something different, exciting, and fun.
Here are some ways to get into the gym and have fun while taking a break from the usual routine:
1) Complete a fitness challenge! Fitocracy.com has tons of fun challenges and quests to undertake. Best of all, there’s public forums to discuss things with other members and even provide a bit of competition.
2) Create your own obstacle course! This is my preferred technique as I get bored *very* easily and enjoy making up ridiculous stunts and events. Find a jungle gym (or even just a small area in your training facility) and create your own course. Sure people will look at you like you’re crazy but…who gives a shit?
3) Train like a gymnast! This is so damn fun. Just stick to bodyweight exercises and have at it in the gym. Yea can even incorporate these movements into the obstacle course mentioned above.
The most important thing is to HAVE FUN! If you aren’t having fun then you aren’t doing it right. Period!
Tuesday’s Strength Lesson: With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I understand many are beginning to worry about packing on the pounds from all the holiday tasties.
To help ease your worries and give you an effective plan of action, I’m going to tell you 3 things that I tell my clients:
1) It takes a long time of consistently good eating/exercising habits to lose fat, gain muscle, and improve overall body composition.
Gaining weight isn’t any different!
It takes a period of time with consistently poor eating/exercise habits to gain fat, lose muscle, and negatively influence body composition.
Don’t worry about 1 large meal on Thanksgiving. IT’S JUST 1 MEAL! People tend to get into trouble with all the left overs and endless days of consistently overeating.
2) Don’t change your training habits. Lot’s of people try to offset the “damage” by increasing their training 10-fold.
Don’t do this.
Keep your training exactly the same and just get back on schedule (both with training and nutrition) as soon as Thanksgiving is over. I’m not a fan of trying to offset caloric intake with exercise and would never recommend *anyone* try to do that. It’s a nasty habit to get into.
3) Enjoy yourself! Don’t be “that guy” who brings his own tupperware full of food or abstains from even slightly enjoying all the tasties. Have fun and enjoy the food, family, and friends. As crazy as it seems, indulging a bit on Thanksgiving and taking a break from your diet may actually benefit you in the long-run!
Wednesday’s Strength Lesson: Looking for 3 quick & easy ways to improve your daily posture? Read this.
After a 10.5hr car drive yesterday (legitimately bumper-to-bumper all the way from Delaware to Boston) I’m just as sore and achy this morning as if I’d Deadlifted for heavy triples late last night.
Regardless, I still plan on working at my computer for a large part of the day to catch up on all the e-mails & work that I got behind on yesterday.
As I’m sure you can relate to, after my driving extravaganza, sitting down in the usual “work position” feels like my body is repetitively being thrown into a meat grinder.
To remedy the pain, and improve my posture, throughout the day I’ll be sitting in 3 main positions that don’t exacerbate any pain or discomfort.
The names of these seated positions are:
1) The Old Switcharoo
2) Half Kneeling Position
3) Tall Kneeling Position
For a brief tutorial on each position and which one I enjoy most, read this short article
Thursday’s Strength Lesson: “If strength and size were all that mattered, the lion would not fear the scorpion.”
– One of my [many] recent fortune cookies
To all of my friends and family celebrating Thanksgiving (aka Pie Day), I hope you enjoy it to the fullest.
To all of my friends and family celebrating Channukah, have a wonderful holiday.
And to all of my friends and family celebrating both Channukah and Thanksgiving…have a happy Thanksgivikuh
Friday’s Strength Lesson: I didn’t start seeing drastic results (from training OR nutrition) until I started following a purposefully designed program *consistently.*
- Do you walk into the gym without knowing exactly what you’re going to do that day?
- Do you progress from exercise to exercise on a somewhat (or completely) random basis?
- Did you initially see good results but have since plateaued without noticeable progress?
If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you need to follow a training program….CONSISTENTLY!
Too often I see individuals “program hopping” in which they try something for 1-2 (maybe even 3) weeks and then stop to try something else.
Each new thing is “guaranteed” to deliver the results they’ve always wanted but, unfortunately, they’re let down time and time again.
The reality is…most people just need to stick to SOMETHING. As a wise person once said “the worst training program consistently followed will yield better results than the best training program inconsistently followed.”
So what should you do?
Well, there’s an outstanding variety of programs available online, often times in e-book format.
However, if you want a program designed specifically for YOU and your individual needs then I might be able to help you out.
For those in the Boston area, I’ll be offering 1-on-1 as well as small group (3-6 individuals) training as early as January 15th, 2014. If you’re interested in doing this then sign up immediately because spots WILL fill up fast.
Keep in mind, small group training will be DRASTICALLY less expensive so find a group of friends and let me know asap.
For those outside the Boston area, I also offer online training & nutrition consultations.
Want to sign up or need more info? Contact me at jordan@syattfitness.com.
Together we’ll get you on a program to help you achieve your ultimate goals and maintain them for the rest of your life!
Recommended Reading
- So Your Shoulders Are Depressed… via Tony Gentilcore
- For Thanksgiving: New Research on Dieting Challenges via Medical News Today
- Do You Need to Train BOTH Sumo AND Conventional Deadlifts? via Syatt Fitness
- Does Aspartame Cause Cancer? The Research Might Surprise You via Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention
- My Observations with Hip Thrust Variations via Greg Robins
- A Closer Look at Dr. Oz’s 15 Superfoods via Science Based Medicine
- Coca-Cola’s New Slogan – “Coca-Cola is Movement” via Yoni Freedhoff
- No, Food is NOT Fuel. (And, thankfully, you aren’t a Ferrari) via Dr. John Berardi
- My latest on T-Nation: How to Develop a Truly Explosive Lockout via Syatt Fitness
- Train the Same: Women Should Train Like Men via Tony Gentilcore
- The Art of Glute Building: Practical Solutions via Bret Contreras
- The Specifics of Recovery, More or Less via Dean Somerset
- 4 Squat Tips from Elite Coaches via Lee Boyce, Tony Gentilcore, Todd Bumgardner, and Dean Somerset
- Research Review – Bigger Gains and the Best Exercise for Shoulders via Greatist
- 10 Ways to Progress Inverted Rows via Eric Cressey