Precision Nutrition

Full Disclosure on My First Ebook: It Might Not Be for You, I’m Not an Expert, I’ll Avoid Niches and My Tone is My Own

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I decided to relieve myself of the stress of trying to compose a book that is for EVERYONE.

It can’t be done, and I won’t try to swim up that stream any longer.

While I think that anyone should be able to extract at least a couple of pearls from my information and ramblings, including the scattered thoughts published on this free blog, I have also come to the conclusion that one book will never satisfy everyone, nor should it.

I actually read somewhere recently that if an author’s writing causes a decent rush of negative comments, reactions, reviews, etc… than the topic and angle on that topic was probably right where it should be. Of course, my goal is not to piss people off and ruffle everyone’s feathers.

It is first and foremost to put some ideas on paper that anyone can read and apply to improve situation. I also understand that not everyone learns the same way.

Personally, I struggle to read and then apply on the first try. I am the guy that has to read a chapter 3-4 times before most of the information sticks. Visually, I do much better, so videos are my preferred method of learning.

Anyways, there are going to be naysayers and haters always. Every product on the market has a group of Negative Nancy’s putting it down. The internet is a place where anyone can post negative comments, and they often do. Ironically, I wonder how many of these same Negative Nancy’s would comment to a product creator’s face that “they suck”.

Probably less than 1% I bet. This is one small reason I dislike the internet. It’s created an emotional disconnect with human interaction. Everyone is a hero on the internet. Oh well, it is here to stay, adapt and move on I suppose.

So, as much as I believe in the concept of fixing your movement before ramping up your movement volume/intensity/progressions, I felt it necessary to let you know that my first ebook is going full disclosure to keep your money in your pocket if you have any deep movement dysfunction.

As Gray Cook once said, “We should avoid piling fitness on top of dysfunction”.

I couldn’t agree with that more.

Since I am more interested in leveraging the outreach of the internet, I need to be completely realistic about my writing. Fixing poor movement patterns through the written word is tough. It’s hard to feel comfortable expressing (through writing) how important it is to fix the quality of your movement before you go all in on attacking your performance and pile on things like intensity, load and volume.

Upping the intensity, load and volume can be great things for the right population of people while being horrible for another population of people. For the latter population, it’s a lot like throwing gasoline on a fire that you’re trying to extinguish.

I’m never really sure how much of your cautions and warnings are being received and sincerely applied to each readers situation.

This isn’t a post to announce that faulty movement patterns “aren’t my problem” or that I am going to be “blatantly negligent” in my approach to promoting the adoption of new training habits or better yet smarter and more effective training habits…

… it’s the announcement that my lack of action in producing a workout manual has been deeply connected with my inability to realize that I cannot be everything to everyone.

To each, their own.

Another topic worth discussing: the concept of being an “expert”.

I hate it when I read a training manual or blog and the person refers to his or herself as an expert. Shut up. Self proclaiming yourself as an expert is annoying. Anyone that has retained just enough knowledge to teach someone else can call his or herself an expert in that topic, because to the person with a lower level of knowledge, the other person seems like an expert.

I might know more about kettlebell swings than you do, but that doesn’t make me an expert. They say “never say never”, but I refuse to adopt the title of “expert”. I don’t care if it costs me income. I’m always a student.

I don’t want to be an expert, guru, specialist, etc. I know that might limit the amount of traffic to my website and conversion clicks on my product sales, but I will be able to sleep comfortably at night knowing that I am truthful, honest and hardworking to be better everyday, rather than call myself an “expert”.

Another topic of discussion: niche fitness websites.

I’ve read the “niche” fitness sites. The early years of content is usually great! But then there is a drop off. Why? Because they start frantically reaching for ridiculous topics, methods, etc. I don’t want to be like that. I want to write about whatever I want, when I want to write about it, and feel passionate about it always. It must be miserable pigeon-holing yourself to just being “the kettlebell guy/gal”, “the metabolic finisher guy/gal”, “the fat loss guy/gal, “the suspension training guy/gal”.

What a boring and monotonous life to be niche. Might be great for your bank account but boring as all get out.

[I have exclusive allegiance to no piece of equipment, program, style or fitness tactic. Generally, speaking, everything works.]

You’d have to sit and wait for the next applicable study to be published and then find a way to cleverly manipulate the results of the study to create your own “secrets”, “insane results”, blah blah blah. I’ve always said it… I respect science, but I am not going to wait for it. Don’t tell me kettlebells are great, I know they are. I’ve known for years based on my own results and the results from everyone around me.

Another topic of discussion: tell the whole story.

My absolute favorite pieces to read are those from people who have documented their own experiences using a method of exercise or nutritional strategy. I recently read an amazing PDF book from Dr. John Berardi and two of his nutrition colleagues that gives first hand accounts of their experience with Intermittment Fasting.

Intermittment fasting involves shifting your total food intake to a smaller window of time throughout the day, while the time between the last bite of food for the day and the next bite of food for the next day is uncommonly long. For instance, you might finish your last bite of food at 8pm on Monday night, and not eat anything again until 12-noon the next day.

Instead of eating 3-6 meals/3,000 calories across 12-14 hour day, you would eat 2-3 meals/3,000 calories across 6 hour window of time.

You don’t actually restrict your food intake, you consume it all in a smaller “feeding” window and spend more time without eating between the end of a feeding window and the beginning of the next feeding window.

There is more to intermittment fasting than what I outlined above.

Dr. Berardi shared his experience in an honest fashion, and I retained more from that style of writing than any intermittment fasting expert’s jargon bullshit up to that point. He commented on his emotional reaction to fasting, his physical reaction and even his meals (and timing of those meals) eaten throughout his experiment. He even mentioned that his speech felt slow during work meetings and his irritability toward his family was unsettling during his first few days denying himself breakfast.

The writing was real. I could relate to the words on the page. They had meaning to me. I didn’t have to read that book twice, it stuck after the first time through.

I learned a lot about how I want to approach my connection with my current and future audience through that book.

I also recently read something on a self-growth blog, where the author made the point that as long as you’re willing to admit you don’t know everything, won’t know everything, but relentlessly pursue building yourself personally to increase your perspective outlook in your chosen field, you are on the right track to being the best version of yourself.

They also said write in a style that matches who you are in real life. Friends and family should be able read your work and hear you saying it.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

My goal is to grow my confidence exponentially, yet stay humble enough to realize that I can and should be learning something everyday, even if what I learned that day is proving to change my opinion about something that I once thought was best in class.

Things evolve, and so should I.

I will believe and sell what I write about until I find something that works better. Than I will make the switch to what is better. Make sense?

I always sign off by saying “cheers to __________________!”

I am sincere in that cheers every single time. While the blog is about me conquering my fear of putting myself out there for all to see, it is mostly about you, and always has been and will be about you.

My leap is coming, join me if you will…

Cheers to your success and self-exploration!

Kyle

Precision Nutrition: Results Based Eating for Body Transformation

Food/Eating

Precision Nutrition

The best nutritional strategies are the strategies that you’re more apt to stick to.

The more I read about nutrition, the more I am reminded that the best tactics to leverage are also the most simple.

We overcomplicate a lot of things in life, and nutrition frequently is made much more difficult than it actually is.  In times like that, I outsource to professionals and programs that carry a knowledge that is beyond my own.  I have no problem humbly sending people to someone who specializes.  It’s the right thing to do.

Precision Nutrition is my go to resource.  I trust them whole heartedly right now, and will for years to come.  I first started leveraging Dr. Berardi’s nutritional advice years ago when I was first learning about nutrition for myself. I really started to realize how influential nutrition is to boosting sport performance, and later on, improving body composition.

I started reading free articles from Dr. Berardi on the popular website T-Nation, which is a niche site primarily targeted at males who desire higher level training and nutritional advice.  Dr. Berardi used to contribute guest articles to gain exposure to his cause when he was an up and comer.

“But Kyle, it’s the internet, nothing is true on the internet!”, you say.

Despite the negative outlook toward health advice on the internet, there is actually a lot of useful information that a person can leverage if you know where to look and who you can trust.  The key is that you have to spend some time deciding on who you can trust!  Or, you can take advantage of other people like myself that have a great working knowledge of where you should be looking for solid information.

Sometimes you have to sift and sift until you find the gold, but it’s out there.

My experience with learning how to eat…

Prior to making any changes to my diet, I thought that my eating was pretty decent really.  But looking back, I was a fool.  My activity level was so high that I could get away making poor nutritional choices.  I was burning through so many calories throughout the day that it almost didn’t matter what I was putting into my mouth.

A lot of people have a similar situation to this.  They burn so many calories from activity that they don’t even know that making a few subtle (yet impactful) changes to their diet would send their body aesthetics to a whole other level.  

Anyways, I began to dabble with some of Dr. Berardi’s suggestions.

Here are four different observations/ideas that I came away with…

1) Nutritional adjustments are easier said than done in the beginning.

There are thousands of nutritional articles that are published on the internet every single day.  Most of them preach the same general ideas: eat more protein, consume less sugar and refined carbohydrates.  I think it is safe to say that just about everyone agrees that this advice is legit.  It’s bland and boring advice, but still, it’s great advice.

Sugar and refined carbohydrates aren’t tolerated by the body very well, especially if you’re inactive or currently carrying a higher percentage of bodyfat.

I used to eat bread with nearly every meal as most people do.  The first step forward for me was cutting my bread consumption in half.  Instead of eating two pieces of bread with a sandwich, I would only eat one.  Again, this was difficult adjustment at first because my entire life I had been eating sandwiches with bread on top and bottom, as most people often do.

Cutting my bread consumption in half was challenging, but I knew that it had to be done in order to make improvements to body composition.  It was a simple change, but it wasn’t easy.  Old habits can be tough to break.  But, over time, new habits were formed.

Eating my meals with a lean protein source on top of only 1 piece of bread started to feel natural in short time with some consistency.

I noticed significant decrease in body-fat by doing this.

2)  Vegetable intake was increased.

When people think carbohydrates, they often think about foods like bread, pasta and rice.  At least those are the foods that usually come to mind.  Interestingly, there is a significant amount of carbohydates that are in vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus and other leafy greens that provide valuable fuel for performance and energy throughout the day.

This change I found to be easy.  Initially, I began preparing my veggies by boiling them.  Later, I read an article that shared that the nutrient retention of veggies was greatly increased by steaming vegetables versus boiling.  So, I began steaming my veggies for all meals.  I cooked the vegetables on a meal by meal basis, eventually figuring out that steaming veggies in bulk was a far more convenient tactic (along with being time effective).

Filling up on veggies during meals is one of the oldest tricks in the book.  If you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out.  It works.  Veggies are low calorie foods that pack a huge nutrient punch.  It’s one of the most powerful nutritional shifts that a person can make in their quest for body transformation.

My decreased bread intake was now joined by an increase in vegetables.  Again, I noticed a change in body composition and an increased energy to direct toward my workouts.

Note:  There is also a certain mental satisfaction in eating more vegetables throughout the day.  Quite honestly, I began to build a healthier mindset just from increasing my veggie intake.  You’ll know what I am talking about when you make the leap.

3)  Nutrient timing

Nutrient timing completely changed my outlook on eating, and how to approach it throughout the day. The concept that there are specific times when foods are better tolerated by the body was mind blowing. Remember, I was learning about nutrition from ground zero. If you already know about nutrient timing, congrats, because you in the top 15% of people in the world who are leveraging this concept. 

I made valuable trade-outs in the foods I was eating for breakfast and in the timeframes before, during and after my workout sessions.

Again, I saw a drastic improvement in body composition and performance.

From a performance standpoint, the most notable improvement was my ability to recover quickly in between workouts.  It became apparent to me after adopting the new nutritional strategies that Dr. Berardi outlined, that I had not been recovering fully between workouts.  I was essentially entering the next workout incompletely recovered, which can be an overlooked hold up when aiming to lose fat and build muscle.

Again, had I not made the changes, I never would have known anything different.  I didn’t know what I didn’t know.  Make sense?

I was now using food properly.  It was fueling my physical activity appropriately while keeping me lean in the process.

4)  It’s way more effective to follow a nutritional system.

In as few words as possible, a system gives you focused direction.

It takes you from point A to point B as efficiently as possible.  No heartache, no anxiety, no wasted efforts.

I know I pump up the Precision Nutrition System a lot, but it really is a world class program.  They teach you how to eat, when to eat, what to eat, why you’re eating it, how to advance and progress your eating to achieve even higher levels of health, performance and leanness.

It was one of the first nutritional programs that I came across that made logical sense in their approach.

We stress the importance of progressing in all other areas of our lives, so why not approach nutrition with a progression?  It’s soooooooooo difficult to go from poor eating habits to perfect eating habits overnight.  It’s too much for a lot of people to handle in the beginning.  Saying goodbye to old habits can be extremely draining.

I often talk about the importance of following a fitness regimen that is results effective, yet sustainable for the long-term.  To do this, you have to manage your stress levels, scale your workouts to your current physical abilities and assess constantly.  It’s in ongoing process that you want to adhere to for life.

Nutrition requires a very similar format.  You need to be willing to put an ounce of energy into learning a few tips and tricks.  Once you apply the basics, things begin to snowball and you gain momentum.  Old habits disappear and new habits form.  Your body changes in the process and eventually you’re equipped with knowledge that will serve you well for the remainder of your life.

If you can dial in your eating habits for the long-term, again, you’re now in the top 15% of healthy people in the world, without even breaking a sweat during a workout.  Sound personal eating habits are vital.

Of course, this is summarized and simplified guidance, but it’s pretty close to what happens when you transition into being a fit eater.

If you’ve got anxiety with nutrition, let these guys and gals help you out.  They are incredible resources…

Hopefully some of my personal testimonials that I touched on will help you bring your own eating into some kind of perspective.

*** If this post sounds like a sales pitch, I can assure you, it is.  Yes that’s right, it is absolutely a sales pitch.  People like to talk about products and programs that they love.  Word of mouth marketing is one of the most powerful forms of advertising on the planet.  It just so happens that PN is something that I completely believe in, so why the heck not talk about it?

 

 

 

Cheers to your nutritional success!

KG

Is This Blog Really Being Run Off Of An iPad and Powered by Coffee?

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Every word in that statement is true, except for the fact that my iPAD is being powered by coffee.

I am being powered by coffee. When I write, I drink coffee. A doctor might say that this is a bit of a compulsive need to take every single time I sit down and force myself to write, but for me, it puts me in focus. Plus, in Wisconsin, it’s bitter cold right now and warming up a bit with a cup-o-joe never hurt anyone.

So, yes, the truth is that this blog is now being run from an iPAD. Reason being is I received a Belkin Bluetooth Keyboard for Christmas and yes, it kicks ass. The keys have the same feel as my MacBook Pro, which is great because now I can write anywhere. Lugging a MacBook Pro around can get a little annoying after a while. The iPAD + Belkin combo is much more sleek, and I really don’t mind the WordPress application offered by the App Store.

The truth is that any application works for writing, whether you’re using Word, Scrivener, Pages, or any other writing program, it all works. We’ve become a picky society. It all works just fine. Worst case scenario, you write your thought for the day and then email it to yourself or copy and paste it between programs. Your writing doesn’t improve just because you’re using a fancy program.

Anyways, so back to coffee. Yes, I am powered by coffee because I love coffee. I would say that it is vice of mine, but I can’t. Coffee is full of antioxidants and if you look it up on the “unhealthy list”, it ranks pretty low when compared to just about every item found in the center of the grocery store. Yikes. There are thousands of consumables that are worse than drinking a cup or two of coffee.

Is there caffeine in coffee? Yes, of course there is, and caffeine from time to time has been labeled as the world’s most widely consumed stimulant.

Here is a great article by my friends over at Precision Nutrition: All About Caffeine

As long as you’re not absolutely relying on coffee to roll out of bed and start your day, or it is preventing you from quality sleep, keep on sipping. Beware that no one, and I mean no one, enjoys coffee breath.

If you want a performance boost, drink some coffee before a workout. A cup of coffee pre-workout is one of the only things that I do to help me dial in and get work done when it’s time to train. Coffee doesn’t make me superhuman or anything, but it does give an extra boost of energy, no doubt about that.

If you’re wondering how much coffee is safe for you to drink, start getting in touch with yourself. If you feel fine after a cup or two, well, that means that you’re fine. If you drink a bucket of it and struggle to write a legible personal check, then you may have over-consumed a bit. In that case, dial it back.

It’s easy to let the pendulum swing too far. When this happens, make some simple adjustments. The important part is to recognize that it has happened. Awareness is soooooooo important. If we as a society could just increase our awareness with eating and exercise, we would bring ourselves back to center. Over time, it would happen.

Like our Grandparents are famous for saying: Too much of anything can be a bad thing.

It’s funny how this statement holds up in so many different situations. Too much working out, bad. Too much water, bad. Too much alcohol, bad. Too many calories, bad. Too much coffee, bad. Too much, bad bad bad.

A person could really live a quite healthy life by following old adages. I believe this. Why complicate matters any more than they already are? Some things don’t need to be re-invented, they are fine just the way they are.

Branching out from awareness, self-exploration/experimentation is a lost art.

We read generalized guidelines in newspapers and magazines and automatically think that the suggestions apply to us. Maybe some do, but maybe some don’t. I know that I have personally tried a boat load of health tips found in magazines (who hasn’t?) without any noticeable improvement. It doesn’t mean that the health advice doesn’t work, it means that my mind and body might not be as accepting of it as someone else’s.

Nearly every sleep expert on the planet preaches about 8+ hours of sleep per night, yet why then, do some people function best with less than 6 hours? You can call them outliers, but the point is that not every health tip applies to everyone. We need to stop calling people out, define our goals, find plans to achieve those goals, and keep self-experimenting.

It’s never too late to learn about yourself and refine your techniques.

I listened to Howard Stern comment yesterday (yes I listen to Stern and I am a loyal fan) about how he just got turned on to mind-mapping. He went on to say that it may just be the greatest productivity/organizing tactic he has ever encountered. Of course, this is Howard’s personal opinion, as it might work for crap for someone else. Regardless, mind-mapping has been around for quite some time. I can remember mapping out ideas for a book 5 years ago. The book didn’t happen, but the map that I created really helped bring my ideas into focus. Prior to mapping, I just had a tornado of ideas clogging up my creativity. It crippled me from even starting the project.

Howard is 59 years old, going on 60 this month. Again, it’s never too late to refine your technique. A guy who’s career rivals some of the best that this world has ever known, is busy trying to figure out how to better himself in his free time.

What a lesson that is.

This is the beauty of being unique. There is not one-size-fits-all solution for anything, for anyone. We are all different.

You can read books and get ideas from the trail blazers, but those tactics may not fit your personality. They may not be right for you. One of the toughest lessons that I have had to learn is that I have my own unique personality and delivery that I should feel confident about and harness. I don’t need to write like anyone else, speak like anyone else or act like anyone else. I am me.

Of course, I realize that most things in life have been done before, so there are hacks to many of life’s experiences, and this part I feel I have grasped quite well. I do pick up bits and pieces from people I respect. This happens almost daily. I watch successful people operate and then try to emulate the things that are making them successful.

Sometimes I think that this is the key to success in life. Get around people who make you uncomfortable with their level of success and beg them to allow you to shadow them for a period of time. Doing so would probably open your eyes to a level of work ethic, professionalism, character and class that most people have no idea even exists. Most of the people I know who are very successful in there chosen fields have worked at it relentlessly for some time.

I have learned how to emulate what has made others successful, without losing my identity.

Call it growing up or whatever you want, but it’s been fun the last few years as begin to taste success and hit my stride. Delayed gratification can be frustrating, but it’s important to remember that putting forth ridiculous amounts of work on the front end is often rewarding on the back end. I’m interested in life-long, sustainable solutions. It doesn’t matter what topic… exercise, nutrition or income.

If you’re a flash in the pan, what is the point?

Here is another great tip: If you practice something long enough, it becomes automatic. Your behavior will evolve and your newly acquired habit will become second nature. You adopt it and it becomes a part of the regularly scheduled program. That’s why I encourage people to stay with exercise fight for it if it’s important to them. Hold it sacred. Make time. Find space. Make it a priority and don’t give up on it for anything during the first few weeks and months. Trust me, once you bust through the growing pains, you’ll find that you’ve just successfully acquired a new habit. One that will pay you back a thousand times over, for the duration of your life on earth.

There is no greater thrill than accomplishing something that you once perceived to be out of reach.

The key to that last sentence is “perceived”. We perceive a lot of things in life. We have perceptions of ourselves, our bodies, what we are capable of accomplishing, what kind of colleagues we are, what kind of parents we are, etc. A lot of these perceptions are limited. A limited perception of yourself doesn’t allow for growth. It’s been said, “Dream big, because you’ll never be bigger than your dreams.”

I cherish this quote and protect it daily. It fuels me. You have to protect your dreams because they are yours, no one else’s. It’s ok to have tunnel vision on your dreams because it will allow you to absorb and move passed the 20 foot swells that arise while you are on the path to making your dreams a reality.

So what did we learn from this post?… Drink some coffee, explore yourself, become more aware and consider mapping your mind for increased focus and clarity. Oh, and the Belkin Bluetooth Keyboard kicks ass.

2014 is going to be a great year, I hope that you feel the same way.

Cheers to scratching and clawing and moving closer to a version of your ideal self!

KG

This post brought to you by Racy’s Coffee:)

“Soft Workouts”: Using Workouts to Recover From Workouts

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“Soft workout” is a name that I gave to movement sessions that follow a more intense movement effort from the previous day.  Ideally a person will find a way to move around every single day, no matter how significant that movement is.  Just find a way to get up and get the blood flowing.

Today, my body is feeling the effects of yesterdays Thanksgiving Day Workout.

I have to admit that besides the high volume, it was a phenomenal training session.  It reminded me of my college hockey days when we would have “bag skate” conditioning sessions.  Your lungs were in your throat and it was hard to bend your knees beyond the lockout position, but finishing the practice strong gave you a sense of accomplishment.

725 reps is an accomplishment (at least I think it is)

Here is how long it took me to finish the workout:

Thanksgiving Day Workout Time

A shade over 24 minutes.  Not bad in my mind.

A few observations things:

  1. Multiple breaks were needed to gather myself and ensure exercise technique was satisfactory.
  2. Vertical Pulling (chin ups) were the weak exercise, which is why I ordered them first in the sequence.
  3. 10 pistols on each leg is draining.
  4. Push Ups were the easiest of the exercises.
  5. Keeping the kettlebell swing rep scheme below 10 reps allowed for focus on aggressive hip extension (“hip snap”).
  6. Push Ups and kettlebell swings felt like filler exercises.
  7. Full burpees will jack up your heart rate as fast as any other exercise on the planet, and all you need is your body and a motivated attitude.
  8. One ascent through the rep scheme is more than enough.
  9. My muscles failed me before my cardiovascular did.
  10. This kind of training is too much to sustain over the long-term, or ever.  Special occasions only.
  11. Hardly any equipment was needed, almost completely portable.

The ascending reps was kick ass.  Early on in the workout I  enjoyed transitioning from movement to movement, turning my mind off to the exercise that I just finished and turning it on to the next exercise.  It kept the session fresh and interesting.

As the reps continued to increase beyond 5+, it began to feel more like a traditional training session where a certain amount of time is spent at a station/exercise before moving on to the next.  By the time  I arrived at 8, 9, 10 reps of pistol squats, my body was showing serious signs of fatigue.  Most of the rest breaks that were taken during pistol squats.

When you’ve accumulated massive amounts of fatigue, the execution of pistol squats (which is takes balance, strength and alignment for successful completion) becomes extremely challenging.  Each rest period last no longer than 15-20 seconds to regain composure and move forward.

All in all, it was a burn out session.  As I mentioned in the previous post, most of my workouts are nothing like yesterday’s massacre.  Typically they are short burst but well managed in the fatigue department.  However, testing will power is also important to me and the human body is capable of withstanding a lot more stress than we think.

I deemed the structure of the workout to be safe for my fitness and technical know-how, so the only thing left was mental will power to keep going despite being wiped.

Now let’s talk “soft workouts” for a second.

For me, soft workouts are sub-maximal physical efforts that are a full body experience with the intent to recover, repair and restore.

Again, they are heavy in taking joints through a full range of motion and contain movements that address all planes of possible movement.  Since stumbling on Ido Portal’s ground based tumbling drills, I tend to crawl around for the majority of these sessions.  Alignment and bodily tension at key points make the drills serve a valuable purpose, not to mention I am typically sore from the previous days effort.

Also, I have to say that low load Turkish Get Ups are amazing the day after a tough workout.  The Turkish Get Up accomplishes so much in one exercise.  It really packs a massive punch.  Joints are taken through a wide range of motion through several planes and the core is constantly under tension and challenged in these same planes of movement.  Low load Turkish Get Ups will give you a chance to focus on technique.  It gives you a chance to slow the drill down and be in the movement, every single segment on the way up to the top and on the way back down to the bottom.

Each phase of the movement can be held for a brief period of time to re-train strength and stability in various positions.  It’s important to be strong and stable throughout a wide range of motion.

Again, I consider low load Turkish Get Ups to be a perfect “soft workout” exercise.

Although you may be sore heading into a “soft workout”, you’ll find that engaging in full range of motion movement will relieve much of this soreness and deliver nutrients where it’s needed.  Nutrient delivery equals repair and recovery.

A soft workout can also include other movements like push ups, dive bombers, bodyweight squats, jump rope, inverted rows, resistance bands training, walking, etc.

If you have a suspension trainer, adjust your body position so that the angles are less vertical to your anchor point, which reduces the amount of load for each rep.  Take each exercise through a full range of motion with this lightened load.

Aerobic activity is also great for “soft workouts”.  I leverage my Schwinn Airdyne all of the time to serve this purpose.  Biking is low impact and mindless.  If you have access to an Airdyne, you get the benefit of dual action upper and lower body engagement.  Now you can flush your upper extremities also as you push and pull the arms.  During an aerobic bike session, my heart rate elevates to a manageable level (as verified by my Polar HR monitor) and I can watch hockey on my iPad while I do spin to pass the time.

What’s better than that?

The only rule is keep the volume and intensity low, which is essentially the opposite of what took place in the previous days workout, right?  Keep the volume and intensity low.  You’re recovering actively so that you can engage yourself in purposeful workouts once again in the coming days.

“Soft workouts” also include a boatload of soft tissue work using the foam roller, lacrosse ball and tiger tail hand massager.  High volume/high intensity workouts can cause significant muscular damage, so working to increase blood flow to these areas will speed up recovery and reduce soreness.

After soft tissue work, I highly suggest a quick session of yoga or static stretching to change the length of the muscle after we worked hard to change the density during massage.  I continue to value static stretching, despite the digital fist fights breaking out all over the internet about it’s effectiveness.  I feel better after long duration static stretching.  At this point post-athletic career, if it makes me feel better, I do it.

If you find value in something, do it.  If it’s important do it every single day.

Unless you’re using athletics to earn your living, static stretching is probably also a good choice for you.  Any reduction in muscular power from holding stretches for longer periods of time will probably go unnoticed in your performance.

If you’re stiff and stretching makes you feel great afterwards, why the hell not?

After a “soft workout” I hydrate like a maniac.  Cold ass water and lots of it.  Actually, let me rephrase that, I hydrate like a maniac before, during and after a “soft workout”.  I also make sure that I consume a protein based shake at some point.  The shakes that I leverage are similar to what Precision Nutrition has designed.

There is a ton of nutrition in these shakes, and quite frankly, I am thankful that I am aware of how effective they are because nutrition is the foundation of all.

If you’re thinking about getting into liquid nutrition, I suggest getting a decent blender.  I prefer mine so thick they are one level before the need to use my teeth to consume.  If they are thick, it feels like they have substance.

I use a Ninja blender, which works great (yes I know it’s an “as seen on tv” product).  A lot of liquid nutrition advocates and professional chefs recommend blending with a Vitamix.  If you have the money, go with the Vitamix.  The Vitamix is industrial strength and will blend anything with ease.  You could probably liquify a Ninja blender inside of a Vitamix if you wanted to.

Bottomline:  If you just want a kick ass blender and need to allocate money elsewhere, buy the Ninja.

“Soft workouts” are an essential piece of the fitness pie.  But they need to remain soft.  It’s important that we don’t take unnecessary steps backward because we seek the adrenaline of insane workouts all of the time.  Give your body a chance to repair itself instead.  Work low load movements and make sure that your nutrition is on point.  You’ll be fine.

Cheers to recovering from 725 reps!

KG